Strings of Fate by Kit Bryan
Chapter 204

Strings of Fate

204- Adapt and adjust

The next few days pass almost too quickly. Bellamy and I have our meeting with Sara and her father. He was a little curious as to why I was there, but he didn’t say anything. He wasn’t pleased, but he did agree to back off of Sara a little bit and seemed to appreciate the added security that we are arranging for the university students. On the drive home, Bellamy is grumbling about it.

“He was barely polite to you.” He complains. I roll my eyes.

“He was polite enough, how polite should he be to a stranger in his house telling him how to parent his child?” I point out Bellamy shakes his head.

“You’re his Alpha, my mate, he should know better.” He continued to scowl.

not like he knows that. We haven’t actually told everyone.” I remind him gently. Now it’s his turn to roll his eyes.

“Of course he knows. It’s the worst kept secret around, remember? He’s just the traditional. type. Isn’t sure how he feels about having a non–Shifter as an Alpha. He’ll get over it.” He says firmly. I frown, this is part of what I was worried about.

“If that is his problem, well… he has a point. I’m not a Shifter.” I point out. Bellamy growls his displeasure.

“That doesn’t matter. Fate chose you and I chose you. Besides, you were the one who said we cut ourselves off from non- Shifters too much. What better way to change that than having a non–Shifter as an Alpha?” He says smugly. Oh he has definitely thought about his arguments for this before. He was anticipating this conversation.

“It’s still going to cause problems for you if there are many old traditional Shifters like him.” I point out. Bellamy pulls up to the house and parks. He turns to me and winks at me..

“I think you mean problems for US. And there aren’t that many, most of the really traditional types are old men, worst case scenario we can just outlive them.” He jokes. I smack him in the

arm.

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204- Adapt and adjust

“Bellamy!” I object, but I’m laughing so he knows I’m not really mad. He grins but then sobers up a little.

“It will be fine love. I promise. You’ve already won over the younger generation, the women, honestly you’ve won over everyone whose opinion will matter. I’ve been thinking about it, and maybe there is a bright side to how slow we’ve been taking things. By the time we make any kind of announcement everyone will be so used to you and the pack will depend on you so much that they will have no choice but to accept you.” Bellamy gives a cheeky grin. Yes, he’s DEFINITELY been thinking about this lately. I suspect because he really wants to make that announcement. The thing is, as more time passes the less reasons I can think of not to. I DO love him. Is there really any point delaying things any longer? Still, something is still holding me back so I don’t tell him what I’m thinking. Bellamy draws me from my thoughts with a gentle kiss which quickly escalates until we’re both breathless. He pulls away first with aeroan.

“We should head inside.” He grumbles, his forehead pressed against mine. I nod against him.

“Yes, Kiara will be waiting.” I agree.

As soon as we get inside, Kiara launches herself at me. It’s only been a few days but she looks much better. Her hair looks healthy and shiny now that it’s clean and trimmed. She still looks thin, but the potion has taken care of the bruising and she no longer struggles to move around. What hasn’t changed is how attached she is to me. We managed to convince her to sleep in one of the guest rooms, but I’ve been staying with her until she falls asleep and first thing in the morning she is practically attached to my side. She wasn’t happy about being left behind. Actually she started crying and only stopped when Aaron turned up and offered to stay with her. By offered, I mean he took her hand and led her to the living room, pulled her into his side in a half hug and put on a movie. Other than Bellamy and I, she seems most comfortable with him. She likes Megan well enough, but she is nervous around here. I think because she is a female Shifter like Cheryl. Kiara understands enough not to judge or reject Megan because of that, but I can see that it makes her a little uncomfortable. To be honest, I think Megan is a little awkward around her too. I know she feels guilty. She thinks that it was because of her screwed up relationship with Tristain that his mother and mate went insane and killed Kiara’s parents. I’ve pointed out that it is not a normal reaction and that they were clearly insane. They probably would have hurt someone eventually no matter what. Megan agrees verbally but I can tell that she doesn’t totally believe it. It might not be a problem for too much longer though, Alex is coming by tomorrow afternoon to talk to us about Kiara’s relatives. Apparently he has found someone but he wants to talk to us about it. I’m a little

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204- Adapt and adjust

nervous. I know that she should go to her family, but what if they live really far away? I can’t

imagine not seeing her anymore. Not to mention, Kiara still isn’t speaking. I just don’t feel right sending her away when she isn’t ready to speak up for herself yet. She has improved a lot, she smiles a lot more and she adores the jewellery making stuff I got her. She is currently wearing at least five bracelets and two necklaces that she made herself. Actually, I think one of them is one that I made, and while I can’t prove it, I think one of the bracelets was made by Aaron. He definitely has a soft spot for her. I just knew that he is a big softie. I really want to know who he is fated to, but I haven’t seen any red thread coming from him. The good news is that he spends a lot of time with me as his guard, so it’s very likely that I’ll be around when he replaces his person and I just can’t wait.

“Hi munchkin.” I greet Kiara, hugging her back.

“I told you we wouldn’t be out long didn’t I? And now you and I have lunch plans. Are you ready?” I ask. She nods eagerly. I have plans to go visit Maggie. I think Kiara will like her. I mean, everyone likes her. Plus she will feed us. I did text and warn her that Kiara is still

eating more than the average adult would. She responded that she would take the chance to

spend the morning making some special treats for her. Kiara has been looking forward to them since I told her yesterday. Aaron even deigned to speak out loud to complement Maggie’s baking which was enough to make Kiara stop and stare.

“Go put your shoes on then.” I pat Kiara on the back and give her a little push. She dashes off

get her shoes. Bellamy pulls me into a tight hug.

to

“Enjoy your lunch.” He kisses my head before releasing me. He isn’t coming this time. He has some work to get done but he insisted I take a break and go since I clearly miss Maggie. He isn’t wrong. Aaron is going to come with us and based on the gleam in his eyes he’s not disappointed. He likes Maggie’s baking as much as any of us do. When Kiara returns she grabs my hand and we head out to the car together, swinging our arms as we walk. Aaron hops into the driver’s seat and I sit in the back with Kiara. We’ve only been driving for a few minutes when I notice something strange that causes me to do a double take. There is a red thread coming from Kiara’s chest.