Strings of Fate
174- Striking and starving
Despite what I said about needing to avoid the kitchen, that’s actually my first stop when leaving the
office. Bemy got me a little well… hot. I desperately need a ss of water. Or one of those cold
showers that Bemy is so “fond‘ of takingtely. Bemy trails behind me, apparently not willing to
leave my side just yet. I freeze momentarily when I walk in and find Megan sitting in the same bar stool
at the bench that I vacated earlier. I force myself to keep moving. Darrien is on the other side of the
bench. He’s apparently in a great mood and is humming along to a ylist that they have ying while
he assembles what looks like the sandwich to end all sandwiches. Seriously, it’s already way too big for
anyone to actually bite into and he is still adding stuff to it. Megan is watching on in awe.
“Hi guys.” I drop into the second stool beside Megan while Bemy gets me a cold drink. As he passes
it to me, his phone vibrates. He checks it quickly and frowns.
“I need to ch*ck in with Alex. I’ll be in my office if you need anything.” He leans in over my shoulder and
k*sses me on the cheek. He speaks quietly in my car before pulling away.
“Love you.”
I immediately flush red and of course, before I can even process Bemy leaving, Megan squeals in
excitement. Damn. I sometimes forget how good the Shifter’s hearing is. A nce at Darrien shows a
mischievous, dare I say it, evil, grin stered to his face.
“That was SO cute. I mean, I’m reluctant to call my brother adorable but seriously. So sweet!” Megan is
speaking so fast that she’s practically stumbling over her own words. I nod along with her, letting her
express her excitement. But I keep my eyes on Darrien. I don’t trust that expression. Sure enough, as
soon as Megan pauses to breathe, he strikes.
“So, Ryann. When are you going to put our Alpha out of his misery?” He asks slyly. Huh? What does
that even mean? I don’t think anyone could look at Bemy right now and say that he looks miserable.
Thrilled, ted, excited… aroused, sure. But miserable?
“I have literally no idea what you mean by that.” I tell him, crossing my arms over my chest, Darrien just
smirks at me like I’ve said something cute, like his meaning should be obvious. Megan is the one who
answers.
“Oh, I got this one! He’s asking when you’re going to tell Bels that you love him back!” she says, way
too loudly if you ask me. I frown. Why are they so convinced that I haven’t? Also I’m kind of insulted
that they assume he said it first. I mean I know that he and I were both shocked that I did, but still. Not
cool.
“Who says I’m the one who needed to say it back.” Iin. Darrien and Megan both freeze in ce
and stare at me, Darrien looks almostical. He’s so shocked.
“You, YOU said it first?” He demands, disbelief in his tone. Megan just holds her arm up for a high five.
I p her hand as she clearly wants.
“Way to go Ryann! How did this happen? When did it happen? I want to hear everything!” She insists. I
nce up at Darrien, expecting him to put an end to the ‘girl–talk‘ but nope. If anything he looks even
more interested than Megan, although his eyebrows might be permanently stuck in his hairline due to
shock at this point.
Somehow, the three of us end up in the living room. I’m in the middle of the couch with Darrien and
Megan on either side of me. Why does this feel like an interrogation? I give them a quick rundown of
how it basically slipped out while
1/2
174–Striking and starving
I was telling Alpha Kohen about or rtionship.
“You told the Alphas?!” Darrien demands. He still looks shocked. In fact he looks awed.
“Not quite. I told AN Alpha. Just Kohen. Baby steps and all that.
“I’d hardly call that a baby step.” Meganments and I shrug. Without warning, Megan throws her
arms around me, squeezing me tightly.
“Megan. Can’t. Breathe.” I manage to choke out. She loosens her grip so I can get some air but doesn’t
let go.
“I’m so proud of you.” She finally releases me and rxes back into the couch, sighing dreamily.
Darrien doesn’t say anything, honestly I think I broke him. Should I be insulted? Still, he pats me on the
shoulder approvingly before turning
is gaze back to Megan where, as always, it lingers.
Eventually I manage to extricate myself from Megan and Darrien. I love spending time with them, really
I do. But with Megan all dreamily sighing at me and Darrien mooning over her… I’m just feeling a little
awkward. I excuse myself by iming I have work to do then escape upstairs to the bedroom so that I
can… well… hide. Now in the running away type way, more in the, I need a moment to take a breath
and process things, way. I sit there a while until I start feeling guilty for wasting time and honestly, I’m
kind of bored. In an attempt to be productive, I decide to take another attempt at meditating and maybe
communicating with Kiara. I seed in making a connection at least. I can see Kiara. I can’t hear her
but at least I can see how she’s doing. She is eating. Or at least kind of eating. She has a stic te
in front of her with what looks like take out on it. Nuggets, chips. That kind of thing. But she’s just
picking at it. I doubt she’s even taken a single full bite. That won’t do. She’s already so thin she looks
like she might break. She’s clearly lost weight during her captivity. I make it my new goal. I am going to
get that girl the biggest meal. Anything she wants, everything, I don’t care what, hell I’ll get her twelve
vours of ice–cream if that’s what she needs. Still, watching her poke at her meal is just painful. She
needs to keep her strength up. She needs to stay alive and be ready when wee to rescue her. I’m
determined to tell her. I’ve spoken to her twice now. It’s difficult, but I did it then so I can do it now. I
focus and force a word through our connection.
“Eat.” It must work because Kiara jumps. This time she doesn’t bother looking around. She just closes
her eyes and takes a couple deep breaths. When she opens them again, that look of determination she
used to wear is back on her face. With shaky movements, she reaches forward and grabs a nugget. I
watch as she takes a bite and slowly chews. Actually, I sit and watch as she finishes the entire meal,
although I have to admit towards the end she looks a little nauseous. It might have been a bit much for
her to finish her meal, 1 can tell she hasn’t been eating much. Her stomach has probably shrunk a little.
Poor darling. I don’t think I have the energy to speak to Kiara again, but I do my best to connect to her
and send her my approval. I think it works because as soon as I do, a wave of dizziness washes over
me and I lose the connection.
Chapter Comments
13
POST COMMENT NOWThis content is ? N?velDrama.Org.