Strings of Fate

45- Tears and truth Next t| check my phone it’s basically flat so | plug it in to Megan's charger. It’s after six in the evening.

“I should probably get going soon.” I inform her with a frown. I'm enjoying myself, | don’t particularly want to go hand sit around by myself. It leaves too much tfor thinking. Megan grins at me.

“You look like you'd rather stay.” “I would.” | admit. She shrugs.

“So stay then. We can have a sleepover.” She is suddenly excited, her excitement is contagious.

“I'd love to!” | bounce back onto her bed and she laughs as | almost fall off again. It takes a few minutes for her to calm down enough to be able to speak again.

“So, | was wondering something...” | start. She nods forto continue.

“Tristan, | don’t know a lot about him, and you don’t really talk about him all that much. What's he like?” | am actually curious what he seems like to her, because tohe just seems creepy. Megan smiles.

“He’s perfect. He always says the right thing and we never fight or disagree about anything.” she answers with a sappy sigh at the end. | resist the desire to frown. Never disagree? Everyone disagrees about things sometimes? Life would be a bit boring if we didn’t. | guess Tristan is telling Megan everything she wants to hear.

“Huh, that’s nice | guess.” | tell her casually, hoping she can’t sense my insincerity.

‘So, now it's my turn to ask a question. How's the hunt for Bellamy’s future mate going?” she asks casually. | have to fight not to react. Why is she asking about that NOW? | shrug.

“Nothing has changed.” | answer vaguely. Megan raises an eyebrow.

1/5 45- Tears and truth “Really? Are you sure? You haven't found her yet?” | shake my head.

“I haven't found her.” | try not to cringe. | was hoping to avoid outright lying to Megan, but it’s hard to do when she’s being so direct.

“You really haven't found her? Practically every female feline Shifter in town was at my engagement party. So it's odd that you didn’t pick up anything.” She continues. I shrug.

“It's very weird, maybe you need to look harder? Or maybe we should invite over sShifters from other cities?” She suggests. I've been trying to stay calm but | lose control.

“Would you just STOP! | haven't found her. | don’t know if I'll ever find her. But there's no need to rush fate!” By the end of my sentence I'm almost yelling. Megan crosses her arms over her chest.

“You don’t know if you'll ever find her? That seems like a lie toRy because as far as | can tell you already have!” She snaps back. | stare at her in shock.

“I... what do you mean?” | ask nervously. She can’t have figured it out. Please don’t let her have figured it out.

Megan rolls her eyes.

“I'm not blind Ry, nor am | stupid. | can see the signs as well as anyone else. What | want to know is why you're denying it.” | sigh, okay so she figured it out. | guess I'm going to have to have this conversation.

“I'm not refusing anything. Your signs are unreliable. We barely even get along most of the time, we fight constantly.” | argue. Megan waves a hand dismissing my argument.

“You get along fine, you argue because my brother isn’t used to being around people who actually stand up to him and you aren’t used to having people care what you're doing. Not to mention neither of you are used to being so open.” Her voice is firm and leaves no space for debate.

“But 1-” | start but Megan doesn’t letfinish.

“Ryann Gale, stop lying to me. Am | your friend or not?” she demands.

2/5 45- Tears and truth “Of course you're my friend.” | assure her. She nods, pleased.

“Good, so tellthe truth. Are yo my brother's mate?” | can feel her eyes on me, but | keep staring at my own hands. | can’t bring myself to look up as | respond. | can't lie to her anymore. Not without losing her. Or at the very least losing her trust.

“Yes, we're fated.” | whisper. Megan and | both jump as her bedroom swings open with a bang as it hits the wall.

| whirl around to see Bellamy. He is standing in the doorway and his expression is hard and unreadable. Did he just hear that? His expression, along with the fact that it isn’t common practice to slam doors for no reason, tellshe must have. This is so very, very bad. He wasn’t supposed to find out like this. | search his face, he does not look impressed. In fact he seems horrified. | can’t seem to move. | can’t even breathe. Bellamy just continues to stare at me. Then, without saying a word, he turns and slams the door behind. him. | can hear his steps as he heads downstairs. | stare at the door. Megan recovers from the shock before | do.

“What are you doing? Go after him!” She pushesslightly, encouragingto get off the bed. | shake my head.

“I can’t.” | whisper. I'm shaking from head to toe. | can’t possibly face him now. That wasn’t the look of someone who was happy to hear I'm his soulmate. In fact if | had to guess | would put his expression closer towards hatred than anything else. He hates me. | know we're fated to be together, but | can’t face him like this. The sound of a car outside tellsthat Bellamy has left the building. It’s too late forto follow now anyway. | still can’t seem to move.

“Oh Ryann, I'm so sorry. | didn’t know he was there. | swear.” Megan moves to wipe tears. away from my face.

I'm crying? | didn’t notice.

“How did you know? What gave it away?” | ask her. It’s too late now to hide anything, but | need to know what gaveaway. Megan givesa sad smile.

“I've known the whole time. It’s partly why | started treating you as a sister. No one else. fights with him like you do. He's always happier when you're around and he’s incredibly worried about you when you aren't nearby. What really confirmed it forthough is that he’s stopped sleeping. He spent a couple evenings with you and now he can’t seem to sleep without you. He's never had that problem before. You're the same, although you seem to be getting on a little better. Probably because you aren't a Shifter.” | choke back a sob.

3/5 45- Tears and truth “He was a jerk toat first, so | didn’t say anything. Then it was too late. | couldn't say. anything. | didn’t want to ruin everything by trying to rush fate. What if he was horrified? Or worse, went along with it because he needs a mate to make the Alphas happy or because he feels obligated tosomehow. And | don’t even know how | feel. It's all just happened too fast.” I'm completely bawling at this point. Megan has her arms aroundas | hide. my face in her shoulder.

“Oh sweetie, he would never.” | cry even harder.

“How can you say that? You saw what just happened. He hates me.” Megan falls silent. She doesn’t know what to say to that. | take a deep breath and pull away.

“I should head home.” | hold up a hand when she tries to object.

“He lives here, I'm not going to chase him away from his own home. I'll ask Darrien to take me.” Megan looks unhappy but agrees. | dial Darrien’s phone. He answers almost immediately.

“Darrien?” | sniffle.

“I'm in Megan’s room right now. Can you takehome? | need to leave right now.” | can feel the tears coming again.

“I'll be there in two minutes. Cdownstairs.” He hangs up. | grab my stuff and make my way down the stairs.

Megan follows behind me, worried. The front door swings open and Darrien takes one look atbefore stepping forward and pullinginto a tight hug. It’s sweet of him, especially considering how he usually avoids them.

“What happened?” He asks. I'm already crying again.

“Bellamy found out.” “I made her admit it to me. | didn’t know he was listening.” Megan sounds guilty. | can’t bring myself to reassure her right now. Part ofblames her still. Darrien strokes my hair gently.

“Wait... you knew?” Megan seems impressed. | can feel Darrien shrug.

4/5 45- Tears and truth “The signs were there.” Is all he says. | pull myself away from him.

“Can we go please?” | half beg. He nods and leadsout to his car. Megan hugstightly. before I climb into the passenger seat. As Darrien starts the car, | wind down the window.

“Call Bellamy and tell him I've gone home.” | mumble. Megan nods her agreement and we drive away into the night.