Strings of Fate

30- Dates and dinner | stare at the message for a moment. Before this, all the meals we've shared together have been purely because we were already in the splace. Was he going out of his way to specifically invitefor dinner? | remember what Darrien said about Bellamy seeingas his mate sooner than | expect. Surely he isn’t trying to askout. | take too long to reply and Bellamy texts again.

Bellamy- My sister wants to go out this evening and prefers to take Darrien. Your evening guard won't be by until around eight. I've been stuck working all day and am due for a break for dinner. This kills two birds with one stone.

Ahh, that explains it. | release a breath that | didn't realise | was holding. I'm not ready for him to try and askout. Another text from Bellamy comes through.

Bellamy- ??? Pick you up in an hour??? Ryann- Okay, see you soon.

| quickly update Darrien on the plan.

“I'm just going to take a quick shower and get dressed, Logan has been in my room all day so | never got to change out my pyjamas.” Darrien waves a hand in the air.

“Sure, go get ready for your date.” “It is NOT a date.” | meant to be firm but it comes out more as a squeak. Darrien givesa dubious look.

“You really think the evening guard can’t cuntil eight? He's the Alpha, they go when he tells them to go.

That was just an excuse so you would agree.” He decides. | roll my eyes.

“Don’t be ridiculous. It's not a date!” | storm off into my room and half slam the door behind 1. me. | take a quick shower and then move back into my room to decide what to wear. Darrien’s words haveanxious and | find I'm having difficulty choosing. Eventually | settle on a dark. blue, long sleeved skater dress and black leggings with my black ballet flats. | quickly blow 1/5 30- Dates and dinner dry my hair not wanting to go out anywhere with it all dripping wet. The entire process only takesabout thirty minutes. | open my bedroom door to head out and check on Darrien and am surprised to find Bellamy has already arrived. | sit and re-calculate my tgetting ready in my head. | couldn't possibly have been a whole hour right? “I'm a bit carly.” Bellamy answers my silent question.

“I can see that” | answer. This is not the first tBellamy has been over to my home, he’s stayed the night for goodness sakes, it is ridiculous forto be feeling nervous. There's an awkward silence which surprisingly, Darrien decides to break.

“Well, I should go pick up Miss Kane.” He moves towards the door. | step forward and grab his arm. He stops and turns toa curious expression on his face. | grin and give him a quick hug.

“Thanks for everything today.” | step back. Darrien looks horrified. Like | stole his favourite coffee and tipped it down the drain or something. He glances over at Bellamy who seems to have frozen. His expression is dark.

“Alpha Kane.” Darrien says respectfully giving a deep nod before hurrying out. | call out as he leaves.

“I'll bring your cookies from Maggie by tomorrow when | cto meet Megan, she would be so disappointed if you don’t try them.” He doesn’t answer but I'm fairly sure he heard me. | turn back to face Bellamy who still hasn't moved.

“Is something wrong?” | ask, curiously. Bellamy still looks irritated. He doesn’t answer my question.

“You two seem close all of a sudden.” He comments. | shrug.

“Sure, | told you | was going to try and make friends with him.” | remind him. Bellamy’s expression doesn’t waver.

“What did you two do all day?” his tone is suspicious.

“We braided each other's hair and talked about boys.” | respond sarcastically. Finally he 2/5 D 1424 30- Dates and dinner breaks his severe expression and raises an eyebrow. His lips twitch as he seems to be fighting a smile.

“Oh really? Any boys in particular?” He is definitely trying not to smile now. | nod my head.

“Oh yeah, definitely.” | answer him casually. He tilts his head in question, encouragingto continue.

“Well, after we played a gof Monopoly and discussed how tragic our love lives are, we watched a rom-and debated if the relationship portrayed in the film would last. So, if I'm going to be specific, we discussed the boys from the movie.” | tell him all this without thinking.

“OUR love lives?” he comments. | shake my head in denial.

“I meant his love life. | got him to admit that he is totally hung up on Megan. | told him not to give up.” I try and distract him from my slip up.

“I see.” He responds. | move quickly, not giving him a chance to continue the conversation. | grab my bag and phone from where they're sitting on the bench.

“We should go.” Bellamy smiles atand offershis arm.

“Just a sec, | need to lock the door first.” I lock it behind us then accept his arm as we head down to where his car is waiting. He opens the door, | hop in and he heads to the drivers seat. In the car, | quickly send a text to Maggie letting her know that I'm going out to dinner and will be back in a couple hours. She responds immediately that she will use her master key to let herself in to make my bed if I'm not home..

The restaurant that Bellamy takesq ) to is called The Golden Cauldron. It's I) 9 a Magic's restaurant which means no 0 . , non—magic beings are allowed. I've never been here before, even though , : ) : I'm a Magic. I've neypr serie paint i qying{for | fanky dinner and night 0 , ‘ out when I'm by myself anyways. | may as well just be comfy at hand order take-out. We head inside . . ) and my first thought is that I'm glad | wore a dress. The place is every bit as fancy as Borderline, but less f o modern. It's stunning, but | sort of wish it was a little less so because it makes this all feel very date—like. Not that | really have much experience in the area. | feel rather panicky and it must show because Bellamy keeps glancing sideways at me, his 3/5 30- Dates and dinner

expression concerned. | work to keep my expression more neutral. Inside, we are greeted by a ho less when smiles 44S ign okie all her tdeth! Or to be more accurate, smiles at Bellamy. She glances atbut seems to dismissas unimportant as she flicks her short, blonde hair back behind her ears.

« i) .

Alpha Kane, it's nice to see you again. Will it be just the two of you tonight or are you expecting others to F ” join you?” she asks Ag shedoes so, pe plRipinediale of her white blouse to reveal her marks. No doubt by design. The mark looks quite ei ) q q similar to Bellamy's but is orange in q ) colour instead of black. | guess she’s 3 . ) a feline Shifter then. No wonder she's being so reverent towards Bellamy.

He nods. “It’s just the two of us.” he responds. The woman's friendly smile wavers for a second and her eyes narrow, but she manages to hold it together.

“PardonMiss?” she turns her bright smile to me, although it definitely seems forced. I'm surprised that she’s acknowledging that | exist actually.

“Miss Gale.” Bellamy provides. The hostess nods.

“Miss Gale, | don’t mean to be intrusive, but | will require evidence that you are a Magic. You might not know, but non-magics aren't permitted here.” Her expression is smug. Clearly, she doesn’t realise that | am actually a Magic. She’s hoping to ruin our dinner | suppose.

“Miss Gale is with me, | will vouch for her.” Bellamy half growls at the girl. She cowers back slightly but manages to hold her own, just.

“I'm sorry Alpha Kane, | mean no disrespect. | just-" | cut her off.