Trying to distract myself from the mysterious blue thread, I work harder than I ever have in my life. Sadly, my tips don't show it. The customers who come here really do tend to be rather snobby. I am watching the clock as I work.
About an hour has passed when I finally allow myself to glance at my blue thread again. I gasp as I realise that the person it is connected to is in the restaurant right now. It leads to a woman sitting at table thirteen. She looks to be in her early twenties like me and has pitch black hair with a slight wave to it cascading down her back. It is only a couple inches shorter than mine. Her skin is tan and even from over here I can see she is absolutely stunning. Trying to keep my nervousness from my face, I approach the table to take her order. As I come close, she looks up and meets my eyes and I am surprised to see they are a golden yellow colour. I glance down at her arm. She is wearing a gorgeous black dress that is probably worth more than I make in an entire month. Thankfully, it is a halter neck which leaves her arms totally clear so I can see her mark. Her marks are black and the design wrapping around her arm is striking, I notice there are slashes through it that look like they might be meant to look like claw marks. Combining that with her golden eyes, it is pretty clear that she is a Shifter. This concerns me a little, as Shifters don't tend to befriend people who aren't also Shifters. In fact, even amongst themselves, Shifters are picky about who they associate with. You would rarely see a feline Shifter befriending a canine, rodent or reptile Shifter for example. I start to feel disheartened when I remind myself of the blue thread which is already solidifying and becoming more stable after this slight interaction. Our friendship is already certain. I need to have faith in that. I am about to ask for her order when a not-very-subtle cough from the man seated across from her draws my attention. I had been so caught up in the Shifter woman, my friend-to-be, that I hadn't even noticed she was with someone. Looking at the man I am first struck by how classically handsome he is. Or at least how handsome he would be if he dropped the stuck-up expression that he is directing at me. He has hair that was somewhere between blonde and bronze and, like the woman, has yellowish eyes, although his tip more towards orange than gold. He is wearing a suit so I can't see any markings, but I would put money towards him being a Shifter as well. Trying to play it cool, I take their orders and flee to deliver their slip to the kitchen. I fetch the bottle of wine the man requested and as I bring it to their table, I take the time to check them for threads. There are no threads linking the two of them at all. I can't see any threads coming from the woman apart from the blue one linking her to me. The man also has a thread. It is solid and red and leads out towards the door and out of sight. He has already met his soul mate. I guess that the two of them are friends, or perhaps co-workers or something. A few minutes later I bring out their food before continuing around to my other tables. I work hard not to be my usual clumsy self, something which is even more difficult than usual as I am completely distracted watching table thirteen out of the corner of my eye. It is terribly busy and more often than not, I am unable to keep them in sight. I clear away the plates from their meal and I am about to take their orders for desert when suddenly the man shifts out of his seat and onto his knee beside the woman. I freeze, confused. What on Earth is happening here? I open my mouth to ask if everything is okay when the man pulls a ring out of his pocket. My eyes widen, the woman gasps and pulls a hand up to cover her mouth. I am so caught up in her reactions that I don't even hear the words as the man proposes. I do however see as she accepts. There are tears running down her face as she leans forward to kiss the man and he places the ring on her finger. A round of applause goes around the restaurant as everyone begins to congratulate the 'happy couple.' Under Anthony's orders, I fetch them a complimentary desert as congratulations from the restaurant. I am numb. This is entirely wrong. He is not her soul mate, he has another soul mate. He has already met his soul mate, so how can he be proposing to another woman right now? What should I do? Should I be doing anything? I usually try not to interfere. These threads are fates, so they don't need my assistance. But if this woman really is fated to be my close friend, can I really let her marry someone who already has a soul mate? It can only end in heartbreak. Before I get the chance to talk myself out of it, I scribble a note to her on a scrap of paper I find behind the bar.*You don't know me, and I'm sorry that I can't explain this properly in a note. You should know that the man who just proposed to you is not the right man for you and while it may be unpleasant to hear, I thought I should tell you now in an attempt to spare you more pain in the future. One day I hope to explain myself properly but for now this is all I can do.
I am truly sorry.*I hesitate, unsure if I should sign the note. I have no idea how this woman is going to react. I know she will be my friend eventually, but she isn't yet and I don't want to push my luck.
I am not brave enough to write my name and sign the note properly, but I can't bring myself to make the note entirely anonymous either. I quickly scribble my initials at the end of the note. R.G. For Ryann Gale. Next I have to figure out how to slip her the note in a way that won't alert the man. I decide to try and slip it into her bag which is sitting by her foot under the table slightly. I grab their bill and make my way back to their table. As I go to place the little folder with the bill inside on the table, I make sure to 'accidentally' slip and drop it on the floor. I bend to pick it up and quickly slip my note in the woman's bag before I get to my feet, apologise and place the folder on the table directly between them. The man reaches for the folder. but the woman waves him off.“Don't be ridiculous Tristan. I have plenty of money, it makes sense for me to pay. Besides, once we marry, what's mine will be yours. So, it doesn't really matter at this point.” She decides. She grabs her bag and rummages inside. I hold my breath. I was counting on her not finding the note until she gets home. I release the breath as she pulls a purse from her bag, not noticing the note. She pulls out a shiny silver credit card and hands it and the folder back to me with a smile. I quickly go to ring it up. I glance at the name on the card. Megan Kane. As I return the card to her, I give her a bright smile. She might not know it yet and she might not be my friend, but from the moment she entered this restaurant, I became her friend and I intend to be the best friend she could ever have. The pair of them leave, arm in arm. I have to resist the desire to chase after them and introduce myself to Megan properly. I remind myself once more that we are fated to be friends. I will see her again.I finish the last few hours of my shift in a blur. Despite the unexpected proposal, I am over the moon. My first real friend at last. Anthony gives me a funny look as I give him a cheerful wave on my way out, something I have definitely never done before. My feet are killing me as I begin the fifteen-minute walk to my apartment. I've only been walking about five minutes when I give up on my heels entirely and just take off my shoes and carry them. I walk along the pavement in my stockings and hope that there isn't any broken glass or sharp rocks on my path. It's just after ten pm when I reach my home. I sigh and begin to climb the stairs. I live on the third floor of a tiny, cramped and somewhat rundown building. At least the rent is cheap and the landlady is the sweetest woman. Probably the closest thing I have to an actual friend. She is a little old lady, human, but unusually accepting of Magics. She lives off the rent from the residents of the building and spends her days in h
I wake to a loud banging sound. It takes me a moment to realise it is someone knocking really, really loudly on my front door. I groan and pick up my phone to check the time. Eight twenty-two AM. Who could possibly be visiting me? Maggie should be at the markets right now and Logan on his way to school, besides, neither of them would ever knock so... aggressively. I force myself to climb out from under my covers and shiver as the cool morning air hits me. I glance in the mirror as I pass it and realise my ponytail from the night before has twisted and now sits awkwardly on one side of my head with half my hair pulled loose in a weird loop. I pull the tie from my hair and slip it over my wrist. The banging continues.“I'm COMING, chill out already would you.” I grumble. Oddly enough the banging does actually stop. Whoever is on the other side of the door clearly has great hearing if they heard what I just said. That or they gave up on me answering and went home. I hope for the latt
The more time I spend with this Shifter, the more I begin to think fate got it wrong. I wonder if there is a way to break threads or get rid of them in some way. I've never seen it happen before. Even in death people are tied together. I once walked past a cemetery and saw an old man visiting his wife's grave. The red thread still flowed from his chest and vanished down into the ground connecting him forever to his beloved. It was depressing but also sort of romantic in a morbid kind of way. I glanced back at the man sitting at the table across from me. I can't imagine being linked with him forever. I really hope fate knows what it's doing, giving me this man as my soul mate.“Yes, I will be friends with your twin sister. It is fated.” He scowls at me.“You aren't even a Shifter, why would fate want you to be friends with my sister?” Now it’s my turn to scowl back at him.“What does that have to do with anything? Everyone has a fate Mr Kane, regardless of the circumstances of their
Paul swears and raises a hand towards me, but it never connects. Bellamy catches him by the wrist and holds him firmly. When he speaks his tone is deadly.“Get out. Never speak with Ryann again. I suggest you look into finding other accommodations since you are so against the presence of Magics.” He doesn't make any threats, but his tone and the look in his eyes is enough. Bellamy releases Paul who backs away before fleeing down the stairs to his own apartment. I had hoped that this neighbour might last a little longer than the last few, it seemed it wasn't going to happen. Note-to-self: apologise to Maggie for scaring off her residents. I sigh.“I shouldn't have done that. He didn't need to know that I'm a Magic. Now Maggie is going to have to get a new resident for the second floor again. She did warn me that he didn't seem terribly open minded.” I grumble, more to myself than to Bellamy. He shrugs. Suddenly he seems a lot less hostile, in the last minute he's changed from oppos
“Or maybe I can just tell my shift manager that I have to leave...” Shaun grabs my hand and places it on his arm. I want to yank it away but I feel like I probably shouldn't antagonise this guy, at least not until I'm sure he's not a threat. Seeing no real option but to go along with it, I leave my arm there and allow him to lead me from the restaurant. There is a black car parked out front. Shaun opens the door for me to get in and climbs in beside me. Aaron makes his way to the drivers seat. I rack my mind to consider why a Shifter Alpha would want to see me. Something to do with Bellamy of course, but what? Had he made some complaint about me? Or had he somehow figured out that I was his soul mate and planned to drag me kicking and screaming to the Shifter compound? The fact that he has involved his Alpha is hardly promising. I don't know a lot about Shifter politics and rules, but I do know that, to a Shifter, their Alpha is the highest authority that they answer to. If I am
“You're right.” He grumbles out.“Excuse me?” I question. He repeats himself.“You're right okay? I should have tried asking you first. I will try to remember to do so in the future. I have been worried about my sister and after hearing she got engaged I might have gone a little out of control. Don't worry about your job. I know the man who owns Borderline, I will make sure you don't get in trouble for missing your shift today.” He takes a deep breath and releases it.“I am hoping that you will agree to help me protect my sister by further investigating Tristan.” He manages to keep his voice calm but seems uncomfortable. I do notice that he hasn't actually apologised. But I guess admitting he is wrong is the first step.“I thought you didn't really believe in my power?” My tone makes the statement a question. Bellamy shrugs.“I'm not sure I do. Maybe it is just because you seem to be the only other person around here who is suspicious of Tristan, but I find I really want to trust you.
Bellamy sounds incredibly embarrassed. My eyes are wide. He couldn't possibly have figured it out could he?“Um...” I am unsure how to ask my question but Bellamy catches on fast.“It is generally accepted that a Shifter should have a mate before taking over as Alpha. Due to my parents' sudden passing, I had to take over early. It has caused some... friction... among the other Shifter groups. They don't respect me as they should because of it. Some demand that I should step down and allow a mated Shifter to replace me, one of the Betas. I have no intention of doing so and most feline Shifters here follow me easily enough. But a mate would simplify things. If you say you're here for me, my sister will believe it.” Bellamy pauses before speaking again, his voice halting.“Do you- oh no, I promised not to ask. Never mind.” I released a deep breath. If Bellamy outright asks me who his soul mate is, or if I am his soul mate, I am really not sure I can lie to him. I really don't want to hav
Bellamy, once again offers me his arm. I take it and allow him to lead me out to the front of the building where a Shifter man waits patiently. He is dressed in jeans and a dark shirt, much like Shaun and Aaron. He is quite tall and bulky, if he weren't so polite he would probably be intimidating. He has chocolate brown hair. His eyes are brown too but seem tinted orange so they don't quite look human. He is well built and if I do say so myself, quite attractive. “This is Darrien, Megan's guard.” Bellamy says quietly. The guy is cute, but what really catches my attention is the red thread connecting his heart to Megan's. Interesting. I go out of my way to smile at him and shake his hand.“Hi, I'm Ryann Gale. You're Darrien right? It's nice to meet you.” The man smiles kindly and mumbles a quiet greeting. I can already see that he is the gentle giant type. Although I wouldn't put it past him to be seriously scary if someone threatened Megan. He assesses me with his eyes, as if determin