Strings of Fate

36- Caffeine and contests Now that we are under a proper light rather than the shadowy front hall, Darrien notices how tired | am.

“You look dead on your feet. Did you sleep at all last night?” he questions. | shrug.

“I slept a little, but | don’t really feel like | did. My head is killing me.” | groan. He turns and rummages through a cupboard that is high enough that | would have to climb on a bench to reach it. He then grabe a bottle of coke from the fridge and pours a large glass. He places the glass and a little box in front of me.

“Take two of these and finish the drink. Painkillers and caffeine. You should feel a bit better once they kick in.” | gratefully down the pills and start on the drink.

“Thanks, | definitely need it.” We sit in silence for a minute or two as | finish up the coke. | can already feel the sugar and caffeine perkingup a little.

“So, what's the meeting for? Megan toldto cthis morning, she didn’t mention any meeting.” Hopefully this isn’t ssuper secret Shifter thing that I'm nosing into. | hate. when people tellto butt out.

“You, sort of. Alpha Kane has been tracking down the Shifters who were hovering about your place last night.

He's called a meeting with the other Alpha’s to discuss it. He believes it may be the Canine Alpha who sent the Vampires and that it may be his men who are hovering.” “Oh, how did Bellamy find out? And when? The day is barely started.” Darrien shrugs.

“I'm not sure how he found out. But he was out and about all night looking into it. He hasn't actually slept yet.

Hopefully he will find tto catch a nap before the... party tonight.” Darrien looks irritated at the mention of Megan's engagement party, which is fair enough | a suppose. So Bellamy has been up all night trying to find out who ordered the attack on us? Any remaining irritation or frustration at him that might have been lingering from last night fades away. My headache is fading and | feel far more lively than I did ten minutes ago. Darrien must have decided that he is no longer at risk of being killed due to my grumpiness because he decides now is the tto pry.

Caffeine and contests “So, how did your date go last night?” he asks, his tone is teasing but the question is serious.

“It wasn’t a date.” | insist.

“Does Alpha Kane know that?” “The evening ended withyelling at Bellamy and slamming the door in his face. So you can take from that what you will.” Darrien shrugs.

“It was definitely a date, and half your conversations with Alpha Kane end in you fighting. So | don’t place a lot of weight on it. But I'm still going to ask, what were you arguing about?” I roll my eyes.

“Whether | should let guys into my home. Well, to be more accurate, whether he should be allowed to tellif | can or cannot let guys into my home.” Darrien starts to laugh.

“I told you it would be an issue.” He manages to get out between bursts of laughter, | glare at him.

“Just stop. Besides, the argument was resolved so it doesn’t matter.” Darrien grins.

“You caved.” he states. | frown.

“I did not cave. We compromised.” | insist. Darrien raises an eyebrow.

“Really? How interesting. | guess he really can’t boss you around. Alpha or not.” | shrug. | remember our discussions about dominance. | relay it to Darrien and tell him about my experiment with Shaun the night before.

He is unsurprised.

“And you want to test it againstnow? You can if you want but | don’t see much point. | already know that you will be more dominant. Alpha Kane is more dominant thanafter all.” He reminds me. I roll my eyes.

“Whatever, lets try anyway.” Darrien nods and without a word, meets my eyes. Darrien holds. my gaze and unlike when | tested this with Shaun, | feel pressured to look away, but not enough to forceto give in. Just enough to make this actually feel like a competition.. Darrien lasts about ten seconds before he drops his eyes to the floor. His eyes stay down for.

Caffeine and contests about thirty seconds and | don’t think I've ever felt as powerful as | do right now. When he looks back up he givesa wry smile.

“Told you so.” He declares, | laugh.

“I guess you did. I'm still not convinced that it’s not just my freaky eyes making people uncomfortable though.” Darrien shakes his head at me.

“You're stubborn. Your eyes didn’t makeuncomfortable at all. Just pressured to submit, and only because you were staring right at me.” He clarifies. | shrug.

“If you say so.” | answer, doubt clear in my tone. Darrien rolls his eyes.

that we “Stubborn.” He repeats, but he givesa fond smile. Darrien is much better company now ve know each other's secrets. He's less formal and treatsas a friend rather than as an obligation. Talking with Darrien feels like how | always imagined having an older brother would be. He's nosy and laughs atway too much, but he is also friendly, protective and makesfeel comfortable. Oddly enough I also find that | want to try and protect him too. I'm not saying | want to beca ninja and fight my way through his enemies or anything. that would be crazy, if entertaining. More like | want to make sure he is happy and to protect that happiness. | wonder if this is what Megan meant when she said that Shifter women could be quite protective too, just in a different way to the men. But I'm not a Shifter, so it's not like that for me. Or is it? It's not like | actually know what | am, | could have protective instincts that I'm not aware of. | certainly feel protective of Maggie and Logan. Not to mention how | got involved in all this drama because | wanted to protect Megan. | could argue that I'm protecting Bellamy by not telling him about our thread. But | might also be protecting me. Or maybe both of us? Discussing everything with Darrien has leftso confused. What | really want to do is talk to Megan about it, but I don’t know if she could keep it secret from Bellamy, or even if she would be willing to. As close as | feel to her, I've not known her that long and Bellamy is her brother whom she is very close to. | don’t want to force her to keep secrets. It might create a bit of distance between us now but one day it won't matter anymore. Still, despite my confusion, | think | rather like having a brother-like figure in my life. | wasn’t lying when | told Bellamy that Harrison was more like a brother tothan anything else, but at the st| could never really see him that way. As an Incubus, his general manner has always been too sly, and held too many attempts at seductions to provide the comfort and relaxed feeling | always hoped to enjoy. | stand up from where I'm sitting. My mood is already significantly improved, perhaps from my considerations of Darrien, or maybe just because the caffeine is kicking in, but | feel far more 3/4 36- Caffeine and contests prepared to face everyone and to put on a smile for Megan as she prepares for her party.

“Do you think the meeting might be almost over? I'm suddenly eager to make a start on whatever Megan has planned.” | announce to Darrien. He shrugs.

“Possibly. They're meeting in Alpha Kane's study at the end of the hall. We can go check on them if you like?” he offers. I grin.

“Awesome, let's do that.” I'm moving towards the door before Darrien has even made it to his feet.

“You're eager all of a his sudden. But eager to see which Kane | wonder?” Darrien comments. tone teasing. | actively ignore him. The hallway is empty although the door to Bellamy’s study is slightly ajar. | can hear voices through the door. | glance up at Darrien, a silent question.

‘Should we be listening to this?” he shrugs, a silent answer.

Probably not but it’s not like there's anyone to stop us.’ | give him a smile before turning my attention to the voices. Straining to hear every word.