Chasing Fate (Sentinel & Guide)

Chapter 38

{Thank you for all of the love! I can't believe this charted #1 on #possessive and #interracial in one day!!!! I didn't expect anyone to ever actually read this story. It's still kinda unreal. Thanks so much for your support everyone, new and old}

Fate was waving goodbye to the server when she realized Jack wasn't in sight. He wasn't the next room over, or anywhere in her range for the first time in almost two weeks. She'd lost track of him while chatting with Brent, the server. He was a dog lover too and had read about Beau in one of the less-intense news articles covering her story. He and his boyfriend were looking to adopt their first dog and she'd gotten lost in discussing the best breeds for their lifestyle.

It was the first calm and genuine conversation she'd had in a while, but while she was basking in the light of chill vibes she'd lost sight of Jack. The garden was nearly empty, with just a couple servers breaking down tables to load away. A little disoriented, she managed to make it to the solarium door without tripping in the pitch black night.

Inside the solarium proper, little solar lamps embedded along the stone walkway made a guide for the walkway to the stairs and into the house proper. Fate picked her way carefully across and up the stairs, unsure of where Jack had gone. She thought he'd be in the solarium, but it was deserted, the only light coming through the french doors to the dining room.

It didn't stand to reason that he'd gone inside already. Alpha sentinels had a habit of doing a final sweep of their territory before going to bed. Jack was no different. Even in the hotel rooms, he'd double check the door and windows before finally resting. The house was much larger, so he was probably still checking. She could be good and wait on him before going up, but her feet were hurting from standing in the relatively new, relatively tight sandals for hours on end.

As she reached the top of the mezzanine, Fate paused to look out into the night from the giant solarium windows. It was so dark out that the haze of city lights was nowhere to be found. Instead, the sky was dotted with a dense blanket of stars that looked so much like the view from her backyard in Bent Valley. With a sigh, she turned to finally go upstairs when she caught a speck of light in the corner of her eye.

The solarium windows stretched around to the side of the house where the final truck was leaving with the last of the waiters and party tables. Beneath the brightness of a driveway lamp were two silhouettes. One tall and wearing maroon, the other petite and in blue, leaned up against a posh roadster. Kay and Jack. He had his elbow on the top of the vehicle and his free hand on his hip, talking amicably with her alone in the dark. It didn't look like he'd be moving from her side any time soon.

Fate didn't know why but she felt herself clenching her teeth in frustration before forcibly turning away. She clenched her fists rhythmically until she was on even keel once more. There was nothing out of place. Everything was as expected. This was how it was always going to be. There was nothing she should be upset about.

Before she even realized it, she'd made it back to Jack's room, slamming the door a little harder than was polite behind her. With a frustrated sigh, she kicked off her shoes and began getting ready for bed. With any luck, as tired as she was, she'd be asleep before Jack made it up the stairs. Then she wouldn't have to bask in the awkwardness for a single second longer.

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"Let's see what we can do about reducing appearances for a while," Jack said as he trawled through his calendar app, leaning nonchalantly on Kay's car just because he knew she hated when he messed up the wax.

"Mitts off the Maserati, Sigfried. You've already burned through the allotted break period with this whole...situation. You're going to have to re-enter society sometime."