Chasing Fate (Sentinel & Guide)

Chapter 35

[Thank you for your patience, I will try to update more in the future, but I'm just going through a rough patch]

Sigfried had barely finished the introduction when the crowd seemed to rush forward to greet them. There was still a semblance of rank and order as elder preceded younger, alpha preceded beta, but mostly it was a mix of dozens of people and a laundry list of names. Fate did her best to remember names and faces, but it all began to blur around the tenth person. She wasn't really used to meeting so many people. There weren't this many on her Friendbook!

After the initial rush everyone stepped back to mingle around as a clan, the kids ran about between everyone's legs causing a ruckus while the waitstaff began to bring out the food for the buffet lined along a hedge wall. the band started up again after a quick break and Jack was just about to take Fate over to grab a bite when two people strode up.

The man was tall, dark-skinned and muscular in a more slim way than Jack's bulky frame. The woman beside him was petite, but not as tiny as Karen, her wavy black hair pulled into a no-nonsense ponytail behind her braid. They both were wearing a pair of hospital scrubs and doctor's coats with the logo of the Mercy Medical Center emblazoned on the chest.

Jack broke into an even brighter smile,"That's my second in command, Elliot, and his guidewife Neha."

"Night shift today?" he asked as the man came up to do a quick but elaborate handshake.

Elliot laughed as they bumped chests, "Yes! We're late but I wouldn't miss meeting your new guide for the world! After all, she's going to be my sister, I gotta know her face!"

The two men chuckled amiably. It was clear that they weren't blood-related. Jack was a poster boy for Nordic descent with his honey blonde hair and bright green eyes, while Elliot was dark and glowing like mahogany wood in the sun. Neha too was clearly from southeast Asia, with large deep set eyes and olive skin.

Neha turned to regard Fate, giving her the guide salute. Fate felt a ping of shakiness from the smaller guide as they pulled apart. Neha laughed, "I'm still getting used to this American greeting."

When she spoke she had a heavy British accent, the posh kind that spoke of expensive schooling from youth. She most definitely wasn't a doctor for the money.

Fate shook her head, "It's alright, it's new for me as well."

"Well, we'll have so much time to practice! What clan did you hail from? I was still getting dressed when you two stepped out." Neha leaned in conspiratorially, "I haven't seen a gathering this big since our wedding last Spring. Everyone's so excited to rub elbows. Don't let it intimidate you. They're all teddies."

"Ah, well I was born in Westmoreland territory," Fate began, disarmed by Neha's blunt manner.

A short distance away Jack and Elliot casually chatted while observing their guides. They seemed to be getting along well enough without their interference. Elliot paused to take in Jack, seeing how much he'd changed in the short week and a half since he'd gotten on the plane to Bent Valley. To say he was glowing would be a bit of an understatement. It was blinding to look at.

"It's very clear that you're a lost cause. Have you two talked about plans yet?" Elliot turned to ask Jack. The tall blonde was clearly not paying attention, eavesdropping on his new guide's conversation like a rude child.

Seeing that he wasn't even on Jack's radar, Elliot elbowed him in the ribs, hard. He was satisfied when Jack let out a surprised yowl. Elliot smiled unperturbed at Jack's betrayed glare.

"I knew you'd be hopeless but this is a new level for you J," Elliot laughed, slapping the place where he elbowed as Jack tried to guard against it. Decorum devolved from there, to none of the clan's surprise.

Fate, however, was a little taken aback. She wasn't entirely sure how clans work. Though she came from the Westmoreland clan's territory, she wasn't a part of the in-group. Her parents were nulls, and though she's on all the proper paperwork, going to gatherings had never been a priority. Were beta members really allowed to tussle around like this?

Seeing Fate's consternation, Neha turned to look at the scuffle with mild exasperation, "Those two are always like that. If he wrinkles his coat I'm going to abandon him to the lead nurse."

That drew a soft laugh out of Fate. Neha smiled warmly at that. She could tell that the girl was a bundle of nerves and holding it together with twine in a very strange situation. It would be some time before she warmed up to the clan proper. But that was up to Jack. No amount of well-meaning chitchat could break through the sadness she could feel under Fate's carefully constructed friendly facade.

She was about to say something else when a very insistent beep from her watch reminded her that they needed to get on the road to make it to their shift on time. Giving Fate another brief forehead touch, she took off running for the car, waving insistently at her husband to stop horsing around and go.

The rest of the clan waved and saluted as the two made their escape. There was a brief muddle as groups shifted. After a second or two, Jack's hulking frame was visible. He was walking and chatting with someone a little too short for her to see through the crowd, making his way back to her spot.

The picture becomes crystal clear when the crowd parts a little. He's chatting with a beautiful woman, almost a spitting image of the model on Jack's screensaver, if not several inches too petite for a modeling career. She's tiny, coming up to his waist in heels. Her platinum blonde hair falls in waves to her elbows and the tiny cream and blue sundress complimented her slender size 2 frame. She's the very picture of girl-next-door. Standing next to Jack in the sunset, they look made for each other, like a picture out of a  home and garden magazine. The only thing that was missing was a dog and a picket fence.

As they came within reading distance, Fate understood why Jack hadn't yet married this perfect model beauty. 

She was a null.