Sera’s lips thinned, and she looked away, not saying anything.
“I’ll give it a try,” I said to break up the tension.
The bow was heavier than I thought, and I struggled to hold the thing upright. “Like this?” I asked, trying to mimic the stance Sera took.
“Push your legs a little farther apart.” She positioned my hips forward and raised my front arm high before handing me an arrow.
“Is that a silver tip?” I asked. “Aren’t those—”
“Dangerous?” Ms. Elsie cut in.
I glanced over my shoulder to see her eyeing Sera. “Yes. We’ve asked her to practice with rubber tips while she’s out here, but she refuses.”
Sera shrugged. “Alpha allows it. Besides, I never miss my target.”
“Hm,” Ms. Elsie huffed but said nothing further.
Sera gave me a few more instructions on how to handle the bow and arrow. I didn’t bother telling her that this thing felt heavier than lead. My arms and shoulders were sore almost as soon as I lifted the darn thing. How was she able to hold it with such ease?
Then I glanced over at her and noted her nearly six-foot frame—that and the fact that she was a shifter with incredible strength.
“Oh my god,” I yelled when I let go of the drawstring, and the arrow sailed sideways and only a few feet away from us. “Watch out,” I cried, but the two women who’d walked off from the group, talking, had spotted the arrow long before I called out.
They ducked in time to narrowly miss the arrow flying over their heads. At that moment, I was grateful for their swift shifter reflexes.
My heart sank as I handed the bow back to Sera. “You should probably keep this thing away from me.” Yet another example of how I didn’t fit in with Chael’s world. Maybe he was mistaken about me being his mate.
Then, a memory came to mind, and I snorted.
“What?” Ms. Elsie asked.
“Nothing.” I shook my head. “Just déjá vu,” I explained.
She tilted her head to the side, as did the other women, including Sera, all giving me a quizzical look.
“You know, déjá vu? Like, you’ve dreamed something will happen that hasn’t happened yet. Then when it takes place, you suddenly remember the dream?”
Their expressions morphed from confused to suspicious to curious in seconds. Then Ms. Elsie gasped.
“Our alpha queen is a seer.” She clapped, that twinkle in her eyes growing even more as she laughed. “How wonderful!”
The other women smiled, their eyes taking on even more renewed interest in me.
“I’m sorry, what?” I begged their pardon.
“You’re a seer. It makes so much sense now,” Ms. Elsie added, grasping me by the arms. “Our pack hasn’t had a seer in almost two centuries. Our alpha’s great-grandmother was the last seer of our pack. No wonder Mother Moon chose you for our alpha.” She squeezed my arms and pulled me into a hug.
“I think you’ve got this all wrong,” I told them when she finally released me. “I’m not… I mean, this is something most people do from time to time. It’s not a big deal. Besides, what is a seer?” I had suspicions of what the term meant, but I didn’t want to assume.
“You know, when you can tell the future,” the blonde woman answered.
I laughed and waved my hands in front of my face. “No, that’s not me. I just had a strange dream, that’s all.”
Ms. Elsie stepped closer, getting so close to my face that I pulled back a little. She stared me in the eyes, searching for something.
“I see it.”
The women behind her clapped.
