As Amber grew closer to her mating date, her anxiety shot higher.
Finding out one of her classmates had hidden her mark for all these years was stunning.
Sienna pulled her sleeve back down and worried her fingers together on the table. “I don’t think it was worth it. All the lying. For what? So I might have a few fake friends all these years? Fit in better?” She shrugged. “I think I would have been better off making friends with you and Rylee than pretending to be someone I’m not.”
Amber reached over and covered Sienna’s hands with one of hers. “I’m sorry. That must have been hard.” She didn’t feel angry. It wasn’t Sienna’s fault. Her parents had made this decision for her twenty years ago. They thought they were doing her a favor. Who could know? Maybe they had.
“Thank you.” Sienna eased her hands free and wiped a tear that slid down her cheek.
“When do you turn twenty?”
“A month after you.”
“Not much longer to wait then.” Amber offered her a smile.
Sienna took a deep breath and sat taller. “That’s not why I’m here. I mean I didn’t follow you just to share my secret.”
Amber cocked her head to the side. “Okay.”
“Do you…” Sienna licked her lips, hesitating. “Do you have any visions?”
Amber frowned. “Visions?”
Sienna swallowed hard, her face flushing. “Yeah, about the future. About life in the mountains.”
Amber slowly shook her head. “No. Do you?”
Sienna looked down, shrugging. “I guess. Maybe my mind is just conjuring up images.” She chuckled wryly as if to brush it off.
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Something deep inside told Amber not to blow this off. She felt called to listen and be kind. “What do you visualize?”
Sienna kept her head angled toward her lap. “All kinds of things. My mate. His home. Other women with their mates…”
Amber’s breath hitched. “Rylee?”
Sienna lifted her head. “Yes.”
“You see her?” Amber’s heart started pounding.
Sienna nodded. “Yes. With a man with brown hair and hazel eyes.”
Unable to even blink, Amber leaned closer. “Is she…happy?”
Sienna smiled. “Yes. I can’t even know if my weird visions are real, but yes, he adores her.”
For whatever reason, Amber believed this girl.
“I was really hoping you were having the same experiences. Or maybe knew that Rylee had also. I’m so isolated with no other marked girls to commiserate with.”
“How long has this been happening?”
“A few weeks. The visions are getting stronger and more frequent. Sometimes I find myself staring off into space. I feel like I’m watching other people’s lives. Like a television show, but more like a camera inside their homes. Like I’m spying on them. I can’t hear what they’re saying. I can only see them. It’s kind of eerie and freaks me out, but it can’t be real, right?”
Amber reached for her new friend’s hand again. “There’s a lot about mating an Alpha Protector that we just don’t know. Maybe it’s normal.”
“Except it hasn’t happened to you, and you don’t think Rylee experienced it either.” Sienna winced.
“That doesn’t mean it’s not real. I’ve often felt like my mate was watching me from up in the mountains,” she shared. It wasn’t the same, and she’d always poopooed the sensation, but if it made Sienna feel better…
