“Please let it be real,” she muttered, sniffling into her pillow again as she rocked forward and backward. Both options—real or imaginary—scared her to death, but she preferred to find out she wasn’t totally out of her mind.
Why, though? Why was she having visions of her future mate?
Sometimes she could see inside other people’s homes. She was confident they were all Alpha Protectors. She could see Rylee with her mate, and now that Amber was mated, she could see her with her Alpha. The only man she ever saw who didn’t have a mate was the man who’d made the sign.
Sienna, I can’t wait to meet you. Two more days, Baby girl.
Warmth spread through her. Now that the initial shock was passing, she found that the message soothed her. She decided that definitely Amber must have told her mate about Sienna’s visions, and he was so thoughtful that he’d made the sign to help ease her nerves.
Yes, she was crying, but the tears were more from relief than anything else. Even if it turned out two days from now that she ended up facing a man who looked nothing like the huge shifter in her imagination, at least her brain had given her something hopeful in her final days.
Chapter One
Two days later…
“Sienna, do you promise to love and honor your mate, Jayce… To accept his guidance and care… To learn from him the ways of our pack… To lean on him in times of sorrow… To laugh with him in times of happiness… To accept his protection from harm… To obey his directives… To cherish him for eternity?” Jayce’s father asked.
“I do,” she whispered when it was her turn to utter those two simple words. Just three letters. Not complicated and yet they stuck in her throat.
Her mate had made a similar promise to her just moments ago. He’d been standing in front of her where she kneeled on the floor, supporting her physically and emotionally with a hand on the top of her head.
Sienna wasn’t certain how she’d managed to get through this ceremony without passing out. She was breathing heavily. Fear held her in its grip. The entire process was relatively quick, but the room seemed to be spinning as both her parents and her mate’s parents quietly exited the round ceremonial room.
The sound of the door snicking shut made her flinch. This was it. In a matter of seconds, she would face her mate for the first time and verify if her visions had been accurate or not.
Jayce bent and swooped her off the floor and into his arms, cradling her against him.
She squeezed her eyes shut, not ready to face reality yet.
He kissed the top of her head and chuckled, the deep tone making her want to wrap her arms around him and hold on forever. Instead, she burrowed her face against his suit jacket and bit her lip.
“I know you’re scared, Little one,” Jayce said. “You’re probably afraid to look at me and find out if I’m the man you’ve been visiting in your dreams. I promise I am. Amber says you have the prettiest green eyes. I can’t wait to see them. Will you look at me, Baby girl?”
She shook her head, feeling oddly defiant, which wasn’t like her. She was never this ornery. In fact, she’d spent twenty years being taught to obey this man who would be her master. A man her mother told her she would service in every way for the rest of her life. And here she was defying him at her first opportunity.
In a strange twist, she’d learned from her visions—if they could be trusted—the mates of Alpha Protectors didn’t seem to hold the role she’d been raised to believe would be expected of her. She’d seen no evidence of any of the mates cooking or cleaning. On the contrary, she’d witness the opposite. It appeared that Alphas took care of their mates in every way instead of the other way around.
Madness. Nothing made sense. And because the world she’d been snooping around in was so far off what she’d been taught to expect, she found herself totally doubting the validity of her visions.
Cradling her with one arm as though she weighed nothing, Jayce stroked a hand down her cheek before tucking a lockof hair behind her ear. “This dark silky hair is exactly as I envisioned it. Amber told me how pretty it was. She was right.” He threaded his fingers in it and dragged them through the length, which took some time considering it reached her butt.
As was customary, she’d never cut her hair. As was also customary, she’d worn it down most of her life, only pulling the front of it back in a clip or a small braid. Today she had intricate braids running from her temples, the two thin lengths clipped together at the back of her head.
“I know you’re scared, Sienna. It’s normal to feel nervous, and doubly so considering what I suspect you’ve been experiencing. I want you to know that there’s nothing wrong with you. You have a gift. Together we’ll learn to explore it and find out what it means.”
She trembled in his arms, melting a little when he stroked her cheek with his fingers.
“Will you look at me, Baby girl?” The endearment was so odd. He’d used it several times out loud so far, but he’d also written it on the sign he’d made her. Considering her small size in comparison to him and the fact that he was cradling her in his arms, she shouldn’t be surprised.
But who was she kidding? She’d witnessed so many things lately that most days her head had been spinning. If even a tenth of what she’d visualized turned out to be true, she was in for an awakening.
When Jayce stroked her eyelid, she realized she still hadn’t obeyed him. Finally she held her breath and opened her eyes. For a moment, she simply stared at him, both shocked and relieved to find he was exactly the man from her vision.
His smile was huge and kind. “Hi.”
She licked her lips. “Hi.”
“I’ve waited so long to meet you, Little one.” He lifted her higher so he could kiss her forehead. “You’re even prettier than Amber described. And you smell amazing. Gardenias?”
