Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 44578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 223(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 223(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
As she heads to her mating ceremony, Amber’s primary concern is whether or not her mate will allow her to reunite with her best friend. She’s beyond thrilled when she sees her friend waiting for her at her new home, but that excitement is dampened when Amber realizes she should not be able to detect so many details from such a great distance.
Isaac isn’t surprised to learn his mate has exceptional vision. Every recent mate has had enhanced senses. He is shocked, however, that her ability has manifested before he’s fully claimed her. And now they have guests waiting for them? That’s unconventional and frustrating.
Newly mated couples typically spend weeks in a honeymoon period before they rejoin the community, but that’s not in the cards for Amber and Isaac. Amber’s skills are needed immediately. The two of them must learn to manage the expectations placed upon them as well as their fated deep commitment to each other.
The books in this series include strong elements of age play. If this genre is offensive to you, this may not be the book or series for you
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Prologue
“Amber?”
Amber turned her head at the sound of her name to see one of her classmates approaching her as she walked home from school. “Yes?”
The girl jogged to catch up, tucking a stray lock of nearly black hair behind her ear. “Hey, you probably don’t know me. My name is Sienna.”
Amber nodded slowly. She’d seen the brunette before, but she’d never spoken to her.
Sienna bit into her bottom lip, shifting her weight back and forth. “Can we talk?”
“Sure…” Amber glanced around. She was only a block from home. It was kind of warm out, and she was exhausted from not sleeping well lately. “I just live a few houses down. Do you want to come inside?”
Sienna nodded, her stance relaxing. “That would be great.” She seemed harmless. Surely she hadn’t followed Amber home in order to taunt her, though Amber wouldn’t put that past anyone. Girls were mean.
As one of the marked, born with the sign of the Alpha Protectors on her wrist, Amber didn’t have many friends. She’d been lucky enough to meet another marked girl in her class—Rylee—when they were very young. They’d been best friends all their lives, but Rylee was sixty-seven days older than Amber, and she’d been claimed two months ago by her mate.
Sixty days. That’s how long it had been since Amber had spoken to her best friend and confidant. In seven more days, when Amber turned twenty herself, she would be claimed by her own mate and take her place among the women of the Alpha Protectors.
Sixty lonely days, worrying if she would even see Rylee when she got to her new home. She had no way of knowing if Rylee had been claimed by a shifter who would even know Amber’s mate. The waiting was killing her.
After guiding Sienna to the house, Amber opened the front door to let the two of them inside. It smelled of fresh cookies, which didn’t surprise Amber at all. Her mother had been cooking all of her favorite foods lately, a sort of last hurrah before Amber left to begin her new life.
“Mom?” Amber called out. When there was no response, she headed for the kitchen, Sienna on her heels.
A note sat on the counter, tucked under the plate of sugar cookies.
Had to run an errand. Be back in about an hour.
Amber turned toward Sienna. “Have a seat.” She grabbed the plate of cookies and set it on the table. She didn’t get a negative vibe from this classmate, so she couldn’t see the harm in talking to her. They might as well enjoy a snack.
Pouring two glasses of lemonade, she glanced at Sienna. “What’s up?”
Sienna sat rigid at the table, acknowledging the lemonade with a nod but not touching it. She had her hands threaded together in her lap. “Your claiming ceremony is in a week, right?”
“Yes.” Amber took a sip of her cold drink and set it down.
Sienna met and held her gaze for a few seconds before lifting her right arm and pushing her sleeve up.
Amber gasped. “You have a mark.”
Sienna nodded. “I’ve never told anyone.”
“How…?” Amber set her elbows on the table. “How did you hide it?”
Sienna shrugged. “It wasn’t hard. My parents were living a few miles out of town when I was born. They never mentioned it to a soul. We moved into town when I was six, and my mother told me to keep it covered, so I did. Neither my parents nor I ever expected to get away with it for twenty years, but no one ever found out.”
“Why?” This was so unusual and shocking.
Sienna held Amber’s gaze again. “You know why.”
Amber slowly nodded. Of course. Being marked didn’t buy anyone any favors in life. Girls could be catty and mean. They were all just jealous, but that didn’t make it any better. And jealous of what? That was the weirdest part about being born with the mark of an Alpha Protector. No one in the valley even knew what really happened after they were claimed on their twentieth birthday.
Everyone acted like it was such an honor, something to be envious of. But was it? How could they be sure?
It’s not as though marked girls disappeared and were never seen again. They came down from the mountains from time to time with their mates to take care of business in the valley or see their families, but their new lives were very secretive.
Twenty years of waiting and worrying, not knowing what to expect, uncertain if they would have anything in common with the mates they were destined to bond with. What if he was mean or cruel? What if he didn’t even like her? What if there was no attraction? So many questions.
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.