Isaac (Alpha Daddies #8)

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.

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…

“You have?”

Amber shrugged. “It’s more like I felt like I could see movement far away, but in my head it was him. Rylee always thought I was a bit cuckoo.” She giggled, trying to lighten the mood.

“Well, I don’t think you’re cuckoo.” Sienna squeezed Amber’s hand.

“Do you see specific things? Like them at the dinner table?” Amber chuckled again.

“Rylee is a picky eater. She’s always been worried her mate would force her to eat things she doesn’t like.

It’s silly. I’m sure you don’t see things like that.

But you said she’s happy. She wouldn’t be happy if he was forcing her to choke down foods. Just wishful thinking on my part.”

Sienna cocked her head to the side. “Funny you should say that. It explains some of my visions.” She shuddered. “It’s so odd. Rylee doesn’t eat with her mate. I thought maybe it was a custom or something. But I see other mates eating together. Just not Rylee and her mate.”

Amber searched Sienna’s face, finding nothing but honesty. “What does she do while he’s eating?”

Sienna grinned. “She colors usually.”

“Colors… That’s strange.”

“It’s soothing. For her and for me. I can’t explain it.”

“You’re having a lot of these visions, then?”

“Yes. I feel like I’m either losing my mind or I’ve become an inadvertent peeping Tom. Like I’m standing outside their windows, looking in their private homes. Except I’m not outside. I’m inside with them. It’s so frustrating. I really hope it’s my imagination.”

Amber shook her head. “I don’t think it is. In fact, you’ve given me peace of mind. I’m glad to know that Rylee is happy. It gives me hope for myself. Have you visualized any of the Alpha Protectors as mean?”

“None. Never. They’re all kind and caring. Overprotective. Doting. I don’t want to say too much, but if what I visualize is true, we’re both going to be happy.”

“Do you see my mate?”

“I assume so, but since you’re not with him, I can’t be sure. I think he’s the single man I see with brown hair and brown eyes. He’s often with Rylee and her mate. I think he’s her mate’s brother, but I can’t be certain of any of that. It could be he’s just some random single Alpha Protector.”

Sienna looked down, making Amber curious. “You don’t believe that, though. Something tells you he’s my mate. Something else.”

“Yeah.” Sienna met Amber’s gaze again. “Rylee’s been going to his home a lot lately. She’s helping him prepare a room. I think it’s for you. It’s…”

Amber leaned closer, her entire body filled with anxiety. “It’s what?”

“Do you like rainbows?”

Amber gasped. This was truly the most shocking encounter she’d ever had in her life.

She didn’t know this woman. There was no reason why Sienna would come to her with this bizarre story and lie.

What good would it do her? She was obviously also marked and had kept that a secret.

She was taking a huge risk in facing Amber and revealing her extremely strange visions.

No. The visions had to be real. And that didn’t even matter much. What mattered was that Sienna was providing a tremendous comfort to Amber.

“I should go.” Sienna jumped to her feet. “My mom is going to wonder what happened to me.”

Amber stood also. On instinct, she pulled Sienna into a hug. “Thank you for sharing that with me. I know it was scary.”

Sienna let out a rough chuckle. “I’m glad one of us feels better. I was hoping you could corroborate. Now I just feel foolish.”

“Don’t.” Amber held her new friend at arm’s length. “I don’t know why that’s happening to you, but I think there’s a reason. We’ll find out soon. I can’t wait to see you when you get there. I bet we’ll be close friends.”

Sienna threw her arms around Amber, hugging her tight. “I hope you’re right.”