Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Amber took off running toward the front door as soon as she scented Rylee in the clearing. She’d been waiting patiently for her friend to arrive ever since she’d eaten. Pacing, looking around Daddy’s home, learning her environment.
Suddenly she was swept off the floor when Isaac wrapped an arm around her from behind and lifted her off her feet, plastering her back to his front. He held her so high her feet were dangling, and her heart was racing.
His lips came to her ear, tickling. “No running in the house, and no opening the door to anyone without Daddy.”
“Okay, okay.” She squirmed in his grip, trying to get free, hoping he would set her down.
He held her tighter. “Try that again. A bit more reverent. A bit less snarky.”
“Sorry, Daddy. I won’t run or open the door.” It was humbling submitting to him.
“Good girl.”
She could scent Rylee and Hayes on the porch. They didn’t need to knock. She tried to be patient, knowing her Daddy was testing her.
Isaac surprised her when he tipped her head to the side and bit her neck.
She moaned as she went limp in his grip. There was no denying this man anything when he nipped at her sensitive skin. She would submit to him every time.
He gripped the tight muscle once more with his teeth and dragged them across her skin, silently demanding her compliance. “Be a good girl, Amber,” he said as he lifted his head and kissed her cheek.
She was off-kilter now. Aroused and wiggly. The room was spinning a bit as she was forced to face the intensity of their union.
Isaac finally opened the front door.
Amber was beyond aware that her dress was hiked up enough that their guests could see the front of her panties. Between the bite and him exposing her, she couldn’t overlook his dominance.
Rylee and Hayes were holding hands on the porch.
Rylee giggled and covered her mouth. “Welcome to the mountain,” she teased.
When Amber tried to wiggle in his arms to get him to put her down, he held her tighter, wrapping his arm around her hips. His mark lined up with her thigh as he nuzzled her ear again. “Submit,” he whispered.
She stopped struggling and whimpered, breathing heavily.
Her panties were soaked with her arousal, her nipples pushing hard against the front of her dress.
Without the layers of shifts she’d worn her entire life, there was no hiding the puckered tips.
In addition, the bite on her neck throbbed with her pulse.
He’d intentionally bitten her at the last second so Rylee and Hayes would see it.
“Good, Little wolf.” He lowered her to her feet.
Everything about this mating was unconventional.
She’d only had a taste of what it meant to be mated to an Alpha Protector.
She’d only been awake a short time since her transition.
He’d made her aware of a few rules and asserted his authority, but there was so much more for her to learn.
That much was obvious. Instead they had guests.
Hayes clapped a hand on Isaac’s shoulder, grinning.
Amber lowered her gaze, embarrassed. Hayes knew more than she would like. So did Rylee. There weren’t secrets among the Alphas and their mates. How could anyone hide anything?
“Come on in.” Isaac backed up and held the door wider.
Rylee wrapped Amber in a hug. “I’ve missed you.” They rocked back and forth as if they hadn’t seen each other for years instead of two months. It was comforting. Amber needed her friend to help ground her.
“Can we go outside and explore?” Amber asked the moment they released each other.
Isaac laughed. “Not a chance. Not alone. And that isn’t a rule for today. That’s a hard rule for always, Little one.”
“So many rules,” Rylee muttered. “I’m sure you haven’t had a chance to hear them all.”
Hayes smirked. “It would seem my Little girl has gone a bit too long without getting her bottom spanked.” He lifted a brow.
Rylee winced. “Sorry, Daddy.”
As bizarre as this new world was to Amber, at least it appeared that Rylee was living in the same strange universe.
Isaac set a hand on Amber’s head, grounding her as he often did with just a touch. “Why don’t you two go play in your nursery for a bit so I can talk to Hayes, then we’ll go outside.”
“Yes, Sir.” Amber grabbed his hand and kissed his knuckles before taking off with Rylee.
“You look so happy,” Rylee whispered the moment they were in the nursery. She pointed at the bruise on Amber’s neck and giggled.
Amber rubbed it, shrugging. “He likes to bite me.” Apparently it wasn’t too weird, otherwise Rylee would have been appalled. The fact that she’d laughed spoke volumes. She plopped down on the soft rug and crossed her legs in front of her. “I feel like I’ve been transported to another universe.”
“Yeah. I did when I first arrived, too. Plus, you’ve only been here one day.” Rylee winced. “I’m sorry your honeymoon phase keeps getting interrupted. I think I would have glared someone to death if they had come into Hayes’s house right after my first shift.”
Amber shrugged. “I feel conflicted. On the one hand, I would love to snuggle up with Isaac and ignore the world. But I’m also pulsing with curiosity. I want to know what my weird ability means.”
“I can’t believe you already had extraordinary sight before you even reached the house yesterday. I bet that was weird.”
“Not at first because when I saw you and the others here in the clearing, I didn’t realize Isaac couldn’t see the same thing. It took me a bit to understand it was not normal.”
Rylee giggled. “There is no such thing as normal around here. And nothing gets by anyone. There are no secrets. If you woke up one morning thinking you should go for a run, Khloe would probably go into a little trance, visualizing it. Molly would hear you discussing it. I would scent your shampoo as you moved through the trees. And here’s a weird thing… ”
Rylee leaned in closer, eyes wide. “Suddenly Leah is having dreams. Like foreshadowing. So I guess she might know you intended to go for a run the day before and call and tell you not to bother because it was going to rain.” Rylee giggled.
Amber shivered. It was so surreal. It seemed like Rylee was pretty calm about all of this. Maybe Amber would be eventually, too, but for now, she was still too stunned.
“Are there other mates with powers?” Amber asked.
“There are three other newer mates. Has Isaac told you about Olivia?”
Amber nodded. “Daddy… Can I just say how odd it feels to call my mate Daddy?”
“It was weird for me, too. You’ll get used to it. All Alpha mates call their man Daddy.”
Amber chuckled. “Anyway, Daddy mentioned Olivia. She’s the one who’s blind but her wolf can see, right?”
“Yes. And she can talk to the bears telepathically.”
“So weird.”
“There are two other women who were recently mated. Jezebel and Suzette. Suzette was the woman who was kidnapped on the day of her ceremony. Her mate, Brock, hunted her down and rescued her from a cave. That was the first time the Alpha Protectors learned there were bear shifters in the area. It was one of the rogue bears who kidnapped her.”
“Why did he do it?” Amber sat taller as it dawned on her that her life was fragile. She shouldn’t be sassy about going outside by herself. Not if a bear shifter managed to kidnap another woman right out of her home in the valley without detection.
“No one knows for sure. Most likely to prove he could. To scare the Alpha Protectors. And it worked. They may have been overprotective before that incident, but they’re doubly so now.”
“I guess that’s reasonable. And Suzette doesn’t have any special powers?”
“No. Neither does Jezebel, Arion’s mate. Not that anyone is aware of yet anyway. Since Leah started having dreams, Arion and Brock are paying close attention to see if their mates suddenly exhibit a new trait.”
“It’s kind of scary,” Amber admitted.
“Yeah, but also powerful. We mostly know what the bears can do, and they aren’t able to block us from scent, sound, or clairvoyance, but we don’t know what the lions are up to.”
Amber cringed. “Lions… Mindboggling.”
“Right? I’m the only one who has been aware of one of them.
I nearly died when I woke up in the middle of the night, smelling that cat circling our house.
It took me a minute to figure out what it was.
I knew it was feline, but it’s not like I’ve ever seen lions, tigers, panthers, or leopards.
I’m not familiar with any of their scents. ”
“But you haven’t scented one since then?”
“No. Just the once. Also probably a warning.”
Amber’s mind was racing as possibilities flooded her. She’d thought a lot about this in the last few hours. “If we assume the lions can mask their scent or even their speech, do you think they can also mask my ability to see them?”
“That’s the mystery. How could they? They’d have to become invisible to keep you from seeing them.”
“Or too far away. I don’t know how far my power extends.”
“You’ll learn fast. The only reason Isaac is in communication with Hayes and the elders is because he knows how important this is.
If there’s even the slightest chance you can see something, we need to know.
The safety of the Alpha Protectors, their mates, and everyone in the valley could depend on it. ”
Amber rubbed her temples. “That’s a lot of pressure.”
Rylee grabbed her hand. “I know. Don’t look at it that way, though. All you can do is look around, figure out how far you can see, and try to make sense of it. It’s not your responsibility to save the world.”
“Do you feel like you have to sit outside and inhale all the time?” Amber asked.