Free Discovery: Altera Realm Trilogy by Jennifer Collins

You help...keep me calm."
    Hunter's expression hardened, but he nodded. "Sure."
    Syney smiled and relaxed back into the bed. She reached out a tentative hand across his chest before lying down against him, her head resting on his chest. His body warmth filled her body. It was much warmer than a typical human's. For the first time since she had left her house, she felt comfortable... calm. She felt Hunter shift as he laid his legs in front of him on the bed. Her head sank further into his chest, just like a pillow, as sleep crept closer to the surface of her brain. The sound of Hunter's heartbeat pounded in her ear. It was odd, almost like a double beat.
    "Your heartbeat is different," she said sleepily.
    "I have more heart chambers than you."
    "Interesting," she whispered, as sleep completely enveloped her.
    This time her dream was different. She was still in the large stone room, but now she was wearing a long, flowing white gown. It was absolutely beautiful, almost shimmering in the sunlight that shone down from large windows in the ceiling. She turned, ready to run, from a sound to her right. There in a doorway, bathed in bright sunlight, stood Hunter, wearing a long-sleeve white cotton shirt and matching pants. He smiled at her, the sun reflecting gold strands in his brown hair.
    He reached out a hand to her. "Are you ready?"
    She nodded, her heart pounding even harder. She wanted to cry out of happiness. But she stopped herself from running to him. They had just met. She shouldn't feel this way this quickly. Maybe it was magic. He did say something about magic, right? She looked into his deep-brown eyes. Magic or not, she really didn't care.
    She opened her eyes, Hunter's quick heartbeat still beating in her ear. She took a deep breath and glanced at the clock—six thirty. She hadn't gotten a lot of sleep, but she felt fully rested this time. She realized quickly that Hunter had fallen asleep as well. His breathing was much slower now, and a low snore escaped his mouth. She didn't want to move, but a sleeping Protector did her no good if any wild animals showed up. She sat up slowly, and Hunter woke quickly at the movement.
    "What's wrong?" he asked, his voice heavy with sleep.
    "Nothing. You fell asleep," Syney said.
    "Oh." He stood up. "Guess I was more tired than I thought."
    Syney nodded and sat cross-legged on the bed.
    There was a knock at the door. Both Syney and Hunter turned to look at it.
    "Get down on the floor," he said, walking toward the door.
    Syney quickly did as he had asked. She said a silent prayer that it wasn't a cheetah at the door. She heard Hunter say something to the door. It sounded like gibberish, probably a code of some sort. A deep muffled voice came from the other side. Hunter opened the door, and Syney assumed it to be Raine. She moved onto her knees and peered over the bed. Raine and Cass walked slowly past Hunter into the room.
    "Where is she?" Cass asked, worried.
    "Here," Syney said, standing up. She looked at Cass and Raine with new eyes.
Raine must be a Lycin like Hunter, and Cass must be a Magic User
, she thought. Cass must have used some sort of magic on her parents the previous day. No wonder they let her go with them.
    "Oh, thank the goddess," Cass said walking straight over to Syney and engulfing her in a big hug. "I was so worried."
    Syney wriggled out of the hug and took a step back. It may have seemed cold, but this girl had lied to her and used magic on her parents. It felt like a violation of some sort.
    "What?" Cass asked, and looked over to Raine. "Did something happen?"
    After a moment Hunter stepped forward. "I told her."
    "That wasn't your place," Cass said sternly.
    "Hey, back off," Syney said, walking to stand in front of Hunter. "At least someone was honest with me!"
    Cass sighed. "You don't understand. There's a protocol in place for this. You aren't supposed to be informed of what's really going on until we reach the Village."
    "I don't think you understand. We