Sealed Mates

“Oh Kiera,” a singsong voice sounded behind me. I stopped scrubbing the floor, not wanting to look up, knowing who I was going to see when I did. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much of a choice. A pair of black heels appeared in my line of vision. I didn’t have time to dodge before one of them slammed into my face, sending my sprawling on my back, pain tearing through me. I blinked bleary eyes up at the woman in front of me. Tina. My brother’s mate and Luna of our pack. She hated me for reasons I would never understand. Then again, most of the pack did. But, I did my best to stay out of Tina’s way. She never hesitated to show me exactly what she thought of me. “Answer me when I talk to you,” she said, a smile still on her face, but rage in her eyes. Pushing myself up off the ground, I looked up at her but kept my gaze averted from hers. “Yes, Luna? What can I do for you?" I could see her smile widening at my subservient tone, but I still didn’t dare look her in the eyes. I’d learned that lesson young. “We have visitors coming this week. Your brother invited them. You need to clean their rooms.” Visitors? I couldn’t remember a time Kai had purposefully invited anyone into the pack house, unless they were prospects. But prospects wouldn’t have rooms made up for them. “Who did he invite?” I knew I’d made a mistake when Tina’s smile grew wider. “Oh, are you questioning the Alpha, Kiera? The wolfless, useless creature that we let live here out of the kindness of our hearts?” I froze at her tone, knowing there was nothing I could say to get me out of this. “Of course not,” I said anyway. “I was just curious. If you tell me which rooms, I will have them ready within the hour.” Tina grabbed my chin painfully, forcing me to look up at her, and I saw the desire to hurt me written there. Then her hand relaxed, and she let out a laugh. “You better have them ready in an hour. And clean yourself up. Your brother has decided that you will be taking care of them while they’re here.” She straightened, and I felt my stomach turn at her words. She couldn’t mean what she had just said, could she? Maybe I just misinterpreted them. “As their maid?” I asked hesitantly. Tina’s laugh sent chills crawling down my spine, and I knew I hadn’t misunderstood her the first time. “You will do whatever they want to be happy. We can’t have Alpha Black upset, can we?” The whole world seemed to freeze around me, and I could barely move my lips as I spoke next. “Alpha Black?” Everyone knew Alpha Black and his reputation. Everyone knew what he liked to do to the women he brought to his bed. A shiver started in my hands, then quickly spread to the rest of me. They couldn’t do this. They couldn’t command I do this. Could they? “And you will treat them well, or this may be the end of your life here with us,” Tina hissed. “Their visit here is very important. If this goes bad, we’ll know who to blame.” She walked away, her heels clacking across the floor I had just cleaned. Leaving me sitting in my own disbelief and dread. It was hours before I made it back to the closet I called a room. Honestly, I didn’t mind the size. It barely fit a tiny cot, but it felt safe in there, the walls close by, not enough room for anyone to really hurt me if they came after me. Sighing, I sat down on the cot, brushing back my long, red hair. It had fallen out of its braid halfway through cleaning the rooms for our guests, and I hadn’t had time to do anything else with it. I hadn’t even had time to bathe, and I knew Tina wasn’t going to be happy about that. She wanted me to look good for them. I leaned back, wishing I could take a nap. I was already exhausted after being up early, but I knew I didn’t have time for that. My hand brushed against something foreign, and I looked down to find a dress lying on my bed. I stared at it for a moment, my stomach twisting without even lifting it up. I knew what I was going to find when I did. I knew exactly what the Luna was going to dress me in. She wanted me to entice them. And I didn’t know why. My hand shook as I held up the garment, and I nearly threw up. It barely covered anything. And what it did cover left little to the imagination with how tight it was. My breaths started coming fast and hard, terror streaking through me. Of all the things Tina forced me to do, this was the first time she required me to give up my body. And I didn’t know if I could do it. I didn’t want to do it. “Well, well. Why haven’t I gotten to see that before?" A voice sounded at my door. I jumped. I’d been so distracted by the piece of fabric Tina was calling a dress, I hadn’t even heard the door open. The beta, Christian, stood there, a gleam in his eyes and his tongue flicking out to lick his lips. The size of my room had always made me feel safe. Until right at that moment. Right then, I felt anything but safe. I felt terrified. “Beta,” I said, my voice shaking as I placed the dress back on my bed. “The Luna has assigned me a task tonight, so I’m afraid I won’t have time for whatever task you’ve brought me.” Christian stepped into the room, forcing me back against the opposite wall. He closed the door behind him, and I felt my heart pounding in my chest. This was supposed to be my safe place. The one place in this house I could go and not get hurt. So, why was Christian moving closer to me? Why did his eyes look like that? “Tell me, Kiera.” The way he said my name made me shake with fear. There was a hunger there. One I had been ignoring for years. One that I knew he wasn’t going to keep putting off. “Why haven’t you ever worn anything like that for me?”