My Snow Princess

Locked Up

The door to the office clicks shut behind my parents and silence descends on the room. Stone stays silent as he watches me, leeting the tension grow in the air. This is a trick he uses to intimidate people, but it hasn't bugged me in years. I keep my eyes lowered and wait for his instruction.

"It's good to see you sis," he finally says, with a sneer.

"Welcome home brother," I say with a respectful tone.

"I hope you've enjoyed your year off because now that I'm back, there is a lot of work that needs to be done," he says condescendingly.

I swallow my pride. He knows I worked like crazy all year and just wants to get a rise out of me. Little does he know that I spent the year fortifying my own alliances and network.

"I am ready to assist you with anything I can. Do you have an assignment for me?" I ask.

"I have a couple of omegas waiting outside my office. I want you to show them all the daily tasks required to take care of me and my rooms. Everything from when and what I like to eat to how I like my rooms cleaned and arranged. I would like them to start taking over those tasks within a week and I want it to be seamless," he orders.

"Absolutely. Can I ask what my new assignment will be?" I ask, looking up at him curiously.

He smiles with an almost normal smile, and says, "My promised mate will be here soon, and I will require your help with her. You are around the same age, and you know everyone in the pack house. You are the most suitable companion for her."

I don't know what to make of this turn of events. Stone is not kind or caring enough to worry about companionship for his new mate. There is something more to this, but there isn't any way for me to know until she arrives. For now, I will hand over my daily duties to the two omegas.

I hate being in such an ambiguous position. Because I can't guess the underlying motivation for these changes, I can't strategize about how to handle any possible outcomes.

"Are there any preparations you would like me to make ahead of your mate's arrival to make her more comfortable," I ask, hoping that any extra information he gives me will shed light on the situation.

"No. I will make all the necessary arrangements. She's going to be my mate after all," he says dismissively. "You can go now."

I can tell Stone has lost interest in me, so I leave. It's never good to stick around in his presence longer than necessary because you never know when his mood may change and what will trigger the change.

In the office I find two new omegas that I've never seen in the pack house before.

"Hello, I'm Aniu. I will be training you. Can I have your names?" I ask.

"I'm Talon and this is Maeve," the taller of the two says.

"You're new to the pack house staff?" I question.

"Yes. We were hired specifically for this role. We were sent from the Onyxmane pack," the girl says. She has her guard up and it makes me wonder how she was made to come here and why my brother thinks it's safe to trust her.

The whole point of my existence has been to serve Stone so that he was safe and now I would be handing over my responsibilities to two strangers who aren't even from our pack. I'm doing this so I can take on the new responsibility of basically just hanging out with Stone mate. It's not even his fated mate. It doesn't make sense.

"Let's get started. Have you been given a tour yet?" I ask.

They both shake their heads no.

"Okay, let's start at the bottom in the servant areas and work our way up to Stone's rooms, then we can start on the chores for the day," I suggest.

I start walking without waiting for a response. They both look so out of place and shy. I don't think they will be particularly chatty at any point during our training. I highly doubt they volunteered for this position. The Onyxmane pack is my parents' main ally and these poor girls are probably just one tiny part of a larger contract.

For the rest of the day, I introduce them to staff and show them all around the pack house, trying to make them as familiar with everything as I can.

They never open up to me, but I can tell they are close to one another. They have that thing where they can just look at each other and know what the other is thinking. They also move around each other so fluidly when we are cleaning, not bumping a single time. They've obviously worked together a lot in the past.

By the fourth day they have the routine perfected and I report our progress to Stone. He invites me for a meeting for next steps, so I meet him in his office.

"Ah, good, you're on time," Stone says when I enter his office. Before I have a chance to sit, he's up on his feet and leading me back out. "Follow me."

I follow a couple of steps behind out of respect, letting him know I'm aware of my lower status.

Stone speaks while I follow in silence. "You've really done a great job of managing my affairs at home. Everything is just the way I like it and you've trained my new omegas perfectly," he compliments.

"Thank you," I say, a bit on edge. Stone never gives praise for a job well done. This is worse than being berated.

When we make it up to the top floor, I have a good idea of what will happen next. After all, I had been in charge of the renovations here and Stone was the one who had given me the command.

I sighed as we slowed beside one of the doors along the hallway. Stone opened the door and gestured for me to enter, nothing needed to be said really.

I sighed and stepped inside, accepting my fate.

"This isn't permanent, but I need you to stay here for now. Once we get my mate, she will be staying with you in this room. I will need you to befriend her and make sure she stays safe here. Do you understand?" he asks.

I nodded and he left. I heard the lock click in place, kicking off my imprisonment.

I felt sorry for the girl he would be forcing to be his mate. I would have to get some information about her and her bond with Gamma Killian. If they already bonded, then this would be a very dangerous place for her. My brother would have no problem severing the bond. In fact, he'd enjoy it. I would need to start working on an extraction plan.