Sorry, Mate. You're Ours | Read Free Preview
Read chapters 1–3 of Sorry, Mate. You're Ours free. Unlock the full ebook when you are ready to keep going.
Chapter 1 — Men In Her Wildest Dreams
Sera’s POV
Three men were touching me.
One stood behind me, another was in front of me. The third stood at my side, close enough that his breath brushed my neck and made my knees weaken.
I should have been afraid.
Instead, I was burning.
The man behind me felt steady. The one before me felt commanding, and the one at my neck felt like sin.
Heat rushed through me so fast my body trembled. I looked down and saw the mark shining against my skin, bright and silver, shaped in lines and curves I had never seen before.
One of them murmured, “There you are.”
Another said, low and rough, “Mine.”
“No,” the one in front of me said, voice calm and final. “Ours.”
—
“Rise and shine, bitch!”
I jerked awake with a gasp, choking as icy water ran into my nose and mouth.
Laughter burst above me.
“Well, look at her,” Dalia said. “Still dreaming.”
I blinked water out of my eyes and pushed wet hair away from my face. The dream was gone. The moon was gone. The three men were gone.
Dalia held the empty bucket in one hand. Beside her, Maris leaned against the wall, already amused. Celene crouched a little, studying me like I was some ugly thing she had found under a table.
“She was smiling,” Celene said. “Did you see that? She was actually smiling in her sleep.”
Maris laughed. “Maybe some poor fool finally wanted her in a dream.”
Dalia dropped the bucket carelessly. It rolled once over the floor and hit the wall.
“Get up,” she said.
I was still groggy. My dress clung to my skin, soaked through, and my back ached from sleeping against stone.
I had not even fully sat up when Maris nudged my leg with the tip of her shoe.
“I said get up!"
I pushed myself upright before she could kick harder.
Celene wrinkled her nose. “God, you look disgusting.”
I said nothing. That was the safest way with them. Most days.
Dalia tossed a ring of keys to Maris. “Unchain her. Mother wants the laundry done before noon. And all our dresses taken out.”
The chain at my ankle came loose a second later. My skin there was red and raw. I rubbed it once before standing.
“Move!” Dalia yelled.
I walked ahead of them because I knew better than to make them repeat themselves. The stairs out of the basement were narrow and dark.
Behind me, the three of them talked as if I could not hear.
“I’m wearing the blue one tomorrow.”
“No, you’re not. Mother said the blue suits me.”
“Then I’ll take the gold.”
“You always take the best one.”
Their voices floated around me, and bile rose in my throat.
Tomorrow.
The mating ball was tomorrow.
By the time we reached the laundry room, my fingers were already numb from the cold.
“Wash these first,” Dalia said, dropping a pile of clothes into my arms.
Maris pointed at the table by the far wall. “And after that, bring down the dress covers. We need everything laid out.”
I waited until they left before letting out the breath I was holding.
A year ago, these same girls used to call me sister.
We were never truly close, but they included me enough that I thought maybe I had been lucky. They took me to markets, to dinners, and to mating balls in nearby territories.
Then Father died from wolfsbane poisoning, and everything changed in an instant.
I wiped my hands and crossed to the long chest near the wall where the gowns had been stored.
A dark blue dress lay near the top, the fabric smooth as water. Beneath it was a pale gold one with a soft drape through the waist and tiny crystal stitching at the sleeves. Under that, a soft rose gown I knew down to the last pearl.
These were mine.
Father had bought them for me.
'You’re my daughter, Sera. Stop looking at me like I stole the moon.'
A tear slipped down my cheek before I could stop it.
“What are you doing?”
My whole body tensed.
Dalia stood in the doorway.
Her gaze dropped from my face to the dress in my hands, and the look in her eyes changed fast.
“You’re crying on it?” she said.
I wiped my cheek quickly. “I’m not.”
“You filthy liar.” She strode forward and snatched the blue dress out of my hands. “Do you know how expensive this is?”
I stared at her. “Yes. Father and I bought it.”
Her eyes narrowed.
Maris and Celene came in right behind her, drawn by her voice.
“What now?” Maris asked.
“She touched the blue one,” Dalia snapped. “And she got her tears all over it.”
Celene let out a soft, fake gasp. “How sad. Should we comfort her?”
Maris’s mouth curled. “No. I think we should teach her.”
Dalia shoved the dress back against my chest hard enough to make me stumble. “Wash it again!"
“It’s already clean.”
Maris’s palm cracked across my face and sent me sideways against the table. Pain burst hot through my cheek. “What did you say?” she asked.
I pressed one hand to the table to steady myself. “I said it’s already clean.”
Celene was in front of me before I could straighten fully. She grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked my head back.
“Then clean it again,” she said softly near my face. “Unless you want me to rub your cheek until both sides match.”
Dalia folded her arms. “You contaminate everything you touch.”
Maris shoved my shoulder. “Do it.”
Celene still had my hair twisted in her hand. My scalp burned. My cheek burned. My eyes burned.
“Stop, the three of you!”
All of them froze.
Celene’s fingers loosened slightly.
Dalia blinked once. “Excuse me?”
I was breathing hard now. My heart was pounding so violently it made my chest ache. I should have lowered my head. Instead I looked straight at them.
“These were mine!"
Maris gave a disbelieving laugh. “What?”
I swallowed hard. “The dresses. This room. This house. All of it was mine before you came here!"
Celene slowly let go of my hair.
Dalia’s face turned cold. “Say that again.”
My voice shook, but I did not stop.
“My father bought these for me. My father built this home. You wear my things and sleep in my rooms and act like I should thank you for letting me breathe in them.”
Maris stared at me like she had never seen me before.
Then Dalia hit me hard, much harder than Maris had.
“You ungrateful little bitch,” she hissed.
I tasted blood.
Something wild rose in me then. “You took everything. And it still isn’t enough for you?”
“What’s happening here?”
We all turned as a new voice with a hard accent cut through the air.
My stepmother stood in the doorway, tall and perfect as ever, her dark gown smooth, her hair pinned back without a strand loose. She had a way of entering a room that made the air itself seem to straighten.
Dalia was the first to move.
“Mother, Seraphina started shouting at us.”
Maris pressed a hand to her own chest like she had been attacked. “We did nothing.”
Celene lowered her eyes. “She said awful things.”
My stepmother’s gaze landed on me. “What things?”
I opened my mouth, but Dalia spoke over me.
“She said this house is hers.”
Maris added, “And that Father’s things should never have gone to you.”
Then Celene, with perfect timing and her soft little voice, said, “She even said Father died because of you.”
My stepmother’s whole face changed.
“Is that true?”
I shook my head at once. “No. I never said that.”
She walked toward me slowly.
My skin went cold.
“I asked you a question.”
“I didn’t say it.”
Dalia sniffed loudly behind her. “We all heard her.”
My stepmother’s fingers sank into my arm so hard it hurt.
“Mother,” Maris said quickly, “we still need her for tomorrow.”
“The ball,” Dalia added. “She has to help us dress.”
“Who will carry our things?” Celene asked.
My stepmother did not even look at them.
She dragged me out of the laundry room so suddenly I almost tripped over my own feet.
I twisted once, trying to ease her grip, but that only made her yank harder.
“Please,” I said through clenched teeth. “I did not say that.”
“You should have!"
She hauled me down the corridor, down the stairs, all the way back to the basement.
Inside the dungeon, she threw me forward, then I heard the sound that made my blood turn to ice.
The whip.
Its leather tails were dark, and even from where I stood, I could smell the wolfsbane rubbed into the ends.
“You’re lucky I kept you at all after my husband died. I have no obligation to you!"
The pain was instant and white-hot, so sharp I dropped to my knees. It felt like my skin had split open. My whole body shook with it.
Tears sprang to my eyes before I could stop them.
“You will remember your place. You’re my permanent prisoner, and that’s all you will ever be. A useless burden your mother left behind before she died!"
I was panting. My palms pressed flat to the floor. I hated her. Gods, I hated her.
“Why do you despise me?” I choked out. “I accepted you as my second mother. I let you share my parents’ house. I never did anything to you!"
Her mouth twisted. “Your mother left behind a weak, useless girl who should have gone with her to the grave. Every time I look at you, I see her face in my house, in my halls, in my husband’s eyes. Do you understand now? I hate what you remind me of!"
For a second I thought she might strike me again.
Instead she bent, locked the chain back around my ankle, and pulled it short enough that I could barely move from the wall.
Then she straightened.
“You’ll stay here until you learn silence.”
She walked out without another word, and the door slammed.
“Moon Goddess, If you can hear me... please.”
Tears slipped down into the dust beneath my face.
“I’m so tired. I don’t want to do this anymore. Please let me be with them.”
I stayed like that for so long I stopped knowing if my eyes were open or closed.
When the door finally opened again, I flinched at the sudden light.
“Hurry up,” Dalia said from the doorway. “The ball starts in half an hour.”
Chapter 2 — Alphas Of The Triad
Sera’s POV
I pushed myself up slowly as every part of me hurt.
Maris crossed her arms. “You’re lucky we convinced Mother to free you so you can help us.”
Celene smiled. “You even get to see decent people tonight. Fresh air too. Try to be grateful.”
“There is one rule,” Dalia said. “You do not look at anyone tonight. Not the guests, not the servants, and especially not the Alphas. If you look straight into an Alpha’s eyes, even once, you’ll be whipped again.”
I looked at the dress in my lap.
Then at them.
“You can start the whip, I’m not going anywhere.”
All three of them stared.
I meant it.
I had no more tears left. No more pride left to protect. If this was the day I died, then fine. Let it be done.
Then Dalia laughed.
“And you think we don’t have a plan for that?”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
Maris stepped closer. “If you don’t come, every omega in the lower dungeon gets punished.”
My blood went cold.
Celene’s smile did not move. “Until death, if Mother feels like it.”
For a second I could not breathe.
The lower dungeon.
The she-wolves.
I knew they were there. I had heard them at night. Quiet crying. Coughing. Chains. Sometimes prayers. Sometimes nothing at all after a while.
My stepmother kept them like stock. Some were sold. Some were traded. Some were used until they could barely stand.
Rage rushed through me so fast my hands shook.
“You monsters.”
Dalia shrugged. “Maybe. Are you coming?”
I wanted to claw her face open.
Instead I forced the words out.
“Fine.”
Maris smirked. “There she is.”
With trembling hands, I pulled the rag dress over my body in front of them. Hunger made my fingers clumsy. My back screamed when the fabric brushed the welt there. My legs were unsteady when I stood.
But I stood.
Dalia gave me one long look and smiled like she had won.
“Good. Carry our things.”
She unfastened the chain.
I thought my legs would give out before we even reached the ballroom.
The halls were too bright after the dungeon. Golden light spilled from the wall sconces.
Music drifted through the house in soft waves, rich and polished and meant for people who had never once wondered where their next meal would come from.
I walked behind my stepsisters with my head lowered, holding the tray and the extra cloths they had shoved into my hands.
My stomach twisted so hard it felt like something was chewing me from the inside.
Don't look at anyone.
Don't look at the guests.
Don't look at the Alphas.
I repeated the rule over and over in my head as we stepped into the ballroom.
The place was already full. Noble wolves moved beneath chandeliers like they belonged in the light. Dresses brushed the polished floor. Laughter rose and fell. Perfume mixed with wine and roasted meat until the scent turned thick enough to make me dizzy.
Food was everywhere. Silver trays. Glazed pastries. Roasted meats. Buttered bread. Fruit cut open and shining under candlelight.
I didn't t let myself look too long, because I might want. If I wanted too much, it would show. If it showed, they would laugh.
So I kept my eyes low and followed Dalia and her sisters to their table. I placed the tray down, filled their glasses, and stepped back when they waved me away like I was smoke.
My hands would not stop shaking.
I had gone too long without food and water, and my body knew it. The room swayed if I stood still too long. My back still burned where the whip had landed. Sweat gathered under my dress even though I felt cold.
Maybe this was it.
Maybe after this ball, I would finally fall and never wake up again.
The thought should have frightened me, but all I felt was tired.
“Watch it!” Maris snapped.
I had nearly poured wine past the rim of her glass.
I pulled the bottle back at once. “S-sorry.”
She looked me over with disgust. “Can you stand without making a scene for one hour?”
Dalia reached for her drink and did not even glance at me. “If she falls, drag her outside. I don’t want her dying near my shoes.”
Celene laughed under her breath.
I stepped back again and fixed my gaze somewhere near the edge of the tablecloth. That was safest. Cloth, floor, hands, tray. Nothing else.
Then Dalia went still.
Her chair scraped back across the floor. “Oh!” she breathed, smoothing her hair so fast it would have been funny if I were not so tired. “He’s here!”
Before either sister could answer, she lifted her skirts and rushed toward the entrance.
Even with my eyes lowered, I could see enough to know who she was going to. A tall man had just entered with warriors at his back. The room changed around him. People just seemed to move aside without meaning to.
Dalia reached him at once, smiling like honey. She touched his arm lightly, tilted her face up, and laughed at something he had not even said. She leaned in too close, her hand still resting on his sleeve like she had every right.
Maris let out a breath. “Moon, she’s shameless.”
Celene snorted. “That’s Alpha Cassian Thorne. Of course she ran.”
I kept my face lowered, but I listened.
Cassian Thorne.
Maris leaned closer to her sister. “He bought our territories from the Apex Council for like a trillion, didn’t he?”
Celene turned to stare at her. “How did you know?”
Maris lifted her chin. “I read the news, not just scroll through Moonthread, you idiot!"
Celene rolled her eyes, but before she could answer, another stir moved through the room.
This time Maris gasped. “Oh no, oh no. That’s Alpha Ronan Varek.”
I almost forgot myself and looked up.
Instead I tightened my grip on the tray.
“The Alpha of the pack of the strongest warriors?” Celene whispered. “The one whose wolves assist even other territories?”
Maris nodded quickly. “Yes. Him.”
Celene shifted in her seat, watching openly. “I heard he’s not so close with the present Crown Alpha Cassien.”
Maris gave a little shrug. “They don’t need to be close. Alphas usually hate each other.”
That made Celene laugh.
Before they finished, another man entered.
This time it was Dalia, returning halfway to the table, who stopped again. “Oh, Moon Goddess,” she whispered. “He’s charming.”
Maris made a face. “Yes, but that one’s a bit strange.”
Dalia looked annoyed. “Why strange?”
“Because he smiles when no one else is smiling,” Maris said. “Like he already knows something the rest of us don’t.”
Celene followed their gaze. “That’s Alpha Lucien. He handles the pack known for intelligence, negotiation, and threat removal, doesn’t he?”
Maris nodded. “Yes, and I heard he isn’t friendly with Alpha Cassian either.”
I should not have been listening so hard. I should not have been thinking about the dream. About three men. About a calm voice, a rough voice, a darker one near my neck. I should not have been so hungry that the sweet smell of the little cakes on my tray made my head swim.
But I was all of those things at once.
My fingers slipped.
The edge of the tray tilted. A glass toppled first. Then two small plates. Wine splashed across the table and ran over the cloth. One cupcake rolled off the tray and landed upside down on the polished floor beside my bare ankle.
The sound was not loud, but to me it felt like thunder.
Both girls whipped around.
Maris stood so fast her chair nearly fell. “You stupid thing!”
Celene’s face twisted with delight. “I knew she’d ruin something.”
I bent at once, trying to gather the broken pieces before anyone stepped on them, but Maris slapped the back of my hand.
“Leave it.”
My fingers froze.
A few nearby guests had already turned to look.
Heat rushed into my face. My ears burned. I wanted the floor to open and swallow me.
Celene took the tray from my shaking hands and shoved me backward so hard my knees hit the floor.
“There,” she said sweetly. “That suits you better!"
A few drops of wine slid down my wrist. My hands were sticky. My whole body felt too hot and too cold at the same time.
Maris looked down at the fallen cupcake, then back at me. “Now eat that food on the dirt. You want it, right?”
For one horrible second I could not even speak.
I shook my head. "I... I can't."
“No?” Dalia’s voice cut in as she returned to the table, annoyed at being dragged back by the mess. “After all that starving face?”
She picked up the cupcake from the floor.
My stomach turned.
“Open!” she said.
I shook my head harder.
Her eyes went flat. Then she grabbed my jaw and shoved the cupcake into my mouth.
Sweetness and dirt and cream hit my tongue all at once. I gagged. The cake stuck in my throat because I had no water and no breath enough to swallow. I coughed hard, choking as crumbs spilled down the front of my dress.
The sisters laughed.
Then cold water splashed over my face.
I gasped and coughed harder. Water ran down my chin and into my collar. I could hear people around us now. My chest hurt. My throat hurt. My eyes burned from humiliation more than water.
Then a rich and deep voice cut through the air, and all three sisters still, including me.
“What’s happening here?”
Dalia turned so fast she nearly stepped on my hand and bowed. “A-Alpha Cassian…”
Chapter 3 — Their Recognition, Her Fear
Sera’s POV
I lifted my head before I could stop myself.
He stood a few steps away, tall and still, dressed in black formal clothes that fit him too well to be fair. He did not look at the girls first. He looked at me.
Everything inside me went strange.
I had felt fear many times. Shame too. Hunger, pain, anger.
This was none of those exactly. The moment he came near, the air felt heavier, but not suffocating.
My skin pulled tight. My pulse started beating in places I did not know it could. It was as if some part of me recognized him before I did and had been waiting all along.
I hated that feeling instantly.
I hated how badly I wanted to look at his face.
“Whose servant is this?” he asked.
Dalia swallowed. “My apology. This is my omega. Sorry for the scene.”
Dalia turned sharply. “Guards. Pull her out.”
I looked up at once.
Not because I wanted to obey. Because I knew that tone. I knew that look on her face. That tight smile meant later. Later meant punishment when no one was watching.
Two warriors had just started forward when another voice cut across the scene.
“Leave her alone.”
The room seemed to stop.
“One more step and I’ll rip all your throats.”
Everyone turned.
Alpha Ronan Varek was standing there now.
He looked nothing like Cassian. Cassian felt like cold steel hidden in velvet. Ronan felt like the blade itself, already out.
The stepsisters bowed so fast it was almost ugly.
“Alpha Ronan, sorry,” Maris said. “This will not happen again. We’ll be sure to present a good servant for the rest of the night. She’ll be pulled out so she won’t ruin more things.”
Pulled out.
Like I was trash.
Ronan’s gaze dropped to me.
The second he looked at me, my heart slammed so hard I felt it in my throat.
He was heat where Cassian had been pressure. He felt dangerous in a way my body understood too quickly. My skin prickled. My breath thinned. My back, my cheek, my hunger, all of it seemed to disappear beneath the shock of him being there.
Why?
Why did he feel familiar?
A guard stepped toward me.
Ronan moved first.
“No one touches her!”
The words cracked through the room.
I stared at him.
So did everyone else.
Even the girls looked stunned now, their faces going pale in a way that finally gave me a little cruel satisfaction.
Then another man walked toward us.
He did not stop by the table.
He came directly to me and crouched.
My heart thudded.
The closer he got, the more confused I became.
He did not feel like Cassian. He did not feel like Ronan. He felt quieter than both and somehow worse for it, because the moment he came near, a shiver ran over my skin and settled low in my stomach. My pulse turned unsteady. My chest felt tight.
Why did all three of them feel wrong and right at the same time?
The man looked at me for one long second.
“Lift your eyes, dear,” he said.
My eyes widened.
No.
The rule.
Do not look at anyone. Especially not an Alpha.
I could already feel my stepsisters’ stares cutting into me.
He spoke again, softer this time. “I, Alpha Lucien, order you to look at me in the eyes.”
A command.
It moved through me like a hand around my throat, l, but impossible to fight. My body reacted before my fear could. My chin lifted.
And I looked at him.
Hazel eyes.
Not plain hazel. Not soft. They were bright and unsettling, filled with gold flecks that seemed to catch the ballroom light and hold it there. Those gold sparks looked alive. They brightened and burned warmer the longer he looked at me, as if little flames were hidden in them.
I forgot to breathe.
Then a rush of shock hit me so hard I pulled back.
The dream.
The mouth near my neck. The dark voice. The feeling of sin and danger and warmth all at once.
“So it’s you.”
Behind him, Cassian straightened and addressed the room as if nothing impossible was happening.
“Proceed to the ball like nothing happened,” he said.
His voice carried easily. People listened.
Then he stepped toward me and held out his hand.
“Let’s go.”
I stared at his hand.
I did not understand what he meant.
I looked toward my stepsisters instead. Dalia’s face had gone white with anger.
“But she’s our servant,” she said.
Before Cassian could answer, Ronan moved.
He bent, grabbed me under the knees and back, and lifted me into his arms as if I weighed nothing.
I gasped.
So did half the room.
“She’s no one’s servant starting now,” Ronan said. “Anyone protesting will die on the spot.”
“Ronan,” Cassian snapped. “Put the girl down.”
Ronan shrugged, like holding me in front of the whole ballroom meant nothing. “What if I don’t?”
Lucien chuckled from beside us, looking far too amused. “So she got three?”
Three of what?
Ronan had already started walking with me in his arms.
My whole body went rigid.
“Where are you taking me?”
He looked down at me once. “You don’t even get to question. This is a mating ball, and I already found mine. But it seems you got three of us.”
Panic tore through me so fast I almost could not think.
I knew what happened when wolves refused to share. I knew what happened when one mate turned into a fight.
Blood.
Screaming.
Broken bodies.
An omega ruined for life.
And he was saying three.
“No,” I whispered.
Ronan kept walking.
I twisted in his arms, but he held me easily.
“Please,” I said, louder now. “No. I don’t want to be mated. Not to three.”
His jaw tightened, but his voice came out almost calm. “I know that’s insane, but we’ll figure it out later.”
“No, please. Put me down. I don’t want to come with you. Not with any of you.”
He frowned.
Then, to my horror, he smiled.
“You think that turns me off?” he said. “The opposite."
Fear hit me so hard I could taste it.
I couldn't help but remembered that omega from the western border pack. The one whose mate found her after she had already built a life with someone else. The one whose family was slaughtered because a wolf decided wanting was more important than mercy.
I didn't want it.
If I let them take me, I would die. I didn’t want to be torn apart. I didn’t want to die like that.
Maybe not tonight. Maybe not by their hands all at once.
But eventually.
In pieces.
I turned my head and bit down on Ronan’s forearm as hard as I could.
He swore and his grip broke just enough.
I slipped, and hit the floor badly.
Pain shot through my knee, but I was already scrambling up.
Then I ran.
Finished the preview?
Unlock the full ebook now and continue the story right away. Get instant access after purchase — no shipping, no waiting. Delivered as PDF and EPUB for reading on phone, tablet, or desktop.