My Sister's Mate Is Obsessed With Me

Seraphina's POV "You're humming again."Bessa nudged me with her elbow, her eyes flicking toward the kitchen door. She was the cook's daughter and the closest thing I had to a friend in this house, which wasn't saying much since she only talked to me when no one important was watching."Sorry." I hadn't noticed I was doing it. The kitchen was warm and quiet this time of day, and I'd let my guard down while stirring the pot of soup we'd been working on all morning.Stupid mistake. Letting my guard down in this house was always a stupid mistake."You should go soon." Bessa kept her voice low as she chopped vegetables beside me. "I heard the Luna asking where you were earlier. Something about your sister's fitting."My hands paused on the wooden spoon. "That's not until three. I have another hour at least.""Sera." Her voice dropped even lower. "Just go. Please. I don't want to see you get hurt again."The kitchen door slammed open before I could respond.The Luna stood in the doorway w

Seraphina's POV "Pull tighter." Octavia's voice cut through the silence. "The fabric is slipping."I adjusted my grip and pulled until my arms shook, stretching the burned skin across my shoulders until I felt more blisters pop beneath my dress. She watched me struggle with that satisfied little smile, waiting for me to cry out or beg for mercy, but I kept my face blank and gave her nothing.The fitting dragged on for another hour, Octavia finding excuse after excuse to make me hold difficult positions while my back screamed and bled. By the time the Luna finally dismissed me, my arms were trembling so badly I could barely open the door, and I made it all the way to my tiny bedroom in the servants' wing before my legs gave out.I lay there on my thin mattress with my ruined back pressed against the rough sheets, letting myself feel how much I hated them. My mother, who treated me like dirt. My sister, who smiled while I suffered. My father, who looked through me like I wasn't even th

Seraphina's POV The next thing I heard was shouting.My head felt like it was stuffed with wool, heavy and foggy and wrong in a way I couldn't explain. I tried to open my eyes but the light was too bright, stabbing through my skull like needles, and my body wouldn't move the way I wanted it to.Where was I?The shouting got louder with voices I didn't recognize, footsteps pounding down a corridor, someone yelling about the Beta's chambers.I forced my eyes open and the world swam into focus slowly. This wasn't my room. The ceiling was too high, the bed was too soft, and the sheets tangled around my legs were silk instead of the rough cotton I was used to.I tried to sit up and realized two things at once.My dress was gone and I was wearing nothing but my thin underthings, and there was a man's arm draped across my waist.Panic slammed through me so hard I couldn't breathe. I shoved the arm away and scrambled backward until my back hit the headboard, staring at the person beside me.

Seraphina's POVThree years I'd been married to Ezra Caine, and the last time he'd touched me was the night we were forced together.He'd tried a few more times after that first night, reaching for me in the dark with stiff hands and a clenched jaw, but every single time his body would lock up before he got anywhere close.After a while, he stopped trying and moved to a separate room without a word, and three years passed with a closed door between us every night.Today was the annual pack gathering, and the great hall was packed with wolves from allied packs who'd been flooding through Blackthorn's gates since dawn. I'd been helping with preparations since before sunrise because that's what the Beta's mate was supposed to do, even if nobody had bothered to include me in the planning."Sera!"Octavia's voice rang across the hall, and I turned to find her gliding toward me in a deep red gown with her hair pinned up in silver."There you are. I've been looking everywhere." She stopped i

Seraphina's POVThe impact knocked me backward and I stumbled on the uneven stones, but before I could fall a hand caught my wrist and yanked me forward. I slammed into a hard chest and an arm locked around my waist and a mouth crashed against mine before I could make a single sound.The kiss was rough and desperate and tasted like whiskey, and those sparks hit me so hard my knees gave out. My first thought through the haze was that this had to be Ezra. He’d come back from the bonfire early and found me out here, and after three years of not touching me he was finally, finally reaching for me in the dark.My husband wanted me. After all this time, he actually wanted me.Three years of cold sheets and closed doors and a husband whose body rejected mine every time he tried, and now his hands were gripping me like he’d die if he let go. The sparks felt different from anything I’d experienced on our wedding night, stronger and hotter and deeper, but I didn’t care because maybe this was