6
Kaya’s POV.
The Triplets in media.
My face is devoid of any emotion by the time Melissa and I arrive in the dining room. On the table, my sight catch the many fancy foods spread from one end to the other.
The eclectic choices make me crave food, and I am now realizing how hungry I am. I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday, and considering all that has happened to me, there’s no way I could have gone hungry.
I wish there was a way that I could get out of here. I don’t want to do these things, but instead, I want to be in my own house, reading a book while picking on the bad cookies that my brother made and watching as my father destroys the house while he claims that he is inventing something new.
And only Williams and I would be the ones to applaud him when he finishes creating them.
My lips almost tug up in a smile at the distant memory, which does make me feel like I wasn’t here anyone until I hear Kyle’s voice.
“Kaya, you’re here. And you’re so beautiful.” He gasps at the end of his words.
I’m fiddling with my fingers and grabbing my clothes at the side.
Do not show them your emotions, I think to myself. That’s just the best plan for me. They must not see my pain or my weakness, as they do not deserve to see those parts of me.
And only if my powers could settle in right now.
Kade is sitting at the head table; two chairs away from him to the right sits Kieran, and on the opposite side, to the left, sits Kyle, who now has stood up to come and collect me from Melissa.
He has the most glamorous smile that’d make anyone think he’s the nicest one in the room, but if my memory serves me well, he is the cause of my ruin. He had ordered those guards to bring me here when they could have killed me.
I’m not beautiful. I should be dead alongside my family.
My heart rumbles up to my throat, choking my words there when his hand touches mine to bring them up to his lips. The warmth from his touch causes my body to tingle for some unknown reasons.
“Miss Kaya, you look very ravishing tonight. But I hope this goes well.” Even when he attempts to be sweet, deep in his orbs and the light from the lamp that glints into them, I can tell that he’s lying.
He is saying these words to tease me, not because he actually means them.
My forehead crinkles a little as he brings me close to his brothers and sits me directly at the end of the table, so that my frame is opposite Kade, the one who’s the most silent of them all yet controls everything.
Kyle’s chuckle fills the room again. My sight is haste to take a quick scan, seeing the guards at each corner of the room, maids tending to the triplets, and the chefs waiting for any complaints and looking tensed up.
“I told you, brother, she would look better in fancy wear than a tattered one. Now, we don’t have to take those same toys to every other event but hers. It’d be so good to have a change.”
His sarcasm shows just how he’s the youngest and most nonchalant player in the league.
Kieran sits back, letting out a heavy sigh, and scrutinizes his gaze at me. “But still, she’s our toy. Don’t make her feel too good about herself. She is only perfect because we want her to.”
As they both discuss me like I am not here with them, I realize more about the fact that, indeed, they don’t count me as a living being.
As Kyle’s laughter recedes, his eyes fall on me again. Quickly, I drop my gaze. They’re all looking at me as if I’m some experiment that they can’t wait to dissect. It gives such an eerie sensation.
The room falls silent when Kade clears his throat and taps his fingers on the board, creating a clicking sound that makes my heart keep beating.
I’ve come to learn one thing so far: whenever he talks, even his brothers collect themselves to listen. He’s got more authority and beams a wave of the alpha aura.
“Kaya, thank you for joining.” He speaks as though I had a different choice.
Regardless, I bend my head lightly to show my respect. The last thing I want is to be punished here in front of everyone.
“Now, I don’t plan to waste anytime here, except with my brothers, and please forgive their stupidity. Yes, they can be very... loose-mouthed.” When he says, Kyle pokes out his lips while Kieran huffs and crosses his arms over his chest.
“You’ve been here for a day so far. How has it been?” He asks, which makes one of my eyebrows elevate, and my eyes bat at him like an owl.
“I...”
“You’re allowed to speak freely.” He instructs.
My fingers dip into my palms, almost causing pain. “My family died just yesterday, and.. and I was brought here to be a slave. Why didn’t you just kill me?” Nothing in me dares me to look into their eyes, so I retain staring at the table’s texture.
“That’s where you failed, Kaya. There are things you must learn.” Kade stands up as he speaks.
He’s walking towards me, and with each step, my heart chokes me more, churning and wanting to tear through my throat. “Kieran, Kyle, and I cannot be trusted. Nothing we ever tell is the truth. If I...”
He drops an apple in front of me, and then his fingers crawl up my face to wipe away the little bits of perspiration around the edges of my hairline. “If I tell you to eat this apple, don’t trust it. Why?”
He grabs my hair to make me look into his eyes, and there, for a second, I catch his silver cerulean eyes darting their intensity on me and their intentions on me. “Because you’re our slave, and we want nothing but to cause you pain. You’ll feel so much of it that you’d question your goddess, whoever you witches pray to, yet you wouldn’t get any response, and you’d ask the moon goddess too, and she won’t tell you anything as well.”
He releases his hold on my hair, and my head jerks back to normalcy. I quickly catch my breath, now realizing that I haven’t breathed for a long time.
He implies frets over every inch of me and every ounce. My eyes blink rapidly, with tears brimming their edges.
When I look ahead again, he’s back in his seat.
That’s insanely fast.
“Now, let’s go through the rules and regulations.” His words thumps adrenaline into my blood, bittering every part of my veins and arteries.
His voice oozes through the air, carrying with it all brutality and ruthlessness.
Going back to eating his food, he starts. On the other hand, I’ve lost my appetite. “For as long as we need you alive, Kaya, you’ll adhere to every instruction. You’ll not speak unless we ask you to. You’re a worthless being that we’ve decided to reveal mercy to. Every malice that you face shall be a discipline to adhere to corrections. You no longer have the rights to think, act, or make your own decisions.”
“We own every part of you. We own your body, your mind, your thinking, and your life, and every day of your life is to satisfy us in any way that we ask, including submitting your body to us. And you’ve got no say in it. When you don’t do as bid, well, you’ll learn the punishments that come after in time.”
As he dictates my life to me, letting all grim flash across my vision, I dart my face from Kyle to Kieran, then to him.
They all look handsome—more handsome than any man I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s like they’re made specially with those chiseled jaws, perfect hairline, milky warm beige skin, and muscular physique that fits any clothing they put on.
They all have that long torso that makes their pecs poke out through their slightly buttoned-up shirt, and I imagine their packs underneath.
I zone out of my thoughts suddenly to realize that my thighs are pressed against each other, but I didn’t worry much about it because my brain was trying to fold around the instructions Kade made earlier.
Maybe I can accept my fate, but I’m a witch and most connected to nature; giving out my body anytime and anywhere to these tainted, cursed brothers would only distance me from nature.
I’m not just ruined but also expunged from my reason for creation.
There’s a mild silence in the room, and my mind is unsure if I should reject these offers or accept them. On the dark side, I don’t think I have a choice.
Before I knew it, my hands slammed the table in anger before flaring my eyes at the triplets. “I am not surrendering my body, not my mind, and not my soul to any of you. You’re monsters.”
Kieran scoffs from across me. Honestly, none of them look shocked, even when I had made my voice fierce and firm. “Monsters? That’s such an understatement.” He stands up and as he begins to roll up his sleeves, he orders.
“Clear this table now.” His voice booms through the room at the maids.
My breathing is ragged. My eyes are like I’ve just seen a ghoul. And my body is filled with sweat.
What’s about to happen?
7 Kaya’s POV. Kieran is boring his eyes into mine, which are widened out of fear. He’s acting like a monster with the way his jaw is twitching and his fingers are taking off some buttons on his shirt. Then he comes close to me and wraps off all the content on the table with his hands, his impatience obviously running thin. My breathing heightens with each barbaric action of his, my chest roving up and down right before he grabs each side of the chair that I’m sitting on and he speaks, his face inches away from mine. “You’re a toy here, an item, meaningless and disposable. You must understand that the hard way. My brother has attempted to go easy on you; has he not?” His voice is filled with malice, and in his eyes, I see no remorse. It’s like all he sees me as is a machine that he owns, and when it doesn’t do exactly what he wants, he punishes it. Grabbing me by my waist all of a sudden, he drops me onto the table. His hand has wiped off a frost from one of the cakes, and he li
8 Kaya’s POV. The silence treatment that comes from Melissa is beginning to feel more of a punishment now, and I don’t think I can bear it anymore. I don’t see any sympathy in her eyes towards how much I have suffered tonight, as she just moved swiftly around the room, preparing me for the night based on the triplets orders. Oh, goodness, mentioning their names even now is scary. A chill runs down my spine at the thought of it. Melissa clears her throat to call me back to life. As I blink up at her, she spews. “Your bath is waiting.” “No, I can’t take that bath. Who knows what will happen? Those guys are psychopaths. We really need to find a way out of here.” I want to say more, but when Melissa grabs me around the cleavage of the tattered gown, pulling me up to my feet so that my eyes pop out in fear of what she’s about to do, she shakes her head in disapproval. Before my brain can think of what she’s about to do, she sweeps me to the wall, making my back hit against it. Then,
9 Kade walks into the room with Kyle and Kieran behind him. On landing on his brothers, a squint forms at the side of his eyes, and instantly he gives entrance to his mind so his brothers can connect with him internally. With a smile on his face, when their uncle Jared sees them, he speaks inwardly. “Let me do most of the talking. There’s something fishy with Uncle.” Kieran takes a seat on one of the leather chairs, bringing his legs up to his uncle’s desk before he crosses his arms over his chest and stares ahead into nothingness. He looks like he isn’t in the mood for any of the conversation. Kade, on the other hand, has assumed every reason why their uncle has called them for a conversation, and he is assured that it’s related to Kaya. As their uncle clears his throat, Kyle makes his way to a small bar inside the room and opens a bottle of whiskey, which he gulps down into his throat. “Now, tell me guys, what was that nonsense I saw earlier in the dining room?” There’s a dar
10 Kaya’s POV. There was a time in my life when the rise of sunlight was a joy I could not fathom. It felt like a part of me that I always cherished. I would have woken up early, mesmerized by my thoughts, which were beautiful then. I’d run up the ladder to the roof of the cottage and watch as that yellow vibrance landed on my skin. Having watched as my skin glows, I’d smile and appreciate nature for creating such beauty in the midst of the darkness that lurks in this world. But now, here I am, lying on the bed with my eyes closed as I feel the rays of the sunlight beaming onto my skin. Yet, I do not stand up. I cannot bring myself to be happy about anything because my life is no longer mine. I am crush and doom from the moment that the people left in my love life were murdered by the ones who captured me. They’ve left me to be nothing. Suddenly, I reverse from the depths of my thoughts when I hear someone clear their throat. My eyes snap open, and my body bolts up from the bed.
11 Kaya’s POV. It is a dead end with the brothers. I have come to realize that. They want to destroy me totally, and maybe I should just allow that. But they won’t kill me. Would I be in excruciating pain forever? I’m not that kind of girl. I never thought that’s what fate has in store for me. A few weeks ago, my imagination of what the future holds was wild. I thought of a world where I am not exactly judged for who I am, where I don’t suffer for my kind of breed, but thinking of the reality that I live in now, perhaps I had asked wrongly. Perhaps I should not have wished for a better life. Maybe that way, I would still have a brother who keeps disturbing my life and a father who dreams of a world where invention reigns. “Your dress is here.” Blinking rapidly, I come alive to the voice of Melissa. She pats the side of the bed where she has placed the cloth before a smile emits from her lips. My eyes shift to the gown in a wrapped nylon bag, and upon opening it, my lips part o
12 Kaya’s POV. The ride has been going on for God knows how long, and it’s now tiring. My ass cheeks hurt from sitting in one position for the past half an hour that I’ve been inside this space. The triplets don’t say anything to me, which I’m glad for because I don’t think I can even hold a conversation. . Yes, I am still traumatized by what happened earlier. I thought Kieran was the only one capable of doing what Kade did, but then, thinking about it, Kade never showed me who he was. What am I even saying? None of the brothers have shown me their all. I don’t know what else they’ve got up their sleeves. Anyway, taking that off of my mind in the meantime, I have watched the beauty of the road as we passed by. It’s alluring how it’s filled with people beautifying nature, except those people are vile—they are werewolves. At this point, I am coming to the conclusion that all werewolves are cruel, uncultured, and savage. All of their eyes that have ever been placed on me reveal
13Kaya’s POV.“I should leave.” I don’t wait another second before I pick up a pace, except that I didn’t pass by the alpha before he draws me back.“First rule: no one walks away from me.” His voice is dangerously low. There’s a dark glint in his eyes when he lands on mine, and I look away.“Plus, you don’t want to get back there without your owners. You’d be eaten. Have you ever imagined having your heart plucked out while alive? Oh, you don’t want to imagine the horrific look that settles on the victim’s face.”Why is he telling me this?“And how do I know you won’t hurt me?”“Because I want you to have a drink with me.” He sounds convincing enough, but I will never trust any werewolf.If the triplets hate him, then he must be just as daring as them. One of the things I’ve learned about these creatures is that they hate when someone else wants to boss over them.“And how do you know if I don’t want to die out there?”“I cannot answer that. Come with,” his voice doesn’t give way to
14Kaya’s POV.They want each other’s necks. Anyone can see that.I watch as Alpha sadistic suddenly shifts off of the ground, grabbing Kyle’s leg and cracking it like he just broke a biscuit into two pieces.Seeing that, as Kyle goes down with a leg shred into two, I feel myself wanting to vomit once again. My stomach churns at the sight.Yet, when I looked back, he had stood up. Since the door is broken, he has easy access to see me inside the carriage, choking in fear and shocking out of my senses.A smile drips off of his face, and then I see a wink. Cracking his neck to the left, then to the right, his leg fixes back to normalcy with a groan coming from him.As he runs into the fight once again, that’s when I fully realise the reality of what I am into.“You don’t touch anything that is ours.” Kade growls. I can see the veins poking out of his neck and his forehead as he hit Alpha sadistic with his elbow.His face presses inside when his bones crunch inside. Damn, they are breaki