6

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?