Chapter 4

Cassian woke to the cold bite of metal against his wrists and ankles. His head rested heavily on the pillow, eyes blinking against the morning light, hands straining at the chains. Panic rose in his chest before his mind could catch up, he was chained to the bed.

The soft click of the door opening made him freeze. Azriel and Orion stepped in, carrying a tray of breakfast. The twins moved with quietly with smiles og their faces, placing the food carefully beside him. Their eyes never left his.

“What… what is the meaning of this?” Cassian demanded, voice rough with sleep and agitation.

Azriel smiled faintly, tilting the tray. “We just went out to make breakfast for you,” he said, calm, almost casual.

“I know you made breakfast, I can see it, but...” Cassian growled, struggling harder against the chains. “But why am I chained to the bed? My legs, my hands—why?”

Orion knelt beside him, brushing a lock of damp hair from his forehead. “Calm down,” he murmured. “We just wanted to make sure you stayed right here. You never listen to us and you might not have eaten otherwise.”

Cassian’s anger flared, hot and raw, but as the twins fed him bite by bite, their presence pressing against him like gravity, something shifted. Every gesture, every subtle touch, reminded him of the power they had always had over him, and yet he couldn’t fully resist.

Hours later, the twins left him chained, disappearing into their schemes. He heard distant murmurs, the faint click of doors

Azriel and Orion appeared at Cassian’s best friend’s residence with a mission, moving through the hallways like shadows. Enzo, surprised and uneasy, stepped forward.

“What… what is this?” he stammered, looking at the tablet the twins held. On it was a clear photo of Cassian, chained to the bed, eyes hollow, the faint glint of his vulnerability exposed.

Azriel’s voice was calm, almost soothing, but carried an undercurrent of threat. “We just wanted to show you… your friend is ours now.”

Orion leaned slightly, letting his eyes linger on Enzo. “If you try to interfere… if you step into his world, if you try to save him…” His lips curved faintly. “…we’ll make sure this humiliation continues, and it will be far worse than what you see here.”

Enzo’s face went pale. “Please… just leave him alone. He’s already… he’s already suffered enough.”

Azriel tilted the tablet slightly, showing the image again, letting Enzo feel the quiet, suffocating weight of control. “Then stay out of it,” he said softly. “We don’t want to hurt you… but we will, if you don’t listen.”

The twins turned and left, silent and wicked, leaving Enzo frozen in the living room, the warning searing into his mind. The faint echo of the door’s click lingered, a reminder that resistance carried consequences far beyond what he could imagine.

Cassian closed his eyes, chest heaving. Why did it come to this?

And then the past came rushing back.

Years ago, when the twins were younger, Cassian had already made his rules clear, but there was one he never explained.

They were not to enter that room.

He didn’t give reasons. He didn’t repeat himself. It was the one place in the house they were never allowed near.

And for a while, they listened., until the day they didn’t.

Cassian returned home that evening already irritated, his mind still on unfinished business, but the moment he stepped inside, he knew something was wrong.

The house was too quiet, his staff avoided his gaze. They seemed to walk on eggshells around him.

Cassian didn’t ask questions. He already onew something was off especially as he didn't see the twins anywhere around as usual.

As he walked down the hallway, he saw that the room he had kept off limits to everyone had the door slightly open so he hurried close, pushed it and stepped inside.

The twins were inside.

Azriel was near the far wall, touching something he shouldn’t even have been looking at. Orion stood closer to the center, his attention moving across the room like he was trying to understand it.

Nothing was broken.

But they had clearly been there for a while.

Cassian’s voice cut through the room.

“What are you doing in here?”

They both turned.

No panic. No scrambling to explain.

Just looking at him.

“We wanted to see it,” Orion said.

Cassian’s expression hardened. “Didn’t I tell you not to come in here?”

“You did,” Azriel answered.

“Then why are you here?”

Azriel shrugged slightly, like the answer was obvious. “Because you said not to.”

Cassian stared at him for a second, then looked between both of them.

“Get out.”

They walked past him without arguing, but there was no rush in their steps, no sense that they had done something wrong.

That only made it worse.

He took them straight into the next room and pulled a chair into the center.

“Sit.”

They did.

He tied their legs to the chair, firm enough that they couldn’t move, his hands steady but his patience was thin as fuck.

“You don’t ignore my instructions,” Cassian said.

They stayed quiet, not trace of guilt or nervousness.

They calmly listened.

Cassian stepped back, watching them. “When I say something is off-limits, it stays that way. You don’t test it. You don’t question it. You don’t walk in like it doesn’t apply to you.”

Orion looked up at him. “We weren’t going to break anything.”

“That’s not the point,” Cassian snapped.

There was a pause.

Azriel shifted slightly against the restraint, then looked up at him. “Then what is the point?”

Cassian didn’t even know how answer them, cause obviously they were thrilled about disobeying and testing his patience.

Because the truth was, he didn’t want them in that room. He didn’t want them asking questions he wasn’t ready to answer.

“You don’t need to understand everything,” he said finally. “You just need to listen.”

They didn’t argue but he sensed that they didn’t agree either.

That was the problem.

Cassian exhaled and stepped back. “You’ll stay there for a while. Maybe then you’ll learn to follow simple instructions.”

Neither of them reacted,.no complaints, no begging.

Just watching him.

Cassian turned and walked out, almost feeling bad.

It was supposed to be a short punishment.

An hour at most.

But work pulled him away almost immediately. Calls came in, one after the other, and by the time he was done, the house had gone quiet.

When he finally remembered and went back, hours had passed.

He opened the door.

They were still there, same position, same chair.

Their legs were still tied, they looked at him as soon as he walked in. Not really upset,but had unshed tears in their eyes.

They had waited for him

Cassian frowned, moving forward quickly to untie them.

“Why didn’t you call someone?” he asked.

Orion shrugged. “You told us to stay.”

Cassian paused.

Azriel added, “We were waiting for you.”

Something about the way he said it sat wrong.

Cassian finished untying them, brushing it off.

“ Don't repeat this next time,” he said.

They nodded.

But even then, he could tell, they hadn’t really learned what he wanted them to learn.

They had learned something else

Back in the present, Cassian’s hands trembled slightly. The chains were gone, but the memory lingered, raw and unavoidable. The twins had mirrored his own past actions, turned them inside out, and applied them to him. And he understood, with a sinking certainty, that every lesson he taught them, every moment he tried to control, had returned in full force.

He leaned back, exhausted, not just physically, but mentally, emotionally. The weight of guilt, the sharp reminder of his influence, pressed down, and for a moment, he didn’t resist.

Cassian’s wrists still burned from the morning’s chains.

“It’s time for your bath,” Azriel said, calm and certain.

“I… can I have privacy?” Cassian asked.

Orion shook his head. “No. You follow our rules today.”

Before he could argue, they ran the water and adjusted it. Cassian followed, tense, as they guided him inside. Every movement reminded him that he had no control.

“Step in,” Azriel said. “Careful with the water.”

Cassian dipped a toe, then slowly stepped in. It should have been relaxing, but with them there, it wasn’t.

Orion handed him a washcloth. “Wash yourself properly.”

“I just want a bath,” Cassian said. “I don’t need help.”

Azriel tilted the soap toward him. “We think you’ll do better with us.”

Cassian’s body reacted before his mind did. He wanted to pull away, but they were patient, precise, controlling.

They helped him wash, moving the cloth over his shoulders and down his arms. Orion adjusted it carefully, making sure Cassian followed.

“Please… just a bath,” he said.

Azriel’s lips curved slightly. “Okay. But you’ll make it up to us.”

Cassian nodded. He followed their instructions. Every move reminded him he was theirs.

When it was over, they handed him a towel. Orion’s fingers brushed his skin once. “Remember,” he said, “obedience isn’t optional.”

Cassian took the towel, tense, knowing he had lost.