Their Arrangement

She walks into our temple like she doesn’t know she’s already been claimed.

Talks like she’s still allowed to have a choice. But I see through all of it. The arrangement was simple: Her body for our silence. Her obedience for our protection. But nothing about the way she kneels feels simple anymore. The borrowed clothes. The desperate eyes. The scent she wears like a ghost she never stopped loving. Camille’s scent. My sister’s shadow. Cloe was the girl who left— And came back with secrets in her pockets and her knees ready to hit the floor. My brothers watch from...

She walks into our temple like she doesn’t know she’s already been claimed.

Talks like she’s still allowed to have a choice. But I see through all of it. The arrangement was simple: Her body for our silence. Her obedience for our protection. But nothing about the way she kneels feels simple anymore. The borrowed clothes. The desperate eyes. The scent she wears like a ghost she never stopped loving. Camille’s scent. My sister’s shadow. Cloe was the girl who left— And came back with secrets in her pockets and her knees ready to hit the floor. My brothers watch from the shadows. Waiting. Hungry. Patient as predators who’ve already tasted blood. She thinks I won’t touch her. She thinks I don’t remember the way her mouth used to tremble when she looked at me. But I do. And now? I want her to tremble again. I want her on her knees, throat bare, pulse visible, learning what submission tastes like when four men decide to keep you… …and if she’s come to betray us, I want to break her beautifully while she begs to stay.