I could feel the hem of his pants brush my knees when he shifted. A fingertip drifted along my collarbone. Not hard. Not cruel. Just a line of heat tracing the bruise there. A shudder ran down my spine. I swallowed it.
“You’re pretty when you don’t talk,”he said.
Another pass of his hand. This time slower. He didn’t grip. Didn’t yank. He just—brushed.Like testing how much damage was already done.
I wanted to flinch. Wanted to move. Wanted?—
I didn’t even know.
The door creaked again. Another step. Heavier. Ragged.
Loyal.
He said nothing. Did nothing. Just stood there. Breathing too fast. Breathing like it hurt. Like watchingmehurt.
I kept my head down. Kept breathing. Kept surviving. Because that’s what obedience was now. It wasn’t about pleasingthem. It wasn’t about forgiveness. It was about staying still enough to matter. Still enough to survive.
Royal’s hand drifted higher. Paused just below the collar. One fingertip brushing the chain link. Not tugging. Not claiming. Just reminding me it was there. As if I could ever forget.
“Good girl,” he whispered. Not mocking this time. Almost—soft.
He said it soft. Like comfort. And somehow that hurt more. Because part of me needed to hear it—even if I hated that I did.And somehow, that cut deeper than cruelty ever could.
I didn’t react. Didn’t thank him. Didn’t breathe differently. Because Wolfe hadn’t told me I could. And because even if he had—I didn’t know if I could survive moving. Not now. Not with the leash wrapped so tight around my lungs.
The floor blurred under my knees. Heat rising through the mat. Sweat sticking my hair to the back of my neck. The collar felt heavier now. Like it grew tighter the longer I obeyed.
Royal circled again. Slow. Lazy. A king at a private viewing. “Look at her, Loyal,” he said, voice all teeth and velvet. “Look how good she is.”
Loyal didn’t answer. I could feel his stare though. Heavy.Hot.Pinned between my shoulder blades. Seeping through my skin.
Royal crouched beside me. I smelled leather. Smoke. Felt his gaze skimming over my body. The bruises. The blood. The slow, breaking stillness.
“Bet you want to touch her again,” Royal murmured. “Bet you want to see what sound she makes when someone’s kind.”
I swallowed.Hard.The motion made the collar dig into my throat.As it should be.It was supposed to hurt. Royal didn’t touch me. Not yet. He let his hand hover—a breath from my hip.
A sigh from my ribs. Waiting. Testing. Daring me to flinch.
I didn’t. Couldn’t. Because survival didn’t live in motion anymore. It lived in stillness. It lived in breath.
Royal laughed low in his throat. “She’s learning,” he said. He stood. Stretched like a cat. Turned to Loyal. “Go ahead,” he said, lazy. “She’s yours too.”
I couldn’t stop the shiver that ran through me. Because those words—those words felt like chains tightening.
Loyal didn’t move.
For a heartbeat.
Two.
Three.
Then—
He knelt.
Slow.
