I Stopped Loving Them Equally

As human fertility rates kept falling, the government created a matching system between humans and beasts.

That was how I became engaged to the Blackwood brothers—two wolf beasts who never wanted me.

For a year, I made coffee for both of them every morning.The older brother, Adrian, kept his distance, but he always took the mug and thanked me quietly.

The younger one, Kieran, was all temper and sharp teeth.

He snapped at me, broke the mug, and acted like I was a nuisance.

I told myself this was fair.

If I treated them the same, maybe one day this arranged bond would feel like home.

Then my best friend saw it and asked, “Have you ever thought that treating them equally might be unfair to the one who’s actually kind to you?”

I thought about that all day.

Then one morning, I walked out of the kitchen carrying only one cup.

As human fertility rates kept falling, the government created a matching system between humans and beasts.

That was how I became engaged to the Blackwood brothers—two wolf beasts who never wanted me.

For a year, I made coffee for both of them every morning.The older brother, Adrian, kept his distance, but he always took the mug and thanked me quietly.

The younger one, Kieran, was all temper and sharp teeth.

He snapped at me, broke the mug, and acted like I was a nuisance.

I told myself this was fair.

If I treated them the same, maybe one day this arranged bond would feel like home.

Then my best friend saw it and asked, “Have you ever thought that treating them equally might be unfair to the one who’s actually kind to you?”

I thought about that all day.

Then one morning, I walked out of the kitchen carrying only one cup.

...

Adrian was the first to notice the change.

He didn’t say anything. As usual, he took the cup of pour-over coffee from my hands and thanked me in that low, quiet voice of his.

Kieran was slouched at the kitchen island, scrolling through sports highlights on his phone while the morning news murmured from the TV. It wasn’t until I set Adrian’s cup beside him and turned back toward the coffee station that he finally realized what was missing.

“Hey,” he called, frowning. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

I stopped.

His gaze moved from Adrian’s cup to my empty hands. “Did you run out of coffee,” he asked, “or did you suddenly decide only one of us gets any?”

Adrian carried himself with cool restraint. Kieran was all temper and teeth—volatile, arrogant, sharp enough to draw blood with a sentence.

“What?” he said. “You can see I’m right here.”

Whatever explanation I’d been about to give died in my throat.

My smile faded. “No.”

“No?” Kieran let out a short laugh. “Then what exactly is this supposed to be?”

A point?

My thoughts drifted back to a few mornings ago.

Adrian and Kieran had both