Page 110 of My Wild Pet

A woman is waiting for us inside. She has grey skin and short black hair. Despite looking Imperial there’s a gentleness to her expression that I never saw in Aefre or Kaelin. She inclines her head in greeting, green eyes gliding over Gabriel and me.

Gael clears his throat and then speaks in perfect Imperial, “They’re yours now.” He sounds tired. “Remove their collars before their trainer can track us. He’s a rich man and lost a lot of pride today. He will spare no expense to pursue them, even if there’s just a faint signal to follow.”

The doctor gives a short nod. “Okay, I got it.” Then gesturing to us, she says more gently, “You can sit.” She speaks clearly, as if she’s used to talking to non-Imperial patients.

Gael leaves without a word to us. I guess he doesn’t want his shirt back yet.

Gabriel and I exchange a brief, nervous glance. I perch on the edge of a bench, while he hovers an arm’s length away.

The doctor beckons him gently, “Let me remove yours first. As you’ve worn it the longest.”

Slowly, Gabriel steps closer to her. He’s still wearing the dark training bodysuit from the final challenge. Blood from a shallow cut on his arm has dried in a dark rust stain, a reminder of how close we came to losing everything.

“The collars,” she says, switching to an even gentler tone in Imperial while she opens a box full of equipment. “They’re still transmitting. We need to deactivate them, but I can’t do that while you’re still wearing them.” She begins fighting with Gabriel’s collar and he grimaces. “Sorry, it might shock you a bit, but don’t worry you’re in the medical bay and I’m a doctor.”

Neither Gabriel nor I acknowledge her joke if it were meant to be one.

I watch as Gabriel holds part of the sleek metal ring around his neck, trying to help the doctor or holding on to the memoryof Aefre for one last second? More than a decade under one man’s control can warp anyone.

The doctor unclips a handheld device from her belt. She fits a small, disc-like attachment to it, and a faint electronic whine fills the bay. “It’s safe,” she murmurs, stepping closer to Gabriel work on removing the collar. “This one is tricky.”

He nods stiffly and tilts his head.

She presses the device to the collar’s seam, and I watch a light go through a series of colors. With a click and then a hiss of releasing pressure, the collar snaps open.

Gabriel exhales, his posture sagging like he’s just been allowed to exhale after years of holding his breath.

I swallow against a swell of emotion. If Gabriel’s not crying. I shouldn’t be crying.

The doctor sets his collar aside, carefully powering it down with her tools. I watch her tinker with it and then finally she says, “Done. This was an old one. I don’t see many of these especially on men. You must have survived hell many times over,” she says and puts a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “But you did survive.”

He’s lost in thought and doesn’t acknowledge her words. He just keeps rubbing his neck where his collar used to be.

The doctor lets him be and then turns to me. “It’s your turn.”

I walk toward her and she begins investigating my collar with cool and gentle hands.

“Yours is very new,” she says just as much to me as to herself. “This will be much easier. Somefriendsgave us the fail-safe code.” She grabs a tool. The device vibrates near my ear, and I brace for a pinch of pain. But I only feel relief as the collar’s lock unlatches, a cool rush of air caressing the raw skin underneath. My breath escapes in a shaky gasp.Gone. The constant sense of being tethered is just… gone. There’s a mild twinge of pain wherethe collar’s edges once dug into my skin, but it’s drowned in the rush of relief flooding my body.

The doctor sets my collar down with the same delicate care, then powers it off.

“I know these are the last things you want to keep right now, but you need to. They’re part of your payment to join the colony,” she says softly. “There’s an initiation ceremony to take you from pet to citizen in Haven.”

I recoil at the sight of that metal ring, the symbol of everything I’ve endured. “I don’t want it,” I whisper in English.

But she presses it gently into my hands, unwavering. “It’s not a choice. The ceremony is important,” she explains, her Imperial still calm. “You must bring them so that your freedom is recognized and… protected.” Then she looks over at Gabriel, who is holding his own collar like a foreign object he doesn’t understand. “And it’s important for your healing. To mark the end of you’re being owned. Especially for him.”

I look over at Gabriel and I can’t help it. I wipe a tear away.Is this real?Is he really free? Am I? I can’t stop staring at him—at his bare throat, at the faint red line where his collar once was, at the tears shining in his amber eyes.

The doctor smiles wearily, giving us space with a nod, and quietly steps out of the med bay.

“C’est fini,” Gabriel murmurs.

I meet his gaze, and something fierce and electric passes between us. It’s a wild, reckless elation, the high of survival. My pulse pounds in my ears. We’re alive, we’ve escaped, and all at once, a torrent of emotions floods me, joy, disbelief, and most of all sexual desire.

Without speaking, we reach for each other. His hands tremble as they cup my face, and I feel the warmth of his breath as he whispers my name, “Briar, Je t'aime comme un fou. I love you like crazy."

Suddenly, all the tension, all the near-death terror, converts into a blazing need for human contact—for him. The press of his lips is urgent, a plea to affirm that we’re still here, and that this is real.

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