Page 25 of My Wild Pet

“Écoute bien, Américaine,” I reply, settling into an explanation. “This ship is called theLuminous Arc. It’s an Imperial vessel. Our owner, Aefre, trains human pets to compete at the highest levels of human pet competitions. He’s one of the best trainers in the galaxy. Kaelin, his assistant, is crueler than Aefre with the physical punishments but lighter on the mental stuff. But no matter what, always remember they both only want what they think is the best for us.”

She’s so silent, I wonder if she’s still listening. I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t hear me anymore. The only memory I have of my first days here are scattered nightmares at best. Everything’s a blur in the beginning of pet life.

After a few minutes of silence, she says, “None of this makes any sense. How can we be pets to men who look almost exactly like us? They’re just... grey humans. Why are they doing this to us?”

I sigh, running a finger along the familiar cold metal corner of my cage. “Je me demande ça depuis des années. I’ve been wondering this for years,” the bitterness in my tone is unmistakable. “And I’m still no closer to an answer.”

She begins to say something, but then abandons it, and asks instead, “How long have you been here?”

“At least six years,” I reply. “Imperial years—they’re longer than Earth years. But during the first years I didn’t count.” I pause then admit, “It took me awhile to accept what had happened. That I really was—here.”

“How old were you when they took you?”

“I was sixteen,” I say. A thought strikes me. “What year is it on Earth?”

“My last day on Earth was September 29, 2024, and that was about a month ago.”

I do the math in my head. “Then I’m twenty-eight. Earth years old.”

“I’m twenty-eight too.” A silence, and then, “What’s your name?”

“Gabriel,” I tell her. “It’s my human name.”

“What’s your alien name?”

“No. I refuse to introduce myself that way. You’ll learn soon enough. What’s yourrealname?”

“Briar.” Before she can elaborate, I interrupt.

“I also don’t want to know what they’ve named you. No matter what they do to me, I’ll always call you Briar.”

“They’ll hurt you for calling me Briar?”

“They’ll shock us by our collars for speaking any human language, even just our names. Aefre and Kaelin are very strict about that. They believe using our native languages makes us stupid and that it gives them brain damage to even listen to it.”

She’s quiet again.

“Briar, did I scare you with the truth?”

“No,” she says softly. “I was just thinking... wondering how I ended up in this nightmare.”

“I’m sorry you’re here.”

“You didn’t do it,” she says. “Did you?”

I chuckle despite myself. “Non.”

“Were you being punished for calling someone by their human name when you were dragged in here?”

“No, I misbehaved in a different way,” I hesitate, then elaborate, “C’était pour me sentir vivant—to feel alive. To remind myself I’m still human. That my body is still mine, nottheirs. But now that you’re here, I’ll gladly take a beating every time I call you Briar.”

“Don’t do that. Just call me?—”

“Non!Don’t tell me your pet name. I’m happy to take the punishment if it means keeping the smallest bit of humanity alive between us. Our names—they’re all we have of our past lives when we were free.”

Her voice softens. “Okay. Is there something I can do for you?”

“Tell me about the last day you had on Earth,” I say. “Not the aliens—the part before. What were you doing?”

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