Page 33 of My Wild Pet

Aefre doesn’t object, so I have no choice. We usually only run that thing once, maybe twice a week because it’s ruthless on the body. But I’ve learned something today,I’m not as dead inside as I thought.

Briar has awakened something in me. Suddenly, I’m asking myself all the questions I’ve ignored for years:Why am I here? What have I been doing for the last decade—parading around as Aefre’s prized pet?

Mon Dieu, I want more. I want Briar. And to have Briar—to truly have her—I must be free.

And if it means putting her above all else—so be it. Elle est à moi.She’s mine.My humanity. My sanity. My freedom.

Kaelin conjures the obstacle course in a holographic section of the gymnasium. I draw a shaky breath and head toward it, wiping away the last of my tears from that jolt of punishment.It was worth it,I tell myself. Worth it to warn her.

The obstacle course in front of me is a nightmare of shifting platforms, glowing walls, and mechanical traps—crafted to test body and mind until you break.

“This is what you get when you disobey,” he says. “Speaking to her in that primitive tongue—you know better, it rots your brain. You speak Imperial almost perfectly. If it were safe to remove memories on pets, I’d have the doctor strip you of your human languages, to protect you. Instead all I have ispunishment at my disposal,” Kaelin says as if he’s doing me a favor.

I grit my teeth as the platform tilts beneath me and I begin making my way through the obstacle course. Behind me, I hear the drones approaching. Kaelin is really pulling out all the stops today. I begin to move faster reminding myself that the drones won’t fire unless I stall.

I’m not even half way through and my lungs are burning. I notice the wall up ahead is too smooth and too tall to climb, but still I try. But suddenly it cracks open, spewing freezing mist that burns my skin.

I press on, as the stinging subsides, swinging from a spinning column slick with foul-smelling blue slime. By some miracle, I land on the next ledge, knees trembling.

“We haven’t got much time,” I manage to say, my mind unable to subdue my thoughts of Briar, “if she’s replacing Fifi. It’s best we train together.”

“Focus on yourself, Ember. Leave the training to Aefre and me. You’re just a pet—you can’t grasp the complexities of it.”

I glance over my shoulder and immediately regret it. A drone zips closer, flashing its lights before zapping me in the thigh. I cry out and stumble onto my hands and knees.

“Keep moving,” Kaelin says. “Or shall I use punishment to encourage you?”

I bite back a retort, forcing myself upright, and forcing my legs forward.

Kaelin’s voice follows me like a bad dream. “She’s not worth it, you know—she won’t survive. We’d still have a better pet if Aefre hadn’t bought Ash. She’s dangerous. She’ll bite your penis off if you get too close.”

I freeze for half a second, then blurt, “Have you had sex with her?” Drones shock me again, sending agony piercing through my body, but I must know.

“No,” Kaelin replies, lifting his ring to shock me even more.

I collapse under the double assault.

“And you shouldn’t be thinking about that, either. But, I understand. Her faux tail stirred your human instincts to mate. Maybe if you’re good, we’ll let you breed her—supervised, of course, and with a muzzle. That is, if she survives today.”

Rage floods my veins remembering the last time I was rewarded with sex under their watchful eyes. Both Aefre and Kaelin held our leashes as they coached me through it just like they do in my training. There was novéritable passion. It was choreographed physical sex with an audience with Fifi. And instead of bonding us closer together, it drove us further apart.

That’s not what I want with Briar. I want so much more. I want to feel something real. With her, it could be different.

But another part of me is already aroused by the thought of having sex with Briar tied up with a muzzle on. And I hate myself for it. For wanting her, even if Aefre and Kaelin arrange it and were watching, holding our leashes, and instructing me how to plunge in and out of her body. I am ashamed of what they have made me, a grateful human pet.

I push to my feet, ignoring the flare of pain, and hurl myself at the next ledge with all my rage. My fists clench around the smooth platform edge, but my determination flares.

“This disobedience sets a poor example for the other pets,” Kaelin says.

A cruel smirk tugs at his mouth.Quel salaud.Bastard.I refuse to concede for him today. The platform cracks beneath me, forcing me to dive for another ledge. My knee hits the hard edge, pain shooting upward, but I keep moving.

At last, I collapse on the final platform, my body throbbing, and drenched in sweat.

Kaelin steps up, his smug expression unchanged. “Better than I expected. But you’ll do it again. Understand? You don’t train humans—we do.”

My glare says it all, but he waves me off. “Back to the start, pet.”

Va te faire foutre, Kiss my ass, I think, but I don’t dare speak it.

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