Page 12 of Breeding Season
The heat beneath my skin, the one that he placed there, screamed one thing:Protect him.
I wanted to scream. Instead, I did the last thing I wanted: I embraced the bond. I dropped my gaze, tucked my chin, and kept my eyes on the black sheen of Taur’s enormous hooves. I didn’t speak, didn’t move. I did what I’ve never done for any man: I submitted.
Taur felt it.
Taur’s grip on my waist disappeared, and then he grabbed my jaw, forcing my face to the side. A sharp pulse shot through me as he showed his mark.
“My Mát is exactly where she needs to be,” Taur declared, his voice a dangerous, unwavering rumble. “The Claim is absolute.”
Gorok’s face morphed, and for a second, he looked like a demon, not just a monster—his eyes glowed a sickly yellow, and the hair on his forearms stiffened like wires.
“Has there been any trouble with the new Voice of the Humans?” Taur asked. Ryder turned to him with a smirk.
“None at all. We made it pretty clear at the last meeting that disobedience would not be tolerated. Didn’t we dare?” He cooed at the black wolf. It growled in response.
Then it was gone. Gorok’s mask slipped into place as he leaned back. He stood, and the sound of his hoofs on stone echoed in the room as he walked over to the chained women. They cowered as he neared and cried out when he snatched one. He dragged her back and shoved her down on the table.
No one moved to help her.
The other seated human woman, the one with the wolves, looked at her with pity. The Minotaur rutted into her with a savage grunt, pinning her to the iron table while she cried out in pain. The poor woman covered her mouth in an attempt to silence her screams. I lifted my gaze to find Gorok watching me. He didn’t look away, his eyes on me as he slammed into her. A tremor ran through my body, and I shook in fear. Taur remained still behind me, his silence a terrible confirmation: the violence was permitted, and even Taur wouldn’t stop it. My new reality was simple: I needed the monster at my back to live.
Don’t test me
Pele
The meeting continued on, but I couldn’t hear anything above her cries. Even when she passed out or died, I couldn’t tell; I couldn’t look away from her. The world consisted of the sound of her whimpers and the sickening wet slap of the monster’s flesh against hers.
Taur moved then. It was a subtle shift in weight, a low growl that vibrated only in my spine. The warning should have stopped Gorok, but it didn’t. He continued rutting into her, groaning before he removed himself and came all over her back. The liquid went everywhere, and the other monsters snarled in disgust.
The moment of sanctioned brutality was over as Gorok sat back in his seat, the woman falling limp to his feet. There was a sick look of satisfaction on his face.
“The meeting is concluded,” Taur’s voice boomed. He stood and ushered me out before the others could even get up.
I wanted nothing more than to lock myself away. I felt complicit in what just happened. The need to scrub his sins and the stench of his spunk from my memory was strong. I was the only one who felt that way because no one batted an eye until he came. I hated the reminder that I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. This was a whole other realm. There was only one law: the King’s. And I needed to adapt.
I expected him to take me wherever it was they ate or to fulfill the public show Gorok had mentioned, but when the halls transitioned from rough stone to something softer, deep, soft material draped the walls, and the air was thick with smoke and spices.
As we moved through the underground stone halls, the distance between us put me on edge. I watched his enormous, clawed hand swing freely and hesitated at the thought that crossed my mind: I wanted to close the space.
“You hesitate,” Taur rumbled, not looking at me.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I murmured. He scoffed. “I’m trying to decide if my public show will be better or worse than the one I just witnessed.”
I hadn’t forgotten what I’d heard last night on the Market Block. He was silent. Despite his large frame, he didn’t walk ahead and leave me behind. He stopped, and I continued walking. A large, clawed hand wrapped around my waist and pulled me back until I bumped into a wall of muscle. He didn’t respond to me, not with words. His free hand reached up, and a calloused finger ran over the mark on my neck. He tilted my head, making me look up at him. He was so tall, I was basically looking at the ceiling. One with brown eyes and soft hair. His gaze was intense. He gave the mark a firm, possessive stroke, a silent promise before releasing me and leading me forward.
We entered a large hall that looked nothing like the rest of the fortress. Multiple rooms lined both sides, and at the far end, a large bathing pool fed by a natural hot spring. The scent of delicious food and warmth made my mouth water, but as women began pouring out from the rooms, I realized what this place was: a gilded cage.
A crown now formed in a loose semi-circle, their movements fluid and almost practiced. It was a mix of human and Minotaur women. They were cloaked in heavy silks and gleaming jewelry.The Minotaur women, or heifers, were beautiful, taller than me with horns that curled back from their brows, but the look in their eyes was predatory. The human women wore thin white garments and no jewelry, marking them as lower status. One thing each woman had in common: every single one of them glared at me and then the fresh mark on my neck with jealousy and resentment.
Taur stopped before them, forcing me to stand beside him, shoulder to shoulder. The air crackled with hostility. One heifer stepped forward. She had white fur and gold in her ears.
“My King, we’re delighted by your surprise visit. Is this the new addition to your K’onn?” she murmured as she bowed.
“I have chosen my Mát,” Taur’s voice boomed, deep enough to shake the walls. He placed one heavy, clawed hand on the back of my neck, just above the raw mark.
“This is news to us,” the heifer murmured. “There hasn’t been a public claiming.”
“Alana. She stands beside me. Fucking her publicly doesn’t make her mine. She is the highest-ranked female in this room,” he growled.
