Page 4 of Breeding Season
With a vicious yank, the man was unchained, metal links scraping the concrete. He was dragged toward a narrow, darkopening on the far wall. I swallowed hard, stomach twisting, as the monster stepped in behind him. A scream cut short, then the sickening sound of bones breaking, made my stomach twist.
No way.
Before I could get a better look at what was happening, the herd was driven forward once more, emerging from the dark, narrow tunnel out into an open space. The air here was colder, cleaner, and thick with the scent of power. Minotaurs stood silently, unmoving. The Herders who had whipped us moments ago, dropped their heads so low their horns nearly scraped the stone. The remaining Herder stood motionless, his head still bowed, as the others retreated into the shadows.
At the center of the space, atop a high, tiered stone dais, a throne of dark, polished wood waited. The air tightened around the enormous, silent figure seated there like a king. Separated from every other creature by the tiers and the depth of his black fur—so dense it seemed to absorb the light—he lifted his head, nares flaring as he sniffed. His horns were the thickest, his size immense. He was the one in charge. Every eye, human and Minotaur, fixed on him. His gaze commanded the room.
“Taur! I present… the offerings,” the Herder announced, jerking his head toward us.
Taur spent maybe a minute, an eternity, simply observing the women who had survived inspection. His chocolate-colored eyes were not predatory like the Herders’, but evaluating.
Taur nodded, and a woman was unchained from the line. A massive, furred hand gripped the chain around her neck and shoved her to the foot of the dais. She fell to her knees, head down as she barely caught herself. The Taur gave a low, rumbling grunt and spoke the word I’d already heard: ‘Sark.’ The Herder dragged her away, and the next offering was brought forward—another silent dismissal from the King, making it clear her fate was the same.
That’s when it hit me. This wasn’t a ritual. It was a market block, and we were the cattle being sorted, sold—or worse,bred.
The knowledge was immediately amplified by the commotion coming from the left. The frantic, high-pitched crying of the labeled women suddenly snapped into a ragged, pure scream, quickly cut short by a heavy-wet thud. I kept my eyes forward, refusing to look, trying to tune it out, but the desperate, muffled sounds became the chilling drumbeat to our auction. They were being claimed.
One after the other, the women were all dragged to the left, where the cries turned to screams as the Minotaurs standing off to the side picked and claimed. Ashley whimpered by my side as the woman in front of her was markedSark.
The adrenaline holding me together was running out. My knees felt brittle, and the sweat running down my back was ice-cold. Two more. Then one more. My chest squeezed tight, breath catching in my throat as if the air itself was turning into stone.
“What’re they looking for?” Ashley hissed as the woman was dragged off. Then it was her turn.
“Please,” she whispered. The plea barely left her lips before the Herder yanked her so hard she flew forward. The Taur’s eyes tracked her, nostrils flaring. His head tilted as he inhaled her scent, and I saw it—the moment he decided.
“K’onn.” A new word from the Taur, one that made Ashley sob. A cold, sharp surge of relief cut through my fear. She was spared. She wasn’t ‘Sark’. The Herder took her to the right, where she stood alone, chained to a stone pedestal. Her shoulders trembled as she cried. There was no time to sympathize with her because he’d returned. He slapped a massive hand around the chain around my neck. It was my turn. He yanked and then I was thrown onto the rough stone dais.
My mud-stained red dress felt like a spotlight was on my body. I stood before the Taur, helpless, but to offset the feeling,I straightened, pulled my shoulders back, lifted my chin, and glared up at him.
Then the worst happened. The Taur, who had seemed bored while deciding the fates of dozens, stopped entirely. Amber eyes widened slightly, flaring with something primal–recognition, hunger, and possession. He rose, and the sound of his hooves hitting the wooden floor and then stone echoed like war drums. Everyone had gone silent. He was easily nine feet of muscle and dense midnight fur–even bigger on his feet than the others.
He stepped down from the Market Block, moving with the slow, deliberate confidence of an avalanche. One after the other until he reached ground level. All eyes were on him as he crossed the expanse, and eventually, he stopped in front of me. Every hair on my neck and arms stood as his heat washed over me, a tremor running down my spine and through my knees.
His chest grew in size as he inhaled deeply. Steam billowed from him, surrounding me. He reached out his hand, a clawed, black-furred appendage that could crush my skull, aiming to touch my face. My stomach fluttered, a jolt of fear spiked through my legs, and I shivered against the intensity of his heat.
I didn’t think. I reacted. In a flash, I’d lunged forward and bit down on his wrist, sinking my teeth hard through the thick fur and into the solid muscle beneath. Salt and blood hit my tongue. My body tensed, bracing for the blow that would end me—but it never came.
The King simply stood there, his massive form unmoving, his gaze fixed on my defiant, bloodied mouth. Then he smiled—a flash of terrifying, sharp teeth, and uttered a word he hadn’t spoken all night. It rolled across the open stone, vibrating through the air and rattling the ground beneath my feet.
“Mát.”
The air thickened, and the Minotaurs closest to the Dais stilled, muscles taunt, eyes flickering toward the Taur. A low,unified exhalation rolled from them, like a hundred lungs collapsing at once. The Herders dropped to one knee, spiked poles clattering against the stone in unison.
A voice, sharp and final, echoed across the expanse: “Claimed!”
My chest tightened, stomach twisting, even through the trembling whispers of the women near the exit. I was standing here, defiant, and utterly at the mercy of the beast. The cold, sickening truth sank in: I’d been claimed by the Minotaur King.
Eyes on me
Taur
Centuries of searching and nothing. Now, in our final year, during the final season when all seemed lost, she appeared. The little human had no idea she was my savior and doom.
My cock thickened, digging into her breast, uncaring of the target now sitting proudly on my chest. The hate in her eyes faltered, shock taking its place as she looked down at where my tip dug into flesh. Her lips curled back in a snarl, a savage reminder of the moment she’d bit into my finger. Her desperate struggle had drawn blood, my blood, but all I could think about was how they’d look wrapped around my cock.
A blur of meat and muscle charged me, and I grabbed her by the throat, jerking her behind me as the two brown bulls hit at once. I recognized the brothers, backhanded one across the face, and grabbed the other by the horns. I forced him to his knees, grunting as I broke a horn from his head. His cry of pain sliced through the air, and I shoved him down as his twin got back up. He charged me again, this time going low. The fight for my female had begun.
A growl vibrated in my chest and shook the ground beneath my feet as I dropped. I dug my claws into the dirt, and my shoulders rolled as I braced for impact. The sound of our horns colliding slapped through the sky like thunder. I took two steps back, dug my heels in, and drove forward, pushing againsthis strength. I felt his intention against mine, but it dwarfed in comparison. His body trembled, and his eyes darted to his brother, defeat in his gaze, before I yanked my head to the left, rolling his neck with it. There was a snap as his body crumbled. Followed by a cry of pain as his brother crawled toward him. I straightened, walked over, and grabbed him by the head. Blood from his missing horn coated my fur as I twisted his head back until it cracked. Tossing him aside as I faced the rest of the bulls still standing.
