My Wild Pet (Whispers from the Imperial Cage #2)

Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22

Aefre

I stand behind the console as I review the data. Ash’s vitals spike erratically across the screen—elevated heart rate, shallow breathing, and cortisol levels through the roof. All expected. All necessary.

I double-check the data feed, ensuring the parameters are set correctly, a carefully calibrated simulation of intense emotional states, each meant to plant Imperial vocabulary and grammar in the pet’s mind.

I’ve done this countless times with other pets—fear, triumph, humiliation, desperation. But in all my years, I’ve rarely used the “love” setting. It’s notoriously complicated to replicate, but it’s important that I push the bond between Ash and Ember. So, I’ve programmed the harness to replicate a human male who looks and even smells like him.

My console flashes green. The harness pulses, and Ash’s expression shifts, pupils dilate, and her dull cream cheeks flush with the mild euphoria the system induces. A swirl of words in Imperial hover in the air, each linked to the harness’s emotional feed: devotion, cherished, beloved.

As the program progresses, tears begin to form at the corners of her eyes. I check her stats. There’s nothing to worry about. She’s experiencing the sensation of “love” that the harness is conjuring. Dopamine and oxytocin levels are spiking. She breathes out something between a sigh and a whimper, whispering the new words in Imperial. If I let it, the moment might stir something emotional in me too. But I can’t afford that. Why should I be jealous of a holographic Ember? She’s my pet and this is a training exercise—no more, no less.

I step closer as the program ends. Her eyes open when she senses my approach, and for a moment, she seems shaken—caught between the illusion’s afterglow and the reality of my presence.

Her body shivers as the simulation’s warmth begins to fade. She’s breathing faster now, scanning my face for some kind of explanation. I keep my expression neutral, glancing at her collar readouts once more. All satisfactory. All good.

Ash stammers a few of the Imperial words again, as if testing them on her tongue, and maybe even wanting to show off her new skill, “Devotion, cherish, beloved.”

A small part of me notes the near-perfect pronunciation. “Good girl,” I tell her and stroke her between her legs. Her pink fur is soaking wet from urine and desire.

She looks into my eyes pleadingly. Her pupils are still dilated, her cheeks still flushed, the readout on her collar shows high levels of arousal. I feel my own arousal straining beneath my trousers and against my better judgement, I decide to deny her no longer. I part her legs with my hands, and then run my fingers up and down the folds of her labia, gently teasing her into what’s to come. I watch as her mouth opens slightly and the sweetest little moan escapes her lips at my slight touch.

“Yes, pet. This is what you want,” I say, as she tries to move her hips closer to my hand and open her legs wider. I begin rubbing her faster, never taking my eyes from hers. “It’s me giving this to you, Ash. Remember that. You’re mine now and I control every part of you.”

I know I’m risking intermingling her connection to Ember from the language training with my own role as trainer, but there’s something about Ash that makes me not want to share her with anyone. Not even another pet. It’s mad. It’s frightening, but I can’t control my jealousy right now and my need to dominate her.

I expertly work her body into a sexual frenzy. She’s moaning so loudly now that it’s echoing off the walls as I continue to stroke her and tease her little sex. Finally, when she’s on the edge, I command her to orgasm for me, and when she doesn’t, I pinch one of her pink nipples hard, twisting it with my free hand, using the friction of the nipple piercing to get her attention.

Now I have what I want, her eyes meet mine, I command her again. “Orgasm for me Ash.”

And she does.

Good. None of her bodily functions are hers anymore. She is mine. Every part of her. She must submit herself completely to me. She will become my perfect human pet just like Ember. “Good girl.” Then I tell her to, “Suck.” And I put my wet fingers in her mouth and she hungrily sucks her lubrication and urine from my fingers.

When we have completed the last program in the Foundation Course I tell her, “Tomorrow, we will begin Unit One.”

“Please Master,” she says in accented Imperial.

“You must, Ash.”

I step away from the console and unlatch the harness from her, the metallic tendrils retracting with a faint hiss.

Her breathing is shallow and her pale skin is glistening with sweat. Even if I hadn’t had access to her stats, it’s obvious her body has reached its limit.

“Ash is a good girl,” I tell her.

When she tries to move off the stool, she’s too weak to stand.

I catch her and lift her into my arms. It surprises me how light she feels. It’s ridiculous that I should even reflect on this. I know her exact weight. But her personality makes her feel heavier, like a force to be reckoned with and a secret weapon no one in the pet circuit is expecting. My pet. My weapon.

I walk her to the medical center and as the doors slide open a familiar voice calls out from behind us.

“Briar?!”

Ember. He must have passed us in the corridor. His face is flushed with anger.

“What have you done to her? You monster!” he accuses me. But his outburst is predictable given the circumstances and a good sign that I was successful in manipulating his own emotions to bond with her.

I shift Ash in my arms so that if I need to, I can hit my ring to issue a punishment. “She’s just tired, Ember.” I assure him calmly. “The process is necessary for her ability to speak Imperial. You know this. Go to where you’re supposed to be or I’ll have your privilege to come and go on your own revoked.”

I see the conflict in his eyes—the resentment, the protectiveness, the helplessness.

I hand Ash to the medics and turn my attention towards Ember. I stroke his head. “It’s okay,” I say. And for a moment, I see my gorgeous obedient pet again. But then his mood changes back when Ash makes a small whimper as they lay her down on a medical bed.

“It’s okay,” I say again, caressing him in a way I know he likes and usually calms him. I run my hand back and forth over the back of his muscular thighs. Hinting that if he is a good boy there’ll be a sexual reward for him.

But he steps away from me. His golden eyes meet mine and for the first time in years, I see defiance there.

“Remove him,” I command the guards in the medical center. “Put him in solitary confinement.”

The guards step forward.

Ember resists at first, but he does not fight long. He knows better than to challenge them outright as they’re armed. Still, his words linger in the air as they drag him from the room. “You monster.”

I walk over to where Ash is being hydrated and given some sleeping aids. She’s not broken. Far from it. Ember’s dramatics are unfounded, fueled by the connection I planted there. If I didn’t have so much riding on Ember bonding with Ash for the Grand Championships, I’d attempt to reverse some of what I did. But, it’s too late now. We all have to let this run its course.