Chapter 14 Don’t test me
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.
A ripple of silent outrage ran through the group.
“Forgive me, my King. She’s fragile. How can you expect us to think of her as nothing more than a warm pocket? The Herd needs more than a toy,” Alana murmured. Taur’s eyes narrowed, but his voice remained dangerously level.
“She is your Queen. You will show respect where it is due.” He didn’t wait for a response.
“I’ll decide what the Herd needs,” Taur growled. Alana dipped her chin and didn’t say anything else. “Gorok seeks to claim what is mine.”
Shocked murmurs rippled through the crowd of women.
“We’d rather slit our throats than serve another Taur.” Alana’s loyalty was unmatched. Many of the women nodded.
Defiance wasn’t working, hadn’t been, and now I had to align myself with the monster I hated. I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t test his boundaries. I lifted my chin, forcing a smile that was all teeth.
“If you can have all of them, does that mean I can fuck who I want? Where’s my harem? What bulls or men can I choose from?”
The concubines gasped, their eyes widening in shock. Taur’s grip on my neck tightened, a warning, yet his brown eyes flared with a possessive fury that made my toes curl. There was that level of control he held onto, but he couldn’t fool me. He was jealous.
“Don’t test me, Mát,” his voice a low growl, meant only for me. He leaned down, his nares beside my ear. “If you so much as touch another male, bull or human, I’ll eat the flesh off their bones and offer you their beating heart.”
My heart hammered against my ribs as he straightened.
He looked around the circle, his gaze sweeping over the women he’d just demoted.
“I have matters to attend. I leave her in your hands.” It was like a warning.
I could feel the concubines’ hatred settling on me like grit.
I was shaking, but the sheer possessiveness in his gaze was a terrifying anchor.
Then, he shifted his grip and signaled to the entrance.
Two new figures were pushed into the room by a massive guard. The sight of them stole the breath I had left. It was Ashley and Jania. I sighed in relief as I took in the familiar faces. They were scrubbed clean and wearing pink versions of the dress I wore.
“These two are favored,” Taur announced, his hand moving from my neck to rest on the hilt of his weapon, “and will be added to the K’onn. They are mine. They are not to be touched by the Herd.”
“Are these women not your concubines?” I asked, motioning to the Minotaur and women. His maw lowered as his eyes landed on mine.
“These women belong to the Herd. The K’onn belong to me.”
Taur hadn’t just elevated me; he’d added two more rivals as his concubines. The women erupted into chaos, scattering into furious huddles, their low voices trying to figure out what this news meant for them.
“Behave,” he murmured as he gave one last, firm squeeze to my neck before turning and disappearing out the entrance, leaving me feeling more alone than I’d like to admit.
Before I could process the sheer volume of hatred being directed my way, two warm hands grabbed my arm and pulled me forward.
“Come on! Let’s get you away from the harpies,” Ashley whispered. She tugged me toward the far end of the hall where the hot spring poured into the bathing pool.
Jania followed close behind, giving me a tight smile.
There was something off about her eyes, but the exhaustion from everything that had happened was too overwhelming.
It felt like the first time I could breathe since waking up chained to the mud floor.
Having familiar faces besides me felt like a reprieve.
“Last night was insane!” Ashley exclaimed, pulling me to sit on the warm stone ledge beside the pool. “It’s all thanks to you that I’m alive. I thought I was going to be dinner!”
“You’re such a badass, Pele,” Jania agreed, her voice flat, but her proximity felt like a shield. She sat on the other side, creating a human barrier between me and the other women.
“Were you… okay? Did they hurt you?” I asked, looking from Jania’s steady composure to Ashley’s wide eyes.
“No, they didn’t touch us. It turns out the other bulls can’t touch the “K’onn”,” Ashley said quickly. She leaned closer, her voice dropping. “But what’s that all about?” She nodded toward the mark on my neck. “Does it hurt? What did he do to you? And what’s this about you being Queen?”
I hesitated, running my finger over the mark. “I’m glad you guys weren’t touched. He gave it to me. It did hurt, but it doesn’t anymore. He claimed me last night as his “Mát” and I’m assuming that means mate.”
This felt like the closest thing to safety I’d known in days. Ashley was asking normal questions, Jania was protecting my flank, and the other women were too busy gossiping to bother us. Ashley nodded, offering a gentle, understanding smile instead of pushing the subject.
I desperately needed to trust someone. “Being here alone… how’re the other women? The ones from last night? There’s no way this is everyone,” I asked, my gaze darting to the women in the hall.
Ashley looked at me, her face draining of color. “You don’t know?” she whispered.
“What? What don’t I know?” I asked.
“Ashley and I were saved because we were labeled K’onn. The others were given to the Herd. Some were brought here, and the others were eaten.”
My stomach jumped into my mouth. I felt sick.
A tight, cold smile, the same I’d seen in the harem entrance, crossed Jania’s lips. She didn’t move away. Her eyes remained on the mark.
“Do you have another one?” she asked. My cheeks flushed, but then it dawned on me.
“How do you know about the second mark?” I asked. She ignored me.
“I know more than that, Pele. I know how you mourned your mother’s death. I know why you really left Florida. You really think that piece of skin is the problem?” Her tone shifted, becoming flat. “Do you love him now that he’s controlling your body?”
The truth hit me like a train wreck.
“You’re my stalker?” I recoiled.
Ashley looked confused, glancing between us.
“What’re you talking about, Jania? You’re being crazy,” she whined.
Jania ignored Ashley completely. Her eyes were now wide and glistening with manic obsession. She leaned closer, dropping her voice to a possessive whisper.
“It’s not the skin, Pele. It’s the soul.” She reached into the pocket of her pink tunic. My blood ran cold. The silence of the cavern seemed to press in, deafening me to the distant murmurs of the concubines. I wrapped my arms around myself, but it was useless.
“I spent years tracking them,” Jania continued, her voice now a horrifying, even lecture.
“The mark on your neck doesn’t matter; it’s the one on your stomach.
That one…” She reached out and pressed a finger right where the hoof-crescent mark sat on my navel.
It instantly burst into a searing, agonizing fire.
I doubled over, choking on the pain. Ashley screamed and scrambled backward off the stone ledge.
“The bond,” Jania hissed, her face close to mine, her eyes blazing with insane jealousy, “is a psychic lock on your essence. And I know how to break it.”
She pulled a smooth, cool piece of obsidian from her pocket and pressed it against my mark. The dark stone glowed as she spoke in an unfamiliar language.
“You were supposed to be mine,” she hissed.
I felt a sudden, violent wrenching deep inside me, like something was being ripped out. The agony was so immense, so absolute, my knees felt weak. Jania’s maniacal conquering laughter echoed off the stone walls as I fell and slipped beneath the water.