Khukri knelt next to the bed, watching through half-closed eyes as Master took slow, even breaths. He wasn’t the focus of her attention, not exactly, but his reassuring presence was so calming that meditation felt hollow without him now. The coiling beast beneath her heart attuned to the mood of its predator, dormant and passive, breath synced to the rise and fall of his sleeping form.
The barriers fell away, and, with her whole heart, Khukri felt.
Raw instinct flowed as her fingers sank into his course chest fur, camouflaging the twin brown claws whose points anchored into hide. His flesh was so close she could practically taste it, and his warm blood flowed just beneath her hand, barely contained within its fragile shell. Severing the last chain to the slaver's world would only take moving them an inch, and yet, her claws stayed clean.
Khukri was a good girl. Safe. Relaxed. Happy. As Master desired.
A knock at the door stirred Master. While any sensible animal would stir with fear wakening to a wolf's jaws inches from their throat, her fearless predator shivered with excitement and delight, wrapping an arm over her head to scratch her ears.
“Your clothes, Master,” Khukri murmured, ears folded back while her claws slid harmlessly to the bed, allowing his escape.
He stumbled, grin growing as he spied the long wolven tail he’d claimed swinging between his legs. “Oh, right.”
Khukri left him to dress as she strode to the door, retrieving the large, pearl-handled knife from her cage. With the weapon behind her back, she cracked the door and gazed out at Conall’s scarred face. “Yes?”
“I need to talk to Ash,” Conall said flatly, lips tightened into a restrained scowl. Whatever the problem was, he seemed annoyed rather than hostile. Not that she’d let her guard down either way.
“Master’s getting dressed,” Khukri said, closing the door. “He’ll be out when he's ready.” She hurried back, tossing the knife on the bed and reaching for her armour.
The belt slid tight against Master’s stomach, cinching his pants and hiding his tail down one leg. “Good girl.”
Khukri missed a buckle as his hands slid over her head and along her ears once more. It was impossible to concentrate through Master’s praise. A happy flutter radiated through her heart, forcing her head into his hand to selfishly enjoy it while it lasted. Disappointingly, Master had more important things to do than play with his toys. When he attempted to withdraw she caught his arm, then jerked her head toward the sabre leaning against the headboard.
Reluctantly, Master wrapped the baldric around his shoulder and let the blade swing loosely at his hip. When he moved, Khukri followed, footguards abandoned in her rush to comply. From a step behind, she stood at attention as the opening door revealed the irritated monk.
“Ash,” Conall said tersely. “Enjoying the room?”
“Yeah… Is everything alright?”
Conall sighed, glaring at Khukri before relaxing his shoulders. “No. But honestly? That’s partially my fault. I’d like to discuss the issue in private; would you mind coming with me?”
“Of course.” Master trailed after Conall, leaving Khukri to secure and lock their door. “Look, I’m sorry if there’s some sort of rule I’ve broken, but I haven’t even...” Master’s voice wavered. “Uh, wow, people here are, uh...”
Khukri’s eyes flitted about the inhabitants of their makeshift village. As expected, deer and rabbits made up the entirety, and with far fewer threats than in The Direwood. Men and women ambled among the pathways or sat amongst the plants, throwing curious glances her way as she passed. What likely caught Master off-guard was the many who decided against dressing this morning. Personally, Khukri approved; this made identifying threats to her master far easier.
“Naked, yes.” Conall’s voice was resigned, but he pressed on, motioning for Master to follow. “Honestly, I thought that would be the hard part of this morning’s conversation. Some people...” He cocked an eyebrow and gave Master a hard look. “are under the absurd notion that our religion is a weird sex cult. It is my sacred duty to correct that.” He sighed and turned away, increasing his pace as they carried on towards the compound’s centre. “Our bodies are gifts from Deianira, and nothing to be ashamed of. That said, this is a communal area. Clothing or not, if you behave inappropriately, you will be banished.”
Master stood stiffly, eyes locked on the ground as he silently lumbered on. The strange thing about these people wasn’t the lack of clothing. Khukri’s packmates only bothered dressing for protection, so she was well aware how excessive the slaver's practice was, but the lack of urgency was suspicious. Many deer simply sat in the grass, basking in the sunlight with their eyes closed, and even the ones walking didn’t seem to have a specific destination in mind. What were they doing, and why were they doing it near her master?
The trail led to a walkway of red square stones through a forest of strange new trees. The endless wave of vibrant greenery shifted to an ocean of pink. The thin trees stretched overhead, filling the sky with thousands of bright pink flowery branches. Rather than the outer layer's bushes, these trees enjoyed thousands of haphazardly placed flowers she'd only ever seen before as a symbol. Snapdragons.
For the first time since he'd stepped outside, Master looked up, eyes widening as they took in the red path. “Conall?”
The monk glanced over his shoulder, jaw tightening as he adjusted his sash again. “Yes?”
“Are those crabapple trees?”
The hardness in Conall’s face subsided when a small smirk broke through. “Good eye. They’re native to southern Tythic, but it’s normally too hot here. Luckily, Deianira’s blessing sustains them.”
“You grew these?” Master asked, grin returning through his earlier embarrassment. “There’s so many...”
Conall chuckled, ushering them into the pink forest. “As much as I’d like to take credit, Eden’s flora is a group effort, and I didn’t contribute to these ones, specifically.”
Master’s eyes slid from the pink canopy to an older deer-girl, sitting in a sunbeam at the tree's base. His pupil narrowed to a line, then widened again as he regarded Conall with astonishment. “The people here; they’re all using the light to bless the plants?”
“...A very good eye,” Conall mused, returning his attention to the path. “Many stay here, not because they care about our cause, but because they seek a safe place to strengthen their connection to Deianira. All that holy light, well...” He breathed in, dramatically raising his arms and tilting back his head. “It heals the land, restores it to how it was when Deianira first gifted it to us.” Conall’s tension evaporated as he released the breath and let his arms fall. “Or, that’s what we believe anyway, since you were curious. Come, we’re here.”
Khukri’s lips curled as Master fell for the monk’s nonsense again. She’d seen his type before, the ones who revered nature as some sort of ‘purity’ to protect. They worshiped their little trees from behind their walls while armies maintained the order, but she’d like to see them spend a year in The Direwood ‘the way Deianira gifted it to them.’ Perhaps discovering which beasts consumed the most of their remains would shed some light on who Deianira gifted the world to.
Pink trees parted as the trail opened into a paved, red courtyard, littered with benches and tables surrounding a tower that stretched even higher than the walls of the Direwood Outpost. The tower consisted of a central circular building with long pink eaves stretching out from each story, mimicking a gargantuan snapdragon. Perhaps Khukri was going soft, for even she appreciated the impractical building’s beauty.
“We call this, ‘The Petals’,” Conall said, unlocking the door and opening it for Master. “We’ve created and maintained a wealth of amenities for people to enjoy. Normally, there’s a fee, but we’ll make an exception today.”
The door led down a narrow hallway to a massive atrium running up the building's central shaft. Stories of lacquered wood rose overhead, separating each floor with an octagonal railing connected by twin spiral staircases chasing up the building’s interior. The atrium's inner walls were decorated with doors, lit by a sunbeam, cascading from above despite them clearly being inside. Whether magic or a trick, it had the intended effect on her master. Making him stop and gawk in awe. Tempting him from his purpose.
Conall led them into one of the lower doors, then shut it behind them with a resigned sigh. The room was another of lacquered wood, lit through small slits in the walls just below the pink outdoor eaves. Towards the far wall the floor fell away, leaving a large square pit of water in the stone foundation. “There. We've built these walls special to dampen sound,” Connal said. “Rest assured, anything you say in here is private. Understand?”
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“Um, no. Not really.” Master muttered, shooting a disapproving gaze at Khukri. “What’s going on?”
Khukri’s fingers uncoiled from her knife’s pommel, an apologetic pout on her lips.
Conall grimaced, leaning against the wall. “Ashling, Eden is a community. There are people who live here, people with families. With children.”
Master stared.
After a long grunt, Conall's one good eye swung downward. “...Children who’d never heard a wolf howl before last night.”
A second passed, then, Master’s eyes swelled and his head jerked between Khukri and Conall. “Oh. Oh! Fuck, I’m so sorry! How much did they hear?”
“Is there some amount you'd consider acceptable?” Conall crossed his arms and sighed, still reluctant to meet Master’s gaze. “But, as I said, perhaps I bear some of the blame. I’ve heard the rumors about us being a sex cult, and I should’ve made it clear our practices are a lot more complicated than you've probably heard. Please understand, we don’t want to shame you, or imply you've done anything immoral. Your inner light is a gift from Deianira. It’s a beautiful thing and you’re free to explore it without judgment here, even with a very scary wolf. We just have some... informal social norms we need animals to follow if we all want to coexist. Understand?”
Master stared wide-eyed at the floor, head between his hands. “I’m so, so sorry. I completely fucked up. I didn’t think... well, I didn’t think, period. Look, we’ll pay what we owe and get out of here. Tell everyone I’m sorry and it-”
“Relax.” Conall shifted forward, gently touching Master's shoulder and affixing him with a sympathetic look. “You don’t need to leave. Just... keep it down.”
For her part, Khukri wasn’t particularly bothered. Despite Master's mortified stare it was clear the monk still wanted his money, and any indiscretion forgiven by mere words hardly qualified as a mistake.
“Can you? Keep it down, I mean?” Master asked.
What? Was she physically capable of not howling like a bitch in heat when Master made her cum so hard her limbs wouldn’t work? Didn't he know? He was the one who did it. Khukri leaned in, making Conall jerk away when she playfully growled into Master’s ear. “You could muzzle me...”
Master swallowed and offered Conall a nervous smile. “Right, I- I promise It won’t happen again.”
Conall nodded, reaching for the door before pausing. “Oh, right. One other thing. There’s a building at the far end of the monastery grounds opposite from the entrance. It’s on a big open field with guard towers surrounding it, you won't mistake it for any other structure here. That building is for monastery use only. Please stay away from it.”
“Of course.” Master's voice was low and distracted, but he met Conall's gaze for a moment. “I’ll steer clear.”
With another conclusive nod, Conall finally left Khukri and Master alone.
“We have to go.” Master strode to the wall, breathing deeply before turning to her. “We’ll pay for our room and get back to Azure Junction. We can find an inn there.”
“I like it here,” Khukri objected, pacing to the pit.
“...You do?” Master asked, abandoning his wall to join her. “You said you didn’t trust these people, and now they’ve heard us...”
“I didn't say I liked them, they’re a bunch of crazy nature worshipers running an expensive camp.” Khukri said, kneeling to dip her fingers into the cold pool. “But the Queen's guards don't run things here, and most of the residents are prey species without natural weapons or combat training. Not to mention, I saw at least fifteen Deianira-marked backs on the way over here. Dark greens and pinks instead of white, but your symbol stands out less in this crowd.”
Master sighed, kneeling alongside her with a resigned smile. “I guess… it is pretty nice here, and we do have plenty of money. If we pay a little extra to use these rooms...” He nudged her playfully with his shoulder. “I won’t have to muzzle my sexy pet wolf. I rather enjoy the howling.”
Khukri grinned and ground against him. “I know you do. We’ll still need a cage though, and a supply of meat for me.”
“A cage?” Master's smile faltered, drifting to confusion and concern. “You’re still worried you might go feral? I thought we were past that.”
“You were far too trusting of me, Master,” Khukri said, slowly rising. “If I weren’t a premium hunter, things could’ve gone very badly. The girls down here aren’t as well trained. Many of them haven’t been properly broken in. Until I let your new girl into the pack we’ll need to keep her caged at night.”
Water sloshed between Master’s fingers as he stared into the pit. “I’m thinking maybe I don’t need a new girl. I already have a lot to learn, and we need to make money for the trip south. Let’s just focus on that.”
Khukri’s head tilted and her eyes narrowed. His hesitancy wasn’t unexpected. Wolves were never made Whips for good reason, and no matter how willing and devoted Khukri was to making Master's pack perfect, she was still a wolf. It was reasonable, but she needed something to work with. “Master?” Khukri tensed. “How am I supposed to prove I can enforce my will on your pack... without a pack?”
“You don't hunt outside winter, right?” Master asked, looking up with a hopeful smile. “Just train with me. I'll figure out how to make money without drawing attention and when we go back we can buy a pack.”
A flutter rolled through Khukri’s stomach at the words, though she did her best to still them. “A... a pack is more than just a bunch of dogs hunting together. It's...” The strange feelings Master sometimes drew out made her throat tense, filling her jaws with emotions she hadn't the words to express.
“Hey, easy Khukri. They don't own you anymore, I do. We can decide for ourselves what kind of Whip you are.” Master rose, approaching with a calm smile and placing his hands on either side of her face. Under his touch, her muscles relaxed and the attempts at speech fell away. “I like you, us… this.” Master gently tilted her head down and kisser the bridge of her nose. “I don’t want another girl, I love you.”
Khukri lifted her muzzle, hands shaking as she tried once more. Nothing needs to change for you, Master. I am your Whip and I’ll make your slaves behave any way you like. Should you choose, her mouth will only ever open when you desire a warm hole to-”
“Khukri!” Master squeezed her arms and set his jaw. “How are you okay with the whole… sex thing?”
This again? She’d thought that problem was well and truly buried. “You didn’t seem to have a problem last night...”
“Yeah!” Master released her, throwing his hands up in exasperation. “Yeah, with you. I love you, I don’t want to cheat on you.”
Khukri turned, nervously hurrying to check the door was properly shut. The last thing Master needed was someone humiliating him for catching feelings for a slave. A wolf slave, of all things. “I’m sorry...” she said. “I love you too, with everything I am, but I’m not your girlfriend. I’m your slave.” Master's jaw tightened, but she pressed on. He needed to understand, no matter how much it hurt. “Your pack will be slaves, Master, all of us. You decide the terms. If you want to love one, the pack will accept it, and if you want to love many, so will I.”
“Wouldn’t that bother you?” he demanded. “Wouldn’t you be jealous?”
A giggle broke past her lips, cut short by Master’s irritated glare. “Sorry, I know this is serious, but I’m the best, remember? I haven’t been jealous since I was a child.”
Master sighed, pushing past her and opening the door into the atrium.
Khukri reverted to her collected subservient presence, falling in line behind her master lest someone see. “Master...” she pushed, following him to the exit. “I don't think I can do this alone.”
They ground to a halt in the hallway, Master’s hand recoiling from door’s handle as he turned, eyes filled with more pain than she'd ever inflicted in practice. “You're not alone,” he insisted, reaching out. "We're in this together."
“I only desire to serve you, Master, and that's not something you can do with me.” Khukri grabbed the outstretched hand and squeezed it tenderly. “Another girl means more magic, another pair of eyes to watch for danger, and another pair of hands to help.”
The door swung inwards, thudding into Master's back and making him stumble forward into her. Two naked deer-men looked him over as they sidled through, then cringed away when their eyes met hers. “Oh! Sorry!”
“Sorry,” Master blurted, pulling Khukri past them by the wrist and jogging through the sea of pink petals toward their room. “Even if I wanted to, I don’t have the kind of money I did when we left home. I only got back half the money I spent from buying you, and we’ve had expenses, not to mention what I got stolen...”
“You don’t need a premium hunter,” Khukri insisted. “Two hundred thousand is enough to buy a healthy slave. I can train her until she’s worthy of your pack.”
“Two hundred thousand?” Master pulled her from the pathway and led her to one of the trees. “For that kind of money, we could stay here a year. You could train me to be-”
Khukri's hand pressed over his mouth, widening his eyes in surprise as he trailed off. “Let’s say I do. Let’s say, I train you until you’re as good as me.” Her eyes narrowed and her fingers curled around his muzzle, killing the insecure comment on Master’s lips in an inaudible mumble. “Even if you learned everything I know and became the strongest man on Earth, you still wouldn’t beat me in a fair fight. Your body simply isn’t built for it.” Her fingers relaxed, trailing across his cheek and down the side of his neck. “If you want to be strong enough to control me, the pack must grow.”
Master sighed, gently pressing her against the tree. “Does it have to be now? I’ve only known you a season...”
A smile danced across her lips as she pressed his head to her chest. “Selfishly? I like having you all to myself, but I can only teach one girl at a time. We can’t risk letting someone disobedient learn your secrets, after all. The longer we wait, the further behind I fall in my duties as Whip.” Technically, if Master wanted to be strong enough without a pack they didn’t need the girls’ cooperation, but that line of questioning was one of the few topics that got her scolded.
“I guess another girl would make us back our money in the long run,” he reluctantly agreed. “We could even buy one who understands how the Azure Syndicate works, that way we’d have a guide.”
“A canine would be best, if you can find one,” Khukri advised, grin growing. Of course Master eventually saw the right path; he always did. “It takes less training to break them in.”
Master buried his nose against her chest, taking in a long breath and squeezing her against the tree before pulling away. “Okay, I'm not promising anything, but we’ll head back to Azure Junction and take a look at the ARC. Why don't you get ready while I have a conversation with Conall. I’ve got an idea.”