My lips part, but no sound comes at first.
I’m shaking.
Phones are pointed at my face; this moment will live forever on the internet. My pulse whooshes in my ears.
I think of Father. I think of Chase. I think of every expectation strangling me since birth. And I think of these three men who have, in their own messed-up way, shown me more respect for my choices than my family ever has. If I falter now, if I don’t go all the way, this humiliation will be for nothing. I wet my dry lips. My voice cracks as I begin, but I force it louder, from the diaphragm, like I learned in debate club.
“I—” My throat is tight; I push past it. “I belong to OCK.”
A roar of mixed reactions erupts. Some cheers, some gasps of outrage, laughter, and a lot of startled exclamations. My face is so hot I feel faint, but inside, beneath the mortification, something like triumph ignites. I did it. I said it, the truth, in its rawest form. I see a few girls with hands over their mouths, and one of them—a friend of my brother’s, I realize—actually looks sympathetic. Maybe even impressed.
Talon looks downright giddy, baring his teeth in a feral grin. “Good girl,” he practically purrs, giving the leash a light snap that makes the collar pinch briefly at my neck. The praise shoots through me, embarrassingly pleasurable. I drop my gaze, half in submission, half to hide the spark in my eyes.Why does that feel good?
“Spread the word, folks,” Dredyn calls out with a laugh. “Daddy’s little angel prefers to crawl.” His crude announcement is met with another burst of laughter and scandalized chatter.
I cringe internally. That line was definitely aimed to get straight back to my father’s ears.
Talon winks down at me, utterly unapologetic.
“All right, show’s over,” Dredyn growls to no one in particular. He’s noticed a few campus security officers hovering at the far end of the quad, unsure what to do about this situation. Dredyn isn’t about to wait and find out. “Let’s wrap this up. Mara, heel.”
On command, I drop back to all fours. My body is humming, exhaustion and adrenaline mixing into a potent haze. We startmoving briskly back the way we came, retracing our steps. Talon keeps hold of the leash, tugging firmly to guide me. Jasper and Dredyn close ranks near me, their legs shielding me somewhat from prying hands or cameras as we depart.
What seems like a million years later, we return to the OCK house doorstep. Talon practically yanks it open and steps aside. Dredyn and Jasper herd me in swiftly.
Jasper is immediately at my side, kneeling next to me. His arm goes around my shoulders, steady and gentle.“Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay.”
“I’m fine,” I manage, though my voice breaks. “I’m… I’m fine.”
Talon tosses the leash onto a side table and runs both hands through his hair, looking as wired as I feel. “That. Was. Wild,” he says, half-laughing, half in awe.
I wipe my face, taking a shaky breath to calm myself. The tears stop after that; I won’t break down completely, I refuse. I lift my chin, and my hand drifts up to touch the leather around my throat. “I… I meant it,” I say softly, voice hoarse.
Jasper rubs a soothing circle on my back.
Dredyn comes to plop down on the bottom stair. “No shit you meant it. I don’t think anyone will question that after that performance.”
I lean slightly into Jasper’s side, suddenly exhausted. My knees throb dully now and I’m sure they’ll bruise. My tights are shredded at the joints. Jasper notices and gently lifts one of my legs, grimacing at the sight of the abrasion.“Hurt?”
“It’s nothing,” I assure him, even though it stings. Honestly, I barely feel it over the whirlwind in my head. Physical pain is easy compared to the emotional rollercoaster.
Talon laughs under his breath, drawing my attention. He’s pulled out his phone. “Well, it didn’t take long,” he says, eyes on the screen. “I’ve got like thirty notifications . . . Oh man, look at this one.” He turns the phone so we can see. Through a blur, I make out a social media post. Someone uploaded a short videoclip—me, on my knees by the fountain, shouting “I belong to these men.” The caption reads: OMFG PRINCESS MARA HAS LOST IT with about a hundred shocked emojis.
“Turn it off, Tal,” Dredyn snaps, noticing my distress. Talon’s smile fades and he pockets the phone at once, hands up defensively. “All right, all right. Sorry.”
Jasper gives my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. I take a slow breath and open my eyes. “It’s okay,” I say quietly. “I . . . I knew that would happen. I wanted it to happen, remember?”
They all look at me for a long moment, and I muster a braver smile than I feel. Inside, I’m still trembling—thinking about Father’s face when he inevitably sees that video, about Chase’s reaction, about the university administration and whether I just broke a dozen rules.
Consequences loom like dark clouds on the horizon of my mind.
But alongside them, unbelievably, is a twisted sense of liberation.
“I’m proud of you.”
Dredyn clears his throat and stands, pulling a key from his pocket. With deliberate care, he unbuckles the collar around my neck. The leather slides free, leaving my skin oddly cool where it once warmed me. I touch the faint indents it left behind—marks that prove it was real. A part of me misses its weight already.
He offers me a hand. “Come on,” he says. “Let’s get you off the floor.”
