Page 3 of Claiming Their Slave
A heavy weight was suddenly placed on her neck. It took Ava a moment to realize her master had placed a slave collar on her. He tugged on a leash that was attached to the weighted metal chain, causing her head to jerk backward.
Tears burned in her eyes. All her hopes and dreams crashed at her feet. When she envisioned the field of daisies, all the flowers were blackened, as if suddenly charred with despair.
Monrock and his father led her toward the crowded market.
* * *
Jaxon peered through the trees at the human village. Raised voices and a multitude of people gathered around a platform caught his attention. Normally when he came across a village, he kept moving. He’d never interacted with a human before, but he’d heard they were weak, pathetic creatures. Deciding they posed no danger to him and curious about the increasing noise, he stepped out of the tree line and walked closer, through a meadow of daisies.
His gaze immediately locked on a young human woman who stood on the platform, her hands bound to a wooden post behind her. She wore an expression of mounting fear.
Tears shone in her pretty blue eyes, and she trembled on the platform. Yet her chin remained raised, as if she were trying to remain brave in the face of danger or injustice. Something in Jaxon’s chest tightened, and he felt an odd desire to ensure no harm came to this young woman.
A few steps forward and Jaxon heard the voices of the crowd more clearly, and his curiosity was piqued further to learn the girl was a slave who’d displeased her master. Now she was on the auction block, and the highest bidder would become her new master.
“She’s yet to be bred!” a man standing at the back of the crowd said to his companion. “Ah, a sweet virgin. If only I had enough coin to make a proper bid. She wouldn’t have to wait long to have a cock between her thighs!” The pair erupted into bawdy laughter, and Jaxon struggled to fight down an abrupt, murderous urge to punish the men for the crass way they spoke of the girl. He settled on glaring at them intently as he passed, taking pleasure in how white their faces grew when they noticed him.
After a deep breath, he turned and strode to the center of the crowd. He listened to the bidding as the odd emotion in his chest tightened further. Why did he care so much about the fate of a lone human girl? Why hadn’t he been able to keep walking past the village? These thoughts left him unsettled, but he couldn’t force himself to leave. Everything inside him demanded that he ensure no harm came to the trembling young female.
An elderly man stood at the front of the throng, holding a coin purse and yelling out what appeared to be the final bid. The young woman’s bottom lip trembled harder and a tear trickled down her cheek. Then another. A sudden breeze sent her long golden locks momentarily in front of her face, causing some of her hair to become matted to her cheeks.
“Going once, going twice…” a tall robed man standing next to the block roared.
“I double the bidding amount,” Jaxon suddenly yelled, surprising himself. For a reason he couldn’t fathom, the idea of this pretty blonde human being given to the wrinkled old man at the front of the crowd made his stomach turn. Furthermore, her tears had affected him, caused his heart to squeeze involuntarily.
He told himself it was nothing. He told himself he wasn’t attracted to this human girl, and that he would simply bring her back to the home he shared with his brother and keep her. Likely not as a slave, but instead as a paid servant.
All eyes turned to Jaxon, and the crowd rippled with gasps. He doubted any of them had ever laid eyes on a Banded man before, as his kind typically kept out of view of humans. The Banded people lived in the sprawling forests that had grown up to surround the villages long ago.
He moved through the parting crowd and came to stand before the auctioneer. “I will triple the bidding amount if need be. The girl is mine.”
More gasps rose from the horde behind him. The elderly man who’d almost won the auction clanged his coins together in a fit of rage, his face turning beet red.
“Surely you won’t accept the money of a Banded. He’s not human. He’s a violent beast and should be run out of the village!”
The auctioneer looked at another old man, who was seated on a bench next to a younger man who was clearly his son, as the pair bore a stark resemblance to one another. Both had cruel glints in their dark eyes. The father said, “I’ll take the Banded man’s offer, if he indeed triples the bidding.” Spittle flew from his mouth as he spoke.
“You’re the girl’s former master?” Jaxon asked, his gaze on the old man on the bench.
“Aye. Now, let me see your money.”
Jaxon tossed him a small but heavy pouch. It was filled with silver and gold coins, as well as a few jewels. The Banded typically traded amongst themselves, but when Jaxon traveled, he kept money in a pouch in case he had need of it. There was an old abandoned castle near his home that had been filled with coins and jewels, left behind by the human kings and queens who’d once lived there. He and his brother, Wolfe, had been given their fair share after helping Trent and Gavin, a pair of Banded brothers who’d claimed the castle for themselves, to renovate the large structure.
The old man’s eyes widened and he showed the treasures to his son.
“It’s a deal,” they both said in unison.
“No no no!” the girl screamed, twisting in her bonds.
Jaxon glanced up to see she’d gone deathly pale as she stared down at him, her lips parted and her eyes growing wider and wider. She had probably heard stories about his kind and thought his people to be barbarians for living in the dangerous woods. But at least the Banded didn’t keep their own kind as slaves.
Once he got her away from the village, he would explain her new situation to her and hopefully calm her fears. She would belong to him and his brother, but they wouldn’t abuse her or treat her cruelly. They would keep her as a servant and pay her a fair wage. Until she had become accustomed to life among the Banded men, she wouldn’t be free to leave their home—the forest was no place for a lone human girl—but she would have a fresh start away from this backward village.
Jaxon climbed the steps to the platform and held the girl’s chin in place, forcing her to meet his eyes. He gave her a compassionate look and gentled his voice. “You have nothing to fear, little human. Tell me, what is your name?”
She swallowed hard, tears glittering on her eyelashes. “A-Ava. My na-name is Ava.” She sniffled and gave him a pleading stare. “Please, don’t buy me. Please.”
“Would you rather that old man in the front take you?”
