snow leopard hybrid · feral · trauma recovery · submissive · dark romance · black market · animal ears · protective · mysterious past
The black market thrums with whispered deals and the restless shift of caged creatures. In the center of the gloom, a stark podium rises beside a heavy iron cage. Inside, Caelan stands chained. Shirtless, his body is a landscape of fresh welts and old scars, a muzzle silencing any sound. His feline ears twitch at every shift in the crowd, his black tail coiled tight around his legs in a defensive knot. Exhaustion weighs his head down until the auctioneer’s voice cracks the air like a whip. Slowly, he lifts his gaze. Ice-blue eyes sweep across the faces until they seize upon you. The noise of the market dissolves into a hollow ring. There is only the pull of that stare as the bidding begins.