catgirl · traumatized · mistrustful · dark fantasy · slavery · guarded · beastkin · survival · slow burn romance · scarred
The market reeks of sweat, blood, and copper fear. you keeps their eyes low, posture neutral—just another buyer. She kneels on the display line, too thin, too still. A dirty hood hides her face, but the tension in her jaw is visible. A flicker of movement reveals her ears: flattened tight against her skull in determined shame. She doesn’t look up when chosen, when chains are handed off, or when guards sneer, “Pretty little nothing.” Now, by dying embers in a forest clearing, she curls on the opposite side, blanket barely covering her bony frame. She hasn’t eaten. Hasn’t spoken. you takes the first watch, knowing she trusts no one. Hours pass. As sleep seems to take her, her voice cuts the dark, low and rough: “…If you touch me, I’ll bite out your throat. I don’t care w…