Free The Hunter's Pet by Loki Renard Page B

brand.”
    “All pets are to be marked within thirty-six hours of entering the city.” The catcher was not reading from a page, but he sounded as though he was. That was what reading did to people—turned them into reciting mimics, no original thoughts of their own. “You must comply with regulations, or face fines.”
    “I understand,” William said stiffly. She looked up at him curiously. He could have crushed the catcher if he so desired. He was a much larger man, a much stronger specimen entirely—but somehow the catcher with his rules and his regulations was holding sway. Sarah did not understand it at all.
    “I want to go home,” she said.
    “Home?” William turned to her with his brow raised. She had never called it home before, but a spell in the kennels had made her realize that William’s domicile had become her home too. It was a place where she might find some comfort, where she knew she was protected from little men with big guns. His expression softened slightly, but only for a moment.
    The catcher did not care much for their bonding time. “That’s four thousand credits,” he said. “One thousand for allowing a pet loose in the city, an additional two thousand for her being hostile, and another one thousand for her lack of marks.”
    “Four thousand credits is enough to feed a family for a year,” William pointed out. “That’s a bit steep, isn’t it?”
    “If you want to keep one of these wild things, you need to have it under effective control,” the catcher replied. “You were informed of your responsibilities when you applied for your license.”
    William’s expression went from grim to grimmer, his jaw locking as he paid over four thousand credits by pressing his thumb to the handheld device. Sarah didn’t really understand the system, but she understood that the clerk was taking something William valued, and he was doing it because she had been caught.
    She began to feel a very strange emotion, one she had not felt before. It was uncomfortable and prickly, like a sore bottom but on the inside, just above her stomach. It made her feel slightly nauseous, though the kennel had done a good job of that as well.
    “Come,” William said curtly. She followed at his heel, eager to be away from the place.
    “Leash!” the clerk called out. “She must be on a leash!”
    Sighing, William snapped one about her neck. She made no objection, and was thoroughly surprised when he handed her the end of the chain to hold herself.
    “There,” he said, turning to the clerk. “She’s leashed.”
    The clerk’s face turned pink then red with thwarted frustration. “That is not what leashing means.”
    “She’s wearing a leash,” William said. “And we’re leaving.”
    He walked toward freedom. Sarah followed, a little grin on her face. William had a bit of a rebellious streak, so it seemed. She had not seen that side of him before. She liked it.
    “I did not like that man,” she said as they left.
    “There wasn’t much to like,” William agreed.
    “He treated me like an animal. I might be a pet, but I am still a person.”
    “There are those in the city who would debate that,” William said grimly. “There are those who think that people with your mutation are not properly human.”
    “I do not like them either.”
    They walked toward the transporter in silence. The nasty gnawing feeling was back. She looked up at him and saw very little in the way of expression on his face. He seemed neither upset, nor angry, nor happy, nor pleased, nor any emotion she could place.
    “I should not have left the house,” she said as they stood on the transporter. “It was a mistake.”
    “Yes,” William agreed. “It was.”
    Nothing more was said about it as the transporter swept them first up into the air and thence toward William’s domicile. Though there was plenty of room on the platform, she pressed close to his side, taking solace in his strong presence.
    At first he did nothing, then