Not Quite a Prince
Chapter 1: The Block
'Oh joy! I'm up next,' he thought sarcastically.
The once proud Prince of the Mountain Wolf Pack was now standing upon an empty cabbage crate in the middle of a big dirty village; bound in chains. The passers-by were either human or youkai, but none missed out on the chance to see who, were once old friends and foes; were now new slaves. Kouga shifted a little only to be struck by a whip an ugly bear youkai was holding. Dressed in only his loin-cloth, he dared not move much for fear of exposing himself or being whipped again.
"Who will bid on this...filthy mongrel?" shouted the bear youkai.
The sharp comment the bear youkai let fly from his foaming lips made Kouga's pride growl out. The whip came down much more harshly this time and sent Kouga down off the crate with its sheer impact. Kouga's yelp caught in his throat and grabbed almost everyone's attention around him. Looking around, he saw shocked expressions on the non-humans' faces and curious ones on the humans' faces.
'This day just can't get any worse, can it?' he asked himself sullenly.
But unfortunately for Kouga, it would get worse; much worse.
"Who will bid on this...filthy mongrel?" shouted a bear youkai.
The beautiful auburn-haired Princess of the Northern Wolf Pack overheard a bellowing voice as she was shopping through one of her favorite stores. Ayame ignored the yell of the beast and continued looking throughout the store. Leaving the store with all of her money left in her pocket, she stumbled across a crowd: where most youkai stood and stared in shock and the humans stopped to look curiously but eventually continued onward. Ayame, being very curious by nature, stopped to ask an old woman about the unusually large crowd.
"Excuse me, but what's everyone staring at?" Ayame tried to ask as politely as possible.
"Curiosity killed the cat, you know, young lady!" the crone cawed at Ayame making absolutely no sense to the youkai princess.
Ayame, not being one to be left out, went to investigate. She pushed her way through the swell of people. 'What's so interest-,' the princess's thoughts were cut off as her eyes scanned up a pair of sturdy calves, up two thighs that could crack walnuts, up deliciously toned abs, up two bound muscular arms, and finally up to a face...
"Kouga!" she thought out-loud.
"I told you, girl, curiosity killed the cat," screeched the heartless, old hag in belief that the youkai being sold was once Ayame's friend.
'And satisfaction brought it back!' thought Ayame in rebuttal as she looked up into Kouga's eyes that were locked with hers; as she smiled mockingly.
"Taking an interest in this one, Maiden?" spoke the bear youkai as enticingly as he could.
"Yes, actually. I am," responded the princess.
"He's quite a catch. He would be a hard one to hold on to, if you know what I mean," joked the slobbering beast with a hardy chuckle.
"I know exactly what you mean," Ayame said and inwardly chuckled, 'You're preaching to the choir!'
"I'll give him too you for...let's say 2110000 yen (about 18,000 US dollars). It's a fair deal for how much trouble he was," the huge brown bear youkai tried to bargain.
"Oh, I'm sure he wasn't too much of a problem for a big tough youkai, like yourself," Ayame said this lightly and coyly as she batted her eyelashes and leaned over a little to show more cleavage.
Ayame heard Kouga sigh heavily and murmured, "Skank," under his breath. Hearing this and being very pissed off at his nerve, she gave him an evil glare before turning back to the beastly slave holder and smiling sweetly.
"Yeah, well," the bear youkai said embarrassed, "I guess he wasn't that bad. I could lower the price for you a little...what do you say...how about 1180000 yen (about 10,000 US dollars)."
"Oh! You're such a doll!" Ayame flirted shamelessly before paying the fee. Kouga jumped off the crate and walked up behind Ayame.
"Bow before your new mistress, slave!" the bear youkai commanded; the slippery foam returning to its lips.
Ayame turned and smiled deviously at Kouga. Kouga slowly inch-by-inch got on his knees before Ayame. He felt his pride wither and die in his gut. Pain was evident on Kouga's face after he was on his knees. Ayame received a black leather collar with blue spikes. She bent over and placed it around his neck loosely. As she was adjusting the collar, Kouga's eyes went where any other guy's eyes would go: straight down to her chest.
'Well, well, well, maybe being her slave won't be too bad," thought Kouga as he smirked perversely to himself. His tongue hung limply out of his mouth before catching the drool running down it with his lips and teeth.
A whip was slashed into his back with more savagery than necessary. Kouga caught off guard had fallen into Ayame's chest where he whimpered like a little cub. Ayame's instinct flared as thick blood oozed from the marks on his back and his childlike yelp.
"He's mine to punish now!" she said and Kouga almost believed it before he passed out.