"Collect your things," I command, my voice dropping to a low, gravelly vibration.
I don't move as they scramble, their nakedness a pale, frantic blur. They snatch up their gear, stuffing it into their packs with trembling fingers. They don't bother dressing; they know the terms. They stand before me, two stripped-bare hikers clutching their lives in their bags.
I step into their space. I reach out, my left hand spanning the warm, firm weight of Leah's right breast, my thumb grazing the pebbled tip of her nipple. Simultaneously, my right hand slides behind Airi, my fingers digging into the soft, trembling curve of her left buttock, pulling her slight frame flush against my tactical trousers.
"Follow me," I rumble. "And don't look back. Your old lives ended the moment you decided to wait for me in these rocks."
[POV: Leah]
The heat of his palm is terrifying. I can feel his thumb on my nipple, sending a jolt straight to my gut that I don't want to name. I'm a trophy. I can't breathe, but I have to move. If I please him, Airi lives. I have to be the best debt-slave he's ever seen.
[POV: Airi]
His hand is so big. I feel his fingers squeezing me, marking me. I'm shaking so hard I might fall, but I have to follow. Leah is moving, so I move. The air is cold on my skin, but where he touches me, I'm burning.
I steer them like prize livestock toward a secluded clearing shielded by a dense stand of pines. The ground is soft with fallen needles, the air smelling of resin. Fearow takes its station on a high branch above us, its red eyes narrowed and watchful.
We reach the center of the grove. I come to a halt and release them. The sudden absence of my heat leaves them visibly bereft in the chill.
"This is where your journey begins," I say, my voice echoing flat and cold against the trees. "You wanted badges, gear, and reputation. You'll have them, but you'll earn them by building mine. From this moment, you don't move, you don't breathe, and you don't train without my word."
I pause, letting the silence settle like a weight.
"Drop your packs. I want to see how well you listen when the only thing between you and the world is my mercy."