"Rick, what the fuck!?" Kat was the first to speak, incredulity clearly across her features. "You're challenging Tomas to salvage for real?" A pause and a frown. "What about the itinerary?"

"THAT is what you're concerned about?" Tomas turned sharply at the young woman, and the bags under his eyes made the glare that much more incredulous.

Kat shrugged.

"We haven't had any salvage matches in the last twelve hours, so none of us are under protection right now," you pointed out. "And frankly this is more because I want to own Rachel."

"Rick, again, what the fuck?" Tomas now swirled to look at you, frowning intensely enough that you half guessed he’d attempt to punch you were you within his reach. "Wait, yesterday you fucked her didn't you?"

"No. Monica vouched for that," Kat replied.

"Oh." The young man looked at you, slightly startled and surprised, a lot of the anger vanishing there and then.

You scowled. "Seriously, you guys believe Monica over something like that no questions asked?"

"It's Monica, why would she lie?" He replied, shaking his head a moment later, recovering some of the anger. "Anyway, what's this about? Why are you doing this? You want to fuck her?"

"The issue isn't that I want to fuck her," you replied. "The issue is that she went out of her way to knock you out with her powers yesterday so she could get a shot at it. And this morning she went out of the way to go overboard with my girls."

The young man shot a look at the Succubus; her expression was chiselled neutral. The mask she wore was so perfectly carved you would've been unable to really read anything from it.

"I was pretty exhausted yesterday. Still am," Tomas stated dryly. "It's why this morning she didn't go after me."

"And also why she didn't feed on Freya?" You asked.

There was a moment of hesitation there, his brows creased. "What's your angle, Rick?"

"I bet Monica," you spoke calmly. "The rules are that Diane fights Rachel. The first one to surrender or be recalled loses."

"I was confused before, I’m just lost now." The young man threw his hands in the air. "Why do you want to do this? For Rachel? I told you I don't own her. It's only a technicality."

"Well, the challenge is technically for you, but it's really for Rachel," you replied, turning to the Succubus who was keeping that stony expression. It was clear she was trying to hide any reaction from appearing on her face, keeping her unreadable.

"You can say no, Rachel," Tomas huffed. "The challenge is set but I can just throw in the feral doggirl we've been-"

"No," she replied. There were cracks on the mask, her eyes narrowing, her lips growing. "I'm interested. What are the terms?"

"What?" Tomas and Kat asked at the same time. “What!?” Tomas reiterated louder.

"Catch up faster, boy, I'm not interested in you," she stated, looking over her shoulder at a now scowling, befuddled, and hurt Tomas.

Beside him, Freya was veritably furious. The Elf's face was the visage of calm fury, her knuckles white as she held the arrow, the tension on the string on her bow increasing. And yet, in contrast to those two, Kat seemed mostly mildly surprised, maybe even relieved. Though you guessed her shock had more to do with Rachel having admitted it out loud.

The succubus returned her attention to you. "What are the terms? Do you really plan to have pinkie fight me?"

Behind her, the young man's face turned redder as he was ignored. "Fuck this," Tomas snarled, stomping closer to the infernal. "You want to leave? Fine, leave. Fuck you for playing with me like that." He reached for the belt, pulling out the capture sphere and throwing it at the ground. "I surrender. Keep the bitch, Rick, you're clearly made for one another."

You held back from grimacing.

With a languid smirk, the Succubus turned and bent down to pick up the device. She bent at the waist as she did so, a wide grin on her lips as she proceeded to pocket and turn back to look at you with an even wider smirk. "Well, now that the children have left. What are the terms?" She asked, placing both hands into her pockets. There was a giddy edge to her words now that might have even seemed innocent had it not been for the dark shine in her eyes.

You took a long minute, watching Tomas stomping away while Kat chased after him. You wanted to sigh but held back, turning your focus entirely to Rachel. "The terms are simple. You lose this, you become mine. No 'until we reach...', mine. Period."

Rachel's brows knit together, looking at you, then at Diane. There's a slight stiffness to her shoulders. "And if I win?"

"Then I fuck you. No questions asked. You can stick around and leave whenever."

"No," she spoke with a bite to her tone, shaking her long light blue hair as she did. "If I win, then you become mine." That made you quirk a brow. She met that stare. "One freedom, for another."

"I don't think you can legally own me."

"I don't care what the law says," she replied. "I win, I stay in 'your' harem, but I call the shots, you do what I tell you to. As much as you'd expect me to had I lost."

A pause, some amusement crossed through you. "Do you trust I'd do that if I lose?"

"Yes." She smirked now, stepping closer. Eyes sharp. "You're greedy. You see this as a win either way. If you win you get me, and if you lose you just get more chances to try and win." Her eyes flickered at Diane. "You plan to throw this fight anyway." A little pause, looking at Diane and smirking. "Should we fight now or should we wait for her to get some healing first? Though the latter is only going to prolong the inevitable."

"Master, one minute please?" Diane spoke up, her expression half horrified but doing her best to hide it.

"Sure," you nodded. "Mind waiting a bit?"

Rachel only shrugged. "Very well."

The Succubus turned downwards to look at her nails in amusement, a smirk on her lips as you moved to step away, walking enough distance to be outside earshot, trailed by Monica as Diane kept looking over her shoulder towards the Succubus.

"Master, I'm not a fighter, and right now I'm in no fighting condition. I would not win."

"I'm well aware of that," you replied. "It is a gamble though."

Diane's lips thinned slightly, her hands reaching out to grasp at your shirt. The nurse had become an even bigger bundle of nerves. "Master..." Her eyes focused on you with wrinkled brows. "She won't fight fair."

"And you think I will?" You quirked a brow.

Diane looked at you intently.

"I'm not sending you to lose, Diane. I don't like losing," you added, reaching out to hold her cheek. "If worst comes to worst and she tells me to tell you to do something I don't want you to, then I'll disobey. And that'll be that."

"It's not us you should be concerned about!" She spoke with an angry hiss. "'Worst comes to worst' should be her getting a level 5 Master, not playing along and pretending to be her slave!"

"I'm not going to do that," you replied with a frown. "A deal is a deal, if I don't plan to follow my word why should I expect her to keep hers?" Your words made Diane only look more exasperated.

"You. Are. The. Master," she spoke, tightening her grip even more, her face focused entirely on your chest. "You. Are. My. Master. No one else." She turned upwards at you. "Why do you toy with what is most important to me like this?"

The earnestness in her eyes caught you by surprise. "I-" A pause, you were about to say that you were 'only' betting yourself, but you knew it wasn't true. Diane was yours. Monica was yours. You sighed, drawing her closer. "Do you trust me?"

"No," she muttered. "I don't." She held your hands. "I thought I knew my Master, but I don't. I can't trust what I don't know." She kept her blazing eyes aimed firmly into your own. "But I believe in my Master."

You blinked, feeling like you could only laugh at having the words used on you. "I'll make sure to turn it into trust." You kissed her, feeling her tremble. "You ready?"

It took her a single long breath to calm down. Nothing else. The fire did not die down one bit. "I don't know what I have to do, Master."

"Believe it or not, this fight is already won if the gamble pays off," you chuckled. "So just be ready to hold out as long as you can."

She looked at you, confused, but nodded. "I will last until my last breath, Master," she proclaimed.

Nodding, you glanced at Monica... and realized the feline had been paying absolutely no attention to the conversation. She was looking at the Milktits, licking her lips as she was very clearly hungry. Right, breakfast had been hours ago hadn't it? With barely a care in the world, Monica turned to look back at you. "Milk?"

Diane couldn't help herself, the tension melting slightly as she smiled.

"See? Monica isn't nervous about this," you chuckled. Still, you sighed a bit, scratching the back of your head as you pointed Monica towards the bovines. "Ask them."

The feline did not wait a single second, and she bolted towards the herd, lifting a small dust-cloud in her wake. Shrieks were heard as the Milktits froze at the fast-approaching cat. But the panic turned into confusion when Monica stopped right before reaching them. The group was too far for you to hear what they were saying, so you left it at that, glancing back at Rachel as she had been focused on Monica, watching the cat leaving your side with apparent amusement.

"So you really don't plan to use her, huh." She quirked a brow at you. "If you're going to throw this, might as well just surrender."

You shrugged, not answering her taunt. "Diane?"

"I'm ready, Master," the nurse growled.

With a steady step that did not show the wavering she had mere moments ago, she stepped forwards, removing her dress and leaving herself down to her underwear. Tossing the dress to the side, she raised both of her fists as she walked towards the succubus.

Picking up the dress, you moved several steps away. "Simple rules, nothing crippling, first monstergirl to give up," you said. "Ready?"

"Ready to own my very first human," Rachel purred, earning a deeper glare from Diane.

"Diane?"

"Master." She turned to look at you. "I would like to try first. I will not surrender."

You frowned a little. "Give it all you've got. Start whenever you wish."

With a glare at the Succubus, Diane raised her fists. "Come," she snarled.

"A fighting nurse? That's cute," the Succubus chuckled, raising her hands, fire enveloping them. "I heard traumatized Raphas shift. Want to find out?"

"Not very sure that using fire is a good idea considering we're surrounded by grass," you pointed out.

"Not my concern," the infernal scoffed, then relaxed, her gaze on Diane as the nurse approached carefully.

"Would be a shame if your slave-to-be got burnt," you replied.

Rachel rolled her eyes, and the flames died out instantly. In their place, her hands began to gain that odd pinkish glow.

And that was as far as she was willing to wait. Without another word she lunged at the nurse, wings spread, hand outreached and ready to pin Diane in place. The burst of speed was nothing compared to what Monica could pull off, but it was certainly impressive, covering the distance in seconds.

You grit your teeth, wondering what Diane's plan was here.

Much to your surprise, Diane moved from a walk to a jog, accelerating slightly. The distance began to narrow far faster now as the two monstergirls prepared to collide.

Rachel extended her hand, glowing, ready.

The instant the two had been about to reach one another, the nurse had pushed herself into a full sprint at the last second, crouching beneath the outreached arm. Diane's fist reached out and struck Rachel's throat with a singular solid jab. The follow-up was a punch to the Succubus' chin. Inertia did the rest, and Diane fell as the Succubus stumbled over her and rolled on the dirt. You could tell Rachel was more stunned than actually incapacitated though.

Diane was the first to stand up, taking several steps back, keeping her fists raised and ignoring the dirt that had clung to her.

Rachel for her part rolled over, coughing and struggling to breathe, holding her throat for several seconds before she began to calm down and stabilize her breathing.

You knew with little doubt Diane's blows would've definitely killed a human, and at the very least incapacitated a weaker monstergirl.

"Ok, I'm all done Master," the nurse spoke out, not lowering her hands as she watched the Succubus stand back up. "I don't think I'll be able to catch her by surprise again."

"Good enough," you answered. "Rachel, I order you to give up."

There was absolute silence. The snarl the Succubus had been showing vanished entirely, and she looked at you just about as confused as Diane did. "You haven't won this fight," she finally spoke, frowning.

"I won yesterday though," you replied. "The bet was for one free order."

Her eyes widened. "No," she spoke, then frowned. "No," she said more firmly.

"So you're going to go against your word?" You tilted your head.

"You're fucking cheating," she hissed.

"Where in the rules does it say I can't claim what you owe me during the fight?" You replied. "Besides, it's not like I don't already own you. Tomas gave up," you chuckled, adding a little shrug. "This is a win-win for you anyway."

"What do you mean, win-win? What do I get out of losing this?"

"Had you won yesterday, you would've ordered me to fuck you," you replied. "Win or lose this, you'd get that anyway. And like you said, I'm greedy. I'm not getting rid of you if you become mine, so you have more chances to win things back." A long pause; you cocked your head, smirking wide. "Worst case scenario you just never win against me and you get to stick around for a handful of decades."

Rachel frowned at this. The anger was gone, and her eyes were completely ignoring Diane, looking at you. Slowly, she crossed her arms, and her foot tapped once, twice, thrice. Slowly, she walked towards Diane, and the nurse kept her hands raised.

With a gesture of her hand, she threw a ball of fire at the nurse.

Diane shrieked, unable to dodge in time, and the fire licked at her arm.

"What are you doing?" You asked, startled.

"Nothing in the order said I should surrender right away," she replied, throwing a second ball of fire. This one Diane managed to avoid entirely.

"What do you want to prove, Rachel?" You asked with a scowl.

"Your cat isn't here, pinkie is useless, and the boy left with his archer," she said, throwing a third ball that impacted Diane's thigh. This one brought her to the ground, whimpering. "I guess I'll surrender once I've had my fun at least."

As she said this, she turned towards the nurse in full and away from you. The infernal raised her hand and prepared the fourth sphere of black fire.

Without thought, you broke into a sprint.

The sphere grew in size, from a fist to a basketball in diameter. Diane's eyes looked at the fire with growing panic.

"Ah." Rachel looked over her shoulder at you just as you were about to reach her, her lips curled, and you felt your stomach drop. "I guess I surrender."

And the fire was gone, just like that.

The panic turned to realization, and you glared at the now smirking infernal.

"Playing with fire will get you burned, Master. You should be careful," she spoke with a purr, stepping away from the downed nurse.

"Diane?" You asked, not taking your eyes away from Rachel for a single second.

"I'm fine, Master," she groaned, and from the corner of your eye you could see both her hands were glowing and pressed against the burn on her thigh.

"Oh Master, don't look at me so intensely, I might burst," Rachel grinned from ear to ear.

"Kneel."

"The first blowjob is free," she replied, descending to the ground, kneeling and spreading her thighs wide. The mirth was clear in her eyes.

That made your eyes narrow further.

"Come on, Rick," she taunted. "I saw it this morning, show me that feral side of you. I know you're pissed, why hold back? I surrendered, Master. You own me now, no?" A wider grin. "Time to properly bond. Hate fucks are so... fun."

Her tone had that... sneer, that tiny little edge of mockery. You didn't believe for a second she held any real love or loyalty. She was trying to goad you into jumping her again. This felt... You could only scowl. Was this another mask? With Tomas she pretended to be bubbly, with you she was trying to push you into forcing yourself on her?

Breathe.

You turned towards Diane now, moving to kneel next to her. You reached for the backpack to pull out the salves, but she stopped you. "I can properly heal this, Master, no need to use any medicine."

"How long," you said.

"Poor little Master, so concerned over the frail useless nurse who bit more than she could chew~."

The muscles on your neck tensed. "Rachel, give me your ball. I'm going to recall you."

That made her pout. "Of course, Master, it is right here." She fished it out of her pocket, dropping it into her cleavage. "Whoops."

With a growl, you reached out, plunging your hand into that space. And just as you grasped the sphere, the succubus grasped your arm. Her grip was firm, her eyes serious. She looked intently at you. "See you soon, Master." And leaned forward, a forceful meeting of lips just as her body vanished into the burst of red light.

You were left growling slightly but could only sigh.

"Master," Diane spoke, as she sat up, her hands still clenching her burn wound. "Is... this what you wanted?"

"Yeah," you nodded, sighing as you moved to sit next to her.

Idly, you realized the flames Rachel had thrown around had not caught to the rest of the grass. That was one load off of your shoulders. What drew your attention right after was Diane. The nurse looked at you long and hard; there was something in those eyes that was almost mesmerizing. "Am I your alpha?" She asked, almost carefully.

"Yeah," you nodded.

She closed her eyes and leaned to press her face against your chest. "Then I will make my Master's wishes true."

Her words startled you a little.

You'd expected her to ask. That question, the question that was rattling your brain.

Why had you taken Rachel?

Though many answers came to you, many logical explanations. She was too dangerous. She was a threat to the group. Being with Tomas left the young man too open and vulnerable. That her powers were a great asset you couldn't just throw away...

Every explanation paled to the single answer you couldn't speak out.

That she was right.

You were greedy.

And there was a thrill within you at one particular thought. One above all others.

One you weren't sure if you could bring yourself to admit.

You wanted to conquer the Succubus.