Drabble: Branded

She hurriedly handed over the required tokens, and the bear was hers.

It would be inaccurate to claim ownership, however. Feral, but forever marked with the Darkmoon insignia, a branding of burnt, sugary enslavement, Matty knew this bear always belonged only to himself. He seemed resigned that his station in life was to pass from one master to another, and that being kept by her was merely a transfer of deeds: this notion of property belonged to the two-legged creatures. However, her promises seemed true. She asked him to dance once, and he almost bit her. “Never again,” she said.

Note: I'm not a "horse" person, nor do I claim to identify with all of the 'earth mothery-ness' of this author, but heard in an interview the other day, it was the horse that struck me: http://www.amazon.com/Horses-Never-Lie-about-Love/dp/1451605846