Chapter 3

In this new era, male werebeasts existed to reproduce with humans.

As a top-tier werebeast, Kaelen commanded a staggering price at the auction house—at least, until he was diagnosed with infertility.

Nobody wanted an infertile werebeast.

Even after his price dropped to eighty thousand dollars, he was entirely useless to humans looking to reproduce. His managers planned to send him to the red-light district just to recoup their investment.

I happened to be there that day, intending to buy a werebeast of my own.

Kaelen broke free from his restraints and dropped to his knees in front of me. "Please save me," he pleaded.

He looked up at me, large tears spilling from his beautiful eyes.

"I'll be so good to you. I'll be your family," he cried. "I don't want to die. Please."

Growing up in an orphanage, I never knew what it meant to have a real family. Kaelen's words struck a chord with me back then. Even though I loved kids, having just one person to call my own felt like enough.

I drained my savings and even took out a loan to buy him.

I never brought up his past, terrified it would offend him. I certainly never expected that when he finally brought it up himself, he would accuse me of taking advantage of his misfortune.

I argued back, trying to defend myself. In the heat of the moment, I accidentally brushed his hand.

He reacted purely on instinct, shoving me away so hard that I slammed into the sharp corner of the table. It sliced my arm wide open, leaving a deep, nasty gash.

Kaelen froze for a split second, but he made no move to help me. "You wouldn't be hurt if you hadn't tried to grab me," he said. "You did this to yourself."

He wouldn't even drive me to the hospital. "I'm going shopping with Vivienne today," he told me. "Besides, my being there won't make it hurt any less. You can walk perfectly fine on your own. Stop depending on me for every little thing."

At the hospital, the nurse sighed as she wrapped my arm. "A cut this deep is going to leave a scar, and it'll probably ache when it's damp out," she said. "You and your werebeast really don't get along. Maybe you should just leave him."

It hit me all at once—she was right.

I could just leave. Kaelen and I didn't have to be chained to each other forever.

My focus snapped back to the present.

I spoke up, stopping Kaelen just as he was closing the door. "Kaelen, does being with me really make you that miserable?"

He paused. When he looked back over his shoulder, he wore that same mocking smirk. "Yeah. But someone of your low status got incredibly lucky acquiring me, so you'll never let me go. I'm going to be stuck with a clingy annoyance for the rest of my life."

I let out a slow breath, washed over by a sudden, intense wave of relief.

It seemed I really had made the right decision.

When I didn't answer right away, Kaelen thumped his tail impatiently against the floor. "What do you want?"

I looked down, picking at my cuticles. "I got you a gift. You'll see it in a few days."

An unreadable expression crossed his face for a fraction of a second. He almost looked hopeful, but quickly slipped right back into his usual mocking tone.

"I hope it isn't more of that cheap nutritional supplement. It's absolute garbage. I'll just end up pouring it down the toilet."

I looked at him, dead serious. "No. It's what you want most."

Freedom.

"It better be," Kaelen muttered, shutting the door firmly behind him.