Chapter 5

The clock ticked loudly, cutting through the heavy silence between us.

After a long pause, his scowl softened. "Vivienne was right."

"About what?"

He spoke with absolute certainty. "You saw us getting close, and now you're threatening to leave just to guilt-trip me. Now you're bringing up transfer papers. Vivienne said you were manipulative, and she wasn't wrong. Did you honestly think a few empty threats would make me beg for your attention like some cheap werebeast?"

I was too exhausted to argue. "Think whatever you want," I muttered.

My indifference only fueled his temper. He violently ripped the calendar off the wall.

I had highlighted the twentieth of next month with a heart.

"You just want to bond with me, don't you?" he demanded. "You interrogated me about ring sizes six months ago and forced me to live with you. If you want me, just say so. Aren't you ashamed of being so deceptive?"

By law, werebeasts were obligated to provide companionship to their humans. Early on, I hadn't felt comfortable since we were practically strangers, but later, he was the one who refused. We still hadn't been intimate. I had only ever seen him hold Vivienne's hand—never mine.

Whenever I showed how much that stung, he would just mock me. "Vivienne tripped, and I helped her up. We aren't impure like you inferior humans."

Looking at Kaelen now, he felt like a total stranger. I used to think he was flawless. Since I was just a low-class human, I had always assumed any problems between us were my fault. Nothing I did ever pleased him, which only made me more anxious. Whenever he questioned my worth, I automatically agreed that I wasn't good enough.

For the past year, I had loved him wholeheartedly and tried everything I could to bring us closer. To him, though, my efforts were nothing more than calculated traps. I had drawn that heart on the calendar back when I actually loved him. There was nothing shameful about loving my own werebeast and wanting intimacy with him.

Kaelen was still fuming. He tore the calendar into pieces, letting the scraps flutter to the floor.

"Listen to me. Even if we bond, I'm still going to see Vivienne. If you want to touch me, you have to ask for permission first. And if we walk down the street, no one can know we're together—"

"Kaelen," I interrupted.

He glared at me, clearly not finished with his rant.

I had never felt so perfectly calm. "No wonder you were marked as defective," I said, enunciating every single word. "Buying you was a terrible mistake."

Kaelen's golden pupils shrank. His fluffy white tail shot straight up in the air, his fur standing on end.