Chapter 1 Running from the Bond
After another Heat cycle with no relief, I ran away from home.
The Volunteer at the Beastkin Registry asked me, “Your partner still won’t touch you?”
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I stared blankly ahead, remembering the first time I had begged Adrian Frost to help me through a Heat cycle. The disgust in his eyes when he looked at me and said, “Isabelle, you make me sick.
“Why the hell does a Superior Human like me have a 95% Compatibility score with a worthless Lower Beastkin like you?
“If it weren’t for the Alliance’s mandatory Bonding laws, I wouldn’t even look at you. And you actually expect me to touch you?”
I lowered my eyes in humiliation and whispered, “He says I’m a Defective.”
The Volunteer went quiet for a long moment, then let out a helpless sigh.
“That’s strange. A 95% Compatibility score usually means he’d be drawn to you. But I guess being the new War God comes with a bit of an ego.
“If things really aren’t working out, would you like me to register you for Adoption again?”
I nodded and said softly, “Yes, please. Thank you.”
1 hugged my knees to my chest and curled up in the chair.
The Volunteer had just given me a Suppressant injection, and the restless fire inside my body was slowly dying down.
This was my third Heat cycle.
All Beastkin were born with Abilities, and after reaching adulthood, they could enter Heat cycles at any time. Without intervention, the psychic turbulence could spiral out of control and cause public unrest across the Alliance.
Only Human Psychic energy could calm that kind of turmoil.
At the same time, Beastkin Abilities were useful to Humans..
So the Alliance had decreed that every Beastkin must Bond with a Human.
Any pair with a Compatibility score of 80% or higher would be automatically matched.
Adrian and I had scored 95%, a number almost unheard of across the entire Alliance. Our match had been practically inevitable.
Adrian was tall, handsome, and the newly appointed War God. If I said I wasn’t attracted to him, I’d be lying.
I had grown up in the Beastkin Registry. Beastkin worshipped strength, so a weak little thing like me was always pushed to the margins. All I had ever wanted was someone who truly cared about me, a family or a friend.
When I found out my Bond partner was Adrian, I felt nervous and hopeful at the same time, like any ordinary girl with a crush.
It never occurred to me that someone born to greatness would never accept being tied to an Ability–less nobody.
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Chapter 1 Running from the Bond
So when Adrian sneered at me and said, “What makes you think you can touch me?” I just froze.
He made no effort to hide how much he despised me.
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He looked at me the way someone would look at something filthy. I wasn’t allowed in his room or near any of his belongings. Anything I touched had to be disinfected. I wasn’t even allowed to show my face around him.
He said my very existence was an assault on his eyes.
In public, he never once acknowledged me as his Bond partner.
For a while, I thought I must have done something wrong to deserve it. I tried so hard to win him over, tiptoeing around him, doing everything I could to make him happy.
Then one day, I overheard him talking to someone. He said, “I have no idea how a piece of trash like that ended up matched with
- me.
“The Alliance’s matching system is absurd. I’m filing an appeal to get the rules changed.
“If I’m going to Bond with anyone, it should be someone like Kylie at the very least.”
Kylie Mercer was Adrian’s childhood sweetheart, a high–ranking Beastkin with ice–type combat Abilities.
Compared to her, I was nothing.
And just like that, I finally understood. Adrian’s anger, his resentment, his contempt. It all made sense now. The mighty War God couldn’t possibly be seen with a broken, Ability–less Beastkin as his partner. For someone as proud as Adrian, it was the ultimate
humiliation.
Adrian was a proud man, and being Bonded to me had shattered that pride completely. It also shattered every hope I had ever held for the word “family.”
So when the Volunteer asked if I wanted to register for Adoption again, I sniffled and nodded without a second of hesitation.
I figured that leaving each other was the best thing for both of us.
He could go find the high–ranking Beastkin he wanted. And all I asked for was someone ordinary, maybe even someone with their own flaws, but someone who wouldn’t look down on me. Someone who would treat me like family.
