Chapter 5 The Final Break
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“Yes! I’m a Defective! My status will never be as high as yours. But status doesn’t determine the worth of someone’s soul!” I shouted.
The Alliance’s matching system wasn’t something that could be easily changed. Trying to fight it came at a price. I was just a small, powerless Beastkin. I didn’t have the ability to challenge it. Adrian, on the other hand, was the new War God. If anyone had the power to push for reform, it was him.
But he had chosen to accept the Bond rather than risk his career. Then he decided I was an embarrassment and took it out on me, degrading me at every opportunity, going out of his way to distance himself from me in front of others. He wanted it all without paying for any of it.
I fixed him with a cold stare and said what I had been holding in for far too long. “Adrian, you make me sick.”
Adrian’s expression froze. Then he exploded.
His breathing turned ragged, and the look on his face was terrifying. He ground out every word. “Say. That. Again. I dare you.”
“I said I don’t want to do this with you anymore.”
Adrian turned and stormed away. Kylie hurried after him.
I helped Caleb to his feet, my voice trembling. “I’m sorry. We’re not even officially together, and I’m already dragging you into my
mess.
“Adrian’s arrogant and petty. I’m afraid he’ll come after you. Maybe we should just…”
I didn’t even get to say “forget it” before Caleb reached up and gently wiped the tears from the corner of my eye.
“I’m not afraid of him, and I don’t care about him. The only thing I care about is how you feel.
“My Psychic energy is damaged. I can’t soothe Beastkin. I’d given up hope of ever finding a Beastkin who could love me and who l could love back. When the Volunteer told me you were willing to meet me, I was so happy. And when I actually saw you, I was even happier.
“You’re exactly what I imagined. Sweet, brave, and honest about what you feel. I think I’m the luckiest guy alive. So… do you like me? That’s the only thing that matters to me.”
His words turned my brain into mush. Was I really as good as he said?
I stared into Caleb’s eyes, blue and clear as crystal, and suddenly, I couldn’t say no to this man.
Caleb carried me on his back all the way to Adrian’s apartment.
Adrian wasn’t home.
After cleaning up my wounds, I started packing my things. Calling it “packing” was generous. It was just some toiletries and a few changes of clothes.
I had never been the type to want much. I had never felt at home in Adrian’s place, so I didn’t have much to show for my time there. Everything I owned fit into a single backpack.
1/2
3:01 pm
ppp.
Chapter 5 The Final Break
Caleb took the bag from me without a word.
He held out his hand for me to take and smiled. “Let’s go. Go home.”
i was still a bundle of nerves on the way there.
But the moment I stepped inside Caleb’s apartment, the word “family” finally felt real.
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He had already prepared everything before I arrived. Daily essentials, a beautiful and cozy bedroom, a walk–in closet, and an elegant vanity. He had thought of things I wouldn’t have even thought to ask for. And just like the Volunteer had said, there were rabbit plushies everywhere.
Looking at all of it, I felt a strange mix of wonder and disbelief. I couldn’t help but remember what it had been like when I first moved into Adrian’s place.
He hadn’t even bothered to show up that day. He just had the housekeeper throw together the storage room as my bedroom, then warned me never to leave my things where he could see them, never to get in his way, and never to touch anything that belonged to him.
We weren’t family. We were hostile roommates under the same roof.
Caleb was the opposite of Adrian in every way. He never cut me off mid–sentence. He never spoke to me with that biting sarcasm. When I got hurt, his eyes would go red with worry as he tended to my wounds.
And when someone tried to bully me, he would plant himself in front of me like a shield. I soaked up every moment of that rare, precious warmth, almost greedily. I was getting addicted to it.
That night, I looked at Caleb nervously.
