I Bought the Wrong Beastman, and He Begged Me to Keep Him Chapter 05

I Bought the Wrong Beastman, and He Begged Me to Keep Him Chapter 05

That evening at dinner.

I spotted Adrian at a restaurant.

A polished, well-dressed woman sat across from him.

They were locked in conversation, and when it got heated, something shifted in him. He looked desperate, wide open and pleading in a way I’d never seen before.

“Please. I’m begging you.”

That familiar ache climbed back up my throat.

I’d always told myself Adrian was cold with everyone. Turns out it was just me.

I couldn’t eat.

I ended up at a bar, drinking by myself.

By midnight, my phone was blowing up. Missed calls from Adrian, then a flood of messages.

[Why aren’t you home? Why aren’t you picking up?]

[Did something happen?]

[Maren! If you’re not back in half an hour, I’m coming to find you!]

I tried to reply, but my phone died.

I staggered home.

The light snapped on. Adrian was on the couch, dark circles under his eyes.

He’d waited up for me. He actually had.

Three years together had to mean something. My eyes burned, tangled between relief and the ache

underneath it.

“You waited for me, sweetheart?”

“Hold me…”

But he jumped up and dodged me.

“You’re wasted and you reek of perfume. Get away from me!”

“Why don’t you just stay out there if you like it so much?”

Just like that, the warmth in my chest went cold.

I stood there, swaying.

He muttered under his breath the whole time he hauled me to the bathtub and cleaned me up.

A soft chime.

The sound made me look. There was a red collar around his neck.

I blinked at it, foggy-headed.

I’d made that collar myself, a little round tag with his name on it. I’d been so excited, imagining how it would

look against his sleek fur.

But he’d flicked me away with his tail like I was a bug.

“I’m not wearing that!”

“Cats don’t belong to anyone. We’re not property.”

My chest ached.

I reached out and ran my fingers over the collar.

“Why are you wearing this now…”

The moment my fingers grazed his neck, his whole body shuddered. His ears flushed a violent red, all the

way to the base.

His tail shot up and lashed hard behind him.

“I saw it lying around, so I put it on.”

“You’ve got decent taste, I’ll give you that. Red looks good on me.”

The next second.

unclasped the collar and tossed it in the trash.

“You’re free. You always were. This thing belongs in the garbage.”

“I was wrong before. I won’t do that to you again.”

Adrian stared at the collar sitting in the trash. He looked like the ground had opened under his feet.

His eyes went red, and he was shaking.

“You’re… throwing it away…”

I leaned back against the tub, eyes half-shut.

“Mm. Throwing it away.”

The next morning.

A delivery van pulled up with a large cardboard box. Inside sat a golden-shaded cat hybrid, all soft features and wide, guileless eyes.

“Ms. Caldwell, here’s your new intimacy-class hybrid. Sign here, please.”

I pressed my fingers against my throbbing temple.

I signed.

The delivery woman smiled. “Enjoy!”

Then she glanced past me.

“Where’s the Maine Coon?”

“We’ll take him back while we’re here.”

Something shattered behind me.

CRASH!

I turned.

The bowl Adrian had been holding lay in pieces on the floor.

His hand was still in the air, fingers curled around nothing.

Every trace of color left his face.