Chapter 3

"Ryan, let's dissolve the bond."

A few days later, I pushed the Consent Form for Dissolution of an Inter-Species Mate Bond across the table to him.

These past few days - in the walk-in closet, several of the coats and dress shoes Ryan wore most often had disappeared. In the bathroom, his expensive shaving kit and cologne were gone from the sink.

He was sleeping in the guest room again.

Every time we had a cold war, it followed the same set of steps, like a program he'd written for himself. Silent, yet full of pressure.

And the thought that had first sprouted the night my gift box hit the fireplace had now come fully into view.

Ryan sat in the study with a thick leather-bound book, not even looking up. My voice stayed calm.

"I asked around. The procedure isn't complicated."

I thought he'd feel relieved. Or at least mock me with something like, should've done it sooner.

He did neither.

Ryan's eyes moved from his coffee cup to the papers. He stared at them for a few seconds. Then his expression darkened abruptly and he gave a cold laugh.

"Fine. Have it your way." His voice was ice. "I don't care."

He shut the book and rose, taking two steps closer, his stare drilling into me like spikes of ice.

"Just don't regret it."

Regret?

The thing I regretted most was probably ever believing in that damned compatibility score and the words "He likes you."

"I won't." I met his gaze. "Pick a time. We'll go."

He said nothing. His jaw locked tight. Then he shoved the chair back so violently it screeched across the floor and strode out, slamming the door behind him.

Bang.

The windows rattled.

The next morning, the two of us walked into the gray-and-white building of the Administration, one behind the other.

Inside the gray lobby, we sat at opposite ends of a blue plastic bench with several empty seats between us. Neither of us spoke. He looked down at his terminal. I stared at the number board.

"B-1147, Window 3."

We approached the bulletproof glass one after the other. The female clerk inside didn't even look up.

"Dissolving a bond?"

"Yes," we answered at the same time.

Only then did she glance up at us and start typing. "Under Article 37 of the Human-Beastfolk Relations Act, a mandatory three-month cooling-off period is required. During that period, you must still fulfill certain basic mate obligations, including status reporting and refraining from establishing a de facto relationship with a third party. If neither party revokes the request by the end of the period, the bond will be automatically dissolved. Any objections?"

"No," I said first.

Ryan stayed silent for two seconds before forcing out a low, rough syllable.

"...No."

"Sign here."

The forms were pushed out. I picked up the pen and signed my name where indicated. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ryan sign quickly, almost roughly. He stuffed the forms back through the slot, turned, and left without waiting for me.

I handed them over and walked out of the building. The afternoon sun was harsh. A heavy irritation sat in my chest like a wad of wet cotton. I didn't want to go back to the apartment, so I turned into a quiet old alley behind the building.

I watched his stiff-backed figure disappear, and the tightness in my chest swelled until it pressed on my breathing. Restlessness and helplessness wound around me like vines.

I needed air.

I wandered into an old, deserted side street. My mind was a mess: the three-month cooling-off period, his cold eyes, the future ahead of me like a sheet of gray fog...

Then it hit.

A massive force slammed into me from behind and to the side. A scorching hand clamped over my mouth and nose. Another arm, hard as iron, hooked across my shoulders and yanked me backward.

"Mmph-!"

The cry died in my throat. I crashed into a chest that was hard and burning hot. A strong, unfamiliar male scent flooded my nose - hot fur baked under the sun, blood, something raw and feral.

He locked me tightly against him. My feet almost left the ground as he dragged me stumbling toward a narrower, darker alley branching off to the side.

My heart pounded wildly. Fear exploded through me. I struggled uselessly, fingers clawing at the hand over my mouth, but those fingers were like iron tongs. They didn't budge.

Then a low, hoarse voice, as if forced from a throat on fire, sounded right beside my ear, breath scorching.

"...Please... don't scream... help me..."

I turned my head stiffly.

The hand over my mouth loosened slightly, though it still hovered there. A sharply cut, strikingly handsome male face was suddenly inches from mine. His damp bangs clung to his full forehead. Fresh bruising darkened his cheekbones. His split lip was bleeding. Most striking of all were his honey-gold slit pupils, slightly dilated with pain, and the pair of furry dark brown lion ears drooping weakly atop his head.

A male lion beastfolk.