Chapter 1Escaping His Lethal Obsession

I have always been painfully, paralyzingly introverted.

I’m a grown woman, and the mere thought of dating makes my throat close up. So, whenever the fever of my heat cycle spikes, I survive by burying my face in Rhys’s clothes, breathing in the sharp, freezing scent of his sea-salt pheromones.

But then, the glowing strings of text—the Feed—started appearing in my vision.

[Ugh, the male lead is so pitiful. He’s only satisfying his vicious stepsister’s heat to repay a debt to his stepmother.]

[He finally had a chance to meet the female lead today, but had to rush back just because she called.]

[Good thing he only promised to take care of the sister until she turned twenty. Just half a month left until he’s free!]

[And when she keeps pestering him later, he literally throws her into the Cobalt Abyss to feed the sharks!]

I am terrified of sharks.

Panic seized my chest. I reached out, my fingers scrambling to grab Rhys’s hand just as he started unbuttoning his shirt.

Under his cool, heavy gaze, I swallowed hard. My voice broke.

"T-thank you, Rhys. But... no."

I forced myself to let go of him, shrinking back against the mattress. "I don't need my big brother's help anymore."

* * *

I am a rabbit Therian.

Because I was born premature, I was malnourished from the start. It made me vastly more timid than other herbivores.

On my first day of kindergarten, the sheer sensory overload of seeing so many people caused me to hold my breath until I passed out. My mother brought me home to recover. A few days later, we tried again. I passed out again.

Dr. Finch, our family physician, shook his head. "This isn't working. The child is going to do permanent damage to herself. You'll have to homeschool her."

My mother thought about it and agreed.

Her true form was a koala. Honestly, all she ever wanted to do was cling to the eucalyptus tree in our sunroom and chew leaves. She was chronically lazy. She wasn't particularly bright, either.

But she possessed the kind of breathtaking, ruinous beauty that made people stop in their tracks.

When she saw the news broadcast of an eight-year-old prodigy named Rhys Callahan winning the National Exo-Armor Design Championship and securing early admission to the Imperial Military Academy, she got an idea. She went straight to the Callahan estate.

Within a month, she had secured a marriage to Rhys's father.

But she didn't get to enjoy her new life of luxury for long. A few months later, out of sheer gluttony, she ate a tin of cookies someone had gifted to Rhys.

The cookies were laced with poison.

They were given to Rhys by his supposedly best friend, driven by bitter jealousy. Rhys was supposed to eat them. Instead, my mother got to them first.

Just like that, I didn't have a mother anymore. I was nothing but a pathetic, shivering little rabbit in a sprawling, cold mansion.

I shifted into my true form, went into the Callahan’s pristine rose garden, dug a little hole, and tried to bury myself in the dirt.

Rhys found me. He dug me out, brushed the soil from my fur, and gently rubbed my floppy ears.

He told me he was going to take care of me from now on.