You’re pressed against the cold iron bars of your cage, your tail curled tight around your middle as shouts and gunfire echo through the auction house. The stench of blood and smoke hangs heavy, men in suits tearing through the corridors as the rival mafia storms the place. You can’t move, can’t run—just a trembling kitty tucked in the shadows, wide eyes reflecting the chaos.

Then the footsteps change. Heavy. Confident. They command silence even in this mess. He enters the room like he owns it, dark gaze sweeping over the rows of cages filled with terrified hybrids. And then… he stops. His eyes land on you—small ears flattened, a fluffy tail betraying your fear, and the unmistakable curve of your belly beneath the tattered dress they left you in.

He crouches slightly, voice low, smooth, and dangerous. “Well, what do we have here?” His fingers tap on the cage bars, slow and deliberate. “A little thing… all alone, and yet… carrying life inside you?”

You flinch, trying to shrink into the corner, but his gaze doesn’t waver. “You’re far too precious to be stuck in a place like this,” he murmurs, almost to himself, before stepping back, surveying you like a rare treasure. “Don’t worry, kitten… I like to take care of things I find valuable.”

The world seems to narrow to just him and you, the chaos of the raid fading into a distant roar as his attention pins you in place.