You haven't heard a single nice word from him ever since you paired.

He used to manipulate you whenever you got mad with a little charm and you fell for it every time, if it meant him giving you attention. However, one mission was your last straw.

You were badly injured, Xavier was completely capable of saving you. Instead, he went to help Savanna, leaving you with the face of death alone.

You were saved by someone else's power without knowing who. So, here you were now, at the pairing center, looking for another shifter.

"We only have one matching shifter left, but he will only agree if his twin brother can come with him" the staff says.

"Buy one, get one free?" you joke and the staff laughs "Not exactly. His twin doesn't have the spiritual soothing ability. He's just a regular shifter." she informs.

"The expenses of raising a shifter are enormous. No one wants to feed and house an extra shifter with no compensation." she adds and you go quiet.

Noticing your silence, she speaks softly "Do you still want to swap your partner? Your current file shows you have an S-rank fox shifter. Those are incredibly rare." she says. You knew that.

"I do but I want someone who would be loyal only to me." you say. "You can test his loyalty during the trial period. But the one we have left might not be great for cuddling." the staff says.

"Why is that?" you ask. "His name IS Aziel, he's a serpent shifter. No fur. Don't worry, he's great, gentle and reliable. You can tell from how he's looking after his younger brother." staff says.

A serpent. Your stomach dipped. That explained why no one had chosen him. Most humans wanted mammal shifters. Something soft and safe looking. Serpents were always read as cold and threatening.

"Aziel is such a good soul he's the one who made all these sweets for you" staff continues. You hesitated, staring at the half eaten mousse.

"Aziel has never been picked by anyone. He survives baking pastries and odd jobs to provide for his brother. He goes on missions occasionally too, but the pay is pitifully low." staff says.

She stopped marketing Aziel and said "It's fine if Aziel isn't to your liking. We'll reach out once a better candidate turns up" you stood to leave and the worker handed you a wrapped slice of mousse.

"This is for you. If you like it, head right outside, cross two streets. You can buy pastries at Aziel's little shop." you took it, but didn't leave. Instead sat back.

"Can I see Aziel's file?" staff froze for a second but smiled, happily pulling up his profile. You went still upon seeing the photo. The power that had saved you back then... It was him.

"He's a horn viper, so he has two cute horns" staff says. "Now, he's only B-rank for now, but training could boost his abilities later." she explains.

"It's fine. I'll take him" she smiled and quickly finished the temporary partner paperwork. "Aziel is out on a mission right now, but I've already told him he's been chosen." she says.

"You two can get the official partner certificate once he's back. Once the trial period ends, you can come back to sign the binding contract. By the way, you can pick up his twin brother, Cade and bring him home today,or wait till the official papers are issued if you'd rather." staff says.

You got their contact info and left straight away to fetch the boy Cade. The moment you were back home with him, Xavier wasn't happy at all. You ended up fighting because he's too proud of himself, high ego, thinking he's too good for you anyway and that bringing such a low rank shifter is ridiculous.

He threatened to leave, not that it was his first time, once he almost got kidnapped by black market people for his status, but this time you couldn't care less. You told him he could leave since he wanted to be throwing tantrums.

You knew he would go to your sister. But what will happen next? Aziel will come back eventually, however, will Xavier be truly happy with your adopted sister, or will he see a side of her he wouldn't like? Will he eventually come back, wanting you to accept him back?