I wonder how Swire's doing.
Ch'en's tightly knit brows hadn't relaxed once.
Walking down the street, she found herself uncharacteristically torn. By any reasonable standard, Swire was a solid match for her brother: attractive, well-connected, capable, upright, and—most importantly—someone Ch'en knew inside and out.
Swire wouldn't care that Chen Mo was a Draco. She wouldn't flinch at the trouble that came with pure Victorian royal blood.
If Ch'en ignored their long-running personal grudges—the endless bickering and mutual irritation—then yes: Swire really was a good fit.
And yet…
Ch'en still felt inexplicably irritated.
Even if she couldn't come up with a better candidate, she simply didn't want to see Swire wrapping Chen Mo in her arms and flashing that smug, victorious grin in Ch'en's face.
"I'm just preventing that heat-addled tiger from taking advantage of him," she muttered under her breath.
She'd even taken time off specifically to go to Chen Mo's place.
The excuse was flimsy, but she used it anyway—because Chen Mo was exactly the sort of man who would casually expose himself in front of women and act as if the blatant staring didn't matter. A dangerously shameless, effortlessly alluring man.
With that thought, Ch'en felt marginally better.
Standing at his door, she knocked on the reinforced, heat-resistant metal slab she'd had installed for him.
From inside came a familiar voice—lazy, and entirely too unguarded.
"Why are you back again, Texas? What do you want this time?"
The door creaked open.
Chen Mo appeared in loose, rumpled sleepwear, a Pocky stick hanging from the corner of his mouth as he mumbled, half-asleep. Then his eyes focused—and he froze mid-sentence.
"You're still thinking about kissing—"
"Kissing what, Brother?"
Ch'en's tone was glacial.
Chen Mo's brain visibly accelerated. His expression snapped into a bright, harmless smile as if he'd rehearsed it.
"—Kissing… as in, 'kissing and making up,' you know? Texas came to tell me Exusiai won't be bothering me like before."
To sell it, he stepped forward and lightly hugged his "dear little sister," all cheer and innocence.
"So, what brings you over today, Ch'en?"
"I came to make sure that barbecued-cat of a woman wasn't plotting something against you," Ch'en said flatly. "Instead, I had the misfortune of hearing a name I can't stand."
Being pressed against his warmth and clean scent made her uncomfortable—but the knot of irritation in her chest loosened all the same. For a brief moment, it felt… steady.
Then she pushed him away.
"We'll talk about Texas later." Her eyes narrowed. "Where's Swire? Didn't she say she was going to ask you out today?"
As if she owned the apartment, Ch'en strode past him and began tidying up without hesitation—collecting trash, stacking things neatly, restoring order with a practiced ease that made it painfully obvious she'd done this before.
Chen Mo watched her for a beat, then—seeing she was stable, not about to explode—finally relaxed.
He flopped down cross-legged on the sofa, tail curling against his thigh.
"Even if I don't care about the whole 'dating' angle, I'm not saying yes to a suspicious 'date' on day one," he said. "I'm not stupid."
When Swire had suggested going out, he'd clearly felt it: the heavier breathing nearby, the eyes that kept drifting to any exposed skin.
It wasn't blatant—subtle, controlled—but the overall look was unmistakable.
It reminded him far too much of Texas when she'd been… not herself.
He'd dealt with one wolf already. He wasn't interested in dealing with a tiger, too.
"Then I'll make sure I give that barbecued cat a proper scolding," Ch'en said coolly.
Once the living room looked spotless, she sat down beside him. Chen Mo, completely unbothered, draped his tail across her lap with familiar intimacy.
"Help me clean my tail, Sis."
"…We need to talk about Texas," Ch'en sighed quietly—yet she still reached for a clean, damp towel and began wiping down his glossy, scaled tail.
"Texas came here. Why? You're not close."
"Like I said—she came to tell me Exusiai won't be pestering me the way she used to."
Chen Mo stretched lazily, clearly enjoying the attention.
"And I'm a Draco, Ch'en. The scenario you're worried about—me getting pinned down and taken advantage of—doesn't happen."
Ch'en's gaze flicked to the corner of his mouth.
A small but obvious cut.
"Doesn't it?" she said softly. "Then what happened to your lips? You bite yourself? Hit something?"
"I bumped my teeth while I was showering."
He delivered it so naturally that, on the surface, there was no crack in the lie.
Only his tail—moving too often, too quickly in her hands—betrayed him.
Ch'en's eyes narrowed.
"And don't overthink it," Chen Mo added, still casual. "You seriously think Texas could force me?"
Logically, he wasn't wrong. A Lupo forcing a Draco was absurd.
And yet…
The more she felt that tail shifting under her palm, the worse her mood became. The rhythm was wrong—too responsive, too revealing, like a tell he didn't realize he had.
Ch'en swallowed the irritation and changed the subject instead.
"Then tell me this, Brother. What kind of woman do you want as a partner?"
Chen Mo blinked, thrown off by the sudden pivot. He rubbed his chin, thinking.
"Pretty, good temperament, easy to talk to…" He paused, then added with shameless sincerity, "And a tail as nice as mine."
Ch'en nearly choked.
"That's it?"
"That's it," Chen Mo said, nodding as if it were the most reasonable list in the world. The constant wagging finally slowed.
"Anyway, it's all fate, isn't it? If I meet someone I like, I won't refuse for no reason."
Then he looked at her sideways, amused.
"And you've been taking an unusual interest in my private life lately."
Because a bunch of troublemakers have their eyes on you, Ch'en thought, but didn't say.
She shot him a sharp glare and lightly smacked his tail with the towel.
"If you had the decency to keep certain women at arm's length, I wouldn't have to worry about this at all."
Chen Mo only laughed.
"But the people I'm closest to are you and Talulah," he said. "Like right now—who else touches me this much? You and Talulah, that's who. Even Exusiai's only ever held my hand."
He didn't say the rest.
Ch'en's mood did improve—just slightly—at that.
"Then I expect you to keep it that way," she said, standing up. With careful gentleness, she lifted his legs off her lap and set his feet back on the sofa.
After one last look at his content, infuriatingly relaxed expression, she turned toward the door.
"I won't disturb your rest. See you tomorrow, Brother."
"Yeah, yeah. See you tomorrow, Ch'en."
The moment her back was turned, Ch'en's face went blank—cold enough to freeze the room.
Each step toward the exit felt heavier than the last.
That cut on his lip.
That tail—moving too much at exactly the wrong moments.
Ch'en's irritation simmered hotter with every recalled detail.
Texas…
She wanted to see, for herself, how that so-called ice-cold Lupo had managed to get this far.
....
My Patreon : patreon/RuneA
If you want to read the novel in advance, you can subscribe for early access. I also have many more novels in my collection that you might be interested in
I upload ten novels a day, with 3 to 4 chapters per title depending on the length. If you're following a particular series, please wait your turn a little
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it