Inside an upscale, luxurious café.
A place that should have been elegant and quiet was now filled with barely suppressed whispers. Among them, one couple's bickering stood out—sharp enough to sting the ears.
"Look again and I'll gouge your eyes out!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I won't, I swear—please let it go this time!"
The Cautus woman apologized frantically, finally managing to calm her partner down. Yet the moment he returned to his dessert, she couldn't help but sneak another glance toward the window.
She had no interest in the blonde Feline woman—nor the other woman sitting near her, who was even prettier and more well-built.
What mattered was the man beside that blonde.
Silver, shoulder-length hair that swayed with each movement. A refined, handsome face so striking that half the women in the café were openly stealing looks. Long legs, and that thick Draco tail—enough to make her swallow hard.
For one brief, shameless moment, she wanted to trade places with the timid Feline woman.
And if she could just get his contact information… she'd count it as a win.
With that thought, the Cautus woman rose—
Only to feel something cold and horrifying spear into her spine, like a blade pressed against her back.
A chilling killing intent.
She broke into a cold sweat and dropped back into her seat at once, leaving her partner blinking at her in confusion.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the café—
"Texas, why do you keep staring at that Cautus woman?" Exusiai whispered, shrinking behind the booth's backrest. "Is the guy across from her your crush?"
Texas withdrew her gaze, her expression flat, and shook her head.
"No. I was just driving off a bug."
"A bug?" Exusiai blinked. "In a place where a glass of water costs a hundred LMD?"
Exusiai hunched even lower behind the curved booth, then tugged lightly at Texas's sleeve, voice dropping further.
"Texas… how's Chen Mo and Officer Swire doing? Has he been taken advantage of yet?"
…If anything, Chen Mo was the one giving Swire the advantage.
Texas's eyes narrowed, colder than before.
At the table near the window, Chen Mo was already running his hand along Swire's tail.
So shameless. So casual. As if getting close to women was breathing to him.
Texas's jaw tightened, and irritation flared hot under her ribs.
If he liked this kind of thing so much—then that night, she should've just—
Texas snapped her head slightly, forcibly interrupting the thought. She shook out her ears as if to dislodge the entire line of imagination.
No.
During estrus, she had to stop thinking in that direction—otherwise she'd only make it worse. Tonight, she'd probably need to… deal with it again.
Her fingers brushed the cold scale in her pocket, the smooth texture grounding her just a little.
Exusiai stared at Texas's tail—which was standing far too straight—and whispered anxiously.
"Texas, is your heat really that bad? Should you go back first?"
Then, still too curious for her own good, Exusiai poked Texas's tail with a fingertip.
"It's hard. So when you get excited, your tail actually—"
Smack.
Exusiai yelped silently, pulling back a reddened hand, immediately behaving like a model employee.
She still needed Texas to report the "battle situation." This was not the time to provoke a wolf.
Exusiai sighed and pressed herself even deeper behind the booth.
If only she weren't a Sankta… This halo didn't just ruin her sleep—it also ruined her love life.
In the café, countless eyes were openly or subtly fixed on the dazzling pair by the window.
Chen Mo, of course, didn't notice the wolf watching him like a knife.
He was busy.
One hand was calmly smoothing Swire's tail as it lay across his leg, while he evaluated it with a level of seriousness that should've been reserved for inspecting firearms.
"Hmm… fur's smooth, glossy. Well maintained." He nodded as if confirming a technical specification. "But it's stiff. The touch isn't great."
He lifted the tiger tail with one hand and rubbed it lightly against his cheek, testing it like a material sample.
"It feels like a fluffy iron whip. Probably more practical than those soft-boned races. Might even be better in a fight."
Then he looked over.
"Swire, what do you think… Swire?"
"Hah—ah? Ah, yes—yes." Swire's face was burning red, as if steam might rise from her skin. "That's right. I… sometimes use it to catch criminals."
Her chest rose and fell with an unsteady rhythm. She was barely holding it together.
This man was deadly.
He was bold, shamelessly bold—handling her tail right in front of her, in full view of a crowded café, with a perfectly innocent face. Then he even pressed it to his cheek, and asked her opinion like it was a normal topic of conversation.
It was obscene.
It was absolutely obscene.
And she was supposed to be completing the "test" Ch'en told her to do—except at this rate, she'd be the one losing control first.
She couldn't. Not here.
The stares alone were enough to keep her on a leash. The last thing she needed was tomorrow's headline: "Senior Officer Publicly Harasses Male Citizen."
Chen Mo watched her panting—like a wild animal—and understood immediately.
Just tail-touching and she was already like this?
She was more dangerous than Texas. By far.
The memory of that unpleasant night crossed his mind, and after a short pause, he spoke with sincere caution.
"How about you go home and… take care of it yourself first? Then we can hang out again when you're calm."
"No, no!" Swire insisted too quickly, too loudly, forcing a bright smile that didn't match her breathing at all. "I can hold on. Where do you want to go next, Chen Mo?"
Can you? Chen Mo eyed her, deeply skeptical.
She was showing her tiger fangs now—cute, yes, but the way she was breathing made it feel less like "cute" and more like "about to pounce."
Chen Mo decided to test.
With deliberate gentleness, he flicked the tip of his thick Draco tail across hers—light, teasing, like a leaf brushing by.
A quick scratch.
"Gah—!"
Swire's upper body snapped backward.
Her carefully groomed tail shot straight up, rigid as a rod, as if her body had betrayed her without permission.
It looked… way too good.
And also, in public, unbelievably humiliating.
Chen Mo stared, then felt a faint wave of guilt wash over him.
Maybe he'd gone too far.
She really couldn't take teasing at all. Not even a little.
He shifted his seat and quietly put distance between them, watching as Swire collapsed forward onto the table, fighting to steady her breathing.
I should stop doing that, he decided.
Then, as if to justify it to himself, he concluded with complete confidence:
This wasn't his fault.
Swire's mind was clearly not normal.
....
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