Chapter 12 — Part 1: Heat of the Moment
Kai POV
It had been a week since Shyara dropped the bomb: I was the center of the world's collective hit list. Every major faction, kingdom, and power player was apparently losing sleep over me. Yay, me.
At the time, I took it like a champ—cracked a joke, flashed a grin, and muttered something cool like "bring it on." But now, alone in the clearing under a bruised, starlit sky, that swagger was long gone.
I was broken. Literally.
My arms—what was left of them—throbbed beneath layers of enchanted bandages. Yuki promised they'd regenerate with time and enough magical therapy, but time was the one thing I didn't have. The world wouldn't wait for a crippled breeder to get his limbs back.
The clearing looked the same, but felt different. This was the place where I'd faced death. Where I'd fought a Beowyr Brute to protect Nyla. Where something inside me snapped—and something new took its place.
A ring of cracked earth still circled the spot. Scorched grass. Splintered bark. Dried blood, dark and silent. It should've been a place of trauma, but it wasn't. It was the last place I felt powerful.
I sat in the grass, letting the breeze wash over me as three moons stared down like quiet judges. Above, the stars spun lazy arcs across the canopy. I opened my status window with a sigh, expecting more bad news.
⸻
Name: Kai (Human)
Level: 17
HP: 750/750
MP: 300/300
Strength: 50
Defense: 50
Agility: 40
Intellect: 250
Luck: 5000
Status: Wounded (Critical) — All stats -25%
Unique Skills:
• Chosen
• Monster Mage
• Perfect Lover
Common Skills:
• Champion's Hook
• Fancy Footwork
• Winning Knuckle
• Dynamic Combo
• Crush Kick
• Burst Step
Title Skills:
• Little Builder
• Death Dealer
• Friend of the Favored
⸻
There it was. The new one. Perfect Lover.
I tapped it open, curiosity gnawing at my better judgment.
⸻
Perfect Lover:
Increases sexual compatibility with all tamed partners by 50%.
Partners above 70% compatibility receive heightened pleasure.
Partners at 80%+ have a higher chance of perfect satisfaction.
Perfect satisfaction increases conception rate.
100% compatibility ensures perfect satisfaction and triggers accelerated pregnancy.
Offspring inherit a version of one or both parents' unique skills.
⸻
I stared.
"So I unlocked the galaxy-brain sex skill."
It was too perfect. Too tailored. Everything I gained seemed designed to nudge me toward one fate: breeder of monsters, father of hybrids, walking evolutionary cheat code. A cosmic baby-maker with a punchline for a power.
I laughed to myself… then stopped. Because the truth was?
It was working.
My mind drifted—inevitably—to Nyla.
She'd been avoiding me. Not hiding, exactly. Just… watching from the shadows. Lingering. Our bond buzzed faintly whenever she was near—warm, tinged with guilt, heavy with need. I could feel it. Her longing. Her shame. Her heat.
And the worst part?
I wanted her too.
Not just her body. I wanted her surrender. Her trust. Her full, raw submission—not because she owed me, but because she chose me.
A twig snapped in the trees behind me.
I didn't move.
I didn't have to.
She was already there.
Nyla stepped into the clearing, moonlight kissing her fur and highlighting the curve of her hips. Her breathing was uneven. Her eyes… desperate. Wild. Her hands trembled at her sides.
She stumbled forward and collapsed against me, burying her face into my neck.
"Master…" she whispered, voice shaking. "I can't fight it anymore…"
Her heat hit me like a furnace. Raw desire poured through our bond, thick and electric. My heart skipped a beat—and then quickened.
"Nyla…"
"I've tried so hard," she breathed, straddling my lap. "But I can't—please, I need—"
She kissed me.
No finesse. Just hunger. The kiss was clumsy, needy, almost painful. Her claws gripped my shoulders, her tails snaked down to tease the hardness straining against my pants.
She was trying so hard to hold back, to be gentle with me—even now. Even like this.
I groaned, more from frustration than pleasure. I couldn't hold her properly. My arms were too weak. All I could do was lean back and let her consume me.
I broke the kiss, gasping.
"Nyla, wait—"
"I can't," she whispered, her voice cracking. She stood, hands trembling, and peeled the tattered cloth from her body.
And just like that, the night caught fire.
She stood bathed in moonlight—fur gleaming, curves soft and heavy with desire, the space between her legs visibly glistening. She was breathtaking.
My status pinged on instinct.
⸻
Nyla
Race: Chosen's Lupine (C-rank, Female Humanoid)
Status: In Heat (Overloaded), Frenzied
Compatibility: 150%
Mating Imminent
⸻
"…Oh."
She sank back onto me, her body hot against mine, her tails brushing my thighs as her hands slipped to my waistband.
"I've been such a bad girl," she whispered, tracing the scar across my chest—the one she gave me. "Let me make it up to you. Let me be yours. Only yours."
Her lips brushed my ear, her voice like silk and smoke.
"Break me."
A switch flipped in my brain.
I didn't hesitate.
I claimed her.