Snout Reflex の小説・ストーリー

From the time I could count coins, my parents hammered one lesson home—if a boy did not start saving young, he would never have enough to win himself a wife. They opened a bank account in my name, vowing that money would only ever flow in, never out. And so, every birthday bill and crumpled allowance found a home in that card. I kept funneling every hard-earned paycheck into that same old account even after I moved to the city to chase my own future. At that point, that habit was done more out of reflex than reason. However, I was blindsided by acute kidney failure after years of working myself to the bone. Suddenly, that money was not just savings—it was my lifeline. My dad's voice trembled on the phone. He claimed he had forgotten the password and urged me to just take out an online loan for now. I hauled myself to the bank, my feet still shaky from my dialysis treatment. I clutched my ID, determined to file a loss report and reset the password myself. The teller's words froze me in place. "Sir, this account was emptied six months ago." Panic surged through me. I demanded a full printout of every transaction. The statement of the most recent transfer glared up at me from the paper, stating, "Wedding fund for our precious daughter, Natalia Callahan, plus the down payment for her luxury car."

I ran my fingers over the bite mark on my neck, the one that still ached faintly. “Julian, let's sever the bond.” He pressed a hand down on my shoulder, the fire in his eyes almost spilling over. “Seraphina Hale, what are you throwing a fit about now? I only felt sorry for Daisy, so I kept her company for one night.” “That hurts.” His hand loosened on reflex, and I shook myself free of him. Ever since Daisy's engagement was broken off and she came back to the pack, Julian's heart hadn't belonged to me. One frown from Daisy and he'd be so anxious he could barely hold himself together. “Julian, you don't love me at all.” I looked at him, steady, but he only turned angry. “Seraphina Hale, you think you could even stay alive without me?” Three years together, and he had spent every one of them looking down at me from somewhere far above. All because I'd been struck by the wolfsbane curse, and every full moon I needed him to sink his teeth into my neck and hold me through the night. Otherwise the pain would drag me down until I blacked out. But I had never once said he was my only choice. I opened my contacts and tapped the name of the one person who reached out to me every single year without fail. [I'm willing to let you mark me.] The reply came back in a heartbeat. [I'm coming for you.] Julian's three years were already behind me.