I Rejected My Obsessive Werebeast novel Chapter 1

Aurora’s POV

On my 19th birthday, Connor Fletcher, my canine werebeast, stood me up for our bonding ceremony once again.

“I’m sorry, Aurora, but I can’t do this,” he said to me inside the matching center’s waiting room. “Phoebe needs me.”

I stared at him in disbelief. “She needs you now? But today’s day we form our bond. It’s almost our turn.”

In our world, werebeast depended on humans to survive. After 18, we could go through the Matching Center to form a bond with our chosen werebeast, symbolizing that we would be together forever.

That’s what Connor and I were going to do today, originally.

If my twin sister Phoebe hadn’t ruined it again. For the eleventh time.

The first time, she said she twisted her ankle falling down the stairs. Connor had rushed over with ice packs.

The second time, she’d called crying about some guy at a bar who wouldn’t leave her alone. Connor had dropped everything to play knight in shining armor.

…

And this time, Phoebe claimed she was having a depressive episode and needed someone by her side.

“Please, Connor, don’t go. You know how long I’ve been waiting for this,” I grabbed his wrist, almost begging. “Don’t leave me again for her.”

Yet he pulled his wrist free without hesitation. “Come on, Aurora, this is serious. ”

“That’s just her excuse to steal you from me. Please—” I figured it out two years ago. Phoebe never had depression in the first place. But clearly, Connor didn’t believe me.

His gaze became cold. “Phoebe is your sister, and she’s struggling right now. How can you say that about her? Forget it. You can be cruel, but I can’t leave her.”

But you can abandon me.

“Connor, this might be our last chance.” I said, my voice catching slightly.

A hint of hesitation flashed in his eyes before disappearing. “Next time, I promise. We’ll make it special. I’m leaving, now.”

Next time. Like this was a dinner reservation we could casually postpone, not the legal ceremony that would bind us as partners for life.

He turned sharply and marched out of the mating center. I chased him for a few steps and stopped, tears rolling down my cheeks.

The waiting room door opened again, and for a split second, my heart leaped.

I thought he had changed his mind. But it was just another couple—a girl and her wererabbit, both glowing with nervous excitement. They looked at each other like they couldn’t believe their luck.

I used to look at Connor that way.

A bitter, hollow smile tugged at my lips. I stared down at the completed bonding application clutched in my palms and tore the paper into tiny scraps piece by piece.

There would never be another day for Connor and me.

If Phoebe was the one who always came first, maybe she could take over as his owner entirely.

I left the Mating Center and hailed a taxi back to our home. Connor was with Phoebe so no one else was home.

I headed upstairs, decided to toss out every gift Connor had given me, all our framed photos, and every leftover trinket tied to our past.

When I pulled open my bookshelf to sort important legal documents, an old diary caught my eye.

I thought it was my childhood journal. So I took it down and started flipping through it.

Instead, it belonged to Connor.

And every page of that journal was filled with his private thoughts about me.

I fell for Aurora the moment I first laid eyes on her. I’ve never seen such bright eyes in my entire life.

Aurora is high-class human surrounded by so many admirers. I’m nowhere near good enough for her. She never seems to need me at all.

I’ve found a trick to make her fix all her attention on me! All I need to do is to chase away everyone close to her, and she’ll end up belonging ONLY to me.

Phoebe’s lingering stares make me sick. But if I pretend to like her over Aurora, Aurora might grow more attached to me.

It’s working perfectly! Aurora begged me to stay when I told her that Phoebe needed me, her pleading gaze almost broke my heart. But it’s so thrilling at the same time. I want more of her desperate affection. I want her to beg me to say.

We’ll complete the bonding soon. Once the agreement is signed, Aurora will be mine completely, and I’ll treat her right from then on.

Oh my god.

I turned page after page, anger and mocking disbelief swelling heavier inside my chest with every line.

So this was the truth.

Connor hadn’t turned me away out of lack of love. It’s on the very contrary. He loved me very much. Everything he did stemmed from a twisted, obsessive crush on me.

But this was sick. No wonder all my families and friends grew apart from me ever since Connor came along. He did it. He drew them away.

My hands shook with a mix of anger and disappointment. If this was how he was going to love me for the rest of our lives, I’d rather not form a bond with him.

Just then, my phone rang. It was a staff member from the Werebeast Matching Center.

“Hello, Miss Collins. Your bonding ceremony had been delayed for a full year. We just want to know if you and your canine werebeast Connor are going to finalize the bonding or not?”

I glanced at Connor’s journal, taking in a deep breath.

“Actually…I’ve fallen out with my werebeast. So I’m canceling our planned bonding.”

“Oh! Well, in that case, we can assign you another werebeast instead. With your standing as a human, you could get matched with a very decent werebeast. We just need your confirmation.”

All human matched with a werebeast eventually. If it’s not Connor, I didn’t really care about who it was.

“OK then, I agree,” I said to the staff.

“Agreed to what?” asked a voice behind me.

I spun around and saw Connor standing in the doorway, his fluffy tail still mid-wag and too quick to tuck out of sight in time.

He forced a furrowed frown and fixed his eyes on me. “Who are you talking to?”