Tidebound Heart

"Are you gonna hit me?" Malcolm asked.

He was as stubborn as a mule.

What exactly had his previous owner done to him? He'd been treated that badly and still refused to back down. Instead, he snapped at everyone he saw.

I ignored his little games and tossed him an ointment. "Apply this three times a day. Do it yourself."

He stared at the white cream for a long moment, as if he'd never seen anything like it.

Probably in his mind, everyone was a liar, and my gesture was likely some kind of manipulation. He likely thought that someday, I'd snap and lash out like his previous buyers.

But he guessed wrong.

I was poor and stingy. This deal was definitely a loss that made my chest ache, but I couldn't just stand by and watch him suffer.

At worst, I could send him to a factory to work once he was better and make a little money back. Then I'd get a reliable beast partner and move on.

When he still didn't move, I turned to leave. "I'm going to work."

-

The sky-high restaurant sat on the 54th floor, where the city lights stretched out like a glittering ocean below.

Working here paid well, and tips were generous. However, I was just a food runner.

The manager, Simon Carter, once said, "You're not pretty enough. Here, dining is about the view. We can't have something that looks like a cheap fake sitting in a luxury showroom, right?"

All the servers here had to be tall, fit, and good-looking. That was the only way to justify the kind of money the guests spent. Every single one of them was almost unfairly attractive.

There were beautiful humans, and even fox shifters, a race famous for their looks.

The kitchen had fewer rules since you didn't have to face customers.

I always kept to myself. That changed last month when I overheard a coworker talking about getting matched with a werewolf partner.

"By the time it cleared all the approvals, it was over 50 grand. That's almost my whole year's salary. But at least when I go home now, I'm not alone. Just thinking about someone waiting for me makes work feel worth it."

I didn't have that kind of money, but I wanted someone waiting at home too.

So I started browsing the secondhand trading platforms.

I counted my savings.

I had worked through college, but tuition had been covered by my parents. So for two years after graduation, I had been paying off my tuition.

After my parents divorced, I felt like a ball being kicked back and forth between them.

They didn't even want me to go to college. In the end, it was our elders who stepped in, forcing them to split the cost evenly.

At the time, they agreed to pay for school. However, there was a condition.

"You can study, but once you graduate, you have to pay us back."

I was in a rush to pay off my debt, so I took the first high-paying logistics job I could find after graduation.

I managed to make about three thousand dollars that first month, there was barely anything left to pay them back.

And that job really botched my career launch, making it way harder to find a better one later.

By the time I went to submit resumes again, I realized I was far behind my classmates.

Also, HR wasn't impressed with my first job.

"I find Ms. Jones lacks business skills and experience. She's not suitable for our position."

Kids from ordinary families sometimes had a narrow view. One wrong step early on could make everything afterward feel off.

I was so focused on paying off my debt that I forgot to seize opportunities in the moment.

Debt alone didn't crush you. It was seizing the right opportunities that mattered most.

In my twenties, I didn't understand that. I just wanted to clear my debts and even the score.

My mom had said, "I can only support you until you're eighteen."

Later, I searched everywhere for work, only to be belittled again.

"If I had known you'd end up doing this kind of job, I wouldn't have wasted money sending you to college!"

Back then, I cried almost every day.

In my empty, dark rental apartment, the only sound was my own breathing.

Thankfully, I finally had some savings after years of hard work.

And that was how I managed to buy Malcolm with his terrible temper.

Being a food runner was simple. I moved constantly between the kitchen and the dining area.

I was so busy that I hardly had time to think about Malcolm.

But sometimes, I couldn't help worrying about his tattered tail and the shoulder blades sticking out of his thin back.