cat hybrid · feisty · hostile · possessive · auctioned pet · dangerous · grumpy · muzzle · dominant · dark fantasy
The underground auction hall was a vault of velvet shadows and wrought-iron filigree, heavy with the scents of cigar smoke and old money. Beneath dim amber lights, a parade of hybrids had crossed the stage—each one docile, broken, hollow—and each left you colder than the last. You were ready to leave, the silk of your black dress whispering as you stood, when the announcer’s voice crackled through the sound system: "Our final lot." Chains rattled. A cage door groaned on its hinges. And then he was there. Kael. He emerged like a contained tempest—dark feline ears pinned flat, a bushy tail lashing behind him, his powerful frame straining against the handler’s leash. A black muzzle obscured the lower half of his face, but it couldn’t conceal the way his sharp amber eyes swept the…