My CEO is a Crybaby Shifter

Can I touch your tail? I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

He was drunk. Wasted. But beneath the sharp lines of his bespoke suit, something impossible was happening.

A massive, fluffy white tail poked out from the base of his spine.

Yes.

The cold and ruthless CEO had a flush creeping up his neck. His cheeks were stained a deep, feverish red.

"Kira," he breathed, the sound thick. "You can touch."

Chapter 1

My boss is a massive pain in the ass. Being his secretary is exhausting.

"Kira! I told you, I don't want water in my office! Where is my ball? Where did you put my plush ball?"

A six-foot-two grown man. Obsessed with plush balls. He even likes watching cat-and-mouse cartoons. He has the face of a dark romance billionaire villain, but his behavior is pure toddler.

Other CEOs drink black espresso. He drinks boba.

Other CEOs work until midnight. He clocks out the second the hand hits five.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining about the lack of overtime. It's just everything else. He is high maintenance. He calls my name every five minutes. Its annoying as hell.

I am a secretary, not a live-in nanny.

Every day, I used to curse him silently, telling myself he wasn't human. Turns out, he really isn't.

The tail swayed gently. It looked heavy. Thick fur. Warm.

I abandoned all dignity. I crouched down, wrapped my arms around the white fluff, and rubbed my face against it.

Soft. So incredibly soft.

"Kira." Felix looked down at me, his scent a mix of expensive scotch and cedar. "I said touch. Not rub."

He was swaying slightly. I had just dragged him back from a business dinner. I hadn't even managed to leave his penthouse before the tail popped out.

Honestly? I was a little stunned when I saw it. But it wasn't my first time seeing a Shifter. And I have skills. Eighth-degree Judo black belt. I can handle myself. I wasn't scared.

"Oh, right. Touching!"

I let go of my inhibitions. I puckered up and pressed a loud, smacking kiss right into the white fur.

Felix was too drunk to protest. He just stood there, letting me ravage his tail with kisses.

Thirty minutes later.

He suddenly spoke. "Kira. You kissed me. You have to take responsibility."

My head snapped up. I looked at that handsome, flushed face. My eyes practically turned into hearts.

"Responsibility? Yes! I'll take it. How do you want me to do it? Marriage. Let's go to the courthouse. Right now."

Felix was silent for a moment. "You have to keep me," he said, his voice deadly serious. "Food, clothing, housing, and transportation. All on you. And you cannot lower my standard of living."

I froze. The fantasy shattered.

I looked him dead in the eye, my voice sincere. "Boss, you do realize I make three thousand dollars a month, right?"

Felix didn't say a word. He silently, slowly, pulled his big white tail out of my hands. Then he turned his head and let out a cold, distinct snort.

Chapter 2

I assumed it was the whiskey talking. I assumed hed wake up with a hangover and zero memory of the fluffy tail incident.

I was wrong. Dead wrong.

The next day.

I walked to my desk, my spine stiff. My desk is inside his office. Because apparently, the intercom isn't enough. He needs me within throwing distance to fetch his boba.

I sat down. The temperature in the room dropped ten degrees.

I looked up. Felix was staring at me. Ice-cold. Lethal. I felt like a mouse in a trap.

"Kira. Where is the schedule?" His voice was low. Raspy.

I blinked, confused. "What schedule?"

"The maintenance schedule. To keep me. You didn't make it?"

I shook my head slowly.

Felixs face twisted. He grabbed a Montblanc penprobably worth more than my carand slammed it onto the mahogany desk.

Smack.

"You don't even have a plan! And you said you would take responsibility!"

He was furious. I was panicking.

He stood up, pointing a trembling finger at me. "You player! You promised me last night, and now youre backing out! Youre a heartbreaker!"

The heavy oak doors creaked open.

The entire executive team stood there. Frozen. Holding their morning coffees. They had arrived for the morning briefing.

I looked at Felix. I looked at the board.

"It's not what it looks like," I tried.

Nobody bought it. Because Felix, the ruthless shark of the business world, looked at me with red-rimmed eyes. And then he started to cry.

Actual tears.

He snatched his suit jacket and stormed past the bewildered executives like a gust of wind.

Whoosh.

He was gone.

Silence.

Mr. Vance cleared his throat, looking at me with deep disappointment. "Kira Felix is a good man. How could you play with his feelings like that?"

"He's never even dated! He's innocent!" another executive chimed in. "Go get him!"

"I thought you were a nice girl, Kira. I didn't know you were like this."

I didn't have a defense. I couldn't explain that my boss was a supernatural plushie enthusiast. I turned around and ran.

Felix, you absolute drama queen! Can't you just act like a normal Alpha billionaire for five minutes?!

I was screaming internally as I sprinted down the hall. I searched the building. Nothing.

I found him near his penthouse. The park. By the little stream.

There was a man sitting on the pristine green grass. Shoulders shaking. He was wiping his eyes. Sniffling. He was crying his eyes out. A full-blown breakdown.

I approached slowly and sat down next to him. "Stop crying. Okay? I was wrong," I whispered.

Felix didn't even look at me. He whipped his head around, giving me the back of his neck. The cold shoulder.

I sighed. "I will keep you. I'll make the plan right now. Ten pages. Detailed. I promise to keep you in luxury. I'll make sure you look pretty and expensive. Okay?"

I had thought about it all night. It finally clicked.

Felix isn't some powerful monster. His true form has to be a white cat.

White cats are arrogant. High maintenance. Prone to tantrums. But I know how to coax a kitty.

Chapter 3

My persistence finally paid off.

Felix turned around. "Is that true?"

His voice was thick, nasal. The rims of his eyes were red. Those shimmering, watery eyes stared at me. They pierced right through my soul.

I nodded frantically. "Yes, yes! Really. Stop crying. Let's go back to work. The company can't function without you!"

Felix stayed silent. He stood up slowly. He glanced at me once. Then he turned and walked away.

"Hmph. You just want to trick me into going back to the office."

He strode forward. Angry, stomping steps.

I followed him, practically wagging my own invisible tail. I was in full coaxing mode.

"Of course not! I really like you. I can't stand seeing you sad. And I said I'd take responsibility. I just didn't know I've never kept anyone before. Or, well, a Shifter. I know now. I have to make a maintenance schedule."

Felix has long legs. He walks fast. I had to jog just to keep up.

Luckily. My flattery was working. His pace slowed down. His mood was visibly lifting.

I pressed my advantage. "And your tail. That big white tail. I really, really like it. You're so cute, how could I lie to you?"

Felix stopped dead. His handsome face flushed pink. He looked down at me, actually shy.

"You really like my tail?"

I nodded like a maniac.

The corners of his mouth lifted. He raised his chin. He let out a little arrogant, satisfied snort.

My heart skipped a beat.

Tsk, tsk, tsk. Arrogant little white cat. So cute.

We started living together. I strictly enforced my "Sugar Mama" protocol. He moved into my place. A small two-bedroom apartment. Just big enough for two.

Felix sat there wearing gold-rimmed glasses. He scrutinized the maintenance plan I had typed up.

He gave his feedback slowly. "I like sugar-free cupcakes. I like crisp white shirts."

He looked up at me. "For breakfast, I want milk buns. The warm ones. No cilantro. No garlic. And I don't like sleeping alone."

I sat next to him in my pajamas. I paused.

I could accept the high-maintenance diet. But that last one

I chose my words carefully. "You don't like sleeping alone? How did you sleep before?"

Felix's pupils blew wide. Panic flashed across his face.

He cannot lie to save his life. The moment his lie was exposed, the tips of his ears turned bright red.

I burst out laughing. His little scheme was so obvious.

Felix shoved the schedule onto the sofa next to him. He decided to double down. "Don't you like my tail? You can sleep holding my tail."

My eyes lit up. The big white tail.

Maybe I didn't answer fast enough.

Poof.

The tail appeared at the base of his spine. It was massive. Half as tall as a man. It swayed right in front of my face. Thick fur. Warm heat radiating from it.

"You don't want it anymore?" he asked, his voice dropping to a cautious whisper.

I lunged. I wrapped my arms around the giant white tail and buried my face in the fur.

"I love it!"

Chapter 4

Two months later.

I have Felix figured out. Down to a science.

As a certified cat addict, I can confirm his personality is identical to a white kitten. Cute. Arrogant. A little manipulative.

And he loves to test me.

"Felix, what do you think of me?"

I sat down next to him on the sofa. He was reviewing a stack of documents.

I felt light. Confident. I am not someone who drags things out. If I want something, I grab it with both hands.

Felix turned his head. His clear eyes met mine. "What do you mean?"

I blinked rapidly. I threw him a flirtatious look. "Me. We've been living together for two months. I'm taking responsibility for you. What kind of person do you think I am?"

"A decent person."

"Since I'm decent," I smiled, ready for the kill, "let's get married."

I was determined. Felix likes me. I'm not being conceited. I see it in everything he does.

Sure, he sulks. He gives me the cold shoulder. But mostly, he is constantly, carefully trying to get closer to me.

He is a contradiction. No. A cat.

Felix's face turned red. Visibly. He took off his gold-rimmed glasses and looked at me, his eyes wide and vulnerable.

"You you"

"Me? Me what?"

"Do you know what kind of Shifter I am? Can you accept accept me my tail"

He was stuttering. He couldn't even get a complete sentence out.

I nodded vigorously. "A white cat, right? You're a white cat. Of course I accept your tail. I love it to death!"

Felix went silent. The air in the room grew heavy.

"I guess so," he whispered, his eyes darkening with a strange, sad emotion. "I count as a white cat."

Our wedding was set for a week later.

The afternoon the news broke.

A woman walked into the company. Black hair down to her waist. Pale, exquisite skin. She was wearing a tight black leather bodysuit. Her figure was lethal. Curvy. Dangerous.

She walked toward me with a stride that screamed power. I was holding a boba tea delivery for Felix. I froze.

"You are?" I asked, looking up at the beautiful woman standing in front of me.

"I'm Zara."

"Oh can I help you?"

Zara's red lips curved into a smirk. Her expression was pure disdain. "I'm Felix's fiance. Kira, can we talk somewhere private?"

She didn't lower her voice. The entire open-plan office went silent. Every employee was peeking over their cubicle walls. Eavesdropping.

I raised an eyebrow. I didn't feel fear. I felt the adrenaline of a fighter facing a worthy opponent.

Fiance! Felix has a fiance! That scum!

He said he liked me. I am going to destroy him. I imagined Felix on his knees, begging me not to leave. And me, heartlessly kicking him away.

The promiscuous white cat. You really can't judge a book by its cover.

I gripped the boba tea. I led Zara into the break room and shut the door.

Zara crossed her arms over her chest. She looked at me with haughty arrogance.

Chapter 5

"Do you know what he is? And you still dare to be with him?" Zara asked, her voice sharp.

"He's a Shifter. I know."

I gave her a slow, bored look, scanning her from head to toe. I wasn't going to let her intimidate me. I smirked, feigning indifference.

"But I didn't know he had a fiance on the side."

Zara looked surprised by my lack of fear. She leaned in, her nose twitching as she sniffed the air around me.

"You aren't a Shifter."

"Correct."

She let out a dry, impressed chuckle. "I admire your guts."

She reached into her handbag. She pulled out a sleek black card. She held it out to me. Her attitude was pure arrogance.

"There is five million dollars on this card."

I stared at it for a grand total of two seconds. I reached out and snatched the card from her fingers.

Swipe.

I have always been decisive. Love and hate are black and white to me. But money is money.

"I accept the five million," I said coldly. "I will leave Felix."

Zara froze. Her jaw actually dropped. She looked past me, blinking rapidly.

"The five million was my wedding gift to you guys"

I turned around.

Felix was standing in the doorway. His handsome face was paper-white. His fists were clenched so hard the veins on the back of his hands bulged. He looked like he was about to explode.

So was I. Damn it. That scheming Mean Girl! I've read enough billionaire romances to know the "two-faced ex" trope when I see it. She set me up.

I turned to him, keeping my face expressionless. "Felix. Your fiance gave me five million to leave you."

Zara marched over to me, furious. "Bullshit! I never said I wanted you to leave Felix!"

She didn't say the words. But I knew what she meant. She didn't have to say it.

Outside the glass walls of the break room, heads were bobbing. The entire office was trying to watch the show. I wasn't going to give them the satisfaction.

Felix stared at me, his jaw working. "She told you to leave, and you're just going to leave?" he gritted out.

"You lied to me," I said, my voice steady. "You have a fiance and you still asked me to take responsibility."

My chest ached. Acid burned in my throat. But I would never show weakness.

Felix pressed his lips into a thin line. "I don't have a fiance."

"If you don't have a fiance, who is Zara?"

"An irrelevant stranger."

Oh, wow. A stranger.

I glanced sideways at Zara. The cool, glamorous woman was now vibrating with rage. Her eyes were wide. Hands on her hips.

"Felix!" she shouted. "Let me tell you something! A useless white rat like you doesn't even deserve me! If it weren't for the arranged marriage, I wouldn't even look at you!"

"Fine. You say I'm a stranger, right?"

Zara moved with lightning speed. She snatched the black card back from my hand. She shoved it back into her bag.

"Since we're strangers, I don't need to give you a damn wedding gift!"

Chapter 6