The World of Beasts: She's Got Their Hearts

"Yeah!" One of the young males mistook Analise's frown as contempt for Gideon. He immediately added, "Miss, he lives in a garbage dump and smells like trash!"

"Yeah. He stinks. We're going to be adults soon. Miss, what do you think of us?" another male chimed in.

The lifespan of therians in the Interstellar therian world was longer than that of humans. Hence, it wasn't odd to see younger males in a relationship with older females.

The males assumed that Analise was one of the young ladies from a prominent family in Shadowhawk Alliance, judging by her good looks and her ancient attire.

They fantasized about getting her romantic attention.

"You're no good. I can see your poor character from the way you insulted Gideon." After that, Analise did not pay them more attention they were just a bunch of kids.

Holding the hand of young Gideon, she left.

Young Gideon tried to remove his hand from her grasp, but she held him firmly, refusing to let him go.

Analise had never asked about Gideon's past because he had never brought it up. From the start, all she knew was that he was a Shadowhawk Alliance scientist.

Besides, she was fooled by Gideon's ability and his air of nobility. It never occurred to her that Gideon had been living and running his research in a garbage dump.

How many hardships had he suffered over these years? How did he make it through?

Tears welled up in her eyes. She felt sorry for him.

"Do you not hate me?" The young Gideon turned around. He felt oddly anxious when he saw the tears in Analise's eyes.

"Why would I hate you?" Analise continued walking, still holding his hand firmly.

"The other females and older males shunned me when they heard that I lived in a garbage dump. I guess they kept a distance from me because they thought I was filthy," he whispered.

She turned the question around. "Do you think you're filthy?"

He dodged the question. After a long silence, he asked, "Where are you bringing me to?"

"W-We're going to the garbage dump." She stopped in her tracks when she realized she didn't know the way.

Speechless, he reminded her, "It's the opposite direction."

"Oh. Why don't you lead the way?" Analise stared at the sky in embarrassment.

"Can I call you 'miss' just like they did?" The young Gideon walked on, too scared to look at Analise.

She was a pretty female. She stared at him with a smile, like a lovely and angelic butterfly.

The young Gideon noticed his heart racing. It might be from nervousness or something else.

"That sounds so stiff and awkward. Why don't you call me 'Ana' instead?"

She was used to hearing Gideon calling her "Ana" during her time at Shadowhawk Alliance.

"Sure." He quickened his pace, his heart beating even faster now.

"By the way, I heard them talking about your research. What's it about?" she inquired.

"There's this space backpack that's trending fately. It can carry things that are larger than its size. But I'm thinking of inventing an item smaller than a backpack-something like a watch or ring-for ease of travel."

He led Analise through a few alleyways and finally came to a stop at a a metal gate next to the garbage dump.

no

He walked up to the gate. The phone-sized screen on the gate made a sound

when it detected movement.

"Iris identification required."

Behind young Gideon, Analise flashed a faint smile when she

discovered Gideon had alread net

figured out the workings of iris identification at such a young age. noveldrama