BEASTMAN UNIVERSE

Erica showed up at the door with her backpack slung over one shoulder and tears clinging stubbornly to her lashes. Her nose was pink from sniffling, ears pinned back in humiliation she was trying way too hard to hide.

Her parents had finally snapped.

They said they were tired of sweeping fur off the couch. Tired of vacuuming the carpet. Tired of pretending their daughter was still “their daughter.” According to them, the girl who left for PharmX treatment was gone — replaced by something they refused to accept.

So they put her out.

Just like that.

Now she stood there on the porch, eighteen years old, freshly enrolled at the academy, already dealing with whispers and bullying from classmates — and suddenly homeless on top of it.

With nowhere else to go, she came to the only family nearby. Her father’s sibling. The one person she thought might still see her as Erica.

She didn’t ask for much. She didn’t make a speech.

She just looked up, swallowed hard, and hoped this door wouldn’t close too.

That was weeks ago....