Blurb：
When **Emrys** rescues a dying emerald snake in **Knotwood Wilds**, he never expects it to transform into **Cian** — a **shapeshifting Verdant Serpent** with a possessive streak and a burning desire to claim him. Trapped between his growing attraction to the **sweetly obsessive serpent** and the suffocating control of his **stepbrother Dorian Crestwood**, Emrys navigates a perilous world of **MM romance** and **paranormal academia**.
As **Cian** evolves from a tiny **emerald companion** to a **6'2" serpent-tailed man**, his jealous devotion clashes with **Dorian's** twisted schemes to dominate Emrys. Meanwhile, roommate **Milo Jennings** and volatile boyfriend **Garrick** create explosive tension in their **Briarcliff University** dorm, forcing Emrys to confront his **phobia of male affection**.
Will the **Verdant Serpent's forbidden kiss** break Emrys' defenses, or will **Dorian's winter-cold obsession** drag him back into a gilded cage?
Content：
§PROLOGUEHis tail was wrapped around my waist when he asked the question, his voice a low rumble against my chest.
What are your roommate and his… person doing?
Kissing, I said, covering his eyes with my hand. Don't look.
Can I kiss you?
No. I'm a guy.
But they're both guys, Cian countered, his logic infuriatingly simple. "And they're kissing."
"They're beasts," I grumbled, the words tasting like ash in my mouth.
That night, Cian slithered into my bed, his serpentine tail coiling possessively around my hips.
"I'm a beast, too," he whispered, his emerald eyes glowing in the dark. "And I want to kiss you."
§01
It started with a night hike in Knotwood Wilds and a snake I found dying on a tree branch.
It was pathetic, really.
A sliver of emerald green, curled tightly against the oppressive dark, its body so still it seemed to have surrendered to the night.
It looked like it had stopped breathing.
Something sharp and sudden, a need I couldn't name, pierced through my usual apathy.
I had to save it.
Without a second thought, I plucked it from the branch and took it with me.
When I got back to my dorm at Briarcliff University, my roommate, Milo Jennings, was in the middle of a screaming match with his boyfriend.
"I swear to God, Garrick, if you want to break up, just do it! I'm so fucking tired of this."
"You're a control freak! You track how many calories I eat! If I actually cheated on you with a guy, would you literally hunt me down and kill me?"
The moment he saw me, he snapped the call shut.
"My roommate's back, gotta go!"
He bounded over, his eyes landing on the tiny green creature in my hands.
"Whoa, pretty snake. You buy him?"
I shook my head, finding an old t-shirt and fashioning a makeshift nest inside a shoebox.
I placed the snake inside, then immediately ordered a heat lamp and other supplies on my phone.
Milo, seemingly oblivious to my cold shoulder, kept chattering. "Wait, Emrys, don't tell me you found it on your hike?"
This time, I nodded.
He opened his mouth to say more, but I cut him off.
"Don't stand so close to me," I said, my voice flat. "I don't want your boyfriend showing up here again to interrogate me."
"I don't like it."
That finally shut him up.
The realization dawned on his face, the reason for my months of distance.
He grabbed his phone and stormed out. "That bastard, Garrick. He's really crossed the line this time."
With Milo gone, it was just me and the snake.
The warmth of the room must have done something, because it stirred.
Its tail, no thicker than a pencil, gently wrapped around my wrist.
A strange, tingling warmth spread up my arm.
Under the dim yellow glow of my desk lamp, I tried to study, a glass of water beside me.
My throat was dry.
I picked up the glass, took a sip, and nearly choked when I saw a tiny, emerald body submerged inside.
It had fallen straight into my water glass.
Idiot.
I fished it out, and it nudged my hand before obediently coiling back around my wrist, a silent, living bracelet, as I returned to my books.
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The End