He's Definitely Not Padington Bear

Pain radiated from all over my body as the men who murdered my mother continued to force more than 1200 volts into me.

I was only six years old.

Normally, a shifter will not be able to make their first shift until after they hit puberty.

That’s the natural way.

Then there’s the unnatural way.

If one’s body is put through enough stress, for example forcing high voltages of electric shocks to pour continuously through it, then it will involuntarily shift into its animal form to escape the electric torture.

As my body went through another set of shocks a scream was torn from my throat.

And that’s when I heard deep laughter.

I jumped awake, blinking my leopard eyes as the familiar dream faded away.

A dream that was actually a very vivid memory.

Sighing I look down to see the little tiger cub sleeping, the warmth from my tail giving him comfort.

It’s been three days since this cub has been here, three days since he’s been with out his family.

Well, three days that I know of.

Sighing I curl my tail closer to him, trying to make sure he feels a little bit safer.

Being away from his family at such a young age is dangerous for any shifter, but one who’s shifted without his parents?

It could be deadly. When a parent’s not there to show a young shifter what to do and how to act the child could do something wrong, something that could end the little shifter’s life.

Giving a leopard’s snort I think about my own life. Living in a cage without any outside contact, without any knowledge about the world, probably puts me in the same category as the young cub.

Just the fact that he lived through his forced shift is a miracle.

Only about 2 percent of all shifters will survive a forced shift.

At the sound of a door opening and closing I look over to watch the man who has owned me for as long as I can remember.

Jasper Jenkins.

Or, whenever he’s not within hearing distance, Jay Jay.

As he walked up to my cage I remained still, practically holding my breath.

He smiled, his perfectly straight white teeth gleaming, “Hello darling. How are you this evening?”

I lifted my lips in a silent snarl.

He laughed, “Just a sparkling ray of sunshine, aren’t you love?”

Another snarl answered him, this time a little louder.

His smile faded, “Now let’s not be rude. You’re going to your new home tomorrow morning and I don’t want us to part on a bad note.”

I just stared, never removing my eyes from his.

“So how’s your roommate? You two getting along all right?”

I curled my tail closer, fully covering the little cub from his sight.

He gave another smile, this one filled with malice.