Page 1 of Primal Bonds 1

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Shiro

Since I was small, I came to understand that a haven never lasts. For me and my kind—the beastkin—a marginalized race of humans with small animal characteristics, a haven was always short-lived, accompanied by an intersperse of fear and terror. But no matter how fleeting that feeling of safety was, we’d make the most of it, enjoy it while it lasted.

And it never, ever lasted. Darkness and nightmares were always at the ready to step in, taking over the reins at a moment’s notice.

Now, that moment had come, unexpectedly, like always. Another nightmare had just stepped in, robbing away any thought of happiness and freedom from me, from my adopted brothers, from our future.

I couldn’t move. I was paralyzed with shock as I stared numbly at my mother lying there on the floor, a pool of blood around her. I was kneeling by her side; my rag of clothing, too, was covered in her blood.

“Shiro,” her soft, gentle voice called out to me.

I felt tears welling in my eyes as my body shook, a mixture of emotions overwhelming me—shock, confusion, fear, sadness—a sort of pain I had yet to fully understand and register.

I refocused my vision on her, forcing myself to pay attention on what she was saying instead of staring blindly at that knife. It was sticking out the side of her stomach, and I wanted to pull it out. I wanted to relieve her of the pain it was causing her, but I knew I couldn’t because it’d only lead to more bleeding.

I knew at that moment that I was never going to see her again, and I felt something inside me die.

“Mama,” I cried, fear overwhelming me, paralyzing me. “Mama, please be all right.” But deep down, I knew she was never going to be all right. Ever.

She grabbed my hand, her own cold and bloody. “Run… You must go… Leave this place.”

I furiously shook my head, tears flowing down my cheeks. “I won’t leave, not without you.”

“I don’t have long… Please, you have to go…” She coughed out blood, and the sight scared me senseless.

I leaned closer, crying; I hadn’t a clue what I should do. What could a ten-year-old foxkin child do when his mother was beaten and then stabbed?

“Please, Shiro,” she begged again. “Get out of here before they come… Remember, don’t get caught by the institute.”

I shook my head as I sobbed weakly. “Mama.”

She looked to Kuro and Aka, my adopted brothers Mama had picked up from the streets. “Look after each other, my children.”

“Mama,” Kuro said, crying. “Please, you’ll be all right. I’ll get a doctor. You’ll be all right.”

Aka nodded his head, tears streaming down his cheeks. “You’ll be all right, Mama.”

“Please, you all must go,” she managed to say, and then her breathing became short and heavy, and I knew she wasn’t going to last, and fear once again overwhelmed me as I just sat there, frozen. “I love you… I love you all.” Then she shut her eyes and she was gone, her hand limp in mine.

I stared at her—dead—and then I burst out crying—howling in sadness and sorrow and loss.

Kuro grabbed me and Aka into his arms and hugged us tightly, and we cried—all three of us little foxkin—for the loss of our Mama.

Loud noises of vehicles came in the distance, followed by men shouting and then guns firing, catching our attention. Screams—of fear and terror—echoed across the neighborhood. The institute had arrived, and they wouldn’t let us escape.

Kuro rose and said urgently, “We have to go. If they catch us, they’ll kill us.”

Aka asked, his voice shaking in fright, “But where are we going to go?”

“I don’t know, but we have to get out of here. Mama wants us to be safe,” Kuro said. He caught mine and Aka’s wrists and pulled us up. “Mama loves us, and we have to do what she says…”

I knew Kuro was right, and I reluctantly nodded my head as I wiped tears from my eyes with the back of my hand.

As we moved to the door, I strayed my gaze to Mama again, her cold body lying there on the floor. I felt my heart breaking at just leaving her there, and my body shook as tears once again threatened to pour out of my eyes.

Aka slipped his hand into mine, and he said, “It’s going to be all right, Shiro.”

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