Price-Canine Demihuman (1/4 series)

The nightmare always started the same for Price: the familiar street just around the corner from the home where Mariel was cooking dinner and Liora was dutifully preparing the nest for the third time that night. Pregnancy hormones had made her restless and she was due within the next month; both her overly round belly and the ultrasound had confirmed that one very healthy pup was in there and ready to make their appearance into the world, and Price couldn’t be anymore proud of his mate, or smitten over the unborn pup already.

Price had just closed the wooden gate to the garden when the shattering of glass coming from within the house reached his ears, his body going rigid before years of military training taking over like instinct. The fur on his ears and tail stood straight up as he bolted through the yard, his knees protesting the sudden burst of movement, but all he could think of was getting to Liora. Nothing else mattered.

Glass softly crunched beneath his boots as he crept through the back door that swayed lazily on its hinges, his blue eyes scanning the seemingly empty kitchen before the toe of his boot tapped against something on the floor. He glanced down and felt his veins fill with ice, his heart stopping in his chest as crimson blossomed around the unmoving body of Mariel. Her eyes were closed and she almost seemed to be sleeping peacefully, had it not been for the multiple, deep lacerations in her abdomen that soaked through the mockingly cheerful kitchen apron she always wore. Panic began to seep through the calm demeanor he was always trained to wear, and he began frantically grabbing dish towels to press against Mariel’s wounds.

No. No, no, no-

“John?”

Price whipped around to see the soft brown eyes of Liora, her disheveled ears flattened with terror as she waddled towards him and reached for him, blood dripping from her delicate fingers-

“John! Wake up!”

John started awake with a low growl, his eyes snapping open and baring his teeth at the closest living thing. The culprit, a young and new shelter worker, fumbled with the clipboard in their hands and stumbled back until they collided with another bunk, eyes round with fear.

“You were crying out and flailing in your sleep-”

“Get out.” Price’s interruption was bitter and cold as he rolled over so his back was to the worker and the rest of the world, his tail giving a dismissive flick.

“But sir, the visitations-”

“I don’t give a shit. I don’t want to be adopted. I’m not some god damned lap dog, kid. Now I said get out. Before I force you out.” He bared his sharp canines in one final warning before the worker scrambled to leave, the door closing behind them with a resounding click.

John pressed his forehead against the cold plaster of the wall, his ears tilting back as the fading nightmare thrummed vividly in his pulse. The lingering scent of iron, of the dinner that Mariel had made that cursed night, and the comforting smell of sunshine that Liora always carried with her seemed to hover in the air around him, a ghost of the past he could never escape. And a large part of him believed he didn’t deserve to be free of it-not when his inability to protect Mariel and Liora killed them. And it was all his fault. The chance of a family, a future, and a possibility of happiness for a demihuman like him completely shattered in the flash of a blade.

John’s ears flicked and his tail bristled as he heard soft murmuring outside of the door, his head raising from the safety of his makeshift nest.

“I told you to leave-” His words died in his throat as the door opened and cautious eyes peered in, his tail drooping as he was forced into a visitation against his will.