“I’m so sorry, Purr.” Lowell swallowed the
knot of guilt that lodged in his throat. He hated giving his lover bad news. “I’m
afraid it won’t be possible in the near future. I suspect some of the new staff
in the mansion to be my father’s spies. We can’t let them find out about you.
It would be a disaster, you know that.” Lowell nearly wept at the crushing
disappointment in his lover’s eyes. He hated denying Purr’s request, but he had
no choice. Nobody could learn that there was a shifter living in the mansion’s
basement, it was too dangerous for both of them.
Shifters revealed their existence to humans
in late nineteenth century. They thought with advancement in technology brought
by industrial revolution, and progressive views started by Enlightenment the
old horror stories about monsters would be outweighed by reason. Unfortunately
that wasn’t the case. Once humans learned how shifters were stronger and had
more endurance than humans they started using them as slaves. Capturing shifter
children and training them to be slaves become a common practice. Soon every
shifter feared for their lives.
Fortunately there were those who shared
shifters’ views on equality. These people worked hard and managed to outlaw
keeping shifters as slaves. Now, well into twenty first century most people
thought that enslavement was thing of the past. Still, there were those, like
Lowell’s father, who thought shifters should have only limited rights.
Lowell’s father, Sir Iain Hayes, was a
well-recognized political figure. He fought for implementing various
restrictions for shifters. Lowell did not share his father’s views, quite the
opposite. As a teenager he used to work actively in a shifter-rights organization.
When he became recognizable by people his father gave him an ultimatum. He
would quit his work in the organization and move to this secluded mansion in
the country or he’ll never see his mother and younger siblings again. Lowell
agreed. The thought of losing his family was too much to bear. He moved to this
mansion eight years ago as an eighteen years old and lived here ever since.
It wasn’t long after he moved in that he
found Purr. He was walking down a countryside road when he heard some strange
sounds from an abandoned barn. It was a middle of nowhere, the whole area left
unused years ago, after the previous owners moved to the city. Lowell’s first
thought was that someone had hurt an animal and left it for dead. He heard of
such things happening, people abusing their pets, then leaving them to die of
their wounds or starve to death. Not thinking about it another minute Lowell
went in to rescue the perceived animal.
What he found horrified him. There, in the
abandoned barn, tied to one of the support beams was a shifter. There was no
question as to the boy’s identity. Even though Lowell never heard of a shifter
stuck in mid-forms that was obviously what happened to the boy. Lowell didn’t
even think, he acted. He released the boy from ropes holding him uprights and
tended his wounds as well as possible. Fortunately the kid lost consciousness
when Lowell cut his binds, so he didn’t have to suffer through Lowell’s
ministrations.
Lowell couldn’t notify authorities, he knew
there were some who still hated shifters and wouldn’t help them, and then there
were others who’d probably blame him for what happened to the boy just to get
back at his father. Not having anyone to turn to, Lowell smuggled the young,
wounded shifter into the mansion’s basement. He knew it was unused and nobody
ever went there. There were even stories of it being haunted, so Lowell had a
pretty good idea that nobody would find his shifter.
He tended the boy’s wounds to the best of
his abilities and smuggled him food and some blankets to rest on. Before the
boy woke up he had a pretty comfortable den created for him in one of the
cellars furthest from the entrance, just in case somebody did come to look.
When the boy finally did wake up, he was
terrified. Lowell has never before seen someone so scared in his life. After
much coaxing he managed to get the boy’s story from him. His name was Patrick
Peters and he was a tiger-shifter. Unfortunately he was born with the rare
defect that made him unable to fully transform into either one of his forms. He
was forever stuck in this in-between form and both his parents and his streak
hated him for that. When Patrick was five they sold him to a human circus owner
to be showed off as a freak of nature. Patrick was kept in a pen for ten years
and treated more like an animal than a sentient being. He suffered many
horrors, constant beatings, being starved and tortured for fun of
bloodthirsty-crowd.
A couple of week previous he saw one of the
circus lions being beaten up by the tamer. The lion was an old animal and couldn’t
work as hard as the human wanted him too. Patrick stood in the animal’s defence.
It angered the man so badly that he had beaten Patrick to within an inch of his
life. Once the circus director learned about it, he decided to cover the whole
thing up. They dragged him to that barn and tied him to the beam hoping he’d
die and be eaten by animals, his body never found. In the least it would give
them time to close the circus and move on to their next location.
After hearing the story Lowell was horrified.
That such things happened in twenty-first century was unbelievable. Not that he
didn’t believe the boy, because he did. He simply couldn’t comprehend such
inhumanness. It was a foreign concept to him.
He decided to keep the boy, then. It wasn’t
safe for the shifter in the outside world, as proved by the boy’s parents’
actions. He didn’t want to risk someone hurting his shifter again. He told the
boy that he was safe and that Lowell would take care of him. And that was
exactly what he did. After a while Patrick, whom Lowell nicknamed Purr after
hearing the noises the boy made when he ate, started trusting Lowell. They
became best friends, and after a few years, lovers.
Lowell worried sometimes about his shifter.
Purr’s time outside was very limited. They had to keep his existence secret
least someone discover him and reports it to authorities. Lowell didn’t know
what would happen if anyone learned about Purr. They weren’t doing anything
illegal exactly, Purr lived in the mansion with Lowell’s permission after all,
but if Lowell’s father ever learned about his shifter friends, Lowell feared
for their lives. His father might be a golden-mouthed politician, but he was
also a cunning and ruthless man. Lowell didn’t want to be on the bad side of
the man’s wrath.
Lowell lifted his head slightly to look
into Purr’s beautiful golden eyes. He saw the man hide his disappointment, but
Lowell knew him too well. The tiger-shifter was an open book to him.
“I’m sorry love. I wish I could do anything
to make it easier on you, but I’m helpless.”
“Sometimes I wish we could run away
together, hide somewhere where we could live happily, just the two of us, no
hiding, and no sneaking around.”
“You know I’d love that, too. But it’s just
too dangerous. If my father learned about you…” Lowell shuddered “He’d fins us
anywhere. He has money, he has connections, and he could probably track us on
the other end of the world. Right now we’re safe because we’re hiding right
under his nose, he’d never suspect I could defy him. As long as I stay
obediently in the mansion I am of no interest to him. He’ll send his spies
every once a year or so, and once they tell him I’m not involved in anything
shifter-rights related, he’ll leave me alone.”
“I know, Master. You already did so much for
me. I just wish I was normal, so we could be together without hiding.”
“You are normal Purr! You’re beautiful and
I love you. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. If not for the threat of my
father I’d gladly take you out on a date in the middle of London to show you
off to everyone. They’d be so jealous! I found myself the most beautiful
shifter in the world.”
“Do you really mean it, Master?” There was
uncertainty in Purr’s eyes and Lowell cursed all those who made his lover think
less of himself.
“Of course I mean it. Can’t you scent it? I
thought you shifters had this superior sense of smell?”
“We do, but I’m always worried that I read
what I want from your scent, not what is true.”
“Well, you read what you want, BECAUSE it
is true.” Lowell accentuated the word. “Now, come cuddle with me some more. I’ll
need to go soon and I want to fill up on your cuddles. You’re the best cuddler
in the world, you know that?”
Purr laughed a throaty laugh but obeyed
pulling him closer. Lowell closed his eyes and breathed in his lover’s scent,
clearing his head from all thoughts. He’ll have a lot of time for worrying once
he was back to his human life. Pretending took a lot out of him, but he couldn’t
have it any other way. Purr’s safety had to be his priority, nothing else
mattered.
