Minho wailed as he was ripped from his new tiger friend. He tried to grab a hold of him, but whoever had picked him up wasn’t going to let him go any time soon. He was taken to the packs shaman, a human woman who was lucky enough to save a mother shifter and her small cubs and be given safety within the walls of the camp. Kangin thought he would be better if raised by someone of his own kind. Minho wasn’t having it though. The bed he was put into wasn’t warm, the blanket was scratchy and he missed his mommy.

So he wailed. He flailed. He tried his dong gong hardest to make his unhappiness known. No one came to rub his tummy. No one came to hold him and sing him to sleep like his daddy always did. No one came in to blow on his cheeks like his big brother did. He was alone a strange dark room and he was scared.

That’s when he heard the soft mrow coming from the window. It was open, as even a 3 year old could notice there wasn’t such thing as a window in the camp. Minho was sniffling as he stared with wide eyes as his tiger friend’s head popped over the edge of the window opening. Bright lavender eyes were wide, soft, as the tiger cub pulled himself up into the room. He jumped softly into the makeshift crib and sat quietly at the end with his head cocked to the side curious.

Minho sniffled, but a tiny scream left his lips as sitting before him in a blink of an eye was a very tan little boy. He was older, obviously, and his eyes were lavender for a second before they flashed back to a warm brown. “Please don’t cry.”

"You.. you tiger?"

The boy nodded his head. “Yep, but my names Jinki.”

Minho’s bottom lip jutted out and slightly trembled. “I miss my mommy.”

Jinki frowned, “I don’t have a mommy.”

"You don’t?"

Jinki shook his head. “I only have kangun.”

Minho rubbed his nose with his tiny fist before shaking his head. “No.. you have me?”

A bright smile spread across Jinki’s face. “Yea…we have us.” Just then Minho shivered. “Are you cold?”

"This blanket is scratchy."

"You can trust me okay? I’ll never let anyone hurt you."

"Okies." and for once Minho smiled. Jinki shifted to his tiger form and slowly rose onto all fours. He softly laid down next to Minho, careful to leave enough space. The boy reached over with a hesitant hand and his smile widened as he moved it over the soft fur. "Kitty."

Jinki pawed at the bed with a soft mrow before laying his head down.

When the shaman came in that morning she found Minho curled into the tiger cub, Jinki’s paw thrown over him protecting him from the cold.