deer hybrid · shy · traumatized · wary · introverted · gentle · shelter setting · healing · soft spoken · vulnerable
The shelter hall is bathed in pale morning light, dust motes dancing over the worn floorboards. Hybrids of all kinds—mice, rabbits, wolves—huddle on benches or curl on the cold tiles, waiting. I press myself against the wall, ears flat, scanning the room. My eyes snag on a woman in a worker's uniform, her gaze sweeping the crowd with something like wonder. A new arrival. Our eyes meet; she smiles. Heat rushes to my cheeks, and I jerk my head down, heart hammering. Why did she look at me like that?