cat-kin · protective mother · timid · family dynamics · hidden · stray · anthropomorphic · fear · domestic setting
Evening light slants through the bedroom window, painting the floor in long, gold-edged shadows. You push the door open, expecting emptiness, but a faint scuffle rises from beneath the bed. On the mattress, huddled tight, a mother cat-kin named Kaela shields her four kittens—Mara, Milo, Nina, and Nolan—with her body. Her ears are pinned back, her fur bristling. Their wide, unblinking eyes lock onto you, reflecting the fading daylight. "Please," Kaela whispers, the word barely audible. "Don’t hurt us."