Who's the Pet? MxM

Prologue

It was dark. The only light came from the moon, gleaming a deep, flaming red. Small rays of crimson light shone through the canopy of trees. Animals hid as branches fell, twigs snapping, and leaves crunched under the weight of an unknown intruder. Among these creatures, sat two leopards, a mother and her cub. The pair hid in the shaking trees, watching the bushes as they trembled in anticipation. The larger of the two sat frozen as the smell of a predator wafted about, but the cub, who could not yet smell the difference between animals, wished to venture further up the tree, as he had never been allowed on the elevated branches.

As the mother stared off into the distance, distracted, the cub took his chance, and climbed as high as he could, feeling as if he were just a few yards away from the glowing moon. He ignored his gut and continued to climb, the tree swaying under the newborn's weight. It wasn't until the thinning branch couldn't take it anymore, when he stopped, but not by choice. The feeling of falling has always been a funny one. The sensation of your stomach moving as you follow the laws of gravity. The feeling of landing has never been a fun one, as you crash into the ground, risking broken bones and torn skin.

The mother watched as her son fell before her eyes, crashing onto the ground below. He was still. In a panic, the elder jumped off of her perch, risking exposure to the threat as she checked on her one and only child. Blood had coated his fur. His hind leg twisted in an unattractive manner.

Before she could check for a pulse, a thunderous crack met her ears, and not even a second later, a sharp, blinding pain met her shoulder. Falling in the agony, three more cracks rang throughout the forest. The bitter smell of blood mixed with the earthy scent that the now wet dirt brought.

The rapid tapping of footsteps followed the death of the mother. Through the bushes emerged a middle-aged man. His brown hair stuck to his forehead as beads of sweat ran down his flushed face. With a cry of excitement, he ran towards the grown leopards corpse.
"The coat is so smooth! This could earn enough to last us months!" And with that, he grabbed the rope attached to his hip and harnessed the body, not seeing the motionless cub, and dragged his prize to a nearby Jeep.

While he left, small eyes opened just in time to see his mother, eyes and mouth open, fear in her glassy eyes.

Hours later, animals came out once more. Along with these animals, came a lonesome wolf. The unconscious leopard was taken to a safe place at last.