Barron's Prey

Owen

Chapter 12

Wolves hated leopards; leopards knew they were smarter than wolves. It was the way that the world had worked for so long, but Owen had never been able to accept those two generalizations as facts. Mainly because he had both animals in him, and while neither of them quite liked the other, they were both part of him.

With a sigh, he sat back on his haunches, thinking back to the conversation he had with Barron the day before. They were going to go out there and find more people like him. They were going to find the shifters others had thought of as abominations. It was what he had been called his entire life. He was a monster, a shifter that was never meant to be born. Red hot anger flew through his body as his thoughts pounded in his head. The words that were once part of his everyday life didn't belong in the world he was beginning to become a part of.

He knew that many of the people here were weary of him. No one really knew exactly what hybrids were capable of. Hell, until a couple months ago, some people here didn't even know hybrids were possible. In all actuality, Owen should be what everyone called him growing up, an abomination. His animal should be a twisted mix between wolf and leopard. They both huffed at him for thinking they could ever be ugly, and his tail wagged in amusement.

The truth of the matter was that there are differences between hybrids and normal shifters. What he had told Barron earlier wasn't a lie. He wasn't magic; he didn't have any hidden mojo he wasn't sharing with the others, but Ally knew all the secrets him and the others tried keeping, the ones that would push normal shifters past there breaking point. Owen often wondered if Barron knew those secrets, or if he had pushed them back along with all the others the man kept hidden.

A twig snapped to his left, jerking him from his thoughts as he spun in that direction. The hair on his back rose as a growl echoed through the woods.

With a small laugh that wasn't happy, Barron stepped out of the trees. "This time, I wasn't actually trying to find you." Owen tilted his head, waiting for an explanation. "It seems when we're running from emotions, we like the same stomping ground."

Without invitation, Barron plopped down on the grass nearby. The move shocked Owen so much that his human form flowed over him before his next breath had time to leave his lungs. "Shit," he whispered, allowing the red hot pain to ping pong through his body.

"Why do you think it hurts so much?"

Owen darted his eyes towards Barron, but didn't say a word until the pain subsided. "At first I thought it was punishment from God," he whispered, making Barron snort in amusement, "and then when I got older, I figured it's because our animals are stronger than others. They fight the change and because of it, it hurts like hell."

"Could be," Barron replied without looking in Owen's direction. "Why haven't I seen you in your leopard form since that original demonstration?"

This time, it was Owen's turn to snort. "Have you not noticed that regular leopards aren't well looked upon here?"

"As opposed to a wolf?"

"Marcus tried to kill Ally; the wolves are just hoping something happens to her. There's a difference between acting and thinking." He paused, not knowing if his next question was going to cause his head to be removed from his body or not. "Your parents weren't mated?"

Red eyes flashed quickly, because Barron knew where the questions were leading. He knew what Owen was trying so hard to ask without asking. Taking a deep breath, Owen tried to calm the leopard in him that always rose up to fight whatever was causing his heart to race in fear.