AN: Italics represent thoughts.

Hunter's Pov

Hi! My name is Hunter Bradley and I'm twelve. I'm an orphan and I have been for the last ten years of my life. You see, my parents both passed away when I was only two from a fire. Some larger mammals saved me from the fire, and I was sent to an orphanage in Savannah Central. The oldest things I can remember from my past are from when I was six.

The day I turned six was arguably one of the worst days of my life. Being the product of my mom, a lynx, and my father, a fox, I've always been considered a freak. I never had any friends in the orphanage and no one ever wanted to adopt me. On the day of my birthday, I managed to get a meager slice of cake for myself. Before I could eat any of it, the older kids decided to take my cake from me. Instead of leaving with my cake, they hit me and repeatedly called me a freak.

*Crying* I'm sorry. I always have trouble telling my life story.

Back to when I was six. After the bullies left me curled up and beaten, I tried to get up. I didn't even have the strength to move. I laid there crying until a caretaker took enough pity on me and carried me to my bed. The memory gets a bit fuzzy from that point. I've long since tried to repress it.

After that, I tried to hide any form of emotion. The worst beatings I have ever received, which are ingrained into my brain, were from the caretakers. Being in a dominantly predator orphanage, the caretakers were also predators. Predators who had fully developed claws and teeth. To this day, I still have scars from the beatings.

Over time, the beatings became less severe, and I was able to live a somewhat normal life. It wasn't a good life, but it was okay.

That's all in the past. Let's get to the present.

Today, the twentieth of December, has been a good day so far. I haven't been hit once in the last two weeks which is rare for me. My best guess is that everyone wants to be good so they can get a gift from Santa.

…

I was slapped awake from my nap. "Hey freak! How can you sleep when there's a fire in the building!?" I didn't even react to being called a freak; it's grown old. I sprang up from my bed and gathered my few possessions that were on my nightstand. I ran for my life. I completely forgot about my shoes.

I ran to the group of mammals a few hundred feet from the building. When I got near, one pointed and shouted at me. "Look there he is!" The rushed over to me and surrounded me. The same wolf who pointed at me said, "Did your feelings get hurt so bad that you started a fire?" I was more confused than I was scared. The wolf, Ricky, noticed my confusion. "We all know you started the fire, and we are going to make you pay."

They all jumped on me, hitting, scratching, biting, yelling. My brain shut down and I just took it. When the predators got tired, I crawled to a nearby bench, curled up, and cried.

"Are you okay?" I flinched at the male voice coming from a few feet away. I didn't respond. I was too scared that it was another mammal just trying to play a trick on me. He started to speak again, just not to me. "This is Officer Wilde. The firefighters just arrived at the scene and they are handling the blaze. Wilde and I have found a wounded kit and are trying to make sure he's okay. I'll report back when I know more."

Now that I knew it was an officer speaking to me, I looked up. The fox officer had a worried smile on his face. He placed a paw on my shoulder. "Are you okay? You look pretty beat up."

"I'll be fine, I think." I was less than sure of that.

I caught a glimpse of a bunny cop just before she began talking. "We are here to collect as much information as possible. But our first priority is to make sure everyone is safe. What is your name?"

"I'm Hunter Bradley. I'm twelve."

The fox spoke, "What's a cute kit like you doing in an orphanage?" I was taken aback by being called cute. I've never been called cute before in my life.

"People always call me a freak because I'm part fox and part lynx. No one has ever even been interested in adopting me." They seemed saddened by my story. "What are your names?"

"My name is Nick Wilde and this is my wife, Judy Wilde." It pleased me to see an interspecies couple. Apart from my parents, I had never known of another interspecies couple. "So, why are you scratched and bruised?"

"A few of the caretakers and most of the kids piled on top of me and hit me. They said that I caused the fire." I started to cry again, I couldn't help it. Nick placed his arm around my back and squeezed lightly.

"That can't be true. We'll make sure to catch every mammal who has ever hurt you." Judy's phone began to ring and she stepped away. A few minutes later, Nick walked over to where she was standing. I sat still waiting for them to get back.

I heard a loud crashing noise and ran over to the area it came from. I saw a bouncy Judy and a passed out Nick. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he should be fine. I just asked him a pretty serious question. Speaking of which, how would you like to have a new home?"

I tilted my head at her question. "What do you mean?"

"Would you like to be adopted and live with…?"

…

I woke up in an unfamiliar place that smelled of apples and cinnamon. I scanned my surroundings for any clues as to where I was. The first thing I noticed was a sparsely decorated tree in the corner of the room. While simple, it looked nice. Next, I noticed the giant T.V. with shelves of DVDs to either side of it. On top of one of the shelves was a small picture of a bunny in a wedding dress and a fox in a tuxedo. Oh, I guess Nick and Judy brought me home. I decided to venture out of the living room to search for them.

I made my way into the dining room when I heard Judy yell, "Yes, I'm sure I want to adopt him!" I flinched at her yelling and whimpered quietly. It was my natural response after all those years at the orphanage. Judy picked up my whimper with her amazing hearing.

She mouthed an apology to me and got back to talking. "Look, I don't feel like yelling anymore. I'm certain that I want to adopt him. I'll bring you the forms within the hour." She hung up and sat the phone down.

I ran over to her and hugged her with all my might. I was crying, but instead of sadness, I was feeling joy. "Thank you so much." Nick walked over and wrapped his arms around us. I've never been happier in my life.

Author's Notes:

There was more to this chapter but it didn't flow properly so I decided to cut it here. Hopefully I'll be able to add more to my future chapters to make them a bit longer.

I must apologize for the month long hiatus from writing. I had some personal issues and lost the motivation to write. I'm doing much better now and I should be able to keep a decent schedule. I'll apologize in advance for when I inevitably fall behind and miss a chapter. Thank you for your patience.