Daddy put me on his shoulder, both of us looking down at Mommy. She had a blanket in her hooves, a blue one that was wrapped around something that wiggled.

"What is that, Daddy?" I tried to slide off. "Why's it moving like that?"

He laughed, taking me in his hooves and putting me on the couch next to Mommy. She held up the blanket, pulling part of it away to show me a little face.

"This is your baby brother, Nicky," she laughed when the baby grabbed her hoof. "Finnick, this is Nicky."

I looked down at him. He was sucking on her hoof, the blanket falling off his ears.

"What is he, Mommy?"

"He's a fox, just like you, son," Daddy said. I shook my head.

"Nuh-uh, I'm red, he's brown, we're different."

Daddy laughed.

"You're both still foxes, son," he put a hoof on my shoulder. "He's a fennec fox."

"Fen-nec?" I looked at Finnick. He grabbed Mommy's hoof again, laughing when she tickled him.

"You guys are zebras, right?" I looked up at them. They looked at each other, and Daddy nodded.

"That's right, son, we're zebras."

"That means you're prey," I said. "But you picked me, and Finnick. Kids at school call us pred-tors, and my teachers say-"

"Nicky," Daddy picked me up again. I looked up at him. "It doesn't matter what species we all are, or what anyone else might say. All three of you are our sons, and nothing will ever change that."

He kissed my head. I squirmed.

"Daddy, I'm not a baby!"

They laughed. I liked making them laugh.

"Hurry up, Nick, we're gonna be late!"

"Coming!"

I tied my neckerchief, just like Tony had showed me. Tonight was my first Junior Ranger Scouts meeting, another chance for me to finally be part of a pack. Even if I was the only pred in the troop.

"Nick!"

"I'm coming!"

I ran downstairs. Tony was standing by the door with his hooves in his pockets, looking so awesome in his full-fledged Ranger Scouts uniform. I couldn't wait until it was my turn to get one.

"About time," Tony looked at me then went for the door. "Time to get going, squirt!"

I groaned.

"Told you not to call me that!"

He shrugged.

"Tough. Until you're taller than me, you're stuck with it."

I rolled my eyes, following him down the steps and to the car. Mom was already there, laughing as she tried to make Finnick sit still long enough to get him in his car seat.

"I can never get this, it's just too small," she looked at us, still chuckling. "Nicky, could you help me with this?"

"Sure," I jumped up and grabbed Finnick, tickling him until he squirmed to get away.

"No tickle, no tickle!"

I laughed.

"Hold still, then," I told him. "You're not a jumping bean!"

"I am, too!" he started hopping to prove it, and almost fell off the seat. Tony groaned.

"Just get him in there!" he jumped in his seat. "We're already late!"

"I got it, I got it! Keep your shirt on!"

"Nicky!"

"Sorry, Mom!"

I cried. I yelled. I tore apart anything I got my paws on.

My fault. It was all my fault.

I should've been watching him. I should've been paying attention!

"Nick!" Dad grabbed my shoulder. I hadn't even noticed I was ready to pound something again. "Calm down, stop blaming yourself. None of that will help bring Finnick back!"

I growled, yanking my arm away.

"What else can I do? I'm the one who was supposed to be watching him!"

"And you did an amazing job," Dad backed away. It was just a step, but I knew he was scared of me. They all were. "It happened too quickly, there wasn't anything any of us could've done!"

I knew he was trying, but it didn't make me feel any better. Nothing ever would. Finnick, my own baby brother, was dead because I did a crappy job watching him. It didn't matter that I'd only looked away for a second, not even that, or that that car had come speeding out of nowhere. It was the first time I'd been allowed to watch him by myself, the first time Mom and Dad had trusted me with something that big, and all I'd done was prove everything mammals said about foxes.

"I'm untrustworthy," I muttered. "I'm sly, I'm shifty, and I'll never be anything else. I can't even be trusted with my own brother!"

I was crying again, or had I even stopped since we got the news? Sure, it had only been a weasel-sized car, but it had done enough damage that Finnick was dead two days later, after they'd already done everything they could've to fix him.

Or, at least, that's what they'd said. He was a fox, too, after all.

"I can't stay here," I looked up at Dad. "Can I stay with Grandma and Grandpa for a while?"

I knew it was a lot to ask, but right now, I didn't care. I didn't care about anything except getting away. At least Mom and Dad wouldn't have to see my face, the face of the fox that killed their baby.

"C'mon, foxy, fight back! You know you want to!"

Tony was glaring down at me, his mouth in a smug grin I wanted to tear off. But I couldn't do anything. The shocks from the collar had left me wasted, pinned by my own rage. I growled at him, another bolt lashing through me. I screamed, but he just laughed. I hated it when he laughed.

"You're getting what you deserve, fox," he was still scowling. "You're getting what you've always deserved!"

I didn't say anything to that, and not just because the shocks made it hard to even breathe. I kept quiet because I knew he was right. He'd always been right. Predators had no right trying to live with prey. We were dangerous, untrustworthy, and foxes, no matter how small, were the worst. I waited for the last shock to stop, whimpering as tears leaked from my eyes. I didn't want to cry anymore, but I couldn't stop myself. I was too weak even for that.

"Mom and Dad never should've adopted you in the first place," he growled at me. "None of this would've happened if they'd just kept you two where you belong!"

I froze. I knew he was right. Hell, I'd thought the same thing for years, but for some reason, hearing him say it brought out a whole new side of me. An even more enraged and crazy one. I barely noticed when I jumped, part of me still trying to clear the red fog that clouded my eyes. I landed, biting and scratching, the jolts, even worse than before, throwing me off before I was even close to finished.

I pawed at the collar, my only thought now to get it off. I wanted it to stop hurting me, but at the same time, I didn't. I wanted it to keep shocking me until I couldn't feel it anymore, either because I'd gone numb, or because it finally just shut my heart down. I wasn't sure which one I wanted more.

"Y-You crazy fox!" Tony yelled. He was on the floor, too, that smug grin finally off his face. He was bleeding everywhere, from the bites and cuts I'd given him. As far as I was concerned, he deserved them, every single one. He was the one who kept egging me on, kept making me want to-

"I wish that weasel would've hit both of you…"

I froze, staring at him.

And the red came back.

"I said let go of me!"

The elephant just tightened his trunk around me, crushing the air out of me. I'd been stuck at Meadowbrook for months, ever since I'd walked in on my mom's-

"Not until you calm down, son," the head doctor stood in front of us, a needle ready in his hoof. "I don't want to have to drug you again!"

I growled, swiped at him. My claws clipped, filled down to stumps. To keep me from hurting myself, they said, but I knew the truth. They were scared of me, and keeping my claws dull helped them feel braver. I barked out a laugh.

"You can't wait to get that damn needle into me, just admit it," I squirmed again, the trunk loosening for a second before it tightened again. I was wearing him down. "I bet you wish those fucking shock collars were still around, too!"

"That's enough!" the moose slammed his foot down. "I know how difficult this is for you, but it doesn't excuse you lashing out like this, especially at hospital staff!"

He caught himself, forced himself to quiet down. It never worked if they got as worked up as their patients. I scoffed.

"You need to let us help you," he managed, his hoof tight on the needle. Any more, and he'd break the damn thing. "You'll never get out if you keep fighting us."

I growled again, spit at his feet.

"That's what I think of your help," I snarled. "And you prey are all the same, you just want us preds locked up and gone where we can't get to you!"

I flashed my teeth. Those, at least, were as sharp as they were supposed to be. Guess even prey had to draw the line somewhere.

"Go on, tell me I'm wrong," I went on. "Tell me that isn't what crosses your mind every time you look at me, or any pred. Tell me we're not just monsters to you!"

I stopped cold when I said it. It was the first time I'd ever said that out loud, one of my biggest fears. The doctor stared at me, his hoof with the needle hanging at his side, his mouth dropped open. The elephant put me down; I just slumped to my knees, not wanting to fight anymore.

"Please," I muttered. I looked up at him. "Please tell me we aren't just monsters…"

I started crying, didn't try to stop myself this time. The last thing I expected was the moose to kneel in front of me, to put a hoof on my shoulder and look at me with actual kindness. The first I'd known in over a year.

"You're not just a monster, Nicolas," he said. "Far from it. We just need you to find another way to channel the anger you feel."

He pulled away.

"Being destructive like you are is only going to hurt mammals in the end, including yourself. And I know you don't want that, you never did. You just didn't know how else to respond when someone hurt you."

I looked up at him, sniffling and wiping my eyes like a baby. He smiled.

"So, what do you say, Nicolas, you want to try finding another way?"

I sniffed again.

"Stop calling me Nicolas, and you've got a deal, Doc."

He laughed. I liked hearing him laugh.