And Max tells his entire backstory to Taiga and Tigress...

Chapter 19: What We Don't Know About Max

Max wasn't sure if he could actually tell them everything about him and it was like fear took over him because he doesn't want to talk about what had happened between him and his birth parents, but he feels Akashi's paw on his shoulder, giving him a nod to tell him it's okay. The cub was so young; heck too young to even talk about this, but he was more than willing to tell them his story...no matter how much it hurts him or scares him.

"Okay..." Max answered.

"Trust us...we won't judge you." Miyo said, gently.

Max took a deep breath as he looked at everyone and he even noticed Saori sitting right beside him, holding his paw for support and it gave him a little bit of strength to tell everyone his story and most of them were prepared for what will be the core feeling of Max's little life.

"See, my mom and my dad...they weren't really getting along with each other and when I was born, my mom looked at me and stated me as a curse in her life; that I was born. She gave birth to like...7 cubs and I guess I was the seventh one. My birth father named me Maximus because he looks at me like I'm a bad person. My parents hated being parents because they had to deal with us and they always fight all the time. One minute they hate each other and the next minute, they'd kiss...while they're still mad. Even when I'm around, my parents hated me and my father said that I'll be a nuisance like my mom and wishes that he'd strike an arrow on my back to relieve all the stress he has. I've been beaten by my dad, clawed, thrown across the stairs and the wall, choked, pinned and he held his sword to my neck...as punishment for being born." Max explained.

That sounded awful for them to hear coming from a 5-year old and Miyo was greatly saddened and also outraged that his father would do something like that to a poor, innocent cub who did nothing to deserve it, but that was just the beginning of this tale.

"My dad was sent to jail and got arrested for killing and torturing girls all over and it's just me and my mom...the only one left behind while the six siblings headed for foster care. After they left, I was the target of my mom's anger and violence; she wouldn't even share me her food and just let me starve. Even if I didn't do something wrong, she would come after me and attack me...just for no reason. And just last year...she touched me. She touched my tail, butt, legs, back...and a few places that shouldn't be touched." Max answered.

Suddenly, that particular part sent shockwaves over everyone and they were silent as to how a young cub could endure such torture like this and Akashi's only reaction was anger and ultimate sorrow for this little boy because he could not understand why he would be taken advantaged of by the hands of someone that's sworn to protect and take care of.

"I still don't understand why she'd do that to me. What did I do to make her feel that way?" asked Max, on the verge of breaking down in tears.

Soon enough, Tigress' features softened as she sees a couple of tears come down on Max's face after hearing this story and she just couldn't help but feel sorry for the cub and began regretting losing her temper in front of him. Max went on to say, "Even after that, my mom still treats me like I'm worthless and that I'll never amount to anything and she continued beating me, locked me in a closet for 5 hours until she feels like it, whipped me...she even tied me to a chain in her bed to torture me again. And that's when she abandoned me and left me behind because she sees my dad's face in me...almost as if I did something to her. What have I done to deserve all of this?"

Miyo quivered her lips after hearing every part of Max's story and the minute that Max released the first tear coming out of his eye, Akashi comes over to him and gives him a huge hug and said, "You've done nothing to deserve it, Max. Nobody should hurt a pure, innocent boy like you."

Saori was in tears as well after hearing what Max had to suffer and she wanted nothing more than to be there for him whenever he feels sad and thought to herself, 'I wanna help Max in anyway I can.'

Miyo was speechless as she looked at Max and the only thing she could say was, "You poor cub."

Now that Max told his story...maybe he can try to heal himself. Stay tuned!