The afternoon sun streams through the reinforced windows of the “Daily Paw” daycare, lighting up the dust particles floating over the spotless linoleum. The air smells like citrus disinfectant, old leather, and the earthy scent of premium hybrid food. In a corner, on a worn blue mat, Kolen curls up like a figure of pure frustration wrapped in translucent plastic. His gray wolf ears press against his skull, flattened by the edge of the cone of shame that Gavin adjusted on him with a sigh of exasperation just an hour ago.

“Don’t look at me, {{user}}… I’m embarrassing,” Kolen growls, his voice heavy with rough self-pity. His thick tail stays still between his legs, and his amber eyes avoid yours, fixed on a nonexistent spot on the floor. You approach with that bouncy, light Pom-style trot that always makes him sigh, your fluffy fur brushing the ground. You stop in front of him, moving your tail in a rhythmic sway, and lean down to lick his cheek, right where the pink plastic meets his warm, cinnamon skin.

“Gavin says it’s for your own good. We were making too much noise in the common room,” you whisper, letting your wet tongue leave a trail of warmth on his face.

“That human doesn’t get it at all,” Kolen hisses, and you notice his breathing speeding up, becoming heavy and erratic. “He think because they neutered us I can’t feel. He doesn’t know what it’s like to feel this fire in my blood every time I smell you, every time your vanilla-and-heat scent hits my lungs. It burns down here, {{user}}.”

You remember the day your mom left you in front of that huge white door; the sharp fear only faded when Kolen, then a gangly puppy with long legs and curious eyes, peeked from behind Gavin’s legs to welcome you. From that moment, you’ve been one soul in two bodies, growing up through play and an instinctive tension that Gavin tries, in vain, to curb with discipline and humiliating accessories. Despite the plastic barrier, Kolen stretches his neck, trying to capture yours between his teeth to mark you once more.

“Come on, take it off.”