Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The boy looked out the window of the car with his backpack on his lap, it was pretty dark out. He looked at the woman driving him, he felt kinda scared since he didn't know where they were going.

“Mama…? Where are we going?” The boy asked quietly as he fiddled with one of the bag straps.

The woman, who was his mother, sighed heavily and was a bit annoyed. The boy tensed realizing his mom was tired and annoyed with something, he thought it was him.

“Somewhere that he won't find you.” The woman answered coldly and tiredly as she kept her eyes on the road.

The boy hummed understanding as his ears fell sadly, he placed his bag down next to him as he picked up the dirty, a bit destroyed plush bear that was gifted to him in that state by one of his dad's friends. He looked back out the window to see that they were in a neighborhood now. It didn't take long for the car to stop in front of a 2 story house. Before the boy could get a word in, the woman got out of the car and went over to the other side of the car. She then opened the boy's car door.

“Get out and grab your stuff.” The woman instructed harshly.

The boy quickly got his backpack and got out of the car while still holding his bear plush. The woman shut his door and began walking up to the door of the house. Once she got to the door she snapped her fingers and pointed downwards next to her, basically telling the boy to get over there now. He rushed over and stood next to her.

“Give this to the lady who lives here.” The woman handed him a folded piece of paper.

He took it and held it, looking down at it. The woman then turned around and started walking back to the car. The boy tried to follow her.

“Stay.” The woman demanded sternly which caused the boy to freeze up.

“But–” The boy tried to argue back but didn't have an argument that would work, “I'm scared…I wanna go home.”

The woman returned to the car and opened the door before pausing.

“This is your home now, Ein .” The woman stated bluntly before getting into the car and driving off leaving the poor boy confused and scared.

The boy looked at the ground and sat down against the door. He hugged his knees as his tail wrapped around his torso.

“Why’d Mama leave me?” was the only thing on his mind after the woman left.

Chapter Text

Sylvanna sighed as she looked down at the bills, photos, drawings, and paperwork on the countertop. She didn’t even know what to do anymore. It's been, what? A week or two since Zack’s cheating was discove hadn’t thought all this would be Asrd. Being a sinshe struggled with these court financial struggles, feelings of guilt, even though she wasn't in the wrong. Doing this to Aphmau was hard. Growing up without a father figure might take a toll on her. Sylvanna knew this would be hard, and Aphmau being an only child didn't help much. It was a positive and a problem. The good part is lower expense. The bad part is growing up lonely. She groaned as she covered her face with her hands and ran them down her face in annoyance and stress. Maybe she was biased because she grew up with 8 siblings, but it was never lonely or quiet…she used to hate it. But now, she’s glad she had siblings who loved her and were never alone. Despite her parents never having enough love or time for them all, they had each other. She never wanted that for Aphmau; she wanted her to have loving and present parents. Now she might not even get either if she gets too stressed out.

Sylvanna was almost so caught up in her thoughts that she almost didn't hear the sad dog whine from outside. She turned her head to the front door. If she were not a fan of dogs, she would’ve ignored it and called animal control or something. But Sylvanna was a dog person, just like her daughter. She walked over to the door and looked out the peephole. She could only see 2 navy ears on her doorstep through the peephole. She backed up a bit before opening the door to see a little boy, a werewolf boy at that. Being obsessed with werewolves and such, her mind was filled with the urge to pet him. But she resisted the urge after noticing him almost stumbling after she opened the door. The boy backed up and away from the door, his eyes wide, filled with fear.

“I-I’m sorry, miss!” The navy blue-haired boy apologized immediately as he picked up his bag, “I-I’ll go…I didn’t mean to bother you!”

Sylvanna’s heart broke seeing this boy so scared and worried about something like that. “No, no,” She shook her head and kneeled to his height, “It's okay, you're not doing anything wrong. Would you like to come in?” She gave him a soft smile.

The boy looked at her, surprised by her offer; however, he hesitated for a moment before giving her a tiny nod in response. Sylanna let out a breath she didn’t even realize she was holding. She stood back up, helped the navy blue-haired werewolf boy up, and moved so he could enter the house. The boy looked around as he entered the house. He looked cautious yet curious. Sylanna closed the door behind her as she thought for a moment on where she was gonna put him, perhaps she didn't think this through.

Sylanna decided to grab some blankets and comforters, plus some pillows, and set up a place for the boy to sleep in the living room till she figured out where to put him. The boy placed the note on the counter with all the other papers while Sylanna grabbed stuff out of the closet. As she set up a little area for him, he watched her curiously.

Once Sylanna finished making sure it was comfortable and soft for the boy, she turned to him and motioned for him to come over. “You can come over here now,” She spoke softly to the poor boy.

The boy walked over and stood next to the semi-perfect makeshift blanket nest bed. Sylanna mentioned for him to sit, but instead of sitting on the makeshift bed, he sat on the floor.

“No dear, you can sit on it, it's for you,” She told him, which he ended up eventually sitting on it hesitantly. “You hungry? I can make you something…”

The boy shook his head as he held his stuff close to him. Sylanna hummed, holding in a sad sigh. She walked out of the room, back into the kitchen, before she remembered she hadn't asked the boy his name. She walked back into the room before seeing that he'd end up falling asleep sitting up. She smiled softly as she walked over, sliding the bag from his back slowly and carefully, setting it down next to the makeshift bed. She then slowly laid him down on the makeshift bed, so he was lying down instead of sitting. The boy almost woke up, so she made sure to pause when he was about to before continuing.

Sylanna walked back into the kitchen afterwards, and she felt more exhausted than before. She sighed as she passed the counter, and she saw the note on the counter. She picked it up and opened it. For a second, she thought it was her tiredness getting to her when she read it.

“What…” Sylanna's heart dropped to her stomach as she read it.