Hello! So just a little background so you'll understand what this is about. I'm writing this for a prompt on the glee kink meme. It may sound strange at first, but bear with me, because I'm determined to make it as realistic as an AU can be. This takes place in a world where animal hybrids exist amongst humans – they are half human, half animal. They are naturally submissive, but only to their one true master and only on their own terms. So yes, there will be light d/s. Very sweet and loving with Blaine, but not so much with Kurt's future owners (see next paragraph)

Kurt is half-cat. His parents died when he was little, and he was sent to what is basically a low-budget pound for animal hybrids (like an orphanage in our world). He is sent from abusive owner to abusive owner, and eventually runs away from the pound, bloody and alone and feeling defective as a gay, submissive animal. Then he is rescued by a very attractive, very loving Veternatarian!Blaine and taken to his home. All sorts of comfort and loving ensue. This will be their story, but we'll first start with Kurt's backstory. I hope you'll enjoy this, and please don't hesitate to let me know what you think, or ask any questions about this story or universe that you may have! :]

Warnings for this chapter include spanking (brief) and I guess you could call it slight bondage, General abuse for our poor Kurt at first, I'm afraid.

There are some things in life that you just don't ask for, because you can't even fathom their existence in the first place. You don't ask to be gay in a world in which you are a pariah for holding hands with your best friend. You don't ask to be an animal hybrid in a world in which half-animals are so often abused, neglected, and misunderstood by potential "masters." You don't ask for a perfect childhood with doting parents and warm home-cooked meals, only to be torn from your bed at midnight and told that your parents have been seized from you by fire or bad luck or maybe just the cruelty of fate. You don't ask to be sent to a pound that may as well be a life-long prison that promises only despair.

Yet when those things happen, when you are struck with shock that may never turn into acceptance, when your life is snatched from the clutch of your unsuspecting hands, you cope. You cope because there is nothing left. You cope because hope for any future at all is all that you have to live for. You cope because it is all you know how to do when your past life seems so distant that it never existed.

Such thoughts ran idly through a young Kurt Hummel's mind as he gazed into the mirror, brushing his slightly matted tail and fluffing the fur atop his head for what felt like the thousandth time. He had always taken pride in his appearance to maintain what little dignity he had left. Melvin, a hybrid dog, had pushed his face into his oatmeal earlier that morning, but even that hadn't broken his spirit. Someone had finally decided to adopt him, to love him and care for him and maybe even become his master someday. The man would be arriving shortly, and Kurt couldn't be more grateful or more excited. The days of living amongst hatred and neglect in the pound were over, and life promised only happiness in his future."

"So I hear the little faggot kitty-cat got a new owner," hissed Craig, his forked tongue slithering from his jagged sharp teeth dangerously close to Kurt's face.

Kurt gasped, instinctively leaping away from the snake hybrid who was a few years his senior, his blue-grey eyes widening.

Craig grasped Kurt's polka-dotted bow tie and yanked the boy towards him, the stink of his breath drifting into Kurt's face and making his eyes tear.

"You know what new owners do to little faggots like you, don't you? They lock you up in the bathroom, use you for only a good fuck once in a while."

Kurt let out a choked-up sob. His fingernails instinctively sharpened into claws, and the light hair on his back stood up, but he froze, unable to do anything but gaze in horror into the older boy's cold, mean gaze.

"Come on, Craig, leave him alone," drifted a warm, soothing voice from behind him.

Kurt exhaled loudly in relief as Melinda, a thirty year old cat hybrid and the only one who had ever really cared for him, grasped Craig by the nape of his neck and pulled him away.

"Come on, sweetie. Don't let him get to you." She wiped Kurt's tears away and stroked his back soothingly. "Today's supposed to be a special day for you."

She left out the fact that her first "special day" in which someone had chosen to take her into their home really wasn't all that special. She had gone hungry for three days, been forced to clean the chimney until her fingers bled and her eyes were bleak and her body reeked of ash and sickness and death. She had been sent back to the shelter, never again willing to leave the pound, and so when she became of age, she chose to volunteer there and work with the other animals.

Kurt sniffled and accepted her hand as she helped him off the ground.

"You look beautiful, honey," she reassured him as she smoothed his shirt and straightened his bow tie. "You're going to make a lucky owner very happy."

Kurt smiled and fisted away the rest of his tears.

"Now come on, Kurt, Kevin's waiting for you outside."

"Kevin?"

"He's decided to adopt you."

"Oh." Kurt felt suddenly nervous and uncomfortable. What if his eyes weren't bright enough, or his ears weren't fluffy enough, or he just wasn't what Kevin was looking for? People adopted for a variety of reasons, some just out of good will, and others looking to find an animal hybrid to eventually fall in love with and be their master, and others…well, he wouldn't think about the others. He couldn't.

So Kurt pasted a hopeful smile on his face and walked with a bounce in his step over to the front room.

"Kevin, we'd like you to meet Kurt."

The man, who had only before seen a picture of Kurt, ran a calm, cool gaze up and down his body. Kurt repressed the urge to fold his arms over his body, uncomfortable with being looked at in such a manner.

"Come here, boy," he ordered harshly, and the man immediately pulled off Kurt's bowtie with a fist, thrusting it into his pocket and buckling a collar around his neck.

"Sir, I can assure you that the collar is completely unnecessary and that Kurt is very well-behaved and obedient. He's an individual, and there's no need to treat him like your pet," Melinda offered helplessly.

"With all due respect, ma'am," the man said mockingly, eyeing her coldly, "I believe this is my decision to make, and those of your kind should not be challenging the decisions of a real human."

Melinda bit her lip, her fear of her previous owner overwhelming her as she hung her tail.

"Please, just take care of him," she murmured as Kevin pulled Kurt from the shelter by the leash.

Kurt choked a bit as he followed Kevin from the shelter. He felt disoriented and lost, and he barely knew what had happened until he arrived at Kevin's home. It was small and relatively unfurnished, and the smell made Kurt wrinkle his nose.

"Get on your hands and knees," the man growled, and Kurt whimpered but did so.

"This is how this is going to work," he said, shoving Kurt's head down when he tried to look him in the eye. "You're no longer a human at all. You're a cat. This is how you walk from now on, except when I decide that you are to kneel before me, your Master. You will prepare my meals and clean my house for me. You are not to speak unless spoken to, and you will address me as 'Sir.' You are not allowed to say 'no' to me, and you will obey me without hesitation. Understand, cat?"

"Yes."

The man brought the leather leash down harshly on Kurt's bottom, and Kurt mewled, arching his back.

"You are expected to refer to me as Master," Kevin growled. "Any future transgressions will be met with severe punishment."

He whipped Kurt's bottom five times more.

"Understand?"

There were tears in Kurt's choked voice as he responded, "Yes, Master."

"It's late now. I'm going to bed. Come."

Kurt struggled to hold back sobs as he followed the man up the stairs, his tail dragging on the floor.

"Take off your clothes."

Kurt began to do so, his hands shaking as he pulled off his pants.

"No. Don't get off of your knees."

Kurt struggled, but managed.

"Come here."

Kurt moved hesitantly towards the side of Kevin's bed, only to receive a harsh glare.

"You sleep at the foot."

That night, Kurt hardly slept as he shivered, fighting back sobs and avoiding kicks of the man's feet. He filled his mind with memories of lying in his bed at home, sweet, warm, and protected by his mother and father, of the comfort of Melinda's arms. But he would cope. He had to.

I realize that this part is angsty, and I feel horrible for Kurt, but it will make his future relationship with Blaine all the sweeter.