Hidden Claws

(Here goes nothing. This will get dark at times.)

His eyes roamed over scores of news articles covering just about any kind of topic you could think of that could happen in their excessively large town. He’d decided to build his company in such a busy place because people often didn’t see things that were right under their noses… and it was definitely the truth. 

“Not a single article even hinting at any issues.” He said out loud as he glanced over his laptop toward his long time friend, Buck. 

The man had stayed with him ever since he was small, and even now, after building such a terrible thing, he still remained strictly loyal. 

“I do believe that it has been a very successful year, sir.” Buck replied with a slight bow of his head.  

Leaning back, Del shut his laptop and grinned. “No news is the perfect birthday present, don’t you agree? I think we can finally start offering our services to a broader range of those who show explicit interest.” He said, getting another nod from his friend before the man stood and walked up to his desk, setting a folder on it. 

“Many people applied for the receptionist position we’d advertised, but you said that you specifically wanted a human.” He said as Del reached for the folder with the applications that fit his requirements in it. 

He wanted a human mainly because their senses were far more dull than a shifter, and they tended to mind their business more or less, especially if they really needed the job. It was technically discrimination, but no one needed to know. 

“I like these three. Get them interviews for tomorrow. If they can’t make it, check some of the others.” He said, handing the folder back to Buck with the three he wanted checked first on top. 

Buck nodded and turned, disappearing from the room, leaving Del to his thoughts. It had been so long since things had actually been quiet. Ever since he had escaped his captor, then killed him in the forest a day later, and in front of his father, no less, things had not really been any sort of relaxing. 

He’d had Buck dig the microchip tracker out of the back of his neck the next day, then they just did their best to survive. Once he was big enough, he’d faked his real age and gotten a simple job doing labor. Because they had no real place to live and he had hunted for most of his food, while Buck generally just grazed, they managed to save up quite a lot. After a few quick loans and a disgustingly-big down payment, he had bought the building he now sat in. 

It has all paid off, though. 

His business wasn’t something you’d find anywhere else, because it was as illegal as it got. Shifters were definitely willing to pay for the service, though. He had a long list of clients waiting for their chance to hunt a human without anyone possibly finding out. It was perfect. Even if humans didn’t want to consider it, they often abused shifters, and especially those few that are considered cross varieties. 

Growling to himself, Del remembered the time he had walked into that clinic when he was fourteen. He had looked more like nineteen, so there was no issue with parent consent forms when he signed the papers and went through with the procedure. It was a simple surgery, but it kept him from being able to cause a pregnancy. It was reversible, but he didn’t think that he’d ever bother to do it. He refused to be abused like his father had, and he definitely would hate himself if he killed another shifter by changing their body just to have his child. It was the way his male mother had died weeks after giving birth to him. 

He shook the thoughts from his mind as the door to his office opened and Buck stepped back inside, holding his cell phone to his chest, likely to block the caller from hearing much. 

“One of the applicants said that they could come by now, if you want me to interview tonight?” He said. 

Glancing at the clock, Del noted that it was getting close to nine. Buck had been working ten hour shifts, seven days a week for the past month. 

“No. Go upstairs and go to sleep. I’ll do the interview, then be up later.” He said. 

Buck seemed a little surprised, but then lifted the phone back to his ear and told the person on the other end to wait in the lobby for someone to come get him. When he hung up, Del was already walking around his desk. No words were needed as he stepped into the older man’s arms. Buck had always been the one steady person in his life that he could rely on. He was nearly ten years older, and had looked after him ever since he was just a small wolf pup. They never spoke of it, but Del had a feeling that his mother had been Buck’s father. He wasn’t sure how he didn’t hold a grudge against him for practically killing him, but their bond had never wavered, and he was forever grateful for the support the man gave freely only to him. 

The embrace was very brief, but it was enough to bring a smile to his normally-stoic expression. 

“Get going. I’ll finish up here, then be up.” He said as he took a step back and straightened his suitcoat. 

Buck stepped closer again to press a kiss to Del’s forehead before leaning away. “Happy eighteenth birthday, pup.” He said, then turned and left. 

Del took the next five minutes to use the restroom, check his reflection, fix his pitch black hair, and brush his teeth. Once he thought that he looked perfectly presentable he headed down to the lobby. Most of his minimal staff had gone home for the night, leaving just two guards at the front door and two at the back. 

That made picking out the person he was interviewing quite easy. The young man stood just a little under his own height, with dirty blond and brown hair. He seemed nervous, because even though Del knew that he was clearly making sound by walking intentionally louder than normal, the guy still wasn’t looking up. 

Not sure if he’s going to cut it. 

Some of his clients would try to tear him apart. Possibly not literally, but definitely mentally. They enjoyed watching humans suffer, and this guy already seemed to have a prey mentality about him. 

Even I want to chase him, and he hasn’t even looked at me yet. 

Forcing himself to remain calm, Del walked up to the young man and offered him a hand. The gesture finally caught his attention, bringing bright blue eyes up to meet his own crimson ones. The young man’s eyes widened immediately, but that was a reaction Del was used to. Not many people had brown eyes so bright that they sometimes appeared red. 

“Hello, my name is Del and I’ll be doing your interview.” He said as the guy finally seemed to pull himself together and take his hand. 

Shaky, but surprisingly strong grip for someone who seems so nervous. 

“Hello, sir. My name is Mina. Thank you for allowing me to come interview so late.”

His voice isn’t wavering much. Perhaps he’s just really nervous. I did ask Buck to give me the people who seemed to need the work the most. 

“Alright, shall we just take a seat over here? It’s after hours, so no one will bother us.” He said as he walked over to a small sitting area. It was really just for show, since their real clients never waited in the main lobby. 

Mina followed him silently, taking a seat in the black armchair across from him with a faint smile. 

“Alright, from your resume I think it’s safe to assume that you are wanting this job to help pay for some of your online schooling?” He asked as he glanced down at the paper he’d brought with him. 

The guy nodded, clasping his hands in his lap as he made himself straighten a bit in the chair. 

“Yes sir. I just moved in with my uncle and his brother, boyfriend and his brother. It’s quite a busy household and while they are all usually very busy, I don’t want to be a financial burden and even with a partial scholarship, I’d like to be able to take care of myself.” He said, seemingly relaxing a tiny amount as he got comfortable speaking. 

“That makes sense. This is a very simple job. You don’t make any appointments, just answer rare phone calls, likely from someone else in the building, or greet customers. You will have a specific schedule of people coming and going. Twenty minutes before or after someone is scheduled to leave, you need to focus, but you may use the time with no one scheduled as you wish as long as you are at the desk. So it would be a good time to study, catch up on homework, read, and things like that.” 

The excited look he got from Mina made him actually offer a genuine, but small smile. 

“Really? That would be perfect!” Mina said, leaning forward a little, clearly happy about the idea of getting extra time to study at work, and being paid to do it. 

Del nodded, leaning back and stifling a yawn behind his hand before continuing. 

“Yes. All of the appointments are made by other employees, so you will have plenty of free time. Are you confident that you can greet people and communicate well via telephone or radio and follow general directions? You are not to go beyond the double doors to the left or right of the receptionist desk for any reason.” Del said, pointing out the very obvious light blue steel doors. 

Mina paused as he looked about the area. Del was confused as to why he didn’t just accept the rule, when he noticed the young man’s gaze stop on the restroom sign across the lobby. They had almost forgotten to put one in the decoy area. 

“I can abide by that rule, sir.” Mina said once his attention was finally back on him. 

Del smiled, fighting back another yawn as he stood up. “Did you have any questions for me?” He asked as Mina stood, too. 

“Everything was very clear on the application. I like the pay and hours, and would be very happy to have this job if you like what you see.” He said, then stuttered a little as his face got a little pink. 

Nice slip. 

“Thank you for coming so late, and expect a call from us tomorrow.” Del said, shaking Mina’s hand before walking him out past the two guards at the front door. 

Once the guy was walking away into the crisp evening air, Del turned back around and after a quick check in with both sets of guards, headed to the elevator. Inserting his key to allow it to function, he selected one of the higher floors, then finally gave a huge yawn as the doors closed and he began ascending. 

He didn’t mind Mina at all. In fact, the guy was probably the best candidate they would see. He was calm, but seemed to take the job seriously. He could also focus on something instead of possibly causing trouble. Del didn’t want to have to kill him because of something stupid like snooping about. 

When the elevator doors opened, he stepped out into a dimly lit floor that was his penthouse apartment. He shared with Buck, whom he found already asleep in the king sized bed they frequently shared. Their was no romantic relationship, and they did have separate rooms, but nothing felt better than being next to the man sometimes. 

With another yawn, Del stripped out of his clothing and took a quick warm shower. Once he was done, he tugged on a pair of loose boxers and climbed into bed. Before he was even settled, Buck had an arm around him, pulling him in close. 

“Good night, Del.” Buck whispered gruffly, his voice heavy with sleep. 

With a content smile, Del scooted just a little closer and closed his eyes, mumbling something in return before his mind finally shut off for the evening.

Behind Closed Doors

The moment he walked inside the door Mina knew that he wasn’t going to have any quiet time to study that evening. His uncle was standing in the living room, his attention turning to him right as Palace stalked past and into the kitchen.

“Hey Mina. How was your interview?” He asked as Jared appeared from the stairs.

Smiling, Mina walked over, getting a pat on the head that he wasn’t quite used to yet, before replying. “It went well, Jamie, and hi uncle Jared.” He said.

Jared wasn’t very happy about him coming to stay with them. It wasn’t that they didn’t get along… although they barely knew each other. There was no extra room in the house, especially because Palace’s brother had finally returned and was using the only spare room, which was the furthest away from Jared’s, and the only one downstairs.

That left Mina sleeping on the couch. He didn’t really mind, but he definitely knew that it was inconvenient for them to suddenly have a house guest so he hoped that he could save up some of his salary to get himself a small studio apartment or at least rent from someone to get himself out of his uncles’ hair.

When he got a nod from Jared, he nodded back slightly and hurried to the kitchen. Food was cooking, but he didn’t want to eat theirs. Instead, he went to the pantry and pulled out one of the boxes of cereal he’d bought for himself before coming. It was just basic generic stuff, but each penny he could save would add up in the end.

Hopefully my stomach can handle this. It didn’t do too well last time.

Once he had his meal ready, he excused himself to the sofa, but found Palace’s giant wolf already spread out on it.

I suppose I’ll just hang outside for now.

He stepped out quietly, finding an uncomfortable wicker chair to settle in and began eating his cold dinner. His breath ghosted in the air, drifting upward until his eyes caught a pair of bright gold ones staring right back at him.

“Hey Knight, did Jared kick you out again?” He asked, a small smile on his lips as they began to shiver a little.

The hawk, which was perched on the edge of their fence, tilted its head and ruffled its feathers.

“I know you’ve said that you’ve chilled out, but clearly you need to relax a little more.” He said, chuckling a little before taking another bite. He wasn’t really sure how far Knight had pushed Jared, but the shifter didn’t seem to be bothered by his words.

When he looked back at the hawk it was hopping toward him, coming into the light a few moments later.

“Ah, you tried to give him a mouse?” He asked, noting the dead creature hanging from his beak.

The hawk shook its head, then tilted it back to swallow the small animal whole.

“Why don’t you try simple things? Have you just sat next to him while watching a show? Cooked him a regular dinner? Cleaned some of the house so that he doesn’t have to after work?” He asked.

Of course, he knew that Knight worked, too, but wasn’t quite sure what he did. He definitely brought home decent money, since he’d heard him talking about it with Jamie.

Glancing over his shoulder when he noticed one of the lights behind him dim, Mina saw Palace and Jamie move toward the stairs. Palace was still in his wolf form and was nipping at Jamie’s backside a little through his tan work pants. The action made Jamie jump a little, but the smile on his face brought one to Mina’s as the two disappeared up the stairs.

Movement in the corner of his eye brought his attention back to Knight, who’s hawk now had its beak nearly pressed against the glass.

Moving his eyes back up, he saw Jared walk into the living room, flicking off the light in the kitchen before he looked directly over at them. Mina caught his breath, but when Jared didn’t scowl or really do anything but stand there, he slowly got himself up out of his seat and walked over to the door handle with his half-eaten bowl of mushy cereal.

He tugged it to the side, sliding the glass until he could step inside. His attention then turned down to Knight as he nodded inside. The guy hesitated, but then hopped inside, allowing Mina to shut the door.

“Have a good night, uncle Jared.” He said before he began tugging down the folded blanket from on top of the sofa to get his own makeshift bed ready.

Once it was all set, he slid his shoes off and sat down, only to notice that Jared was still looking at him… or really, at Knight, who was still standing awkwardly next to him by the door. It looked like Jared wanted to say something, but instead, he just gave a quiet sigh and headed up the stairs to his own room.

“It will be alright.” Mina told Knight as his hawk slowly hopped toward the kitchen.

He wasn’t sure what he had planned, but as tired as he was, Mina didn’t really care. Hopefully Knight and Jared could figure out a middle ground at some point, though. From what he’d heard from Jamie and Palace talking without really minding him listening in, the two had been at each others’ throats for a while after they first met. Things had gone south and the brothers had made the decision to disappear.

I would find my way here soon after they finally decide to return. He thought as he snuggled in beneath the blanket. It wasn’t quite thick enough, but he’d manage.

Kind of wish my family’s shifting genetics hadn’t skipped me. It would have been nice to at least have a little fur now and again.

He drifted off to the quiet sound of water and dishes being moved around in the sink.

“Is everything set up?” Del asked as he paced along the rows of cages, checking his clipboard for a tag number to match with those hanging on the outside of each barred room.

The early morning hunt was one he didn’t often do. Most humans weren’t very active in the morning if they didn’t already have a decent routine set up, but his client was adamant about the time. He refused to do it any later than six.

Stopping in front of the cage that had the number he was looking for, Del glanced inside and frowned. No wonder. This man couldn’t run even if he wanted to. Gluttony was definitely a sin he had partaken in during his time as a… Del glanced down at the sheet on his clipboard again and raised one eyebrow. Loan adviser.

“What is going on here?” The man inside asked as he shakily got to his feet, having been drugged for the better half of his short stay.

Del felt his wolf nudge at his senses and smiled. “You’ve been scheduled for a hunt. Please follow me and don’t try to run, okay?” He said, knowing damn well that the man would likely make the mistake anyways.

Running away in a warehouse prison full of predatory shapeshifters was never a good idea. Most of the humans they brought in for their specific canned hunts, however, clearly did not make good decisions.

And, he’s running. Didn’t think he could…

It wasn’t fast, by any means, but Del had to give him props for being able to put one of his plump feet in front of the other in such rapid succession. Of course, his efforts were futile. The heavy staircase that the man was running toward clicked a few times, screeched once, then lifted so that it was just out of reach if he tried to jump up to grab the edge of the bottom step.

There were two other staircases he could try for, but the man was slightly smarter than Del thought, because instead of going for them, he turned around and raised his fists.

“Where the hell am I? This isn’t funny and you could face years in jail, at the least, for kidnapping if you don’t let me out of here this instant!”

Years? With my only crime being kidnapping? Sounds tempting.

“I’m pretty sure the death penalty wouldn’t even be close to what I deserve, let alone a few years in jail, but you’ll get the death penalty handed to you first.” Del said as he started walking closer, allowing his wolf to flash in his eyes.

The man immediately backed up, but he was moving into a corner. It was never a good idea to block your own minuscule escape routes when facing down a predator.

“Now then, Mr. Brown, if you wouldn’t mind following me?” He asked, stepping to the side and gesturing down the open corridor.

The man hesitated, but then slowly began skirting around Del. It was odd, but it got the man going in the right direction so he just crossed his arms over his chest and followed closely behind.

He herded the human like a dog might move a flock of sheep, getting him to take a right into a smaller metal tunnel. As soon as they stepped through the entrance the door behind them clicked closed, the locking mechanism loud enough to make the man jump.

“Where are we going?” He said in a hushed tone as he inched forward.

Del was beginning to lose his patience. It was a long walk to the end of the tunnel and if the man didn’t move, he was going to be dragged.

“Get a move on. You can’t go backwards, it’s locked. So move forward before I make you.” He said, letting his eyes flash in the dimly lit area, warning him that there was an animal ready to force him to walk if he decided to be a problem.

The man hesitated, but after a deep growl from Del, he stumbled forward and made sure that he was at least a few feet in front of him at all times.

Slipping his hands into the pockets of his suit-pants, Del nonchalantly followed him, beginning to whistle a tune as they got closer to the opening at the other end.

“By the way, the single rule of this game is quite simple.” He said when the man stopped by the entrance to what appeared to be a giant forested area right in the middle of the building. Steel walls towered high overhead but grass grew in lush patches along damp soil.

The scent of morning dew from the overhead misting machines brought up an urge in Del to chase, but the man wasn’t his hunt.

“If you can survive for twenty minutes, you may walk out of this area with your life.” He said as he took a step back when the man stepped forward onto the grass, allowing a steel grate to drop between them, effectively separating them.

The moment he man realized this, he spun around and grabbed hold of the metal bars, his eyes wide with fear.

“Wait, survive what? Why are you doing this?” He asked, his voice panicked as the lights began to dim around them.

“I do it because I can, and Mr. Gallahan, I believe you know that name, is doing it because of reasons I am sure you are aware of.” Del said as he began to turn away, intent on heading back the way he had come.

“I didn’t mean to lose him all of his investment money! The market went crazy and it just happened!” The man yelled at him, only earning a wave from Del, who didn’t even bother turning to face him as he continued walking.

“I do not care. Just remember the rule. Survive.”

He heard the man take in another breath, likely to shout to him again, but when a deep growl rumbled through the air, everything seemed to go silent abruptly. Normally Del would help with the scaring part if the humans didn’t want to run, since shifters paid him good money for the hunting opportunity, but he knew what was coming… and poor Mr. Brown must have seen it, too, because Del heard him whimper after a few seconds, then the sound of his feet stumbling away met his ears.

You pissed off a grizzly, and now you’ll pay the price.

Perhaps it was unfair. He never judged or looked into the reasons why shifters requested a hunt of a specific person. All he did was make sure that they fit certain criteria before sending out his men to retrieve them.

The screams began to echo to him as he was stepping back through the door leading into the makeshift prison, but as soon as that metal barrier slid closed again, all sound from the hunting forest silenced.

He checked that the cell the man had recently occupied was being cleaned, then headed up to his office to begin his day’s work. It didn’t take him long to get engrossed in paperwork once he dropped down into his padded chair, so when the door to his office opened, he wasn’t surprised to look up and notice that the time had skipped to nearly five.

“Good evening, Del. Everything is going well with our next retrieval, but I thought you might want to see this, as it was in the container next to your door for paperwork that needs approved.” Buck said as he walked in and sat down in one of the comfortable chairs across from Del’s desk, slipping the folder over to him.

“I wasn’t expecting him to become a wanted target only a day after being hired.” Buck added.

Del frowned, opening the folder slowly to reveal its contents.

Hunt request submission for the new receptionist. Willing to wait as to not cause suspicion when he disappears. Price is very negotiable.

The boy hadn’t been with them a full day yet and already someone wanted to tear him apart. He couldn’t really blame them, his wolf wanted to go after him the moment he saw him, too. It was the first receptionist that ever caught his wolf’s interest, but he never hired them with the intent to force them into a hunt.

“I don’t like it.” He grumbled, closing the folder and tossing it back onto his desk.

Buck nodded, folding his arms over his chest with a sigh.

“I have a feeling this is going to become an issue.” He said, earning a nod from Del right away.

“We’ll just have to watch and wait. We can’t really fire him abruptly for no reason, and if we send out a notice that he’s off limits, it will just draw more attention.”

They both seemed to realize their new problem, but neither offered up a solution yet. They would need to think about it.

“Well, I came to get you so that we can go eat upstairs.” He said, making Del groan. He wasn’t really one for eating during his workday. Of course, he should, but usually didn’t.

“Let’s go. I made lamb chops and veggies.”

Great, just what the carnivore in me wants. Veggies.

Even though he didn’t want to eat, Del go up anyways and reluctantly followed Buck, because there was nothing the man asked of him that he wouldn’t do if it made him happy. If anyone deserved to smile in their sick, twisted world, it was Buck.

Small Paws

Nudging his glasses a little further up his nose… for the fifth time, Mina tried the calculus problem he was having trouble with again. He wasn’t very good at it, but he did manage to get through the homework with a lot of extra studying. 

Thank god Mr. Del lets me work on my college stuff while here. He thought as he finally figured out the answer to the problem he’d been pondering for at least twenty minutes, then continued onto the next. 

Two people had come in during his evening shift so far, and while one was courteous and simply asked how he was doing and then was retrieved by someone from the back area, the other person had stared at him far too closely for comfort. 

He, too, had been taken back after a few moments of waiting, but for some reason Mina still felt awkward. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the last person to do such a thing. 

His next couple of days came with a mix of people. There was rarely more than one person waiting with him in the lobby, and they never stayed for long. The number of people who paid him a little too much attention, however, seemed to be increasing. 

It was never with words, but their eyes, they always seemed aggressively hungry when they stared at him. 

Growling, Del threw the three folders back on his desk and pursed his lips tightly. 

“This is getting ridiculous.” He said as Buck leaned back in his chair with the two approved folders out of the five for the day’s requests. 

“He’s a human! Yes, he looks like a decent hunt, but why is he attracting so many requests? It doesn’t make any sense.” He said as he opened one of the folders, offering nearly two-hundred thousand, for the chance to kill his new fake receptionist. 

Buck gave a half smile and ran a hand quickly through his short hair. “I have to say, he does have a sort of draw. Even I sometimes want to pin him down, but you are right, this is getting out of hand. A normal human should not have such an effect on shifters, no matter their looks of demeanor.” 

Del sighed and shook his head, putting the folder back on his desk before pressing his fingers to his forehead. 

“You know what, I’m going to go sit with him for a while. There is something going on that we have clearly missed.” He said, getting up abruptly and stalking around the desk. 

Buck stood, too, but waited for Del to pass him before following. 

“I’ll bring you down some dinner.” He said, getting an immediate head shake from Del.

“It wasn’t optional.” Buck said, stepping up beside him and nudging him with his shoulder before stepping into the elevator beside the one Del was taking. 

He grumbled at the deer shifter, but the guy never listened. It wasn’t worth it. Mina would probably eat whatever Buck brought down, anyway. 

Pressing the button to descend, Del slipped his hands into his pockets and waited, then stepped out as it chimed once arriving on the first floor. 

The new receptionist was actually greeting one of their guests who was arriving a little early for her hunt. It was rare to get females who wanted to kill, but when they did, they could get even more aggressive than the males. 

“Good evening, madam.” Del said as he walked over, offering his hand with a smile. 

She was a high-up banker. He couldn’t really say which she worked for, but the woman’s pockets were loaded, and she had one hell of a grudge toward a certain person they had waiting for her to tear apart. 

“Oh my, a greeting from the owner. I am honored, sir.” She said, an accent slurring her words slightly. 

Del caught the woman’s eyes glancing back over to Mina and felt a growl welling up in his chest. Thankfully, the entrance doors to the back area slid open, revealing one of his workers who came to retrieve her for her hunt. 

Stepping back, Del let the man greet the woman and got her paperwork. Once he looked over it and verified her I.D., he lead her back. The moment the door slid shut Del turned his attention to Mina. He wanted to tell himself that he didn’t feel a pull, but that would be a lie. 

His wolf was nudging at his senses more and more the longer he looked at him, even though he was just staring back with a small smile, slightly bent glasses tilted on his face. The tension in his mind slowly began to rise as his beast considered trying to take over. It wanted to hunt. 

“Del, I brought some food.” 

I’m so glad Buck is ridiculously fast at being annoying. 

Blinking his focus away from Mina, Del took a deep breath and turned toward Buck. 

Why is he carrying the large lunch box? He wondered, afraid of how much food he had actually put in it. 

Buck just grinned and pressed the fabric lunchbox into Del’s arms, then turned to smile at Mina. 

“Everything going well here, kid?” He asked, getting a quick set of nods from Mina. 

“Yes, sir. No problems at all.” He replied, setting down the pencil he’d been holding a bit too tightly, likely because of the woman, then Del’s, intense stares. 

“I brought you some lunch, and Del wanted to hang out here for a little bit, too, if that’s alright with you?” Buck asked, knowing that Mina had no real reason to decline. Nor should he, since Del was his boss. 

 Mina seemed confused, and a little bit startled, since he began cleaning up his mess of books and homework he had been doing. “Of course it’s alright, sir.” He said, quickly shoving most of the papers into his backpack by his feet. 

“Don’t worry about cleaning that stuff up, just push it to the side so that you can eat.” Del said as he set the box down and unfolded a stool that was behind the counter near Mina, actually a bit happy that Buck had brought him the food. It would take away some of his uneasiness to have a full stomach, and Mina looked like he was eyeing it, too. 

When Buck turned to head back upstairs, likely to complete some background checks on possible hunt targets, Del dropped down onto the stool and began opening the large lunchbox. 

“Um, sir?” Mina said, fidgeting next to him. 

Del looked up, raising one eyebrow slightly. “Yeah?” 

When Mina stood up from his chair, Del mirrored his actions out of habit. He hated when anyone was standing over him. If people needed to talk to him for more than a few seconds, besides Buck, they needed to sit their asses down.

Mina looked a little confused by his abrupt movement, but slowly stepped away from his large desk chair and then gestured to it. “Take my seat? It feels odd seeing my boss sit on a small stool while I’m in a big comfortable chair…” 

While he honestly didn’t care at that moment, Del didn’t want to argue or make the guy feel anymore awkward than he likely already did. So, without replying Del dropped down into the larger, more comfortable chair, then watched Mina quickly take the stool. 

“Let’s have some food, shall we? Buck tends to overpack, so feel free to eat what you want.” Del said as he began unloading a ridiculous amount of food from the lunchbox. 

Once it was all out, a plethora of sandwiches that Buck had to have premade earlier in the day in preparation for overfeeding him, Del leaned back and nodded to it. 

“Grab at least three things. I’m not picky and I’m really not hungry, so take what you want.” 

The look on Mina’s face actually had him fighting back a smile. It didn’t take the guy long to pick out a turkey and Swiss sandwich, followed by two chicken salad ones. Not wanting to be the one not eating, since it was his own lunch, he grabbed a tuna sandwich and began nibbling at it. 

He’d come down with the intention to talk a little and see if he could figure out exactly what was going on with Mina, but they ended up spending nearly thirty minutes simply digging into the food Buck had brought down. 

Didn’t realize I was so hungry. 

He’d eaten four sandwiches and Mina was just finishing his third with a content look on his face. He had clearly been hungry as well. Del was just about to offer Mina the last sandwich when the front door opened and one of their long-time clients walked in. 

“Bo.” Del greeted, standing to shake the man’s hand as he approached the desk. 

It had been a while since he had requested a hunt, though he did sometimes stop by to chat. He was one of the few people Del had come to know through his business that he didn’t mind speaking with simply to talk, on occasion. 

“How are you doing, Del? I see you finally found yourself a new receptionist.” The gruff man said. 

He was clearly a lion shifter. His mane wrapped around his head, even in human form, and his nose twitched every so often as he took in different scents around himself. 

Nodding, Del gestured for the man to follow him toward the elevator, but before they could move, Bo seemed to change his focus abruptly to Mina. His nostrils flared and his brow furrowed. 

“You… what pride do you belong to?” Bo asked suddenly, drawing Del’s lips down into a deep frown. 

Pride? Mina is clearly a human. 

As if to prove his thoughts correct, Mina frowned, too, and replied. “I live with a few lions, but I’m not a shifter. The genetics seemed to have skipped me.” 

He sounded sad, and Del could understand why. It would have been frustrating if he hadn’t gotten his wolf and had just been a regular human when the rest of his family had gotten to shift. 

“I smell them… but I also smell you, kid.” Bo said, his words a partial growl as he stepped around the large receptionist’s desk and suddenly grabbed Mina by the front of his shirt and pulled him closer for a deep inhale. 

When a dark smirk lit up Bo’s face, Del stepped forward to separate them. He wasn’t fast enough, however, and Bo managed to push something between Mina’s lips as Del was shoving him back. 

Bo allowed himself to be moved, but not far. His grin also didn’t leave his face as he watched Mina grimace. 

“What did you just give him?” Del asked as he stepped over to Mina, who was coughing a little from having whatever it was clearly shoved partially down his throat. 

Crossing his arms, Bo nodded toward Mina. “Just something to help him discover what he actually is… a force-change powder in a very easily-breakable capsule.” 

What! 

He’d known people who have dealt in such illegal things, but he hadn’t expected Bo to just force it down someone’s throat! Especially someone who wasn’t a- What the hell? 

Del’s eyes widened as he watched Mina hunch over, dropping to his knees on the hard tile floor as a high pitched growl, which sounded quite pathetic, slipped from between his clenched teeth. 

“Mina?” He said as he took a hesitant step forward and knelt down in front of him. 

Before he could reach out and place his hand on the boy’s shoulder, he noticed that he was shrinking quickly and beginning to sprout tufts of soft tan fur. 

“I knew it. Shame that he’s a cub, but that answers why I wanted to tear him apart as soon as I walked in. Please tell me you had no idea, Del? You’re lucky no one has tried to kill him yet.” 

They’ve definitely asked, but how did I not notice? 

Either way, he couldn’t really think about that stuff right then, because there was a tiny lion cub sitting in a pile of clothing, shaking like a leaf as it stared up at him with wide, terrified eyes. 

Bo wants to kill you, I can sense it. My wolf wants to kill you, your shift is a predator’s offspring.  Instead of allowing either, Del forced his wolf back with as much effort as he possessed, then scooped up the cub, clothing, shoes and all, and hurried toward the elevator, ignoring the deep roar emanating from behind him. 

I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do about this, but I at least won’t let Bo kill you. 

Unfortunately, there was still a high possibility that his wolf might give it a shot, though.

Poor Choices

Dammit, Buck! Do something! Del snarled into his friend’s mind as his giant wolf paced in circles, his claws digging into the expensive carpet. 

They shared a rare bond that was normally reserved for related kin, but Buck had been all he’d ever had, so it just sort of developed on its own. 

calm down, Del. We need to figure out what we are going to do about him. Buck replied. He was standing in their bedroom by the small dog crate they had locked Mina up in. It was more for his safety than anything, but the metal bars would be pathetically useless if Del’s wolf decided that it wanted him dead. 

You want me to calm down? How the hell can we fix this? We can’t just call his emergency contact and say that he’d accidentally been drugged at work with something clearly illegal by one of our top clients, and we need them to pick him up! 

Buck stepped into the office room Del’s wolf was pacing in, shutting the door right before the animal could dart out of it. With the barrier back in place, Del jerked away from it and began running in a wide circle around the too-small room, knocking paperwork and stationary to the floor each time he charged past his desk. 

“Maybe we can just wait out the drug, then tell him to stay quiet about it… Money talks, and he definitely seems to need some.” Buck said as he walked over and sat down on the pitch black sofa. 

Without an ounce of hesitation, Del’s wolf changed direction and wandered over, nudging its giant, fuzzy and feathery head beneath Buck’s hand. It was panting hard, its eyes clearly dilated from stress. 

We’ve tried that before. It was a messy clean up I don’t care to repeat. We can’t afford to have an investigation here.  He replied. How the hell did we not catch that he was a shifter when Bo found out so easily? He asked, growling at his own thoughts. 

Running his hand over Del’s head soothingly, Buck offered a sad smile and massaged one of his ears gently. “I don’t know, Del, but there must be some other way we can solve this besides killing him.” 

How? If he gets tested for anything, that drug will turn up in his blood for at least a week, if not longer. He might not even change back in time for him to get home before people start wondering where he is. We should just get busy covering this up. We can just use a decoy like we did with our last issue that can dress like him and leave at the appropriate time on the security cameras. That would clean our hands of this whole situation.

“I don’t want to kill him for this, Del.” Buck said quietly. 

Of course you don’t. I will take care of it. He replied, feeling an immediate wave of worry come from his friend through their bond. Forcing his body to change, Del shifted back to his human form with a huge amount of effort. 

He was already exhausted from keeping his wolf in line, along with the stress of disposing of an unplanned person. 

It’s always something. 

“I’ll go take care of it. Look through our contacts and see who can get here that has a similar build to his that can be our decoy for later. It’s going to be dark, so it doesn’t have to be perfect.” He said as he walked toward the door leading to their bedroom. 

Del could feel Buck’s disapproval, but the man never intervened in his decisions once they were made. I’m not going to put us through this again. He’ll be dead and will be forgotten after a couple years. Besides, if I kill him when he’s a cub, he might not change back. That would make things much easier. 

With a slight grin, he stepped through the door, his eyes immediately landing on the little lion still shaking in the back corner of the little dog crate they’d had brought up. 

“Now that I can get a good look at you, you’re definitely not a normal cub. Young lions are supposed to have spots, but you’ve got way more than I’ve ever seen, and a slight main going down the back of your neck nearly to your tail, too.” It was a characteristic related to cheetah cubs, not lions. 

His wolf nudged at his thoughts to take it out. He knew that it just wanted the opportunity to get at it easily, but Del wasn’t going to be the one to kill it. He kept his hands clean on most counts… though he did know someone who would be more than happy to do the job. 

The bastard totally set us up on this one. Bo just wanted the kill for himself. He thought as he knelt down in front of the cage and opened the two latches securing the door. It was no surprise that the cub didn’t react. 

“You can’t even control it yet, can you?” He asked as he reached in, unsurprisingly getting a few tiny claws in his wrist as he grabbed it by its neck. He could have scruffed it, and probably saved himself some band-aids later, but he wasn’t exactly in the mood to be nice. Besides, it wasn’t like it was choking. It had a damn good hold of his arms. 

“You’ve got little razors attached to the fronts of your paws, brat.” He growled as he left the room and began walking down a long hallway that lead to an elevator. As he moved, he pulled out his cell and hit the speed dial he had for Bo. 

Of course, the man picked up immediately, and lucky for Del, he hadn’t even left the building yet. 

“Set up in hunt zone three. He’s ten thousand.” Del grumbled into the receiver before hanging up abruptly. It was a much cheaper price than he’d normally give, especially for someone so young, which he rarely agreed to use in a hunt, but he needed someone to do the kill. 

A chime from his phone a moment later told him that Bo was more than eager to help him with his task. It was the guard for the hunting zones that needed personal permission from him each time an unscheduled hunt was going to take place. 

He quickly typed his approval, then sent the message before stepping onto the elevator. Soon, he was on the hunt floor that contained the holding areas and fields for zone three and four. Several of his guards and workers greeted him as he carried the fussing cub past the rows of cages. 

There weren’t many people left caged for the next few days of hunts, but for once, Del didn’t mind. He’d made a good amount of money and the month wasn’t even close to over yet. 

Best to make Mina disappear completely first before we pull in more targets. 

 He stopped next to a steel door and punched in a code, unlocking it before stepping inside. Del didn’t normally walk the prey targets all the way through the tunnel unless it was requested by the hunter, but he figured that Mina, not even having control of his shift yet, wouldn’t be the greatest at walking. He might not even bother trying to leave the dimly-lit area if given an option. 

After a couple minutes of frustrating clawing and a few raspy growls from Mina, Del stepped out into the heavily wooded area. It had taken nearly a year to get all of the trees and plants set up, as well as add the burrows and different little obstacles that made it feel like an actual woodland, like fallen trees and uneven terrain.  

It was his favorite hunting ground, and it was also the most requested one for its difficulty and realism. There was even a large log cabin up on a small hill that the hunter could choose to come out of if they wished. 

Bo, however, never bothered with playing the part. He just wanted to kill. A deep roar from behind a hidden gate by the cabin told Del that the lion’s patience was wearing thin. 

“Sorry about this, kid. I really did like you.” He said as he finally set Mina’s squirming cub down on the damp grass. It immediately rolled onto its four paws, then pounced onto his left shoe to attack the leather with a less-than ferocious growl. 

“Save your energy, you’re going to need it.” He said as he nudged Mina away, then stood. “The rules… There is only one. If you can survive for twenty minutes, you may walk out of this area alive.” He said, repeating the mantra he’d said more times than he could count. 

Give him his money back, Del. You shouldn’t do this. Buck thought to him, his words sounding far more worried than he’d expected. Buck rarely cared for any of the hunt targets more than their background checks. Sometimes the rare teen they kidnapped got to him a tiny bit, but Mina wasn’t a literal kid. 

Why? He’s a cub but he’s an adult, Buck. Don’t let him fool you. We can’t let him go. 

He felt Buck’s upset through their bond again, but he backed away. Except, this time, he actually seemed to close off his mind to Del, which had only ever happened a few other times during the years they’d spent together when he’d done things Buck had severely disapproved of. 

It hurt, but some things just had to be done. With one last glance down at the little lion cub trying to finally stand using its new set of legs, he turned around and walked back toward the tunnel, pushing a large, dark red button that was hanging high on the wall there. 

It sealed off the area and released Bo’s lion from its cage.

Sorry that things turned out this way. Del thought with a sigh as he headed back down the shadowed tunnel, trying not to hear the excited roars from Bo’s lion as it began its hunt.

Hunt

(This song… poor Mina) 

He might have just peed himself. Mina tucked his dampening tail tighter beneath his belly as he hunched down to the ground, shaking. His instincts told him to hide in the grass, but it wasn’t quite tall enough to disappear in. He couldn’t get his animal to understand that, though. It refused to move, even as a giant lion came prowling straight toward them. 

Please, let me move my feet! Paws! Whatever! 

Mina had no experience what so ever with shifting, himself. Sure, his father and mother were both shifters, a cheetah and lion, but when they realized that he wasn’t, they had kept their shifting to a minimum. He also had a brother who was quite a bit older who also shifted, but he’d also tended to keep it at a minimum when he’d visited.

I really wish that I had at least asked instead of just being upset that I was the only nonshifter in my family. 

The lion began to slow as it got close, then changed direction to begin circling around him. Mina tried to push himself up off the ground, but the slight bit of control he’d managed to wrestle away from his animal self couldn’t function with how badly he was shaking. 

He stumbled about like a newborn, growing frustrated. 

Why can’t I just move? Please let me help us! Mina thought to himself, trying to get his new animal side to understand. He knew that it took a little while for the animal and person to truly become one once born, but they really didn’t have time for bonding right then. 

Please. We’re in big trouble if you don’t let me try. We’ll both be dead if we can’t work together and at least try to get away from him. 

He felt his instincts flare as the lion gave a content grumble, but Mina pushed them back as hard as he could. You might be young and just doing what you think is best, but I understand that there is a way out of this situation. Trust me, please. 

The little lion mix’s claws dug into the damp earth beneath its paws for a moment before it slowly allowed Mina to finally have control of his body again. He knew that it wasn’t technically an entity, but instincts weren’t something he was used to having. It felt almost like another voice in his head, trying to persuade him without really taking the time to think through the decision. 

Alright. Let’s see how this thing works. He thought as he finally stood up straight on all four feet. 

The lion came to a stop in front of him, the tip of its tail flicking back and forth behind it eagerly. 

He wants a chase. 

Lowering his little ears, Mina gave his best growl, earning a deep rumble from the lion in return. 

Mom had always been really fast… here’s to hoping that I got a little bit of his speed with my new tiny legs. 

Mina slowly crouched, turning as he did so until he had the lion on his right side. Trying not to give himself away too quickly, he stumbled once, but as he was picking himself up, bolted toward the woods. 

He didn’t hear the lion follow right away, but he had expected it not to. Del had said that he was ten thousand dollars. Considering the situation, Mina figured that whoever the lion was, they had paid that much to be able to hunt him. 

Del is a sick guy. To think that I thought he was nice. 

Mina remembered the man in the lobby that had shoved that nasty medicine in his mouth right then. 

Of course he’s the lion. 

With a determined mew he scrambled over a fallen tree, then ducked beneath several bushes. He wasn’t sure where he could possibly hide from the crazed feline until he realized something pricking one of his paws and looked down. 

Thorns? 

Glancing up, he looked closely at the large bush he’d found himself under and realized that it wasn’t like the others. 

Blackberries. 

The lion, who had been forcing its way through the other shrubbery with ease, halted after just one of his paws stepped on a one of the fallen blackberry bush’s branches. 

He hopped back with a startled, grunt, then sneezed and started trying to find a way to get at him. 

Mina felt a tiny inkling of triumph as he carefully dodged the large lion’s swiping paws. It was trying to snag him with its claws without getting stuck too badly by the thorny bush. 

His own small paws were getting poked and pricked at repeatedly, but Mina greatly preferred the small amount of pain the bush was causing him to the possible damage the lion’s teeth could inflict. 

As he got more comfortable moving his feline form, Mina began to swipe and bite at the lion’s paws. He wasn’t doing much damage, if any, but it definitely seemed to frustrate the cat more. 

Serves you right! Picking on someone so small. 

Just as he was thinking that, the lion, who had disappeared a few seconds prior, suddenly reappeared… unfortunately, it had managed to push its way through the bush just enough to land a strong swipe to Mina’s poor cub. 

It went flying head over tail out of the thorn bush and ended up lying upside-down against a large, damp tree trunk with its tail between its legs and back feet in the air. 

The lion was bounding toward him in Mina’s upside-down vision, making him flail his little legs to try and get right side up again. His backside was just falling forward so that he could try to get up and run when he heard something rustling quickly through the canopy overhead. 

Whatever it was, it had the lion skidding to a halt just a few feet from him in order to jerk its head up and growl a warning. Mina took that opportunity to rearrange his body, finally getting to his four paws again, just in time to see someone he hadn’t expected break through the heavy foliage. 

Knight? 

The hawk gave the loudest screech Mina had ever heard as it dove toward him, making both the lion and himself, wince. He descended almost faster than Mina could see, but the lion somehow managed to have no issue. It snarled and jumped up, somehow clipping Knight’s wing with a clawed paw. 

The hawk fumbled a little, but didn’t drop like Mina had expected. In fact, he extended his talons and snagged his little lion form by the back of his neck. Knight’s claws dug into his scruff, easily cutting through his skin, though Mina knew that he likely didn’t mean to. 

Just get me away from him, please!

Knight was doing just that, but it became clear almost right away that he was struggling. He did manage to get them up to a branch high enough to keep the large lion at bay, though. 

Mina moved very carefully once he was released, not daring to risk falling down where the lion was currently pacing angrily. Looking up at Knight’s hawk as he hugged the branch as best he could with his little paws, Mina felt his eyes widen. 

His wing has a bad gash in it. 

They wouldn’t be able to fly out even if they wanted to. 

Mina felt his heart sink into his belly. He knew that Del had said that he’d just needed to survive for twenty minutes to be let out of the area, but that didn’t mean that he would let them go. He didn’t doubt that there was a bullet waiting for him on the other side of tunnel he’d been carried down earlier. 

A sudden sound a little off in the distance had Mina’s attention turning in its direction. 

What now? 

The lion had turned toward it, too, and neither of them had to wait long before the crashing of something heavy flying, seemingly quite poorly, through the trees met their ears. 

The cat below him took a few steps backward, but even though Mina wanted to run, he was stuck in the tree Knight had placed him in. 

Wait a second. Knight’s here. Then… 

The thunderous crashing sounds stopped abruptly. After a few seconds of deafening silence, a heavy thud reverberated through the area. Whatever had landed sent vibrations up the tree Mina was gripping with all of his tiny might. 

Below him, the lion was baring its teeth and hissing a warning, but Mina knew the moment he saw a black nose, followed by drawn back lips and giant, bright white teeth, that he would actually live through his current nightmare. 

Palace. 

His uncle’s boyfriend was slowly stalking out from between two thick bushes. His mixture of fur and feathers were bristled to pinpoints, his wings outstretched to make himself look even larger, and menacing. 

Believe me, Palace. If I didn’t know that it was you, I’d be peeing myself… again. 

Mina expected the lion shifter below him to book it out of there, but to his surprise, the cat actually reverted back to its human form and took a step toward Palace. 

Does he want to die? 

“Del? You actually changed your mind? Why did you not sound the stop hunt alarm?” 

Del? My boss? He thinks that Palace is my boss? 

Mina couldn’t believe it. There was no way that there could be two creatures that looked like Palace. His uncle’s boyfriend actually paused, too, seemingly surprised that he was being mistaken for someone else. His posture and wolf’s expression didn’t stall, though, and soon he was stalking forward again. 

“Hey, it’s okay. I’ll back down from him if you want the kill.” The man said, taking a step back and raising him arms a little. 

Palace didn’t seem to care, however, and before Mina could even blink, he had the man on the ground. Wisely, the shifter returned to his lion form, but even as impressive as his shift was in size and strength, he was no match for Palace. 

He’s going to kill him… 

Without considering his own safety, Mina swallowed down his worry and let himself slip from the branch, much to Knight’s hawk’s screeching disapproval. He thumped down onto Palace’s thick coat, then slid down to the grass before lunging for his face. 

His intention was just to distract him enough to get him to stop killing the lion, if he was still in time to keep that from happening, but as he moved, his body wavered. In an instant Mina was back to his human self and wrapping his arms around Palace’s thick neck. 

“Stop, please!” He shouted, doing his best to try and hold Palace back. 

At first, it didn’t seem like he was accomplishing anything, but over the next couple of seconds, Palace slowly began easing away from the bloody, unmoving animal before them. 

The moment Palace was far enough away for Mina to feel safe releasing him, he did so and crawled to the lion. 

Thank god, you’re somehow still breathing. 

“Thank you, Palace.” Mina said as he got himself up on his own shaking, bleeding legs. 

He looked up at Knight to thank him, but managed to catch him right as he fell from the tree. Blood ran down his arm from where it brushed against the hawk’s damaged wing. 

“Palace, your brother.” He said, hugging Knight a little tighter. 

Grunting, Palace lowered himself, silently signaling for Mina to climb onto his back. Not wanting to cause any hesitation in his own rescue, Mina carefully but quickly got himself and Knight onto Palace’s back. 

As soon as they were situated, the giant wolf spread his wings and they were off. He was really sloppy with his flying, but he managed to get them just high enough to make it through the damaged windows they must have broken in through high above the fake forest. 

So glad we were in an area that lead to the outside. 

Mina took in a shaky, deep breath of chilly air as Palace began picking up speed. The sounds of the quieting, dark city around them began meeting his ears as they moved, but not before one final reminder echoed out to him from where they had just left. 

A single gunshot.

They killed him…

Respite

Palace’s landing was rough as they stumbled into the backyard. Mina, who had only barely been holding on with one shaking hand, flew from his back into the thick grass with Knight tucked tightly in his free arm. 

The world felt like it was spinning around him when they finally came to a stop. Tears stung at Mina’s eyes for several reasons, but the one that weighed most on his chest was the fact that the lion, although hostile toward him, hadn’t deserved to pay for its mistake with its life.

  Did Del shoot him or was it someone else? 

He couldn’t think of anyone else who would have a reason to just murder the lion shifter. He can just pretend that the whole thing hadn’t happened if he gets rid of the lion… and me. The idea that Del would come after him made his heart hammer harder in his chest, but he knew that he couldn’t focus on that right then. 

“Knight needs help.” He rasped to whoever was around him that could hear. He couldn’t find the energy to move his aching body, but he hoped that someone would help his injured rescuer. 

When he finally felt hands gently take Knight’s prone bird form from his tense arm, Mina forced one of his eyes to squint open. 

Uncle Jared? 

The man stood back up with Knight in his arms, his image blurring as he moved further away. Pretty soon, everything went black, leaving Mina unconscious on the lawn. 

“Jamie, take care of Mina?” Jared asked as he walked past his brother, who was just then running out of the back door to the house, handing off a large towel to Jared in order to wrap Knight in. 

“Got it. Take care of Knight, J.” Jamie said as he hurried past Jared to tend to Mina. 

After grabbing his keys from the counter, Jared was off to the emergency vet with Knight. It was nearly nine-thirty by the time he pulled into the parking lot. Thankfully, the waiting room was pretty much empty besides some old lady crying over a container holding a clearly-dead hamster. 

He quickly got them checked in, then sat down to wait. As the seconds ticked by, Jared glanced over the injured hawk in his arms. The wounds were deep in at least two of the four gashes. 

I can’t understand how you got hurt so badly. You’re a cocky son of a bitch but you can fly ridiculously well. 

“Jared and Knight?” Called the vet leaning out from behind a door with a clipboard in his hands.

Jared stood up and calmly followed the vet back to an examination room as the woman with the dead hamster wailed about her “Ham-Ham”. The man got Knight hooked up to a few machines right away, considering he was clearly having trouble breathing. 

“These look like they are from a large cat’s claws. He’s lost a lot of blood from them already.” The vet said as he worked on Knight’s damaged wing. 

He wheeled the table Knight was on up to a sink, then looked up at Jared. “Can you hold his wing over the sink, please? It needs disinfected.” 

Jared did as told without a word, though he actually felt a twinge of pain in his chest as the vet began scrubbing at the torn up appendage. Blood mixed with the soap and flowed down the drain every time the vet used the little spray nozzle attachment to rinse the wounds. 

By the time the man was finished, Jared felt a little queasy. 

“Is he a friend of yours? Do you know what happened? I can help you wright up a report for the police if needed.” The vet said, bringing Jared’s dazed gaze up to his. 

“I… no, I really don’t know what happened. If I find out and it wasn’t some freak accident, I’ll let you know.” 

The man pursed his lips and nodded, then dug through his cabinets for a needle and thread. 

“This is going to take a while and you don’t look quite well. Would you like me to see if I can find my assistant? She should be done with the dogs in the back soon.” 

Jared shook his head. “It’s okay, they’re busy doing their work and I’d rather not wait any longer than I have to for him to get taken care of.” He said, even though the vet was right. He didn’t feel that great. 

It took the man nearly thirty minutes to get the injury completely sealed up. Another couple minutes and it was wrapped. Jared was then given some pain medication, and of course, a bill. The vet had wanted to keep him overnight, just in case, but his breathing had evened out and he was just sleeping soundly by the time everything was done. 

Jared took a few moments to regroup his hazy thoughts before lifting Knight back into his arms, leaving the bloody towel for the vet to throw out. “Let’s go home, you punk.” He whispered as he walked out into the chilly night. 

 The porch lights were on when he finally arrived back home some time around midnight. There was also a light on inside, which led him to believe that he would be getting an explanation for this whole scenario before sunrise. 

He walked inside to see Jamie sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee in his hand. Palace was lying on the floor, snoring quietly in his wolf hybrid form. 

“Hey bro, how is he doing?” Jamie asked, his words bringing Palace to attention, his head lifting to watch Jared carry his sleeping brother inside. 

After removing his keys and shoes, Jared walked over and sat down next to his brother, gratefully accepting the half cup of coffee Jamie had been working on. 

After he took a few sips, he replied with a tired tone. “There’s a lot tissue damage, but as long as he doesn’t try to shift back to his human form for a while or try to use his wing, it should eventually heal.” 

Palace nudged his brother where he rested against Jared’s chest with his left arm. 

“Palace, what happened? Is Mina alright?” Jared asked before taking another sip from the warm cup of coffee.

Instead of shifting and answering, Palace just grunted and got comfortable on the carpet again, leaving Jared turning to his brother for answers. 

“Knight was curious about where Mina worked. It was his day off so he just followed him to sate his curiosity. Once Mina was inside, Knight left, but when he failed to come home on time from his job, Knight returned.” 

“Palace said that he had looked through a large skylight and, through just dumb luck, he thinks, he saw a man walk into a wooded area with a small kitten of some sort. Something about the situation bothered him, and when a large lion was let loose into the area, he decided to come back to the house and get Palace.” 

Jared stared down at Knight’s hawk, still fast asleep in his arms. Without really thinking about it, he reached up to the back of the sofa and pulled down one of the small blankets folded there and wrapped it carefully around the bird, then sighed. 

“Somehow, he had to have known.” Jared said quietly, then yawned. 

Jamie chuckled a little at that and reached over, squeezing his brother’s shoulder. 

“Thank you for taking him to the vet. I know he bothers you to no end, but I appreciate the help. I had to take care of Mina and the few cuts Palace had gotten.” He said, reminding Jared of Mina again. 

“He’s a shifter, isn’t he?” He asked, earning a nod from his brother right away. 

“A very late bloomer, but yes. He is a cheetah and lion mix kitten. I bet you money that he’s a cross-shifter just like his mother, too. Arron was a kitten for a long time until his hormones started going crazy.”

Jared blew out a breath and grinned. “Our brother was quite obsessed with the pheromones those hormones caused.” 

 Jamie laughed quietly and got up, making Palace stand up, too. 

“We’re going to head to bed. Mina took some medicine and cleaned up his injuries He should be out for at least half the night.” 

Jared nodded and stood, too, hugging Knight’s hawk a little closer. 

“I’ll take Knight and watch Mina tomorrow since you have to go to work early.” Jared said as he headed for the stairs along with his brother, turning off the lights on the way. 

“Alright. Call me if there are any issues. Palace will be around, too, just in case anyone comes after Mina.” 

Jared hadn’t really thought about the person trying to finish the job, but it made sense. There were loose strings… and they are getting looser by the minute. 

“Also, bro.” Jamie said, making Jared pause near the top of the staircase. 

“Be careful. We aren’t sure yet, but it’s possible that the person behind this is Palace’s son. And if that’s true, things could get much more dangerous soon.” 

Great. Another Palace. 

“I’ll be careful. Good night, brother.” Jared said as he slowly made his way toward his room. 

He barely spared a minute to relieve himself, then wash his hands and brush his teeth before falling into bed with Knight. He was out cold seconds later, a few feathers brushing against his nose as Knight moved just a tiny bit closer in his own deep sleep.

Warning

I feel like I lost a fight with a bougainvillea plant. Mina thought as he rolled onto his belly and moved his arms in front of his face to get a look at the damage. 

Cuts littered his skin. Thankfully, most of them weren’t deep, but several would definitely need scrubbed and some bandaging. 

Groaning, he rolled back over on the sofa and stared up at the ceiling, not wanting to move. 

No one has gotten up yet. They must have called out for the day. 

He couldn’t blame them. If it wasn’t his own work that had caused the problem, he would have called out, too. He hadn’t been able to sleep more than an hour at a time before being awoken by nightmares.Even though he had been somewhat cool and collected during the whole ordeal, besides his new shift, it definitely hit him hard once the adrenaline had worn off and the shock had set in. 

  I can’t believe that Del did all of that… and killed that lion. 

It had seemed like they were good friends, or at least acquaintances. Yet, he had to have shot the shifter when he’d failed to kill him. It helped a lot that the man had gotten Palace confused for Del, too. 

To think that there are two of those giant winged wolf shifters. 

It was a scary thought. 

Sitting up, Mina ran a hand through his messy hair and looked over at the clock on the wall. 

Already ten. 

He couldn’t waste anymore time lazing about. No matter how much he desperately wanted to just go back to sleep after tending to his cuts. 

“Need a new job… with less aggression.” He told himself with a sarcastic smile as he finally got to his feet and headed for the shower. He made it quick, but also made sure to scrub himself from head to toe. 

When he stepped out, his cuts were stinging badly, but he knew that they’d needed washed. He found some light bandages in the medicine cabinet above the sink and took a few minutes to wrap up the couple of cuts that needed tended. 

“Okay, all set.” 

Forcing a smile, he got himself dressed and out the door, intent on walking to town in the cool, foggy morning. He was careful to watch out for any motion that was out of the ordinary while passing the empty lots along the street. 

I don’t like being paranoid. 

He grasped one of the bandages on his left arm and sighed. 

It’s going to take a while to get past what had happened. 

Not to mention, he now had a new presence in his head that he needed to figure out. 

The little lion mix hadn’t tried to come out again, but he could definitely feel it in his mind. It almost felt like it was bouncing around, pouncing and playing without much worry. 

I wish I could be so carefree. You almost got us killed, you know. He told it. Unsurprisingly, he got no response from the cat. 

“Whatever, just don’t come out while I’m trying to get a job. I can’t feed us if I don’t have any money and I don’t want to rely on my uncles for much longer.” He said as he saw the first few buildings of town appear ahead of him. 

He passed the first few places because they weren’t open yet. A bakery was his first target, but without any experience in the field, they just said that they’d call him. He knew that he wouldn’t get a call. 

The clothing stores he’d stopped at were more promising, but they hadn’t been happy with his lack of a resume. He couldn’t exactly put his previous job, considering his boss had tried to kill him. It probably wouldn’t have been healthy to use him as a reference. 

The sidewalks began to fill up with people as the day wore on. Mina worked his way from place to place for a while, then stopped for a small lunch before heading into a little quiet bookstore. 

It smelled of paper and coffee, and Mina immediately felt a little more relaxed as he walked over to an employee stocking the shelves. The young woman acknowledged him with a nod, getting a smile back from Mina. 

“Hello, would your manger be available to speak with me for a few moments?” He asked, doing his best to swallow his nerves. He was afraid that he’d get shot down again, but he knew that he had to just keep going until he got something. 

“Sure, just wait near the door in the back and I’ll get her.” She said before disappearing around the corner. 

Mina sighed out his stress and tried to nudge the little lion mix kitten in his mind back a bit. It had been getting more and more restless since he’d stepped into the shop, but he couldn’t understand why. 

He allowed his feet to take him to the back of the store, glancing at different book covers along  the way to try and distract himself. He was just stepping into the large back area where all of the magazines were displayed when his cheetah suddenly forced itself out, dropping him to the floor in a pile of clothing. 

You have got to be kidding me. Let me change back, now! He growled, only making annoying mew sounds as his little shift tried to paw its way through his clothing. It was really only getting itself more tangled and poking little holes in one of his favorite shirts. 

He had no choice but to let it struggle, since it wasn’t listening, again. It had his shirt nearly in shreds by the time he felt someone pick him up. 

Please stop this demon from destroying more of my things! He thought as whoever had lifted him up pulled the remains of his shirt off of his head. 

Oh. Crap. 

He tried to squirm free and run, but his lion was completely frozen as Del hugged him gently but very firmly against his chest, then pulled one side of his light blue windbreaker jacket over him.  

“Oh? I thought there was someone here looking for an interview.” An older woman said as she stepped out from the back area, looking around. 

Del turned toward her with a fake smile and hugged him a little tighter.

“My nephew got a bit nervous and his shift took over. I’ll be sure to have him come back when he’s changed back.”  He said smoothly. 

You need to move or let me change back! Mina begged his lion. It still refused to respond and actually ended up trying to hide in Del’s jacket, just making the woman chuckle a little. 

“Alright.  Please do bring him back when he’s ready for an interview, we’re definitely looking for some extra help.” She said before going back to the employee’s only area. 

Despondent, Mina just gave up trying to do anything as Del began to carry him out of the store. He was set down in the passenger seat of the man’s car, and before Del even had his seat belt on, Mina’s lion had shimmied its way beneath the seat. 

The car was perfectly clean and drove nearly silently as Del got them headed to wherever Mina figured he’d kill him. 

This is definitely not how I thought I would die. 

“I’m not going to kill you right now, Claws.” 

Claws? 

“You tore up my hand pretty damn well, so I think you’ve earned the nickname.” Del said, lifting his bandaged hand at the same time Mina’s lion decided to poke its head out from beneath the chair it was hiding. 

Darn, I did that? Good. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you back for it, but not today. There were way too many cameras on that block for me to bother dealing with you right now. Count yourself lucky, but you’ve lost a technical life today, Claws. Hopefully your remaining eight can keep you alive.” He said as he pulled over onto the side of the road, then reached across the seat and opened the door. 

I think when I was being hunted I lost at least three, but duly noted. Mina thought as his lion looked out the open door. 

My uncles’ house! 

“I’ll be keeping your clothing. Hunters like good scent articles to track.” Del said without a hint of sarcasm as he tossed Mina’s wallet out the door, then added his phone. 

“Get going, I have things to do today.” He said as he reached over and tried to scruff him. 

Mina’s lion reacted automatically, spinning abruptly and sinking its claws into Del’s already-damaged hand. The man hissed before a deep growl slipped from his mouth. 

“Mina, what are you doing?” 

Both him and Del looked up toward the house as Jamie came down the driveway toward them. He was barefoot in a pair of loose, blue, checkered pajama pants, and after a moment Mina realized that Palace was slowly walking toward them behind him. 

Del’s entire demeanor changed as he reached over and grabbed Mina’s lion by the throat with his other hand, then threw it out of the car, slamming the door shut, and reversing quickly around a corner. 

Jamie was picking him up before he could even contemplate whether his head or his butt hurt more from the sudden fall. 

“What the heck happened, Mina?” He asked as he picked up his damaged phone and wallet, then began carrying him inside. 

As they headed up the driveway, Palace smoothly shifted into his giant wolf form and began padding down the middle of the street, ignoring any cars that had to swerve around him to avoid a collision. He started to run as he neared the corner where Del had disappeared. Right before he vanished behind a big copse of trees that littered that corner, Mina saw him flap his large wings twice and lift off of the ground.  

Be careful.

Unwanted Guests

“Del, we can’t just ignore him. Sure, he might not do something tonight, but you know your father. You have been watching him for years.” Buck said as he took Del’s hand, forcing him to stop pacing. He then pulled him into his arms for a gentle hug and rustled his hair. 

“I’ll be with you.” He whispered, his words making Del lean back a little and look him in the eyes, though his lowered a few times. “I thought you were mad at me for what I did.” 

Buck sighed, shaking his head a little. 

“Yes, I was very mad at you for the decisions you recently made. I still am, Del, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t stand with you.” 

Del sniffed and nuzzled his face into Buck’s neck, his tense body relaxing a little as Buck rubbed his back. 

“Open the skylight and let him in before he accidentally breaks the glass with his weight.” Buck joked. They both knew that the glass was reinforced, and even Palace’s weight wouldn’t break it, but he understood. 

After another moment of peace, Del slowly walked over to one of the many switches set up on the wall in the large room they were in and held it down. A small part of the glass paneled ceiling slid open, drawing Palace’s attention. 

He didn’t get up right away, and instead returned his attention to them for a few minutes before slowly getting to his feet and padding over to the opening. Palace nonchalantly let himself fall through the space, opening his wings and tilting them just enough to glide down safely without hitting any walls.  

Del took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders as he slowly approached his father. The giant wolf hybrid before him was letting out a low, continuous growl as he watched him move. 

“I don’t believe I have to ask why you are here, but I am curious as to the specific reason.” He stated as he stopped a few feet from his father and waited. He knew that the man didn’t rush in situations, especially ones he did not wish to be in. 

Palace took his time before giving any kind of response, as Del thought he might. When he finally decided to act, he slowly shifted into his human form. The look on his face had Del fighting himself not to fidget. His father was clearly annoyed. His dark gold eyes were narrowed and his breathing was deep, with each inhale and exhale seemingly timed to the second. 

“Palace.” Del said as Buck moved to step up beside him. 

Instead of paying his son any more attention, Palace turned his glare on the deer shifter, then lifted his upper lip and grunted a slight snarling laugh. “A deer.” He said, his voice sounding like gravel as he clearly tried to hold his wolf back. 

 Del bared his teeth a little and stepped in front of Buck. 

“You did not come here for him.” He said. It was meant to be a warning, but he wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to use such a tone with his father. He knew that the man had little patience. 

Palace ran his tongue over his lower lip before replying. “Why are you bothering me, boy?” He finally asked. 

The question was quite open-ended, but Del wasn’t stupid. He knew exactly why Palace was bothered. He had tried to kill the nephew of his lover. 

“You would not have cared if I had succeeded in killing him the first time.” He stated simply.

His father let out a frustrated growl before he responded harshly. “Well you did not succeed!” He snarled, stepping forward as he flexed his right hand, his nails growing into sharp talons. 

Del felt his hot breath brush against his face, triggering his wolf to push against the surface of his human skin. It didn’t like feeling threatened.

Calm down, Del. Even if we can somehow win against him, he will hurt or kill one of us without a care. We need to be careful. Buck thought into his mind. 

The moment he heard those words in his thoughts, Del noticed Palace’s attention zero in on Buck. A look of disgust on his face. 

“A mind link with a piece of meat? I should have killed you years ago.” He growled as he began stalking after Buck. 

Del stepped forward, blocking his path as he let out his own warning growl. 

“Leave him out of this.” 

Palace stopped, but before Del could relax and regroup his nerves, he was stunned and lying on the floor next to Buck. Both of them were under a heavy paw, sharp talons digging into their skin painfully. 

His father’s eyes looked between them both several times before he began lowering his head toward Buck, his jaws opening for an obvious bite. 

“Dad… not him!” Del coughed out, struggling to breathe around the weight on his throat. 

Palace’s teeth stopped barely an inch from Buck’s face. His eyes dilated as they slowly looked toward Del. 

“Dad, please. Kill me instead. Please don’t hurt him anymore.” Del begged quietly. “He didn’t do anything. It was my idea to kill Mina.” 

Del expected his father to ignore him and attack Buck anyways, and allowed his wolf to begin taking over. He couldn’t shift just yet, though, with Palace’s talon digging into his skin, but the second he attacked, he’d be on him. 

He was so ready for a nasty fight to break out, that he felt his wolf withdraw slightly in surprise when Palace just huffed and swung his body around to walk away. Del immediately sat up and leaned over Buck, checking his bleeding neck with shaking hands. 

“I’m alright, Del. Calm down.” He said as he sat himself up, grasping his hands reassuringly before lifting his eyes to Palace. He was back in his human form and was turning to look at them at that moment. 

“I will only warn you once. If Mina disappears, your deer will as well.” 

Before Del could find the words to reply, Palace shifted back to his wolf form and leaped into the air, flapping his wings hard enough to carry him up to the open panel in the glass ceiling. 

“Excuse me, Sir?” Came the voice of one of his downstairs guards over the intercom hooked up in the room. 

Del walked over to a different button on the wall and pressed it while holding down the one that would close the glass panel Palace had just left from. 

“Yes?” He said before releasing the button.

“There is a little lion cub pawing at the front door. It’s been there a bit and seems reluctant to leave.” He said, making Del look over at Buck, who was actually trying to hold back a laugh. 

Del scowled. “Do you find this funny?” He grumbled as he pressed the button again. 

“Escort him up.” 

He really didn’t want to deal with Mina again, especially because he couldn’t even think about killing him anymore, but he couldn’t just have the darn guy pawing at his door all night, either. He didn’t need that kind of attention. 

Several minutes later the door to one of his personal elevators opened and Mina’s little lion mix cub bounded out. His guard was about to step off the elevator, too, but Del held his hand up. 

“Go ahead and go back down. Thank you for getting him.” 

The man raised an eyebrow and looked at the cub that was now up on its back legs, pawing at Del’s left leg, clearly wanting to be lifted. 

“Do I need to get the crew ready?” He asked, indirectly asking if a discrete burial was going to be needed soon. 

Sighing, Del shook his head. 

“No. Just go ahead.” 

The man nodded and quickly took the elevator back down, leaving Del and Buck staring down at a lion cub that clearly just wanted to be picked up. 

“I’m not sure whether he’s crazy or just wants to die.” Del mumbled as he leaned over and grabbed Mina’s lion by the scruff and lifted it up so that he could meet its eyes. 

“What the hell are you doing here? And in that form?” He asked. 

When Mina’s cub just squirmed and growled a couple times as it tried to latch onto his arm with its claws, Del rolled his eyes and dropped him. 

“I’m not dealing with you if you can’t even shift. You’re lucky that Palace came by right before you did, or you’d be needing buried right now.” He said as he headed for the elevator. “I’m damn tired. Let’s go to bed, Buck.” 

When he turned around once inside the elevator, Del pursed his lips and glared down at the little lion joining him. 

“You weren’t invited.” He said to Mina as Buck stepped inside, chuckling quietly as Del tried to nudge the cub out with his foot. Instead of getting off of the elevator, Mina’s lion latched onto Del’s pant-leg, making the guy jump and snarl. 

“Dammit, Claws. You’re asking to get your ass kicked.” He growled and he reached down, intent on throwing the little shit back into the room and leaving him there for the evening, at least.

“Calm down, Del. He clearly can’t control his shift yet.” Buck said as he knelt down and gently scooped up Mina’s cub. 

The lion looked confused and squirmed a lot, but Buck allowed it to move as freely as possible, without risking dropping it. 

“We’ll take him with us. We can’t just leave him, anyways. Remember what Palace said? We at least need to contact one of his uncles or he’ll likely be back when Mina doesn’t return home.” 

Del jabbed his finger against the up button as he grumbled something about babysitting. They silently road the elevator to their penthouse floor. Del stalked off with Buck moving a lot slower behind him, Mina tucked underneath one arm. 

“His emergency contact phone number was one of his uncle’s. Just call it. It should be in my phone.” He said as he yanked his shirt off and stepped into the bathroom to get ready to go to sleep. 

When he came out in just a pair of boxers with his teeth brushed, he saw Buck hang up his cell phone and sit down on the bed with Mina in his lap. The cub looked tired, but as soon as it saw him it perked up and ran to the edge of the bed, lifting a paw as if it would make him come closer. 

“Get off my damn bed.” Del said, frustrated. He just wanted to go to sleep and forget all about his father coming by, and Mina’s annoying lion paying them a visit, too. 

To his surprise, the little lion mix listened and hopped down to the floor. He hesitantly walked over to the bed and sat down when Mina didn’t move again for a few moments. It was obvious that he wanted to. His lion’s tail was swishing back and forth eagerly as it sat near Del’s feet, looking up at him with big, tired eyes. 

“Did you call his uncle?” Del asked as he reached forward and poked Mina’s nose a couple times, earning a raspy growl and a swat that missed him by a mile. 

You’re definitely getting tired. 

“Yes. I got Jamie on the phone. He said that Palace had spoken to them and that he had followed Mina to your company and to expect him to be there.” 

Del sighed and flopped back onto their blankets. 

“Of course he did.” He said with narrowed eyes glaring sideways at Mina’s lion, who had gotten up on its hind legs so that it could reach its front paws up to the blankets and look at him. 

“You’ll sleep on the floor, Mina. If you get in our bed, I’m locking you in the room downstairs.” He said as he sat back up, only to grab Buck, who had just removed most of his clothing in preparation to sleep, and tug him back down with him. 

He wasted no time getting close to the man. Buck didn’t hesitate to wrap him in a tight hug, either. Having him was the best thing that had ever happened to him. 

“Get some rest. He’ll behave, then we’ll get him home tomorrow.” Buck whispered as he squeezed Del a little tighter for reassurance. 

Del nodded against the man’s chest and closed his eyes. 

He awoke sometime around two in the morning, though he wasn’t exactly sure why. His instincts weren’t telling him that there was danger anywhere, but he still felt uneasy. Yawning, he slowly sat up and looked around the large room. 

Mina? 

It was a bit hard to see any specific details, considering how dark it was, but Del could tell that the guy had finally shifted back to his human form. 

He’s not asleep. 

He was sitting in the far corner with his arms wrapped around himself. 

“Mina?” Del whispered as he got out of bed, being careful not to wake Buck. 

Mina quickly ducked his head beneath his arms. 

He’s afraid of me? 

His lion hadn’t been worried about him at all earlier. 

Are they still two different entities? 

He knew that not all shifters automatically fused with their animals right away, and Mina was definitely a special case when it came to his shift. 

“Do you want to go home?” He asked as he calmly walked over to his dresser and pulled out a pair of loose pajama pants to tug on so that he was a little more decent. 

When he looked back over at Mina, his eyes had adjusted a bit more and he could see the guy’s wide eyes staring up at him. Thinking for a moment, he grabbed a slightly smaller pair of pajamas with some fabric ties in case they didn’t quite fit, and tossed them near Mina’s feet. 

“I’ll get you home. Don’t worry, Palace came by to make sure that I didn’t dare do anything to you.” 

When Mina didn’t move, Del sighed and took a few steps closer, then sat down in front of him. 

“Listen, I’m not sure what’s going on with your shift. I don’t know why you are following me around intentionally, and I’m not going to apologize for anything I did before. I will, however, not try to hurt you from here on. You can take my word for whatever you think it’s worth, but I haven’t hurt you at all tonight, so maybe just trust me to get you home so that you don’t have to sit here afraid all night?” 

Del waited for a response, but Mina just hugged himself a little tighter.

Wait a second. 

He narrowed his eyes on Mina’s hand and noticed that it was actually holding his arm to keep it from moving, not holding himself because he was afraid. 

“What are you doing?” He asked as he heard Buck begin to awaken behind him in bed. 

Before he could form another thought, Mina had his arms wrapped around him and was sitting in his lap. At first, Del began trying to push him off of him, but then he smelled something that confused him. 

What the heck is that scent? 

It tickled his nose just a little and drew his wolf’s attention. 

Without thinking, he nuzzled his nose against Mina’s neck and inhaled deeply. He could feel his heart-rate picking up quickly. He smells delicious. 

Del was just beginning to push Mina down against the carpet, a whole plethora of things running through his mind that he suddenly wanted to do to the poor guy, when he felt a strong hand settle on his shoulder. 

His mind instantly cleared when Buck gently tugged him away from Mina. 

“Calm down, Del.” Buck said as he helped him over to the bed and had him sit. 

He then turned to Mina, who had returned to the corner he had been sitting in. 

“For some reason, your animal side is attracted to him, and now your scent is beginning to bother him.” He said as he walked over and offered Mina a hand. 

“Let me take you home? Both of you need some time apart.” 

Del felt himself bristle at the idea of Buck taking Mina anywhere, but he forced the feelings aside and got himself beneath the blankets. It helped not to be able to see him, but the scent… it wouldn’t leave his nose. 

It was quiet for a short time before he finally heard Mina carefully stand up, then tug on the pair of pajama pants he’d offered him. His wolf flared in his mind with the idea that he was wearing something he owned, but Del shoved it back. 

He fought with himself to stay in bed as the two left. Thankfully, the scent completely cleared from his senses a little while later and he sighed with relief. 

I don’t know what the hell that was, but I need to stay the hell away from that guy. I hate the way he made me nearly lose control.

Control was something he valued more than most things he possessed, and he would not lose it for some broken lion mutt shifter.

A New Player

Mina awoke three times that evening after Buck had brought him home with Del’s scent in his nose and his hand between his legs. He forced himself to remove his hand and sit up, groaning as the discomfort in his groin grew. 

What the heck is wrong with me? And of all the people to be panting over! 

His lion didn’t seem to mind, though, as it was clearly still excited and very much interested in him continuing where he’d left off. 

You perverted midget. He grumbled as he glanced at his alarm clock as he got up. 

Way too early in the morning. Awesome. 

After grabbing a pair of clean pajama pants to change into, Mina made his way as quietly as possible to the bathroom. He tossed the pants on the counter and tugged off his current pair before turning the shower on as cold as it would go. 

I hate you, you horny cat. He growled to it in his mind as he stepped beneath the spray and hissed. 

Mina scrubbed his body red, making himself ignore the ache between his legs as he cooled down. Except, when he had finished cleaning himself completely, he was still fully, and uncomfortably, erect. 

Just ignore it. You are not touching yourself to the image of that ass. He told himself as he yanked open the curtain, only to see Palace leaning against the shut bathroom door with a bored expression on his face, arms crossed over his chest. 

“I want to kill you.” He said in an unemotional tone. 

Fidgeting awkwardly, Mina slowly tugged the lower half of the curtain closer in order to cover up his embarrassment, then replied in a quiet, squeaky tone. 

“Please don’t?” 

Palace leaned forward, eventually taking a step closer. Followed soon after by another. 

“Things would be so much easier on you if you weren’t alive. I know what you’re going through, and it only gets worse once someone terrible realizes what you are.” He said. “You aren’t strong enough to deal with it. It will destroy you.” 

Palace’s words had Mina’s already-erratic heartbeat jumping in his chest as his back pressed against the cold tile. 

I know someone terrible already, but I’m not sure exactly what he’s talking about. 

“And that would be?” He asked as Palace stopped on the shower rug not a foot in front of him. 

“You are a cross-shifter. Like a female, you have the necessary parts to give birth and you will go into heat like one, too.” 

I what? 

Palace was about to speak again when the door behind him opened and Jamie walked in. 

“Palace, I can feel your anxiety from our bedroom.” He said as his hand paused where it was  scratching his exposed belly. One of his eyebrows rose at Mina. 

“What exactly are you two doing in here?” He asked, frowning. 

“I was just going to kill him, for his own benefit.” Palace said without an ounce of hesitation. 

Jamie closed his eyes for a moment and sighed, then grabbed Palace’s shoulders from behind and turned him toward the door. 

“Go back to bed, please Pal. I’ll be there shortly.” He said, his voice clearly showing how tired he was. 

Palace hesitated for a few seconds, then scowled over his shoulder and stalked out of the room mumbling something about putting Mina out of his future misery. 

Once he was gone, Jamie quietly slid the door shut, then turned back to Mina with a small smile. 

“I’m sorry he’s like that. He had a terrible life and doesn’t understand that things can turn out differently for others.” He said as he grabbed a clean towel and offered it to Mina. 

“Once he understands that you don’t need his version of saving , he will be one of your most trusted acquaintances.” 

So I just need to prove to him that I shouldn’t die because my life might not be as horrible as his? Great. 

Licking his dry lips, Mina took the towel and hugged it against himself, burying his face in the soft fabric before quickly running it along his damp body to dry it. When he had finished, he wrapped the towel tightly around his waist, then finally stepped out of the shower. 

“Is what he said about me being some sort of cross-shifter true? I mean, my mother is a man, but I didn’t think that it could just pass down to me like that… and it hasn’t affected me until now.” Mina whispered, seemingly afraid that if he said it out loud, it would make his words true. 

Jamie ran a hand through his messy bed head and nodded. 

“Yeah. I can smell the pheromones you’re giving off, and while they won’t affect everyone, especially not family, they will begin attracting people.” 

Shaking his head, Mina sat down on the closed toilet seat lid and grabbed his head with his hands as he leaned forward. 

“I spoke to your mother and father about it as soon as you started to shift, and they actually sent me something for you.” He said before opening the door. 

“I’ll be back in just a moment.” He said before disappearing. 

He returned a minute later with a small collar of some sort. 

“This.” He said as he held out the item to Mina. “Will block your pheromones from causing problems.” 

Mina eyed the collar doubtfully, but took it and carefully fastened it around his neck. If it would work, he’d deal with having the little cat-like bell and awkward leather collar against his skin. 

“Now then, it will work for what I just explained, but it won’t help how you feel.” He said, drawing Mina’s lips down into a tired pout. 

“You’ll learn to control yourself better, but I’m going to guess that the reason you were over at your old workplace earlier was because you find yourself inexplicably attracted to Del for some reason?” 

Why can’t you not make sense? 

“I’ll take that look as a yes . I doubt that you, yourself, are interested in him, but your mother mentioned that sometimes it was his shift that pushed him toward his love.” He said, making Mina nearly gag. 

“That man probably can’t even spell that word, let alone speak it.” He replied. 

His words actually got a laugh out of Jamie as his uncle walked over and mussed up his damp hair. 

“I understand. That’s why I wanted to tell you that even if you might be able to fix your issue with your hand sometimes, you will likely need more intimate situations to really get rid of your heats.” He said, making Mina’s shoulders sag in defeat. 

I don’t want to sleep with him just because my underage alter-ego likes him! 

“Your mother suggested that if you don’t have anyone you like or trust enough for that kind of thing, to perhaps look into getting a significant other.” 

Mina felt his lion’s anger flare in the back of his mind at the idea of anyone besides Del. 

Oh shut it. All you’ve brought me so far has been problems, you little twerp. He growled at it, earning a grumble back in response. 

When he was able to get his focus back, he noticed that Jamie had the door open and was smiling softly at him. 

“Take care of yourself, Mina. If you need to talk about anything, Jared and I are here for you. Your parents also offered to help you if you’d like to call them.” 

Sighing, Mina nodded and stood up, glad that his body had finally relaxed a bit. 

“I’ll think about it.” He said before stepping past Jamie and out of the room. 

He hadn’t talked to his parents in a very long time, but it wasn’t really their fault. He’d always been a loner. Even staying with his uncles was bothering him. 

Maybe  it’s the cheetah half of me. I need to get out and clear my head… and teach my shift that he doesn’t get to control my libido. 

With that idea in mind, he walked back into the living room and tugged off his clean pajama pants, then went over to the sliding glass door leading to the back yard. He could hear Jamie stop behind him, but when the man didn’t say anything, he slid the door open and let his lion take over. 

It was more than eager to get moving through the yard. Mina thought that it might have trouble with the large privacy fence, but after a few humorous, failed attempts, it managed to wiggle its fuzzy butt over the top and drop unceremoniously down on the other side. 

Darn it. You’re a cat. Land on your feet! 

His lion just flicked an ear and stood up, then began bounding toward the forest behind his uncle’s property. It was no surprise seeing images of Del and the different landmarks on the way to his company his crazy shift had managed to memorize flash in his mind repeatedly as they ran.

He doesn’t want you. Why can’t you figure that out? 

His paws stopped after he leaped up onto a fallen tree and his nose lifted into the air. 

What are you looking for? No one is going to be out here so early in the morning. He told his lion, which decided to ignore him again, of course. 

It jumped down after swishing its tail a few times, then continued on its journey to nowhere, as far as Mina was concerned. Unsurprisingly, when they finally managed to get out of the forest, Del’s company was less than a block away. 

You are a persistent little shit.    

It purred in his mind as it started toward it, but Mina decided to finally try and get the darn brat to listen to him. With a lot more effort than he was used to putting into moving his own body, Mina forced the lion to walk the opposite way. 

It wasn’t happy, but he felt pretty smug until he found himself outside of a bustling bar. People were smoking leaning against the building while other groups chatted and drank. All eyes turned to him over the course of a minute, making him wonder if he really had gone the right way. 

Before he could react, he was scooped up into a very drunk, very horrible-smelling woman’s arms. Too tight. He thought as he squirmed, then was yanked from her grip and settled into a man’s arms like a football after only a few seconds. 

Let me go! He wanted to shout, but just managed to mew in frustration as he tried to bite the now-laughing man. 

“Alright, guys. Let the poor kid go.” A deep voice said as a new pair of hands gently took him from the unruly man. 

He was lifted up in front of an older man somewhere around thirties and hissed, letting his cheetah’s mohawk bristle. 

“Interesting little hybrid. You are out way past your bed time though, kiddo. It’s not safe.” He said as he settled him comfortably against his chest before ducking inside the bar. 

Too loud. 

His sensitive ears weren’t happy with the incredibly loud music and noise coming from the speakers and televisions around them and he quickly tucked his head closer against the man’s firm chest as he was carried down a set of stairs and through a couple sets of doors. 

“Better, kid?” He asked as he was finally set down on a chair cushion. 

The base and volume had definitely lessened, though he could easily hear people jumping around on the tiny dance floor above them or stomping their feet to the sports games playing. 

“Don’t worry about that, we won’t be open too late tonight.” He said as he leaned over and gently grasped Mina’s new collar between his fingers. 

“No tag on such a young kid?” 

Without really thinking, Mina dug his claws into the man’s arms, inciting a strange roar-bark from the man in response. It echoed so deeply in the room that it vibrated through his body stronger than the base above them. Needless to say, Mina released the man, his eyes wide and ears pinned back with worry. 

That didn’t sound like a normal wolf. Or dog. Or anything I know of. Del’s giant hybrid doesn’t even sound like that.

The man closed his eyes for a moment and took a few calming breaths, then opened them again.

“I understand that you’re really young and probably terrified, but please don’t do that again. I don’t have the best control over my other self.” He said before turning and walking over to the one door leading out of the room. 

“I still have work to do, but I’ll be back soon. Stay here and try to calm down. If you can’t shift back willingly yet, I’ll get you scanned for a chip at the local emergency vet after my shift.” He said as he ran one hand over his slightly bristled blackish-brown hair. 

Mina slowly lowered himself down on the chair cushion, relaxing slightly when the man nodded, then left. He didn’t want to wait for him to return, but he didn’t see any clothing sitting around in the small room that he could use if he even managed to shift. 

Guess I’m stuck for right now. 

He was glad that he had at least not gone to Del, but he wasn’t quite sure if his current situation was much better, though.

In This Game

(Racquetball knows that I don’t get her fetch ball while writing, so she brings me her tug blankets and looks all cute.) 

It had taken all of his effort to restrain his beast when that kid had dug his claws into his arms. He wasn’t sure why he always had such trouble controlling himself when his younger brother, who was also half bear and half dog, had no issues. He just felt like he was wired wrong sometimes and the simplest things caused his shift to run rampant. 

Shaking the thoughts from his head, Magnus headed back upstairs to help keep order in the rowdy bar that the owner was somehow trying to change into a nightclub. He wasn’t really the bouncer, either, but the guy who was supposed to take the current shift decided to get completely smashed before coming into work. They might serve alcohol, but that didn’t mean that it was okay to indulge before, or during, your shift. 

Taking his spot just outside the door, he put forth his best, not quite smile, and continued checking I.D.’s and keeping an eye on the patrons. By the time he was finished his shirt was covered in two different kinds of alcohol and he had a cut on the left side of his face. 

“You can head out, Magnus. Thank you for taking Jim’s spot tonight, again. I’m going to start looking for a new bouncer.” Tony, the owner, said. 

About damn time. 

He had been hired to buss, wait tables, and work on his bar-tending. Not check I.D.’s and throw people out because he tended to look dark and scary. 

He was just clocking out to head home when he remembered the little kid he’d found outside earlier.  Wonder if he’s shifted yet. He thought as he headed downstairs and unlocked the door to Tony’s office. The guy never minded if he used it to decompress. Tonight, though, he’d found a different use for it. Holding the kid so that it didn’t get hurt or lost. 

When he swung the door open, he was relieved to see that the little lion mix was still there. It had clearly wandered around a bit, and knocked over a few small stacks of paper, but there didn’t seem to be any harm done. 

“Hey there, kid. Sorry it took me so long to come back. Work was hell, as usual.” He said as he knelt down on one knee to pick up the cub as it ran over. 

It tried to actually go past him, but Magnus wasn’t interested in playing chase after a long night shift. He noticed the little brat flex its claws when he caught it and gave a quiet warning growl as he stood and flicked the lights off in the room. 

“Don’t, kid. I don’t want to hurt you.” He said as he shifted his grip on the cub so that, hopefully, it didn’t feel as threatened. It put the kid’s claws closer to his neck, but it seemed to relax a little bit being held with just one hand for support. 

After grabbing his coat and swinging it over his opposite shoulder, Mangus gave the kitten a slight grin and started heading back up the stairs. He could feel its claws poke little holes in his damp shirt after a few moments as it adjusted, but he didn’t mind. He planned to burn the beer-drenched thing anyway. 

“I still can’t believe you don’t have a tag on your collar.” He mused as he headed out the front door into a light drizzle, then walked around to the back of the building where he had parked. 

Setting the kid on the passenger’s seat, he slid into the driver’s side and got them headed down the street to the emergency vet. 

“Glad they’re close. Let’s get you checked for a chip and headed home.” He said as he picked him back up and headed inside. 

He had to ring the bell at the front desk a few times before a very sleepy older woman came out of the back area. 

“Good morning, sir. How can I help you?” She asked. 

Magnus lifted the little squirming cub. “Needs scanned. I found him wandering around near my work a few hours ago.”

The woman nodded and grabbed a scanner that was clearly kept behind the front desk for such a purpose, then walked around to his side to run the device over the cub’s body. It only took a second for the machine to beep, indicating that it had found a chip. The information appeared on the little screen a moment later, allowing the vet to input it into her computer. 

“Here he is. His name is Mina and his parents are registered as Aaron and Rylan Leo.” She said, then continued reading. 

“Oh?” She mumbled, her voice quiet as if she were surprised by something she hadn’t thought would be on his information. 

Magnus tried to look over the counter at the screen, but it was tilted to far to the side to see anything. 

“What’s up?” He asked as he tightened his grip a little bit on the cub since it was starting to squirm. 

The woman looked up and frowned. “He isn’t actually as young as he appears and he isn’t recorded as being a shifter. This must be something new to him. He has a do not contact order on his record for emergency contacts, so he’s definitely over the age of eighteen.” She said, shocking Magnus as he looked down at the cub in his arms. 

“You’re kidding me? There’s no way this little guy is that old.” He said, earning a hiss from the cub almost immediately after he’d spoken. 

The woman walked back around the counter and reached out for the cub. Magnus was hesitant, but handed him over. She gently set him down on the floor and smiled. 

“Hello there, can you understand us, sweetheart?” She asked the cub, who had already begun turning toward the door. 

It paused and turned back toward them, sitting down and twitching its whiskers in response. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Mina. We do apologize for this misunderstanding. Can you shift back at will, by chance, or this a new situation for you?” She asked, earning a quick shake of the cub’s head in response to her question. 

He turned back toward the glass double doors and walked over, pawing at one and looking at them. 

“I don’t like the idea of just letting him walk around like that. Especially so late at night.” Magnus said as he walked over to Mina and reached down, only to get swiped at. 

The vet chuckled a little and knelt in front of Mina. 

“Is there no one we can call to come get you? He is right. It is quite dangerous to walk around at night by yourself appearing so young.” She said. 

When Mina shook his head and just pawed at the door again, Magnus huffed and looked at the vet. She frowned, but shook her head. 

“He’s an adult. We can’t just hold him here because his shift hasn’t aged yet.” She said as she stood up. 

I don’t like it. 

He knew that they didn’t have a choice, though. Grudgingly, he pushed the door open, but as soon as Mina began bounding off down the street, he growled and followed. 

Fast little shit. 

They ran nearly four blocks before the cub slowed down to a brisk walk, its little pink tongue flicking in and out of its mouth as it tried to catch its breath. 

Where are you going, brat? 

When the thing finally stopped in front of a giant building and began to mew, Magnus ran his hand over his face and groaned. 

“Of all the places for you to go.” He said at the same time the front door to the building slowly slid open and Buck walked out 

Not someone I wanted to see right now. 

Mina tried to squeeze through the opening he left, but was picked up before he could even get inside by another person. 

Del. Fuck my luck… and Mina’s. 

“Magnus?” Del said as he nonchalantly held the purring cub to his chest. 

He’s fucking purring? Not trying to slash his face apart? 

“We didn’t order a capture. What are you doing here, Magnus?” Buck asked, then glanced sideways at Del before returning narrowed eyes to him. 

“And with Mina.” 

Magnus reigned in his beast, which was so close to breaking free his skin was itching and burning.

“I found him wandering in that form outside of my work.” Magnus said, switching his attention back and forth from Buck, Del and Mina. 

“Why isn’t he attacking you? All he does is try to scratch me and grumble when I pick him up.” He said, getting an eye roll from Del and a smirk from Buck in response. 

Am I missing something? 

“His shift loves me.” Del said, making Mangus’s mouth drop open. 

Buck chuckled and stepped forward, standing nearly toe to toe with him. 

“We’ll take care of him from here. Go home, Magnus. You look very stressed.” 

He wanted to. He really did. His own shift was on even footing with Del’s aggressive wolf hybrid, possibly even worse considering his control over it, but Magnus couldn’t find it in himself to move. 

Buck sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, submitting to him, just enough to allow Magnus to calm down and hold himself back from doing anything rash. 

“We know who he is staying with and while we did not want him around us any longer, he tends to just track down Del when in his shift form.” Buck said. 

“He doesn’t smell like he had before.” Del added as he nuzzled his nose into the fur on top of Mina’s head, making his kitten wiggle with happiness. “I can actually think straight.” 

Magnus and Buck both looked over at them before Del and Buck returned their focus to him. 

“I will give you a ride back to your car.” Buck said as he stepped past him, then glanced over his shoulder, waiting. 

He didn’t want to just leave the kid. Adult. Whatever the hell he was. He was a retriever for Del, and he knew what the man did. Mina wasn’t safe with him. 

Fatal attraction. 

Instead of trying to argue, Del just walked past him, gesturing for him and Buck to follow. Magnus did, but stayed back a few feet, not trusting the man he’d known for years. For good reason. 

they ended up walking several blocks to the wooded area at the edge of town. Del set Mina down on a fallen tree and began removing his clothing. The little lion mix seemed ultra focused on each new bit of flesh exposed by the man’s stripping. 

This cub… is a pervert. 

“Change, Mangus.” Buck said, drawing his attention sideways to the man as he tugged his shirt over his head. His eyes narrowed on his well-muscled body. His mouth watered at just the thought of biting into the deer shifter’s flesh. 

A deep rumbling sound brought his attention back to Del, who had completed his shift and now stood staring at them, panting heavily as the little cub scrambled up onto his back. 

I’ve never seen something so absurd. He’s letting that little thing climb all over him. 

A deer-like snort to his left took his attention back immediately. Buck stood naked, but was clearly not embarrassed in the least. Fur was slowly slipping free of his skin in several places, making Magnus’s heart-rate sky rocket. 

“You need a chase.” Buck said, his voice rough as he tried to hold his animal back for a few more seconds. 

They had done such a thing with him before. He was their best retriever and often got the dangerous jobs, but it always came with a price. His shift was uncontrollable unless he let it run rampant several times a month. But rampant was dangerous, especially being so close to a city. That’s where Del and Buck came in. 

Del kept him from getting out of the forest… and Buck. Buck gave him a target to hunt. 

“You’ve never managed to catch me before. How about giving it another shot, Maggy?” 

The nickname set him off. Buck had to start running mid-transition to keep from getting three inch claws stuck in his back. All thoughts left his mind besides catching the animal trying to bolt away from him. 

His body completed its shift in seconds, leaving a tall, muscular, but somewhat thin and shaggy bear-dog in its place. He went crashing through the forest with little care to the small scratches and nicks he was getting from branches and thorn bushes in his way. 

He could hear Del behind him, but the man kept a reasonable distance. Magnus knew that he was only there to keep him in the forest, and also to likely protect his friend, if he actually managed to catch the bastard. 

Pushing his animal harder, Magnus began gaining on Buck. Drool was dripping from his jowls as they thundered through the underbrush. It was odd to be getting closer to the deer who always easily outran him… or at least out-lasted him. Yet, he was nearly ten feet from it and still gaining. 

The possibility that he might actually catch his prey made his bear-dog push itself even harder, eventually getting just close enough to snag one of Buck’s back legs. His deer tripped, then stumbled into a large layer of leaves that covered the forest floor. He followed it, lunging the moment it began skidding to a stop near a large oak tree. 

Finally. Mine. 

His jaws would have snapped closed over Buck’s throat if Del’s giant wolf hadn’t slammed into his side and sent him flying into two smaller trees, one of them snapping from the force and his weight. 

He was back on his feet in seconds, but the chase had ended. Del stood over his friend, who had shifted back and was slowly pushing himself up into a sitting position. 

Magnus’s bear-dog still wanted to kill and crept closer. Del bared his wolf’s teeth and Buck stood, limping slightly from a possible injury. 

Injured prey. Easy prey. 

He shifted back to his human form but allowed his claws to remain as he zeroed in on Buck. The man stood tall, even with his hurt leg. The smell of blood in the air made Mangus’s tongue swipe over his lips as he stalked forward. 

To his surprise, Del stepped out of the way, holding Mina easily in one arm. Given the opportunity, Magnus snarled and began to raise his hand to attack, but never got the chance. 

Something hard connected with the side of his face, the force of it dropping him like a pile of bricks to the forest floor. His vision wavered, showing a blurry Del glancing down at him without much concern. Buck soon stepped close enough for Magnus to see. He was shaking his hand. 

“His head is like punching a rock.” He grumbled, getting a faint laugh from Del before he turned and began walking away. 

Buck stayed for a few moments more, but then turned and followed after Del. 

Everything faded to darkness not long afterward, much to Magnus’s relief. His beast couldn’t go crazy if it wasn’t conscious. It wasn’t happy with getting so close, yet still losing its prey, though. 

Next time. He told it before closing his eyes and letting the world slip away for a while.

So You Think

(Took almost an hour to eat breakfast. Everyone wanted to pet Pepperjack lol) 

He hadn’t meant to fall asleep. Actually, he hadn’t meant to try to track down Del, or mess with that scary guy from the club. I don’t want any of this. Mina whined in his head as he began to awaken. It was obvious by the strong scents that he was in the bed Del and Buck shared. 

As soon as his stiff limbs began to obey him, he pushed himself up, fighting with the heavy blanket until he was able to throw it back and take a gasp of fresh air. Panting quietly, Mina looked around the room, squinting slightly when he glanced out of the slanted window above the bed. 

It’s morning. God, I slept with him all night. 

He was just moving to climb out of the big bed when he felt a strong arm wrap around his waist and pull him backward against a hard chest that was partially covered by the blanket. Without thinking Mina squeaked out a growl, drawing a deep chuckle from Del. 

Tilting his head back, Mina bared his teeth up at him as he looked down, having scooted back a bit to sit up. 

“Good morning, kitten. Shouldn’t you be singing my praise for not locking you in the crate all night for annoying me, again?” Del asked, a smirk on his face as he lifted his eyebrows sarcastically. 

“Lock me in the damn crate next time my idiot shift decides to find you.” He said, elbowing Del in the side so that he could sit back up. 

Before he could move any further he felt a big hand ruffling his already-messy mop of hair and huffed, sending a glare over his shoulder. 

“Your kitten is so much nicer than you. It was ogling me while I was stripping in the forest. It knew what it wanted.” He said, drawing a chuckle from the man who had been sleeping beside him. 

Seemingly spurred on by the laugh, Del grinned and began moving toward Mina, the action making the blanket slip from where it had been settled around his belly. 

No. Nope! Mina thought as he scrambled from the bed, stumbling right onto the carpet before his lion abruptly took over. 

No! No, let me switch back! This isn’t fair! 

His kitten immediately tried to run right into Del’s arms, but Mina focused as hard as he could and managed to stop himself after taking three restrained steps forward. 

He is not going to be our mate! He’s a horrible person. Wake up you stupid cat! He yelled at his shift, who just sent a hiss through his mind as it fought him harshly for control. 

“Oh? Looks like you can finally resist him a little?” Del said as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and leaned forward, reaching out a hand. 

“Come here, Claws. You know you want me.” He teased. 

Of course, Mina’s kitten didn’t care in the least that he was intentionally being goaded. He loved that Del wanted to offer him any kind of attention. His minuscule control slipped in seconds as his lion gleefully bounded up into Del’s arms. 

“Del, why do you torture that poor boy?” Buck asked as he finally rolled over at the same time Del turned toward him, crossing his legs on the bed. 

He shrugged, holding Mina’s kitten up with a grin. “I don’t know. If I have to deal with his little fuzzy self stalking me all the time, I might as well have fun with his human form, right?” He said as he noticed Mina’s eyes glaring at him through his lion’s. 

Buck sighed and shook his head before getting out of bed and nodding toward the bathroom. 

“Go shower. You two snuggling together all night got you sweaty.” He said as he began tugging on a pair of dress pants. “I’ll take care of things for a while.” 

You do smell, and my lion loves it for some reason. Go wash. Mina thought. 

Del frowned at Buck’s words, but knew that he did smell a bit. 

“Not my fault this guy was like a literal furnace beneath my blanket.” He said as he got out of bed, but refused to let go of Mina’s kitten. 

Wait. 

When he started for the bathroom with him still in his arms, Mina wrested control of his lion back and began struggling. 

“Nope. You need a shower, too. If any of us smell, you’re definitely the worst.” Del said as he quickly shut the bathroom door, then let Mina’s kitten drop to the floor in a heap of scrambling paws. 

The second he managed to get his legs beneath him again, Mina turned toward the door and began clawing the piss out of it. He wanted nothing to do with Del, and especially nothing to do with seeing his anatomy again! 

“You really are trying my patience already, Claws.” Del said as he came up behind Mina and scruffed him with one hand, turning and lifting him high enough for him to see the man’s frustrated scowl. 

Let me go! 

His thought accompanied flailing paws with claws that he tried to catch in Del’s hand. The guy was smart, though, and remembered his habit for stabbing him with his tiny daggers. 

Instead of drawing blood, Mina was tossed into the cold shower as Del laughed and slid the glass barrier closed before he could scramble out. 

You are a monster!

“Maybe you’ll learn to stay away from me from now on.” Del said as he stood on the slightly raised ledge of the outer part of the shower and reached over the top. 

Don’t you even think about it. Mina thought as he backed up as far as he could to get away from the water. 

Del’s hand wrapped around the removable showerhead and tilted it at him with a dark grin. Mina scrambled around the small enclosed space, but couldn’t get out of the spray for more than a second here or there. He slipped on the slick tile several times, too, earning himself a few bumps and bruises before the water finally stopped. 

So cold. 

He hunched over in the back corner as his tiny body shook from the frigid water and stress. His lion had finally relinquished control, but only because it wanted to stay warm. It even seemed like it was mad at him for making Del upset enough to spray them with cold water. 

I hate you both so much. He thought as his body slowly returned back to his human form. 

As soon as he could, Mina scooted further into the corner and brought his knees up to hug them closer. He knew that he should grab a towel and dry off his shaking body, but he didn’t want to be any closer to Del. 

He barely noticed that the guy had already left the bathroom, and didn’t even look up until he heard the door open and someone walk in. 

Buck? 

The deer shifter’s appearance was blurry through the frosted glass of the shower, but it didn’t stop Mina from hissing when he got closer. At least his lion wasn’t obsessed with him, too.

When the glass door slid open, he didn’t even try to move. His muscles were beginning to ache from shivering so hard and he wanted nothing to do with Buck. 

The moment a heavy towel settled over his head Mina finally made his body move enough to grab it and hold it tightly around himself. It was hot, as if it had just been sent through the dryer. 

Del hadn’t been gone long enough for Buck to know that he needed to warm up towels for me…

“I’m sorry, Mina.” He said as he added a second towel and began gently drying his cold hair. “He told me what he was going to do before he did it. His mind was set, but that gave me the chance to at least warm up some towels for you.” He said, making Mina sniffle and sink down into the towels. 

 That barely made up for the torture he’d just had to undergo. Buck seemed to be able to tell that he wasn’t buying his terrible excuse, because the man gave a quiet chuckle and stood back up, then stepped aside to reveal something sitting on the sink counter. 

Clothing? 

“He figured that your lion might find him again, so we went and got you some clothing for when you shifted back. We weren’t quite positive on your size, but they should at least be decently comfortable.” He said before giving a dismissing nod and stepping out the door, closing it behind himself with a quiet click . 

When he was sure that Buck wasn’t coming back, Mina leaned his head back against the cold tile and sighed. He was grateful for the towels, but they didn’t calm his erratic heartbeat or tamp down his fear of Del. The man might have thought that spraying him with the cold water was funny, but when he stretched that activity out for several minutes, it became torture. 

Shivering again, he finally pushed himself up on shaky legs, wincing when he felt a few bruises throb uncomfortably on them. There was also one on his left cheek, but he ignored them all as he stepped out of the shower and slowly finished drying himself off. 

When he let the cooled towels finally slide to the floor, his attention turned toward the sink. He briefly caught his reflection in the mirror and pursed his lips. His eyes had black streaks underneath them and the bruise on his cheek was starting to make itself known. 

You need to get over him. He’s going to kill us, even if it might be by accident. He told his kitten, who, for once, had no real rebuttal. It hadn’t expected Del to do what he had, and it was very much not a fan of water. 

Sighing, he looked down at the clothing they’d gotten him. He really didn’t want to put it on, but he couldn’t exactly walk out of the building butt naked. Shifting back to his lion was also not going to happen… even if he could do it intentionally. 

Grabbing the pair of boxers, he unfolded them, shook them once, then tugged them on. The elastic in the waistband had them fitting snugly on his hips.  the pair of light grey sweatpants he noticed next did look comfy… He tugged the tag off and slid them on, grinning as the soft fabric warmed his chilled skin. 

They were a bit long, but thankfully not to the point of tripping him. The shirt was last, and was white with a simple cartoon image of a grumpy lion cub on the front. 

You would. 

Rolling his eyes, he pulled it over his head and looked back in the mirror. 

Not terrible. 

After trying and failing to flatten his messy hair a bit, then relieving himself and washing his hands, Mina stepped out of the bathroom. He wasn’t surprised to see Del sitting on the bed, but he was surprised to see that his hair was wet and he’d changed clothes. 

He used a different shower? 

His eyes lifted from the phone he’d been staring at to meet Mina’s. They were cold, but their normal predatory gleam was dimmed. 

Mina didn’t expect an apology as they stared at each other, and he didn’t get one. 

When Del silently got up and slid his phone into his pocket, then headed for the door, Mina waited a few moments, then slowly followed. He kept a decent distance until they got to the elevator, then paused altogether. 

Del stepped inside, then turned to raise an eyebrow at him. 

Not happening. 

Mina glared and took a step backward. He’d wait. 

He saw anger flash in the man’s dark eyes, but he seemed to reign it in, because instead of charging off of the elevator, which he was having to keep the doors open with the red stop  button, he stepped closer to the side near the panel and gestured for him to stand on the other side with a nod of his head. 

After a brief argument with himself, Mina slowly walked over the threshold and moved to the back corner, facing Del. He was still second guessing himself when the doors finally slid closed and Del turned to face him with his hands in his front pockets. 

Several floors past before he finally spoke. 

“Does that cat of yours hate me now?” He asked quietly. 

Mina pursed his lips as he thought about it. He wanted it to hate him, more than anything, but it was just confused and a little wary. 

“No.” 

Before he could do more than yelp from surprise, Del had pressed the emergency stop and was shoe to toe with him, his right hand lifting toward his bruised cheek as he leaned on his other arm against the sleek steel wall over his head. Their position might have seemed hot to someone reading a romance novel, but Mina would bet what little money he had left that the main lead in that story wouldn’t be growing claws from his fingertips as his eyes flashed a golden-red.

Even his lion cowered back in his mind, leaving Mina trying hard not to shake as he felt Del’s hand settle roughly against his cheek. The sharp claw on his thumb pressed just beneath his left eye, making Mina’s breath hitch as he tried to lean further into the corner. 

“You are a very frustrating inconvenience.” Del growled, his beastly rumble easily coming through his human mouth. 

With a shaky hand, Mina carefully but slowly reached behind his own neck and fumbled with the clasp on his collar. He still didn’t quite understand how it worked, if it did at all, but the look in Del’s eyes was definitely not a good one. 

He’s going to kill me. 

His fingers became frantic when the man’s lips pulled back slowly into a feral smile with sharpening teeth. Right as Del began to lean in closer, a low, echoing growl coming from his snarling mouth, Mina managed to finally break the clasp on his necklace. It dropped to the floor with a tiny clink  from the bell. 

He tried desperately to control his breathing as Del paused, likely because of the necklace randomly falling more than anything else, but then Mina noticed the changes begin to occur. 

His teeth slowly started to retract at the same time his claws shrunk back. Mina felt his held breath slowly exhale as Del’s eyes faded back to their normal hue. 

Thank god. He thought as he slowly slid down the wall until he was sitting on the hard floor. He let his eyes close as he began focusing on calming himself down, but right as he was finally starting to relax a tiny bit, he felt a puff of warm breath brush against his face. The sound of several quick sniffs right afterward had his eyes opening quickly.

“Del?” He whispered, shrinking back a little as the man, who had silently crouched in front of him , leaned in closer and took a deep breath, undoubtedly drawing in his scent. 

Mina licked his lips nervously and darted a glance around Del. The elevator was clearly no longer moving, but he couldn’t just sit still while the guy did… whatever the hell he was planning to do. 

With the rest of what remained of his determination, Mina darted to the left, ducking under Del’s arm. He was surprised that he actually managed the action, but he wasn’t even able to get both of his feet under him to stand up before he was spun around and his back was slammed down against the hard floor. 

The impact made his head pulse with pain, but he was able to push back the few black dots that danced before his vision. Blinking a couple times, he saw Del’s blurry image come back into focus. His beast was back in his eyes, but the aggression from before wasn’t. 

I don’t understand. 

Del actually looked a little confused, too, but that didn’t stop him from pinning both of Mina’s wrists to either side of his head with a quiet growl, then leaning down to claim his mouth.

Heartbeats and Head Pats

His heart was pounding hard in his chest as he tried to turn his head away to break the rough kiss. Their bodies were pressed together in several places where most of Del’s weight was resting on him. 

Mina’s wrists had been freed in order to allow Del’s hands to start slipping beneath his shirt and dig fingers through his hair. He did his best to try and push him off, but the man’s weight was too much to move. 

A particularly sharp bite to his bottom lip had Mina hissing and snapping back at him with his own teeth. Del leaned back in time to dodge the little nip easily, then redirected to his neck as his left hand slid between the waistband of Mina’s sweatpants. 

Del’s cellphone began chiming around them as things got more heated, but it didn’t seem to make him do more than pause for a second before disregarding it. Mina continuously tried to squirm away from his determined hand and even grabbed it with both of his own, fighting to keep him from redirecting into his boxers and heading south. 

This was not my best idea! 

He felt teeth beginning to nibble at his neck and shivered before sinking his own into Del’s warm skin. He wasn’t sure exactly what that action would accomplish, but when Del started to lean back, retracting his hand from his pants, Mina sighed with relief and let his head drop back down to the floor. 

Dress shoes suddenly appeared to his left right before Del’s beast ripped free of his human skin and began trying to maul Buck. Mina scrambled to the back of the elevator as the two large animals bolted down the long hallway outside of it. Wide-eyed, he watched Del’s giant wolf try to murder Buck’s deer, but it seemed almost too lost in the fight to really react well. Buck was dodging decently enough, and even deflected several attacks with his large set of antlers. 

It was impressive to see him able to hold his own against Del, especially since he was out of control and just attacking wildly. From the corner of his eye Mina noticed his collar lying on the floor by his foot and hurriedly grabbed it. The clasp was broken, but he fumbled with it for a moment and wrapped it around his neck anyways, holding it in place. 

He hadn’t realized how badly he was shaking holding himself in a sitting position with his right arm as his left held the necklace on. I should make the elevator move again. Maybe that will calm him down. He thought as he tried to get up, but his legs refused to lift his weight. 

Del scored a decent hit with one of his claws across Buck’s muscular shoulder, making the deer snort and swing its head, connecting its heavy antlers with Del’s side, surprisingly sending him flying a few feet into a wall. 

The giant wolf shook off the hit with a grunt, but before either of them could react again, Magnus appeared from the stairwell area toward the back of the hall, panting heavily as he leaned over, hands on his knees. 

“Jesus. Christ. That is a serious workout.” He rasped, drawing both Del and Buck’s attention before Del’s giant wolf started for him. Buck tried to distract him, but Magnus didn’t seem worried. In fact, he simply rolled his eyes and grumbled as he yanked his shirt off. “Guess you finally get to beat up this dick today, chubby. Have at.” 

Before the fabric even hit the floor his bear-dog was tearing through his flesh and met Del’s wolf head on. Mina hadn’t thought that he’d be able to do anything considering he was a little smaller, but when Magnus got up on his back legs and dug his claws into Del’s furry back, then swung him one way, then abruptly the other, he felt his jaw drop. Del’s huge wolf slammed into the carpeted floor hard. 

He was thrashing his wings as he tried to stand back up, but Magnus wasn’t having any of it. His big shift hobbled up onto Del’s chest and sat down, then leaned over so that his dagger-like claws settled at the base of the wolf’s neck. 

Self preservation seemed to kick in right then, because Del’s wolf actually stopped struggling. It’s teeth were still bared, but it was clear that he’d do more damage to himself than Magnus if he tried to fight anymore. 

His bear-dog is surprisingly calm for how tense this situation is. 

Magnus remained sitting on Del’s chest until his wolf finally shifted, allowing his human form to take over again. He was still clearly riled up, but when his head turned on the carpet to look down the hall at him, Mina felt his heart hurt a little. Del looked exhausted and stressed out. 

Swallowing, Mina finally got himself to his feet as he kept a tight grip on his necklace, not daring to let it slip from around his throat. Magnus shifted after another minute, though it was clear that his bear-dog had been contemplating trying for Buck with a few glances. 

“You morons are lucky I just ate my weight in burgers.” He grumbled as he got off of Del and then looked up at Buck, then further back toward Mina. 

That was the moment that Mina realized that he just couldn’t do it anymore. He stumbled over to the emergency stop button that Del had pushed a while ago and smacked it with his free hand. The doors quickly closed, then he sank back to the floor with a groan. His body still hummed with terror, but there was also something else there. Something that he didn’t dare try to think about. He’d liked it when Del had gotten a hold of him. 

He tried to shake off the idea, blaming his lion for the emotions, but he couldn’t argue that he almost hadn’t tried to stop him when he’d slipped his hand into his sweatpants. 

Love in an elevator… not exactly the song I thought I’d ever reenact. 

He laughed at the dull humor, though it sounded more like a whimper, then stood up as the elevator stopped on the first floor. There was no doubt in his mind that he looked like he’d almost just been ravaged, but he really didn’t care right then. 

Time to get the heck home and tie myself to something so my darn kitten can’t get me beneath him again. 

“Oh come on!” Knight said as he stared down at the plate of food Jared had made for him. 

Well, it hadn’t really been made for him, so much as he had asked to have whatever little bit of extra the man had made that he didn’t want. He hadn’t wanted to hunt again so soon, but Jared had failed to mention that it was all vegetables. 

What lion eats vegetables? He grumbled to himself as he poked at the pan fried zucchini and onions. There was also shaved carrots and mushrooms in it, but even with the thick garlic and butter sauce on them, they didn’t look like anything he wanted to put in his mouth. 

I just want to eat his darn tubesteak. That would definitely fill me up. 

The thought had him licking his lips as his stomach growled at the mental image. When his eyes cut over from where he sat at the dining room table to where Jared was sitting in the recliner eating and reading a book, he pursed his lips and scowled. 

“Your horny emotions are making it impossible to enjoy my meal.” Jared grumbled, glaring over at him. 

He couldn’t help it! He’d gotten pretty good at keeping his mouth shut and not pressing him for attention, but it was hard living with him and not being able to do much more than stare. 

Can’t even jerk off to you cause you can read my thoughts unless I focus like hell. He thought to himself, frustrated. 

Jared glanced over at him, his eyes narrowed slightly. 

Knight stuck his tongue at him, then grumbled as he forced himself to take a few bites of the food. He paused on his second bite, chewing slowly to actually taste the flavors. It was odd. He’d eaten more mice, rats, and fish than anything else in his life, yet the vegetables in his mouth actually tasted somewhat good. 

A slight smile tilted his lips as he took another bite of the vegetable mixture and leaned back, chewing quietly. Before he knew it he had the plate empty and was scraping his fork in the sauce to lick at it. 

That was really good. He hadn’t really meant to send the thought, but he hadn’t tried to hold it back from being read, either. It had been delicious. Before he could get up to take his empty plate to the sink, and do the dishes since they were getting close to growing things on them, a small portion of vegetables were slipped onto his plate. 

Looking up, Knight saw Jared beside him, scraping what he hadn’t finished onto his plate. When he had emptied it, he started turning to take his plate to the sink, but Knight quickly grabbed it out of his hands and ran his tongue along the remaining creamy sauce still left on the dish. 

Jared raised an eyebrow at him and started to scowl, but Knight just fidgeted and looked down, licking at the plate again. He hadn’t meant to seem like he was being perverted. He just really liked the sauce and didn’t want it wasted. He cleaned the plate with a few more licks, then ran his tongue over his lips, doing his best not to look back up at Jared. 

Why hasn’t he moved yet? 

Feeling a hand settle on his hair abruptly made Knight tense, but when pain didn’t follow, and he didn’t get a reprimand, either, he hesitantly glanced up. Jared was already turning away by the time he was able to see him, making Knight frown and turn back to his food with much less enthusiasm than before. 

 He had no idea why Jared had pat his head. It bothered him as he worked on cleaning up the rest of the remaining vegetables on his plate, then licking up the last of the sauce. He’d been so focused on his thoughts that when he brought his dish to the kitchen and Jared just took it to begin washing, he blinked, surprised. 

He did all the dishes already? 

Knight hadn’t even noticed that the water had been running. 

“Um, thanks.” He mumbled awkwardly as Jared cleaned his plate quickly, then set it with the others on the draining wrack. 

When he shut the water off and began drying his hands on a small towel, Knight quickly turned around, intent on being out of his sight, since he seemed to prefer that more times than not. He was just stepping toward the door when he felt warm fingers lightly grasp his wrist. He could have easily pulled away, but he wouldn’t dare. Jared was actually touching him on purpose. 

Swallowing nervously, he slowly turned around, curious but hesitant. When Jared didn’t say anything, he fidgeted and looked down at his bare feet. There was silence for several moments before he felt Jared’s other hand settle on top of his head. It rustled his hair slightly, then his wrist was released and Jared walked past him, leaving Knight standing there, wide-eyes and shocked. 

He actually touched me on purpose, and without a disgusted look.   

Knight felt like he was flying higher than he ever had as he walked out of the kitchen to go fold clothing in the laundry room. He might have been smiling like a fool, too, but he couldn’t help himself.

Into the Lion’s Den

Leaning back in his office chair, Del glared at the clock above the door. His heart still hadn’t managed to calm down completely and his fingers twitched every few moments with the memories his mind refused to quell. 

Buck walked in on the phone but ended the call after a few moments. “I took care of the three hunts for the day. We made great money and there were no issues.” He said as he pocketed his phone and walked behind Del’s desk to start massaging his tense muscles. 

“That feels like hell… and heaven.” Del groaned, drawing a chuckle from Buck as his office door opened again. 

Magnus walked in, immediately making Del lean forward with a lifted eyebrow. He hadn’t expected the guy to stick around. 

“That kid smelled like a damn bacon cheese burger. I’ve never seen someone with such a powerful heat.” He said, seemingly licking his lips at just the thought. 

Del felt his jaw tense as his heart rate picked up, but he shoved aside the feelings as he felt Buck’s hand squeeze his shoulders gently. “Perhaps it’s time to stop trying to get around this situation and meet with Mina to figure things out?” He asked. 

Figure what out? That he smells like a fucking buffet I want to shove my dick inside repeatedly? He thought to Buck, making the man bite back a laugh. 

“You know that’s not exactly what I meant.” Buck said, making Del lean back a little further in his chair so that he could roll his eyes at him. 

“Well, I suppose that is kind of what I meant. Perhaps you two can find ways to enjoy each others’ company. You’ll probably be able to get rid of some stress, and he’ll possibly manage to sate his awkward little shift.” 

Magnus dropped down into one of the two chairs opposite Del’s desk and crossed one of his ankle’s over the opposite knee. 

“I wouldn’t mind enjoying some company tonight…” He drawled, his eyes narrowing on Buck. 

Del let out a quiet warning growl, making Magnus lift his hands with a grin. “I wouldn’t eat him that way. I can behave myself if I’m full.” He said with a wink. 

The feelings he sensed from Buck were unimpressed. He wasn’t one to care about anyone besides the two of them. Magnus was a colleague, and a bit closer than others, but Buck was clearly not interested in getting close to the man in such a way. 

Deciding to push the situation forward, Del sighed and focused his attention on Magnus. “I have a new retrieval for you.” He said, making the man grunt. “That kid? No thanks. Something tells me that he isn’t a hunt target, and I don’t want to get my hands dirty kidnapping something that might end up living to tell about it. Not to mention that I was already seen with his kitten form by several people.” 

Growling louder, Del pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut. 

Buck gave his shoulder another squeeze before walking around the desk to slide onto the thick armrest of the wing chair Magnus was sitting in. It didn’t take the guy but a second to reach around Buck’s waist and tug the man down into this lap. They were both well built and could probably stand on even ground in a fight. 

You don’t have to do this, Buck. I have other retrievers. Del thought to the man, clearly unhappy with him acting before talking to him about it. 

He watched Magnus sniff Buck like a dog smelling a delicious steak. The man was even panting a little as he ran his nose along Buck’s side, ending with a few rapid inhales at the crook of his neck. 

I can handle him, Del. He’s our best retriever, and if you plan to keep Mina alive for any amount of time after taking him, we need a retriever who won’t be seen. Buck thought to him, making Del sigh out a frustrated growl. 

Watching him sniff you like a mutt is not helping my stress.  

Buck gave him a small smile before turning his head and leaning over to nuzzle his nose into Magnus’s hair. “I’ll play with you when you bring Mina back here, deal?” He asked, a hint of a rasp to his words. 

There was clear hesitation in Magnus’s eyes as they looked up to meet Del’s. 

“Fuck you both if this shit blows up in my face.” He growled before standing, bringing Buck to his feet with ease, too. 

When Buck turned to face him, Magnus bared his teeth and ran a hand through his shaggy black hair. “And I’m going to fuck you into next year. Don’t you dare try to run.” He said before turning and stalking out the door with determination. 

Magnus took the steps to try and run off some of his excess energy from being so close to that damned deer. He knew that Buck was playing him, but he hadn’t been able to say no because of the slim possible piece of shit chance that he’d hold true to at least part of that unspoken promise. 

Licking his lips, Magnus slid into his small, inconspicuous black Honda Civic and headed for the guy’s neighborhood. He parked at a 24-hour Wal-Mart, then got out after slipping a small force-change pill into his pocket. He checked his phone for the basic information on Mina and the number of people living with him, then began calmly walking down the street.

It took him about thirty minutes before he felt the need to disappear into the forest. It was easy enough to follow his nose from there, but he didn’t like the other scents he found when he actually got to the house Mina was in. 

Lions… and a bird of some sort. Possibly a chicken. The last scent, though, smells like Del. He didn’t like that one bit. 

He waited until sunlight was barely brushing against the edge of the forest before carefully making his way over to the privacy fence. There were several small holes and missing scratches of wood in it for him to easily glance inside the area. No one was out, which made sense, since he hadn’t heard anything while he’d been waiting for the sun to go down. 

Magnus heard a door closing from the other side of the house a minute later and crouched down, focusing his attention on listening. 

Four sets of footsteps. 

He hurried around to the side of the house, keeping himself hidden behind a large bush as he glanced at who was in the car that was now backing out of the driveway. 

Not him. Del had said four others in the home besides his boy in the text message. 

More secure in the fact that his target was now alone, Magnus headed back to the backyard and easily hopped the fence. He was just straightening up to look for an easy way inside when his eyes locked with wide, worried ones. 

“Magnus?” 

Mina’s voice was full of worry. Magnus picked up on the tiny shakes from his body. He didn’t want to have the guy scream, though he was almost certain that no one else was inside the house. That would just leave neighbors.

“Hey there, Mina.” 

He was trying really hard not to raise any further alarms, but it was probably fruitless. The kid had seen him with Del several times. Knew what he did, or at least had a damn good hint if he hadn’t been able to focus through the situation with his perverted kitten. Magnus had only one reason to be standing where he was right then, and Mina understood that. 

“Please don’t…” He whispered, his worry triggering Magnus’s shift to push against his mind. 

Need to deal with him, fast. 

Stepping forward, Magnus walked until he was just about a foot away from Mina, then slid his hand into his pocket. He took out the force-change pill and offered it to him. 

“Make this easier on both of us. I don’t want to hurt you when I was just told to bring you back to talk.” He said. 

He waited a solid minute for Mina to take the pill, but the guy was already too far gone in his fear. Shaking his head, Magnus reached out in a blur and grabbed the guy’s shoulder, easily swinging his body around. Before he even felt Mina’s back collide with his chest he was shoving the pill down his throat, then covering his mouth with a firm hand. 

The guy struggled, of course, but his meager scratches and squirming did nothing but make Magnus tighten his hold to keep him from screaming. He waited as Mina slumped against him a few moments later, clearly having given up, likely because he’d swallowed the pill, but he didn’t loosen his grip on him until the guy’s body began to shrink into a tiny lion cub. 

He was just gathering him up to head out when he heard the sound of wings. Big wings. Magnus turned just in time to drop Mina and throw a slew of curses as he just-barely dodged talons that had to have been at least three inches long. They left gauges in the ground where his body had been seconds earlier, sending earth flying across the yard. 

“It would be the fucking wolf hybrid.” He snarled as he began to shift, only to force his beast back so that he could react enough to roll to the side as the giant wolf lunged again, roaring loud enough to make Magnus’s ears ring painfully. 

He turned to try and get himself some footing in the fight, but was only rewarded with being tackled off his feet as the huge wolf sank its teeth into his shoulder and they both went flying into the swimming pool.

Fucking hell. I can’t swim. 

The situation had definitely gone to shit. He struggled for the surface, but his vision didn’t last. His mind shut down as his lungs ran out of air, his body drifting to the bottom of the pool, swaying gently like a leaf.

It felt like he’d been out for just a few seconds when he felt something firm press against his mouth, then everything abruptly rushed back to him. Gagging, Magnus felt his body turned to its side in a rush a moment before he emptied a good amount of water from his stomach. 

He could hear several different growls around him, but to hell with it all. He felt like absolute shit. His head felt like it had been hit with a hammer multiple times. There was definitely a damn good bite bleeding on his left shoulder still, and he could feel a few other nasty scratches along his skin that he didn’t remember getting. 

“Fuck.” He coughed, trying to keep himself from gagging. 

Magnus was thankful for whoever was holding him up with an arm around his waist right then, because he sure as hell didn’t want to go swimming in his vomit. 

“Deep breaths, Magnus.” Buck said. 

Hearing his voice was such a relief that it started shivers all over his body that continued to grow from the stress of the whole situation. 

“Wait, Why are you here?” He asked once his brain finally came down from panic mode and he could begin registering what was actually happening. 

Buck gently pulled him up a bit more, then leaned him back against his firm, damp chest. Magnus sighed, letting himself lean against the man for support he desperately needed right then. His body wasn’t responding to him well. 

“We have cameras in the area and saw them returning home rather quickly. Turns out that Jamie had forgotten his phone on the counter and Palace managed to hear what was going on in the backyard.” He said, making Magnus groan and cough a few more times. 

“Palace is my father, if you didn’t piece that together.” Del said from somewhere nearby. Magnus didn’t bother trying to open his eyes yet to glare at the man. He knew that they’d just make him horribly dizzy and cause another bout of vomiting. 

 “You sent me into your daddy’s den to try and kidnap his brat?” Magnus snarled quietly, wanting to put more force into his words, but not having the energy to do so. 

There was a grunt in response somewhere before he felt Buck tug him a little closer. “Don’t. He was on orders.” He said. 

Magnus didn’t like the man trying to protect him, but he knew that he was useless right then. 

“You should have let him drown, deer.” Came a rough voice a few feet away. There was a feral tone to the words, making Magnus think that the man was the giant wolf who had mauled him. 

“Listen, we didn’t want to hurt Mina. The pill he was given was just a quarter dose. He would have likely shifted back before even getting to us.” Del said to someone, only to earn a growl in response from several people. 

“You didn’t want to hurt him? That’s why you sent one of your guys after him? What the hell did you want to do to him, then? You know those pills are illegal, right?” One of them yelled. 

There was a bout of stressed silence before Del spoke again, his voice much less sure than it had been. 

“I just can’t stop thinking about him, and I know that it’s likely the pheromones and stuff, but it seems like he’s having a much worse time with it. His shift seems determined to get to me, and well, I actually wanted to ask him if he wanted to maybe, just… use each other.” 

Another heavy silence took over until there was the sound of little scratching claws on the concrete. A few growls followed that sound, but when someone finally spoke, it was actually Mina. 

“I want to talk to him, alone, please.” He said, his voice clearly very sleepy. The pill did take a toll on people, even if it was only a little piece of one. 

Magnus didn’t hear anyone move until a few minutes had gone by. Two sets of footsteps went back inside, followed shortly by one more set. 

“They leave, too.” The gruff voice said, indicating that Palace had stayed behind. 

Magnus knew that he wasn’t exactly a threat lying limply against Buck, but he bit his tongue as he was gently lifted into the deer-shifter’s arms and slowly carried off. He wanted to stay conscious and try to recover a bit before passing out, but his body had other ideas. He was already drifting off to sleep. 

“Get some rest, Maggie. I’ll be here when you wake up. I promise.”

Venomous Words

Del’s entire body was humming with energy as he watched Mina tug on a pair of shorts one of the lion shifters had brought him before retreating back inside. He had no doubt that they were watching their interaction, but he didn’t care. 

“Come back with me.” He said as Mina straightened up and hid a yawn behind one hand. His eyes were fixed on Del’s, narrowed with distrust. 

He couldn’t blame him, but he hadn’t sent Magnus, then come himself, to try and hurt him for once. 

“Why are you really here, Del? Haven’t you tormented me enough?” Mina said as he crossed his arms over his chest. 

He was clearly trying to look upset, but he couldn’t hide the lust in his eyes. The guy didn’t want him to leave, but he also didn’t want to want him, either. 

Shaking his head, Del dropped down into a white plastic lawn chair and crossed one of his legs over the other. “You’re putting way too much thought into this. I’m just offering you a chance to get exactly what you, or at least what your kitten, wants. No strings and we both go our separate ways when we’re done.” He said.

He really wanted to just coax the guy’s kitten self into his arms, but after spraying the thing down with cold water the other day, he wasn’t too sure if it would really push so hard for him anymore. 

Mina licked his lips and stifled another yawn before taking a single step closer, putting him near Del’s knees. The lust hadn’t vanished from his eyes, but the hesitance that had always been there around him had grown. 

“I don’t think that this will work.” He finally said, making Del’s heart actually stumble a little in his chest as he gripped the crappy plastic armrest of the chair he sat in to keep himself from getting up. 

 Waiting a few moments until he’d managed to cool himself down, Del forced a slight smile and replied. “What makes you think that? It’s as simple as using each other for what we both want.” 

The guy in front of him took a step back, then sat down on the concrete surrounding the pool. 

“My lion isn’t as obsessed with you now since you sprayed him with cold water. I guess I should thank you for that, at least. I’m going to a bar later and hopefully I’ll find myself someone who actually wants to get to know me for more than just sex.” He said. 

Unable to control himself, Del bared his teeth on a growl before shaking his head abruptly and running a hand down his face. 

“No.” He rasped out as he glared down at Mina.   

When he just got a sad smile from the man, he felt his anger deflate a little and he leaned back, his jaw clenching and unclenching. 

“So you’re saying that you’re just going to find some guy at a bar to screw your brains out until your satisfied every time your lion gets horny?” He asked, not caring if it sounded rude. 

Mina shrugged his shoulders and nodded, meeting Del’s eyes without fear. 

“Yes. I have no reason to trust you with anything. You are a murderer and a terrible human being. Why would I want you anywhere near me, let alone want you to touch me that  way?” He asked. 

Not being used to being told no, Del closed his eyes and pressed fingers to his forehead on a sigh. His left hand easily snapped the crappy plastic arm of the chair he was sitting in, a piece of it cutting his palm, though he didn’t seem to care as he tossed it away. 

“What do you want  me to say, Mina? I am a killer. I always have been. I grew up with nothing that I haven’t had to take by force. Now I make millions from it, and I don’t plan to change.” He said, not wanting to lie when Mina already knew. 

When Mina didn’t respond, Del opened his eyes to look at him, only for his lips to part slightly in surprise. His whole body itched to move forward and wrap his arms around Mina’s crying form. To tell him that he would try to change. To lie. 

 “Why couldn’t you be anyone else?” Mina finally said, making Del’s already pained chest ache harder. 

He watched the boy stand up on shaky legs, his expression a mixture of anger and sadness. 

Standing, Del wiped his bleeding hand on his pants and took a step forward. “Sorry to disappoint, but if you don’t like what you see, then how about you stop hunting me down, then? Everything I have now I got because I worked my ass off to get it. I got my hands dirty and did what I had to do in order to survive. To thrive.” He growled as he moved closer, stabbing a finger at Mina’s chest enough to make him take a step back. 

“What do you have, Mina? You shut out your parents considering the background check I did on you. You do your dammest to keep everyone away even though you are five cents away from being broke. If your uncles decided that they didn’t want to deal with you, you’d be on the street right now!” He roared, realizing that he was going overboard seconds after he’d finished yelling. 

He stammered for a moment before managing to find words again. “Mina, I didn’t…” 

“Yes you did.” He hiccuped. 

Shit. God dammit. You idiot!

“I was planning to leave soon, anyways.” Mina whispered as he walked over to the fence and easily scaled it, disappearing onto the other side before Del ran over. 

He was just about to hop it, too, when he felt someone grab his ankle as he went up, only to yank him back down hard. 

“Leave him alone.” One of the lion shifters said as he took a step back, stopping beside his obvious brother. 

“You don’t understand him and stepped way out of line saying those things. Mina has had his own struggles and is trying to better himself the way he knows how. He turned you down, so that’s the end of it. Do not approach him again. If his shift finds you, call us and we will come get him immediately, day or night.” 

The other lion beside him stepped forward after that. “Leave. We gave you your shot, and you blew it.” 

For once, Del didn’t feel like arguing or fighting back. He followed the lions through the house with his father on his heels. The second he was out the front door it slammed shut behind him. 

Dammit all.   

The situation earlier had a headache raging behind Jared’s eyes as he leaned back in one of the recliners they had in the living room. He’d been against having Mina stay with them for more than a few days because, quite honestly, the house was full enough and he had parents who would have loved for him to come home. 

He could understand, however, why he had decided against going back. He’d explained it to them a bit ago, and it had hurt to listen. Mina had always felt conflicted about being around other people. He could handle it for short amounts of time, but then he just got so uncomfortable and had to leave. He often ran away as a child for hours randomly, and sometimes even days. 

The guy’s cheetah half has been taking over his life long before it made itself known. It just wants to be a loner, yet Mina desperately wants someone around him and he was sure his lion half also pushed him to seek out people. 

Feeling a brush of thought against his own, Jared relaxed and closed his eyes right before he heard Knight walk in. He had the sound of the man’s footsteps memorized, and soon his faint woodsy scent drifted to his nose as he slowly approached. 

His thoughts jumbled up a bit, likely second guessing himself. Jared fought to keep the edges of his lips from tipping up slightly. He wouldn’t push into Knight’s thoughts and give away that he was still awake. 

The guy had been a lot less pushy recently, allowing him to finally relax around him a little bit. Of course, he still locked his door at night if he was being annoying or handsy. 

After a few quiet moments Jared felt one of the blankets they left out for Mina to use when he slept on the sofa settle over him. He hadn’t planned on actually taking a nap, but the next time he opened his eyes all of the lights except for a small lamp in the corner were out and it was pitch black outside. 

Wow, that was quite an impromptu nap. He did feel much better, though. 

Stretching his arms over his head, Jared yawned, then looked around. Everyone seemed to have gone to bed until his eyes landed on a mop of soft brown hair on the armrest of the sofa they had pushed up against the recliner. 

You punk. 

Jared reached over and gently ran his fingers through Knight’s hair. He could sense that he was really asleep because his thoughts were very unfocused and blurry. 

Curious, Jared closed his eyes and nudged at Knight’s mind. He had a feeling he’d know exactly what kind of dream the guy was probably having and just wanted to check, but when he finally began seeing brief images of what he was thinking about right then, Jared quickly backed out of his thoughts and jerked his eyes open. 

You can’t be serious. 

Shaking his head slowly, he leaned back into the recliner and sighed, his eyes glancing sideways at Knight. What the hell was that, you idiot? 

He’d expected a literal porno, like those few times he’d risked looking into his thoughts while he was dreaming years ago… but what he saw was definitely not what he’d expected. 

“You really want something so simple?” He whispered as he reached over and brushed the back of his fingers against Knight’s cheek. 

When the guy just sighed in his sleep and nuzzled against the armrest of the sofa, Jared rolled his eyes and stood up. He walked over to the one light that was still on and switched it off. 

As he waited for his eyes to finish adjusting to the darkness, Jared turned back to see Knight stretch a tiny bit, then snuggle into the sofa more. 

I guess Mina isn’t coming home tonight.

Walking forward, he headed for the stairs, but paused near the recliner and glanced back down at Knight. He was so much easier to deal with when he was out cold. 

Jared’s mind drifted to what he had seen in Knight’s dream and he pursed his lips. He’s been behaving… surely he won’t overthink it. 

Yawning, Jared decided to just stop overthinking things and walked forward. He carefully climbed over Knight and dropped down into the space behind him on the sofa. Almost immediately he felt Knight snuggle back against him, making him still abruptly until he started hearing quiet snores from the guy. 

Geez. Chill out. He’s asleep and he knows not to mess with me when he’s awake. He told himself as he got himself as comfortable as he could. He began drifting in and out of sleep as time went out, eventually completely passing out an hour or so later.

At some point during the night his arms found their way around Knight’s form, the action simply just so that he would be more comfortable in such close quarters on the suddenly too-small sofa.

Regrettable Hearts

Oh god. I have no idea how I got into this position, but I both love and hate it. 

Knight remembered falling asleep on the sofa at some point the previous evening, but the rest was a blur. Evidently, a very lengthy blur, because he was now near the back of the sofa, Jared partially on top of him with his head on his chest and one of his legs between his own. 

Keep it PG. Keep it PG. If he wakes up to your mind doing strange things to him, you’re going to be more dead than you already likely are. 

It was hard, though. Or really, he was hard. It wasn’t exactly his fault, for once, because he sure as hell didn’t remember Jared being on the sofa when he’d passed out, so the fact that his leg was pressing against a certain something between his legs was completely not his fault.

“Are you having fun, brother?” Palace asked as he walked into the room in a pair of loose pajama pants, heading for the kitchen. 

“What the hell happened?” Knight whispered, afraid that if he thought the question to his brother that Jared might catch it in his own mind loudly. Volume was something that was hard to control when you were thinking to someone. 

“Hmm? I just had sex with his brother.” He said with a shrug before disappearing into the kitchen, returning only when he had a glass of ice water in his hand. After taking a few sips, he leaned against the doorjamb and stared at him. 

“That’s not what I meant, nor what I wanted to ever  know!” He whisper-shouted. “What happened between me and Jared?” 

“You really want to know the answer to that question, little brother?” He asked, making Knight frown right before he felt Jared nuzzle against his neck slightly. A deep rumble started from the guy’s chest, making Knight freeze for a second before he realized that Jared was still fast asleep. 

“Yes.” He hissed out quickly. 

His brother grinned over at him and took another sip of water, then replied. 

“He decided to sleep with you, so he slipped onto the sofa while you were asleep.” He said before finishing off his water and turning to go refill it in the kitchen. 

It took Knight until his brother was back with a fresh glass to actually compute what he had said. 

“You’re joking, right?” He finally said after chancing a glance down at Jared, who was still snug against him and quite asleep. 

Palace rolled his eyes and walked closer. “Why don’t you just wake him up and ask him yourself, brother?” He said, making Knight quickly shake his head. He was careful not to move too much while doing it, but definitely did enough to get his point across. That was all he needed, an angry lion who already practically had him pinned down. 

“You’re being annoying.” Palace grumbled as he swallowed a few big gulps from his second glass of water, then smirked. 

“Wait…” Knight whispered as his eyes widened. 

Seeming not to hear, or at least care, Palace lowered his glass from his lips, then jerked it forward, splashing the cold water toward both of them. 

“Good luck, little brother.” He said at the same time a loud, angry roar echoed around the room and Knight squeaked, hunching to the back of the couch as far as he could. 

Please don’t neuter me!

The volume of the growl spiked at his abrupt thought right before Jared winced. 

“Oh shit, sorry.” Knight said, having not meant to practically yell into the guy’s mind. 

He waited there quietly, watching Jared slowly wake up enough to process what had happened. Knight usually loved watching the guy awaken from a nap. He was always slow to get up, but he was so cute when he was drowsy. That short span of time between being asleep and being awake. It didn’t help Knight’s already hammering heart to see the droplets of water clinging to Jared’s skin and the tips of his soft blond hair as he pushed himself up onto his arms. 

I want to touch him. 

His thoughts came with another warning growl, making him drop his head onto the armrest. 

“What the hell was that?” Jared finally snarled, his narrowed eyes opening to meet Knight’s. 

Biting his lip for a second, Knight glanced around for his brother, but he knew that he hadn’t stayed. 

“Palace threw water on us.” He said. 

Jared stared at him for another tense moment before sighing and dropping back down with a grumble that sounded more cute than anything. 

Hush, you. 

Hearing the man’s thought in his mind drew a cheeky grin to Knight’s face before he quickly turned his back to Jared, not wanting to be chastised again. 

“What are you doing, chicken?” Jared asked. 

When he didn’t respond, Knight felt Jared’s firm hand on his shoulder before he easily moved him onto his back. “Knight?” He pressed, leaving his hand on his where it was, making it hard for him to think about anything but the simple contact. 

“I… I’m just a confused chicken!” He cried before jerking himself back to facing the couch cushion. He could sense Jared’s confusion in his mind, but he had nothing really to say to it. He was just as confused, if not more, about their awkward sofa situation. 

Silence took over the awkward pause between them until Knight felt a strong, warm arm gently wrap around his middle. 

“What are you confused about, my chicken?” He asked, his breath heating the back of Knight’s left ear, sending a shiver down his spine. 

Your chicken? Knight thought, even more confused than before. 

That deep rumbling started up again from Jared’s chest as he was tugged back against it. They were both wearing clothing, but being so close still felt amazing after so long. Knight found himself relaxing and closing his eyes, a content sigh leaving his slightly parted lips. He would have fallen back to sleep if it weren’t for the bristle-like tongue suddenly running up the back of his neck. Instead, he squeaked and flinched, but Jared simply tightened the arm he had around his waist, easily holding him there as he continued to lick. 

“What are you doing?” He grumbled out as he tried to lean forward to get away from the attention. Unfortunately, he was already against the back of the couch, so he was only able to move an inch or so before Jared was back to licking him like an obsessed cat grooming its mate. 

Wait a damn minute. 

“Are you saying that-” Be quiet. 

The abrupt rebuttal from Jared snapped Knight’s mouth closed. He let the guy do as he pleased for a few moments before opening his mouth to speak again, only to get a growl in response. 

Got it. No talking. But you know, I really don’t need a bath. I do shower on occasion. He thought sarcastically, hoping that it wouldn’t get him in trouble since he was technically still talking. 

You smell. Jared replied as he reached up to Knight’s shoulder and moved him onto his back again so that he could partially move over him. Knight definitely didn’t mind the position… until he felt that tongue begin to wash the right side of his face. 

When Jared moved his attentions to his forehead near his hairline, Knight squirmed, flipping himself onto his belly before he somehow managed to scramble over the arm of the sofa. He just barely managed to shift into his hawk form before he smacked his face on the hard floor. Ruffling his feathers to regain his balance and run a few paces away, he screeched, then hurried up the stairs to the sound of Jared’s deep laughter. 

“Why did you bring him here?” Del growled somewhere nearby. 

Magnus felt like someone had hit him in the back of the head with a steel pipe, at least four or five times. 

“I can bring him back to his home, if you’d prefer?” Buck said, earning another immediate growl from Del. “You could have just left him in the woods. He’s unconscious, not dead. If anything tried to bother him, he would kill them ten times over.” 

He’s not lying. 

There was an annoyed snort in response to those words that had Magnus’s lips stretching into a slight grin. Buck was getting annoyed. 

“Stop complaining about him being here when you’re just mad that your plan misfired, again.” He said without an ounce of hesitation or worry to his words. The man had been by Del’s side ever since he’d met them, but it was still surprising that he could just put Del in his place and Del would do little about it. If anything. 

A loud sigh was Del’s response right before Magnus heard a door open, then slam closed. Everything was quiet for several minutes after that, making him think that both of them might have left. That is until he felt the bed dip and Buck’s strong scent drift to his sensitive nose. 

Magnus couldn’t help but open his eyes. He didn’t exactly trust Buck enough to do the whole pretend to still be asleep  thing. “Look who decided to grace me with his presence again.” Buck said with a grin that Magnus wanted to bite. 

Instead, he got a flick to his nose, making a growl start up in his throat. “Enough of that. I saved your ass back there. The least you can do is thank me without looking at me like I’m going to be your dinner later.” 

Rolling onto his back with a groan, Magnus turned his head so that he could still see Buck. He was about to comment about catching him off guard at some point, when he noticed the man’s eyes softening as he watched him. 

“You still look like shit.” Buck said, making Magnus scowl, then wince. His head was killing him and his body felt stiff and achy, like he’d way overdone it on a workout. 

“And you still look like dinner.” He replied, closing his eyes quickly when Buck reached over to flick his nose again. Except, instead of another reprimand, Magnus felt the man gently pat his head. 

“Don’t pet me like a damn dog.” He grumbled after a minute. 

Buck chuckled but withdrew his hand. Should have told him right away not to do that. Hell, he knew not to do that! 

“I’m going to order dinner for myself from the Chinese restaurant down the street. Is there anything from there that you’d like?” Buck asked as he fished out his cell phone. 

Smart deer. From there, my ass. He wanted a piece of Buck. 

“Whatever you get is fine.” He grumbled, turning away from him. 

He heard Buck give a quiet chuckle and the bed depressed a little closer before his hand was back on Magnus’s head, petting him like he was some god damned puppy that needed attention to feel better about his stupid mistakes. 

When Buck began to order a plethora of things, his hand paused in Magnus’s hair. He wanted to just ignore it, but the shift part of himself was far too happy about the simple gesture. It felt like his dog half was running around in circles, making his bear half dizzy and frustrated. 

Fucking hell. Just pet me you stupid deer. He thought angrily as he jerked his head back, nudging at Buck’s hand with a quiet growl. 

The guy’s hand fidgeted, then began gently sifting its fingers through Magnus’s hair again as he completed his order and paid, then hung up. 

He immediately expected Buck to make fun of him for initiating the contact, but when he just moved a little closer, Magnus glanced over his shoulder. I want to tell him to get off my bed, but this is definitely his bed. He was pretty sure that he shared it with Del, too, because their scents were pretty strongly mixed together within the blankets. The thought of Del physically with the deer each night made him scoot away just enough to break contact. 

“What’s wrong now, Maggie?” Buck asked, drawing out his words in exasperation.

  Like hell I’m going to say that you and Del sleeping together every night bothers me. Because it doesn’t. It bothers my dog half. He just wants all the attention. Magnus told himself right before Buck grabbed him beneath his arms and tugged him up and backwards. 

He was about to throw a fit before he realized that Buck had moved him so that his head rested on the man’s leg, allowing him to pet him much easier. 

“Such a temper, pup.” Buck said quietly as he looked down at him. 

Magnus returned his stare with a glare, but didn’t try to stop the attention the deer shifter was freely giving. “You’re a bastard.” He grumbled, drawing a frown from the man looking down at him. 

“Not really. I did have a loving father.” He said solemnly, his gaze looking away from Magnus’s. 

Hit a sore spot, huh? 

“What happened to him? And how come you and Del are always together? You even sleep with him, don’t you?” He asked, his curiosity getting the better of his terrible manners. 

Buck narrowed his eyes on whatever he was looking at out of Magnus’s range of vision.

Are his eyes actually getting a little watery?  

“I’m going to go downstairs and get our food, but so you know, Del is extremely important to me. Almost like a brother. That is why we’re always together, and I would give my life for his in a heartbeat if it were necessary.” He said before sliding out of the bed and quickly disappearing out the door. 

Hmm. That’s an interesting can of worms I just opened. 

He wanted to poke at him for more information, but he’d lay off for the time being. He still felt like crap, and even as he tried to wait for him to return, Magnus found himself drifting back off to sleep. 

At least he only saw him as a brother. 

That had been his dog’s thoughts, not his own. 

And he would argue that point till the day he died if those words ever left his mouth.

Past to Present

Rubbing the back of his neck, Mina watched a second man walk away from him. He’d lead them on, then backed out at the last second. What are you waiting for? Del is out of the picture, and even if he was still in it, he’s much more dangerous than a random guy  at a bar. He told himself as he bumped his forehead against the bar he sat at twice before groaning. 

“It sounds like you could use some alcohol, brother.”

Mina’s eyes jerked open and he sat back so quickly that Roan had to grab the front of his shirt to keep him from having a nasty fall. He had not expected to see his brother at all!    

“How did you know where I was?” He asked, already feeling the need for fresh air. 

It wasn’t that he hated his brother. The guy was sweet and really did care for him, but his entire family in general just felt suffocating. He’d left as soon as he could, and even before that he’d run away more times than he could count just to be entirely alone. 

“The vet who checked up on you was an old friend. They recognized your name and gave me a call because I’d been worried about you.” He said, then quickly raised his hands. “Please don’t be mad. They meant well and didn’t know that I’d come out here to try and find you.” 

Mina would have been more angry at the vet, and at his brother, if his head didn’t feel like it was overheating. Hell, his whole body was too warm, and now that his brother was sitting beside him, he couldn’t stand being in the stuffy bar any longer. Tossing a couple dollars on the bar for the one soda he’d been sipping, Mina hopped off his bar stool and hurried to the door. He knew that his brother would follow him, but he didn’t want him to. 

As soon as the crisp night air hit his face he gave a stressed sigh and turned to head down the street in no specific direction. He just wanted to get away from it all. 

“Mina, please wait.” Roan called from behind him. He could easily catch up if he tried, but he knew that it would just make him start running. And if it was one thing Mina could do, it was run. 

That’s all I’ve ever done. 

Clenching his jaw, he picked up his pace and immediately heard Roan’s steps hurry to match his own. He was just about to start running when he noticed a familiar silhouette far up ahead.    

Oh, come on. 

Stopping abruptly, he took a deep breath, then sighed it out as Roan stopped next to him, but a little behind. It was something he’d learned to do over the years they had lived together. He knew that Mina didn’t want him around, but the guy was persistent and had picked up little habits to try and make himself more bearable. 

“Mina?” Roan asked at the same time the figure a good ways ahead of them stopped. 

Go away. Just turn around and go away, please. 

Of course, Del didn’t even hesitate as he started forward again, his pace doubling as Mina felt his eyes on him. He immediately began backing up, drawing a frown from his brother as he looked back and forth between the two of them. 

“What’s wrong? Is he a bad guy?” He asked. 

You have no idea. 

Without thinking, Mina swung around and grabbed his brother’s hand as he began running. Thankfully, Roan caught on and hurried to keep up, his larger hand holding tightly onto Mina’s as they rounded a corner, then sprinter toward the forest. 

Mina could hear Del’s footsteps behind them, but it was obvious that he was having to work hard to keep up with them. They were just crossing a slightly overgrown lot that was up for sale when his perspective dropped abruptly and he rolled in a bundle of clothing and fur. The tall damp grass stopped his movement quickly, but by the time he was able to fight his way out of his clothing, Del was closing in, his eyes shining brightly in the darkness. 

Before he could warn him, Roan was running in front of his tiny lion form and holding his arms out to either side. Del stopped about ten feet away, just barely on the sidewalk as a deep rumble radiated from his chest. 

“Who the fuck are you? And what are you doing with him?” He growled as he stepped closer, onto the grass. 

Roan bared his teeth, then let out his own warning as Mina peeked around his legs. 

This isn’t good. We don’t even have a connection so I can’t tell him how dangerous Del really is. 

Mina wanted to run, but he couldn’t just leave his brother to get hurt. He didn’t like the guy being around him, but he wasn’t mean or anything. With a pathetic grumble of his own, he stepped around Roan and glared at Del. 

“What the hell are you doing with this silver-haired freak?” Del ground out, never taking his eyes off of Roan, who was returning the gesture in full with a narrowed glare. 

Let me just answer that as if you can actually freaking hear me! 

Mina’s lion cub scowled and shook its head, but before it could try anything else Roan was picking him up and gently setting him behind him. 

“You can’t fight him like that, Mina. You’ll get hurt, and I can’t let that happen.” 

Del scoffed at his words and took another step forward as fur began to sprout from along the sides of his face. 

“Who. The fuck. Are you?” He snarled, just about at the end of his restraint. 

Roan grunted and stepped forward, a mixture of black and silver fur slipping from the skin along his neck and shoulders. “His brother.” 

That actually had Del’s fur receding abruptly. “Brother?” He asked, looking down at Mina for a second before returning his attention back to Roan. 

 Mina felt his body relax a tiny bit when he looked up at his brother and noticed that his mane was also disappearing. 

“Yeah. Why the hell was he trying to run from you? Are you messing with him?” He asked, his question ending on a growl.

Del looked away for a moment before returning his glare to Roan. “Running away from a predator is never a good idea. It makes them chase.” 

Roan crossed his arms over his chest. “He is a predator.” 

That had Del laughing in earnest, making Mina feel ever worse about his pathetic little baby shift.  

“Stop mocking him!” Roan roared, his inner lion coming through. “His cub will grow up in time.” 

Shaking his head, Del actually turned and started walking away. Roan seemed surprised, and Mina definitely was. It usually took, at minimum, a near-death experience to get the guy to leave him alone. 

“What was his problem?” Roan asked as he grabbed Mina’s belongings. They then slowly began following him back toward the town, keeping a nice distance between them and him. 

He tried to kill me. Then hated me. Now wants me because he’s horny. He thought to himself, knowing that his brother couldn’t hear. 

Looking up at him, Mina felt his paws slow to a stop at the guy’s expression. Oh no. Without warning, Roan reached down and scooped him up in his free arm. 

“You are so cute! You look just like mom did as a kid but a lion version!” He yelled with excitement as he nuzzled into his fur. “I knew you had a shift buried deep down!” 

Mina hissed at him and swatted at his nose, but his tiny claws didn’t even scratch him. Darn thick elephant skin. It was deceptively strong. 

“I’m sorry, I’m totally invading your space.” He said before pausing, then giving him one more too-tight hug before setting him back down. “Okay, I’m good. I swear I won’t do that again.” 

My fuzzy ass. You take after your other father when you do that. 

Mina had only met Erin a couple of times, but that had been enough. The guy was way too touchy for his liking and he got excited about everything and anything cute. He’d doted on Roan like nothing else, and even tried to love on him, too, until Mina ended up running away because he wouldn’t stop trying to talk with him or hang out. 

“Hey, Mina?” Roan asked as they walked. 

He didn’t want to acknowledge him, but he had little choice as he glanced up at his brother. 

“You’re a cross-shifter, like mom, right?” He asked, making Mina’s paws pause on the dirty concrete. 

An awkward silence hung in the air between them until Roan continued speaking. “That collar you have on. Mom sent it to you. It can keep unwanted attention away, but are you feeling okay? Mom was worried about you since he said that the heats can get really bad if they aren’t relieved often enough.” 

This is not a conversation I’m going to have with you for two reasons. One, you have no right to be in my personal business, and two, I can’t physically talk right now, anyways! 

Truly angry, Mina squeaked out a growl and turned into the alleyway to their left, then bolted. 

“Wait! I’m sorry!” Roan shouted as he started running after him. 

Mina would have likely been able to outrun him in his human form, but being so small, each of his little bounds were barely equal to half his brother’s long stride. Go away! They ran for several blocks before a familiar building came into view. 

Del likely hadn’t gotten there yet since they had run and took a different route, but he would likely be appearing soon if he hadn’t intended to go somewhere else. Wait. He was walking away from the building. He must have been going out somewhere. 

“The hell are you two doing here?” 

Or not. 

Turning, Mina panted quietly as he stared up at Del, who was only a few yards away and closing. 

“I left, but you’re in front of me again anyway?” He growled. 

Roan immediately stepped in front of him again, but when Del just walked around him, he relaxed slightly and turned to keep him in his sight. 

“How do you know my little brother?” Roan asked when Del stopped in front of the doors to fish out his keys. When he’d found the right one, he looked over at them and smirked. “He wants to fuck my brains out, but is a bit bi-polar about it. I’m sure he’ll come around, though. He seems like he needs to get some soon.” 

Bastard. 

Roan roared in response, his black and silver mane making another appearance as Del laughed quietly. “You really think that you can hurt me, little kitten? You have no idea what I can do to you, and I’ll only warn you once. Fuck off or you’ll end up dead beneath my claws.” 

Don’t threaten him! 

His brother wasn’t good at taking threats. No lion was. His elephant side was also stubborn as all hell. He began walking toward Del, claws beginning to prick from his fingernails as Mina ran forward and grabbed the bottom of one of his pant legs, trying to stop him. 

“No one talks about my brother like that.” He hissed. 

Mina tripped as he was being dragged, forcing him to let go and stumble a bit before regaining his balance and seeing his brother step through the doors leading inside Del’s dangerous building. Mina managed to slip in right before the door clicked shut, but what he saw inside made his heart jump into his throat. 

Oh no. 

Roan was already shifting, his clothing scattered around the large open area as fur sprouted from his growing body. The elephant hadn’t just lent him its color and thick skin. Oh no. His shift had grown very quickly as a cub… then just continued until it was insanely big for a cat. Del actually looked shocked as he watched Roan’s silver cat grow to nearly half the size of an elephant. He looked like a lion as far as general features and sported a thick black mane that was woven with grey streaks, but his back end and front legs had faded spots decorating them. His entire body was more slim than a lion his size would be, but he still had a good size to him. Enough to be intimidating, even to Del, it would seem. 

The other man was already shifting, too, but to Mina’s surprise, his brother actually stood only an inch or so below Del’s massive wolf. It was actually pretty cool to see the cocky guy nervous, but at the same time, Mina knew that the situation wasn’t going to end well if he let it play out. Del was ruthless and incredibly aggressive. He killed for a living. Roan might have looked threatening, and he could definitely fight if he had to, but he was a sweet guy and just wanted to hug people and make their day better. 

Stop!

Mina thought as loudly as he could as he bolted between them, growling as menacingly as he could… which was not all. Roan began pacing around him to the left as Del mirrored his actions, the two circling him with their teeth bared and hackles rising. 

Roan crouched down, his thick muscles bunching as he readied himself to pounce. Del did the same, but only lowered himself a fraction as he spread out his giant wings just-so. 

Mina tucked his tail and looked between the two, unsure of how he could stop them both from getting hurt. He might not have liked Del, but he didn’t want the guy to get torn up. And, of course, he wanted no harm to come to his brother, either. 

Dammit! Both of you stop right now! He thought as loud as he possibly could. It would be meaningless, though. He had no connection with either of them, and as he looked at his brother, it was clear that he’d heard nothing as he inched forward, trying to get a path around Mina so that he wouldn’t be right in the middle of them. 

Turning to Del, Mina pressed his tiny ears against his head in defeat, but he paused, eyes widening when Del stood in front of him, completely naked and clearly stunned. His huge wolf was gone, replaced with his confused human self. 

“What the hell was that?” He finally muttered as he stepped forward, only for Roan’s massive cat to move over Mina and roar a warning. 

Del snarled, but when he started to shift again, Mina quickly stepped out from between his brother’s giant paws. 

Don’t change again! He thought loudly, making Del wince as what little fur that had managed to slip through his skin already quickly receded. 

Del’s eyes flared brightly with fury, but his wolf remained inside. 

Thank god. 

Flicking his tail, Mina turned toward his brother’s cat and growled, jumping up and swatting at his chin until he looked down with a deep rumble. Mina quickly shook his head when he finally got his brother’s attention. 

Roan was clearly not happy, but he relented after a minute and began to shrink back to his human form. Once the two were finally calmed down a bit, Mina walked up to Del. He was fighting himself not to look at a certain object that his lion suddenly wanted. 

I’ll only let you bite it. We’re not sleeping with him. He told his shift, only to look up at the same time Del cringed. 

Wait. 

Mina narrowed his eyes on the man, but didn’t get another thought off before Del growled down at him. “You bite it, I eat you.” 

Oh shit. What the hell? 

Roan walked over once he’d pulled on his pants, frowning down at Mina before leaning over to pick him up. He struggled as soon as his paws left the ground, but when Del suddenly grabbed him away from his brother, he felt himself calming a little. He still didn’t like being held, but for some reason, Del was less of a stress than his brother. 

“Let him go.” Roan growled, his fists clenching at his sides. 

“Think for a second, you pussy.” Del said with a roll of his eyes as he moved Mina a little, making it more comfortable to hold him. He’s not fighting me like he was fighting you.“  

“That’s… He’s just stressed.” Roan said, stepping forward. 

Mina didn’t want to stay with Del, but he knew that if Roan remained, there would likely be another fight he might not be able to stop. 

Tell him I said to go. 

Del smirked and raised an eyebrow. “He said to go.” 

Roan frowned, looking between them with a questioning glare. “You can actually talk to him? You , have a connection to him?” He said, disbelief heavy in his words. 

Don’t worry, Ro, I can’t believe it either. I feel like I need to wash my mind out with soap already. Mina thought, making Del bare his teeth down at him before he looked back up at his brother. 

“Yeah, unfortunately. It literally just kind of happened, so we have some things to discuss.” He said before turning toward the elevators on the far right wall. 

I’ll call him later… I promise. 

Sighing, Del stopped and looked over his shoulder, scowling. “He said that he will call you later, and that is a promise.” 

He made a gagging noise after saying that, but Mina finally relaxed a little when he heard his brother’s response. “I expect to hear from you before four in the morning, or I’m coming back here.” He said before finally turning  to leave. 

One down. Mina thought, already feeling exhausted. 

“I have some suggestions for you about what to do with me that involves the word down. “ Del said with a grin as they started heading upward. “It starts off with your head between my legs after you shift back.” 

Mina sagged in his arms, already wanting to be free from his current nightmare. 

Just knock me out, please. I won’t even be mad if I get a concussion at this point. 

Del ignored his thoughts and instead reached a hand up and pet his fuzzy head. 

I wonder if I can knock myself out if I fall from this height. 

“Don’t worry. I’ll wear you out enough so that you’ll sleep for a week.” 

Deciding that any kind of thoughts would just continue to get him into more trouble, Mina just closed his eyes and grumbled. His night had gone straight to hell.

About Time

“Will you stop staring at me like I’m that Chinese food?” Buck asked as he leaned against the giant window in his own personal bedroom. He hadn’t used it in, well, he’d forgotten how long, but Del had texted him that he was coming up with Mina, and he knew what meant. 

He couldn’t remember the last time Del had actually slept with someone that way, so he wasn’t going to be around to cause any issues… and he wasn’t going to let Magnus hang about, either. Unfortunately, that meant that the guy was now in his smaller room, watching him as he decimated the buffet he’d bought from the Chinese restaurant down the street. 

“I think my wallet would die before I could sate your appetite.” He noted in awe as he took a small bite of his vegetable Lo’ Mein. 

Magnus finished off a container of General Tso’s before smirking at him and pointing his chopsticks at Buck. “Oh, you can sate me. It won’t even cost you a thing. I’ll provide the condoms.” 

Buck had returned his attention to the window as Magnus had started speaking, and didn’t glance over his shoulder at the man until he’d taken another bite of food, swallowed, and licked his lips calmly. 

“I’m good, but if I ever get disturbingly horny and both of my hands happen to have been amputated, I’ll consider almost taking you up on that offer.” He said before turning his attention back to his small tray of food and taking another bite. 

This is delicious. 

He really did enjoy the Chinese restaurant down the street.  

“Hey deer.” Magnus grumbled from above and behind him, making Buck tilt his head back just in time for his jaw to get grabbed painfully, holding it still as Magnus’s rough lips crashed against his own.

Not exactly the taste I’m looking for. He mused with disinterest as Magnus did his best to devour his mouth, then quickly kiss, or really, bite, his way down to Buck’s neck. 

“You really should ask before you touch,” He stated as he nonchalantly brushed Magnus away with a shrug and gesture from his arm. 

The guy backed off, but not by much. He’d dropped to his knees, making Buck look down just the slightest to peer into his shining, hungry eyes. 

“Just go eat until you’re in a coma. That will get you much more sated than trying anything with me again.” He said as he poked at his food with his fork, then took another bite as he turned his attention back out the window. 

When he didn’t get a response, or hear Magnus move at all, Buck swallowed his bite of food and turned a little so that he could reach over and pet the man’s soft hair. 

“It’s alright, Maggie. I’ll give you an A for effort, alright?”

Del finally set him down once he’d walked into his giant bedroom and locked the door behind him. Mina flicked his tail and glanced around, surprised that he didn’t see Buck anywhere. 

“He went to his own room since I texted him that we’d be busy.” Del said as he pulled his shirt up and over his head, making Mina’s eyes widen. 

His lion wanted to move closer, but at the same time, it still didn’t trust him. 

Smart cat. Finally. 

“Tell that smart cat to let you shift back.” Del said as he sat down on the edge of his huge bed and smirked at him. 

This smart cat says that you still owe it a huge apology first. Mina thought to him as he flicked his left ear twice, then swatted at it with a paw before licking at said paw. 

Del growled, but Mina just began biting at his paw, tugging out little bits of dirt and  grass. He could feel the man’s anger rising in his mind, but if couldn’t he even apologize for being a dick, Mina didn’t want his. If he had to use his hand four or five times a night until the heat wore off, or possibly try humiliating himself at a bar again, he would. 

“Why are you being so damn hard?” Del said as he ran his hands through his hair, mussing it up even more than it already was. 

You’re the one who’s getting hard, but you’re going to be out of luck if you just stare at me angrily all night, because the only thing my lion is going to do for you is bite it off if you try anything. 

Mina felt the man’s frustration grow to the point of making him fidget, but then Del gave out one of the loudest, dramatic sighs he’d ever heard before falling back on his bed with a groan. 

What the hell am I even doing? I need to go get laid by someone who’s shift isn’t fit to be in diapers. 

Del’s thoughts had Mina’s lion giving off its own high pitched growl in response. It was perfectly potty trained! 

“You know how much I feel like a pedo when I look at you, kid? Even though you’re older than me.” Del asked, not bothering to sit up and actually look at him. 

Not my fault my shift is a cub. Mina stated before he was suddenly much higher off the ground and staring down at his hands instead of paws. 

“Oh.” He mumbled right before he heard Del sit up abruptly, hunger in his darkening eyes. 

Mina hissed through his human mouth, but Del just slid from the bed to his knees before leaning forward, making Mina lean back. 

“Come on, Mina. You know you want what I’ve got.” He said, dropping his voice to a husky whisper that sent a shiver down Mina’s spine. 

Stay strong. You’re not asking for much from him. 

Clenching his teeth, Mina fought to control himself enough to look away from Del and reply. “What I want , is an apology.” He said, then turned his narrowed on back on Del. “Is that so hard to do?” 

Del growled and glared down at the carpet. Mina could feel his frustration again, but instead of sitting and waiting, he got himself up and walked over to one of the dressers nearby. He began tugging open the drawers one by one, looking for something to wear. 

 “What are you doing?” Del asked, his voice right behind him, making Mina jump slightly before warm arms wrapped around his middle and tugged him back against a firm chest. 

His body hummed with the sensation of being in the man’s arms, but he wasn’t going to give in. “Looking for something to wear. I prefer not being naked for no reason.” He replied as he finally found a decently long shirt that was likely Del’s. 

Mina felt warm breath against his neck as Del nuzzled there and sighed. “Why does it matter so much that I apologize? We’re both just using each other, then moving on with our lives. I’m temporarily fixed and we’re going to use a condom… condoms, so there won’t be anything suddenly appearing to try and bring us together afterward in any way.” He said, then lifted a finger to press against Mina’s lips before he could open them to respond. 

“However,” he added as he lifted his head and nipped at Mina’s ear, drawing a quiet, but not aggressive growl from him. “If it will make you happy enough so that we can finally get this show on the road… I’m sorry.” 

The important words were barely rasped between clenched teeth, but they did make him feel a little better about the terrible situation he was about to put himself in. 

“What?” Mina asked when Del removed his finger from against his lips.

This brat. Del thought to him. 

“I said , I’m sorry. Alright? I’m fucking sorry I’m an ass. Was an ass. Will always be an ass. I have no filter and I’m going to piss you off again, but I’m an ass that wants in your ass and I’m not used to having to ask this much, or at all, so can I do you until neither of us can stand up yet, or do I need to say it a couple more times in a different way?”  

Mina couldn’t help it. He started to laugh. He could sense Del’s confusion in his mind but couldn’t help it as he leaned over, pressing his forehead against the dresser as he got louder. He could hear Del behind him messing with something, but his mind didn’t process what was going on until he felt something nudge at the opening in his backside, making him press himself against the dresser abruptly. It was too bad that Del moved with him, pressing himself even closer and silently telling Mina that he’d unbuttoned his pants and put on a condom. And if the damp chill along his skin where Del nudged at him was any indication, he’d also rubbed himself with quite a decent amount of lube, too. 

“I’m sorry that I’m not going to go slow.” Del finally said, breaking the tense silence before he reached up and slammed his hand over the light switch, plunging the whole room into darkness. 

(Sorrrry, not really a scene I want to write in at this point. I think a fade to black fits better.)

Growing Pains

Ouch. Ow ow ow ow ow my butt hurts. Mina groaned in his mind as he tried not to move an inch beneath the blankets. The overwhelming scent of sex had his nose in a permanent wrinkle as his backside throbbed like someone had done something inappropriate to it with a baseball bat… several times. Sniffling, he realized that he was crying and quickly wiped at the tears, but they refused to stop as he groaned again, this time audibly. 

He could feel cuts and bruises along his arms, legs, and back, too, but nothing hurt as horribly compared to his backside. 

“I’m gonna kick his butt.” He grumbled into the thick blankets right before he heard the sound of a solid glass thumping down onto the nightstand near his head. 

“Good luck with that, cub. I brought you some pain medicine.” Del said, making Mina peek out from beneath the blankets to see him set two pills down next to the glass of water he’d brought. 

But only because you wouldn’t stop groaning and I feel like my ass is hurting just feeling your pain through our stupid bond. 

“I can hear you.” Mina rasped out as he forced his body to move until he could reach the pills. 

He tossed them back, then took a big drink of water to rinse them down before setting the glass back on the nightstand and flopping down with a sigh. 

“I don’t care.” Del said as he walked over to his dresser and began taking out clothing. 

Mina watched him pull on a pair boxers, then pants, noting the small groups of little claw marks along his lower back and shoulders. When Del pulled on a shirt and turned, starting to button it while watching him, he smirked. 

“I have to admit, you got me more than I thought you would.” Del said, making Mina feel a slight bit of empowerment. “Don’t look in the mirror.” He added as he finished with his shirt, then pulled on a pair of socks before sliding his feet into his shoes. “My wolf liked marking you. A lot.” 

Before Mina could respond Del was out the door, leaving him alone in his bed. 

Asshole. 

A deep chuckle in his mind was Del’s response, making Mina hiss back at him as he forced himself up. He noticed several deep cuts on his arms and legs as he began to take stock of his body. Everything ached, and as he ran his eyes over every inch of skin he could see, he realized why. 

You carved me half to death! He growled. 

The other man waited a few minutes to respond, and it wasn’t what Mina thought he’d hear from him. 

I called your brother at 4, as promised, since you were otherwise incapacitated. 

Mina’s face burned at the thought of Roan knowing what they’d done, and just how much since he’d been out cold by that time. 

I hate you. 

He could feel Del laughing as he made himself get to his feet, then limped toward the bathroom. As he got the water started in the bathtub, he heard Del’s response. 

You know what? I don’t hate you. Your body was fucking delicious and I plan to be inside of it quite frequently. 

Mina felt himself throb with a need he refused to let be known as he carefully got into the bathtub and leaned back, sighing as his body began to warm from the rising water. 

It hurts. He thought to himself as he felt another tear track down his cheek. His heat was definitely gone, but the price he’d paid hadn’t been worth it. A human would definitely have been safer. 

A human couldn’t have satisfied you like I did. Del replied immediately, a growl to his words.

Mina scowled and grabbed a bottle of soap. Uncapping it, he sniffed, curious about the scent. Of course it smells like him. If he didn’t already reek of Del’s scent, and sex, he wouldn’t have used it, but he was a beggar at that point. Sitting up, Mina got busy scrubbing his body. The cuts hurt, but they needed to be washed. 

Definitely finding a human next time. He thought as he unplugged the drain and stood up, switching the shower-head on at the same time he heard Del snarl into his mind. 

No, you’re not. You’re lucky I’m in a meeting. Clearly I haven’t sated you enough. I’ll be back up as soon as this is over. 

Bristling, Mina glared up at the ceiling, then looked down at himself. He was half hard. With a slight smirk, he wrapped his hand around his length and began moving up and down furiously. He wasn’t normally one who cared for jerking off very often, but as he got himself worked up, he could feel Del’s unease in the back of his mind. 

Enjoying your meeting? He goaded as he leaned against the tile beneath the shower-head, just out of reach of the spray, and began panting, his head tilting back. Mina could feel Del’s body literally squirming through their bond and grinned. 

Don’t you dare come without me in you. 

Del’s voice had gotten dangerously low in Mina’s mind, sending shivers down his spine. Ignoring it, Mina finished with a few more motions from his hand, then rewashed his body before turning off the shower. He could still feel Del’s anger as he began to dry off, but when he heard the door to the bedroom slam open, his heart jumped into his throat and the towel slipped from his fingers. 

Oh shit. 

Before Mina could even step out of the shower, Del was there, grabbing his shoulders as they both slipped in the tub. Of course, Del pinned him on the floor of it with ease as he began tugging at the tie around his neck, then yanked at his shirt, snapping off several buttons. 

“I’m not having sex with you again.” Mina growled up at him, baring his teeth, though Del seemed to ignore him as he finally got his shirt and tie off. The two garments went flying somewhere to the side, then Del straddled Mina’s hips and got to work on the button to his pants. It was clear that he was very much ready for another few rounds. 

Well I’m not. 

The second Del got his pants undone and looked up at him, licking his lips, Mina felt his body shift and couldn’t have been more proud of his lion. The look on Del’s face was incredible and had Mina laughing into the man’s mind, even as he could feel his wolf roaring into his own with frustration and lust. 

“Shift back!” Del snarled down at him. 

No can do. I can’t control my little ol’ shift. Mina thought to him as he lifted one paw, intent on smacking Del’s smart mouth, but then he realized something and brought it closer to his own face. 

My paw is bigger. Quite a bit, too.       

Del seemed to realize that, too, because he sat back on his heels and raised an eyebrow. “You grew.” He said, then reached forward and took Mina’s paw in his hand. “You’re not an adult, but you definitely aren’t a cub anymore.”

While Del was busy contemplating what had happened, Mina scrunched up his nose and swatted at the man’s face abruptly. To his surprise, he managed to catch Del unaware. A thin but long cut started to bleed across his nose and the left side of his stunned face. 

Expecting repercussions for the bold act, Mina hurried to scurry from the tub, but before he could scramble over the edge he felt a heavy paw on his shoulder. Claws dug in and yanked him back down before another paw settled near the side of his face. Del’s wolf was out, its giant mass barely allowing it room to stand in the bathtub. 

Mina considered apologizing, but the thought was immediately pushed away before it could solidify. He would not. Del had been trying to boss him around. To dominate him. 

You don’t dominate your lover. 

The giant wolf looming over him snorted abruptly before its upper lip pulled back into a rumbling snarl. 

Lover? 

The acid in Del’s word had Mina’s stomach twisting into nervous knots. Del’s wolf leaned down until its panting breaths warmed Mina’s lion’s face. 

You seem to think that I am capable of, or ever wish to be capable of loving someone. He spat out with a deep growl.  

He shouldn’t have even entertained the idea of liking such a horrible person… but he had. Sure, Del had cut him up quite a lot during their time together the previous evening, but it had been clear that he hadn’t done it intentionally. He’d been as much in the moment as Mina had each time. They’d both been lost in each other. 

But now I understand. He thought, making Del’s wolf twitch one ear and lean back slightly, confused. 

Mina slowly sat up, then slipped out of the tub before shaking out his coat and walking into the bedroom. He could hear Del’s wolf following, but didn’t pay it any mind as he glanced at his clothing on the floor. His lion refused to allow him to shift back, so, regrettably, he left them and walked out the open door.

Heavy paws followed his quiet ones as they made their way down the hall. Mina didn’t stop walking until he was in front of the elevator, looking up at the button he needed to reach in order to trigger the machine and get himself out of there. 

With a determined flick of his tail he lifted the front of his body abruptly, putting his paws on the wall as he swatted at the button that seemed just out of reach. 

Come on. 

He bounced a little on his back legs, jumping up just enough for his paw to swipe at it. Except, Del’s wolf appeared before he could finish pressing the button, easily nudging him out of the way and making him fall to the floor on his side. 

With a frustrated hiss Mina got back to his feet  and swatted at the wolf’s nose. It leaned back slightly, easily putting itself out of harm’s way, but to Mina’s surprise, it didn’t growl or bare its teeth. Actually, all it did was sit back on its haunches and flare its nostrils slightly, as if it were taking in his scent. 

What are you doing? 

He wasn’t interested in playing cat and mouse. Or cat and wolf. Del’s wolf huffed quietly and slowly moved up against the wall by the elevator button, then laid down with a big yawn. 

You’ve got to be kidding me. 

Undeterred, Mina clenched his jaw and walked right up to the giant beast. It was watching him, but didn’t make a move to stop him as he began climbing up onto its back. He was just about high enough to hit the button with his paw when he felt the wolf beneath him begin to roll over. 

Aw, no! 

Fumbling to regain his balance, and failing, Mina flopped over onto the tile floor, then found the wolf’s large front arm moving him up against its body. He hissed, but the giant creature just ignored him as it began gently licking at some of the cuts Del had left on him the previous night. 

  I am a cat, but I don’t want your tongue on me! I don’t even want my tongue on me! He growled to Del’s mind, only to receive more silence as his wolf continued to clean him. 

This sucks. 

“I know that I told you to eat yourself into a coma, but I didn’t think that you’d be able to literally do it.” Buck said as he stared down at Magnus’s prone form in his bed. 

The man had been asleep since the previous evening and had barely moved a muscle all night. 

“But then again, I’ve never seen someone able to eat nearly three full dinners, along with three side dishes and four glasses of water.” He added as he reached over and gently poked Magnus’s cheek with a finger. 

At first, he didn’t get a single reaction. It wasn’t until a few moments later when he noticed Magnus’s nose twitching like a little mouse’s might. 

“Ah, there you are.” He said as he nudged the man’s face with his knuckles softly, earning a tired growl for his efforts that made the corners of his lips tilt up slightly. “Did you enjoy your nap?” 

Magnus’s lips twitched, then his eyelids. When his nostril’s flared, taking in his scent, Buck realized that he needed to move. He swung his body toward the side of the bed and was half off of it when a clawed hand snagged his ankle, halting his escape. 

Hopping to keep from falling, he looked over his shoulder once he’d caught his balance and narrowed his eyes on the man who was now leaning on his left arm, right one extended, eyes leering with hunger. 

“Magnus.” Buck grumbled. 

His warning appeared to fall on deaf ears because Magnus just began slowly tugging him back onto the bed by his ankle. Buck knew that he wouldn’t be able to get free without a nasty fight, so he carefully returned to sitting on the blanket. He made sure that he wasn’t close enough to get bitten, but he hadn’t calculated how fast Magnus could move when just waking up, because there was suddenly an arm around his waist and he was being pulled backward at a surprising speed. 

In less than a second both of Magnus’s arms were wrapped tightly around Buck’s waist as the slightly larger man nudged his shirt up and feverishly inhaled against his warm skin. 

Should have known better than to fall asleep next to him. Hell, even in the same room with him. 

He’d thought that the amount of food the guy had eaten would have kept him out of it for at least a day, if not two. Clearly, he’d made a miscalculation. 

“Alright, enough already.” He grumbled as he flicked Magnus’s forehead, drawing the man’s dilated eyes up to his own. “I didn’t say that you could shove your nose up my shirt.” 

Magnus growled in response, but Buck returned it with a snort of his own. His deer wasn’t happy with all the attention. He wasn’t even big on cuddling with Del unless the man asked it of him. He would do anything for him, but Magnus… 

“Let go, dog.” 

The man slowly stopped sniffing at him, but didn’t release his waist. 

I’m losing my patience. 

“Magnus. Let go. Now .” He said as he reached down and grabbed one of the man’s wrists. 

When he still refused to do as told, Buck snorted again and wound up his free hand. The tips of his knuckles began to turn grey as they partially shifted into hooves. He wouldn’t be pulling his punch. 

Right before his hit would have connected, Magnus released him and jerked his head to the side toward the pillows, moving onto his back as he squeezed his eyes shut on a growl. Bucks’s fist opened just in time to smack the guy’s firm chest. The slap rang out in the quiet room. Buck left his hand where it had landed, watching Magnus as the man’s head slowly turned back to face him and his eyes opened, rising to meet his own. 

“I won’t be gentle next time.” Buck warned as he began to lift his hand from Magnus’s chest, only for the man to squirm beneath it. 

What the? 

It didn’t take Buck long to realize what Magnus was hinting at, even if the man was clearly unhappy with his dog’s instincts. 

You think you deserve a damn belly rub after that shit? 

Buck wanted to laugh out loud but bit his tongue when he saw the look in Magnus’s eyes. He was trying to fight his dog’s instinct, but when Buck lowered his hand back to his warm chest, the guy practically whined for the attention. 

You are ridiculous. 

He was going to tell him that he had to earn the attention if he wanted it, but he had a feeling that only half of him wanted it, if that. That left Buck with a decision to make. 

It doesn’t look like Magnus actually wants the attention. It’s his dog half. 

Grinning, Buck slowly began to move his hand along the man’s solid chest. He saw the anger shine in Magnus’s eyes and grinned as he reached over with his other hand and began stroking his hair. 

“Shockingly, I like this side of you.” He mused with a grin that he knew was boiling Magnus’s blood… but on the outside he was putty in Buck’s hands. 

Who’s finally a good boy.

Hot Chicken

“Hey Knight.” 

Blinking open his tired eyes, Knight looked up at Jared’s blurry face as he leaned over him with a grin. 

He’s so handsome… and scary. 

Jared had been sniffing after him nearly all day yesterday. He’d had to go sleep in a tree outside to avoid him. He’d only come back inside after the twins had left for work, much to his little brother’s amusement. 

While he’d made himself a very small breakfast of eggs and a piece of toast, Palace had even set a condom on the counter beside him. It currently sat in his pocket since he hadn’t bothered to take off the pajamas he’d changed into once he’d come back inside before heading up to Jared’s room to sleep while the guy was gone. 

I slept too long. 

Knight sat up quickly, pushing himself to the opposite side of the bed as he yawned, unable to hold it in. When he opened his squinted eyes back up, Jared was tugging off his work shirt. It took every ounce of control in him not to think crude things. Instead, he just licked his lips and blushed when Jared smirked at him, then turned his back and tossed his shirt into the hamper in the corner. 

When he’d finally turned back, Knight wouldn’t be there. Panting, he shoved the bathroom door shut, then turned around and leaned his back against it with a sigh. Knight stayed there for several moments in order to calm his heart down, but when he felt and heard a thump on the other side of the door, he jumped and whirled around. 

“I don’t understand, Knight. You chased after me for years and worked hard to get my attention for even a second. Now that I’m finally giving it back to you, you’re running away every chance you get.” Jared said. There was a hint of humor to his words that made Knight scowl as he stomped toward the shower, tugging his shirt off in the process. 

“I know that you’re playing with me now, and I don’t appreciate it. I haven’t slept much and I’m in no mood to be picked on right now.” He growled as he yanked his pants down, glad that he’d foregone underwear as he kicked the clothing aside and leaned over to turn the shower on. 

There was silence on the other side of the door as he set the temperature, then climbed in. The water was just warm enough to be comfortable. He wasn’t a huge fan of cooking himself while trying to get clean. When the bathroom door slowly opened, he stopped rubbing body wash on his arm and looked around the shower curtain. Jared sauntered inside, leaving the door open as he picked up his toothbrush and added some paste. 

“What are you doing in here?” Knight grumbled as he jerked the curtain back into place and quickly scrubbed his body before stepping back under the water to rinse off. 

The sound of brushing answered him. 

Why would he be brushing his darn teeth in at seven P.M.? 

Reaching for the shampoo, Knight nearly dropped the bottle when he heard Jared respond in his mind. 

Because I already ate dinner and I don’t think that you want me to kiss you with onion on my breath. 

Bristling, Knight jerked the shower nozzle to off, then yanked the curtain to the side. He was butt naked with Jared staring at him wide-eyed, a toothbrush hanging from his closed mouth, but he didn’t care. Carefully climbing out of the shower, Knight stalked up to Jared and poked his bare chest with a damp finger, not caring that he was dripping water all over the floor. 

“Listen here, lion. I’m sick of you poking fun at me because I liked you. Get over yourself and this bullshit your playing at. I’m sick of it and I’m done with you. I don’t care if I still find you attractive! I’m done pining after you and I’m not going to melt into your arms now that you’re trying to mess with me!” He yelled, his words ending on a screech that echoed around the small bathroom. 

Jared’s eyes were still wide, his expression one of shock as he stood staring at him in silence. The only thing Knight could pick up from him were several confused, worried thoughts whirring around in the guy’s head. He couldn’t make sense out of any of it, though, and before he could question the guy, Jared turned toward the sink and leaned over, quickly spitting out his toothpaste, washing his brush, then rinsing his mouth out. A moment after completing those actions, he was gone. 

I’m slightly confused, but I guess I got my point across. 

When Jared didn’t return, Knight walked back into the shower and finished washing his hair, then dried off, got dressed, and wiped the remaining water from the floor before tossing his towel into the hamper, then heading downstairs. He was starving and as he stepped down from the last step, his nose picked up a scent that had him drooling. 

Someone got me pet store rats! 

Granted, he could catch his own dinner quite easily after dark, but he’d been lucky enough to be allowed access to the fridge as long as he kept everything clean and didn’t waste food. Walking over to the dinner table, Knight grinned as he saw a cardboard container on it that was labeled live animals . 

Not for long, my sweet delicacies. 

He picked up the box at the same time his brother descended the stairs. 

“Hey Pal, did Jamie bring these home for me?” He asked, knowing that the guy sometimes brought them treats if he was in a particularly good mood. With how busy him and Palace got at night, they had been getting little treats quite frequently.

When his brother shook his head and walked into the kitchen, Knight frowned and followed him, holding the squirming box firmly in his hands. 

“Then, did you get it?” 

It was a dumb question. Palace rarely used money as it was, and to buy rats from a pet store instead of just going to hunt some? It was laughable. In fact, his brother turned toward him after filling a glass of water from the dispenser in the fridge and rolled his eyes before downing the entire thing.  

“Then who?” Knight grumbled impatiently, waiting for his brother finished his drink.

Palace set the glass down and turned his full attention to him. 

“The other lion.” He stated simply as he leaned back against the counter. 

Knight’s brows drew together. Jared never brought him anything. Not even dinner when he picked up extra for Jamie. 

“Why would he buy me rats?” He asked, completely confused. 

Are they poisoned? 

Palace gave a quiet growl and shook his head as he leaned forward, getting close enough to poke Knight’s forehead with a finger. 

“He wants to fuck you, little brother.”

Knight’s heart nearly stopped at his brother’s words. 

“You’ve got the wrong lion, bro. He’s just tormenting me cause he finally thinks that he can get a kick out of stomping on my feelings.” Knight grumbled. 

Palace grabbed Knight’s chin tightly and jerked it up so that he was forced to look into his dark eyes. 

“That lion has been nervous for weeks about actually learning how to accept your feelings. He has talked to Jamie many times trying to understand how to like someone, but he doesn’t understand very well, so he’s turned it into a joke out of nerves.” Palace said before shoving Knight hard enough to make him stumble back and down into a chair, his hands nearly dropping the box of rats.  

“He bought you those rats and was going to give them to you for dinner, but I guess you two messed things up, again.” He said, getting a jerky nod from Knight as he looked away, embarrassed. 

 After a moment, Knight looked up, a new light in his eyes. 

“How do you suggest I try to talk to him? I yelled at him really badly a few minutes ago…” 

His brother smacked his hand against his forehead and sighed, clearly frustrated. 

“I swear I am talking to a child.” Palace grumbled, making Knight scowl before his brother leaned forward and grabbed his shoulder, squeezing hard. 

“Go upstairs and be yourself. If he starts being snarky, kiss him and tell him to shut up and fuck you.” Palace said before refilling his water, then walking out of the room and heading back upstairs to his and Jamie’s room. 

Knight slowly stood as he watched his brother disappear up the stairs. When he was gone, his eyes lowered to the box of rats and he groaned. 

“But I want to do him, not the other way around!” 

The sound of footsteps by the stairs brought his eyes over to the person standing there, staring silently at him. 

Oh. Shit. 

Knight felt himself start to shake as he saw Jared begin to walk over to him and quickly ducked his head, hugging the box of rats. Jared stopped with his toes barely an inch away from his own, then something brushed against the right side of his head before he heard the clinking of glasses against each other. 

Don’t hit me. Don’t hit me. 

Jared’s body heat so close it made him want to step forward, but he kept himself steady until the lion shifter backed away. Taking that chance, Knight glanced up, surprised to see Jared filling a cup with water at the fridge. 

He’s not mad? 

Inching closer, Knight held his box of rats a tiny bit tighter and licked his lips. He was nervous, and he could finally sense how uneasy Jared was through their awkward bond. 

“Jared? Did you get these rats for me?” He asked, his voice a whisper in the quiet, dark room. No lights had been turned on, but they both had decent-enough night vision for it to not matter. 

Jared didn’t respond right away, making Knight hunch his shoulders a little as he looked back down at the box in his arms. “Thank you, if you did…” He mumbled right before he saw Jared move abruptly, making him jump. 

He tried to dodge backward, but the counter at his back stopped him after only two small steps, allowing Jared to grasp his jaw and jerk it up as he crashed his mouth down upon his own with a deep, rumbling growl.

Break Down

“Del, what are you doing?” 

Mina looked up as the elevator finally opened, revealing Buck. He didn’t bother trying to squirm out from under Del’s massive wolf, however, because he’d already exhausted himself trying for the past… he had no idea how long. 

“Why aren’t you responding?” Buck asked as he knelt in front of Del’s wolf. 

The large creature pinned its ears and wined as Buck reached forward and ran his fingers through the thick fur on its head. 

Thank god he finally stopped licking me. I’ll be shocked if I don’t have a bald spot on the back of my neck now. 

“Let him up, hun.” Buck said with a warm smile as he gently guided the wolf to its feet with his hands on either side of its face. 

The second the beast moved its paw Mina scrambled forward, putting several yards between them before he turned around and gave his best pathetic hiss. So tired. He refused to show it, however, and instead slowly crept back to the elevator and pawed at it while looking up at Buck, who turned when he heard his little paws scratching at the metal door. 

When the man knelt beside him, Mina hunched and tucked his tail, but pressed his paw against the door again as he looked up with pleading eyes. I just want to go h— somewhere else. He wouldn’t go back to his uncle’s home, but he was too stressed to stay where he was right then. If he had to, he’d curl up in an alley for the rest of the day. He just needed some rest and to get away from everyone. 

“I’m sorry, but I can’t open the doors for you until Del returns.” Buck said, making Mina pin his stubby lion ears to the side of his head and look down at his paws. 

Don’t cry. Don’t waste your tears on this. 

Shaking out his coat, Mina slowly walked back toward the bedroom, but right before stepping through the door he right and walked a few more steps before dropping down to curl up in the corner on the cold tile. He knew that waiting for the doors to open without Buck or Del doing so wasn’t going to happen, so he wasn’t going to pretend that waiting by them would somehow make them magically slide open. 

He watched as Del’s wolf walked closer, but right before it could find a spot to lie down next to him, Buck blocked him and gestured for him to go into the bedroom. It was clear that it didn’t want to, but it also didn’t protest. Once he was gone, Buck actually slid down the wall beside Mina and reached down, gently setting his hand on his lion’s head. 

I don’t want to be pet. 

“I’m sorry I’m keeping you here. Normally I wouldn’t, but I’ve never seen Del disappear like this. I’m not worried that he won’t return, but for his wolf to actually force him back so much that he can’t respond… it worries me. I just want you to stay until he’s back, then I promise that I’ll let you go.” He said with sad eyes. 

A normal person would be sad for the hurt person who is being held against their will, but I know that the look in your eyes is only for him. 

He didn’t want it, either. In fact, Mina moved his head just far enough so that Buck’s hand slid from his fur. Thankfully, he didn’t try to replace it, and after a short while, got up and walked inside the bedroom. 

“Hey you damn deer, where the hell are you!” 

Magnus’s yell as he shoved his way through the door leading to the staircase had Mina jumping from surprise. He’d been dozing, but as soon as he noticed the door slowly closing, he bolted for it. Thankfully, he took Magnus by enough surprise to get past him, but as he was squeezing through the heavy steel door, it jerked the last few inches closed… right on his poor back left leg and tail. 

The amount of pain that jolted through his body had Mina seeing stars. He tried to blink them back, but he couldn’t manage to stay awake as his small body dropped to the cold floor.  

Oh shit. 

Magnus just barely managed to dodge Del’s massive wolf as it flew from the bedroom, shifting back to its human form before his feet hit the ground by the door to the stairwell. He hadn’t meant for the small lion to get caught in the door. It had bolted past him before he could react! He was just turning to try and offer help when he felt a strong hand grab his shoulder and hold him back. His bear half grumbled but his canine side wanted to roll over and whine. 

Fuck you, dog. 

He wasn’t exactly sure which animal he was more mad at right then, though. He didn’t need the aggression, but he also didn’t want to be a damn pussy and beg for another belly rub because he felt like he’d done something bad, even though it had been an accident. 

“You’re not getting another belly rub, and I wouldn’t bother him right now.” Buck said as he stopped beside him, both of them watching as Del shoved open the heavy door and gently but quickly scooped up the little lion. 

A moment later they were gone. No doubt Del was heading for the medical ward on the floor below them. He knew that Buck could feel his anger through their bond and he really didn’t like the worry the man was giving off. 

“I don’t want a damn belly rub.” Magnus finally replied as he turned to face Buck with a scowl. 

The other man just gave him a tired smile and took his hand, pulling him toward the elevator. 

“We have things to talk about. I’m not leaving.” Magnus growled, even though he let Buck lead him, anyway. 

Once inside the elevator Buck released his hand, only for Magnus to grab it again with narrowed eyes, just daring him to try and take it back. Instead of fighting him on it, Buck relented and waited quietly until they were on the first floor, then out of the building before looking over at him as they walked. 

“Are you okay?” 

What kind of stupid question is that? 

Magnus growled, but Buck didn’t change his expression or stop walking beside him. He wasn’t even sure where he was taking the guy, but he refused to let him go in case he might try to run. It would trigger him to chase… and that could end up with Buck getting hurt. The thought had him squeezing the man’s hand tighter as he licked his lips nervously. 

“Of course I am.” Magnus said as he stopped walking, only to realize that he’d taken Buck to the bar he worked at. 

Since they were already there, he shrugged and ducked inside, pulling him along with him after he gave a nod to the bouncer for the evening. The place was busy, as usual, even though it was a bit early to be drinking. Magnus slid onto a stool at the bar, tugging Buck into his lap before he could find another seat. 

He felt the guy grunt where his back leaned against his chest, but he ignored his annoyance and knocked on the bar to get the tender’s attention. 

“Two of whatever the draft special is tonight.” He said before smirking slightly up at Buck’s frown. 

“I don’t drink.” He man replied. 

Magnus chuckled as their drinks were set in front of them and reached for his own. It was slightly fruity but had a decently big kick of alcohol. He downed it in one go, then sighed as he wrapped his free arm around Buck’s waist, then reached for his drink. 

“You should. I’d take care of you.” He growled as he nuzzled the man’s neck, ignoring Buck’s own annoyed grumble. 

“No, thank you. I prefer to have my brain functioning when I’m around you.” He said as he nodded to the bartender and ordered a simple glass of water. 

Spoilsport. 

Not that he could blame him. He would have a hard time controlling himself if Buck got drunk and was at his mercy. He’d either eat the guy… or eat him, then eat him. The idea had Magnus licking his lips before he downed the beer he’d ordered for Buck in a few huge gulps. 

“If you get drunk, I’m going to leave you here. Even if you fall over and can’t get up.” Buck warned him as he sipped his water.  

Magnus chuckled as he knocked on the bar again. 

“Give me your hardest shit. Two glasses.” 

When the man returned with his order, Magnus grabbed one of the drinks, knowing that the bartender would just put it on his tab he kept with the place, and slid from the stool. That forced Buck get up, too, but Magnus refused to let go if him completely and grabbed hold of his shirt. 

“Grab my other drink, love.” He slurred slightly, a sly smirk on his face that he was sure looked ridiculous in the dim light. 

Buck rolled his eyes but picked up his water, then grabbed Magnus’s fourth beer. He followed him over to a group of thick leather couches. Magnus fell into them, pulling Buck down with him as their drinks plashed over the edges of the glasses, dotting their clothing and making Buck scowl. Magnus knew that he didn’t like getting dirty. Especially not when he was wearing a suit.

Not a problem.   

“Don’t worry, I’ll clean you up.” He mumbled as he leaned forward and licked the lapel of Buck’s jacket with one long stroke of his tongue. 

Buck quickly scowled and nudged him back with an elbow before setting the drinks he held on the coffee table in front of them. 

Magnus started nursing his third beer and was nearly done with it when he felt Buck grab the glass and remove it from his slippery fingers. 

“I think you’ve had enough.” He said as he set the glass on the tray, only for Magnus to reach over him and snatch the full one before leaning back… and spilling a decent amount of it on his shirt. 

“Deer o’ dear. You don’t know what game you’re playing.” Magnus slurred  as he began drinking again, only for Buck to grab the glass and yank it away. 

Magnus’s eyes narrowed up at him, but Buck just set the half-empty drink back on the table and sighed. 

“Why did you bring me here, Magnus? I have far more important things to do than babysit you while you drink your weight in alcohol.” Buck said, his eyes narrowed with annoyance. 

I… I don’t know. 

Magnus let his grip on Buck’s shirt slip until the fabric was free from his fingers. His body hunched and he looked down at his legs as he brought them up onto the couch, then wrapped his arms around them. Tucking his head into his arms so that he wouldn’t have to look at Buck anymore, or the faint lights overhead that were starting to give him a headache, Magnus gave off a faint growl and rasped out “Just go.” 

Buck’s weight disappeared from the couch beside him almost immediately. The music playing in the background drowned out his footsteps, but when Magnus lifted his blurry gaze some time later, he knew that he had left. 

He’s got no reason to stay, you fool. All you are is an annoying, insane employee. One that’s probably going to get fired soon for harassment, anyway.

Groaning, Magnus leaned forward, trying to get to his feet so that he could at least go downstairs and sleep off the alcohol he’d consumed. He managed one step before he had to drop back down to the couch and lean over with his head between his knees. 

Fuck. 

“Magnus.” 

Why am I hearing his voice now? He left, you idiot. 

“Magnus. Stand up, now.” 

Squeezing his aching eyes shut, Magnus lifted his head. He had to wait a minute for his balance to even out before he could open his eyes and look up without falling over onto a cushion. 

He came back? But why? 

Buck was staring down at him. His suit-coat was gone, leaving him in a tight black shirt that would have had Magnus drooling if he wasn’t trying his hardest to keep from throwing up.

“Don’t make me repeat myself, Maggie.” 

Ordering me around… jerk. 

He didn’t like it, but he also felt like absolute shit so he didn’t argue as his shaky legs finally lifted his body from the couch. They stared at each other for a long time before Magnus awkwardly lowered his gaze. Not a second later Buck was tugging one of Magnus’s arms over his shoulder as he grabbed his waist and helped him start walking toward the exit. 

“What ‘r you don’?” Magnus slurred, making a mess of his sentence. 

Buck remained quiet as they walked outside. The sun was just barely starting to drift behind the buildings across the street. Noticing Buck’s car parked at the curb, Magnus let the guy lead him toward it, then leaned against the side until the back door was opened for him. He dropped down onto the seat with a sigh, but when Buck leaned over to try and help him get inside the rest of the way, Magnus grabbed his upper arm and fell back, bringing Buck right along with him. 

Finally. Your body feels fucking fantastic on mine, even if I don’t feel great right now. 

He was just about to lean up and take a kiss, but suddenly Buck had his thumb on his jaw, just below his lip, as his other fingers curled beneath his jaw. It wasn’t a particularly hard hold, but it somehow kept Magnus from moving a muscle. That, along with the dark look in Buck’s shockingly calm eyes. 

“Let go, now.” 

Buck’s image blurred as Magnus fought himself not to stick his tongue out and lick the man’s fingers. Instead of indulging himself, he relented surprisingly quickly and let his hand slowly slide from where it grasped Buck’s arm until it fell onto the seat. 

That action had the right side of Buck’s mouth quirking up into an abrupt smile as he blew out a breath, as if he were giving a surprised laugh. 

Same, deer. I have no idea why I’m obeying you so readily, either. Must be the damn alcohol. 

“Go to sleep, Magnus… and don’t throw up in my car.” Buck said before backing out of the back seat and pushing Magnus’s legs inside more so that he could shut the door. 

When Buck slid into the front seat and started the car, Magnus closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to the inside of the seat and groaned. 

“Wher’ we gon’?” He whispered after a moment, suddenly too tired to raise his voice any higher. 

Buck was quiet for a few minutes, as if he were contemplating his answer. When it finally came, Magnus was just slipping into unconsciousness. 

“My house.”

Leash Laws

(The comment section has gotten kind of quiet :o) 

Calm the fuck down!

Del’s arms were shaking as he held out Mina’s unconscious cub toward the doctor he often kept on call. Thankfully, the man was still there, having needed to stay a little longer to deal with some paperwork. Unfortunately for Del, even though he was in his human form, he couldn’t speak at all. His wolf just switched between whining and growling as he nudged the cub into the man’s arms. 

“What happened, sir?” The man said as he carried the little lion into an X-ray room. 

After quickly dawning the protective gear, he snapped a few shots, then brought Mina out to settle on an exam table. It was clear that the tail was broken, but the leg was a toss up. 

It might just have a nasty bruise, or a fracture. 

Those things would heal much easier than a broken bone.

The doctor disappeared for a moment to retrieve the X-rays, then hung them up on one of the his light-boards to examine the results. He was silent for several moments as he went through each picture, but the images didn’t look good. 

When the doctor turned toward him, Del tried to calm his wolf’s growing worry. 

“Well, his back leg is broken. It’s clean, but it needs to be splinted and then wrapped. That can be done when he’s either human or lion… but the tail.” 

He knew exactly what a broken tail meant, and Mina would throw an absolute fit about it the second he was awake again. 

Let me have control, wolf. I need to come back so that we can help Mina. Del told his shift. He wasn’t used to it ever splitting from his own conscious. The second he had felt Mina’s pain through their bond he had managed to return to his own mind and shift back to his human form, but his wolf still refused to relinquish control. 

I know you’re worried about him, but we’ll be able to help him much better if I can talk to the doctor. He’s going to need to ask questions and I can’t answer them with you in control. He told it as calmly as he could. He wasn’t used to having to be nice, but he had absolutely no choice in the matter right then. 

“Are you able to talk right now, sir?” 

Let me out, please. 

When his wolf still refused and shook his head, the doctor frowned. 

See if you can get his phone and call Buck. You know he’ll do anything he can to help us, and in turn, help Mina. 

His wolf nodded his human head as it looked around. Spotting the doctor’s cell phone on a table, he walked over to it and held it up to the man. Catching onto the hint, the man ran over and unlocked his phone, then put it on the keypad for dialing. 

You know his number. Get Buck on the phone, then hand it to the doctor. 

He did as told, waiting until he heard Buck pick up on the other end of the line before handing the phone the doctor with a nod. There was a brief conversation about him and Mina before the man hung up with a reassured smile on his face. 

“Alright, that cleared up a few things. I’m going to get your friend into surgery and fix him up. Go ahead and take a seat and I’ll bring him back out once he’s all set.” The doctor said with a smile as he carefully began to wheel Mina’s prone form away. 

It took everything in him to keep his wolf from moving his human body into the surgical room, but he somehow managed. 

You did what you needed to. Let me take over, please. 

His wolf wined and squatted down on the floor, but refused to give him control until Mina was being brought out of surgery. 

“Finally.” Del grumbled as he straightened, stretching his sore body before walking over to where the doctor stopped. 

Mina’s back leg and tail were both shaved and a thick bandaged covered his left back leg. His tail was also wrapped, but it was much thinner, with a splint rod so that he wouldn’t be able to bend it and it would heal correctly. 

He’s not going to be able to shift back until that’s healed. 

The room was quiet for a few minutes as the doctor wrote down a list of things he would want him to do in order to take care of Mina. He briefly considered hiring a nanny, but just the thought of someone else touching what was his made him lift his upper lip to bare his teeth. 

“Here you go. This is a list of everything that needs done. You can give it to his family.” The doctor said with a smile that had Del’s hackles rising. 

Fuck his family. 

Grabbing the list, he skimmed his eyes down it and bit back a growl. He was always busy with his business, how was he going to find time to wash him by hand with a bag over his tail and leg? He also had to bring him meals and make sure that he didn’t move around much. He considered giving Mina back to his family, or at least his brother, but immediately shoved the thought away. 

No, mine. 

Lowering the list, he sighed out a stressed breath and pointed at Mina’s sleeping lion. 

“Can I take him now?” He asked, wanting to get out of the sterile-smelling room. 

The doctor pursed his lips and shrugged. “You really shouldn’t move him, but are you going to listen to me on that?” 

Hell no. 

Del grabbed several thick blankets from one of the other tables and carefully moved Mina’s lion onto them. 

“Wait a second. If you really have to take him, just take the whole table. I have to advise you not to just carry him. His bones were just set. You could cause permanent damage.” The doctor hurried to say. 

Forcing back his annoyance, Del grabbed the edge of the wheel table and started pushing it toward the door. The doctor ran ahead to hold it open for him while at the same time setting several bottles on the table. 

“Pain medicine and pills for infections. Make sure to check the incisions and keep them clean.” He warned, earning a grunt from Del as he hurried down the hall toward the elevator. 

I feel like my damn skin is crawling. 

His wolf also wouldn’t stop pacing in his mind, making him antsy. 

I need to run, but I can’t leave him, and Buck is gone. 

Magnus was also gone when he got upstairs. He’d felt Buck leave through their bond, but not seeing Magnus around was worrying. They had to have left together, and he didn’t like that one bit. 

“Whatever, I’ll deal with that later.” He told himself as he finally got Mina into his room. 

Now where the hell am I going to put you. 

He thought about the bed, but then immediately nixed the idea. 

Looking around, he pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head. He couldn’t think of a single place that would be decently comfortable, except…

“The closet.” 

It was a huge walk-in one. Him and Buck didn’t have too many clothes, either, so half of it was empty. Just need to move some things. 

He hurried inside and started pushing hangers together and moving outfits around. Pretty soon there was plenty of space on one side, while still leaving enough room to walk in and out safely without risking stepping on Mina. Grabbing a few of the extra comforters over his head, Del got them situated on the carpeted floor, then made a little nest with them. Once he was content with his work, he wheeled Mina’s sleeping lion as close as he could get him, then gently lifted him into his arms. 

Ow…

“Welcome back.” Del said quietly as he knelt down and carefully got Mina situated in the mound of blankets. 

He could feel the pain beginning to come through their bond and quickly got up to get a cup of water and two of the pain pills, along with one of other. 

“I’ve got some medicine for you if you think you can take it.” He said as he sat down next to Mina. 

His lion didn’t respond, which was no surprise. He set the cup by the wall and returned the pills to the bottles before setting them beside it. Leaning back against the wall, Del stared down at Mina for a long while, just listening to the static he knew the young man was likely unable to control. He couldn’t really understand much of it, but it didn’t bother him as much as he thought it would. The pain, also, wasn’t unmanageable. 

Leaning his head back, Del reached forward and set his hand on Mina’s soft fur. 

“Get some sleep if you can… and wake me up if you need anything.” 

Why do I feel like I’ve been hit in the head with a sledgehammer? 

Groaning, Magnus tried to roll over, only to realize that he couldn’t. 

What the hell? 

Blinking open his heavy eyelids, he tilted his head back and scowled. 

“The fuck? Why am I handcuffed?” 

He definitely wasn’t at a police station. Flaring his nostrils, he took in several deep breaths, then growled them out before snarling. “Deer!” 

Hearing the sound of someone approaching, Magnus looked toward the doorway and waited a few seconds before Buck appeared. He was holding a book and nudging reading glasses up his nose. 

“You’ve been asleep for almost seven hours. It’s close to three in the morning.” He said calmly. 

What the fuck is going on? 

“You better have a damn good explanation for handcuffing me to your bed.” He snarled, lifting his lip as his shift fought to come out. The only thing that was really stopping it were the cuffs. 

“And why the hell do you have these kinds of cuffs?” They were blocking his bog, which was just making his temper worse. 

Buck remained quiet for a moment before stepping into the room and setting his book down on the nightstand after folding one of the top corners to mark his place. “I have those cuffs because I bought them.” He stated simply. 

He slid his glasses from his nose and folded them before setting them on top of the book, then looked up. Oh, damn. He looks like he’s about to fall over. 

“And I cuffed you to my bed because I figured that you would prefer it over the floor. Was I wrong?” He asked calmly. 

Magnus ground his teeth together as he flexed his right arm, intent on swinging it forward and snapping the part of the frame his wrist was connected to. When he wound up to do just that, however, Buck spoke abruptly. 

“Stop.” 

He paused automatically, but then glared at him. “Why the hell should I?” 

Buck sat down beside him on the bed. 

“Because I told you to. I’d also appreciate it if you didn’t destroy my bed.” 

Magnus relented, but just barely. His muscles kept tensing, coiling for the possible fight that he knew likely wasn’t coming. Buck was half asleep as he stared down at him, and as the man reached over, Magnus bit back every instinct he had in himself to keep from biting or grabbing him. 

When Buck’s hand settled on his bare chest and began to rub gently, Magnus finally let his head drop back down to the pillow. “Where did my shirt go?” He rasped as his eyes closed on their own accord. 

    Buck added another hand, making Magnus groan in appreciation. 

“You threw up. I threw it out, then cleaned you up.” He said as his hands slowed to a stop, then one traveled leisurely upward along his chest and neck, coming to rest against his cheek. 

The touch had Magnus opening his eyes.

“Uncuff me.” He ordered, his voice gravely with the need to sleep more. 

Buck met his gaze but shook his head. 

“You won’t behave if I do that.” 

Damn right I won’t. 

“Uncuff me.” Magnus said again. 

Buck’s head slowly tilted forward as his eyes inched closed, but right before he would have fallen over he snapped his head back, then shook it. 

“Uncuff me, and we can both get some sleep.” Magnus said quietly. 

He could grab Buck if he wanted to, but it was unlikely that he was dumb enough to have the keys on himself… and he also didn’t want to hurt him. It was an odd notion, considering how aggressive he tended to get. He was a serial kidnapper for someone who profited off of murder. 

Buck’s head bobbed again before he hid a yawn behind his hand. 

“Buck.” 

Let me go. 

“You know you want my arms wrapped around you.” Magnus growled quietly as he tugged at one of his cuffed wrists. 

Buck looked away as he ran a hand through his messy hair. 

Damn it’s rare when he’s this disheveled. 

“What are your rules?” Magnus finally asked on a calming exhale. 

His question had Buck’s closing eyes blinking back open. “Rules?” He mumbled, clearly about ready to pass out. 

Not wanting to lose his chance, Magnus fought back his instincts and gave a slight nod. 

“Yeah, rules. What will get these cuffs off of me?” He asked. 

He didn’t remember much of what happened after he’d gotten drunk, but Buck never liked to take shit from anyone, especially him, and he could faintly recall the man ordering him around at some point before he passed out. 

Buck frowned down at the blanket between them as he whispered his response. 

“Clothes stay on… and you don’t attack me.” 

There goes both of our plans. I want his clothes off and my bog wants to taste how delicious his blood would be on his tongue. 

“Fine. Clothing stays on… and I won’t try to hurt you.” He ground out. 

The faint look of relief on Buck’s face made Magnus’s chest ache as he watched the man reach over to his nightstand and retrieve a key. Just having him lean over his body as he worked on removing the cuffs was making it hard for Magus to keep his shift under control. Everything around him already smelled like prey, and having the man so close… 

Don’t. 

When both of his cuffs finally came off, Magnus sat up and began rubbing at his sore wrists. Thankfully, they weren’t bleeding, but there would likely be a bruise or two from the metal having dug into his skin a bit. 

  Bastard deer. 

Narrowing his eyes, Magnus turned his darkening glare toward Buck, only for his eyes to slowly widen back to normal as he released a sigh. What kind of shit are you playing at? Buck was curled up on his side beside him, quiet snores telling Magnus that he’d already fallen asleep.  

“You don’t even know how to sleep right, stupid deer.” He grumbled as he easily lifted Buck’s shoulders up and moved him until his head was on a pillow. 

Shaking his head, Magnus reached down for the zipper to his own pants, intent on removing them since he hated sleeping with clothing on… but then he remembered. 

“Dumb ass rules.” 

He glared down at Buck again, but the man just continued to snore quietly as his breathing started to even out in sleep. 

“Fine. I bet you’re just playing with me. You think that I can’t handle something so simple without attacking you or trying something?” He said, then grunted as he fell over and yanked Buck’s body against his own. 

“Well fuck you, but not tonight. You don’t deserve it tonight. You’ll just have to wait until I feel like rewarding you, cause’ clearly you’re just jerking my chain now and will wake up as soon as I try something. So I won’t…” He grumbled, his voice growing quieter the longer he spoke. Eventually, his words died off into silence, but even as he fell asleep with Buck’s head tucked beneath his chin and the man in his arms in a slightly too-tight hug, his lips continued to move ever so slightly, silently telling Buck all of the reasons why he wouldn’t do anything that night, and how he could sometimes behave if he really, really tried.

Mending

The smell of bacon woke Mina around nine that evening. He tried to stretch, his muscles sore from being curled up in a pile of blankets for so long, but he immediately stopped when he felt shocks of pain radiate from his leg and tail. 

Tail? 

The previous day came rushing back to him and, if he wouldn’t have hurt himself much worse trying to get up, he would have gotten his ass out of there. As it were, he knew that he couldn’t even shift with his tail broken, so he was screwed. 

Not sure who I would prefer to be stuck with. My brother or Del.

He heard a scoff in his mind and flicked an ear before the door to the closet, which had been mostly closed, was pulled open and Del walked in. 

“Me, of course,” he said as he sat down with a plate in his hand. 

The thought of eating made his stomach uncomfortable, but Mina refused to decline bacon. It was his one vice. 

“Is it now?” Del asked, having clearly heard what he hadn’t thought he’d thought loud enough for him to pick up.  

Del picked up a piece of bacon and nonchalantly began nibbling at it, being sure to watch Mina’s lion’s face as he did so. He finished a whole piece before grabbing another and nudging Mina’s nose with it. 

“Open up, little lion. You need to get better so I can screw you again,” he said with a smirk. 

Bristling, Mina snatched the piece of bacon from his fingers, one of his teeth catching his finger just enough to make Del jump and growl. 

“Really? Mature much?” Del said with a scowl as he set his plate down and got up to go wash his slightly bleeding finger in the bathroom sink. 

Mina took his chance and reached out with a paw while he was gone. It took a bit of shifting around and a slight amount of pain, but he managed to snag two more pieces of crispy bacon and drag it back to where he lay. It was gone in moments, along with the remaining three pieces, right before Del came back. 

“You think you’re so clever, don’t you, you brat?” he said as he sat down next to the empty plate, ignoring it since it had nothing on it anymore. “I just wanted to get some food in you so that I could text the vet that you were eating.” 

Why am I even here? I can’t imagine you wanting to take care of a crippled lion. Mina thought to Del. 

“Of course I don’t want to look after some injured cub. It’s my darn wolf that’s making me do this.” 

The wolf? You are the wolf. Mina replied, even though he knew that the animals could sometimes take over. His lion was a prime example. 

Why don’t you just give me back to my uncles, or even my brother? 

Not that he really wanted to be shoved at them, either. 

“Because I don’t want to. You belong to me now.” Del said with a half-shrug that had Mina hissing at him. 

My ass. 

“Especially that, yes.” 

Mina was about to swat at him, pain be damned, when the sound of the door to the bedroom opening drew their attention toward it. The moment they saw Buck step through the opening, Mina could feel Del’s relief and excitement as the man jumped up and literally ran into his arms. Buck’s back hit the closed door before he slid to the carpeted floor, wrapping his own arms around Del before squeezing him tightly against his chest. 

“I’m sorry I was gone when you needed me,” he whispered as he pressed a kiss to Del’s hair. 

Of course, he can snuggle into Buck’s arms and nearly start sobbing, but all I’m good for is to hump until he’s tired enough to fall asleep. 

The thought left a sour taste in his mouth as Mina forced himself to stand as best he could with his broken limbs. He dragged himself out of the bundle of blankets he’d been resting in and carefully headed toward the bathroom. 

You can’t just walk around. 

Ignoring Del’s words, Mina walked into the bathroom, grateful for the switch to tile flooring so that his bandages slid much easier over the surface. He stopped in front of the toilet, then looked up in dismay. 

Maybe the bathtub will be a little better? 

Turning, he flattened his ears against his head and pouted. It looked much higher than it normally did… when he was in his human form. 

I’m just gonna pee on the floor. 

“Like hell you are!” Del shouted as he came running in. 

Before Mina could react, he was being picked up and placed on a stack of newspaper? 

Not on the toilet, genius? 

“You want to try and squat on it in your condition? I mean, I’ll lift you up there, but don’t blame me for laughing when you fall in.” He said as he moved to lift Mina up, only to be swatted at. 

“That’s what I thought.” Del grumbled as Buck appeared in the doorway, a small smile on his face. He knelt down in front of Mina, making his lion’s hackles rise slightly. 

Del sat down when Buck motioned for him to do so, then returned his attention Mina. “I’m going to be here to help with anything you need until you’re healed. If he starts giving you trouble, just let me know.” 

Mina eyed him skeptically, but he couldn’t decline his offer outright. As far as he could tell, Buck was more level-headed than Del. That wasn’t exactly saying much, but at least it was saying something. Mina was just about to nod when he heard Del let out a near-silent growl. 

Wait? Did you just growl at Buck? 

The look on Buck and Del’s faces as they turned to stare at each other mirrored Mina’s thoughts. Del looked like he was about to start apologizing profusely when Buck reached up and settled a hand against his face. 

“It’s fine, Del. I know that things are changing in your mind. I’m not the only one that matters anymore, and that’s fine.” Buck said right before Del snarled down at Mina, earning a pathetic hiss in response. 

“Nothing is going to change!” He yelled before getting up and storming out. 

Mina expected Buck to follow him, but he just chuckled quietly. 

“He’s really not that bad once he thinks you’re worth his time. He’s just a tough guy to deal with until then.” He said as he stood up. “I’ll leave you to your business.” 

With that, he turned and shut the door most of the way. Mina did his business, being careful not to get his bandages wet, then hobbled out of the room after nudging the door back open. To his surprise, there was a new nest of towels and blankets only a foot or so away. He noticed Buck walking around the room cleaning up some things, but when he pretty much ignored him, Mina limped into the soft makeshift bed and curled up gratefully. 

“Wake up, Claws.” 

Del’s voice had Mina grumbling and snuggling deeper into his blanket nest. 

“It’s already been two days. You need to eat something and I need to change those bandages.” 

Mina’s eyes cracked open and he lifted his head, feeling way too tired for having slept for two days straight. Before he could even get his barrings he was lifted out of his blankets and carried into the bathroom. Once set down in the bathtub, Del leaned over and began unwrapping the bandages on his leg. 

“I checked them when you were out cold and they looked okay, but the vet said to change them soon. You could also use a bath, so just deal with it for a few minutes.” He said as he grabbed a few plastic bags from under the sink and began wrapping them around Mina’s leg and tail. 

I can wash myself. 

“Give it a try, then.” Del said, sitting back on his heels as he watched Mina with a raised eyebrow. 

Mina tried to lean over and lick at his back legs or side, but just trying to reach those places made him hurt terribly. Deciding on a safer route, he leaned forward and started lapping at his front paws. 

See? No problems. 

“Uh huh.” 

Del quickly finished tying the bags around Mina’s bandages before turning on the water for the detachable shower-head. “Just behave. I’ll make this quick… unlike a few nights ago.” Del said with a smirk as he started spraying down Mina’s dirty coat. 

You might have done several rounds, but if I remember correctly, they had definitely been quick. Mina quipped back with a flick of his ear, since he couldn’t move his tail at all. 

His face was suddenly scrubbed with suds in response, making him squeeze his eyes shut on a closed-mouth growl. 

“Don’t drown the poor boy in soap, Del,” Buck said, his voice growing closer as he spoke. 

My savior! 

“You wish, punk,” Del grumbled as he grabbed the hanging shower-head and sprayed Mina down with warm water, being careful around his bad leg and tail. “At least you don’t smell like ass now.” 

Mina glared up at Del after the soap was washed away. He probably looked like a drowned rat, but if he had to, then Del did, too. With a huff, Mina shook his coat out as hard as he could without hurting himself. Water flung from his fur in all directions and the sound of Del scrambling back and growling was like music to his ears. When he had finished and looked at his handwork, Del was stomping out of the bathroom to change his soaked clothing and Buck was reaching down toward him with a towel, laughing quietly. 

“Nice job. He needed a bath, too, honestly. He’d been looking after you so much that he barely rinsed off here and there.” He said as he wrapped Mina in the plush towel and began scrubbing his fur gently to help dry it. 

I might not mind having a connection with you… yet I somehow think that you don’t show your true colors too often. 

Mina let Buck rub at his coat until it was just a little damp before he started squirming. 

“Alright, alright. I’ll let you down, but since Del ran off, I’ll need to take care of your injuries,” he said as he gently set Mina in his blanket nest, then went to get the items he’d need to do the job. 

When he sat back down, Mina was already nestled into the warm blankets and towels, drawing a smile from Buck before the man reached over and looked over his leg. “It looks pretty good.” He mused as he gently tapped at the incision sight with some medication on a cotton ball, then got busy rewrapping it in a fresh bandage. “Nice and easy.” 

“Buck!” 

Buck’s fingers paused on Mina’s leg before he finished bandaging the injury, then looked over his shoulder as Magnus stomped up to them. The slightly bigger man was just opening his mouth to say something else when Buck reached to his side and tapped the floor. 

“Sit.” 

Magnus scowled, but shut his mouth and dropped to the floor into a sloppy sitting position as he glared between him and Buck. 

“Why are you taking care of Del’s mate?” He asked with a glare toward Mina. 

Why are you here, is the real question… and I’m no one’s mate.    

“Calm down, Maggie. I’m just helping Del. He’s been very stressed lately and I am perfectly capable of changing some bandages.” Buck said calmly as he worked on unwrapping Mina’s tail. His leg hadn’t been too bad, but when Buck started tugging on his tail, though unintentional, Mina couldn’t help but swat at his arm, as it was the only part of him that he could easily reach without hurting himself more. 

Before the swipe could even connect, however, Magnus grabbed his small paw with a snarl. Mina pinned his ears and tried to pull his paw away while Magnus bared his teeth, but was useless against his strength… until Buck released his tail and promptly tackled Magnus to the floor with a frustrated snort. Even in his human form his deer’s annoyance came out loud and clear. 

“Stop it, or you’re going home.” He warned. 

Mina watched the two with interest. He hadn’t exactly had an exciting time the last few days, so it was quite interesting watching a deer shifter dominate a carnivore. 

I wounder who tops in their relationship. 

“There is no relationship!” Del roared from the doorway as he stormed into the room carrying a huge bag of Chinese take-out in each hand. 

Buck looked up from where he had Magnus pinned on the carpet and chuckled, then leaned off the man. 

“Your attitude says something else, Del.” He reminded him, clearly having mistaken which relationship he had been yelling about. 

Either way, Buck’s response had Del’s narrowed eyes widening as they locked on Magnus. 

“You’re actually in a relationship with that crazy bear-dog?” He growled, clearly close to shifting right where he stood and giving Magnus a run for his money. 

I think I’d put my money on Magnus. 

Del turned his glare on him, but Mina just yawned. 

What? You’re getting a little soft. I think he might stand a decent chance. 

  It was entertaining to see Del’s face begin to turn an angry red shade. 

“Stop instigating him, Mina. I can tell by the look on your face.” Buck said as he backed off of Magnus, allowing him to sit back up before looking up at Del. “Calm down and finish changing the bandage on his tail.”

Buck got up and grabbed Magnus’s arm, making him stand, too, so that they could give Del room. Mina watched the two start for the door as Del got himself situated and tried to hold back a smirk when he saw Magnus nudge his face into Buck’s neck and lick him from his collarbone to his cheek. 

“Pay attention, stupid lion,” Del grumbled as he grabbed Mina’s tail… way too hard. 

In a flash Mina had his claws in Del’s arm. Even one of his little teeth had slipped into his skin, but he couldn’t help himself. His tail was freaking broken! Just grabbing it like that had seriously hurt! 

Del jumped up abruptly and carried Mina to the bathroom, since he couldn’t retract his claws just yet. When the door shut, he expected Del to yank him off of his arm without a care to his injuries, but to his surprise, the guy took a very deep breath, then sighed it out as he closed his eyes. They remained that way for several moments before Del opened his eyes again and gently set Mina down on the fuzzy bathmat in front of the shower. 

“I’m sorry that I wasn’t careful touching your tail. You didn’t deserve that.” He said, shocking Mina to the point where his mouth hung open. 

Del shook  his head and sighed again before gently working Mina’s claws out of his arm, then getting up to wash it in the sink. He added some disinfectant and band-aids, then turned back to Mina with a small spool of fresh bandaging and knelt down. 

“I’ll take care of your tail, carefully this time, then, if you want some, I bought Chinese for us.” Del said as he got busy working on unwrapping Mina’s broken tail. 

Mina was silent for several minutes as Del worked, contemplating his words as well as trying to keep from fidgeting as his tail was tended to. Once Del had finally finished and tossed the old bandages, then got up to put away the rest of the stuff away, he slowly got to his three good feet and looked up. 

Did you get some of those krab wantons?

The grin that slipped onto Del’s face had Mina looking down, but soon enough he was being lifted and tucked against Del’s side as he carried him out of the bathroom and set him down on the bed. What proceeded that was a wonder. Del must have bought out the entire Chinese place with how much stuff he set out before  Mina. There were at least five different meals, including two bags of wontons, egg rolls, and two containers of soup. 

Wow. Buck and Magnus are going to be super excited. 

Del grunted and shut the bedroom door, then walked back over to sit beside him on the bed as he took one of the disposable forks out of the packaging, then speared a piece of chicken and lifted it to his own lips as he grabbed a wonton and offered it to Mina. 

“It’s not for them… It’s for this guy who’s been driving me more crazy than I usually am.”

Advance Slowly

(These two finally talked to me… a little lol) 

“Hey…” 

Jared glanced up from the book he was reading, nudging his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he straightened in his chair. 

“Hey Knight.” He replied, waiting for him to say what he came to. They had been kind of awkward since he’d kissed him a few days ago, but it definitely wasn’t as bad as before. 

When Knight just stood in the door looking down at his feet, Jared sighed and removed his glasses to fold and set aside. He then set his book down with them and raised an eyebrow at the guy. The silent invitation did the trick. Knight walked forward, clearly trying to withhold his excitement, then slipped onto Jared’s lap like a kitten silently begging for attention. 

Jared watched as the guy straddled him and leaned forward. Without a word, Jared reached up and wrapped his arms around Knight’s waist. He felt him nuzzle into his hair and rest his arms on his shoulders. The gesture drew Jared’s eyes upward, his head tilting backward just enough to see Knight staring down at him with a devilish smirk. 

“I don’t want to know what thoughts have spawned that smile,” he said with his own slight grin. 

Knight pursed his lips, trying to keep his smirk from growing wider, no doubt. 

“Talk to me, my chicken.” 

Knight finished getting settled in his lap, then leaned up just enough to press a chaste kiss to his lips. Jared returned it gently, then leaned back to break the contact. “How has your new job been going?” he asked as he unconsciously played with the waistband of Knight’s work pants. The guy looked decent in them, but he preferred him naked. Not that they had done  anything yet, but still. 

He got a response after a few moments of Knight rearranging his hair. The guy had an obsession with preening him, even if he wasn’t in his hawk form. It didn’t really bother him, though, so he let him have his fun. Sometimes it was actually nice to just let the guy play with his hair a bit. 

“It’s okay. When we have a chase or something it can get pretty cool. It’s much easier for me to keep up with a bad guy than a dog when running through residential places. We kinda work together,” he said as he nuzzled into Jared’s hair and wrapped his arms around his neck. “Your hair always smells so good.” 

Jared reached up with a quiet chuckle and ran his fingers through Knight’s dirty hair. “It happens when you wash it regularly, my dirty bird.” 

The smile he got in response to his comment as Knight leaned back a bit had him shaking his head. 

“You’re not getting in bed looking and smelling like that. I don’t care how cute you are when curled up next to me.” 

Knight stuck his tongue out but slid from Jared’s lap before grabbing the guy’s hand and tugging. 

“I already took a shower this morning,” Jared said even as he stood up and let Knight pull him along. They hadn’t actually bathed together, even after realizing that they wanted to grow closer. Knight was quite jumpy, still not one-hundred percent trusting that Jared wasn’t messing with him, and well, Jared wasn’t used to touching in general. Even being looked at sometimes bothered him.                                                                        

Granted, Palace had been more than willing to offer them unwanted insight on how to screw each others’ brains out properly, but they’d both managed to dodge most of what he tried to say on a daily basis. Just thinking about it made Jared cringe. 

“Do I really smell that bad?” Knight asked, staring up at him where they had evidently stopped right inside the bathroom. The guy then lifted one arm and sniffed, then cringed and hurried over toward the shower. 

“Sorry, I actually do smell like crap. No wonder you didn’t want to let me do you,” he said jokingly as he got the shower going, then quickly removed his clothing and hopped in. 

Jared watched the whole show as he leaned against the counter with his arms crossed over his chest. Knight’s comment brought a small smile to his face. When the guy disappeared behind the curtain of the shower Jared moved away from the counter and walked up to the shower. He heard the top of a bottle pop open as Knight got busy scrubbing his body. He really didn’t want to actually get in the shower with him since he’d already had one earlier, but he did want to watch…

With a slight shrug Jared tugged off his shirt and dropped it into the pile of clothing that Knight had made, then nudged the curtain forward a bit from the back before stepping over the edge of the tub with one foot while leaving the other on the tile. He then sat down with his back against the wall, enjoying the view. Knight had his back to him and was scrubbing the soap from his hair as he leaned under the spray of water. His backside was firm and lightly tanned like the rest of him since he spent so much time without clothing on as a hawk. One would think that the feathers helped out a bit, which they probably did in terms of burning, but at least for shifters, it allowed them to tan decently, too. 

Jared unconsciously licked his lips as he took in all of the man’s smooth skin and slim build. Every single action he made had muscle that had been previously invisible make itself known just enough for a glimpse here and there. 

Hungry? 

Jared let a quiet rumble slip from his throat, his lion replying to the thought Knight sent through their bond. He hadn’t eaten yet, but his stomach could wait. His eyes were enjoying their feast first. 

“Always,” he replied as he watched Knight turn around to face him, giving him a perfect front view. 

When the guy simply smirked and walked toward him, Jared slowly lifted his eyes so that he could keep his gaze locked with Knight’s. Memories swam through his mind, showing him how different things had been before him and Palace had left. Knight had been quite whiny and pushy, but now that Jared was getting to know him better, he knew that it wasn’t just those things that were weighing the man down. All of the insecurity and stress from years ago had finally begun to dissipate from Knight’s warm eyes.

Knight stopped in front of him and leaned over to put his damp hands on Jared’s bare shoulders. His eyes were calm but held a hint of excitement that Jared was beginning to enjoy seeing when the guy looked at him. Using his grip there, Knight carefully lifted one leg and straddled his lap, then settled down, soaking his pants and the floor with warm water. 

“What are you thinking about, my kitty?” Knight whispered as he leaned closer, pressing his lips to Jared’s for a brief moment before leaning back with a genuine smile. 

Matching his grin, Jared reached up and tucked a strand of hair back behind Knight’s ear, only to watch it slip free a moment later. Shaking his head once, he wrapped his arms around Knight’s damp back and tugged him against his chest in a strong but comfortable hug. He felt the man take in a long deep breath before exhaling it slowly as he nuzzled into the crook of Jared’s neck. 

“I think you know exactly what’s on my mind right now,” Jared replied quietly as his hands began to wander over Knight’s slick body. 

He could sense the guy’s unease as his hands got closer to his backside, but Knight bit his lip and tensed. Feeling his body go taut beneath his fingers had Jared pausing immediately. Knight leaned back in response, his expression one of confusion and worry.  

“Talk to me, my chicken. What do you want me to do?” he asked as he stared into Knight’s eyes, not wanting to misread the situation again. 

Knight opened and closed his mouth several times as he averted his eyes downward. Jared could sense the turmoil in his mind and simply waited, letting the guy figure out exactly what he wanted out of their current situation. Either way, though, he knew that his brother was going to have a fit about the water bill if they didn’t shut the shower off soon. 

When Knight carefully slid from his lap, Jared lifted an eyebrow and watched as he went over to the spigot to turn off the water. Once that was done, Knight returned to stand in front of him, a determined look having replaced his previous ones. Jared waited calmly until Knight gently lowered himself to his knees, then reached forward with his right hand. It settled atop the obvious bulge in Jared’s wet pants before Knight lifted his eyes back to his. 

“I want to see you naked.” 

He had, several times, but Jared couldn’t really fault him for wanting more considering how often he got to see Knight without clothing on. The guy even undressed for him whenever he asked the past few days… but he rarely returned that favor. 

“It’s okay if you don’t want to,” Knight said quietly as he wrapped his arms around Jared’s lower torso, hugging him gently. “I know that you’re not always comfortable like that.” 

He really wasn’t, but Knight never pressured him into doing anything. Sure, he joked and nudged at him a lot, but there was never a demand. If he wanted to wear sweatpants to bed instead of being naked, he did. If he wanted to shift back from his lion behind a closed door, he did. He’d never really been made fun of or assaulted in h is life, but nudity had just never been his thing. 

Standing up, Jared stepped into the bathtub and reached down to undo the button to his pants. Knight had backed up but remained on his knees, watching with wide, nervous eyes. As Jared worked, he glanced up at Knight several times. “Don’t worry. I’m doing this because I decided that I want to. You aren’t forcing any part of this.” 

Once his pants and boxers were off, Jared tossed them out of the shower, then leaned over a wide-eyed Knight to turn the water back on. 

“You still smell, my chicken,” he said as he turned and grabbed the bottle of shampoo. 

When he turned back around Knight was standing right in front of him, an excited puppy dog look on his face. Jared raised an eyebrow as the guy looked at him from head to toe, then smiled widely as he ducked his head for him slightly. 

This chicken…

“Spoiled poultry,” he mumbled as he squeezed a good amount of shampoo into his hand, then began working it into a thick lather in Knight’s dirty hair. 

“You’re going to start showering more, you dirty bird.” 

Okay . Was Knight’s reply as he leaned into Jared’s chest, clearly enjoying the attention.  If you’ll touch me like this more often when I get dirty, I’ll shower whenever you want me to. The innuendo in his voice was impossible to miss, but Jared decided not to comment on it.   

As he stepped back to rinse his hair, Knight replied. “We really should shower together more often. I like looking at you, and I’m sure you don’t mind seeing me, either.” 

Jared bit back a grin as he stepped around Knight, being careful not to block the flow of water and give himself away while the guy finished rinsing out his hair. He waited silently until Knight turned toward the back of the shower, where he had been standing seconds ago, then opened his eyes. 

“He left…?” 

When he saw Knight’s shoulders hunch in upset Jared stepped forward, blocking part of the spray as he reached around him and hugged his back to his chest. 

“I don’t plan to do that, my chicken,” he grumbled as he nudged his face into the guy’s neck, then nibbled a tiny bit. “You’re stuck with this grumpy lion.”   

(I love writing shower scenes lol)

In the Dark

(Pepperjack  hordes bones and then tries to hit you in the face with them all at once. I have ‘great’ dogs.) 

“Buck? Slow down!” 

The tense silence that was the man’s response had Magnus’s dog half wanting to whine and the bear half wanting to pin him down and eat him. 

These conflicting animals will be the death of me. 

“No, I will be the death of you if you keep acting like a child.” Buck grumbled as he sped up his already too-fast walk. 

Magnus bit back his frustration as he started to jog to keep up. 

“I wasn’t acting childish! There was just no reason for you to help him. He can clearly take care of that lion himself.” He said. 

Buck turned in front of him, then stopped suddenly, making Magnus have to stumble backwards in order to keep from running right into the man. Buck’s breath was ghosting into the chilly evening air as he clearly tried to reign in his temper. 

“Whether or not there was a reason should have not mattered to you.” Buck replied before turning and continuing to stalk down the street. 

If Magnus didn’t already know that he was a deer, he would have thought that Buck was definitely a predator considering the way he carried himself… especially when angry. 

“Hey, where are we going, by the way?” He asked as he caught up again and started walking beside him. He did keep a few feet between them, though, since he knew that a pissed off deer could be deadly, even to a predator. 

Buck turned a corner as he replied. “To my house, and it’s not we , it’s just  me .”

Magnus stopped at his words, then watched as Buck walked halfway down the block before turning to look back at him. Both of his animals wanted to follow, but at the same time, he knew that he was pushing his luck. 

I have to go to work, anyways. 

If Buck had let him come home with him, he would have probably skipped it, but money didn’t grow on trees and he couldn’t exactly fake being sick all that well. So, reluctantly, he turned in the opposite direction and headed off to his job. 

Maybe I just need some time away from him. I have been practically stalking him like a damn lost dog. 

He might have been part dog shifter, but he didn’t need, nor want, a master of any sort. It was frustrating enough taking orders from his boss at the bar and Del, when he gave him retrieval orders for hunts. 

Sure as hell don’t need to be taking orders from something I should be eating. 

Temper flaring, Magnus fought with himself to remain in control until he stepped through the door at work. The slap of cigarette smoke always made both of his animals back down a bit since their noses were super sensitive to the horrible smell. It was like putting a band-aid on his aggression… for a short while, at least. 

He set up behind the bar, since that was what was needed when he looked at the schedule for the evening. It wasn’t his favorite thing, but since they were quite busy, it did keep his mind off of a certain herbivore. In fact, nearly his whole shift flew by without much time to think about anything but mixing drinks and working tabs. 

“Hey there hot stuff, want to have some fun after your shift is over?” A woman asked as she leaned against the bar, a cigarette between her too-red lips. With the amount of smoke inside the bar, Magnus couldn’t tell what kind of shifter she was, but judging from the golden eyes and narrowed stare, he’d guess some sort of big cat. Possibly even a lioness. 

There’s only one person who can handle this beast, and it’s—fuck me. 

Magnus filled a shot glass and downed the burning liquid before slamming the glass back down on the worn wooden bar and leaning forward. 

“I’m not someone you want to play with, sweetheart.” 

The woman, seemingly not dissuaded, leaned closer. “I don’t know, I’ve been told that I’m very  good at handling aggressive males.” 

Shaking his head to clear the nasty smell from her breath from the cigarette, Magnus went to fill two drink orders, then tossed back two more shots since he was off in fifteen minutes, before returning his attention to the woman that was practically undressing him with her eyes. 

Aggressive was one word for how his bear got when someone tried to get in his pants. Granted, he could get laid without too much of a problem, but not when someone was trying to handle  him. Challenging a bear was generally not a great idea, and considering how much more aggressive his was than most others? 

Downing one more shot, he set the glass in the sink, then wiped his hands with a bar towel. “Sorry, hun, I do the handling.” 

The woman seemed ready to argue when someone dropped down into the stool she was standing beside, effectively nudging her just enough to silence her retort and redirect her attention. 

“Well, hello there. My friend here doesn’t seem to want to play, but you look like you would be delicious in bed.” 

Before he knew what was happening, Magnus felt his bear-dog force its way free. He easily climbed up onto the bar, his massive size making the old wood creak with strain as he roared at the retreating woman. 

He could hear his name being called through the haze of instinct that was flaring up, but he couldn’t seem to regain control. Magnus swiped several stools out of his way, then flipped a table by barely lifting a paw. The woman had enough sense to start running, but that was never something one wanted to do in front of an angry predator. 

He was just about to give chase when he felt something slip around his thick neck, then tighten. 

Calm down, Magnus. 

The voice in his head gave him pause, but only long enough for him to redirect onto the person who had dared to throw a rope around his neck. 

“Magnus, if you can’t get control of yourself here, then I can’t trust you in my home again.” Buck said calmly as he relaxed his hold on the rope he had gripped in his hands, letting the tension around Magnus’s neck lessen a good amount. 

You don’t want me in your house. 

Buck sighed and shook his head before stepping forward and running his fingers through Magnus’s dense fur. The action brought a growl to his lips, but it quieted after only a few moments as Buck dropped the rope he’d been holding and added his other hand. 

“I’m sorry that I made you feel unwanted. I’m not used to having another person interested in my attention besides Del.” 

I don’t want to hear about him. 

Buck chuckled as he poked Magnus’s wet nose, then slipped the rope off of him. 

“I live with him, you’re going to have to get used to it if you want to be around me more.” 

Snorting, Magnus flopped over onto the dirty floor, facing away from Buck. 

“You’re quite a pain sometimes, you know that? I came all the way here to pick you up once you were done with work, and you’re just going to pout and ignore me because I mentioned Del?” Buck said from behind him. 

Magnus wanted to turn around and whine out an apology, but at the same time he was still upset that Buck kept mentioning Del. 

You can just live with me. You don’t need him. 

Feeling a hand settle atop his head had Magnus’s hackles rising, but when Buck sat beside him and started petting his fur, he forced himself to calm down. 

“I know that I don’t need him. Things are just special between us. We both went through hell and came out of it together. He’s relied on me for most of his life and I feel like I owe it to him to stick around. Del might seem like he knows what he wants and how to handle his life… but it’s not quite that simple.” He said, making Magnus flick an ear and glance sideways at him as the bar patrons who had run away from his little mini rampage began to flow back into the business.

What do you mean? 

Buck offered him a small smile before hiding a yawn behind one hand. 

“I can consider letting you into my life slowly, but Del will always be a big part of that life.” 

Why? You two aren’t together, and I doubt that there is any relation, either. 

Reaching over, Buck grasped Magnus’s head and brought it over to rest in his lap before he continued stroking his fingers through his fur. 

“We’re half brothers, Magnus. While it wasn’t by choice, we do share blood.” 

I don’t know if I want that story. Magnus replied, finally calm enough to think as clearly as he could manage with the amount of alcohol he’d drunk. 

Buck pet his head for a few more moments before getting up. Magnus quickly stood, too, then followed the other man outside. They started down the sidewalk and made it over a block before Magnus spoke again. 

“His mother was forced to have him as more of an experiment than anything else.” 

Magnus began to growl as he replied. Kill the damn father. 

“It’s not that simple. The father didn’t physically do anything. He was trapped at the time, too.” 

So Del was an experiment? Then what happened? 

Buck licked his lips and turned a corner. Magnus could feel the man’s stress through their growing bond but could also tell that Buck actually wanted to talk about the subject. Perhaps it was the first time someone had bothered to ask about it, or maybe care enough about it to ask? 

“They tried to kill him once the experiment was completed. Besides, what good is the trial when you have a perfectly good subject already mature?” 

A light snow started to fall as they continued walking. Magnus made himself stay quiet, not wanting to make Buck hesitate if he wanted to continue at some point. The other man didn’t say anything, however, until they stopped in front of Buck’s apartment. He fished out a key and unlocked the door, but as it swung open slowly, he turned and looked down at Magnus. 

“He needs me because he doesn’t know how to live sometimes. I know that he’s turned into something terrible, and while I’d like to blame that on how he came into existence, that’s only a part of it. I let him do what he wanted because I was also hurting, too. His birth killed my father, who ended up being a cross-shifter. My father had been all I’d had left. I wanted others to suffer just as badly as we both were. That’s why he built the business he runs today, but…” 

Magnus felt their bond quiver as Buck looked up toward the dark sky. A faint but chilly gust of wind rustled the man’s hair. A need that he hadn’t felt before had Magnus’s bog retreating, leaving his human form in control as he stepped forward and wrapped the other man in his arms. To his surprise, Buck leaned down and pressed his forehead against Magnus’s shoulder. 

“They named him Delete, Magnus.” Buck whispered, nearly choking on his words as Magnus gently guided him inside and nudged the door shut with a foot. 

Buck looked back up at him after a moment, tears running down his cheeks. 

“You can’t imagine how hard it was to grow up knowing that the people who were responsible for creating you only did so for a quick experiment, then intended to kill you. Not a single one of them hesitated when the kill order was given. I saved him, but at the time, it was only because I wanted someone to look at me after having lost everything. We were both too young to understand so many things, but we were also so filled with hate that we let it mold who we became.”

Magnus tightened his arms around Buck and licked his cheek just the slightest amount, his dog half trying to console him. 

“You can’t change what happened. You both did what you had to. I’m sorry I got upset over him being near you so much.” He said quietly. 

Buck slowly stepped out of Magnus’s arms and walked into the kitchen to grab a drink from the fridge. 

“Is it wrong that, after all this time, I actually want to change? I know he doesn’t see it, but Mina is changing Del, too. It got me thinking that, maybe, it’s getting close to the time when we aren’t in each others lives as much. Before everything happened, I didn’t want to be a murderer, or a bad person in general. I’ve never really killed anyone, but I definitely pushed Del to get revenge for the both of us. He rarely kills these days, but his hands are so stained with blood that I can smell it in my sleep when he crawls into my arms to try and chase away the nightmares we’re both plagued with.”

He looked down at the beer in his hand that he hadn’t even opened yet. 

Magnus swallowed down the nerves building in his throat and stepped forward. Taking the bottle, he twisted the cap off, then returned it to Buck’s hand, drawing the man’s eyes up to him. 

“Maybe Mina will be good for him.” Magnus replied with a small but reassuring smile. 

He waited several moments to see what Buck would do in response. When the man simply closed his eyes, then opened them a few seconds later before lifting the bottle of beer to his lips and taking a long drink, Magnus felt his lips stretch into a more relaxed smile. 

“…and maybe, we can be good for each other?” He said hopefully as Buck cracked a small partial grin and pressed the tip of the beer bottle to Magnus’s lips. 

“Perhaps we could, Maggie… but you need to put on some clothing now.”

Retraining

Fumbling out of his nest of blankets, Mina stretched and looked around the dull room. It had been days since he’d seen anyone but Del, which was odd. He’d thought that Buck had been attached to the guy at the hip, yet he’d disappeared when Magnus had. 

I hope he didn’t eat him. I kinda liked that deer. 

Mina stumbled down onto the floor and then walked over to the bed. He’d made one heck of a mess the night Del had bought him Chinese food, but boy had it been good… and all his. Well, his and Del’s, though the guy didn’t eat much, especially for someone with such a big shift. He felt a nudge at the back of his mind from him at the thought, but no words came through their bond. 

Is he in another meeting? Or setting up a kill…? 

The latter thought made him uneasy. 

It is none of your concern what I am doing right now, came Del’s response. 

Are you planning a hunt right now? I’ll claw your bed if you don’t come up here,  Mina threatened   as he scrambled up onto it. 

You claw my bed and I’ll claw your behind. 

The threat had Mina flattening his ears to the side of his head as he walked over and sat his butt on one of Del’s pillows. 

I’m gonna fart on your pillow. 

It was beyond a childish threat, if one at all, but the snort of laughter he heard in his mind in response had him tilting his head. I didn’t know you knew how to laugh without it being psychotic. 

Hey, I have a sense of humor, you brat. 

Mina licked at a paw, then stretched out on one of Del’s pillows. 

Do you now? It must have gone missing for a long time. 

There was a grumble in the back of his mind in response, but Mina just twitched his whiskers and glanced at the closed door. 

Can I come out of this room when you’re done? I’ve been stuck in here for way too long. 

He was getting cabin fever, hardcore. Being someone who rarely stayed in one place for long, and who often ran away from home just to get some peace and solitude, being holed up in Del’s little apartment-like area was making him uncomfortable. 

No. 

Grumbling, Mina stood up and began to kneed at the pillow he was on, making little claw marks. 

I want to go outside, Del. 

There was silence from Del’s end, making Mina bristle and hop off the bed. His tail was somewhat mobile now, so, hopefully, he’d be able to shift soon and let himself out. He limped around the room for about an hour when he heard someone at the door. 

Come on, be Buck. I’ll even take Magnus… maybe. 

Of course, his prayers weren’t answered and Del stalked through the door, shutting it quickly behind himself. 

“What is this shit I keep hearing in my mind about you wanting Buck or Magnus here? I’ve been feeding you, changing your bandages, and keeping you perfectly safe,” Del growled as he stalked toward his dresser, removing his suit-coat and dress shirt in the process and tossing them into a hamper before grabbing a clean pair of boxers. 

Refusing to stare, Mina turned his back as Del headed for the bathroom to rinse off, like he did every day after returning from work. 

“I know you like what you see, Mina. You can stare all you want until you shift… then I get my fill.” 

Bite me. 

“I thought you’d never ask,” Del said as he disappeared into the bathroom. A few moments later the shower was turned on. 

This guy is fucking frustrating. 

There was a deep chuckle from the open bathroom door before Del replied. 

“ Frustrating , is what you are. And fucking , is what I’m not… until you shift back. Then there will be a lot of it.“

  You wish, Mina replied as he sauntered toward the bathroom. He didn’t really want to go in, but he also wanted to bruise the guy’s ego. So, slowly, he walked in and after nudging aside the back part of the shower, he slipped in and sat down facing Del. 

“What the hell are you doing in here?” 

Giving a fake yawn, Mina glanced up at him, offering his best bored expression. It was hard to focus, though. He wanted to make the guy feel insecure, but there was nothing on his body to even pretend was unappealing to him. He was built like a predator should be, with all lean muscle and hard lines. A few scars dotted his body, but not a single one took away from its beauty. 

This was a bad idea. 

He was just turning to get out of the shower when the door was pushed shut abruptly, then a spray of warm water soaked his little body. 

“You’ve been needing another bath for a few days,” Del noted as he made sure to thoroughly soak Mina’s lion, much to his dismay. “Thanks for those compliments, by the way, though I already knew that you worshiped my body.” 

Kill me now. 

“No.” 

The sudden drop in Del’s voice had Mina’s ears flattening to the side of his head. He hadn’t meant to piss him off with the thought. It had just kind of happened. 

“You will not be dying,” Del growled out as he started scrubbing shampoo into Mina’s coat. 

As much as he was annoyed at the impromptu bath, it did feel pretty good. Once the soap was rinsed out, Mina rolled onto his back and allowed Del to run conditioner through his coat… and of course, he didn’t mind the brief belly rub he got, either. 

“As much as you complain about not being allowed to leave, you sure seem to like it when I give you attention,” Del mumbled as he began running his hand back up along Mina’s lion’s chest. 

He was just lifting the detachable shower-head up to start rinsing out the conditioner when Mina felt his body shift painfully. The spot just above his backside where his tail connected felt like it was being broken all over again as his body reformed. His leg, too, smarted, but at least it didn’t feel like it was being broken a second time. 

The transformation left Mina human, finally, but he hadn’t been able to stop the tears from leaking from his eyes as they blended and fell with the moisture already on his cheeks. 

“Well hello there, delicious,” Del growled as he released the shower-head, letting it slowly swing backward to bump against the wall somewhere behind him. 

Mina stared, dazed, his lips slightly parted in surprise at his sudden shift. He’d never been able to control it much, but his cat would usually give him some sort of warning, or at least a nudge. 

“Since we’re both already naked and quite wet, how about we just enjoy ourselves? I’ll grab the condoms in a minute,” Del rasped as he leaned down to start biting at Mina’s neck. 

He didn’t hate the idea, even if he knew that he should have. 

Stupid cat. Messing up my mind. I swear, you’re always in heat. 

“Good. I can take care of that little issue for as long as it wants,” Del said as he began slipping a hand beneath Mina’s back, then slowly moved it downward. 

The sensation of his hands running over his hot skin had Mina’s heart-rate picking up quickly, but just as things started to get going, Del’s fingers pressed against the spot right above his backside and Mina yelped louder than he’d ever before. Del immediately jerked his hand away, but Mina, having reacted out of instinct from the intense pain, had already gotten to his knees and sunk his human teeth into the man’s left upper arm. 

He let go immediately, but there was no mistaking the damage he’d left behind. Several lines of blood began to trail down Del’s bicep as it flexed with the added weight of him using it to push off the tile to stand back up. Mina watched with wide, nervous eyes as the man turned around and switched off the shower, then reached out and grabbed a towel. He dried off quickly, then, to Mina’s surprise, knelt down and gently began drying his hair. 

He was still on edge from the pain, but as Del simply continued to wipe off his body and not respond negatively, Mina calmed down and eventually scooted into his arms to be wrapped up in the thick cloth. 

“I’m not mad at you for biting me. I was the horny idiot who put pressure where I knew you were still injured,” he said quietly as he carefully helped Mina to his feet, then up into his arms. His bandages had both fallen off since he’d shifted. It was a relief, since they had been itchy, but he knew that he might need larger ones now… without fur to block some of the discomfort. 

Mina wrapped his good leg around Del’s bare waist before doing the same with both of his arms around his neck. At the same time, he kept telling himself over and over again that neither of them were naked. 

“Keep thinking that and I’m going to do things to you,” Del grumbled as he gently set Mina down on the bed. 

“You wouldn’t. I’m still injured,” Mina mumbled as he quickly tugged a blanket over his lower half. 

His retort had Del crawling overtop of him on his hands and knees, a sinister smirk on his face that made Mina swallow nervously. “I’ve done a lot of things that normal people wouldn’t , little lion,” Del mused as he reached up and grasped Mina’s jaw between his fingers. 

Mina narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips, silently daring Del to follow through with whatever he was thinking. Of course, he was hoping he wouldn’t, but when the man began to lean down, Mina quickly squeezed his eyes shut. 

I do, in fact, have some restraint, brat. 

The thought came at the same time Mina felt Del’s lips gently press against his own. He expected more, and waited for it, but the only thing that happened actually made him smile. Del carefully settled himself against his side, never breaking the kiss. Once they were both comfortable, in fact, he deepened it just enough to tease Mina, then pulled away and flopped over onto his back with a deep chuckle. 

Can’t even kiss that well. 

Mina’s thought made Del shake his head on his pillow, then yawn. 

“Go to sleep for a bit and heal up faster, then I’ll kiss you as much as you want… but it will be where I want, first.”

A blush crept onto Mina’s face but he refused to turn away as Del snuggled in. They still needed to eat something, since neither of them had even had breakfast and it was already after dark, but he knew that Del wouldn’t forget to feed him after a quick nap, and in turn, Mina would make sure that he at least ate a little bit of something.

I’m not hungry. I’ll get you something in a little while. 

Grinning to himself, Mina carefully stretched out his aching body and let his eyes close. 

And you know I won’t eat unless you do. 

He got a growl in response, but no argument. Del knew better than to even try after his first three failed attempts. We’ll see. Was all he said before Mina felt his consciousness drift off for a short rest.

Underneath

(Sooo, I’ve been extremely sick (hence no updates for a long time.) Feeling much better recently, though updates won’t get too much faster since I’m starting a new job tomorrow on evening shift. Figured I’d get something up for this before bed tonight since it’s been so long.) 

The sound of the door quietly clicking shut brought Mina out of a light sleep. His leg and backside were finally close to mended and he was able to walk around well enough… when Del let him. The guy had gotten surprisingly dominant. Or really, more dominant, but in a different way. His previous demeanor had slowly changed, but he’d gotten almost stiflingly more protective. At least of Mina’s backside. He hadn’t even tried to have sex with him again since he’d accidentally hurt him a little just by touching the area on Mina’s human form. 

“What are you looking at, Claws?” 

Del’s grumble made Mina grin as he nuzzled into the blankets more. They smelled like a mixture between him and Del, and while he hated to admit it, he loved the scent they made together. 

“Your naked body,” he finally replied, not seeing any reason to try and lie since Del could pretty much hear most of his thoughts, anyways. His lion shift probably had something to do with that, but he’d gotten used to it.  

Del had shrugged out of his crisp white work shirt and tossed it on the back of a chair in the corner, then removed his pants before stopping by the bathroom door with just a dark pair of boxers on. 

Mina bit back saying any of the suggestive things his lion wanted him to, but the smirk forming on Del’s lips told him that he’d heard his thoughts loud and clear. 

“Not yet,” he simply replied before walking into the bathroom and shutting the door most of the way. 

Mina grunted out a breath and rolled over to press his face into the pillow. He expected Del to take a shower like he normally did when he came back from work, but instead, the guy was sliding into bed with his laptop a few moments later. 

Put some clothing on. 

His mental groan just made Del’s grin grow wider as he got himself comfortable propped up against the pillows, then patted his chest. 

I hate you. 

Even though he thought those words, Mina’s body moved on its own accord and was soon settled against him. Feeling Del’s left hand settle against his back as his arm cradled him close was both heaven and hell. 

“Just accept it, Claws,” Del said as he started clicking through documents on his laptop with his free hand. Mina didn’t bother paying much attention as he settled his head beneath Del’s chin, but as he noticed what the guy was going through on his computer, and how big the numbers on the screen actually were, his eyes grew wide and he sat up slightly. 

“You have that much money saved up?” he asked, looking back at Del with a disbelieving expression on his face. 

Del simply raised one eyebrow and continued to navigate on his laptop with the touch-pad mouse. 

“This is just one account,” he replied nonchalantly, making Mina’s eyes go wider.          

He couldn’t fathom ever needing such a huge sum, let alone having more ! 

“Why are you still doing all of this,” Mina said, gesturing to the building around them, “when you could just retire and live easily for the rest of your life?” he asked. 

Instead of responding, Del just tightened his one-armed hold around Mina’s back and continued with what he was doing on his computer. 

You are infuriating sometimes. 

That thought got a side-glance from Del, but again, no words. 

“Why won’t you just stop all of this? You have enough money. You shouldn’t have to do any of this anymore,” Mina said as he glanced at another spreadsheet of numbers that Del was messing with on the screen. He hated that Del’s company was based on murder. Sure, the guy rarely ever killed anyone himself, but that wasn’t the point. 

It was never about the money, Claws. 

“Then what is it about? I’ve heard bits and pieces of your background. I know that you hated your life and wanted revenge… but this? Isn’t it enough already? Why not just stop?” 

Del gave him a look that warned him against continuing, but Mina wouldn’t let himself be deterred. If he was ever going to be Del’s actual mate, and not just his benefits buddy, he wasn’t going to just sit back and watch him continue what he was doing. 

Pushing himself up into a sitting position, Mina rested his hands on the left side of Del’s chest and scowled down at him. 

“You’re going to stop with your killing business. You’ve had enough revenge. Now it just seems like you’re helping people kill for pleasure.” 

Del’s fingers froze on the touch-pad, his eyes watching the screen but clearly not processing any of the information any longer. 

“There is only one thing I do for pleasure, little lion,” he rasped as his eyes finally lifted to Mina’s. 

When Del slid the laptop to the side and began to turn toward him, Mina was easily forced onto his back with the slight bit of effort. He was determined to not let himself get intimidated, but the moment Del began to lean down Mina squeezed his eyes shut. 

Once Del’s’s lips were pressed gently against his right ear, he nipped it and whispered, “and that, is you, Mina.”

He’d had a retort ready. He really had. Except, when Del actually said his name, and not some dumb nickname, his frustration with him seemed to just melt away. 

“Just keep looking the other way. I will take care of you.” 

That was exactly what Mina hadn’t wanted to hear. If his lion was anything, it was stubborn and antisocial . Yes, it loved Del, though it was now thankfully a lot wiser about that than it had been before, but that didn’t mean that it wanted his attention all the time… or that Mina, himself, could overlook the massive elephant-wolf in the room. He would not stay with a murderer, or anyone who promoted such atrocious acts such as what Del’s business did. 

Narrowing his eyes, Mina nudged Del’s mouth away from his ear, then met his eyes when the man leaned back enough to look at him. 

“Don’t be stubborn, Mina. I could give you everything you could ever want here. You wouldn’t have to be by yourself anymore, or around others you don’t want to be near,” Del said before leaning back down and trying to claim Mina’s lips. 

He was promptly denied when Mina turned his head with a quiet growl. 

“I don’t want to be associated with you , as long as you’re running this business.” 

It had hurt to say, but it was the inevitable truth. He loved Del, for some strange reason, but he hated what he did to others and it was not something he could just turn a blind eye to. 

Del’s expression changed several times over the next several moments as he slowly leaned back to sit on his heels. Mina carefully pushed himself up and to the side so that he could sit partially facing Del, unsure what his final decision would actually be. The guy had calmed down quite a bit since they’d first met, but he was still extremely controlling and had a temper when things got stressful. 

So, when Del finally spoke, Mina wasn’t surprised to hear him say, “you can’t go. I won’t let you leave for such a reason.” 

He ignored him, of course, and slid out of bed anyways. His backside and leg ached a little, but it was tolerable as he began getting dressed. Del was behind him in seconds, his arms wrapping around Mina’s chest to tug him backward into a strong, restricting hug. 

“You can’t leave. I’ve been trying so hard, but I can’t change everything for you. Don’t make me try to do that,” he said as he nudged his nose into the crook of Mina’s neck and licked lightly but frantically. 

I’ll never make you do anything, Del. That’s not how these kinds of things should work. If you don’t want to change, then that’s fine. I just can’t stay. 

Mina finished getting his pants on, though it was a struggle with Del holding him. He then calmly and carefully worked his way out of the man’s embrace, then turned to face him with a small smile. 

“I do appreciate how much you’ve tried to change for me, but I also understand now, that you don’t want to. If you are happy being you and doing what you do, then I won’t hinder that… but I won’t stay here to be around it, either.” 

He could sense Del’s anger and frustration in his mind as he walked over to the door and pulled it open. The sound of rustling clothing was quickly replaced by footsteps behind him as he calmly walked toward the elevator at the end of the hall. He only turned around when he’d pressed the down arrow and heard the elevator start to ascend. 

Del was standing only a foot or so away with a pair of sweatpants pulled haphazardly onto his hips and no shirt. He was panting, but clearly not from exertion. The stress that flowed through their bond from him made Mina’s heart ache, but he wouldn’t change his mind. 

“Where will you go? You can’t just leave, it’s cold outside and supposed to storm,” Del said as the chime above the elevator went off, then the doors slid open. 

Mina turned and stepped inside without a backwards glance. Del followed. The second the doors slid closed he had Mina back in his warm arms. If he hadn’t been alone for a large portion of his adult life, it might have been hard to resist. As it were, his lion was actually willing to relent in its affections and let Mina continue to think clearly about the situation. He was grateful that it actually had a heart, too, and didn’t like the idea of Del’s murder business. 

When the doors opened onto the darkened lobby, Mina stepped off, still barefoot, and headed for the front doors. He knew that they would be locked, but he also knew that Del would no longer keep him there against his will. He had changed in that aspect, at least. They stopped at the locked doors and Mina turned, facing a very worried-looking Del. 

“It’ll be fine. I was just someone passing through your life. You’ll forget about me soon enough,” Mina said before nodding toward the doors. He knew that  Del hadn’t brought his keys, but the doors could also be unlocked with a code that he would undoubtedly know. 

When he looked back up at Del, he was surprised to see a sheen of tears in the man’s eyes. 

“Will you at least let me get you some real clothing?” Del finally asked after a long stretch of silence. 

Mina glanced down at himself and frowned. He did only have on a pair of pants. No shoes, socks, shirt, or even underwear. He was about to turn the offer down, however, because he wasn’t sure how long he could keep up his determination, when Del turned and hurried over to the large lobby desk and grabbed a key. A few moments later and he was opening what appeared to be a small supply closet and pulling out a new-looking backpack. Once he replaced the key in the desk, he walked over to Mina and knelt down, unzipping the bag to reveal a set of clothing. 

“I always keep spares in here because…” he licked his lips nervously as he pulled out a pair of drawstring pants, a grey shirt, tennis shoes and black hooded sweatshirt. 

“Things happen,” Mina said, finishing his sentence as he took the offered clothing and quickly tugged on the pants over his own thinner pair, then added the shirt and stepped into the big shoes. 

He was about to reach for the sweatshirt when Del gently pulled it over his head and settled it in place. It was huge on him, of course, since it was Del’s, but it was extremely warm and soft, too. Mina moved the hood away from his face and looked up into the dark eyes he’d come to know so well over the past several weeks. Del was made up of so many demons that Mina couldn’t count them all… but the man had also shown that there were other things buried deep down beneath all of that aggression and hatred. 

I’m just not the one who will be able to stay by your side and help those things get to the surface.  

Seeming resigned, Del walked past Mina and punched in the code for the door. The lock clicked open and Mina didn’t hesitate to step outside. It was definitely chilly, and rain clouds were threatening overhead. 

You’ll be fine. You’ve been on your own for a long time. 

He could sense that Del had something he wanted to say in response to his thought as he followed him out into the cold, but he bit his tongue. Instead, he took a moment to rethink his words, then walked forward and gently settled a hand on Mina’s soft hair. 

“I’ll always be here if you want to come back… and if you ever need help but don’t want to be around me, please go find Magnus. You know where he works. He’ll help you if you’re in trouble or just need somewhere to warm up.” 

Mina knew that Magnus was one of Del’s kidnappers, so he definitely would not go to the man, but he wouldn’t turn the offer down. Del was already clearly having a hard with the situation, so Mina just nodded and tugged the hood back up over his hair. 

“Good bye, Del. Take care of yourself,” he said with a slight nod of his head. 

He couldn’t see that well with the hood pulled down and was just lifting a hand to nudge it up a bit when he felt cold fingers grasp either side of his face. Cooling lips soon found his, but the kiss was fleeting, and before Mina could even process what had happened, Del was back inside and the automatic lock for the door had clicked loudly in the still evening air as it settled back into place.

Coexist

I understand. I’ll have Magnus keep an eye out for him. I’m sure he won’t just disappear, though, Del. Stay calm and think about what you really want. He made a decision that he thought was best for him, if you don’t agree, you need to give him a reason that will be worth more to him than the reason he left , Buck thought to Del as he stretched out on his bed.

It hadn’t been too hard on him to stay away from Del, but he could feel the man’s unease through their bond constantly. All of a sudden Del didn’t have Mina around him any longer, and the person he’d relied on to be the calm half of his crazy for years wasn’t returning, either.

I can feel you pacing, Del. You need to get some rest. It’s almost three in the morning.

Not that they weren’t used to staying up till all hours of the night. A lot of predators preferred to hunt from dusk to dawn, so they got used to being available whenever it was convenient for the customer, but he could tell that Del was absolutely exhausted.

He got a frustrated growl in response, but no actual words. A few moments later and the sound of his front door opening had Buck slowly sitting up.

I’m going to go now. I’ll come by tomorrow and check on you. Get to bed.

He pushed their link to the back of his mind as he stood up and stretched. Buck knew better than to be lying in bed when Magnus got back. He’d let the man stay with him for two days so far, but he slept in the guest room and there was limited contact. His split animal personalities were a bit hard to manage but Buck was learning how to control them a little bit at a time. As funny as it seemed, the dog part of the man was harder to handle than the bear because it always wanted to be near him and touched, but the bear tended to slip in at the worst possible moments. Thus, they weren’t going to be doing any kind of physical activities anytime soon.

Not that he minded. Relationships were definitely not something Buck was used to having. Many people they knew through their work thought him and Del were together as a couple, but that was definitely not true and never would be.

Frustration leaked into his mind as he heard Mangus come up the stairs. The man had also gotten better at not getting angry over him thinking about Del any longer. He still got upset, but there was no growling or clearly jealous behavior.

“I saw Del’s boy across the street from work tonight,” Magnus said in a gruff tone as he stepped into the bedroom, shrugging his coat off in the process.

Buck took the garment and folded it up, then set it on top of the dresser before he was gently pulled into Magnus’s arms. The hug was brief for two reasons. Magnus’s control and the fact that he smelled like an ashtray. Buck followed him back out the door as Mangus headed for the bathroom, pulling off his shirt in the process.

The view was pleasant, but the amount of scars on the man’s back was unsettling. They were still new to even being around each other but Buck was still hesitant to really jump into the situation. Their line of work came with death threats from all around the globe, and Magnus being a retriever for them was even worse. He likely had the police sniffing around him more often than not.

“If you keep staring at me like that I’m going to lick you in a very unfreind-like way.”

Snorting and shaking his head, Buck scowled, only to feel Magnus’s warm tongue brush the tip of his nose before the man turned and walked into the bathroom. Instead of going back to his room, Buck stepped into the bathroom after Magnus was in the shower and out of view.

“What was he doing near your work? Just walking by?”

The quiet patter of rain against the window mixed with the streams of water coming from the shower-head took over as the only sounds in the room until Magnus finished scrubbing his hair under the spray. At least, that’s what it looked like his shadow beyond the curtain was doing.

“He was just walking by. He looked tired and a little dirty, but not depressed or anything,” Magnus replied as he opened a bottle of something to use.

Nodding, Buck leaned against the counter and sent the information to Del through their bond. He could feel the man’s nervous response moments later, but there were still no words. Just the fact that Del was worried about someone besides Buck was new to both of them… but worry didn’t help the situation. Del was still the same person and he didn’t want to change. Mina refused to stay with him because of the way he was and the choices he still made.

You have to change or he’ll never come back to you.

A hot, moist pair of lips pressed against his left cheek, drawing Buck out of his thoughts abruptly, making him turn his head as Magnus leaned back and smirked.

Ah, the shower is off. No wonder.

“Shift for me, Maggie,” Buck said, his voice slightly deeper, making the request more of a command.

Magnus tilted his head in question but did as told without hesitation, leaving his bog standing on all fours in the bathroom, its shoulders higher than Buck’s waist. It carefully sat down and stared up at him, panting quietly as it waited for more attention of any kind.

Buck watched him for a few calm moments before taking a comb from the counter and sitting down against the wall. He could immediately feel Magnus’s excitement grow as he sniffed the item and twitched his stubby ears.

The few times we’ve stayed at each others’ places I remember you always brushing your hair quite a bit.

It was never in any vain sort of way, though.

“Want some attention, hmm?” he mused to himself as he reached out and gently began running the comb through Magnus’s thick coat of fur.

As if it were unable to resist, the massive boggy laid down, placing its damp head on Buck’s leg. Soon a hum of appreciation started up from its chest and echoed around the room. He knew that it would take a long while to brush out the giant beast, but he was a pretty patient person, and it seemed like Magnus was completely okay with staying where he was for however long the task took.

It actually felt pretty good to just sit and groom Magnus’s shift. For the first time since he’d probably met the guy, he was sending nothing but content and happy feelings through their awkward bond. Both of his animals, it would seem, enjoyed being brushed.

After about half an hour, Buck nudged Magnus’s head off of his leg and re-positioned himself. Once comfortable, he began working on the huge animal’s other side, then after another forty-five minutes or so, Magnus rolled over so that his belly could be done.

“I didn’t think that you would shed so much, but just the fur coming off the comb is filling the little trash can in here,” Buck noted with a grin as he tossed another small handful away before getting back to work.

No one has ever tried to brush me.

“Ah, for good reason,” Buck noted with a slight chuckle as he leaned over and grabbed Magnus’s front left leg, the last one he had to do. “Hopefully it feels better having all of the extra fur off when you get back up.”

To test his words, Buck finished up with Magnus’s last leg, then got himself up and stepped aside so that the bog could get back to his four paws. He definitely looked a lot less scraggly with all of the extra fur off, and when Magnus shook his coat out, there was almost no extra strands that flew into the air. It also looked pretty soft and had a slight shine to it.

“You look much better,” Buck said as he knelt back down and ran his fingers through the soft fur on Magnus’s face.

He was just leaning in to rest his forehead against the bog’s when Magnus suddenly shifted back to his human form, leaving Buck’s hands on either side of his face and their noses nearly brushing. He quickly leaned back, but not before Magnus was able to swipe his tongue against the tip of his nose.

Rolling his eyes, Buck shoved Magnus and got up to head downstairs. He’d put food in the slow cooker a while ago and it should be ready any time. Hearing footsteps behind him, Buck paused at the top of the stairs and turned around to level narrowed eyes on a very naked Magnus.

“Put some clothing on before you come downstairs or no dinner,” he said with an authority that wasn’t interested in an argument.

Magnus gave him a fake pout, but then grinned and disappeared into the guest room he’d decided was now his own. Leaving him to get clothed, Buck headed down the steps with a small smile on his face. It was odd having someone in his home, let alone someone who wanted his attention, of all things.

I’ll take more than that when you let me have a bite.

A week ago that statement would have made him uneasy, but considering that he only felt maybe five percent hostility through their bond paired with ninety-five percent other things, it definitely didn’t worry him like before.

Be a good boggy.

There was a sarcastic bark-growl in response from upstairs as Buck got busy dishing out meals he’d made in two crockpots. One was vegetarian, since he never ate animals, but the other was the first meat dish he’d ever cooked in his house. It didn’t exactly smell the best, but he did manage to hide most of the scent with different spices and herbs.

By the time he got both of their plates, silverware, and drinks to the table Magnus was back downstairs, and mostly clothed.

“You’re minus a shirt,” Buck noted as he sat down in front of his own plate of food and picked up his fork.

He expected Magnus to sit down across from him, where he’d set up his dinner, but the guy simply grabbed his plate and set it next to Buck’s, then moved the rest of his things before pulling his chair around and dropping down into it.

“That’s what took me so long. I just couldn’t decide if it was worth wearing one to dinner, then I realized something. I am a pretty messy eater and am out of clean shirts. I put them all in the laundry,” Magnus replied as he began eating hungrily.

Buck sighed and rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he took a bite of his own dinner.

You put all of your clean shirts in the laundry so that you didn’t have to wear one tonight.

The smirk on Magnus’s face should have made Buck annoyed, but it just had him hiding his own rare smile as he calmly ate his dinner.

I see you smiling at me.

Buck ignored the thought and continued eating, only to hear a quiet chuckle from the man beside him. He refused to look up, though. Magnus had a playful side that sometimes, or really, all the times, bordered on perverted.

You like it.

That comment finally drew Buck’s attention to Magnus, a raised eyebrow disappearing into his bangs. He thought that the look would deter the guy, as it usually did, from continuing on with whatever strange thought was floating around in his mind, but instead, he felt the man’s wet tongue steal another lick from his nose.

You like it, Magnus repeated into his mind as his lips stretched into a mischievous smirk.

Buck pursed his lips and looked back at his plate, but after only a few moments he glanced sideways at Magnus.

You like me, the other man thought to him.

Shaking his head, Buck returned his attention to his food and quickly finished the meal before standing up and stretching slightly.

You like having me here.

Buck licked his lips and took his plate to the sink to rinse off, then set in the dish washer. Magnus was close behind him and copied his actions, but right before Buck could slip out the door and head to bed, Magnus spoke into his mind again.

I like seeing you smile at me.

Buck fidgeted with one hand on the doorjamb but didn’t step beyond the threshold into the next room.

I like that you like me.

Warm fingers slipped into his free hand and squeezed gently at the same time he felt a soft kiss against his left cheek.

I like you… but I’ll behave until we’re on the same page.

With that thought Magnus stepped around him, sending him a wink before heading upstairs to bed. Buck let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and flipped the lights off in the kitchen, then the living and dining room. Once he was back up in his room with the door lucked, just in case, Buck tugged off his clothing and dropped down onto his bed. As his eyes finally closed, he sent one final thought to Magnus.

I like you, too. I suppose.

Meet

He knew that he was being childish. 

Del scowled at the ceiling as he leaned back in his smooth leather office chair. He’d blocked all thoughts from Buck since the evening he’d decided to actually give Magnus a try. 

Of all people. 

It wasn’t that he was mad that he wanted some time away, but the hesitant hope, hints of appreciation and faintly growing feelings of fondness were not something he wanted wafting through his mind. If Buck wanted to see him, he could just come by… but he hadn’t. In over a week. 

Kicking his legs up on his desk, Del leaned back even farther and narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t sure what time it was anymore, but considering the darkness that surrounded him and the lights far below his office window, he’d guess somewhere around two in the morning. He’d refused twenty hunt requests that week alone and, for the first time since his business had taken off years ago, he had a completely free day. 

He honestly didn’t know what to do with himself. Sleeping was out of the question, but he didn’t have anything to catch up nor did he ever play video games or watch movies. Del glanced out the massive windows behind him and licked his lips. He could feel Mina somewhere in the city below, but the guy had never come close to his business again. Magnus hadn’t reported seeing him around a second time, either. 

It’s best not to be seen when you live outside alone. 

Del’s heart jumped into his throat as he scrambled to sit up, but only proceeded to make himself fall backwards out of his chair. 

Whatever just happened, I approve. 

Out of habit, Del bared his teeth at Mina’s mocking tone, but immediately shrugged off the humor he felt through their bond. It had been pretty dumb of him to fall out of his chair because of a simple thought communication. It had just startled him that much. He never expected Mina to want to talk to him again. 

What happened? 

Del considered not answering, but Mina was finally talking to him… and he even got a positive, if frustrating, reaction from him. 

I fell out of my chair. 

The cheerful emotion he felt immediately overwhelm their bond actually had him grinning as he sat up on the floor and ran his fingers through his perfect hair, unintentionally mussing it up a bit.

Are you laughing at me, Mina? 

He expected a response, but at least a little bit of hesitation would have been appreciated. He got none. 

Absolutely. That is hilarious, Del. 

Without even thinking Del let himself lie down on his back on the carpet and sighed out a stressed breath. 

Say my name again. 

There was a quiet chuckle in the back of his mind as Mina repliled; I never technically said it. 

Del rolled his eyes but couldn’t help smiling up at the ceiling as he said his thought response out loud, as well. Again Mina, please. 

Their bond was quiet for a few moments before Mina replied faintly. 

Del… what is your full name? 

The question took him by surprise, making Del abruptly shut down their link without even thinking. He jolted upright with that realization as he tried to reconnect with Mina. It took a few minutes before he could feel the other guy again, but it was a huge relief when Mina responded. 

You don’t have to tell me. I was just curious. We can talk about something else. 

It was tempting. So, so tempting. He never told anyone his full name. Buck was the only one who knew his real story, and that’s how he’d always wanted to keep it… but a name didn’t necessarily have to come with it’s story. 

  My full name is Delete. 

There was a long pause where Del could barely get himself to breath as he waited, actually horribly nervous. 

Did you say Dylan? I’m having trouble with our connection. Kind of multitasking.

Odd, he wasn’t having any probl— Did I get it right? I like that name if I did. It suits you. 

Forcing back his want to correct Mina, Del actually felt the edge of his lips curving up slightly as he responded. S eems like a childish name, doesn’t it? 

I like it. You are childish sometimes, so it works. 

Del narrowed his eyes and sat up again, trying to figure  out if he was more angry at being called such a thing or more surprised that Mina had dared to do it. 

How the hell am I childish? He grumbled through their bond… then realized the answer to his question right away. 

The humor that returned to him from Mina’s thoughts made him pout, but only for a moment. 

What are you distracted with, by the way? 

Del waited nearly a minute for another response. 

Trying to catch some dinner. 

Dinner? At two in the morning? Or really, probably closer to three now. Del was about to tell Mina that he’d just buy him whatever meal he wanted… but again, three in the morning. He also couldn’t cook all that great and doubted that Mina wanted to come to him, anyway.

Can I hunt with you? He asked instead, then winced at how dumb his question had sounded. He could easily go upstairs and get whatever he wanted out of the fridge.

I’m on the north side of town in the forest by the brook, if you want to come out. It’s a good distance from you, though. 

 Distance wasn’t an issue. 

I’ll be there in twenty minutes. 

Del felt a tiny bit of confusion in response, but then humor and understanding. 

Right. You can fly. 

Del  left that comment alone as he hurried to the elevator and started stripping as it rose to the roof. By the time he stepped off and walked up the small flight of stairs to exit to the outside, he was already shifted. It was chilly even in his wolf form as he took off, but the exercise of flying soon warmed his body enough to be comfortable. 

It took him less than fifteen minutes to get to the area he sensed Mina in, but once he landed, the guy wasn’t there to meet him.

Where are you? 

He could sense hesitation but was confused why. Mina had said that he could come out, yet he was hiding from him. 

Can you catch me something to eat? 

Del flicked his ears and wings, a little confused. 

Yeah, just give me a minute. 

He wanted to see Mina first, since he thought that they’d be hunting together, but he supposed that he could just see him after he brought him some food. With a bit more determination he took off again, and true to his word, it only took him a minute before he’d located a decent sized rabbit and managed to kill it with a quick dive from above. He was no hawk, considering his size, but he was fairly good at hunting silently when he was able to focus. 

He returned to where he’d first landed with his catch, but still didn’t see Mina anywhere. 

Am I going to eat this all by myself? 

There was another moment of hesitation in his thoughts before he finally felt Mina nearby. Del quickly turned in the direction he sensed him, then paused as his mouth slowly opened in shock. 

You’re…

Mina nervously licked one of his front paws and flicked an ear, but couldn’t seem to lift his gaze to Del’s. 

An adult lion-cheetah cross? Yeah. 

Del slowly stepped closer, allowing the dead rabbit to slip from his jaws. 

You’re pregnant. 

Mina hunched down to the ground and grumbled, looking off to the side. 

Condoms aren’t one-hundred percent, it seems. 

So it would seem, but the guy wasn’t just pregnant. He looked like he was ready to pop at any second! That must mean…

Mine? 

He wasn’t sure how to react to the whole situation. He’d never wanted children. Ever. He knew that he was a terrible person and should never be allowed to be near children, let alone breed his own. 

Sometimes things don’t go as planned. 

Del walked closer, nudging Mina’s nose with his own. The action finally drew his attention up to him. 

You’ve been out here all by yourself carrying that child? 

He felt mad, upset, and betrayed, but he knew that he deserved those feelings. He’d driven Mina away with his lifestyle and unwillingness to change. He should have still told him… but Del couldn’t see himself handling the news well if he wasn’t face to face with the man like he was now. 

I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you. I wasn’t sure how you would take it. Mina thought to him, making Del chuckle into his mind. 

You know exactly how I probably would have taken it. Poorly. 

Mina grumbled and finally sat back up, drawing Del’s eyes down. Wait a minute. They were widening by the second, and for good reason. 

That’s definitely not just one cub. 

Mina leaned up and nipped Del’s ear abruptly before walking past him to start eating his rabbit dinner. 

Mina, how many did the doctor say you were having? 

When the only response he got was a flick of the lion-cheetah’s tail as Mina continued to pick apart his meal, Del pinned his ears and narrowed his eyes. 

You will go to the doctor first thing in the morning. 

He could immediately feel a pushback for the order, but Mina relented after only a few moments. 

When I wake up. 

There were so many things he knew he had to suddenly plan for and figure out, but Del pushed away all of the extra thoughts and decided to just pick one thing at a time to focus on. So…

I’m going to go get you more food, and you’re going to eat it all. 

Mina looked up at him, chewing the remains of the rabbit hungrily. 

I can do that. Please get me some more food, Dylan… then stay with me and eat. 

He could do that. 

I’ll be back soon, Mina. 

He got a simple nod in response, but that was more than enough to brighten his spirits. Mina would wait for him . He would be there when he got back. They would figure things out over time. Until then, one step closer was more than enough to make him happy.

Picking Your Path

(Pepperjack ran out of energy but refused to release the toy lol) 

“I’ve never seen him so stressed,” Magnus noted when he finally hung up with Del. 

Buck, who was resting his head on his lap as they both relaxed on the couch, was silent in response, but Magnus had felt his body tense during several parts of the call. He had clearly overheard everything, but it was no surprise that he didn’t care to converse about it. 

Magnus had learned a lot about the man in the few weeks that they’d spent together. They’d had a lot of disagreements in that time frame, and even more fights, but Buck was a silent fighter… and it drove Magnus to the brink of insanity. The man didn’t yell. Didn’t try to attack him. Didn’t even look angry most of the time. 

Closing his eyes, Magnus let his phone drop to the armrest and sighed out a deep breath as his fingers drifted through Buck’s soft hair. 

“I can’t believe he let all of the hunt targets go, too. I mean, we only had three set up for the week, but last week he released two others after transporting them away from the facility. Only went along with one hunt for the whole week. Now he’s considering canceling the remainder of the month.” 

Buck gave a quiet snort, his deer sneaking into the response, though he didn’t mind. The man never really cared if his animal side came through sometimes. While Magnus had to restrain his beast with all of his strength, Buck’s was generally laid back and easily became a part of his everyday reactions. He rarely shifted, but Magnus still saw plenty of glimpses of the beast within the man simply from his actions and responses.  

“Can you still sense him in your mind? I know that your bond hasn’t been the greatest for a while…” 

Slowly, Buck rolled over onto his back and finally met his gaze. “I sense him as a background noise. He’s happy, but he’s not. He’s stressed, but excited. He doesn’t know what to do about any of it, at all. He’s basically reacting to each second as they come.” 

The phone rang again, drawing Magnus’s hand to it as he lifted it to his ear. 

“Yes sir?” He’d known that it was Del calling again because of the specific ringtone, so there was no need to open his eyes and check the I.D. before answering. 

Del barely waited for the two words to leave Magnus’s mouth before he spoke; “I need you and Buck to go pick up Mina from the forested area by the clinic on 4th street.” 

What? 

“Why? I’m not a babysitter, Del… and aren’t his pups, or cubs, or whatever you want to call them, due any day now?” Magnus asked, slightly annoyed. He had no intention of bringing that guy back to his apartment. It was hard enough to control himself around Buck, adding a pregnant cross shifter, or a non-pregnant one and their babies, would not end well.

That would be one hell of a meal. 

Shaking off the joke, because his other half was already drooling in his mind, Magnus forced himself to focus on what Del was saying. 

“He won’t come back to my facility, even though I told him that there weren’t any hunts scheduled for the whole week.” 

Magnus opened his eyes and glanced down at Buck at the same time the man rolled his own. They both knew that Mina would never take his babies there. If Del wanted the guy around him, then he would either have to go to Mina outside, or get a place far away from work. 

Shaking his head, Magnus began absentmindedly running his fingers along Buck’s strong jaw as he spoke; “you should have told him that you had literally canceled the hunts for him, Del. I’m not saying that that would have gotten him to come with you, because it wouldn’t have, but the guy wants to see some sort of positive change in you.” 

There was a quiet grumbling on the other end of the line before Magnus continued, “I don’t think that he should come here, either. I think you need to find a place far, far away from your facility. Probably even something out in the middle of nowhere, since he seems to dislike being around people for any decent period of time. Then see if he might be interested in going there for a short time to check out the area.”

There was a growl in response, but Magnus just ignored it and waited for words to come through. 

“You know that I don’t have that kind of time. If I don’t get him somewhere soon, he’s going to have my pups in the middle of the forest!” 

Magnus opened his mouth to respond when Buck took the phone and slowly brought it down to his ear as he turned onto his side. “It will be fine, Del. He has lived in and out of the forest far more than most shifters have. You need to calm down and just let things happen the way Mina wants them to. He reached out to you, surprisingly, and asked you to help him hunt. That was all he’s asked of you, though. Don’t overstep your new boundary or he might shrink it back again and disappear.” 

Buck could feel the dismay mixed with anger at being told that bit of information, but he never sugar coated his words with Del. They grew up together in the wild. There was never a need to be gentle. 

“But then what can I do right now?” Del practically whined, his wolf coming out in a surprisingly non-aggressive way. 

Magnus, with his hands now free, decided to slip one beneath Buck’s loose shirt and rub his thumb along the man’s abs. He could feel Buck’s glare move to him, but he knew that the guy would refrain from reacting… at least until the call was over.  

Buck slowly sat up as he contemplated his response. Sometimes he took his time on what he wished to say, because he never wanted to say something that he didn’t mean. If it took a few more moments than normal to deliver those words, then so be it. 

“Exactly what he wants of you. No more, no less. Do not try to impress him. He told you what he wanted. Be exactly that until he wishes for more… or asks for less.” 

“Less?” Del rasped, only to be rebuked quickly by  Buck. “Yes. If he wishes for you to leave, that is what you should do. I know that you have seen many people and observed many different kinds of relationships, but Mina is not a normal person and he doesn’t want what others do.”

Del fought himself to keep from breaking the cell phone as he hung up. He’d called the doctor right before calling Magnus and Buck, but the man had said that Mina had refused to stay at the clinic for the delivery, which he’d already known would likely happen. He’d left the second the appointment had ended. 

He felt his shift clawing at the surface and didn’t even try to hold it back as it took over his human flesh. There was nothing more he wanted in the world than to track down Mina, but he forced himself to stand still, and instead, reached out with his mind. 

Mina? Is everything okay? Can I help you with anything? 

He wanted to roar, and since Mina was nowhere in his immediate vicinity, he did allow himself that one moment of relief. It took him about fifteen minutes before he finally replied… and what he said made Del’s anger flood out of him like nothing he’d ever experienced. The feeling left his wolf weak in the knees. 

Two? He repeated Mina’s thought.

Yes. Two little girls. 

He wanted to ask if he could come to him now. He wanted to beg to be allowed to go to him. 

I’m by the stream we hunted near three days ago. 

Del was taking off the second Mina told him the location. He arrived at the stream in minutes, and then followed his nose to his newborns. He was cautious with his approach, nervous that his animal wouldn’t take too kindly to the babies. It had never cared for children, or really, anyone that wasn’t Buck. 

The two tiny bundles of fur attached to Mina’s belly had his wolf uneasy but curious. He allowed it to walk closer, but made sure to keep a handle on its excitement. One miss-step could be dangerous. He was nearly ten feet away when the sound of rustling brush to his left drew their attention. Not a moment later Roan’s massive cat stalked into the clearing, its tail flicking from side to side as its eyes darted back and forth between his little brother and Del. 

It was obvious that Roan planned to attack him, but froze in his tracks at Mina’s hissed warning. It was a good thing that he’d sent the warning, too, because Del knew that it was meant for himself, as much as his brother. Another person, relative or not, near what his wolf perceived as belonging to him, would be an immediate target to eliminate. 

Mina flicked his ear and leaned down to nuzzle at the two fluffy, chubby babies attached to his belly. 

No fighting. 

It wasn’t a request. Del noted the surprised look in Mina’s eyes when he looked back up at him, only to see that he had shifted back to his human form. His wolf didn’t like it since Roan’s massive cat was nearby, but Del knew that he could shift fast enough to respond to it if he needed to, but he hoped that Mina’s brother would accept his wishes to keep them both from violence around the cubs. 

“I’m not here to fight you. I came because he asked me to,” Del said as he took a step closer to Mina. 

Roan growled in response, but when he lifted one heavy paw to start blocking Del’s path, Mina hissed again, making him retract it immediately. After a few tense moments and a grumble from Roan, he reluctantly shifted to his human form. 

“You need to stay away from my brother, wolf,” he started, but then bit his tongue on continuing when Mina actually got up and limped between them both with a quiet growl. 

I make my own decisions, brother. 

Del knew that the two didn’t have a bond like he did with Mina, so he decided to speak for him. Hopefully Roan wouldn’t think that he was bending his words, though. 

“Mina said that he makes his own decisions.” 

Roan scoffed at that, barely sparing his little brother a glance before returning his glare to Del. “Oh, I know. He’s done that all his life, and now look at where it’s gotten him? You should have never even been in the picture, and now look what you’ve done!” 

Del felt Mina’s annoyance through their bond but held back what he wanted to say. He was always on thin ice with him and didn’t want to make a stupid mistake. He wanted to prove that he could be what Mina wanted him to be. 

I asked you to come here and I accepted your attentions, knowing full well that the situation could have ended up like this. 

“He said that he asked me to come here and knew what could happen when we got together,”  Del said, then added as Mina continued to speak to his mind. “They are his cubs and if you want to be around them for any length of time, you will not attack me.” 

The look of hurt on Roan’s face made Del force a smile back. He didn’t like the man, at all, but he knew that he had to behave, too. 

“You need to at least go back to uncle Jared and Jamie’s place. They shouldn’t be out here, Mina,” Roan said, his tone turning more pleading by the second. 

For once, Del had to agree with him. He’d lived a good portion of his life in the forest, and it hadn’t been easy. He couldn’t imagine doing it with two cubs. Even if he was allowed to help hunt and eventually stay with them, it wouldn’t be safe and the cubs would eventually need to learn to be around others. They were part human, after all. 

No, I don’t. 

Del was about to repeat what he had said, but then frowned and looked over at Mina. The big cat was staring at him with a raised eyebrow, clearly waiting for him to translate the thought… but Del couldn’t. 

“I don’t agree, Mina. They shouldn’t live out here when there are people willing to take you in and help.” 

The look of betrayal in Mina’s eyes stung, but Del held his ground. 

“I don’t like the idea of anyone else being around you or the cubs, but your brother is right. They need to be socialized and raised, at least in part, around other people.”

Go away. 

“No, Mina. You can’t run away this time, either. There are now lives that depend on you, and whether you want help or not, you need to at least accept some.” 

Del knew that the young man wouldn’t be happy with his words, but he was glad that his brother, for once, agreed with what he was saying. Roan took the initiative to approach first, but Mina quickly got to his feet again, cubs still attached, and raised his hackles on a growl. 

“Stop it, Mina. We aren’t going away. You’re going to have to go home with one of us. That option can be left up to you, but we can’t just leave you out here with your babies,” Del chastised gently as he started forward, too. 

Thankfully, Mina didn’t growl at him, but he did hunch down slightly, covering his babies partially with his body. 

I’m not going back to that house, and I’m not going back to your compound. 

Del stopped abruptly and lifted one hand to run his fingers through his messy hair. 

“What if I didn’t want to go back there, either?” he asked, finally realizing that he could handle the direction of this conversation that he couldn’t quite grasp with Buck earlier. It wasn’t really the building that had ever been the issue. It had been what it represented in his life. 

“What if I told you that I wouldn’t step foot in that building again? That I wouldn’t have anything else to do with it besides sell the property?” 

It was one hell of a jump from his mentality earlier in the day, but he finally knew what he had to do to get Mina to actually look at him. To consider that he could possibly be something more than a murderer who only wanted what he wanted, without consideration who he had to step on to get it. 

The money from all of those murders? Mina questioned hesitantly, as if he were ready for an outright lie. 

“What would you like me to do with it?” he asked, not worried about losing it. He’d earned the building with hard work, not murder, and would sell it for more than enough to take care of them both for a decent amount of time. 

Send it back. 

Del raised an eyebrow, unsure of what Mina meant. 

To the people who paid for the hunts? 

That didn’t seem like something Mina would want. 

To the families and relatives of the victims you created. 

In all honesty, Mina’s words actually hurt. Not because he’d have to give other people the money. He didn’t care about materialistic things in the long run. It was how Mina had worded his sentence… and for the first time, Del actually felt bad for his actions. 

Straightening his shoulders, he slowly nodded a couple times, then added a small smile. 

“I’ll arrange for Buck to take care of all of that. Every cent I earned from that business will be distributed back to those who’s deaths I’ve been responsible for.” 

Del could sense Mina’s confused surprise through their bond, so when he didn’t respond right away, he continued. 

“I earned that building while working odd jobs growing up so I’d like to sell it and start over,” he said, then quieted his voice as he lifted a hand to nervously rub at the back of his neck. “Maybe we could try that together?” 

Roan grumbled but didn’t say anything as they both waited for some sort of response from Mina. Del was holding his breath, his body breaking out in a cold sweat from the stress of the whole situation. 

When Mina looked down at his babies, then back up at him, Del licked his lips nervously and lowered his gaze to the ground in submission. 

  Perhaps we could. 

Del’s eyes went wide as he slowly lifted them to Mina’s face, then quietly repeated his thoughts out loud, needing to hear them with his own ears. 

“Perhaps we could.”

Finale

How the hell do people live this way? 

Del didn’t even want to set foot in the house. He didn’t give a damn how big it was or that perches had been set up so that he could get away from any visitors abruptly, or really, any people in general. He hated the smells coming from inside… except for his mate’s and their offspring. 

“You coming in or not, Dylan ?” 

Cocky bastard hawk. I’ll eat you. 

Del bared his teeth and stepped closer to the doorway, but the hawk shifter, Knight, refused to back down. Instead, he simply took a step to the side, giving him just enough room to walk inside, if he chose to. 

Where are you? The pups are waiting at the door. I think they can sense that you’re close by. 

Mina’s words made Del step through the barrier without another thought. He was overwhelmed with trying to keep his beast under control, but he squared his shoulders and focused on following the scent of his mate and their three month old babies. It didn’t take him long to find them, either. One flight of stairs and a long hallway later and he was opening the door. Inside smelled like home, and thankfully, Mina had kept his word and not let anyone else in the small space.

Del had had the entire house built at Mina’s request… and because he’d hated how small his relative’s house had been. Mina had liked the small space, but he’d been very nervous around the other lions, and his father, Palace. So, Del had paid for a house to be built quickly, and barely a month later, they had more than enough space to house the odd group of shifters. 

“Hey,” Mina greeted him quietly from where he sat perched by the open window. It was nearly dark outside, a gray dusk taking over and whisking the last fading remnants of the sun away. The faint rays outlined his lover perfectly… and his rounding belly. He hadn’t planned on ever having kids, but as he knelt down and scooped up his two pups for some attention, he couldn’t imagine his life without them… and without more of them. Thankfully, Mina hadn’t been forced into his animal form yet, but Del would gladly take care of him whenever that happened. 

The two bundles of fluff trying to crawl up his chest had Del smirking and nuzzling into their soft coats. They looked much more like him than their mother, with a thick dark coat of fur and mainly wolfish features, but their coat pattern had some faded spots near their back end and their tails, while already fluffy, had an extra tuft of fur at the tip. They each also had a stunted wing, Sanna’s was on her left side while Tirim’s was on her right. They would never be able to fly with them, but Del would make sure to give them plenty of rides on his back whenever they wished. They were already very much obsessed with playing piggyback with his wolf as he walked around the forest with Mina on their late-night treks, but he wouldn’t take them flying for a while longer, until he was sure that they wouldn’t slip off. 

Feeling eyes on him, he looked up to see Mina smiling at him. 

“What’s that look for?” he mumbled as he sat down on their bed and rolled over both their pups for a good belly rub. 

Mina joined them moments later, picking up Tirim and snuggling her to his chest, much to her delight. “It’s for you, Dylan.” 

That new name had grown on him quite a bit. He planned to change his legal name to it on Mina’s birthday. It was a symbol of how much his life had changed since he’d met the odd little shifter. In fact, both of their lives had changed quite a bit. He was no longer someone who sold staged murders. His building had been gutted, then sold. Even Buck had moved on, and with Magnus, shockingly. The two tended to keep to themselves, but Del had visited several times over the past few months. It had been slightly unsettling to consider them a couple, but the moment Buck had answered the door the first time he’d come by… that smile. He truly loved and respected the man, but the smile he’d seen on his face that day? That had come from Magnus sneaking in a slight kiss to his cheek before disappearing down a hallway. 

The mushy thoughts had Del rolling his eyes before Mina leaned over and gave him his own peck on the cheek. 

“They’re cute, don’t deny it,” he chided playfully. 

Del, feigning ignorance, grinned down at their pups and nodded. “Yep, they are definitely cute.”  

The sound of a faint knock on the doorjamb to their room brought both their attention up to see Jared and Palace standing in the entrance. Del was immediately on edge with the two predators there, even though one was his father. Well, especially because one was his father. 

“We’re going to start cooking outback if you guys want to bring the kids down in a bit,” Jared said before disappearing back down the hall, leaving Palace alone, his form nearly taking up the entire door-frame. 

Mina lowered his gaze from the man’s almost immediately, but Del had no issue staring his father down. He was bigger than him by a good bit, but their wolves were well matched in a fight. They’d had more than a few matches since being around each other more. Palace didn’t handle the pups well, and had even tried to nip them more than once, but thankfully Del had been around whenever his father had gotten a bit too aggressive. That was one of the main reasons why Mina tended to stay in their room. It was almost like a den of safety. Palace never dared step inside. 

“We’ll be down in a minute,” Del said before walking over and slowly closing the door. 

He waited until he heard Palace’s footsteps walk away before returning to Mina’s side. 

“He is doing much better, but we should be careful,” he murmured quietly. 

Mina nodded as he stood. Both pups hopped off the bed and ran up to the door, then looked back at them. Waiting for them. Waiting for him. 

Del gave a small chuckle as he leaned over and licked Mina’s hair, making the guy swat at him as he ran over to the door. 

“I swear, if the kids start acting like you,” Mina warned with a smile he couldn’t hide as he started following him out of the room. 

Del turned around, walking backwards so that he could watch his family. It was an odd thought, too. He’d always hated the idea of bringing another being into the world, and to share his life with anyone besides Buck? Not possible. 

And yet, he couldn’t hide the smile on his face as Mina gave him a look , then growled abruptly and half-tackled him. Of course, Del didn’t even get thrown off-balance, in the least, but he did gladly catch his mate and hug him as tightly as he could while being careful of Mina’s little baby bump. 

“Our two girls seem to act more like you… I’ll just corrupt the next ones,” Del mumbled as he reached between them to rub Mina’s belly through his shirt as he stole a quick kiss. 

“Open up,” Jared growled as he leaned over Knight’s hawk, who had decided to try and fly away from him. He’d snatched the feathered menace right out of the sky before it could get away with one of the chicken legs they’d bought for the barbecue. 

Come on, Jared! I’ll just not take as many when they’re cooked! Knight whined. His words just earned him an eye roll as Jared yanked the meat from between his beak, then dropped him unceremoniously to the ground. 

“Yeah, sure. Just like you did last time?” 

If birds could look embarrassed, Knight’s definitely wasn’t. 

We won’t talk about that. I was hungry… 

Sighing, Jared returned the meat to one of the plates where the rest of the meal was waiting to be cooked. when he turned back to his chicken-friend, Knight had forgone his feathers and returned to his human form. He wasn’t paying Jared any mind, however, and instead, seemed to find a particular blade of grass very interesting. 

Instead of chastise him more, even though he deserved it, Jared dropped down beside him and lifted a hand to settle atop Knight’s ruffled hair. 

“You’ll be fine, my chicken. If you want some raw, then just wait until we start and you can take some.” 

He realized his mistake when Knight turned his head beneath his hand and gave him a devilish grin. Before Jared could even react, he was pinned beneath Knight.

“I’ll take you raw, but we can start now, right? No one else is going to challenge me in line,” Knight said, making Jared groan as the faintest hint of red tinted his cheeks. 

He didn’t actually mind having sex with the guy… mainly because he stopped talking when getting dirty, but he wasn’t about to be on exhibition for the rest of their strange family. They were supposed to start having a barbecue in the next few minutes. 

Del would castrate us if his kids saw, too. 

“Let’s save that for later,” he replied before shoving Knight off of him hard enough to send the guy back to his feet. 

“It’s a promise!” Knight yelled.

“I hope I’m not late.” 

Blinking, Jared looked over to see Buck shutting it, then heading over toward them. 

“I hope you don’t mind, but I left the dog at home. I didn’t think this gathering would be manageable for my beast,” Buck said with a small smile that made Jared return the expression. 

He was glad that Magnus hadn’t come. The guy could be sweet, but more often than not, he was dangerous, especially around the kids. 

Jared was about to reply when their attention was drawn to the back door of the house. Mina calmly stepped down into the grass, his rounding belly not quite as visible through the big shirt that Del, no doubt, put over his own smaller one. 

We already know. 

Del was extremely overprotective of his offspring, and mate, but Jared couldn’t blame him. The guy did live with a small pride of lions and misfits. His father, no doubt, was what kept him most on edge. Thankfully, Palace had calmed down enough over the past few months to not feel the need to save his son from his horrible existence and murder him for his own safety. It was an improvement. 

Speaking of Palace, Jared’s attention lifted to the roof just in time to see the shifter’s massive wolf settle down into a comfortable nook near one of the windows. At the same time, Jamie came out the back door with Mina and Del’s two pups following on his heels. Of all the lions the two had met out and about and at home, his brother was definitely their favorite. 

Before Del even made it over to the grill to get it started, Jamie was in his lion form, carefully but chaotically romping around the yard with the pups and, of course, their protective mother now in his own feline form. 

Since things were about to get cooking, Jared walked over to the plates of meat and portioned them out, then took one of Knight’s pieces and tossed it to him. Knight was back in his hawk form and easily caught the large chunk of meat with a slight hop. It was gone seconds after his talons touched back down to the ground. 

“Chicken eating a chicken,” Jared mumbled, shaking his head with a small grin as he turned around to start helping Del with the grill. He could feel his chicken nudging and nipping at his pants as it paced around him, clearly hoping for some scraps as they worked. He might have gotten a few morsels… but no one else needed to know that. 

As the first round of meat was cooked up, plates were made with several sides, then handed out to the pups first, as well as Mina, since he often ate quite a lot being pregnant again. The next round of food went to Knight’s noisy hawk, and while Del jokingly offered some to Buck, he rolled his eyes and declined before making himself a salad. 

On the third round of meat Jared glanced up at Palace, but the massive wolf seemed perfectly content to remain where he was on the warm roof. 

“Jamie, come get some food,” he said instead, looking at his brother as he approached. 

He figured that Palace would come down as soon as he saw the guy eating by himself, but to his surprise, the second the huge plate was full, Palace flew down and somehow managed to snag it with his jaws and claws, and bring it up to the roof. 

Jared was about to yell at him for taking it so abruptly, but not a moment later he was back down, snatching up his brother before gently setting him down on the roof. Palace settled down contentedly and Jamie soon realized that they’d be dining on the roof instead of with everyone else. 

That’s Palace for you, brother. 

He felt humor through their bond as his brother sat down and began happily feeding Palace’s massive wolf little pieces of charred meat as it literally curled around his much smaller body. It was true that Palace was horrible with most people, animals, and really, even inanimate objects that annoyed him, but the man absolutely adored and spoiled his brother. He was far from whipped, though, because Jamie returned his love with an insurmountable amount of respect for the care and attention he was receiving in return. 

Blinking down after feeling another tug on his pants, Jared raised his eyebrows at a sulking hawk. Knight refused to look at him, making Jared bite back a sigh as he knelt down and quickly scooped up the troubled poultry. 

“You’re not terrible either, my chicken.” 

Knight rustled his feathers and slowly looked up to meet his eyes. 

“It’s been one hell of a ride, huh?” Jared whispered just loud enough for Knight to hear him as he carried his bird over to a nice shady spot beneath a tree and sat down to relax for a bit. He felt Knight get more comfortable in his arms, then heard his quiet reply through their bond. 

You will be tonight. 

-End

(Thank you guys for reading another one of my strange stories. Sorry if it seemed to end a bit abruptly, I just have so little time to do things now that I’ve been piecing things together over weeks instead of days. Feel free to look at some of my other stories, most are already complete :) )