Chapter 1: Tusks

“Hey wait up!”

Erin’s feet slowed as he stepped up to his locker and began taking out a few books he needed for his first three classes. He already attached a face to the voice that had called out to him, and knew that his friend, Wolf, would be by his side in moments.

“Hey man, did you see the new kid?” Wolf asked as he stopped next to him.

New kid? It’s already March. Who the heck would transfer here, first of all, and why after midterms?

“No, I haven’t.” Erin replied.

“He’s freaking tiny! He’s a senior but like, five foot nothing.” Wolf said.

That was a bit weird, but he didn’t think that it was a big deal.

“He probably is just a small animal shifter or has stunted growth. It happens.” Erin replied with a shrug as an image of Arron flashed into his mind for a moment. He hoped that everything was going well and that Rylan was treating him right. He’d been keeping up with him and their kid, Roan, but school had kept him quite busy.

A hand settled on his shoulder as he shut his locker, making Erin roll his eyes. Wolf leaned in and whispered in his ear with a smirk. Incoming poor joke.

“What if he’s a mouse?” The guy said.

That had Erin shoving him away with a grunt of annoyance.

“He’s not going to be a darn mouse!” He grumbled.

Erin wasn’t one to bully because there really was no reason for such things, but he just couldn’t stand mice. He was ashamed to admit that he had killed a few in his life time. No shifters, though, of course.

As Wolf leaned in again to pester him Erin allowed some of the skin around his eyes to crinkle and flare grey, warning him to back off with the mouse jokes that were surely waiting on the tip of his tongue. Wisely, Wolf figured out that he wasn’t in the mood to joke around and quickly disappeared back into the crowd.

I don’t want to be an ass to him, but I just don’t feel like being picked at right now.

By the time Erin stepped into his first period English class he noticed that he was late.

Crap.

“Hello Erin. While I know that elephants enjoy taking their time on things, I suggest that you make getting to class before the late bell rings, a priority.” His teacher said sarcastically.

Blowing out a sigh, Erin shrugged and sauntered to the back of the class to sit down. He knew that ignoring the teacher would probably make him his target for the mday, but at least he’d remembered to study his notes the previous night, just in case. As he began getting out his notebook and pencils, he heard the door open and grinned.

Good, another late student. Maybe the teacher can just take out his PMS on them.

Grayson’s body was literally shaking as he stood, stock-still, in front of the door to his English classroom. It had taken him a good twenty minutes to find it, but now that he was there he wanted to run away. His mother had said that starting public school after being home-schooled for so long would be frightening, but she hadn’t told him that there would be so

many kids. He reached up nervously to tug at his small black collar, calming slightly when he heard the faint bell ring.

I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. The little voice in his head squeaked over and over until he finally bit his lower lip and reached toward the door. The second he stepped inside he wanted to run again, but instead he straightened his shoulders and shakily walked over to the teacher.

Thank god the office lady gave me a paper so that I could just hand it to my teacher and not have to talk.

As the man read it Grayson kept his eyes down and just stared at his new black and dark blue tennis shoes. His mother had gotten them for him so that he would fit in a bit more considering his old ones had been falling apart. He still kept them in a box in his closet, though, because he’d really really liked them, even if the soles were falling out and part of the shoelaces had been chewed off by himself. Sometimes habits just got the better of him.

“Alright, Mr. Grayson?”

He jumped slightly when the teacher spoke right next to him, getting a few snorts out of the classroom of kids. Trying to ignore them, Grayson quickly looked up at the teacher and nodded once.

“Welcome to English. Please tell the class a little bit about yourself.”

Oh no.

He very slowly faced back toward the classroom full of students and lifted his eyes up a little. Everyone was staring at him. He knew that he was short, but to make matters worse, most of the kids seemed to have brown, black, or blond hair. His was white with silver and grey highlights. There was only one other person who had similar colored hair but he was way in the back and almost seemed to be glaring at him.

“U-Um. Hi. My name is Grayson.” He murmured nervously, his voice barely above a whisper.

He froze after that, not really sure what else he was supposed to say.

Do I tell them that I was home schooled? That I’m a shifter? He could see a few shifters in the classroom just because of certain features, but was he supposed to just come out and say what he was?

A hand was suddenly on his shoulder, making him jump again and squeak a tiny bit. That had most of the class chuckling while he felt a blush begin to converge on his nose. Darn shift messing with my human form.

The hand on his shoulder gave him a nudge forward.

“Go ahead and sit down, Grayson.” The teacher said.

Didn’t need to tell him twice! Grayson quickly made his way between the crowded desks. There were backpacks kicked into the isles along with pens and a few pieces of paper but he managed to get to the back without much of a problem. However, as he began to get himself into a seat next to the other gray-haired boy, he nearly squeaked again when he heard the guy huff and grumble.

“Get away, now.”

He thought that he’d misheard him so he hesitantly straightened back up and turned to face the other boy. Grayson couldn’t help but hug his English book to his chest when the boy’s eyes narrowed into another glare.

“I-I’m sorry.” He stuttered quietly.

The guy seemed incredibly tense so he decided against bothering him further, though he had hoped that they could be friends. So much for that, I suppose. When the boy started getting up Grayson quickly scurried off to the only other empty desk left. One of the legs on the chair was partially broken causing it to rock if he shifted his weight a little, but he guessed that he could just deal with it for the one class.

He could tell that the angry boy was watching him throughout the class but managed to keep his own eyes on the board or his notebook so that he wouldn’t make whatever he had done to bother the other kid, worse.

The second the bell rang he shoved his book and notebook into his bag and ran out the door. The next two classes were thankfully void of the upset boy, but Grayson found out that the school had quite a few carnivorous shifters in it. Way more than he had thought.

He returned to his locker before lunch to put away the books he’d needed for his first three classes, but when he began to turn around he was stopped by a pair of hands on his hips and a nose nuzzling against his neck.

“Hmm. I smell a rat.” Came a male voice with a deep growl to it.

“I-I’m not a rat.” Grayson squeaked right before he was turned around and abruptly shoved into his locker, which was a tight fit, even though he was pretty small. Another squeak slipped from his lips as the other boy leaned in. His face slowly began to grow fur as his mouth elongated and sharp teeth made themselves known. A wolf! Grayson quickly dropped to the floor of the locker and felt his clothing fall on top of him.

“Aha! I knew it was one or the other. Hey Erin, come here!” The boy shouted as he looked away from a moment.

There was silence for a few seconds, but Grayson was more focused on getting his clothing off so that he could see. So, when he finally managed to poke his tiny head out from the hole in his T-shirt, he about fainted. The boy that was mad at him from his English class was looking down into the locker and his face immediately changed from one of boredom to anger when their eyes met. In the next two seconds his locker door was slammed shut and the lock clicked into place.

“Wolf! You know I hate mice! Get back here right now!”

Chapter 2: Little Pink Nose

(Fanart by @VanishingWinter)

You’re okay. You might be small, but you’re not afraid.

He wanted to believe his thoughts, but all of the yelling from the halls echoing through his locker had him shivering in the back corner. He stared down at his toes, tapping each so that the claws would clink on the metal bottom. It was something to distract himself, but it didn’t help a whole lot.

Grayson wasn’t sure how long he’d sat there when he heard the click of the lock, making him snap his head up and squeak in surprise. How did someone open my lock without the code? When the latch was lifted and the door swung open, Grayson nearly left a pellet in the back of his locker. It was the mean kid who had locked him inside it in the first place.

His face looked none-too-happy as he knelt down and hesitantly picked up Grayson’s clothing. It was obvious he didn’t like him, so why was he there?

He not going to steal my clothing, is he?

Grayson squeaked twice as he flicked an ear, worried and confused.

The guy jumped and grumbled at him. Okay, don’t squeak. Got it.  Instead, he just sat in the corner counting his little pink toes until the boy spoke again.

“Listen uh, Grayson?”

He glanced up at the boy and nodded slightly to acknowledge his name.

“Yeah, uh, Grayson. Sorry about locking you in here earlier. No offense, but I really don’t like mice.”

Grayson’s eyes narrowed on him as if to say. No crap.

The boy chuckled and leaned back with his clothes folded in his arms.

“I suppose that much was pretty obvious. Can you shift back yet?” He asked.

Grayson shook his head and let his ears droop a little. They were pretty big for a mouse. His mother always called him her little elephant .

“Um, alright. Darn it, I can’t just leave you in here but if you start walking around at that size you’re going to get squashed.”

True story.

“Alright, um…”

“Hey Erin! You messing with that poor toothpick again? I bet you used your massive ears to hear the combination, eh?” Someone shouted.

Grayson saw a boy lean over Erin’s shoulder. Oh no. The wolf! He shrank back into the corner immediately, but there wasn’t really anywhere else to go since he was already against the wall.

“No, I just want to get him out of here, but…”

Erin shivered and made a face, which Grayson made right back at him.

“Spunky little guy. Come here.” The wolf shifter said as he reached for him. No way! Grayson bolted to the other side of the locker and squeaked, making the gray-haired boy jump, but got a growl from the wolf one.

“Little mouse, you should know better than to run from a predator.” The wolf said.

No. I know better than to let a predator catch me.

With an aggressive squeak Grayson lunged, biting the wolf with all of his might… right before the guy grabbed him with his other hand and tossed him into his lunchbox.

Hey!

The feeling of being carried made him lose his balance several times and crash into an apple, then sandwich.

This is no way to treat another person. Let alone a cute little mouse!

“Let’s just take him to the picnic tables since it’s lunch time anyways. If he shifts back he can just change behind us.” Erin said as Wolf nodded and swung his lunchbox. They ducked inside the cafeteria together and Erin grabbed a small salad and water before they walked outside. Thankfully, it wasn’t too hot out and their table, the one in the shade, was free.

Wolf tossed his lunch on the table and plopped down beside him, giving a good stretch with his arms in the air before unzipping his lunchbox, only to see a very cocky little glare from a tiny mouse being directed up at him… while it ate his peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

“Oh you little!” Wolf growled.

“That’s what you get for putting a mouse in your lunchbox.” Erin said, smirking.

Wolf grabbed the mouse by its tail and held it upside down, watching the thing as it squirmed and squeaked.

Gross.

“Put it down already. The sooner it becomes relaxed the faster it can get out of that form.” Erin said.

When Wolf set it down it glared up at them and twitched its whiskers. Again, gross. When it finished its little pouting display, it ran over and promptly dove into Erin’s salad bowl.

“Hey!” He yelled as he jumped to his feet and fell backward over the bench and into the grass. When he blinked open his eyes, Erin saw Wolf snickering down at him as he straddled the bench.

“Mouse two, Erin zero.”

“Whatever.” Erin grumbled as he got to his feet and slid back onto the bench, glaring at Grayson.

“Get out of my salad and put that carrot down, now.”

No one took his carrots. Those were the best part and the salad only came with four tiny ones. Also, considering there were only three left, including the one between the mouse’s grubby little pink paws, Erin knew that he had already somehow eaten one in the time it took him to get up.

“Drop. The. Carrot. Now.” He warned.

Erin’s eyes were level with his as he stooped over, trying to look intimidating so that Grayson wouldn’t bite his beloved food. He was an elephant shifter, after all. And elephants loved their food.

The little bugger tilted its ears back and squeaked, making Erin jump again and sit back.

“Freaking mice.” He growled, frustrated.

Wolf grabbed the mouse right out of his salad, sending the carrot flying as he dangled the demonic creature right in front of Erin’s face.

“Aw, little Erin doesn’t wanna share his cawwots wit the widdle mousy!” He taunted, making him want to smack him as he tilted the mouse back and forth a few times. Before he could do anything else with it, however, he was forced to let go as a naked kid dropped, upside down, into Erin’s lap.

Well, this is humiliating . 

Grayson’s legs were up on either side of Erin’s shoulders and he was on his back, in his lap, giving him a rather nice view of certain parts of his anatomy that he’d preferred to keep private. He felt his nose turn bright pink as his entire face lit up like fireworks. With a sheepishly embarrassed smile, he forced himself to roll off Erin’s lap and drop into the grass beneath the table.

“Clothes, please!” He squeaked.

The wolf shifter quickly tossed him his stuff under the table and within a minute Grayson tugged them on, then reappeared on the other side of the table. His hair was a bit messy but thankfully he wasn’t a mouse anymore.

When he looked over at the two boys, Grayson frowned. Why are they staring at me like that? He actually realized that he had quite a few more people than just them ogling him. There were at least fifteen other people who had been eating outside at nearby tables that were now all staring and whispering. Great. My first day of school and now I bet my privates are going to be posted to those weird social websites soon.

Noticing the grey-haired boy getting up, Grayson lifted his head and watched as he stalked over to each and every table. He took the phone of each kid that had it out and deleted whatever pictures they had taken before returning.

Grayson wanted to say something, to at least thank him, but he couldn’t find the words.

“You owe me two carrots.” Erin said, making Grayson’s brows go up. He did actually find himself grinning as he dug into his pocket. After a moment he pulled out a small bag, then handed it over to Erin with a smile.

“Here.”

It was a snack his mother often gave him when he was nervous. If he didn’t have something to nibble on in a stressful situation, he often bit his nails down to stubs.

“You can have them.” He said.

The look on the boy’s face was a mixture between surprise and exuberance as he inhaled three of the small carrots as if they were candy. Not even I can eat them that quickly…

When he heard snickering, Grayson glanced at Erin’s friend.

“You made the elephant so happy.” He said with a knowing smirk.

Ah, so he is an elephant. He’d had a hunch, but it was nice to hear it confirmed.

“Can you shift?” He asked Erin, a hint of excited curiosity in his eyes.

Erin raised a brow as he devoured two more baby carrots.

“Please? Elephants are so cool!” Grayson said with enthusiasm.

Erin looked at his friend, then back to Grayson before swallowing his food.

“No.”

Grayson frowned, hunching his shoulders a little. “Why?”

The boy glared at him as he pointed a baby carrot in his direction.

“Because, I’m not a fan of showing off my junk to everyone at school by stripping naked and shifting in the middle of lunch.”

Oh.

Touche.

Chapter 3: Gym Class

Lunch ended on a quiet note and they quickly dispersed back into the halls to get to their next classes. Grayson had PE, which his little paper map said was on the other side of the building, so he hurried to get there on time. This darn school feels like a maze. When he’d finally managed to push open one of the heavy doors to the gymnasium, he noticed that there was hardly anyone there.

“Where is everyone?”

He heard a bunch of people talking in a room to the right and quickly ran over.

Oh, locker rooms.

“Hey, kid! Why aren’t you dressing out?”

His head whipped around when he heard someone shout at him from the doorway. He had been about to go around the corner to ask what was going on but the guy looked like the teacher, so maybe…

“Um, I’m new. My name is Grayson.” He said nervously.

“Ah, the new kid. Come here.”

Grayson followed him into the noisy locker room until they stopped in front of a specific locker. He handed him a lock and a sticker with the code on it. “Just put that code somewhere you won’t lose it and put away your stuff. Then come out when you’re done.”

Grayson nodded and quickly put the code in his pocket after glancing over it, then tossed his backpack into the locker and clicked it shut. Alright, now to go back and… When he turned around, he swore that his face brightened a good twenty shades. There were at least fifteen naked, or partially naked guys mulling about the room. He knew that staring was rude, but couldn’t manage to move his eyes. Time seemed to have escaped him, too, because before he knew it, he was shoved hard against the lockers.

Was definitely staring for too long.

“Hey you little midget, why were you staring at everyone? Are you gay?”

Grayson’s brow wrinkled as he tried to remember what that word meant. He knew the general meaning, but also knew that there was a slang for it. He just couldn’t remember what it was. Being strictly home-schooled had its downsides. Glancing up at the two boys, particularly the one that still had his hand on his shoulder, he calmly asked.

“I don’t think you mean happy , so what does your version of gay mean?”

The two boys looked at each other before glaring back down at him with slightly disturbed smirks on their faces.

“It means, you like getting it up the ass.”

Oh, right . That was the newer version of the word.

“Um, I don’t put anything there.” He said.

They looked at each other again, then burst out laughing before calling one of their friends over.

“Hey kid, take a look.”

The guy holding his shoulder stepped to his right as the other moved to his left, putting his hand on that shoulder. Grayson didn’t really have a reason not to look. His eyes rose to the guy now standing in front of him. Holy, muscle. Not like, big muscles or anything but holy crap the guy was well-defined. He was built like a rock and as Grayson’s eyes slowly lowered, he felt his face heating up again. He quickly jerked his eyes upward so that his body wouldn’t start to react and embarrass him. Wait a second. His eyes finally met the gaze of the owner of the incredible body before him, then widened.

Erin?

“Holy shit, look at his face! He’s so fucking gay for you, Erin.” One of the boys said.

Grayson was suddenly shoved back against his locker for a second time as the two boys on either side of him leaned in.

“You’re a gay little rat-boy, aren’t you?” One said.

Grayson hunched slightly at their tone and the sinister looks in their eyes.

“I’m a mouse.” He squeaked out.

“Kessig, leave him alone.” Erin said, drawing Grayon’s eyes back up, but he couldn’t see him beyond his friend, who had crowded his space.

Way too close.

Grayson squeezed his eyes shut until he heard someone gasp behind the two boys. When he opened them again, Kessig was flying through the air all the way across the room. He skidded to a halt in a corner with a snarl, but Grayson’s focus was on the kid who had thrown him.

“Erin?” He rasped in shock.

His eyes were rimmed with grey and wrinkled slightly, letting everyone know that his elephant was just beneath the surface. Instead of changing, though, he grabbed the boy named Henry by his neck and tossed him right onto his friend in the far corner.

Grayson was so stunned by his strength that when Erin turned toward him, thankfully at least clothed now in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, he just couldn’t manage to shut his mouth. He had just lifted two boys much bigger than Grayson and tossed them like rags. He really wanted to thank him for the help, but when he leaned over a little Grayson flinched, making him do the same before Erin’s left thumb gently ran beneath his right eye. When it came away wet, Grayson blinked, then suddenly realized that he had been crying.

“You’re not about to shift… are you?” Erin asked, his face immediately looking hesitant.

Grayson quickly shook his head.

“No.” He said, thankful that he’d managed to get a hold of himself before his mouse took over. Grayson’s mouth opened again to tell him that he didn’t have to worry about him changing when he was suddenly lifted into his arms and carried out of the locker room. His body reacted on instinct as he wrapped his arms around Erin’s neck and snuggled in.

Darn mouse tendencies. I snuggle too much.

“Erin? Is there a reason you’re carrying the new student?” The coach asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Kessig and Henry were picking on him.” Erin said without hesitation.

The man sighed and shook his head, watching as everyone from the locker room began to file out. When he saw Kessig and Henry, he pointed them over to the bleachers.

“You’re both sitting out this class. Get over there.”

Both boys glared at Grayson as they did as told.

I have a feeling I just made some un-friends.

“Don’t worry about them.” Erin said as he set him down, then patted him on the head. That was the one gesture that Grayson absolutely loved. He felt something a brush against his whiskers and flicked them slightly. Oh, wait. I shouldn’t have whiskers right now.

“Oops. Sorry.”

He knew that shifters tended to take on some characteristics of their animals when angry or stressed, like his own eyes crinkling grey, but seeing Grayson’s whiskers suddenly appear freaked him out a bit. Erin took a step back until Grayson managed to get his features under control, then sighed.

“Um, no problem.” Erin mumbled awkwardly.

Just then, Coach West blew his whistle and called out the game they were playing.

“Dodgeball time! Erin! Maria! You’re captains. Erin picks first.”

About time he let us go up against each other again . He knew exactly who he should pick, but… His eyes glanced over at Grayson, who was lining up with the rest of the kids waiting to be called to teams. He was so much shorter than everyone else and surely would be an obvious last pick. He was looking at his brightly colored sneakers and not really paying attention. Probably figured he wouldn’t get picked.

I know I’m going to shoot myself later for this when Maria is laughing in my face.

“Grayson.” He called out.

The kid’s head snapped up immediately, as well as everyone else’s. Yeah, I know. I should have picked Mitchel . Gray looked around in confusion, but was quickly shoved toward him as Maria grabbed Mitchel for her team. The rest of the picks went pretty fast and then everyone was headed to their designated sides. Right when Erin stopped to turn and watch coach set out the balls at the middle line of the gym Grayson walked over and tugged on his shirt slightly, making him glance down at him with a raised eyebrow.

“What’s up, kid?” Erin asked.

“Um, how do you play this game?”

You’ve got to be kidding me.

The coach was almost done setting up so Erin just grabbed Grayson’s hand and pulled him to the back.

“Just stay here and don’t get hit with a ball, okay? If you do you have to go sit on the bleachers and wait for the game to end.”

He didn’t give him any time to ask questions since the coach blew the whistle and started the match right then.

They were doing pretty well to start off, but Mitchel was starting to really get into it. Pretty soon, Erin was the only one left and already panting pretty hard. Maria, Mitchel, and Rayden were still in, leaving him completely out-numbered. He’d done his best to dodge, but he hadn’t been able to focus on any catches since he constantly had balls coming at him from three different directions.

After only a minute solo he felt a ball hit his ankle and heard coach yell. “Erin, out!”

With a grumble Erin sauntered over to the coach.

“Alright, are we going again or no time?” He asked.

He raised a brow at him and pointed over Erin’s shoulder.

Wait… why can I still hear balls being thrown?

“Still got one more on your side.”

Erin quickly turned around, only to see little Grayson dodging every darn ball coming at him. Granted, he looked terrified doing it, but he was doing it!

“Grayson, catch the balls if you can!” He shouted with an excited grin as he glanced over at the other team right as two of them threw balls from different angels. Erin winced as he watched them fly across the space. He knew that Grayson couldn’t dodge both of them. Squinting his eyes nearly closed, Erin waited for the coach to yell Grayson’s name as out , but when the guy did yell, it was to call Rayden out.

Huh?

His eyes opened to see Grayson standing near the back with a red ball in his hands. Holy crap, the kid did it.

Smirking, Erin cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted. “Kick their butts, kid!”

Grayson’s eyes met his and his face redden slightly as he gave Erin the tiniest grin and quickly rolled the ball back over to the other side right before another came flying at him. Gray managed to dodge it and five more before he was forced into a corner.

“Crap. Not good.”

Erin was standing right on the edge of the sidelines as Maria and Mitchel pegged their balls straight at Grayson. They were both about chest height, but he could only catch one. As the balls got to him, Grayson did indeed catch the higher ball, but the other hit his shoulder and was knocked up into the air.

“Catch it Gray! You aren’t out unless it hits the ground!” He yelled.

Grayson looked confused but quickly dropped the ball he had caught previously and dove to try and keep the other from hitting the floor. Erin’s eyes had squeezed shut again in anticipation but when the coach called the next two outs , they were Maria, then Mitchel.

“Holy crap.” He muttered.

Without another thought Erin ran over to Grayson and picked him up, then swung him around in his arms like one would a little kid before giving him a super strong hug.

“Holy crap kid, you did it!”

The rest of the team ran over to congratulate him before coach called them both to go shower and change. Since he hadn’t brought anything to change into, Erin told him to wait right outside the locker room for him. Grayson stayed put after grabbing his own things from his locker and when Erin came out, he gave Gray a small smile and nod for him to follow.

“I’ll walk you to your next class.” He said, watching as the guy’s face lit up.

“Okay!”

The smile that those simple words brought out of him was, dare he think it, almost cute. For a mouse.

Chapter 4: Fun With Paint

The next class was definitely going to be entertaining, though Erin wasn’t an artist of any sort. When he’d first moved, a lot of the kids had tried to mess with him about painting with his trunk but they’d learned pretty quickly that he wasn’t one to deal with being bullied. He’d tossed a few of them over the fence and wasn’t bothered again.

Grayson had the same class so they quietly walked to the art room together, getting there just early enough to get called-on to help the teacher set up. Gray quickly moved to help bring out canvases and set them up on the floor, along with a bunch of different paints and a few brushes.

Oh no.

“Ms. Carroway, are we doing shifter painting again ?” Erin asked with a groan.

The silver-haired woman stepped out of the storage closet with a grin before she shoved some canvases into his arms.

“Yup! This time you’ll be allowed to have a partner, though.” She said, far too cheerfully.

Well, at least he wouldn’t have to take his home and try not to smash it with his elephant’s foot again. The first one he’d tried had ended, well, badly. As well as the second and third. 

Wait a second . He knew someone who could do the assignment easily. Whirling around, he saw Grayson finishing setting up his last canvas and ran over.

“Gray! You’ll be my partner for this.”

The boy’s brows knit together slightly but as he opened his mouth to question what the assignment even was since he hadn’t been paying attention, everyone began to file into the room. Erin quickly grabbed Grayson’s hand and tugged him toward his area, then down to sit on the floor in front of their canvas.

You could hear different groans and grumbles when the kids came in but Erin was all smiles because he had the best partner for the frustrating assignment.

Grayson wasn’t really sure what was going on, but when the teacher told them to shift, he felt a bit awkward. Doing it by mistake was one thing, but to just shift in the middle of class?

When he saw other kids begin to do it he hesitantly glanced at Erin. He was smiling down at him and the memory of his naked body abruptly flashed through his mind. Okay, mouse time. His body shifted to hide a certain issue starting in his pants which was way too embarrassing to get caught with, especially in front of the guy causing it. Erin helped him find his way out of his clothes, then folded them up and put them aside.

Grayson could tell that he was hesitant to get closer but that was fine. As long as he didn’t try to hurt him, he could handle a slightly-distant friend.

When the teacher told them what to do, Grayson squeaked, his ears falling slightly. He hated stepping in paint. His parents had made him do it ever year since he was born as a fun way to measure his paws and keep the memory, but it had felt so gross.

“Alright, let’s get busy!” Erin said cheerfully.

Suddenly, there was a tray of red and black paint pushed up to Grayson, making him jump slightly as the smell wafted to his nose. It smelled terrible, too. He shook his head and plopped his backside down on the cold tile floor before looking behind himself at all of the shifters next to their mostly human partners. It would seem like the teacher really liked intermingling the shifters and humans, but there were way too many carnivores in the class. Grayson could count at least four wolves, three lions, and several smaller felines, along with a python. At least there was a sheep, weasel, and two macaws as well, but still…

“Come on, Gray, I need you to do this so that we can get a good grade.” Erin said, his voice pleading and bringing Grayson’s attention back to his current predicament.

Come on Gray. I’ll do you a favor later if you do this for me?

Grayson’s eyes bugged out as he flicked his head, not believing that he’d just heard Erin’s thoughts in his mind. Bonds like that were only something you could form with people you were close to.

He heard Erin chuckle in his thoughts as the boy shrugged.

I don’t know why I can talk to you like this, but you did it first in the locker room.

Oh no. Which of my thoughts did he hear? Grayson thought, worried as his nose immediately heated up as he hid it between his tiny paws and let out a humiliated squeak.

Don’t worry, all I heard was that you called for help.

Oh, phew.

After a moment he let his paws move away from his nose and looked up at Erin. The guy was smiling again, making Grayson’s tiny heart flutter like a butterfly in his fuzzy chest.

Well, as long as he won’t go back on his offer to do me a favor some time, I guess I can manage a little bit of paint. He did help me a lot in the locker room, anyway. 

With a strong swallow he hesitantly reached his right pink paw into the red paint, just barely touching the gross stuff before hopping up onto the canvas. He ran in a quick circle, then stuck his tongue out and held up his right paw, flicking it to try and get the sticky paint off.

“Hmm, I’ve got an idea…” Erin mumbled.

Before Grayson could even look up he was being lifted and put right back into the paint. He was about to give Erin a very tiny piece of his mind when the boy unwrapped something and waved it in front of Grayson’s nose.

Ch… cheese. Cheese!

The deliciousness quickly moved over the canvas, drawing him off of the nasty paint and after it.

I want it! Please!

Grayson made several circles and zig zags as he followed just behind the tempting dairy treat. He could smell it so close. When he ran out of paint on his feet Erin pulled off a small piece of cheese and tossed it to him. It vanished into Grayson’s belly in seconds.

Wait, where’d the rest go?

Raising his nose to the air, Grayson quickly located his target hovering right over the paint. He darted for it, diving into the colors as he tried to grab the cheese in mid-air. Erin was faster, but Gray wasn’t done yet. When the cheese moved back over the canvas he jumped up, running after it with renewed fervor. The chase resumed with a few pieces as his reward until the teacher said to begin cleaning up.

Wait, what?

“Good job, Gray. Here.” Erin said.

The cheese got closer and Grayson snatched it up right away, shoving every single bit that he could into his mouth. His stomach began to rumble but he refused to stop eating until he had finished at least half the stick of string cheese. Granted, he knew what was coming, and unfortunately, it came with force since he’d been eating the cheese throughout class. 

Bathroom!

Dropping the remainder of the snack reluctantly, Grayson quickly ran for the door, pawing at it when he realized that he was still a mouse.

Bathroom! Erin bathroom!

The guy stumbled to his feet and shoved the door open, then shouted for him to turn left when he’d nearly passed the bathroom. Grayson skidded into the walk-in room and quickly found a stall, but…

I can’t get up there but 

I gotta go!

Erin looked down as he ran in, noticing him pawing at the toilet bowl frantically, leaving behind faint colorful pawprints on the porcelain. When Grayson turned around and squeaked, wanting help to get up, he looked around in a panic. He’s still hesitant to pick me up? He had done it in class.

Come on Erin, please! I don’t want to go on the floor.

After a moment Erin ran over to the paper towel machine and grabbed a few, then used them to lift him onto the seat. He was a bit miffed that he had to use paper towels to touch him, but he wasn’t going to dwell on it right then. Gray got his tail lifted just in time to go bathroom, his mouse sighing as he did so.

What the heck was that?

His head jerked up when he heard Erin in his mind, then noticed that he had shut the stall door and was standing right outside it.

I-I’m, my mouse… is uh, lactose intolerant.

The sound of loud laughter had his fur in a bunch. Was it that funny? His poor mouse was nuts for cheese but every time he had more than a tiny piece he had to run to the bathroom. It was no way for a little mouse to live.

When he finished using the bathroom Grayson shifted and wiped, but as he got up to let himself out of the stall Erin opened the door, asking if he was finished.

Uh.

Without a word, Erin pulled off his shirt. I’m not drooling. And tugged it down over Grayson’s body. The fabric went halfway to his knees, but he was too worried about the fact that Erin had just seen him naked for a second time. In just one day, too.

Erin couldn’t help but grin at the kid’s reddening nose. When he’d opened the door, he hadn’t expected him to be back in his human form, but he supposed that it was good. When he looked down at his feet, Erin shook his head and chuckled, offering him a hand.

“Let’s get back to class so that you can get changed and to your next one, okay?”

Gray’s dark brown eyes rose to his and after a moment he smiled and nodded. As they walked back Erin noticed that the kid’s face was a little flushed, even after his blush had died down.

“Are you feeling okay? I could take you to the nurse if you need some medicine for your stomach.” He asked.

Grayson quickly shook his head, then pursed his lips as a hint of nausea appeared on his face, then vanished.

“I don’t like medicine. I’m okay, my stomach will settle soon.” He reassured him.

Once back in class Erin noticed that half the kids were already cleaned up and gone. Oh, wait. Looking down, Erin lifted Grayson’s hand up, then frowned as he looked him over.

“Uh…”

“Erin! What did you do to your partner?” Ms. Carroway asked as she came running over to them like a bulldog. Which she actually was. A spunky stocky woman with a spitfire attitude.

“Why did you cover your partner in paint?” She asked, gesturing to Grayson.

“We got a bit carried away. He’s a mouse so I guess I didn’t pay attention when he slipped in the paint a few times. Could we have a note for our next class so that I can go help him get cleaned up?” He asked.

The woman eyed him but when Erin didn’t flinch, she sighed, shook her head, and scribbled their names on to two passes. When she handed over the slips Erin packed up Grayson’s clothes and their bags before quickly tugging him down the stairs they had gone up near the gym to get to the art room. Thankfully, there were showers in the lockers in the gym and Erin thought that the coach had a planning period as his next class.

Sure enough, he had been correct. The coach poked his head out of his office but when he saw Grayson he just laughed and nodded for them to go get him cleaned up. Once in the locker room, Erin set their stuff down on a bench near the back shower and nodded for Grayson to get undressed. Except, the kid just backed up a step and shook his head, that little nose turning a bright pink again.

“What’s wrong? It’s not like I haven’t seen you naked already… twice.”

He made a quiet mumbling sound as his hands came up to brush at his nose, just like a mouse would if embarrassed or hesitant. This kid definitely has cute down pat, though I’d bet he doesn’t even know it . Anyway, they had to get him cleaned up so that he didn’t miss any classes on his first day.

“Here Gray.”

The guy looked up as he walked over, seeming as if he was about to bolt.

“It’s okay, look.” Erin said.

He had a towel in his hand and quickly wrapped it around Grayon’s waist so that he couldn’t see the special parts, then grinned.

“There you go, now let’s get you washed up?”

Grayson looked down, then up as he chewed on his lower lip, but thankfully he nodded a moment later. While Grayson shrugged out of the too-big shirt, Erin set the water temperature for the shower and grabbed the body wash from his backpack, since he didn’t like the smell of the stuff the school offered. Grayson stepped in front of him and then began rubbing at the paint dried on his skin. He had pulled his hair back into a tiny ponytail so that it wouldn’t get wet.

“Here, turn around. Let me get your back.” Erin said.

When Grayon turned, he couldn’t help but chuckle, getting a pout when he glanced over his shoulder at him.

“Sorry, sorry. You’re just covered in paint.”

When Erin reached over to begin rubbing his back Grayson jumped, squeaked, and blushed.

He knew that it was stupid to jump when someone was just trying to help, but Erin was more than a bit of a hunk and actually quite sweet, when he wasn’t afraid of his shift form.

“You okay, kid?” He asked, a hint of confusion in his voice.

“Y-Yeah, sorry.” Grayson replied, trying not to stutter.

“No problem, hold still.”

Erin’s hands returned, slightly rough but gentle as he carefully rubbed the paint off of his lower back, then moved slowly up to his shoulder blades. Grayson could feel his whiskers poke free of his skin but didn’t really think much of it. He was content with the simple bit of attention. Sure, he had made a mess of him in the art room, but still.

Grayson was snapped out of his daze when he felt Erin’s fingers gently slip beneath his collar and nudge the bell he had tucked beneath the band free.

“You…”

Grayson’s body froze up, knowing what he was going to say, but too afraid to try and run.

“You’re a cross shifter.”

Memories flashed through his mind when Erin spoke. He hadn’t always been home schooled. He’d gone to middle school, but in sixth grade someone had tried to…

At that point his mother and father had immediately pulled him out of school and gotten him a cross shifter collar. Well, the school board did, actually, to keep him from talking. Evidently the guy who had tried to breed with him had parents who were loaded. Apparently, money did make most people’s problems disappear.

“Go away.” He ground out, trying to keep his voice from shaking with worry.

“Grayson.” Erin said quietly.

Grayson spun around, glaring at the other boy as he tried to look angry.

“Now I know why you were suddenly being nicer to me! You don’t want to be my friend, you just want what I can do for you!” He knew that he shouldn’t draw unwarranted conclusions, but it was hard not to.

Grayson’s hands slapped against Erin’s bare chest, trying to push him back so that he could get out of the shower stall, but he refused to budge.

“Leave me alone, do you here me elephant?” He warned.

He wasn’t aware that he was crying and shaking until Erin stepped forward and caught him in his strong arms. Grayson’s mouse was panicking in his head and had him sinking his teeth into Erin’s left shoulder, but when he ignored it and just sat down, bringing him down with him to sit in his lap, Grayson eventually gave up and just buried his face in his chest to cry.

Please don’t do it.

“Shh, Grayson. I don’t want to do anything to you.” Erin whispered.

His voice was right against his ear, making Grayson shiver and try to hide more.

“I have a good friend who is a cross shifter. You’re a sweet kid, just like him.”

He does? Gray hesitantly allowed his head to lift just enough so that he could look up at him. He knew that his nose was red and he sniffled as he quietly mumbled out a reply.

“You do?”

Erin’s smile immediately widened at his response.

“Yeah. His name is Arron. I’ll introduce you two some time.” He offered.

“Okay…”

They both sat in silence for a moment before Erin ruffled his hair and chuckled.

“You still need to finish getting cleaned up. I got your back done, so I’ll leave you alone to do the rest.”

They sat for another minute before he spoke again, making Grayson’s face burn.

“You do know that I’m not holding you anymore and you can get up, right?”

His eyebrow lifted as he let a cocky smirk slide across his lips. Grayson jumped up and quickly stepped further into the shower stall, then yanked the pathetic curtain closed. He could hear Erin laughing as he got up and sauntered toward the locker room entrance.

“I’ll be waiting out here!”

About five minutes later Grayson came out of the locker room feeling a bit better. All of the paint had been washed off and he had his emotions back under control, but evidently not enough for Erin because he grabbed him in another hug and messed up his hair.

“Hey! You’re a rude elephant.” Gray grumbled, though he couldn’t honestly be mad.

“You know it, kid. Here…”

Gray stilled when Erin slipped his fingers back under his collar, but he quickly noticed that he was just tucking in the little bell that he’d forgotten to hide.

“There, now then, let’s get you to class… or at least to the end of it.”

Erin took Grayon’s bag from his shoulder and tossed it over his to join his own, drawing a small smile from him as they began to walk out of the gym.

“Thank you for the help, by the way.” Grayson said nervously.

Erin’s smile made his butterflies return, painting his nose a soft pink.

“No problem, Gray.”

Chapter 5: Trouble

(I drew Snowman on the paint program on my laptop lol He was grumbling at me for the photo, of course.) 

The rest of the day went by pretty quickly. Grayson’s last period was history but the teacher had just assigned them something to read that he had already done while being home-schooled, so the second the bell rang he was up and out. He darted down the hall, thankful that the class was right next to the entrance. He didn’t want to get stuck with all the other kids and accidentally shift. Been there, done that. It had hurt.

As he ran down the steps toward the sidewalk, he fished out his phone from his pocket and dialed his mother’s number. She picked up on the third ring with a cheerful but slightly quiet “Hey, Gray! How was your day, hun?”

He pushed aside the though of something being weird and smiled as he hopped up onto a cement pillar near the stairs and set his bag beside himself.

“It was pretty good. Oh, I met an elephant!” He said with excitement.

“An elephant? Really? I’ve never met one before.” She replied, sounding almost as excited.

“Me neither. At first I thought I bothered him for some reason, but he was really nice once we talked for a bit.”

He wasn’t going to mention that Erin knew about him being a cross-shifter because his mother might overreact like he had and pull him out of school. He definitely didn’t want that to happen. He almost had a friend, he thought, so he wanted to stay and see how things went.

“Well that’s good, honey. Would you like me to come pick you up?” She asked.

“Mm, nah. I’ll walk.” He replied with a smile.

“Okay, thanks for calling me and I’m glad you had a good day. Dinner should be ready by the time you get back.” She said.

“Okay!” He replied before they both hung up. As he was slipping his phone back in his pocket he heard a rather unsettling sound rumbling from right behind him. It was definitely a growl and sounded kind of like it was from a big cat…

“Hello, little mouse.”

Considering that he couldn’t really ignore the guy and he was sure whatever cat the boy was could easily run faster than him, Grayson hesitantly scooted his body around so that he could see who was talking.

The boy looked to be a bit older, so he guessed at least a junior or senior, but that wasn’t really what he was focusing on. It was the boy’s bright golden eyes and black stripes in his shaggy, dark orange cropped hair that were much more interesting.

“Hi…” He said awkwardly, chewing his lip a little when he noticed that the guy had taken his bag and swung it over his shoulder. Crap. He really didn’t want to get into more trouble with anyone, but since he had already taken his bag, he doubted that the situation was going to end peacefully.

“Um, can I have my backpack back, please?” He asked anyway. One could hope.

“ Sure .“ The boy said, sounding more like he was purring than actually talking.

“Why don’t you come take a walk with me though, hm? I love getting to know the new students.”

Another purr. No thanks.

“Um, can I just have my bag? I didn’t mean to get your friends in trouble, if that’s what I did, but they bullied me.”

Grayson’s eyes glanced around them, taking note of several students ignoring the flow of foot traffic to whisper behind their hands. He could hear each and every word since his mouse had great hearing, and it definitely wasn’t liking what it was catching. Evidently, the guy was the bad kid of the school and it would seem that he was going to teach him a lesson about getting his friends into trouble.

Grayson watched as he seemed to think over his suggestion, then tilted his head and smirked.

“Let’s take a walk.”

I guess there’s no yes or no answer to that? He didn’t even think that it was a question anymore. After one more quick glance around, he sighed and slid down so that his bright tennis shoes hit the sidewalk. Erin wasn’t there to help him this time so he guessed that he’d just have to try and make it through it by himself.

I’m so gonna be kitty floss.

As they started walking, the whispers behind them told him just that, along with other fun things that he really didn’t want on his future resume. The boy was eerily quiet beside him but Grayson could feel his eyes looking him over. He knew that it was a long shot, but maybe he would just let him go on his way? He could totally pretend that he had beaten him up and he could even put on make up to look like he had bruises. He just didn’t want to actually have the pain that came with said bruises.

They walked for a few minutes before the boy grabbed his wrist and yanked him into a small vacant lot where they were just out of view of the school.

Oh no. Time to try and reason. You can do this!

“Um, I really didn’t mean to get them in any trouble.” Grayson squeaked out, keep his eyes on the ground as he felt his face heat.

It was technically Erin’s fault for telling the coach, but he wasn’t going to throw him under the bus. Well, Erin could probably fend off the guy in front of him, but still, that wasn’t what friends did.

“Well, you did and you’re going to pay for it.” The boy replied, a growl to his words as his grip tightened on Grayson’s wrist.

“I already used my lunch money for today, but I could…” He started to say before the boy released his wrist, only to snatch the collar of his shirt and lift him off of his feet.

“That’s okay. I’ll just take my payment in punches .” He purred.

I tried?

Oh, man. Had definitely needed that.

Tarren’s fingers tapped some ash into a trashcan as he walked by before returning his cigarette to its home between his lips. He knew that it was a bad habit and his father would kill him if he found out, but damn did it help when he was stressed.

Better than taking my frustration out on random people.

As he walked toward the school on his way to work, he heard a loud squeak, then a… roar? What the hell? His feet quickly took him to an open lot of dirt and twigs where he saw a medium sized tiger running about swatting at a mouse?

“…what are you doing?”

He guessed that it wouldn’t be that odd if he was just messing around with some mouse he’d found, but then he wondered why the mouse was wearing a collar?

Wait a second. That’s the same type of collar Arron has.

“Hey Stripes!” He yelled, making the tiger snarl and spin around, roaring at him like he was some kind of macho cat. My little brother is easily bigger than you. Ignoring the cat’s posturing, Tarren glanced around the area again and located the mouse by a pile of clothes. He also noted an extra backpack with the one a few feet away.

Yep, definitely a shifter, and likely a cross one at that.

“Alright fluffy, get out of here and leave him alone or I’ll neuter you.” He said nonchalantly.

He wasn’t interested in fighting with kids but the tiger just continued to show his teeth and stalk closer.

You’d think he’d recognize one of the sons of the pride leader in town. Oh well.

“Fine then, fuzzy, I’ve been itching for a good fight so let’s do this.” Tarren growled as he dropped  his cigarette and quickly stomped it out. He then tossed off his shirt, pants, and underwear. The tiger’s eyes narrowed on his body as it let out another warning growl, drawing a smirk from Terran’s lips.

“Like what you see, fluffball? Well, it’s going to beat you into the ground for bullying another kid.”

The tiger jerked its head back and roared again, but this time, when Tarren shifted, he quickly shut up and even took a step back.

That’s right you little aggressive ball of whiskers and malice, time to face the real king of this jungle.

With his own rumbling growl Tarren pounced, easily taking him by surprise with his speed and slamming him into the ground. The mouse squeaked somewhere off to the side but he was too busy jumping away as the tiger swatted at his face, then pounced at him. Tarren’s lion didn’t dodge very well considering its size, so he just met him head on, jumping and crashing into the other feline in mid-air before tumbling to the ground into a ball of rolling, snarling fur.

“Hey Lion!”

Tarren’s head snapped up when he heard himself being called, only to see a wolf with the little mouse between its teeth. The tiny thing was struggling like crazy but it was completely useless. Next to the wolf there stood a human boy with a sneer on his lips.

“Get off Tiege and shift or your little mouse friend is going to be a quick snack for mine.” He warned.

He looked down at the tiger he had managed to pin, which was now smirking up at him with a knowing leer. Tch. Well, I can’t just let the stupid wolf eat the mouse, even though I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t go that far. It was sad though, that he wouldn’t even go to jail for it most likely since he could claim that his wolf had taken over and his friends would surely testify for it. Teenagers. 

With an annoyed grumble Terran stepped off the tiger and let himself shift back. The human boy standing by the wolf gave a salacious whistle but his own attention was more on the tiger who was now rubbing against his thigh, giving off a deep purr as it stalked around him in a circle.

Cocky little bastard.

“You going shift or just admire my body from down there?”

He wasn’t in much of a position to taunt him, but he hated waiting for things to happen. Since Stripes was taking his sweet time, Tarren turned his attention back to the wolf and little mouse between its teeth.

“I did what you said, now let him go.”

The human and wolf both looked at the tiger still circling him, who thankfully nodded. Tarren’s body relaxed slightly when the mouse was dropped, all-be-it roughly, onto the ground. He stared up at him for a moment but Tarren minutely shook his head, silently telling him not to try and help. Just run. The mouse seemed upset but nodded, shifting and running over to grab his stuff before he disappeared around the corner.

Once he was sure that the mouse was gone, Tarren jumped away from the tiger and began to shift back to his own feline. Unfortunately, the wolf was there right as he was finishing and latched onto his shoulder while the tiger rammed into his side, knocking him off his paws and into the dry dirt. The wolf had jumped away to keep from getting stuck beneath him, but it soon returned to clamp down on one of Tarren’s ears barely hidden within his shaggy mane.

Tarren remained still, not because of the stupid wolf nipping at his ear like a mosquito, but because of the claws hovering right above his right eye. The tiger had slapped his paw down onto his face and made it very clear that he wouldn’t hesitate to literally claw his eye out if he tried anything again.

Now the cat was rubbing its face against his mane, purring and nudging at it with his free paw while he sat on Tarren’s back. Nothing like a show of dominance while basically threatening him to open his mind to his so that they could communicate without shifting. Normally you couldn’t do it unless you really trusted the other person, but he felt the guy poking at the back of his mind already.

Mm, there you are…

Go to hell, Stripes. Tarren replied, the boy’s voice in his head making his hackles rise higher.

It probably wasn’t the most self-preservative comment to start off the fun conversation, but he was seriously getting annoyed.

Sorry pretty boy, I’ll let you up soon. The boy replied. 

Damn it, of course he could read part of the things I’m thinking .

He was way too upset to keep his thoughts in check.

It’s okay, I like being able to tell what you’re thinking.

The tiger’s tongue suddenly began washing the side of his face, drawing a frustrated growl from Tarren’s lion, though the claw near his eye kept him from doing much else.

What’s your name, lion?

He wanted to tell him to go to hell again, but he knew better than to instigate an adolescent tiger. They were one of the most aggressive until they matured… and then usually more so afterward.

Tarren.

I’m sure you already know mine since Henry already said it.

Of course I know it, you egotistical fuzzball. Tarren replied.

Quite an attitude on you, hmm.

Don’t you have some homework to do or something, kid?

That had laughter echoing through his mind. 

Evidently the wolf felt out of the loop, because it decided to give his ear a good yank.

Get your damned mutt off of me.  Tarren snarled, losing his patience and not needing a new earring hole.

Tiege looked at the wolf and gave a quiet growl, sending the annoying thing scampering back toward the human with a quiet whine. Good.

Shift back. He said after looking back down at him.

What?

Shift, now.

Stupid tiger…

Tarren grumbled but did as told, thankful that Tiege at least moved his paw away so that his claws didn’t accidentally get his eye while his body changed. Everything tensed, however, when his disgusting tongue began licking at the back of his neck and hair.

Does this darn cat ever stop licking shit?

I could lick somewhere else if you’d like…

Perverted cat.

Hmm, how old are you by the way? Tiege asked, the thought a purr in his mind.

Twenty-four.

Ah.

He was quiet for a moment, but that was only because he was lowering his body over his human one. Hell no! He was not going to be blatantly dominated by some damned grade-school brat!

“Get the hell off me!” He snarled, his lion just beneath the surface.

The kid’s damn tiger weighed half a ton. He could barely move it an inch while in his human form.

“Tiege! The mouse is bringing a cop!”

The tiger moved off of him abruptly, but Tarren wasn’t done with the cocky bastard. His lion took over in seconds and lunged. His claws managed to clip Tiege’s right flank, but then he ran onto the sidewalk and jumped clear across the street over heavy traffic.

You better run! Tarren roared after him. There was no way that he could cross the street in the same way, though, and his two friends were already high-tailing it in the other direction with his clothes and backpack.

Remember the name, Tarren. I’ll see you again soon.

I’m training to be a vet, fuzzface. Find me again and I’ll fix those tiny things you’ve got stuck beneath your tail.

He quickly blocked his mind from Tiege’s response and shifted as the cop walked around the corner with the still-naked mouse boy.

“Hey officer. They ran off.” Tarren said.

The young boy ran over and hugged him, making him fidget. Naked awkward hugs for all? He gave him a slight pat on the head before stepping out of his arms and getting dressed. The cop took his statement but there wasn’t much he could do about the kids if they didn’t cause any real harm. Sure, he had a bruise or two and a small bite on his shoulder, but he was an adult and could just deal with it.

Thankfully the young mouse boy had gotten away without any real damage. When the cop left, Tarren took out his phone and got the kids’, who’d told him his name was Grayson, phone number. Then he sent him a quick text, grinning when the boy’s pocket vibrated.

“Sent you a message so you have my number. If they bother you again, just call me, okay? The name’s Tarren.”

The kid’s smile made him feel like the bruises were worth it. He had to admit, he was a pretty cute shifter.

“Thank you, Tarren!” He exclaimed as his nose turned a little pink.

“No problem. See ya around, Grayson.”

With that he turned and sauntered back down the sidewalk the way he had been going before that little bout of play time . He was totally late for work, but he thought he had a pretty good excuse?

Yeah, time for another cigarette.

Chapter 6: Keep Your Head Up

(Might be some mistakes, been in pain all week but wanted to get something done. Just note any and I’ll try to get to them when I can. I also drew one of my Australian shepherds, Racquetball, but ran out of patience to finish it lol) 

“Hey Erin, you know a kid named Grayson?” Terran asked.

He had decided to call Erin after he’d smelled him on the kid he’d saved. Well, all over the darn kid, to be honest.

He better not have been trying to use him.

“Yeah, I do? What’s wrong, Terran?” He asked, clearly a little confused.

“A few bullies tried to mess with him but I took care of that. Anyways, why was your scent all over him?”

They were good friends, but Terran wasn’t going to condone him trying to push the kid into doing something he really shouldn’t at his age. Erin should know better after being around Arron.

“Um, about that. It’s kind of weird and hard to explain.” Erin mumbled.

“It better not be hard , as in a certain item that should be staying in your pants my trunked friend.” Terran warned.

“Whoa, no no! That had nothing to do with it!” Erin said quickly, his voice rising in volume from surprise.

Well, at least that’s good. I knew he wouldn’t lie to me after being friends for so long.

“Okay, so why did I smell you all over him? I have a decent walk till I get to work so I’m good with a long story.” He said into the receiver of his phone.

“Uh, well, we had an art assignment and our partner had to shift. Since I was an elephant…”

Yeah, that part is easily acceptable.

“He was the one to change and then it turned out that he hated touching paint so I kind of tossed him into it for a distraction so that I could fish out some cheese. So that’s part of why he had my scent on him. It turns out that he’s lactose intolerant, too.”

Poor mouse.

“Well, after that I kind of didn’t realize that I had gotten him completely covered in paint, so the teacher told us to go get him cleaned up. We then went down to the gym locker rooms since they were the closest showers. He kind of had a small mental breakdown when I found the bell he evidently kept tucked beneath his collar. I think someone had hurt him before because they knew what a cross-shifter was so it freaked him out that I could tell. We ended up on the floor and I hugged him until he calmed down. That’s the rest of the story on how my scent got on him.” Erin finished.

“Alright, as long as you weren’t trying anything you perverted elephant.” Terran replied with a smirk he knew the guy couldn’t see.

“I’m not a perverted elephant!” Erin grumbled back.

Terran rolled his eyes and chuckled at his automatic response. He really wasn’t bad, just really wanted a kid a bit too early in his life. Granted, elephants often had extremely long gestation periods, unlike cats, so he supposed that trying to start now would make sense. That’s also probably why there weren’t as many elephant shifters when compared to all the others.

We’d all run out of non-meat food quickly.

“Okay, I’ll talk to you later, have to get to work.” Terran said.

“Alright, see ya. Thanks for helping Gray.” Erin replied.

“No problem, kid.”

With that he hung up.

Time to work my most favorite job in the world.

Slight sarcasm.

“Mom, I’m home!” Grayson called out as he walked inside.

His mother probably would panic if she knew that he had gotten attacked by bullies so he’d been sure to brush off any dirt and straighten his clothing before he’d opened the front door. She rushed around the corner with an oven mitt on one hand not a moment later.

She still looks worried.

“Grayson! Where were you?” She asked.

He was in her arms a moment later, but he couldn’t cry. Even he’d been afraid of the bullies and his mouse desperately wanted to cry to its mother. He wasn’t a little kid anymore.

“I just tripped and a friend helped me. Kinda knocked my head a bit so I stayed with him for a while before heading home. I’m sorry I didn’t call.” He replied.

She stroked his hair and thankfully calmed down, leaning away with a smile after one more good squeeze.

“It’s okay, Grayson. As long as you’re okay. Dinner is ready if you’re up for it.” She said.

Grayson returned her smile, but something was bothering him as they walked into the kitchen and began filling their plates with turkey and carrots.

“Hey mom?” He asked.

“Hmm?”

They walked over to the table and sat down before he continued.

“When is dad coming home?”

It had been over a week since he’d gone on his business trip and Grayson didn’t remember what day he said he’d be back. He was nibbling at a cooked carrot waiting for his mother to reply when he noticed her face suddenly turn downcast.

“Um, mom? What’s wrong? Did something happen with dad?” He asked, lowering the carrot slowly.

His stomach rumbled, but not because of his still-full plate sitting before him. The longer it took his mother to come up with an answer, the worse he felt.

“Mom?”

She blinked quickly a few times before pursing her lips and straightening in her seat.

“Grayson, your father—”

The front door opened and they both turned to see his father stalk in. He was a well-built man with blond hair, and was a rat shifter. Grayson was so exited that he jumped up and ran over to give him a big hug… until he smelled something that definitely wasn’t right. His feet skidded to a halt a foot away from his father while his belly twisted. That smell…

“Dad? You smell like alcohol and smoke.”

He’d promised to quite two years ago. He had quite two years ago. The man’s dark brown eyes looked down on him with an aggression Grayson had only seen in him when he’d been drinking.

“Dad?”

A sudden shove had him falling against the wall and sliding to the floor with a surprised gasp.

“Get out of my way you annoying brat.”

Grayson couldn’t think of anything to say to that. What were you supposed to say to that when it was your father speaking to you? The father you’d looked up to. The father you were so proud of when he overcame his bad habits for you?

“Jake! You will not treat your son that way!” His mother yelled, though her voice quieted before she even finished speaking.

Grayson’s father hissed at her as whiskers sprouted from his nose and cheeks. His mother had run between them, which was never a good idea when he was drunk.

“That little wuss isn’t my son and I’m sick of dealing with you, too!”

I’m not a wuss…

His father ducked around his mother and ran into their bedroom. The sound of things breaking echoed through the house before he reappeared with a backpack and a handful of cash.

“Screw you both. I’m out of this worthless family!” He growled.

Grayson could hear his mother begging for him to calm down and think things over, but it didn’t stop his father from stomping past him and out the door, slamming it shut behind him.

Everything came crashing down around him moments later when his eyes rose to meet his mother’s broken ones. She was crying and he knew that he should try to comfort her, but he was just as scared. With a loud squeak of sorrow Grayson ran upstairs, shutting his door and locking it before he fell into his bed.

Dad left! He got messed up when he’d promised that he wouldn’t, then left.

He had probably cheated like he’d done two years ago, too, but Grayson didn’t want to think about it. He didn’t want to think about anything. He was quietly sobbing into his pillow for ten minutes before he felt his back pocket vibrate.

Sniffling, he sat up so that he could fish his phone out and look at who had texted. Wait a second, it’s was still vibrating. Pressing the accept call button quickly, he put the phone to his ear… and couldn’t do anything but sniffle.

“Grayson?”

Erin.

“Gray? Hey, Gray? What’s wrong?”

He just couldn’t get his mouth to work to respond.

“Are you mad that I stole your number when you were in the shower? I’m sorry. Come on, You can talk to me if something’s wrong.”

Finally forcing himself to speak, Grayson managed to mumble one incoherent word before starting to bawl over the phone.

“Shit. Gray, where do you live? Can you tell me your address? Please?” Erin asked, clearly sounding worried.

It took Grayson several minutes to calm down enough to stutter out a response that he hoped Erin could understand.

“Three… two …two five. Blackberry L-Lane.”

“Alright, hang on. I’m on my way.” He said reassuringly before the call ended suddenly.

Grayson blinked and sniffled in confusion.

He flopped back over and hugged his now-wet pillow as the tears started up again. He got lost in his depression until something thumped against his window.

“What the?”

He was on the second floor. How could something tap against his window? There was a tree in the back yard, but the branches weren’t long enough to touch his window. He decided to chalk it up to his upset mind until he heard another, louder thump.

“Okay okay.” He grumbled as he got up and sauntered over to the window right as the tip of a trunk slapped against the pane again.

“Holy Squeak!”

Grayson jumped back, eyes wide in shock, at first, but then when he realized what it was his heart went crazy with excitement.

“Oh my gosh!” He squeaked.

An elephant!

The trunk swung in front of his window again before he quickly ran over and yanked the thing open.

“Oh wow.” He said, his voice quiet with shock.

All of his sadness was forgotten when he saw Erin’s gorgeous shift. The trunk he’d been waving around suddenly curled in front of him, gesturing to Erin’s massive back. He was hesitant to do what he thought Erin wanted, but Grayson couldn’t talk himself out of it, either. He quickly scurried out of his window and with a slight jump, landed on Erin’s elephant’s back.

Grinning from ear to ear as Erin began walking, Grayson couldn’t help himself as he let his hands wander over the thin hair between Erin’s humongous ears. Considering that he was the tiniest of shifters, riding on the back of the biggest was so unbelievably cool.

Having fun, Squeaks?

“Yeah!” He shouted back.

He didn’t even mind the corny nickname.

Here, take these please…

Before Grayson could question what he meant, his trunk was hovering in front of his nose with Erin’s clothing secure in it.

“Oh!”

Grayson quickly reached up and took the pile into his arms.

“Got them.” He said with a smile.

Thank you.

“Of course!”

Everything was quiet as Erin walked them toward town. There were a few cars on the road but most people were at home with their families… The thought had his attitude immediately going south as he fell forward with a hiccup and sniffle.

Grayson?

Grayson, sweetie. Will you talk to me?

Grayson shook his head and sniffled.

Erin’s elephant gave a snort before they turned, making Grayson curiously look up to see where they were. Ah, the park? Why did he bring me here? Suddenly there was a trunk around his waist again, easily lifting him down until his bright shoes landed in the grass. Erin shifted a moment later and Grayson’s eyes couldn’t help but follow the amazing change, even though he had to blink back tears to do so.

“Hey hun, can I have my clothes please?” Erin asked once he was back in his human form.

Oh! Right, I have his clothes.

Grayson quickly handed them back with a blush, but then realized he wasn’t wearing any shoes.

“U-Um, where are your shoes?”

Erin glanced up as he tugged on his torn jeans over a pair of black and red checkered boxers. His face lit up with a mischievous smile before he strung his shirt through one belt loop and scooped him up. Grayson gave a quiet squeak of surprise, but when Erin didn’t flinch at the sound he happily wrapped his arms around his neck and nuzzled against it. He’d definitely needed the hug and he soon realized that Erin had sat down on the swing and began to move them slowly with his feet in the soft dirt. The motion immediately reminded Grayson of when his father used to rock him in his arms when he couldn’t fall asleep as a toddler.

Dad…

The tears began to leak through his determination, quickly followed by more unwelcome sniffles. He was beginning to sink back into depression when he felt a gentle hand begin to rub against his back. That simple gesture felt like heaven as they swung calmly, the wind rustling their hair in the crisp night air. It took Grayson a long time to finally relax completely and just enjoy the quiet time with Erin. After a long while he leaned back just enough to look up and meet Erin’s gaze.

“Does this mean that we’re… friends?” He asked, hopeful.

Erin was silent for a second before he gave a faint laugh and rustled his hair.

“Yeah, Gray. We’re friends.”

I have a friend!

He’d never thought that he’d get another chance to have a friend after his terrible experience in middle school and then being home-schooled for years, but now he was grinning wide.

I have a friend, and he’s an awesome elephant!

“I can feel your happiness in my mind without even hearing your thoughts.” Erin said with a soft smile as he reached toward Grayson and poked his lips gently. “Ready to talk?” He asked.

He instantly clammed up, but Erin’s smile slowly melted away his hesitation.

“Um, I. My dad…”

Grayson’s lips began to tremble at just the thought of admitting what had happened. If he did that then it would make it feel real. He really, really didn’t want it to be real. However, the soft stroke of Erin’s thumb against his cheek, wiping away his tears, made him bite his lower lip and focus on getting the last few words out.

“He just l-left.”

Grayson was suddenly bawling again, but this time he was in Erin’s strong arms and the soothing rhythmic motion of swinging, which he hadn’t noticed had stopped, picked back up. They swung in silence for awhile and when Grayson had finally cried himself out Erin got up and carried him back toward home.

“C-Can I stay at your house tonight?” He asked after a few quiet minutes.

He wasn’t sure if he could go home without starting to cry again.

“No. Your mom is home, right?” Erin asked.

Grayson nodded against his shoulder where his head was resting.

“Don’t you think your mother would like her son home tonight of all nights?”

He hadn’t even thought of that. Now he felt terrible.

I left her alone during one of the most difficult times of our lives.

“I feel like a bad person now.” He mumbled with a sniffle.

“It’s okay. If you’d like, and your mother is okay with it, I don’t mind staying over tonight.”

Grayson’s head jerked up right away at Erin’s words.

“R-Really? You would stay?” He asked, shocked.

Erin nodded and Grayson smiled wide.

“I know mom will let you! She thinks elephants are super cool, too.”

Erin laughed again and patted Grayson’s back before climbing up the steps to his house and setting him down on the porch so that they could walk inside. At first, Grayson ran over to his mother on the sofa and gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek, then asked if it would be okay if Erin slept over. She smiled and nodded, getting up to greet his new friend before deciding to go to bed.

“Just be sure to be up for school tomorrow, Gray.” She called to him before they heard the door to her bedroom shut.

With an excited grin, Grayson tugged Erin upstairs to his room. He wouldn’t be sad anymore that evening. He finally had a friend and they were going to hang out and Erin would stay with him. When he gently shut his door behind them and turned, Erin’s arms were around him in a comforting hug that had Grayson’s whole body sagging into the embrace.

“Thank you so much for coming by and for staying tonight. Thank you for not minding that I’m a mouse and for letting me be your friend.” He said as he nuzzled into Erin’s T-shirt.

Instead of a verbal response, Erin just tightened his arms around him. The action spoke far louder than any words he could have said, and it was greatly appreciated.

Chapter 7: Sleepover

He swore he’d cleaned his room last week, but when he opened the door… Shit. Quickly turning toward Erin, Grayson gave him a light shove and whispered in a rush. “W-Wait a minute before coming in!”

Even though it was obviously rude, he slammed the door in his face and bolted around his room, shoving clothes under his bed, in his closet, and just about anywhere else he could manage. When he’d finally whirled around to open the door for Erin the guy was already standing in the open doorway, holding Grayson’s only pair of bright red and blue spider-man underwear.

Oh man.

“P-Put those down!” He squeaked while running over to snatch the small pair of underwear away. They quickly found themselves in Grayson’s dresser, shoved way in the back.

“It’s not a big deal, Gray. I don’t care what kind of underwear you wear.” Erin said with a smile.

Grayson knew that his nose was bright pink when he turned around to pout at him.

“But it’s definitely not manly…”

Erin’s right brow rose before he burst out laughing behind his hand.

“Seriously? Come on kid, you’re like, five foot nothing! Worry about being manly when you’re a bit bigger.”

Grayson’s chin tucked a little as he mumbled out a quiet reply. “I-I’m seventeen.”

“Really? I thought you were like, thirteen but skipped a few grades.” Erin replied, surprised.

He was about to grumble at him for that comment but Erin was suddenly in front of him, mussing up his hair before dropping down onto Grayson’s small bed.

“I was just joking. So, what do you wanna do, kid?” Erin asked.

“Um, well.”

He hadn’t really thought about that yet. His father had never let him have friends over… or really try to make any to begin with. His mom got overprotective after what had happened at his previous school but not that badly. Thankfully.

“Um… are you hungry?” Grayson asked.

Erin looked at him a bit funny, but then grinned.

“Hun, I’m an elephant. Food is my first, middle, and last name.”

Grayson laughed and smiled. “Come on then, I’ll cook!” He said as he tugged Erin back downstairs and into the small kitchen before telling him to sit at the little table near the entrance while he ran to get down the pan. He had to climb up on the counter because his mother seemed to have forgotten to put them lower, but he managed to get it after a minute.

“Here, let me help you.”

Hearing Erin behind him all of a sudden made Grayson nearly fall backward. In fact, he did, but Erin’s arms were right there to catch him. That would have been bad. Once he was back on his feet he grabbed a ton of vegetables from the fridge, along with some spices. He was actually a pretty great cook and loved to show people.

“Just don’t tell anyone at school that I love cooking. I don’t need to find more bullies just yet.” Grayson said jokingly.

“More?” Erin asked.

His voice was right next to him but Grayson didn’t pay much mind as he got busy cutting up all the vegetables.

“There were these three guys. Two of them were from gym class, but they had another guy with them.” Grayson said.

“Tiege. Then that means you’re gonna have it hard. Try to stay near me or Wolf as much as possible. He can’t handle Tiege if he shifts but at least he could get you to safety.” Erin said.

“Is he that bad? Tarren seemed to be able to handle him.” Grayson said.

“He’s an adult lion, of course he can handle him. But I want you to stay away from Tiege, Henry, and Kessig.” Erin replied.

“I will I will, don’t worry. Not interested in making enemies.”

“Alright.”

Grayson began to push around the food to be sure that it was all heating correctly, noticing moments later that a certain guy’s chin was resting atop his head.

“You’re an odd elephant.” Grayson mumbled.

“I’m an awesome elephant.” Erin commented.

“Touche. You are pretty awesome.”

Erin swore the kid was way too cute when he was cooking. He didn’t even seem to notice that he was swaying his hips slowly or flicking the wooden spoon every few moments as if there was a song playing in his head. It was too bad that he’d probably freak out if he hugged him out of nowhere with an explanation like I want to dance to your music.

God, I sound insane.

“Ah?”

Ah?

Erin blinked, then glanced down at Gray, or well, the wooden spoon he was holding up to his lips.

“Try it? I already ate so it’s gonna be yours.” He said.

Erin’s lips quirked into a smile as he opened his mouth and took the spoonful happily.

“Oh wow, that’s so good!”

Grayson’s nose lit up to an adorable pink, making Erin’s heart thump an extra beat. He quickly turned back to the food, giving it another good stir before getting a wrap out of the fridge and warming it up, then the magic happened. He loaded all the veggies, with an extra dose of spice, onto the wrap and made Erin the biggest, most epic smelling burrito he’d ever seen.

Remembering his manners, he thought about waiting till they got to the table to eat but his elephant had no issues making him lean over and snatch a huge bite right off the top. Granted, that made it impossible to hold now, but he didn’t care.

I’m a happy elephant.

“Let’s go. You can eat upstairs.” Grayson said.

Erin took the plate and, like the little puppy that he tended to be when it came to food, he followed him immediately. As soon as they got back to Grayson’s small room he took another huge bite, then plopped down on the bed.

“Is it okay if I run and take a shower real quick?” Grayson asked nervously.

Erin nodded right away but didn’t want to speak with his mouth full.

It was about ten minutes later when Grayson returned in a pair of little elephant print pajamas. The outfit was a bit big on him but that just made it seem like he was wearing Erin’s clothing… No. No no no. No thinking that way! He’s just a kid. Seventeen, but still. No! Tarren would neuter me. His elephant quickly backed down after that thought. Thankfully, it valued its boys over making calves.

“Those are, uh, really cute.” He said with an awkward stutter.

Grayson’s nose turned pink again and Erin was actually beginning to like the color on him. However, the guy quickly ran over to his dresser and began tugging out a more bland pair of pajamas.

“H-Hey, no no.” Erin said. Reaching over, he snagged Grayson’s wrist and pulled him into his lap, pushing the plate in front of him to keep him from jumping back up. He knew that he wouldn’t want to spill the food.

“Here, eat some. I’m sure your mouse wouldn’t mind a nibble…” He said calmly.

Grayson glanced over his shoulder at him, his nose nearly touching his own. Erin could smell his shampoo and body wash. It was a gentle scent of aloe mixed with mint. A quiet sniff left his nose, then another and another as he let it nuzzle into the guy’s damp, soft hair.

Oh god. He’s sniffing my hair. D-Does that mean I smell? Good? Bad? I have to smell good, cause I just took a shower.

Grayson’s whole face was burning but he held completely still.

“Sorry. Calm down, Gray. I’m not gonna do anything. My elephant just took over for a moment. He really likes the smell of y—your soap.” Erin said.

Oh, of course.

Erin reached around him and set the mostly-eaten burrito on the night stand before falling back, taking him with him since he was leaning against his chest. When they landed Grayson quickly rolled off of him, and right off the bed by accident.

“Squeak!”

Aw, no.

Right as he managed to fight his way out of his giant pajamas he noticed Erin’s face looking over the side of the bed at him.

Please don’t be mad. Please don’t be mad.

“I’m not mad, kid. Comere’’” Erin said as he reached down, putting his hand flat on the carpet so that Grayson could hop on. After a quick lift back up Erin slid onto his belly and smirked at him.

What?

Grayson tilted his tiny mouse head to the side and squeaked quietly, confused as to what Erin wanted.

“Want to have a pillow fight?” Erin questioned with a raised eyebrow.

A what? But he was a mouse!

“Squeak!” Grayson replied loudly.

“Sweet!” Erin said as he grabbed one of the pillows and with a quiet-but-evil laugh, then dropped it right onto him.

Erin knew it was a bit mean to do that but it was a pretty light pillow and shouldn’t have hurt him at all. In fact, he could hear muffled squeaks and see the thing moving as Grayson tried to find his way out. When a tiny pink nose finally poked out from beneath the corner, Erin let his elephant come out a little, eyes crinkling with grey as his tusks nudged out slightly. It gave a playful huff as he flared his nostrils, blowing a little air onto the tiny mouse.

Grayson gave a surprised squeak and tried to straighten his mussed fur but soon learned that it was useless and pounced on Erin’s nose instead.

“Oh no.” Erin cooed, playing along as Grayson’s little paw smacked him a few times as if it were smiting him. When he sat up to paw at his own nose Erin couldn’t help but poke his belly, a bit too hard, evidently, because he lost his balance and flopped onto his back.

“A little pudgy, hm?” Erin mused.

A disgruntled squeak was Grayson’s response as he rolled over and got up onto his back legs, then lifted his arms.

“Uh, are you trying to flex muscle or something?” Erin questioned, confused.

Grayon glared and nodded, making Erin lift a brow as he just leaned forward and poked him so that he’d flop over again.

“Big strong man right here.” He said with a smirk as his pointer finger tapped Grayson’s mouse’s little pudgy belly a few more times before beginning to scratch. His tiny body instantly stretched out, then curled around his finger. The little mouse soon had the most happy smirk on its little face.

“So this is your Achilles heel, eh?”

Erin was about to begin scratching more when Grayson suddenly shifted back. Eh? That was fast. Guess he doesn’t quite have his timers down, just like Arron . Maybe it’s a cross-shifter thing.

Grayson immediately curled up to try and hide himself but that didn’t stop Erin’s eyes from roaming. He wasn’t exactly gay, but he might not mind calling himself bi for such a cute body. He was just about to lean over and try to see if Grayson reacted to his affection when his elephant nudged him to wait a second and actually look.

Oh… shit. He’s shaking.

With a mute sigh Erin got up and quickly went around to the other side of the small bed, picked up Grayson’s clothing, then tapped his shoulder.

“Hey Gray, sit up for me, okay? I’ve got your clothes and I certainly can’t get them on you if you’re all curled up like a scared mouse.”

He knew that his words would get a rise out of him, and sure enough, he was pushing himself up after a moment.

“Here, lift your arms for me.” Erin said.

Grayson did as told even though he mumbled while obeying. “I can dress myself…”

“Of course.” Erin agreed as he tugged his shirt over his head and pulled it down, then handed him his pants and turned to face away so that he could pull those on, too. When he heard him say it was okay, Erin gave a small yawn and turned around. Grayson’s face was tinted pink but Erin just grinned and flopped over, his head landing on one of the fluffy pillows.

“So, where do I sleep?” He asked.

“U-Um, you can sleep there and I’ll sleep at the foot?” Grayson stuttered.

“Sure, that’s fine with me.”

Erin knew that he was trying to be kind and let him have the head of the bed so he wasn’t going to try and argue. With a small smile Erin stretched out, his feet easily hanging over the edge.

Small bed.

“Um, are you okay that way? Maybe I should sleep on the floor. We probably won’t both fit.” Grayson said.

It was obvious that he didn’t really want to. Instead, Erin reached out and gently tugged him down next to him. He looked a little fearful at first, but as Erin stuck his tongue out and licked Grayson’s nose, the guy scoffed and nipped his back.

“I promise I won’t bite. We’re friends, right?” Erin said with a grin.

It took him a minute to answer but when he did, he seemed to calm down a bit.

“Yeah, friends.” Grayson whispered.

That was the last thing Erin remembered until he awoke about five hours later from a deep sleep. It wasn’t really anything specific that had him stirring but he swore that he could feel someone watching him. When he began to blink open his eyes he caught a brief, blurry image of Grayson staring down at him and quickly made sure that his eyes were tightly shut again.

Why is he looking at me?

He got his answer a minute later when he felt something extremely gentle brush against his lips.

Oh?

Grayson backed off quickly after the kiss and Erin forced his body not to make any kind of movement, but then he was back. While his first kiss was careful and unsure, his second one was much more focused. He even nibbled his lower lip a little before backing off. Erin honestly had no idea how he thought someone would sleep through such a thing, but he let him continue for a few more moments before his arms slowly came up and wrapped around the guy’s small body.

At first, he began to shake and struggle, but Erin let his body turn onto its side since he had evidently been on his back, then tugged him against his chest with a sleepy mumble.

“Mm, tired…”

Grayson froze when he heard his voice, but again, Erin wasn’t going to let him go that easily. Sure, if he wanted to pretend that it didn’t happen in the morning, he would suck up his growing crush and play along, but right then he was going to enjoy cuddling. Thankfully, Grayson figured out that he was just intent on sleeping and finally snuggled in after a few minutes. His body tucked perfectly against his own, his soft white hair warming just beneath Erin’s neck while his breath did the same for his collar bone area. The last thing he remembered hearing before passing out again was Grayson’s quiet, sleepy whisper.

“I like you.”

Chapter 8: Stripes

The darn flickering light in the corner of the vet’s office was driving his lion crazy. Cats liked to chase after flashlights, and his lion didn’t get the memo that he wasn’t supposed to do that. After a small yawn, his eyes glanced down at the record he was filling out on someone coming in soon. He just needed to put their name, pet name, and give them an ID number for their system but he’d gotten side-tracked by the stupid flashing light.

Wait a second.

A tiny red dot moved along the paper he was writing on, drawing and holding his full attention like a moth to a flame. When the light flicked up, he slammed his right hand down on it. The dot suddenly vanished, making him growl in triumph, but when he lifted his hand to claim his prize, it wasn’t there.

Darn it.

It suddenly appeared again climbing up the counter ridge in front of him where they spoke to the clients before taking them to the back exam rooms. Tarren smacked the thing again but it zipped up, making him jump on the desk out of reflex as he tried to pounce on it with both hands. He thought he’d gotten it again, but when he heard a snicker behind him, he realized what was going on. Whirling around on his boss, he growled, letting his lion’s canines peek out from his sneering mouth.

That definitely had the human backing up, raising his hands, one holding a red laser pointer, in surrender.

“Okay okay, sorry. That was just too funny, though.” The man said with a laugh.

Hmph!

The chime of the doorbell brought their attention to the entrance.

“Welc—of course.”

Tiege sauntered in with a small cat carrier, a little meow coming from the cage as it was set down.

“Hey, Tarrrren.” He purred when he noticed him.

Stupid kid purring your words like a kitten. Tarren looked down at the sheet he was working on and then back to the computer screen. Wait, Tiege’s name was for this appointment sheet… and he’s eighteen? Tarren’s eyes darted up to him, eyebrows raising at the new information. Pretty mean to mess with little kids when you’re already an adult!

“Have a seat, we’ll get you back in a few minutes.” Tarren growled, though he wanted to say something else entirely as he sat down.

He ignored the look he could feel on him as he finished filling out the appointment chart. Once done, he looked back at the vet and the man nodded before disappearing through a back door to meet them in the exam room shortly. Stepping around the blocked-off area and out into the hallway, Tarren then opened the door to the waiting room.

“Please follow me.”

Tiege got up right away and did as asked, but of course not without a smart ass remark.

“I love it when you say please.”

Tarren had to bite his tongue to keep from growling at him because the doctor would definitely hear his rumble in the echoing hallway. When they got to the second room he opened the door and walked over to the counter.

“Alright, let’s see…” He mumbled as his eyes darted over the chart quickly, noticing the kitten’s name and trying hard to hold back his laughter. It didn’t work.

Tiege grumbled, though the look on his face told Tarren that he had no idea why he’d just laughed. He held up the chart and tapped the spot where the cat’s name was.

“Terror? Really? Can you not handle a tiny little kitty?” He asked.

Tiege’s eyes narrowed on him before he knelt down and opened the cat carrier.

“You’ll learn…” He said in warning.

A tiny little ball of grey and white fuzz slowly stalked out of the carrier. Suddenly there was a demonic midget-cat clawing its way up Tarren’s leg, making him hiss, though the cat completely ignored him.

“You little demon!”

He quickly reached down and detached the crazy ball of fuzz from his pants and plopped it on the exam table, refusing to let go. The cat squirmed but couldn’t manage to get any purchase on the metal table.

Tiege was snickering at him but Tarren was going to send him home with an aggressive kitten who had just gotten its shots. The guy was going to be a bloody mess by morning.

“Laugh it up, schoolboy.” He growled as he grabbed the vaccines and promptly stuck the kitten. It yowled and whirled around, but when it jumped at him, he dodged, letting the thing jump onto the counter, then down to the floor.

When it turned toward him, clearly intent on killing, Tarren let his lion come out a little, whiskers sprouting from his cheeks as his cat reached out to the kitten. At first he couldn’t sense anything but mayhem, but as the thing calmed down and listened, there was one emotion that began to stand out. Fear.

He’s terrified of us.

Hey sweetie. You don’t have to be afraid. I just had to sneak in that shot before you really started overreacting.  He thought to it, glad that it wasn’t nearly as hard to think to animals as it was to humans. There wasn’t much of a bond necessary.

Hearing the voice in his head made the cat bolt away under one of the chairs and hiss. Okay, no talking. With a mental shrug Tarren tugged off his shirt, then pants and boxers. Tiege had already seen him naked and his boss sometimes needed his lion to calm feline patients. He figured that he might as well try it this time.

His lion was more than happy to be in complete control and, even though it wanted to jump on Tiege as revenge for last time, he knew that his job was more important than posturing right then. So, he nonchalantly crawled parallel to the scared fuzzball. It hissed again but then his lion flopped over and stretched out, then gave a big yawn.He kept his eyes open just enough to see the little kitten slowly move closer with curiosity.

Of course that darn pussy would be the one the doctor had been talking about hiring recently when I’d asked about an appointment on the phone. His tiger was pacing in his head, wanting out to continue the fight they’d had to pause during their last meeting. It purred into his mind.

I know I know, but we can’t fight right now.

It grumbled.

Later, we’ve got his scent. We can track him.

That got his feline to settle enough to focus back on Tarren and Terror. He had found the little kitten in a drainage ditch covered in mud a few days ago on his way home from school. And yes, it was just as vicious then as it was now. His tiger honestly hated the thing since it seemed to think that it was okay to attack him all the time, but as he hungrily watched Tarren undress and shift, he actually got him thinking.

Maybe the kitten just needs some calm in its life.

When Terror finally sat before Tarren, his lion blinked open its eyes and huffed a breath at him. The tiny thing mewed and ran back under the chair, but this time it was quick to return, pouncing on Tarren’s face with its claws extended. The lion roared quietly, then rolled over so that the next attack Terror tried just had him landing in a huge fluffy mane. It was kind of funny to see the kitten nearly get lost in Tarren’s thick fur. Tiege remembered how soft that mane had been…

A grunt of a roar got his attention away from a rather unsavory daydream only to see Terror… pawing at one of Tarren’s giant paws looming right over its head.

Huh?

Tarren bopped the kitten on the head just to get it swatting at his paw playfully while it tried to stand on its hind legs. When the kitten lost its balance and fell forward the lion leaned in and let Terror fall onto his fluffy mane again.

Tarren was so busy playing with Terror that he hadn’t realized Tiege had shifted until there was a huge tiger trying to hump his leg. With a deafening roar Tarren spun around and pawed him right in the face as he tried to jump back to dodge.

They were on the verge of fighting again when the door to the office side of the exam room opened and Dr. Green walked in with a glare.

Glare at him, too!

“Tarren, this is no way to treat a client.” He reprimanded.

It was his fault!

Tarren’s lion grumbled and shook out its coat before letting him shift back to his human form.

“I had changed to play with the cat so that it would calm down, but…”

His eyes turned to the tiger nonchalantly licking its left front paw before he continued.

“He started humping me.”

The last word was hissed out in anger. His lion didn’t take being dominated very well, at all.

“Tiege, shift please. I’ll check you out up front.” The man said.

The tiger sneezed, then did as told. When the vet walked away Tarren eyed Tiege, but that just got a smirk out of him as he flexed his muscles.

“Like what you see, little cub?” He asked.

Cub? I’m bigger than you in every meaning of the word!

“You wish.” Tiege replied verbally.

Pulling on his clothing, Tarren quickly walked down the hall toward the door. Glad that he’d run home during his lunch break to get his car.

“I’ll see you later, Doc, heading out!” He shouted, receiving an “okay” back before he ducked out the door.

The moment he got outside he looked up, smelling rain in the air. The dark clouds overhead also gave away the impending storm. It’s definitely going to rain at some point, but dad’s having a cookout and wanted me to come. Maybe the rain would stay away until afterward. Besides, his lion could never ignore free food.

He was just about to get into his car when he heard a familiar, unwanted purr coming up behind him. Why can’t this kid just go find himself a mouse to fuck with. Wait, never mind. I just saved a mouse from him, no need to go find another to torment.

Guess I’m the proxy for now . With an annoyed sigh Tarren turned around, leaning against his pitch black mustang with an air of nonchalance.

“What do you want now?” He asked.

“I need a ride home. Left Terror there to get clipped. “

A ride?

“No.” He replied immediately.

Tiege’s eyes glanced up and Tarren followed them just as a loud boom of thunder rumbled through the dark sky.

Dammit.

“Whatever, get in. But you’re sitting in the back.” He growled.

Tiege smirked and walked around the front before sliding into the passenger’s seat. Of course. Cocky bastard. Deciding it wasn’t worth the argument, Tarren sat down in the driver’s seat and slammed his door shut before pealing out of the parking lot.

“How old are you?” Tiege asked after a moment of silence.

Tarren ignored him as he turned toward the main street and instead asked him a question of his own.

“Where do you live, kid?”

He could feel him pout at that, but of course he couldn’t just give him the answer he needed to get rid of him. Instead he just stayed quiet.

Dammit all.

“I’m twenty-four. Now where do you live before I dump your fuzzy ass on the side of the road.” He nearly roared.

“Lakeline Road. Near the new church.” Tiege replied.

Eh? That’s at least twenty minutes away, driving.

“Did you walk all the way to the vet?” Tarren asked, surprised.

“Of course, genius, because my mom couldn’t drop me off or anything obvious like that.” Tiege grumbled.

“You’re a little brat, you know that? So why didn’t your mom pick you up?” He asked.

“Cause I texted her that I got a ride home.” He said with a smirk.

Tarren was honestly about to tell him to get his ass out and walk but that’s the moment when the storm decided to start. In seconds the visibility on the road decreased to near zero, making him slow down to stay in his lane.

Darn it, there was no way they were going to safely get to his place right then. He was about to tell him that he’d just bring him over to his parent’s house until the storm stopped, but the words caught on his tongue when Tiege leaned over and lapped at his neck.

“H-Hey!” He growled as the car swerved, but thankfully Tarren got it realigned quickly before he pulled over into an empty parking lot and put the car in park. Once he knew that they weren’t going to crash into anything, he turned on Tiege to yell, but he was on him in a blur.

“Wh-What are you doing?”

Tiege started moving on him, making Tarren wince. It was not comfortable being humped by a horny teenager.

“Tiege, S-Stop!”

The guy completely ignored him as his hips sped up, grinding against him. A disgruntled rumble from his lion slipped out, spurring on Tiege’s awkward affections as he leaned over to start trying to kiss Tarren. Okay, this is getting way out of hand. Control your damn tiger! With a growl Tarren tried to fight his hands off as they began to shred his shirt. He could feel his claws slice off Tiege’s bracelet and thought that he’d heard the ring of a small bell chime as the thing hit the floor… but he didn’t remember much after that. 

When Tarren finally awoke from his daze some time later he was on top of a very naked and sweaty Tiege. He wasn’t quite asleep yet but his eyes were closed and he was purring deeply. Somehow they had managed to get into the backseat and subtracted clothing and uh… he was pretty sure that he added something to him that he shouldn’t have considering he could smell quite a bit more than just sweat in the car. Dammit . Why had I blanked out so suddenly? It felt like I’d been sedated abruptly, but we clearly hadn’t slept, in the literal sense.  How the hell did they end up having sex after only knowing each other, and hating each other, For less than a day…

A slight movement beneath him brought his attention down to an awakening Tiege.

“Um…”

At the sound of his voice Tiege’s eyes snapped open, then he sniffed the air and sneered… right before punching Tarren in the mouth.

Love you too, asshole.

Chapter 9: Control

A loud continuous beep had Grayson groaning and trying to nuzzle against the warmth surrounding him, only, it wasn’t really nuzzle-able. It was nearly as hard as a rock and breathing.

Hmm. Breathing…

Wait a second.

His eyes blinked open sleepily, taking a moment to adjust to the dim light before registering that someone was lying next to him. Or really, a better explanation would be that he was lying in someone’s arms. It didn’t take long to connect the dots from the previous day and realize that it was Erin, even though Grayson could only really see his neck and chest right then.

Wait a second. What actually happened last night?

He thought hard for a few minutes before his eyes widened in shock.

Oh god, I kissed him in his sleep!

Everything suddenly got much bigger before cloth covered his sight.

Darn it!

His alarm kept up its annoying drawl of beeps as Grayson struggled to get out of his own pajamas, then look up at Erin.

How is he still asleep with all this noise?

He knew that his mother was probably already gone so they needed to get up and get ready, but Erin wasn’t waking up.

Okay, I can just get him up myself, and he can grab my backpack. I always have a change of clothing in there so when we get to school I’ll just go to the bathroom, shift and change.

Grayson nodded his fuzzy head in agreement with himself before stumbling over his comforter and up to Erin’s face.

Okay, time to wake up.

He let out the loudest possible squeak he could muster, then waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Nothing? Really?

He tried again, giving it his all as his tiny mouse yelled its head off right next to Erin’s ear. After a few seconds the guy just shifted a bit, then began snoring.

Oh, come on.

Grayson thought that Erin could here him thinking to him, but he guessed that it didn’t work very well when he was asleep.

Okay, time to use my non-existent mouse muscles to get him up.

With a determined squeak he got up on his back legs and smacked Erin’s nose with his paw.

No response.

With a grunt, he climbed up onto Erin’s cheek and sat on his haunches so that he could smack him with his two front paws.

Nothing? Alright, he asked for it.

Puffing up his fur, Grayson growled out another squeak and bit down on Erin’s cheek. His mother had always told him it was rude to bite people, and he’d tried not to, but they really needed to get going.

He felt Erin finally begin to respond after a moment but then a hand suddenly slapped him like a mosquito.

Thanks. That’s just what I needed this morning.

Grayson fell off his face, stunned from the smack as Erin finally began to come around.

What the hell kind of bug just bit me?

At least it’s probably dead with that hit.

A faint squeak met his ears, drawing his brows together in confusion.

Squeak?

Sitting up, Erin glanced around the bed until he noticed Grayson’s mouse curled up right next to where his head had been. His eyes were partially closed and he looked hurt…

“Oh shit!”

Erin quickly scooped him up, getting a squeak of protest for the action.

“I’m so sorry, Gray. I didn’t know it was you.” He said.

The little mouse in his hands let its ears droop and sniffled. He wanted to offer him some cheese as an apology since he loved it so much, but he didn’t think that he’d honestly appreciate the after effects. So, Erin just gave him a gentle kiss on the nose before his form wavered, then began to shift. He let him drop down to the blanket in his human form, bouncing on his backside twice before he slid out of bed.

Erin hadn’t meant to look, but now he felt even worse. Grayson’s back was faintly red but his backside… it looked like he had smacked him really hard. When the guy turned around after tugging on a pair of boxers from the dresser to his left, he grumbled at him.

“You’re a pain in the butt when you’re asleep.”

That got Erin smirking and leaning forward on his hands and knees.

“I can kiss it better if you want?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

His whole face lit up, but surprisingly, Grayson lunged at Erin instead of acting embarrassed. Erin caught his scrawny little body easily but he was a quick little brat. He managed to squirm out of his hands twice before he finally got him pinned sideways on the bed, Grayson’s legs hanging over the edge as Erin pushed his hands into the blankets right above his head. Grayson tried to get free again, but Erin just smirked, then sat on his abdomen.

“Let me go you darn elephant!”

“I don’t think I feel like it.” Erin said with another smirk.

His thoughts went back to what he’d done the night before as he watched Grayson try to get out of his grasp. It seemed like Grayson was planning to keep that bit of kissing to himself, so he guessed that’s what he would have to do so, too… for now.

“….E-Erin, we need to get to class.” Grayson squeaked out.

Erin quickly jerked his head back, having not realized that he was literally inches away from doing exactly what Grayson had done to him last night.

“Uh, right. Yeah, let’s go.” He said awkwardly.

He was already dressed from yesterday so he decided to just wear what he had on and change after gym class with the clean outfit he usually left in his locker. Shifting off of Gray, Erin leaned over and turned off the guy’s alarm, then quickly got out of his bed to head downstairs. He was quick to follow after getting dressed and they both ran out to his car without thinking about breakfast.

Damn horny tigers.

After a thirty minute walk back home since a certain bastard had taken his car, Tarren took a quick shower and fell into bed… but sleep never came. He wasn’t really worried about getting his car back since he knew where the kid went to school and worse came to worse, he would just track him down with his lion. However, it did really bother him that he was in heat so badly and yet still allowed to just wander about. Tigers got incredibly aggressive during their cycle, which made his bullying much more understandable.

Still was a bit rude to throw me out of my own car after I did him in the back seat.

His thoughts took a sudden turn toward Arron, his little brother’s mate. He had come into heat a lot earlier than most females did, but that was probably because of his shifting issues. He wasn’t sure if Tiege had any of those problems, but he knew that he was definitely a cross-shifter now.

I really need to go find him. If what we did actually caused him to get pregnant, I need to get him to a vet and pilled.

It might already be too late, but he knew that it would be better late than never if it did work. With a growl of annoyance Tarren got up and tossed on a pair of black cargo shorts and a button-down blue and white checkered shirt before running out the door. He didn’t bother with shoes in case Tiege’s attitude was anything like the other day, he’d need to be able to shift quickly.

When he got to the school, kids were hanging around the front while others were just arriving in the parking lot, but the one he was looking for was definitely already there, because he could hear him roaring all the way from the sidewalk.

He was already in his tiger form when Tarren ran over. Some of the kids were watching Tiege, but at a good distance. As he jogged closer, he could smell blood in the air, and once he pushed through a few people he noticed Tiege’s friend, the wolf from before, on the ground. He was hurt, but still conscious.

“Tiege!” Tarren yelled, making the tiger’s head whip around with an angry rumble as his eyes narrowed. It began to approach slowly, but Tarren wasn’t really focusing on his actions right then. Instead, he was much more interested in how he got the scratches along the left side of his face and both shoulders. Someone had hurt him and it definitely hadn’t been a little wolf pup.

“Tiege, who hurt you?”

The tiger’s golden eyes burned with hatred as he got within several feet of him. Okay, definitely not getting through to him right now, but I really don’t want to fight. He was a student, after all, and Tarren would be the one in more trouble if something bad happened.

With that in mind, he ran. Heavy thuds from angry paws quickly followed after him. There was no way he would be able to outrun a tiger in his human form, and his lion wasn’t exactly in shape, either. So, he quickly turned and jumped, grabbing a branch before swinging up into a big oak tree. Tiege leaped up right as Tarren got his footing, nearly catching his ankle with a clawed paw while he hurried to a higher branch.

“Tiege, calm down! I don’t want to fight with you.”

The tiger paced around the tree, trying to figure out how to get him down. Tarren noticed that he had several more, longer gashes along his pelt, reaching down to his flank and back legs.

“Tiege… what the heck happened to you last night?”

Tarren’s voice quieted to a whisper and thankfully the spectator kids were now being rounded up by teachers and the wolf taken inside, no doubt to get his injuries checked by the school nurse. One teacher noticed him in the tree and began walking toward Tiege, but Tarren quickly signaled for him to leave. He would handle it himself. No one else needed to get hurt, and that would definitely happen unless Tiege calmed his tiger down.

“Tiege, if you shift and come up here, I’ll let you punch me as much as you’d like.”

His tiger’s ears flicked up when Tarren spoke and it slowed its pacing to contemplate what he’d said. After a minute his form wavered and he shifted, making Tarren’s heart constrict as he watched. The guy was covered in dried blood, but he barely smelled the wolf he’d attacked on him. It had to all be his own.

He hopped up, snagging a branch with one hand before getting himself up onto it. Judging from the look on his face as he climbed, he was hurting quite a bit. His tiger was still definitely in control, but the climb itself was wearing out his already damaged body. When he finally got around to reaching for the branch Tarren was on, he carefully grabbed Tiege’s hand and helped him up. The guy quickly collapsed into his arms and Tarren had to grab him tighter to keep him from falling out of the tree.

“Tiege?”

His head snapped up with a deep growl, fangs partially extended to tell him that his tiger was still the one calling the shots.

“Tiege, I came here to tell you that we can stop what might be happening. It was a mistake, but the vet can give you a pill. You don’t have to worry about having kittens.”

Tiege whipped his fist around, catching Tarren’s jaw and jerking his head to the side from the force of the hit.

Damn it. This kid hits like a truck, even when weak.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about, so fuck off!” Tiege snarled.

“What? I know exactly what you are. And I know that you were in heat yesterday and your wristband broke that probably holds the herb that keeps your pheromones in check around other people. That’s why we jumped each other so suddenly.”

He reared back slightly, his face finally showing the human Tiege a little. But then he bristled again and growled. “I don’t want a damn disruption pill! And it’s too late anyway.”

He already knew about the pill? I guess that makes sense since he is a cross-shifter, but then why does he not want it? Wait a second . Too late?

“A-Are you…?”

His head dropped slightly, eyes lowering in humiliation.

“Hey, I won’t just leave you, Tiege. I know we don’t exactly know each other, but I’m not that kind of person.” Tarren said awkwardly.

“You don’t fucking get it!” Tiege snarled, his anger, along with his sudden lunge, had Tarren flattening himself against the tree as Tiege panted in his face.

“My parents don’t want it. They’re aborting.”

What?

“….b-but I’ll take it!” Tarren said quickly.

Tiege’s eyes showed a very faint glimmer of hope before clouding over again.

“It’s tomorrow, though, and they don’t want to waste time on a worthless hybrid.”

What did it matter if it was a hybrid? There were plenty of ligers, so why abort it? Just because it was a mistake? They didn’t even bother trying to find out if I wanted to keep it, or if Tiege did.

“Where do you live, Tiege? I’ll come tell your parents I want it.” Tarren said, his voice much more sure of the situation now that he knew what was going on.

Tiege looked up at him again, then began to make the saddest growling sound he’d ever heard.

Wait a second.

“Tiege?”

His eyes began to drift downward again, but Tarren reached over and tilted his head back up with his fingers so that their eyes could meet.

“Tiege, did your parents do that to you? Did they hurt you because of what happened last night?” He asked.

He knew young shifters often had trouble controlling themselves, but Tiege was already eighteen, so his parents had no damn excuse for losing control on him. He jerked back after a moment, his normal aggression rearing its head… but now Tarren knew there was something causing it that wasn’t normal. His parents had to be doing something to him to cause him to act out so badly. It wasn’t just sexual frustration making him attack people.

Suddenly Tiege was jumping out of the tree, making Tarren refocus his attention and quickly follow.

“Tiege, wait!”

He stopped by his backpack and fished out clothing to start getting dressed. When Tarren caught up to him he already had his pants on.

“Tiege, you’re eighteen. Your parents can’t make you give up your baby if you don’t want to.” He said.

The guy’s body tensed before whirling on him, but Tarren could already see that he was too tired to keep fighting him with his usual temper.

“Will you just leave me alone? There’s nothing I can do about it and if it’s what my parents want to do, then that’s what will happen.” He replied.

“So you would give up the chance to have a child that you want, just because your parents don’t want it? What if you came to stay with me? Moved out of their place?” Tarren asked.

Tiege hissed at him before replying. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll just have another next time I go into heat.”

Eh? Then they really do just want to get rid of this one because it’s a hybrid?

“Why won’t they just let me have it? What’s the problem? I’ll pay for everything and feline gestation should shorten the time it’s in your belly. It should be out in mere months!”

“It’s not worth it. I’ll just wait and not mess up again.” Tiege said quietly.

Mess up? What the hell is he talking about? Was he supposed to get pregnant? Did his parents want him to have a cub?

“Tiege… I’m confused. Have you had kittens before?” Tarren asked.

Tiege’s eyes instantly darkened, giving him his answer even as he turned and ran off.

What the hell is going on? Are his parents breeding him on purpose? I saw the cross-shifter band on his wrist, but then, is that just to keep males away that aren’t tigers?

Tarren knew that those bracelets didn’t expand and contract as well as the necklaces, so they were somewhat easier to remove, but now that he was thinking about it…

Shit!

While Tiege was at school Tarren ran down the block and into the local library. After quickly finding the minuscule section on cross-shifters, he grabbed the few books that were there, then several books on feline breeding and got busy reading. It took a few hours to find exactly what he was looking for, and it really made his stomach twist into knots.

Feline cross-shifters often come into their first heat between their sixteenth and eighteen birthdays. The larger the feline, the more aggressive they can be during this time. Also, their heat will intensify if bred repeatedly, often causing worsening temperament and extreme stress in adolescents.

Tarren swallowed and flipped a few pages to another one that he had marked, then read.

Gestation for large feline shifters can be anywhere from nine weeks to six months, but if bred in succession, the gestation period can decrease. The possibility of ill health effects are often given as a warning against repeated breeding and most doctors suggest waiting at least one year between each offspring.

There was one other page that he needed to check before heading back over to the school. Flipping the page, he chewed on his lower lip and began reading.

Often times, cross-shifters are used in the Black Market as a novelty for the rich. There have been two hundred and thirty three cases of abductions or false adoptions in order to breed a young cross-shifter in the hopes of producing and selling offspring in the past twenty years. Even if only one in every twenty offspring share the male mother’s abilities, many are still willing to pay large sums of money for the chance to have a purebred cross-shifter of a certain species.

Erin was glad that it was finally lunch time, and it was a pretty nice day out, too. With a grin he glanced over at Grayson, who was fishing out his lunch from the lunchbox his mom had left on the counter earlier that morning. First out was an apple, then a small bag of carrots… that he intended to steal half of. Then came…

Wait a second.

Are those…

“Uh oh. Better hide those, kid.” Erin mumbled. 

Grayson looked up at him, but that didn’t really matter. The bag of delicious looking peanuts he was holding in his hand had Erin drooling. His eyes were locked onto the little baggie until he heard his friend, Wolf, snicker. Erin cut a glare his way, then crossed his arms on the lunch table and grunted, looking away from the peanuts.

“I will not conform to elephant stereotypes…” He grumbled.

“You serious, bro? You would totally let the kid do just about anything to you for a few of those.” His friend taunted.

Both Erin and Grayson’s faces lit up instantly, making Wolf pause as he glanced between the two of them.

“Wait a damn second. Am I missing something that’s rated R and definitely needs to be said?” He asked.

Erin straightened and glared. “No! There’s nothing!” He replied a little too loudly.

Wolf’s brows rose and that cocky smirk he was so famous for appeared. “I think you’re lying.” He said as he looked over at Grayson and waggled his eyebrows.

“So, how was he kid? I heard elephants have big—” Wolf’s words were stopped abruptly as Grayson squeaked and ducked under the table.

Erin and Wolf both looked at each other, then over their shoulders to see who was coming.

Oh, great. Tiege. 

Erin got up from the bench and promptly walked in front of the brooding tiger. It usually wasn’t the best idea to intercept a carnivore, but he had faith in his elephant’s abilities.

“Tiege.” He said with narrowed eyes.

The guy’s head jerked up, realization taking a moment to come into his eyes. When he figured out who he was, his stripes came out and he growled. “Get out of my way, freak.”

“Oh, so I’m a freak for being devilishly handsome? You sir, are messed up in the head.” Erin said with a hint of humor to his words.

Tiege snapped his teeth together in warning, but Erin had something to say. Of course, he already knew the answer since he’d talked to Tarren, but he wanted confirmation. 

“You picked on my friend, didn’t you? He’s about yay tall…” He said as held up his hand and motioned about four inches with his fingers. “And covered in silver fur. He also squeaks like a mouse and is evidently afraid of you.”

Tiege glanced past him toward their table, then returned his eyes to Erin’s with a laugh.

“Yeah, we had some fun with him, what of it?” He asked.

While Erin highly disagreed with fighting, Tiege never learned anything if you didn’t pound it into his face, so… he quickly tossed off his clothes and let his elephant take over. Tiege figured out there was going to be violence and quickly changed into his tiger form.

Erin swung his trunk from side to side, daring him to attack, and of course, he did. The guy was hot-headed and skipped school for months at a time, so why would he hesitate to get into a fight that might get him expelled? He wouldn’t care.

Tiege roared and lunged, his attack predictable. Erin stepped back and swung his head, catching him with his tusks before tossing him several yards off to the side. He landed hard, which was honestly surprising considering he was a cat. Those fuzzballs tended to land on their feet.

Maybe it’s just the nine lives thing.

Erin’s elephant snorted, not really caring as it slowly turned and stomped toward its target. He was about to let him play kitty-soccer, but just as he lifted his right foot to kick, a rather familiar lion jumped over the school fence and ran over to stand in front of Tiege.

Okay, I definitely missed something.

Considering that Tarren wasn’t backing down, Erin stepped back and slowly allowed himself to shift. Tarren turned once Erin was human again and roared at Tiege. The tiger growled back, but after a moment he shifted, too. Tarren finally changed and turned back to Erin with a sad smile on his face.

What the heck is going on?

“Tarren? Why are you defending him?” Erin asked, confused.

“Why are you fighting with him?” He returned.

“He was picking on my friend yesterday! I was teaching him a lesson.”

Tarren sighed and shook his head, ignoring the growing crowd watching them from the dining area outside the cafeteria.

“Let me handle this, please, Erin. I’ll talk with him.”

Erin had no idea that Tarren knew Tiege besides their little skirmish the other day, but he guessed letting him take over wouldn’t hurt. Before he backed off, though, he lifted his head and replied. “Make sure he knows that if he comes after my friend again, I won’t hesitate to step on him.”

Tarren smirked and let a small chuckle slip past his lips while they both heard Tiege growl from the ground behind him.

“Got it.” Terran replied.

Giving a stern nod, Erin turned and walked back to his table, grabbing his clothing on the way so that he could get dressed. As he was pulling on his boxers and pants, he noticed Tarren helping Tiege up, then taking him toward the parking lot.

Weird.

Chapter 10: Getting to Know You

“Take me home.” Tiege growled.

“No.”

“Damnit, Tarren. Take me home!”

“No.”

The annoying cat in the backseat sure liked to shout, but he was too hurt to really bother him much. In fact, Tiege had blacked out for the first few minutes of the drive. Tarren was taking him back to his place, though he wasn’t too sure if that was a good or bad idea.

Guess I’ll find out soon enough.

They pulled up outside of Tarren’s apartment building near the back of the complex ten minutes later. It was a nice quiet place and he had a ground unit, which was also nice because he didn’t think that he’d be able to man-handle Tiege upstairs. Glancing over his shoulder, Tarren grinned when he was met with bared teeth.

“You going to walk in, or am I going to have to hog tie you?” He asked calmly.

Tiege’s eyes widened slightly, then he hissed. “You wouldn’t tie me up.”

“Why not? I think it’s a great idea.” Tarren replied nonchalantly.

Tiege looked extremely pissed, but he couldn’t hurt him in his current state.

“So then. You gonna walk, or am I tying myself up a kitty?”

Tiege grunted but slowly got himself out of the car. Tarren had intended to help him get inside, but as long as he wanted to walk, he’d give him his space. His lion would normally try to dominate another injured predator, especially one giving him lip, but he also knew that Tiege was currently holding his cubs… which made the poor cat extremely confused.

When he got to the door, Tarren stepped in front, unlocking it before backing off. Tiege limped inside, then went straight for the light brown sofa pushed up against the left wall. Tarren let him get comfortable while he shut the door, locked it, and then went to the kitchen area. The two rooms were just separated by a counter-top, so he could easily see the guy from where he was.

“Want anything to eat?” He asked.

“No.”

Hm?

Tarren glanced back over the counter at him, raising a brow.

“I know you’re hungry. Your stomach was growling like crazy on the way here.”

“So? Doesn’t mean I wanna eat.” Tiege replied.

They were silent for a minute before Tarren thought of something he often told pet owners when their animals needed surgery the next day. Maybe…

“Are you not eating because of the surgery tomorrow?” He asked.

Tiege’s face paled, giving Tarren the answer he needed, even though he growled out another annoyed, “No.”

With a roll of his eyes, Tarren quickly got busy putting together a small ham sandwich with tomatoes, onions, cheese, and a bit of mayo. He then brought it over on a plate and offered it to Tiege, but the guy just bared his teeth and turned his head.

Damn stubborn, cocky teenagers.

“Eat. You’re not having surgery tomorrow.” He stated firmly.

The hell is this guys problem?

He wasn’t just going to ignore his parents. They saved him from a terrible orphanage when he was three, so he had no reason to ignore anything they asked of him. He didn’t know why Tarren was so determined to make him go against the people who gave him everything he had, but he wasn’t going to let him.

“I’m not eating a damned thing till after my surgery tomorrow!” He snarled.

He could tell that Tarren wanted to shove the stupid thing down his throat, but was actually surprised when he backed off, setting the plate down on a coffee table a foot away. He then walked off down the hall, returning a minute later with a light blue blanket and matching pillow.

“I’m not staying here.” Tiege warned.

“Yeah, you are.”

Before he could growl out a response, Tarren had dropped the stuff down onto him. If he hadn’t been feeling so badly, he would have shredded the blanket. After getting the thing off his face, Tiege blinked, then sniffed the fabric.

“Tiege?”

His eyes blinked open, a bit confused as to what he had been doing. When he looked up at Tarren, his face was a faint pink and he was trying not to grin. Tiege was on his side, face pressed against the blanket, and he didn’t need Tarren to tell him that he’d been rubbing against it… scent marking.

His tiger grumbled in his head, but he wasn’t really sure why. It kept nudging at his mind to nuzzle the blanket more but he wasn’t going to give Tarren any kind of sign that he might like him.

“Tiege, are you okay?”

Tiege stopped moving his head, then hurried up to a sitting position with a scowl.

Dammit! I just did it again.

“Your blanket reeks.” He grumbled.

Tarren’s smirk made him growl, but Tarren didn’t seem threatened at all. Instead, he reached over, handing him a glass of water and a small pill. Tiege took them, but then just put them down on the coffee table next to the sandwich.

“It’s not food, and one sip of water shouldn’t matter. It’s just a pain pill.” Tarren said.

“I can deal with the pain. I’m not a damned kitten!” Tiege growled back.

Tarren’s face fell slightly, the smirk disappearing before he gave a sad smile.

“I know that, Tiege. But you’re hurt and it will help a lot.”

He was about to tell him to mind his own damn business when Tarren reached over and gently pressed his hand to his cheek. Tiege’s tiger immediately took over his human body, rubbing against it eagerly while a deep purr started up in his chest. He tried his hardest to fight it back, but the darn cat was adamant about showing affection to the bastard.

Seeing Tiege’s tiger come out was quite surprising. It immediately got his lion’s attention, making it rumble for permission to come out a little. Tarren figured that it couldn’t hurt since Tiege’s tiger seemed to want the attention.

With a slight smile, Tarren let his lion take over his human body, watching from its eyes as he leaned over to begin lapping at Tiege’s face. At first the tiger growled through its human mouth, likely from Tiege’s own upset, but after a moment he managed to push his other half far enough away so that he could accept the affection with a content purr.

Before he realized what Tiege’s tiger was intending to do, it shifted, prompting Tarren’s lion to immediately follow suit… and ruin his favorite pair of pants.

The other male had slid off the sofa and was now rolling around on his back, rubbing against the carpet with his big paws in the air. Tarren’s lion recognized the behavior, but he reigned it in from trying to mount. Tiege was already pregnant and didn’t need more stress on his body as it worked through taking him out of his heat. Hell, the human version seemed fine now. The tiger was probably just a bit late in figuring out that it already had kittens on the way.

Once his cat accepted that he wasn’t going to let him breed again, he quickly laid down beside the other and began cleaning his belly, even draping a paw over the lower portion as he got more into the task.

After about twenty minutes his lion was content with his job and stood, stretching before shaking out his coat. His attention shifted to his own room as he began sauntering down the hall… only to stop and spin around with an annoyed growl when he felt a set of teeth gently nip his tail. Tiege’s tiger backed off several steps but then flattened its ears to the side and growled quietly.

His lion wasn’t quite sure what to make of the gesture so he just turned and continued on his way, only to be stopped again by a nip and a pathetic grumble. With a grunt, he turned around again and headbutted the tiger, making it sneeze and flop over onto its side.

Tarren’s lion grumbled at the thought as it leaned down, licking along Tiege’s muzzle. The action drew a rumbling purr from the other cat until his lion backed off again. He was just beginning to turn when he caught Tiege getting up and nudging at his tail again, mouth open and ready to nip. Ignoring the slight nibble, he paced down the corridor, slowly feeling his lion retreat enough to give him some control. When they got into his room, he hopped up on the bed, then flopped over. A good nap sounded great, and with Tiege’s injuries and him being in his tiger form, Tarren doubted that he would be trying to go anywhere.

His eyes focused on the doorway and he only needed to wait one minute before Tiege’s gorgeous tiger’s head popped around the corner. He seemed hesitant to move farther into the room, but when his eyes landed on the dog crate Tarren had in the corner that he used for fostering patients for the vet, Tiege quickly grumbled and ran straight into it, curling up before laying down with his head between his paws.

What?

He barely fit in the thing, even though it was meant to be used for great dane sized dogs, but seriously, Tarren had no idea why the hell he was content being in a dog crate.

“Hey Gray!”

Grayson’s head flicked up as he turned, hearing his name.

“Ah, hey Erin. What’s up?”

The guy seemed a bit out of breath. Had he run to catch up with me then? Grayson smiled and waited until he stopped in front of him.

“H-Hey.”

“Hey.” He replied.

“Um, uh, do you want a ride home?” Erin asked.

Mom said she’d be getting home late…

“Sure. I’d appreciate that.”

Erin sighed, though Grayson wasn’t sure why, and then grabbed his hand to run outside.

Someone’s hyper today.

“Alright, here!”

They stopped near a bush, and before he could ask what he meant Erin had tossed his bag at him and ducked behind it. A moment later he handed Grayson his clothing over the top, which he promptly stuffed into his bag. The next moment there was a huge elephant stepping out from behind the bushes.

Oh! I get to ride on his back again!

Erin’s trunk curled around Grayson’s waist as soon as he got his bag on his back. It easily lifted him up onto its back before beginning to saunter off.

“I don’t think this would ever get old.” He murmured in awe.

Erin blew out a snort through his trunk, making Grayson giggle a little as he looked around. A bunch of students were staring at them, some with awe, others with envy. Either way, he got the coolest ride home ever.

Did I ever mention that Grayson was the cutest thing that ever existed?

He had hugged him after lunch as a thanks for confronting Tiege, but then he said that he never wanted him to get hurt and not fight him again if possible. Of course, he agreed right away.

I hope I’m not getting whipped.

Grayson’s quiet chuckle sounded from his back and his heart thumped a few extra beats.

Okay, I’ll be as whipped as he wants!

Erin walked for about twenty five minutes before finally stopping outside of a bank on the edge of the shopping district. When he took Grayson down the guy stared in confusion, but the second Erin was dressed and back in front of him, as a human, he grabbed his hands and put on his best elephant-puppy face.

“Will you go to the movies with me?”

Grayson knew that he had totally trapped him into part of this since the theater was just down the street, but he couldn’t help it. The thought of him declining at school and him not being able to put a smile on his face with the ride on his back made him do it. At least the way he did it, if he declined, he would have at least enjoyed a cool ride.

“Uhm… okay. That sounds nice.” Grayson said shyly.

Yeah!

Before he could reverse his decision, Erin grabbed his hand and pulled him down the street, running straight up to the ticket office. When they got there, he turned to him, panting slightly to ask “What movie do you want see?”

Grayson looked up at the board, then his eyes lit up before he looked back at him.

“The Lion King!”

Of all the movies that are out, he wants to watch the rerelease of the lion king?

Grayson began to look uncomfortable when he didn’t respond, making Erin quickly realize he’d been staring.

“We could watch something else though, too…” Grayson mumbled awkwardly.

“No no, it’s fine.” Erin reassured him, then leaned over slightly and slid a twenty under the panel.

“Two for The Lion King, please.”

The young man behind the glass nodded and got them their tickets.

“Have a good time.” He said.

“Thanks man.” Erin replied with a smile as he quickly grabbed Gray’s hand again and walked inside with him. The theater was huge, with twenty screens and an entire arcade. It was usually the place for teens to hang out. Since their movie started in a few minutes, he figured they had time to run over to the snack bar. When they got to the front of the line, Erin smiled down at him.

“What would you like?”

Grayson seemed a bit surprised that he had asked him and not just ordered, but after a moment of hesitation he pointed at a box of Mike & Ikes. Erin got him the candy and a soda to share, using up the rest of his money. After handing him the box, Erin took his free hand again and they headed off to the movie.

He had to admit, once it started he was pretty into it. The movie had always been a favorite of his and seeing it again on the big screen after so many years was cool. His attention drifted once in awhile to Grayson, and was directed his way once on purpose when Grayson pressed a Mike & Ike against Erin’s lips. It made him smirk as he grasped it between his teeth, then made it disappear with a lick of his lips.

That had Gray chuckling quietly, and pretty soon he was nudging little candies against Erin’s mouth repeatedly. Not that he minded. Anything that made Gray happy made him ecstatic. After a few minutes he glanced at the soda and quickly stole a sip. He had bought it for them to share, but Grayson hadn’t taken a sip until just then…

Ah! I just kissed him!

Indirectly through the straw, but still. Grayson felt a bit bad that he had just stolen a kiss in such a weird way, though.

I kinda feel like a pervert? I don’t wanna be a pervert! Do I apologize now? Should I apologize?

Grayson’s glanced down at his hands in confusion before he felt a finger beneath his chin, slowly lifting it so that his eyes met Erin’s. He leaned in extremely close, their noses almost touching, though he knew it was just so that what he was about to say wouldn’t disturb anyone watching the movie.

“Is everything okay, hun?”

Warm breath. Smells like candy. I wanna taste.

Grayson leaned forward just a little more to close the tiny distance between their lips…

“Squeak.”

No!

At the sound of a quiet squeak, Erin blinked open his eyes, then looked down. He thought that they were about to kiss, but he guessed his shift was just bothering him. Putting on a small smile, he helped fish Grayson out of his clothing and cuddled him to his chest. Noticing his box of candy, Erin also grabbed that and took out one, handing it to him after he got settled.

Hmm. He can’t see the screen.

Carefully, Erin took the munching mouse and set him on his shoulder, getting a thank you squeak as he settled in to finish watching the movie. Right as it ended and the lights switched to dimmers, Erin felt Grayson fall forward off his shoulder. He was back in his human form… right as everyone was getting up to leave.

Without thinking, Erin yanked his jacket off and quickly pulled it around him, then hugged his body to his chest as if they had just been snuggling during the movie. They got a few odd looks and smiles, but thankfully his jacket was plenty big enough to cover Grayson when he tucked his legs in. He could sense his humiliation, but thankfully he calmed down once everyone had left. Before the cleaners came in, Erin quickly yanked his boxers on him, then pants.

Gray crawled off his lap once he was mostly dressed, his face a beautiful soft pink. Erin smiled at him and ruffled his hair, then handed him his shirt and grabbed his hand. Sure, he should have let him put it on, but he really, really liked him wearing his favorite dark brown leather jacket. And he might have also like looking at his bare chest.

They decided to walk home, which was highly enjoyable, even though it was a bit nippy out. Grayson had buttoned his borrowed jacket up and was perfectly content, while Erin’s thick skin easily kept him warm. The silence was nice as they both walked side by side, hand in hand. Unfortunately, Gray’s house came up way too soon. Erin didn’t want the night to end, but seeing his happy smile as they stepped up onto his porch made it totally worth it. Instead of going inside though, Grayson turned to him.

“Thanks for taking me to the movies. I had a great time.” He said quietly.

Grayson hesitated for a moment, then promptly jumped into his arms for an adorable hug. Erin, of course, had no issue at all returning the gesture and squeezing him playfully, making him chuckle. He then pressed a soft kiss to his hair before nudging him toward the door.

“Have a good night, Grayson.”

The guy’s parting smile was gorgeous as he nodded, then disappeared inside. When Erin heard the door lock, he turned and walked away. He knew that he should have asked for his jacket back, but was it bad that he felt that it looked so much better on Grayson than on himself?

Chapter 11: Lie of a Life

“Tiege?”

His fuzzy head looked up, eyes split partially between his tiger and human ones.

Good, he’ll be coming back soon.

“Do you want to use the bed? You don’t have to sleep in there.” Tarren said.

Tiege tilted his head and slowly shifted back to his human form. The scowl on the kid’s face didn’t bother him in the least, though. Tarren had already shifted as well to speak to him and slid off the bed to grab them both a pair of flannel pajama pants. He tugged on black ones before tossing the guy a blue pair.

“It’s not where I sleep.” Tiege replied calmly.

“Why not?”

Tiege stood and pulled on the pants, then yawned. “Because that’s not where I sleep. The bed belongs to my parents.”

Eh?

“Why didn’t they get you one?” Tarren asked, confused.

“Me?” He looked down at the dog crate, then back up to Tarren in confusion.

“I don’t need one. I sleep in my crate at night.”

“Wait… you don’t like beds so you sleep in your crate, or your parents taught you that you sleep in your crate?” Tarren asked, honestly not sure what he should even say to this situation.

Tiege’s attitude seemed to diminish at the question but at least he answered, though it was with a growl. “My parents taught me to sleep where I should.”

He began to yawn again and Tarren took his chance, grabbing him around the waist and tossing him atop the comforter. It was the first time he felt determined to get his company to sleep in his bed.

Tiege hissed when he landed, but when he realized where he was, he froze up… then began shaking like a leaf.

“Tiege?”

Tarren stepped forward with one hand extended, hoping he’d let him try and pet him to calm his nerves, but the second he got close Tiege bolted off the bed and literally dove into the crate to curl up in the back. Tarren’s lips pursed as he held in a growl. He didn’t want him to think it was because he’d been on his bed or had run back to the crate… it was for his fucking parents.

After calming himself down, which took some effort, Tarren carefully slid into the crate. Tiege let out a quiet growl, but Tarren wasn’t going to let that deter him. Cornering a predator always ended in aggression, but he didn’t think he would attack.

“I don’t care if you bite me, Tiege.”

Tiege’s eyes narrowed as another rumble came through his bared teeth.

“Do you want a hug?” Tarren asked.

“The fuck?”

Tiege snapped his teeth at him, but Tarren didn’t flinch. Instead, he opened his arms and smiled, not showing his teeth just in case his tiger felt it was another act of aggression.

“I’m not going to hug you you creepy asshole!”

With a shrug, Tarren turned and climbed out of the crate, then disappeared into his closet for a second. When he came back out, he had his secret weapon. Tiege’s eyes were immediately locked onto it as Tarren let a tiny bit drop to the floor. He learned quite quickly from growing up around other cats.

The response was immediate. The second the yarn hit the floor, Tiege pounced. Tarren yanked the string back just in time to save its life, but Tiege was quick to follow after it on his hands and knees, pouncing and growling as he moved around the room.

Several times he stalked it, ducking behind the computer chair only to jump on it seconds later. His tiger was shining through, but Tarren could definitely see the kid Tiege enjoying himself as well. When he was completely fixated on the string, Tarren yanked it up onto the bed and then let him get the whole spool. It was beyond adorable to see his face light up after having caught it, but then he rolled around like crazy as the spool unwound, eventually leaving the kid sitting up, tangled in about ten yards of yarn.

It made it that much cuter since the yarn was rainbow, but when Tiege finally realized he was up on the bed again, he started shaking and Tarren could see his eyes dart over to the crate.

Not this time.

Right as he lunged off the bed for it Tarren intercepted, catching him in his arms before pinning him down against the blankets. He struggled slightly, but then just began to shake again.

“Tiege.”

The guy whimpered and turned into his side to curl up when Tarren let his arms go, the string tangling up his body quickly forgotten.

“Tiege, look at me…”

“I-I’m sorry!”

Tarren slowly moved so that he was lying more next to him than on top, but his left arm was still snug around Tiege’s shoulders so that he couldn’t dart again. “Sweetie, look at me.”

Watery golden-chocolate eyes blinked open and hesitantly met his for a second before closing again. Tarren gave a mute sigh and shook his head. Let’s try the lion. He let his cat take over his human form a little, doing as it wanted, which was calmly licking Tiege’s cheek. It took at least fifteen minutes for the shaking to stop, then another ten before he slowly came out of the ball he’d curled himself into. A good half hour after that, and Tarren swore that his tongue was getting raw as Tiege finally drifted off to sleep. He waited a good ten minutes more before carefully getting out of bed. When Tiege didn’t stir at all, Tarren ran to the living room, grabbed the lighter blanket, then brought it back to his room. After getting Tiege tucked in, he walked out, deciding to leave the door open in case he needed anything when he woke up.

Grabbing his phone on the way, he flopped down onto the sofa, his head falling onto the pillow before he dialed Erin’s number. The guy picked up after the third ring and Tarren quickly got straight to the point.

“Erin, I need some information.”

“Let me guess, Tiege?”

“Yeah, I want to know his history. Everything you can find on him. I can’t help thinking that something’s wrong, but he’s definitely not going to tell me himself. Hell, I don’t think he even understands.”

“Uh, alright. Give me a bit. I’ll call you back.”

“Okay, thanks man.”

“No problem, bye.”

“Bye.”

To keep himself busy so that he didn’t begin to drift off, Tarren got his butt up and went into the kitchen, taking the sandwich Tiege hadn’t eaten earlier with him. As he munched on that, he got busy setting up the crock pot. He seasoned a good three pounds of beef, then added a cut up onion and tomato to the pot with it. Once that was cooking, he started boiling potatoes to mash later and then cut up a good amount of fruit.

By the time his phone rang five hours later, he was fidgeting at the small round dinner table he kept near the kitchen.

“Hello?” He answered quickly.

“Hey Tarren.” Erin replied quietly.

“Hey, so, what did you find out?”

I heard him shooing away his little brother, Rory, before beginning.

“Um, well, you’re not going to like it, but here goes. His real name is Tiegen Laraway and his parents died a few months after he was born in a car accident. His mom was evidently his birth mother, the father had chosen not to have kids through his cross-shifting ability.

So, Tiegen was sent to his aunt’s to live, but when he was three years old she gave him up to the Center Street Orphanage. They, unfortunately, didn’t work well with foster homes and were actually under investigation for child abuse on repeated dates over a span of at least two years. The odd thing is though, was that Tiegen was adopted one day before the place voluntarily closed its doors.“

“That’s not odd at all. Did they know he was a cross-shifter?” Tarren asked, angry.

“Highly likely since his parents’ history was on file. Well, when they adopted him out they only put the new parents’ names as Mr. and Mrs. Smith, which was technically illegal since they hadn’t had a home check or any meetings on file. My guess is that money talked. Anyways, once they had him they enrolled him in school and just raised him normally until his maturity, from what I could find.”

Yeah, because sleeping in a fucking dog crate is raising a kid normally.

“I looked up some ads on sites known to be connected to black market deals and quickly found some leading back to this area. There were six ads in total but none had his name in the search tabs. Instead, they had a picture attached of the cub, which was obviously a tiger, and also a photo of a pedigree… with Tiegen’s name on it, along with his parents and grandparents.”

“Those asshole were…”

“Breeding him like a dog. Yes. Both female kittens were sold for twenty thousand each, and the four males, which sold in less than a day, were forty thousand a piece.”

“Do you have anything on his adoptive parents?” Tarren asked.

“No. Considering the names they used to adopt him, I wasn’t able to find much. Each ad they posted had a different number so I’m guessing they were prepaid phones, too. Tarren?”

“Yeah?”

“Be careful. If they are making that kind of money from him, there’s no doubt in my mind that they’ll get rid of you if you try to keep Tiegen away from them.”

“I know. But I can’t just let him go back to that…”

“….Why?”

His question made a growl slip from his lips and he quickly extended his question.

“Why is this bothering you so much? Why did you care enough to look into it? He’s one of the worst bullies in our school, so why are you so interested in helping him?… unless.”

Tarren bit his tongue and glanced toward the bedroom.

“Shit. He’s carrying your cubs, isn’t he?”

Sighing, Tarren gave him all the information he needed as an answer.

“His parents let him out of the house on purpose each time he goes into heat. They beat the shit out of him when he came home pregnant with a liger instead of a purebred tiger. They want to abort it, but he desperately wants to keep it.”

Erin was quiet for a moment on the other side of the line before replying. “After them taking away so many, I could definitely understand why he would want to keep it. Now uh, I’m not saying that you need to abort the cubs, but he needs to get fixed as soon as possible if he’s already had six litters. Cross-shifters can develop issues just like their animal counterparts if over-bred. Tumors and cancer are the most common but the list can go on…”

Tarren’s fingers slid trough his dirty blond hair, tugging lightly as he bit his lower lip with worry.

“He thinks they saved him though. He wants to go abort them just because he’s afraid of disappointing his parents. He wouldn’t even sleep in my bed without me forcing him. He ran to the damned dog crate in the corner I use for fostering patients!”

He could tell Erin was getting frustrated, just like he was, but he couldn’t put everything on him right then.

“Hey, thanks for the help, man. Can you email me the stuff you found?” Tarren asked.

“Yeah, sure.”

“Thanks. I’m gonna go for now. I appreciate all the help.”

“No prob, let me know if you need anything else.”

“Sure thing, see ya, Erin.”

“Later.”

Right as he hung up he noticed Tiegen in the entryway to the hall. He looked a little better after having slept, but definitely still needed a good meal and some pain medicine.

“Hey…”

Tiegen’s hand partially wrapped around the corner of the wall as he took a hesitant step forward.

“Who was that? You were talking about me.”

Tarren started getting up as he replied. “Just a friend.”

“I-I’m not afraid of my parents.”

Tarren’s lips pursed as he forced himself to not walk over to him.

“They didn’t save you, hun. They bought you.”

Tiegen’s eyes narrowed as his aggression came forward into a snarl. “You don’t know a damned thing about them! They adopted me. They saved me from that terrible orphanage!”

“Tiege, your parents got you the day before that placed closed. A day before you were moved to a much better orphanage or even a foster home.”

“So what? I was adopted and got a better life!”

Okay, that statement had him getting more than a little pissed. Tarren took a step forward, making Tiegen bristle further, but not back up.

“You think you’re supposed to sleep in a damn dog crate? You think you’re supposed to breed continuously? Do you have any idea how damaging that can be to your body? No parent would ever send their baby out to get pregnant every time they got horny!”

His shouting had evidently startled the kid a little, because Tiegen did take a step back then, but he still didn’t look like he was going to give up the fight.

“M-My parents love me! They said the only way to get rid of the heat was to breed. They find good homes for my cubs a-and I end up feeling better afterwards.”

“Oh yeah?” Tarren growled as he took a step into his personal space.

“How much fun has it been to give away every single cub? You go into heat more often too, now, right? You get more angry each time they take away your babies, but then you just go out and do it all again thinking that it’s right? That it’s how you should be treated?”

Tiegen had taken several steps back as Tarren shouted, but he refused to let him back away, eventually pinning him against the closed door to the bedroom. When Tiegen didn’t respond, Tarren was more than happy to continue.

“Your parents are disgusting, worthless, pieces of trash that should have never been allowed near you. They are using you to pump out babies that they turn around and sell for thousands.”

“Th-They aren’t…”

“They aren’t? You think that they just happen to find someone willing to take a tiny cub every time you have to breed, when no one came for you at the orphanage for over a year? You think they have people lined up to help you with your heat issues by taking your babies?”

He knew reminding him of the time he’d spent in the orphanage was a low blow, but he needed to get it across to him that he was still being abused.

“If you go back to them, you’ll lose the cubs you so desperately want, and then you’ll go into heat again and breed. Then that baby will be taken away and sold just like the rest of them have been.”

“Sh-Shut up!”

“No! Because you know what, Tiege? You need to open your damn eyes and realize that you’re going to be in serious trouble if you don’t stop doing what they want!”

Tiegen’s eyes were blinking to try and keep back tears, but then he finally broke down and shouted back. “I d-don’t know anything else! I-I don’t know how to stop the heat! I-It hurts so bad if I don’t mate…”

Tarren’s heart broke, along with his temper, when he saw the poor guy break down.

“Come here, Tiegen.”

The kid’s head snapped up, eyes wide, though still flowing with tormented tears.

“What did you call me?”

“Tiegen, hun. Your real name. Tiegen Laraway.”

His face fell apart again as he finally dove into his arms. Tarren grunted, catching him in a strong hug. He’d bet Tiegen’s pathetic parents had never bothered to even show him such a small bit of affection… and considering how much he was clawing at his shirt to get closer, he was probably right.

When his legs began to shake Tarren carefully lifted Tiegen into his arms and headed for the kitchen after trying, and completely failing, to put him down on the sofa. He wouldn’t let go and actually started mewing sadly when Tarren tried to coax him to let him go. So, he decided to just work in the kitchen with him holding onto him like a young child would.

He got the mashed potatoes into a bowl with a bit of effort using his free hand, then took the lid off the slow cooker. The amazing smell that came with it nearly had him drooling and he definitely felt Tiegen shift a bit to look down at the delicious food. His belly rumbled loudly, making Tarren grin as he got down a big plate and filled it with a base of mashed potatoes, then added beef and vegetables on top. Once that was set on the table, he went back to get a small bowl of the fruit he had cut up, then with one last trip, a glass of ice water.

Tarren sat down at the table, Tiegen in his lap, as he reached around him to grab the fork. Tiegen’s eyes followed the movement as Tarren poked a piece of amazing smelling beef, then lifted it towards Tiegen’s lips. At first, he turned his head away and growled quietly, but Tarren wasn’t going to back down.

“If you don’t eat, you’ll never have your new cubs to hold.”

Tiegen’s eyes began to blink back fresh tears as he looked up at him.

“Eat, hun. I’m not going to let anything happen to you or our cubs. They’ll be yours to hold, take care of, and love.”

Tiegen glanced at the meat, his belly grumbling loudly with anticipation.

“I promise.”

That got him to finally take that most important first bite. After another few nibbles he grabbed the fork and started inhaling the huge plate of food. Tears were running down his cheeks, but at least he was eating.

When he had finished the entire plate, plus most of the fruit salad and water, he turned a little and curled up against Tarren’s chest, earning a hug in return.

“They’ll come find me…” Tiegen mumbled after a few silent minutes.

“They can try.”

His worried eyes looked up at Tarren.

“I’ll protect you, Tiegen.”

The idea of leaving the guy being alone on days he had to go into work when Tiegen didn’t have school made Tarren feel uneasy. He considered asking his father to watch him sometimes so that someone was always with him when he couldn’t be. He knew that he was getting a little overprotective, but Tiegen was technically his mate now, and after everything he had gone through, he deserved to be safe and loved.

Chapter 12: A New Life

“Alright, so I just need to watch over him and be sure that he doesn’t leave with his fake parents?”

Tarren sighed as Tiegen glared from behind him, but neither bothered Erin, and they knew it. They couldn’t do a thing to him if he shifted so they were just going to have to tolerate his dry humor at being assigned as kitty-sitter.

“Fine, but he better behave.”

Tiegen growled but Erin just raised a brow and turned his back on them to head inside since the warning bell was ringing for first period. He heard them mumbling something behind him, but soon Tarren’s new pet cat was hot on his heels. They had the same classes, so at least Erin didn’t need to go out of his way to follow the kid. Their first few weren’t too bad, but when lunch time came around Wolf and Grayson didn’t look too happy to see his new feline friend . Erin felt the need to hack up a hairball just at the mention of having Tiegen as any kind of friend, fake or not, but Tarren was a friend and the whole situation was screwed up like nobodies’ business.

“Hey Guys, we have a guest for today.”

Wolf eyed Tiegan with contempt, his mouth pausing mid-chew as he glanced at Erin.

“What the hell, Erin?”

“Long story, just deal with it for today, please?” Erin replied.

After a long moment of silence Wolf shrugged and returned to inhaling his stale pepperoni pizza. Alright, one down, one to go. He had a feeling that Grayson was going to be much harder to convince to stay, though.

“Gray?” Erin asked.

The kid was shaking and a few whiskers were already visible poking out from his nose. It was kind of cute, but it really wasn’t the right time to lose control to his mouse. Erin chanced a glance over at Tiegan, then scowled.

Delicious looking mouse…

“Tiegen!”

His head snapped sideways with a grumble to look at the annoying elephant beside him. Seeing the angry look on the other kid’s face just had Tiegen growling in response.

“Don’t you growl at me. You’re not eating my friend.” Erin replied with a snort.

I wasn’t going to eat him. Mice are gross. I just want a nibble…

Well, obviously mister trunk-up-his-arse didn’t want him to bother his stupid little mouse, so Tiegen slowly sat down.

“Thank you. Here.” Erin said as he offered him a bag of beef jerky from the cafeteria. Tiegen swiped it immediately, but he wasn’t a huge fan of the stuff. His stomach was begging for something but was also upset, so he wasn’t going to be eating a whole lot anyways. At least he had something to chew on for the time being.

A mental image of Tarren came up at the thought of the reason for his upset stomach, making his mind go all fuzzy and a deep purr to slip from his lips.

“Hey, Tiegen? We gotta get back to class.” Erin said with a hint of curiosity to his words.

Tiegen’s quickly snapped out of his daze, effectively dissipating the image distracting him.

“Right…”

Tiegen got himself up, noticing that it was just him and Erin left at the table. He had definitely spaced out for awhile. They both hopped up and half-ran towards their class as the warning bell rang. They were nearly there when Tiegen had to slam on the brakes.

Erin stopped at the door to their Advanced English class and turned, eyes wide with confusion until Tiegen started hiccuping.

“Oh shit.”

Erin ran over and grabbed his arm, yanking him into the bathroom before shoving him over a toilet just in time for Tiegen to lose the few bites of jerky he had gnawed on during lunch. About midway through his legs buckled as his body shook, but Erin managed to grab him just in time to keep him from falling. Tiegen knew that he was just trying to help, and he really did appreciate it, but he couldn’t help thinking that he didn’t want him touching him at all. Hell, he didn’t want anyone but Tarren touching him.

“Is it the cubs? Do you need to go to the nurse’s office?” Erin asked nervously.

I don’t want to go there… I just want that damned lion.

Tiegen’s tiger took over in a blur, shredding the clothes he was borrowing from Tarren before it dashed out of the bathroom and straight down the hall. Several shocked students pinned themselves to the lockers in order to stay out of his way. His cat slammed into the entrance doors, pushing them open easily before darting down the stairs.

Tarren, I need help. I can’t control him!

He was just about to try tracking him down when a familiar car pulled up and made his tiger snarl loudly.

“Tiege, it’s us. Calm down.”

His father took a step forward after getting out of the car, his hands up in a calming gesture, but it wasn’t going to work this time. Tiegen let his tiger lunge, though not quite close enough to bite yet. He could see his mother slowly approaching from behind his father, holding the tranquilizer gun he knew all too well. It was for when they couldn’t control his tiger, which was whenever he got frustrated from the mood swings being pregnant gave him. They always tranquilized him and locked him up until his tiger wore itself out. He honestly should have known not to come to school that day. It had been a stupid move and people could have easily gotten hurt.

Can Tarren even really help me when I get so bad so quickly?

The last time he’d had kittens it had taken about a month to calm down, so that would be one month of controlling his aggressive feline in a small apartment. Tiegen’s stomach dropped at the thought of hurting Tarren. He’d tried to help him. Had gone out of his way even after he had punched him in the car and pissed him off on purpose at the vet. He didn’t want to cause him anymore trouble.

When Tiegen refocused on his parents, he noticed the gun pointing right at him.

Maybe it’s for the best that I just let them shoot me.

His tiger wasn’t happy about it, though. It wanted to go find Tarren, but Tiegen wasn’t so sure. He didn’t want to accidentally hurt the guy.

Right as he was about to try and talk his tiger into giving in he noticed a well-dressed man with a partial mohawk saunter right up to his mother and grab the barrel of the dart gun, lifting it right as she pulled the trigger. The dart sailed right over Tiegen’s left ear, plinking uselessly against the brick of the school building before dropping to the concrete steps.

“It’s not nice to point guns at kids, ma’am.” The man said with a raised eyebrow.

Tiegen’s tiger’s head tilted slightly as it watched the man yank the gun free of his mother’s hands and toss it a good twenty feet behind him.

“Now then, my friend asked me if I would pick up his little tiger friend, and considering said tiger is likely the one you’re about to shoot at, I suggest that you leave.”

“Or what?” Tiegan’s father grumbled as he turned on the young man.

His tiger was torn between helping the stranger or helping his parents. Right as he began stepping forward Tiegen noticed two other guys walking over, both with partial mohawks, just like the first man.

What the hell?

“Listen monkey butt, I don’t have much patience these days and I have an important meeting I’m missing to do this favor, so I really suggest that you get your red, white, and blue backside out of here before I add another color you won’t be so proud to show off to your disgusting mate.”

Wow, talk about straight to the point, and is he laughing a little psychotically between his words? What the hell is this guy?

“Larro!”

The young man’s head tilted up when he heard Erin’s voice from where he now stood beside Tiegen.

“Ah, hey Erin. You want take your furry friend back to my SUV please? I have a feeling these monkeys are going to need some convincing.” He began shirking off his jacket as his friends did the same with their T-shirts and jeans. “…which I’m totally fine with. Things have been stressful and I could use a good fight to relax.”

Tiegen’s father quickly tossed his own clothes off and shifted as the taller man and his two friends did. While his father was definitely a strong opponent in his animal form, a mandrill, the group of hyenas now standing in front of him clearly had the upper paw.

“Tiege!”

His mother’s shout drew his attention.

“Help your father! Your appointment was rescheduled for tonight so we need to hurry.”

My appointment.

His tiger growled at the thought.

My appointment to take my babies away. Mine and Tarren’s

babies.

A loud roar from his tiger told her just what he thought about that. He wasn’t giving up his cubs for his selfish parents ever again. Ever since he’d first gone into heat, they had been breeding him and selling his babies. Now, when they finally didn’t want to sell them, they wanted to abort them. Giving off a second louder roar, Tiegen leaped, landing easily right between the hyena’s and mandrill. His mother tried to run, and he would have let her, but she was going to reload the tranquilizer gun. His tiger’s instincts to protect its unborn cubs took over, blacking out all of his senses.

When he finally managed to pull himself back into focus his adoptive mother was dead at his feet and the strong taste of blood coated his tongue.

I…

The shriek of a mandrill made his tiger swing around. His father was coming at him, having easily jumped over the group of hyenas. Tiegen tried to reign his animal in so that it wouldn’t force him to the back of its mind again, but the effort was fruitless as his vision, hearing, and everything else, went completely blank for a second time.

Pain was the first thing that returned to him, his other senses taking much longer this time. Tiegen began to figure out that he was now in his human form, lying on something hot and hard. Considering they had been fighting in the parking lot, he guessed that he was on the asphalt. With that thought out of the way, he focused on trying to get his eyes to open. His tiger had completely retreated, but he could feel it quietly pacing in the darkness of his mind, frustrated, upset, angry…

“Tiegen?”

His mind wavered as he heard his name, then everything went black.

“Dammit all, how many times to do I have to say this! I don’t have the full damn story but those people he just killed had been abusing him for years!” Larro shouted angrily.

“Sir, we’re going to have to ask you to leave. You are causing a commotion and we really need to get him into surgery.”

Larro’s eyes narrowed to slits as a sick laugh swam along with his next warning. “If you abort those cubs I will personally see to it that you can never have another yourself!”

The doctors eyes widened as he backed up several steps, stopping right next to his other colleagues that had previously tried to stand up to Larro.

“Sir, i-it isn’t your decision! His p-parents…’” The doctor stuttered out nervously.

“His parents are fucking dead!”

“Larro!”

Hearing his name drew his attention to the side, eyes landing on Jordan, Erin, and Tarren.

“Calm down, we’ll take care of this,” Jordan said with a calm yet demanding voice. It made Larro immediately back down, sighing out his anger before sitting in one of the guest chairs in Tiegen’s hospital room.

“I apologize for my friend’s actions, but he is correct. The surgery order from his parents is now void due to their lives being lost.” Jordan said.

The doctors slowly calmed down and seemed to finally be thinking through things. “I… think we can come to an understanding, but the note his parents left in case he showed up was that it was an emergency.” The head doctor said.

“Well, it is not. He actually wishes to keep his unborn cubs, but that is a long story that is not needed at this time. Please tend to his injuries for now and we shall go talk in the other room when you are able?”

The doctors all looked around at each other, then back to Jordan before nodding.

“Very well Mr…”

“Leo.”

They all blanched, then immediately got busy taking care of Tiegen’s injuries.

Yeah, you better be scared. Idiots didn’t know that they were annoying the head lion in this city.

Tarren spent most of his time in Tiegen’s room, his ears tuned to the beat of his heart monitor, his eyes glued to his injured body. He had a few puncture wounds from his father’s shift, and a good amount of scratches, but the doctor had assured him that the wounds would heal with fluids and sleep.

When most of the doctors headed home for the evening Tarren allowed himself to shift after removing his clothing. The second they had gotten there, having been called by Larro in the middle of the day, his lion had been pushing to get out and comfort its mate. Now that no one was going to be checking in for another hour or two, he let him finally come out. He immediately shimmied his large backside up onto the bed and laid down right against Tiegen’s sleeping form. Tarren had to convince his lion not to begin licking the kid since he really needed to keep sleeping in order to heal. His lion eventually settled on just being as close as possible and purring quietly to break up the sound of the stressful heart monitor. He had wanted to tear Tiegen’s adoptive parents apart himself, but it was good enough that they wouldn’t be able to make him go through losing another cub ever again.

A gentle nudge against his mane slowly brought Tarren out of his doze. He had watched over Tiegen for most of the night before feeling his body finally succumb to sleep. After another nudge he had his eyes open and couldn’t have been happier to see Tiegen’s worried blue ones staring at him. He wanted to shift, but his cat wouldn’t allow it as he nuzzled Tiegen’s face gently, letting out a rumble of happiness in the process.

When his lion finally leaned back Tiegen wrapped his arms around its fluffy mane and buried his face in the thick fur. Tarren were a bit confused at first, but when quiet sniffles were heard his lion quickly retreated, letting him shift and get his mate into his arms. He hadn’t planned on moving him, but Tiegen all-but climbed into his lap once he was human again.

“Hey, Tiegen.”

He let out a distressed mew, making Tarren hug him a little tighter before leaning over to begin lapping at his soft hair. There was no need for words right then. They just understood each other. He knew that Tiegen was blaming himself for what he’d done to his parents, and Tarren knew that he would argue that it wasn’t his fault till his dying breath. They had caused their own deaths by doing such terrible things to their sweet tiger.

It was about an hour later when they finally separated enough so that they could look into each others eyes again. Seeing all of the pain in his made Tarren want to keep him in his arms forever.

“I’m so glad you’re okay.”

Tiegen looked down, blinking several times before pursing his lips and looking back up. “I-I killed…”

“Shhh. I know, hun.” Tarren whispered.

Tiegen swallowed hard and took a deep breath, managing to calm himself enough to speak again.

“I-Is Larro your friend?”

Tarren’s father’s friend had gone home several hours ago since he had his little girl to take care of, but he definitely owed him one.

“He is a good friend of the family.” He replied.

“He looks funny.” Tiegen responded.

A cough of a laugh slipped from Tarren’s lips at Tiegen’s comment.

“Uh, yes, yes he does.” Tarren replied awkwardly.

“You talking about me again, Tar?”

Tarren glanced up and smirked when Larro walked in… with his little girl. Tiegen looked over at the sound of his voice as well, then gasped out a quiet whine.

Larro chuckled and calmly walked inside the dark room to stop beside Tiegen’s bed.

“Hey there, kid.”

Tiegen was already crawling toward him with a hopeful but teary look in his eyes.

“I brought someone to see you, but you have to be gentle.” Larro said with a warm smile.

Tiegen made a quiet sound of agreement as he reached out, not touching, but desperately wanting to. Larro seemed to take his mumble as a yes , because he gently handed his bundled-up little girl, Zeva, down to Tiegen’s waiting arms.

Tarren was honestly surprised at how careful Tiegen was the second he got the little cub into his arms. It was like his entire personality shifted abruptly to a loving parent who only wanted to protect and cherish, even though she wasn’t even his. Tiegen immediately made sure the little hyena and cheetah cross was comfortable in his arms, then slowly began licking at her soft, furred face. The cub was only about a month old but after her initial rocky start she had blossomed into a gorgeous girl… and Larro makes sure to tell everyone just how pretty she is on a daily basis. He was almost as bad as Paskal, almost. Thankfully, Arron’s mother kept him in line pretty well.

After giving Tiegen a minute with the cub Tarren gently scooted closer, earning a quiet growl, but disregarding it when he saw Tiegen relax again.

“Hey sweetie.”

He looked up after a moment, his eyes so full of hope that Tarren had to keep himself from crying. Instead, he gave Tiegen a warm smile and scooted forward so that they were sitting next to each other on the edge of the bed, then quietly whispered. “She’s adorable, isn’t she?”

He nodded as a rumble started up in his chest. Tarren grinned and leaned over to whisper in his ear, though he knew that Larro could still hear it.

“Ours will be even cuter. I have something for you, too.”

Tiegen looked up in surprise, brows quirked a little, making him look quite adorable.

“Here, trade me.” Larro said as he reached forward.

Tiegen was hesitant to give Zeva back for the large film paper Larro was offering, but did eventually relinquish the little girl in order to take the photo. They didn’t need the lights on for their eyes to see since their shifts had decent night vision, so when he looked down and froze, Tarren knew that he had seen what was on the ultrasound picture.

In moments he was all smiles, the previously solemn boy a thing of the past. He looked up at him with that big grin and Tarren just opened his arms, getting an excited Tiegen in them seconds later.

“Mine!”

Tarren chuckled as he snuggled Tiegen tightly, kissing his cheek, hair, neck, and really anywhere he could to make the guy’s smile stay where it was.

“Yes, all five.”

His cat was rumbling so loudly through his human mouth that he could probably be heard in the next room, but whatever, he deserved to purr his heart out.

Chapter 13: Small Mistakes

(Might be some mistakes but I finally got some time to edit this one) 

“Tiegen!”

An excited striped ball of fur ran toward him, bounding around like a puppy as he swung a rope toy from his mouth.

“Bring it here, you.” Tarren said with a grin.

Tiegen looked at him, then bounded away, his large belly swaying beneath him with the movements. It had only been two weeks since they had checked him out of the hospital, but he was already getting pretty big… though they were having five, so Tarren supposed that Tiegen’s size wasn’t too surprising.

Tarren was suddenly shoved onto his back, a grumbling pregnant tiger looking down at him with a smug look on its face.

The first few nights back had been pretty stressful, especially when several lawyers came to his door asking about needing defense for the murders Tiegen had committed. After the third one Tarren had asked Larro and Jordan to go to the courthouse and straighten things out. It took awhile, especially since Tiegen was eighteen, but after his whole story had been heard a judge had decided that the deaths were caused by the years of abuse he had suffered and his tiger was only trying to protect something his parents had unlawfully taken from it several times prior.

A few days after that Jordan had decided to welcome them into his home, but there was one slight problem… which brought them to their current circumstance. Tiegen was slowly coming back out of his shell from what had happened and his body had healed nicely, but because of the amount of times he had been bred his attitude took a dangerous turn when his hormones spiked. He had gone after Jordan’s boys twice and even took a swipe at Jordan himself, but thankfully the larger lion easily put a stop to each bout of aggression and promptly put Tiegen in his place. Jordan was an amazingly sweet guy, but he never hesitated to defend himself or his cubs.

After the last attack Tarren had decided to see if exercising Tiegen more would have any kind of affect on his tiger’s aggression. Today was their first try, and so far it was looking pretty good. He had introduced him to one of Jordan’s boys’ worn rope toys, and after an initial investigation Tiegen’s tiger snatched it up and began tossing it about the yard. It was obvious that he wasn’t too sure how to play, but he was making it work in his own way.

“Hey there,” Tarren said as Tiegen’s tiger thumped him on the chest with a heavy paw, making him cough but laugh as he shoved him off and got up to start running. Tiegen didn’t hesitate to follow as Tarren shifted mid-run. He could use the exercise, too, so he ran around with him for a few minutes, then turned and grabbed the rope toy to start a good long game of tug-o-war. Of course, Tarren let him win just to see the satisfied look on Tiegen’s tiger’s beautiful face.

“Hey Tarren!”

Tarren’s head swung around to see his father walking over to the pool cover. He had put it on once it got cold, but he remembered him messing with the controls for the jets and heater earlier in the week…

“I heated up the pool, see if he likes it?”

Oh yeah, tigers love water in the wild and it would be great exercise.

As his dad pulled off the heavy cover Tarren nudged Tiegen and ran towards the pool. He could see steam coming off of the surface and didn’t even hesitate when he leaped in.

Tiegen skidded to a halt at the edge, the rope toy still in his mouth as it dangled over the edge of the water.

“You can go in, Tiegen. You’ll probably like it.” Jordan said with a reassuring smile.

Tiegen wasn’t really sure what to make of the hot water in front of him. It was way too big to be a bath and he thought that it might be called a pool, but he had never been to one. Heck, he was only allowed to go to and from school most days unless he had a vet appointment.

When Tarren swam over to the edge, Tiegen quickly backed up. His massive lion climbed out, tail swishing water back and forth before he walked over and grabbed the rope toy he was holding between his own teeth and grumbled quietly.

Tiegen tugged as hard as he could, but Tarren easily began pulling him forward toward the big pool. Tiegen’s paws were mere inches from slipping in when he decided to give up his rope to save himself from something he was unsure of… but then he felt a hard shove against his backside that promptly sent him flying into the water with a loud, surprised roar.

The water itself felt surprisingly nice on his sore body, but he had to rely on his tiger’s instincts to get to the surface for air. His parents hadn’t taught him how to swim. He finally found his way to the steps and looked over as he rested to see Jordan in his lion form, preening away at his thick mane like he hadn’t just headbutted his backside into the pool. Tiegen’s tiger pinned its ears back and gave a quiet growl, getting the lion’s attention for all of one second.

He was just about to get out and run after him when he felt something tugging at his tail. Tiegen’s head swung around to see Tarren’s lion gently nipping at the tip before swimming away. His tiger was quick to follow but before he could catch him the darn lion was out of the pool. Granted, he was dropping torrents of water everywhere because of his mane, but he didn’t seem to care in the least as he bounded around the edge, swatting at Tiegen’s ears as he tried to follow after him while swimming.

When he finally got out to chase him Tarren leaped straight across the pool, making Tiegen’s tiger instantly want to copy the action… because it knew it could. But it couldn’t. Tiegen splashed into the pool several inches from the wall and had to paw his way back to the stairs to get out and try again… and again… and again.

You would think that his tiger would figure out that its cubs were weighing them down too much to make the jump, but no, it was determined. That is, until its tenth jump into the heated water. It finally got out and just flopped down, panting heavily, its breath showing in the chilly evening air. After a minute Tarren sauntered over and nuzzled its face, making him start to rumble. He remained still for a few moments before jumping up paws and promptly headbutting the cocky lion straight into the water.

“Boys, dinner!”

Tiegen quickly started for the door, but Jordan promptly closed it, making his tiger run right into the glass. Shaking his head, Tiegen pouted up at him but Jordan just shook his own head and pointed behind his tiger. Tiegen looked over his shoulder and noticed Tarren climbing out of the pool in his human form.

O

h.. right.

Tiegen shifted and grabbed a towel from the table nearby before tossing one to Tarren with a grin. The guy leaned over when he got closer and gave him a pick on the cheek, then hugged him before drying off and heading inside. Tiegen followed behind him as he wrapped his own towel around his waist and went straight to the kitchen where Mrs. Leo handed him a huge plate of chicken and pasta. After all of the years of him eating plain meat and uncooked vegetables, he was pretty excited for every cooked meal he was offered.

While they were all eating at the table Tarren leaned over and whispered in his ear.

“How about a date tomorrow?”

Tiegen nearly choked on the bite of chicken in his mouth before he managed to swallow and reply. “Yes, that sounds good.” He was a bit nervous about it, but it did sound like fun.

Once dinner had finished Tiegen was just about ready to pass out. Tarren was quick to help him get cleaned up in the bathtub, then straight to bed. He would have protested, but when Tarren snuggled in with him instead of leaving to work the night shift like he had the past few days,Tiegen promptly glued himself to him, relaxing the second his arms wrapped around him.

“You’re staying tonight?” Tiegen whispered as he began to drift off to sleep.

“Yes. I’m sorry for working late shifts now, but I love spending my days with you.”

After causing the scene in front of his school days ago, Tiegen had been indefinitely expelled, leaving his days free, which prompted Tarren to start working nights in order to have more time with him. Jordan was actually helping Tiegen with homeschooling, too, and said that he would soon be able to meet his other son’s mate and work with them on some of the things he needed to get caught up on to graduate.

“I appreciate it.”

There was a faint vibration against his nose as Tarren laughed, making him smile sleepily before finally drifting off.

“Hey there, little mousy.”

Grayson’s head turned as he heard Erin’s friend, Wolf, talk to him. He had to stand up in order to really see him since Grayson was leaning over to put books away in his locker.

“Hello, Wolf. What’s up?”

The guy smirked and glanced down at the notebook Grayson was clutching against his chest.

“Did you happen to have finished last nights homework?”

Grayson’s gaze deadpanned and Wolf pursed his lips.

“Aw, come on, please Gray? I’ll do yours next time!”

Right, just like he did it this time and the time before?

Sighing, Grayson offered him the notebook anyways.

“Same as last time, you better be able to do these problems when I ask about them at lunch or I won’t let you have the answers again.”

Wolf yipped his approval and took the notebook, licking Grayson’s forehead in awkward gratitude before bolting off with a too-loud “Thanks!”

Canine shifters and their licking habits. Yuck.

His eyes rolled but eh, he couldn’t really be upset with him about the homework, he knew every darn problem whenever Grayson quizzed him. The guy was smart, but either never had the time to do it himself or was too lazy. With a shrug, Grayson shoved his locker shut and headed to class. Erin had been absent for a few days but when he walked into the room and saw him sitting in his seat Grayson quickly ran over for a hug.

“Where have you been?” He asked as Erin returned the hug, then let Grayson slide into the desk beside him.

“Sorry, my little brother’s been sick. You have notes for our classes?”

Grayson smirked and crossed his arms over his chest.

“That depends… buy me lunch?”

“I have taught you well, young one.” Erin said with a chuckle and slight bow.

Grayson was about to reply when the teacher walked in. The class was boring, but thankfully he let them out five minutes early.

“You still paying?” Grayson asked.

Erin pursed his lips and pouted, but then nodded.

“Sweet! I’m going to get one of everything!”

“There’s no way you’re gonna eat it all.” Erin said with a quiet laugh.

Sticking his tongue out, Grayson grabbed a pudding cup, bottle of water, and a small salad before sauntering over to the register. Erin had picked up a small salad and followed him, paying for everything before they headed outside to a table.

“Hey, do you know where that tiger guy went? What was up with him?” Grayson asked, making Erin pause, about to bite into a baby carrot.

“Uh… I can’t really say, but he’s fine.”

Man, if Tiegan knew that I had told someone that he was pregnant… I’d still win the fight, but he’d be very pissed.

Thankfully, Grayson took that as a good enough answer and began munching away at his salad. Erin did the same since he was quite hungry, being an elephant and all. While he ate his mind wandered a bit, specifically to the homecoming dance coming up. He was definitely going to ask Grayson, but couldn’t think of a way how.

Wolf arrived after a few moments and Gray quickly jumped on him, testing what he’d learned from copying his homework, again. Erin knew that his friend was a bit lazy when it came to that stuff, but he always seemed to know it, so they didn’t mind sharing their answers. The bell rang after they had finished their food and sudden pop quiz, signaling the end of lunch. Wolf ran off as Erin headed off to the gym with Grayson.

Coach had told them that they had free use of the gym for the day’s class, which was nice, because it gave Erin the perfect opportunity to talk to Gray about the dance coming up.

They both changed quickly, not wanting to be bothered by the other students. Everyone usually waited for Gray to finish and leave before they began changing, but he didn’t seem to care. When they stepped out of the locker room they grabbed two basketballs and headed to the far hoop. Erin was about to start shooting when he noticed Grayson acting awkward.

“Have you ever played basketball before?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Grayson paused and looked over at him, halfway bent over with the ball between his legs, about to attempt to throw it… poorly.

“No.”

Erin grinned and walked over, then spun his ball in his hands a few times before easily shooting it through the basketball hoop.

“That’s how it should be done.”

Grayson looked up at the tall hoop, then down at his ball, then up again before nodding.

“Um, okay. I’ll try.”

With a determined squeak he attempted to mirror what Erin had done, but just ended up tossing the ball a few feet in the air before it dropped right back down and thumped him on the head. He stumbled a little, then dropped onto his backside.

Should I feel bad for thinking that was adorable?

“Here, let me teach you.”

Erin offered him a hand up, getting him back to his feet before retrieving one of the balls.

“Okay, you hold it like this.” He said with a grin as he walked behind Grayson and grabbed both of his hand so that he could position them correctly on the ball.

“Now, you throw using only one hand really, the other just helps with aiming. Watch me.”

Grabbing the second ball, Erin knelt down and pretended to shoot towards the hoop, but only tossed it a foot or so before catching.

“Just like that, now you do it.”

Grayson looked a little worried but knelt down right next to him and tried to do the exact same thing. The ball didn’t hit him in the head at least… because Erin caught it on its way down, then handed it back to him, shaking his head.

“Here, stand up.”

When he was up Erin stepped behind him and grasped his hands again, pretending to throw the ball several times to show him how it needed to be done. He was trying really hard to focus, but Grayson’s hair smelled distractedly good.

“U-Um… Erin?”

Snapping his head back, Erin blushed and grabbed his basketball to start shooting it, totally trying to ignore that he had been nuzzling into Grayson’s soft hair.

“Hey, um, Erin?”

Please don’t be mad at me for that. I really didn’t mean to be creepy.

With a shaky sigh Erin turned on him and quickly babbled;

“So I just uh did that but I didn’t mean to it was a mistake….”

Grayson’s confused smile faltered, then faded as Erin finished verbally throwing up.

“Um, okay. I guess we should head back to the locker room and change out for art. Gym will be over soon.”

Erin looked over at the clock, surprised that time had gone by so quickly. “Okay, yeah. Let’s go.”

When they got to class and sat down, Erin glanced up at the board where the day’s assignment would be posted, then groaned. He’d wanted to ask Gray to the dance but they had to another shifter painting.

“Hey Grayson, can we talk before you sh—” He stopped talking when he noticed Grayson’s little mouse already sitting at the canvas they’d been provided.

“Sorry to say, but I’m not giving you cheese this time.”

His tiny pink ears flattened to his head, making Erin’s heart thump. He wasn’t going to bend on what he’d said, though, because he really didn’t need to deal with the lactose intolerance again.

“Not going to happen.”

Giving a huffing squeak, Grayson turned around and flopped down, splaying his tiny arms and legs out, silently declaring that he would not be their paintbrush this time around if there was no cheese involved.

I know how to deal with this.

After squeezing out a bunch of different paint colors onto the canvas Erin grabbed a bunch of those foam brushes used for smearing paint and put one in front of Grayson, then another on his left side.

“Ready to play paintbrush mouse-hockey?”

Grayson glanced up at him with a glare, but Erin just smirked before nudging him around with the brushes. Gray squeaked but couldn’t do much as Erin rolled him through the red. He got up with a huff and tried to run off the canvas, making red paw-prints until Erin stopped him at the edge with the foam brush. Of course he tried to climb over it, but Erin quickly pushed him backwards into a puddle of blue, getting it all over his fuzzy back.

When he got back up, a bit dizzy, he promptly launched himself at the brush and bit it.

“Hey, that’s cheating!”

Erin lifted the foam brush to try and shake him off of it but his fuzzy butt just swayed back and forth.

“Alright… if you want to play it that way.”

After a slightly creepy smirk Erin dragged Grayson’s m o use across a big glob of black paint, then got busy working with his new furry paintbrush. He quickly moved Grayson around everywhere, snickering to himself as the guy squeaked every now and then, frustrated but determined to hang on.

When Erin finally stopped moving the brush Grayson released it to flop down on his back in a smudge of purple, tongue lulling out from the side of his mouth.

“Oh come on, it wasn’t that bad.”

Erin poked his blue belly and made him squeak, but then he rolled over and darted up his arm, leaving blue and black paw prints on his way to his face.

“Wait, don’t do that!”

Erin reached over to grab him but right as it started to close around Grayson’s tail his mouse suddenly vanished and a full-grown kid fell into his lap. Before Erin could even orient himself Grayson was smearing his hands all over his cheeks and nose. Grabbing him, Erin tossed Gray over his shoulder and bolted for the bathroom.

As he came skidding into said bathroom, Erin realized two things. One, with the black paint between his legs, it looked like he’d peed himself. And also, Grayson had a very nice black-painted butt.

Setting the kid down, Erin raised a brow and crossed his arms over his chest.

“So, what do you have to say for yourself?”

His lips pouted as he balled his hands into fists at his sides.

“You used my butt as a paintbrush and shoved me around!”

“You wouldn’t do the assignment!” Erin retorted.

Crossing his own arms, Grayson grumbled and turned his back on him. “You could do it sometimes, too, ya know.”

The bull elephant in him bristled as Grayson turned away.

“Yeah, let me get right on that. I’d crush the darn canvas.”

Gray suddenly turned around, a surprising look of hurt on his cute face.

“Fine! I didn’t want to ask a mean elephant to the dance anyways!”

Before Erin could figure out what he’d just said Grayson snatched his clothing from his hand and ran out of the bathroom.

Chapter 14: Apologies

(Had to split the chapter to edit it correctly so this one is short) 

“I spy a cute little mouse sniffling about something not worth the tears,” Wolf said as he sat down against the side of the school building next to Grayson, offering him a small smile as he nudged his shoulder.

“Wanna talk to someone who won’t bother remembering anything embarrassing tomorrow cause he plans to get drunk off his ass later tonight?” he asked.

He could tell that the kid was trying to hide a smile, but it didn’t help that he ducked his head in his arms, which he had folded atop his knees.

Not obvious at all.

“Oh come on , this is your one chance to spill it all and have no witnesses tomorrow.”

Grayson’s shoulders shook a few times, telling him that he was slowly getting through to him. Unfortunately for the kid, Wolf wasn’t one for patience. With a playful growl he shoved the guy into the grass, then began tickling him like crazy.

Grayson immediately squealed and tried to get away, but it was no use.

When he’d decided that he’d tickled him enough, Wolf released him and leaned back.

“So then, done crying? or do we need a round two?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Grayson quickly waved his hands in the air, still panting on the ground.

Guess that means he’s good.

“Why don’t you go talk with him? I know you have a crush on the big oaf and he obviously made a mistake since you’re… uh, well, rainbow, but I’m sure he didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

Grayson blushed as Wolf stared down at him, and if he didn’t like chicks so much, he might have made himself competition for his grumpy elephant friend.

“Go get him, kid. Make him take you for a ride on his back to a fancy restaurant. You know he’ll do it for you.”

In fact, he could see said elephant running towards them right that moment.

Time to make sure he doesn’t do something stupid again.

Reaching forward, Wolf grabbed Grayson by the arm and yanked him up, stealing a kiss right before bolting. He heard Erin’s elephant’s trumpet behind him but didn’t dare look back.

Sorry buddy, but you’ll thank me later!

Erin came to a stop right in front of Grayson. He could have gone after Wolf, but he knew that he’d never be able to catch him, even in his human form. The bastard was in shape from all the running he did for track, so it was best to just pop him over the head later when he wasn’t paying attention.

So, focusing on Grayson, Erin swung his trunk just above his fuzzy colorful head. He had shifted from surprise right as Erin had changed.

His elephant blew out a snort of frustration but he knew that he had to fix his mistake with Gray, anyways. He hadn’t meant to hurt his feelings, but he did and now he had to suck up his ego and apologize. With a determined huff his elephant slowly managed to sit down, its back legs splayed out to either side as the front ones held up whatever weight his butt didn’t take.

It looked a bit funny, but his shift wasn’t a fan of being close to the ground.

Gray?

The tiny multicolored mouse perked up, ears twitching in the tall grass.

How can you talk to me in my mind? That is only for people who are close to me.

Erin snorted a laugh and nudged Grayson’s mouse gently with his trunk.

I know, but I’m not sure why we can do it. I just remember that time when Henry and his friend were bothering you in the locker room. I heard you mentally shout.

He looked a bit skeptical, but he supposed he decided not to argue because he soon began to swat at his trunk like a cat would a feather… except that the feather was a hell of a lot bigger than the cat .

Listen, Gray. i’m really sorry about what I did. I wasn’t trying to hurt you or make you upset. I uh… hang on a second.

Getting up, Erin sauntered over to where he had dropped his stuff and picked up a canvas and two buckets of paint. It took a bit of effort and he had to carry the canvas in his mouth, but he managed to get it all over to Grayson in one piece. The guy was just tugging on his pants after having shifted back when he looked up with a raised eyebrow.

If you’ll hold it for me, I’d like to try and complete our assignment. The teacher said I could use my trunk instead of stepping on the canvas, so maybe it will work that way.

Grayson’s eyes lit up as he quickly grabbed the canvas from Erin’s mouth and set it aside so that he could open both red and black paints. When the lids were off Erin dipped his trunk in, then took a careful inhale… only to jerk his nose out of the bucket and sneeze black paint all over the canvas… and Grayson.

Shit!

The kid was standing there blinking, covered in black spots from head to toe.

I’m sorry! I took too deep a breath!

He was about to beg for forgiveness when Grayson suddenly burst out laughing.

Gray?

The kid flopped over into the grass, kicking his feet.

Shifting, Erin walked over. He tried to be upset but after wiping his arm across his nose and seeing it come away black, he smirked, then started laughing right along with Grayson. After a few moments he flopped down beside him and nudged his shoulder, getting the cute smile he adored in response.

“I’m sorry I was mean,” he said earnestly.

Grayson tried to still look upset, too, but just couldn’t pull it off as he laughed quietly and rolled over onto Erin’s chest.

“I accept your apology… but I was told that there would be a fancy dinner and a ride on your elephant’s back to accompany it,” Grayson said with a hopeful grin. 

Erin grinned and shook his head from side to side in the grass, then sighed. 

“I guess I can arrange that, since you accepted my apology and all,” he replied, knowing darn well that he’d fully intended to spoil Grayson even without the added prompting.

Chapter 15: Pain

(Sick+new job=no time to do anything else lol.) 

“Someone fucking talk to me!” Tarren yelled as his father just barely managed to get him out the door before one of the doctors slammed it shut in his face.

“Calm down! If you go in there right now and distract them, Tiegan will die,” Jordan warned, clearly trying to talk some sense into his son.

“He was fine last night! He’s just getting a cold. They’re overreacting!” Tarren yelled back, panting hard from stress.

“No, he’s not! You know what happened and you know this is his only chance,” his father warned.

“But they can’t take them out now!” he yelled, getting no response from Jordan.

After another minute of struggling against his father Tarren finally gave up, but only so that he could be allowed back in to be with Tiegan once it was safe. The doctor returned after a few minutes, and once Tarren assured him that he wouldn’t lose his temper again, he was allowed back in the room.

The first kitten came out, incredibly tiny and unmoving. One of the six doctors in the room took it in a towel and began rubbing it as he put his hands in a warm incubator. While he did that another kitten came out. This was one even smaller and, unfortunately, it had definitely not made it. The third one appeared soon after, not moving but thankfully fully developed. It was quickly brought over to the warm chamber by a second doctor as they tried to stimulate breathing.

Please, make them be okay. He knew that it was unlikely that all of them would survive, especially since one came out already deceased, but he didn’t want to have to tell Tiegan that all of his kittens had died while he’d been under anesthesia and that the doctors had to fix him after the procedure to save his life, too.

They had done one scan and immediately gotten the paperwork to sign off on surgery. His female reproductive organs were riddled with cancer and had to be removed as soon as possible. Unfortunately, that meant that all of the kittens had to be immediately removed early.

Tarren gave a shaky sigh as the fifth, and final kitten was taken out. It was rushed over to the other four in the incubator and he focused his whole attention on those four tiny bundles of goldish-orange fur. The doctors were doing their best keeping their noses and mouths clear of fluids and rubbing, but it didn’t look like Tiegan was going to get his babies.

Tarren leaned his forehead against the chilly glass separating himself from the doctors working just beyond it. Two glanced up, but quickly went back to trying to revive the kittens. After a heartbreaking minute he let his eyes move to Tiegan. There were two doctors by him, one literally removing his ability to have anymore offspring, as the other wiped and cleaned up so infections wouldn’t occur. Well, at least they’re fast and know what they are doing.

“Son, look.”

Jordan nudged him, then nodded toward the incubator. There were two tiny, adorable, amazing kittens weakly swatting at the doctor’s hands as they continued to rub them with towels. Besides them were two, unmoving cubs that had clearly not made it. Tarren had to bite his tongue and refocus on the two still alive. The ones that were still fighting.

The two doctors holding the cubs took them over to Tiegan as soon as the one working on him finished stitching him up. He had been stuck in his tiger form for quite awhile so they carefully set them up so that they could nurse. The lead doctor stepped out of the room a minute later with the deceased kittens wrapped up in a small blanket.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Leo. We could only save two.”

Jordan finally released Tarren, allowing him to reach out and take the bundle.

“The two that survived are doing okay, but they will need to be kept in a warm place. There is one girl and one boy and they are feeding very well on their own, so the prognosis is good. Now then, onto Tiegan.”

Tarren did his best to keep himself calm as he waited for the man to speak.

“We removed a lot of cancerous tissue. He was extremely lucky that you got him here when you did. I ran a small scanner over his abdomen after removing everything and didn’t see anymore possible growths, but I definitely would like to see him back here in two weeks, and likely again in a month. Just to be sure.”

Tarren gave him a stiff nod, then bolted inside as soon as the doctor motioned that it was okay. He remained by Tiegan’s bedside for nearly five hours before he finally saw him start to wake up.

“Tiegan?”

His tiger was finally blinking open its beautiful golden eyes, but it was clearly exhausted.

“Hey there, sweetie.”

Tiegan gave a pained grumble, making Tarren’s heart hurt for him. Giving a small smile in return, he reached out and ran his fingers along his soft fur.

I’m so tired. It hurts.

“I know, hun. You remember you were telling me that your abdomen was hurting?”

Yeah.

Tarren gently scratched behind his ear, getting a small whining rumble in response.

“Well, it turns out that you had cancer.”

His eyes widened, but Tarren quickly continued in the hopes that he wouldn’t panic. He couldn’t move yet since the kittens were still feeding and he’d just had surgery. They had slept in the incubator for about an hour, then ate, then slept a bit more. Now they were both drooling as they tugged and bit at Tiegan for milk.

“The doctors had to… fix you, in order to save your life.”

Tiegan waited a moment before he gave a worried grumble and tried to get up.

“Wait! You can’t move, you’ll hurt yourself and your kittens!”

He immediately froze, confusion clouding his face.

What did they do with them?

“They had to take them out. You were going to die.”

They, but…

Tarren could feel the pain in his mind as Tiegan’s voice got more and more desperate. His hand ran down along his soft fur as he quickly replied.

“They were able to save two, but they are very fragile and are currently feeding from their amazing mother.”

Tiegan grumbled into his mind but Tarren kept quiet, letting him morn his three lost cubs. They were silent for several long minutes before Tiegan spoke again.

Please lift my paw. I need to see but my body feels like it’s weighed down.

The doctors had drugged him up pretty heavily to keep him from messing with his stitches or accidentally hurting the kittens as they fed, so Tarren could understand why he couldn’t do it much himself.

“Of course, here.”

He got up and carefully grabbed Tiegan’s large paw, then gently lifted it enough so that he could see his two tiny cubs nursing away. The look he gave them was that of a very proud mother.

Mine.

With a nod Tarren set his paw back down on the soft blanket and sat down in his chair right next to the bed.

“Yes, Tiegan. They are both yours and they are never going to be taken away.”

Chapter 16: Confused

“Ready to feed the cubs, Tiegen?” Tarren asked as he poked his head in through the door.

Tiegen was sitting next to the incubator, head leaning against the warm glass where his babies rested just inside. When he saw Tarren his ears perked up, a steady rumble starting up in his chest.

“That’s my boy.”

Tarren quickly got his hands cleaned in the sink near the surgery table, then dried them off with a towel as he walked up to the incubator. Since they had no other patients that needed the spare incubator his boss had allowed him to hook it up and even let Tiegen stay in the large surgery room as long as he stayed out of the way. Granted, it was hard for a huge tiger to do such a thing, but Tiegen had been religiously guarding his babies so he did generally stay away from anywhere the doctor needed to get to. They had come straight from the hospital to the vet Tiegen worked at.

“Alright, get yourself comfortable and I’ll get your babies.”

Tiegen immediately did as told, carefully resting his body down atop the blankets that had been set out for him. Thankfully, he was able to feed his kitten on his own. His body had changed to accommodate taking care of the cubs.

Taking one tiny kitten into his hands, Tarren carefully knelt down and waited for the little boy to attach himself before getting back up to retrieve their girl. She was quite a bit smaller than her brother but thankfully drank just about the same. Both, however, made quite a big mess as they did so.

“Alright, you’re good to go, just let me know when they’re finished.”

Tiegen gave him a deep rumble before resting his big fuzzy head on his paws and closing his eyes. Tarren flicked all but one of the lights off in the room, then headed into the break room to grab some lunch. He’d tried to feed Tiegen several times but he always preferred to wait until they get home to eat.

A soft tap against his window had Grayson sitting up in bed, arms stretching over his head as a small grumble echoed from his belly.

“Wonder who could that be… at my bedroom window.”

His lips quirked up into a smirk as he quickly slid from his tiny twin bed to go open the window for Erin. Well, for Erin’s elephant.

“Hey, what are you doing here? You know I’m grounded.”

But it’s stupid. She grounded you for getting home late when we were out.

Rolling his eyes, Grayson chuckled.

“Yes, and I forgot to tell her where I was and my phone was dead. She nearly had a heart attack, so the least I could do was not argue with her decision. Besides, it is just for today.”

His elephant’s trunk nudged Grayson’s chest once, then began wrapping around his waist.

“H-Hey, no! I’m grounded.”

Grayson smacked his trunk away, the action resulting in the most adorably awkward-looking puppy face on an elephant.

“I can’t go out today. I’m in trouble.”

If his mother even caught him talking to Erin he’d probably get another day added onto his grounding.

But it’s my fault you stayed out too late. Will she listen if I talk to her?

Sighing, Grayson shook his head, mussy gray hair swishing in front of his eyes with the action.

“No, she doesn’t care if it was your fault or mine because it was my responsibility to contact her.”

His elephant blew out an upset snort and swung its nose about as he turned in a circle, ears flaring in frustration.

“You can just come back tomorrow. I can still come out on Sunday.”

He gave a sad grunt but slowly shifted back to his human form.

“Back away from the window for a sec,” Erin suddenly yelled as quietly as he could up to him.

“Huh?” Grayson mumbled.

“Just do it, kid!”

Scowling, Grayson took a few steps back, only realizing what Erin was going to do seconds before he swung through the window. Darn that tree’s placement is annoyingly perfect to get into my room. As soon as he landed with a thump on the bedroom floor Grayson ran over, shoving at Erin’s chest as he whispered frantically, “you can’t be in here. Mom is still home!”

Erin extended both of his arms to block him from shoving him right back out the window. On hindsight, Grayson realized that it would have been very bad for his health if he had succeeded. His attention, however, was much more focused on the sound of footsteps walking up the stairs.

“Sh, get in quick!”

Grayson shoved him across his messy room, nearly tripping over Erin’s own jacket that he still hadn’t returned yet. The second Erin was in the closet Grayson turned around, ready to jump into his bed and pretend like nothing was going on, but of course, his plans never went the way he wanted. Erin didn’t wait three seconds before yanking Grayson backward, right into the cramped closet with him and shutting them both in darkness together.

The bedroom door creaked open seconds later, but an arm tightly wrapped around Grayson’s waist and a hand clamped down over his mouth made it impossible for him to do anything but hold his breath and wait. He was trying to stay focused on his mother’s footsteps, but Erin’s strong scent was beginning to blur his thoughts when he did finally take a breath. Everything started feeling hot as his scent filled the tiny closet, not letting any other smell reach Grayson’s reddening nose. At some point during that time, his mother sighed and left the room, but he was much too busy enjoying Erin’s hands roaming beneath his pajama pants.

“Erin…” The word should have been stronger, and not gasped, but the guy was definitely not being careful about where he was grabbing. In fact, a moan quickly followed Grayson’s hushed mumble.

Erin mimicked it immediately, then jerked his hips forward, pushing Grayson against the door. The resulting rattle had them both freezing, expecting to hear his mother coming back upstairs, but when nothing happened, Grayson faintly remembered hearing the door shut a minute ago.

She left the house, Gray.

Having Erin’s voice in his head brought him right back into what they had been doing… or what they definitely shouldn’t be doing.

Grayson.

A soft breath warmed his ear before teeth gently skimmed along the outer edge.

“You smell so good right now,” Erin whispered as he gently grasped Grayson’s length and gave it a light pump, making him groan against the door. Erin started nudging his hips against his backside again, making Grayson’s legs begin to shake and his breath come in short gasps. He felt like rolling over and just letting Erin have his way with him, but they really shouldn’t be doing what they were doing. They weren’t even officially going out yet.

“Erin…”

His nose nuzzled against the back of Grayson’s neck in response, tongue gently lapping at the skin there.

“Erin, we need to stop,” Grayson rasped.

Hmm?

His hips began to pick up speed, rubbing Grayson against the door and making him second guess his want to stop. It felt amazing and his mother wasn’t home.

He was so focused on the feelings building up in his lower half that he hardly noticed when Erin began to slip his pajama pants down. He did, however, understand that they were about to start making elemouses or mousephants soon if he didn’t snap himself out of the haze they both seemed to be in.

“Erin!”

The yell finally got the response he needed. Erin snapped his head up abruptly, accidentally slamming it against a rack Grayson had put up to hang his clothing on… not that he ever really did.

“Shit!”

Grayson grabbed the handle to the closet and shoved the door open, taking in a deep breath to clear his head before turning around to see Erin rubbing the back of his head.

“What the heck happened? Wait…”

He stepped out of the closet and paced for a moment as Grayson yanked his pants back up and threw a pair of shorts at Erin.

“Gray,” Erin finally said when he stopped and pulled on the borrowed too-small shorts.

“I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Gray,” Erin tried against hesitantly.

“Get out!”

He knew that he shouldn’t have yelled at him, but something was seriously messing with his head. It was like his body wanted to run to Erin and shove the darn guy down on his bed and ride hi— No!

“Just go, please.”

Erin slowly raised his hands in surrender. The look on his face made Grayson’s belly hurt. He was glad, though, when Erin walked to the window and carefully began climbing back down the tree.

“I’m going to call you tomorrow. You better pick up, Gray! We’re going to talk about this,” Erin yelled as he descended the last few feet to the ground.

“O-Okay!” was Grayson’s response before he shut the window, then fell back onto his bed. He gave a tired sigh and thought about what had just happened. he was a bit weirded out by whatever the hell it had been, but he wasn’t going to just ignore Erin because of it. They could talk about it tomorrow, after they both have some time to chill out.

And why is it so hot in here!

Chapter 17: Steps We Take

“Tarren?”

“Hey, you sound panicked. What wrong, Erin?”

He was quiet for a moment, trying to quell the panic in his voice. “I just almost made elemouses!” 

“Wouldn’t it be elemeese? Or is that just me thinking mouses sounds stupid?” Tarren supplied helpfully.

“Come on man, I’m being serious!” Erin groaned.

“Okay, why? It’s not like you did it without him saying okay, right?”

Erin paused again, running back through what had actually happened for the hundredth time. “I don’t know. He just started getting really hot and he smelled like a fucking piece of chocolate cake.”

Tarren chuckled as he replied “I didn’t think elephants liked ca—” “Dammit, Tarren!”

“Alright, alright. You didn’t complete the deed, did you?”

“No. That’s what the almost was for,” Erin grumbled.

“Okay, well, then what’s wrong?”

“I couldn’t freaking control myself!” Erin growled.

“Oh, that. He’s in heat.”

“Heat?”

Now that I think about it, Arron had acted like that when I’d found him running away from Rylan’s house… naked.

“Yeah, heat. He just needs to have some pervy time with someone and then he’ll be fine again.”

Tarren must have been able to sense the glare Erin was narrowing at his phone because he continued. “Cool your trunk.”

“Is that what you did with Tiegan?”

There was a slight cough on the other end of the line before Tarren answered awkwardly.

“Uh… kind of? He basically was so far into his heat that he just jumped my bones.”

Erin nodded, glad that their situation hadn’t been that aggressive. “I remember when Arron did that and… yeah, so it will only be fixed if he sleeps with someone?”

“I’m still new to this stuff, but from what I’ve read, if they try to deal with it themselves it could take awhile, but most times it’ll work. Some cross-shifters literally have to do it . Actually, I know a cross-shifter who might be able to help you out. His boyfriend’s an idiot, so ignore him, but Tayn’s pretty cool.”

“Oh? Alright. What’s his number?”

Erin put his phone on speaker and quickly typed in what he was told.

“Okay, I’m going to give him a call, thanks Tarren.”

“No prob, see you later, elephant.”

“Bye, cocky lion.”

Erin hung up and quickly pressed call for Tayn’s number. He picked up after a minute, but before he said anything Erin could hear a bunch of cackles, then a loud growl, then quiet in the background.

“Hello? Who is this?”

“Hi, my name’s Erin. I’m Tarren’s friend?”

“Ah, what’s up?”

“Um, can we talk by chance? Off the phone?”

There was a long pause before he grumbled into the receiver; “I’ve got kids and a boyfriend.”

There was a loud growl in the background and Tayn sighed.

“Husband… kind of. Anyways, not interested.”

“Uh, good? Neither am I. I have a cross-shifter that I am really interested in who I want some help with.”

“Eh? Another shifter is in the area?”

“Yeah, uh, he’s a mouse…”

“…and you are?”

“That’s not important right now.”

“ Okay, you can come over if you want. I’ll just text you my address.“

“Okay, thanks.”

“No problem. See you when you get here.”

They both hung up and Erin took a deep breath before heading out to his car. He had driven home from Grayson’s about an hour ago, but just couldn’t get him out of his head. If he was taking out his frustrations with someone else…

Don’t think about it. He’s not.

Giving his head a good shake, Erin peeled out of the small driveway and headed for Tayn’s place.

A loud roar made Tarren jump as he was trying to examine a hyper dog who needed some dental work. The vet, who was standing next to him, grinned.

“I’ll be back in a few moments, please excuse me.”

Walking into the surgery suite, Tarren flipped on one of the lights so that he wouldn’t step on Tiegan’s tail, again.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

The question wasn’t exactly necessary, though, since Tiegan had a kitten in front of him and was licking at it frantically while growling in distress.

“Hey, Tiegan, let me take him.”

He glanced up at him but didn’t stop licking the still cub. It, surprisingly, wasn’t the smaller one, which was still feeding. After a moment Tarren gently managed to get the kitten into his hands and took it straight to the ventilator, pressing the little oxygen mask over its face.

“Hey doc!”

The vet ran in a minute later, clipboard from his patient still in-hand.

“What wrong?”

“He’s not breathing, I need help,” Tarren said in a rush.

The vet walked over, inciting a growl from Tiegan that he just ignored. Tarren wasn’t sure why he was being so calm about it until the man pointed to the kitten’s nose.

“Tarren, let him go. He’s got a terrible infection, look at all the discharge coming from his nose. It’s not something that can be safely treated in such a young kitten.”

Tarren blinked and swallowed hard. He’d seen the discharge, but…

“Isn’t there something we can do? Antibiotics? Why didn’t we catch it sooner?”

“No. We gave Tiegan some extra vitamins to filter to the kittens but they are much too small and weak to be able to handle antibiotics, it would be fatal to give a direct dose. Prevention also can’t be administered until they are at least a few weeks old.”

Tarren felt his lion roar in his mind as his eyes narrowed at the vet.

“Give it to him anyways!”

He knew that his mane and whiskers were beginning to sprout, but he couldn’t do a damned thing about it.

“I’m sorry, Tarren, I won’t do that. It won’t help.”

His vision turned red as his lion took over and darted out of the room, then the building. He didn’t feel like the king of beasts anymore, or even a king at all. All he felt was pain as he continued to run blindly. Rain drizzled overhead before quickly turning into a raging storm, yet he didn’t slow until he was unable to catch his breath. The moment his body stopped moving he dropped into a large puddle of mud.

Give us back our cubs. This isn’t fair to us.

Feelings flashed through his mind that he quickly realized were Tiegan’s.

What kind of lion am I? I just ran away from my mate while he’s suffering far worse than me.

Tarren forced himself to get up, then slowly trudge his way back to the veterinary clinic. Tiegan was there, his tiger’s bright golden eyes watching him with sadness… but beneath it Tarren could see strength. Something that he had just run out of.

Then you can borrow some of mine, love.

Clenching his teeth, Tarren forced himself to shift and sit up on the now-muddy floor as Tiegan pushed his head against his bare chest. Leaning on someone else for support was something a male lion was laughed at for, but right then, he needed his tiger. Tarren’s arms wrapped around Tiegan’s neck, pulling him in for a tight hug. He buried his face in the thick orange and black fur, taking deep breaths of the only scent that could bring him back to his senses.

It will be okay. We’re here for each other. 

Tarren nodded against Tiegan’s fur. He would. He would do his best to be there for Tiegan and their remaining offspring. Whether the outcome was good or bad in the end. 

And that’s all that matters, Tiegan thought.

Chapter 18:Talking With Hyenas

Standing outside of the vet’s office, Jordan watched as his son slowly disappeared inside. Straightening his shoulders, he turned and walked away from the gathering crowd, pulling out his phone and dialing a number before lifting it to his ear.

“Hello?” replied a scratchy voice on the other end.

“Hello, I’d like to have several searches put out. I can pay for everything up-front… and more if they lead somewhere.”

There was some mumbling on the other side of the call before Jordan grinned.

“Good. They are about stolen tiger cubs.”

Standing right outside an apartment on the other side of town, Erin suddenly felt a little unsure about the whole situation. Not that he didn’t trust Tarren, he was one of his best friends, but going to see hyenas for relationship advice seemed a bit odd.

Worth a shot, I guess.

hesitantly, he lifted his hand and tapped on the door three times. Awkward laughter was heard inside in response, then a few whines and something crashing into something else?

What the hell?

After another minute the sounds quieted down and he heard the lock on the door turn before it opened, revealing a young guy in nothing but a pair of basketball shorts. He was decently built, if a little skinny, and his hair spiked up almost like a mohawk.

“Uh…”

His brows rose before he grumbled, annoyed.

“Listen, whatever you’re selling, I don’t want it, and if you want to argue, I’m a hyena who couldn’t care less about castrating annoying salesmen.”

Charming.

“Um, I’m looking for Tayn?”

His eyes narrowed and he bared his teeth.

“Look dude, Tarren sent me over. He said Tayn lived here and he could help me out with a cross-shifter I know.”

He blinked, eyes going wide.

Well, at least his teeth are put away.

“There’s another cross-shifter? You’re not talking about Arron?”

“No. There are two others, but I definitely don’t want the feline one. Tarren already claimed it.”

His head tilted as he stepped back and Erin took the gesture as an okay to walk inside.

“What’s the other shifter? And I’m totally gonna kill Tarren for not telling me about his,” he said as Erin heard him shut the door behind him. The guy then walked ahead and dropped down onto the sofa. Erin had planned to just stand, but when he pointed to the seat next to him, he hesitantly sat down.

“He’s a mouse.”

Tayn’s eyebrows pinched together before he leaned close to him and sniffed, then leaned back with a your serious sort of look.

“Sorry dude, but uh, elephant and mouse?”

Erin was about to reply when a hyena suddenly scampered into the room and began sniffing at the guy’s leg quite aggressively.

I’m so confused.

Tayn seemed to just get annoyed as he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

“Counting to three Pask…”

The hyena looked up, seemingly considering making his attentions more inappropriate. He got a growl in response. “Three. Two.”

The second he said one the hyena jumped up on the couch and flopped its head in the guy’s lap. It would have actually looked cute if it wasn’t baring its rather large teeth at Erin.

Tayn didn’t seem to care, though, since he just smacked the hyena on the nose.

“Get over it, Paskal, I’m not going to strip for every guy that comes in here. I do have morals, you know?”

The hyena huffed and continued to glare at Erin as it licked Tayn’s shorts once. That only seemed to make the guy’s eyes roll before he shoved the plump beast off the sofa to thud onto the floor.

“I told you to watch the pups.”

Paskal grumbled and stood up, shaking out his spotted coat before plopping his butt down and growling at Erin again.

“Pask, you won’t get anymore pups unless you start behaving. Every damn time someone comes here that isn’t Larro, Ariel, Arron, or Rylan, you start getting all defensive!”

The hyena grumbled but didn’t stop looking at Erin until Tayn smacked its nose with a house shoe.

“Go. Now!”

While he was obviously upset, Pascal did as told and stomped his paws before he disappeared back down the hallway. Erin was expecting to get the chance to finish speaking with Tayn finally, but seconds later there were two hyena pups squirming up into his lap.

“Dammit Pascal!”

The big hyena loped into the room looking guilty.

“It’s okay, I don’t mind pups.”

Erin wiggled his fingers above their heads, making the little boy growl and swat at them while on his back. The female was a bit more stoic and hopped onto her mother’s lap to curl up for some attention. Evidently, Pascal minded him playing with them, though, because he quickly grabbed his boy by the scruff and put him down a few feet away on the carpet.

“I’m not going to hurt your kids, Pascal… and I’m not interested in Tayn, I just wanted to talk with him about a friend I am interested in.”

The large hyena’s eyes narrowed.

Turning his attention back to Tayn, Erin figured that they better just get the show on the road.

“So uh, my mouse friend, he’s in heat… I think for the first time considering how he was acting.”

Tayn grinned and relaxed back against the sofa, patting his pup and crossing his legs when Pascal leaned closer to sniff.

“Your friend needs to have sex, then it will go away.”

I don’t mind doing that with him, but…

“Is there any other way? I mean, can’t he just, y’know… in the shower?”

Tayn chuckled and patted Pask’s head after their pup hopped off his lap, making the hyena smirk and thump its funny looking tail on the floor.

“He could, but it would take about ten or twenty goes to feel any kind of relief.”

“Uh…”

“Yeah, his hand would probably get raw, along with other things.”

Okay, so that’s out.

“So, I guess sex it is, but uh, can protection be used? Would that work?”

“Yeah. May take a few goes, but it should work fine. The body can just tell the different somehow which is why the shower thing or a box of tissues just won’t work all that well.”

Tayn opened his mouth to say something else when Pascal shoved his nose into his crotch, making him jump and laugh out a snarl.

“Dammit Pascal, I am not in heat! Now go make dinner or give the pups a bath before I beat you.”

Pask’s hyena pinned its ears and tried for a puppy face, but Tayn just bared his teeth and pointed towards the kitchen.

“Go. Now.”

Erin watched as they glared back and forth at each other, but after a moment he did as told, trotting off to the kitchen with the pups hot on his heels.

Grinning, Erin stood up and turned to shake Tayn’s hand.

“I’ll get out of your hair now. Thanks a lot for the information.”

He stood up and nodded, taking his proffered hand before speaking.

“Be careful with him, man.”

“Huh? I am careful. That’s why I came to talk to you.”

“I know, and it was a good idea, but think about it. He’s a mouse… if you get him pregnant and anything besides color is transferred to the kid, you could kill him. Most cross-shifters get stuck in their animal forms for gestation, and that would mean your little mouse friend would be growing an elephant-sized baby inside his tiny body if fertilization even managed to occur.”

Shit. He has a point. I hadn’t thought about that.

“I’ll definitely remember that, thanks Tayn.”

He smiled and nodded, though it looked a little sad.

Once Erin was back on the road he headed straight for Grayson’s. If Tayn was correct, he was probably still stuck in his heat and god, if he figured out that his hand wasn’t going to work before he got there, he’d probably beat the crap out of anyone who might be trying to help him.

The results for the call Jordan made were almost immediate on two of the cubs. It showed just how stupid the people were who’d sold them. Jordan had paid twenty thousand through his phone minutes ago, five of it going to the shipment of the first cub while the other will take a bit longer to get a hold of. The first cub was due to arrive in a little over an hour since it hadn’t been shipped far to begin with, so he had to floor his car in order to get home in time after making sure that his son and his mate would be okay.

When the delivery arrived he paid the man a generous tip to tear up any documents leading back to him, then quickly got the little cub out of the box with holes poked in it. He knew that it was no way to ship a tiger baby, but he’d had to be sure that it wasn’t obvious.

“Hey there little guy.”

It growled at him, its voice scratchy as it tried to wiggle free of his hands. He was definitely in need of some extra food but he looked to be about a year old and, thankfully, would be able to eat whole foods. Actually, that was a good idea. Stepping into the kitchen, Jordan held the cub against his chest and fished out a pound of fresh chicken from the fridge. It was already in a ziplock bag so he just carried it out with the little tiger, straight to the car.

When he stepped into the vet’s office a short time later most of the people who had been there earlier to see the damage his son had caused were thankfully gone. Jordan found both him and Tiegan curled up in the surgery room, their last remaining cub in the incubator above them, keeping warm. Tiegan appeared to be asleep while Tarren kept guard.

Jordan smiled at him, chuckling quietly when his eyes widened and he bared his teeth at the little cub in his arm.

What is that?

It’s one of Tiegan’s cubs that were sold.

What? But how?

Well, let’s just say that I called in some favors. He was the closest one and actually arrived only forty-five minutes ago.

The rumbling growl that followed his response was expected, but he wouldn’t let his son’s lion take control of the situation.

Don’t let him take over. This is your mate’s baby and if you kill it, I can promise you that he’ll never let you near him again.

Tarren seemed to struggle for a minute as he wrestled his lion’s instincts to kill another’s cubs back.

I wouldn’t do that to him. Bring it here.

Jordan did so carefully, being sure to watch his son’s lion for any aggression. Once he was kneeling next to him, he gently set the cub on the tile floor and let Tarren rub his scent all over it. It wasn’t the best way to deal with a baby that wasn’t his, but it was at least trying. He was going to pretend it was his, or at least trick his lion’s sense of smell. When he was content he nudged Tiegan’s face with his nose, repeating the gesture until the tiger blinked open bloodshot eyes. He gave a quiet grumble and tried to go back to sleep but when Tarren scruffed the tiger cub with his teeth and lifted it in front of his mate, the larger tiger looked like it had seen a ghost.

In a flash he had the cub between his paws and was grooming it incessantly. At first the cub seemed confused and even scared, but as Tiegan relaxed a little and calmed down, the grooming got more gentle and the little cub settled in, his tiny grumbles matching his mother’s loud ones.

Smiling, Jordan set the bag of chicken down near Tarren’s lion and got up.

“Take care of him. I have more phone calls to make so I’ll be back later.”

Tarren nodded and Jordan returned the gesture before walking out.

One down, five to go.

Chapter 19: If You’ll Let Me

Pulling up in front of Grayson’s house made Erin’s nerves become even more frazzled. After speaking with Tayn he wasn’t really sure what he wanted to do. Or, well, he was… but was that the correct decision and safest for Grayson? Definitely not. Children were the one thing he had always wanted, but with Gray, he couldn’t risk that.

Erin’s head fell forward as he groaned, only to smack the horn and make him jump. That, in turn, made his head smack against the low ceiling of his car.

Just my luck.

He rubbed the sore spot and slowly got out, figuring that they had heard him anyway. However, when no one came to the door he remembered that his mother had left earlier and her car was still gone.

Okay, so it’s just Gray. That’s good, at least.

When he didn’t see the kid’s little mouse peaking out from behind a curtain after a few moments Erin headed toward the backyard. The tree was fairly easy to climb and thankfully he’d left the window unlocked.

Time to be that awkward elephant in the room.

Just not literally, because he definitely didn’t have the money to fix their house.

Once inside, Erin quietly shut the window, then turned toward the bathroom. It wasn’t hard for his insanely good hearing to pick up what Gray was in the shower doing. His tongue slowly ran across his drying lips as he took a few deep breaths. If he screwed up now, he was going to lose any chance of having him. A little voice in the back of his head was continuously repeating that it would be better since Grayson couldn’t have elephant calves, but he just couldn’t leave him.

Once in front of the bathroom, Erin bit his bottom lip and yanked the door open, then shut it before he could stop himself. He was at least facing away from the shower since his nerves were already pretty much used up.

“Erin? What the heck are you doing here?”

Grayson’s voice squeaked at the end of his sentence, making Erin’s body tense in more ways than one.

My mouse.

After taking a very deep breath and letting it out through his nose, Erin slowly turned around and looked at the see-through shower curtain. Granted, he couldn’t see much since the steam and water running down it blocked his vision, but he didn’t need to. He had seen him naked before, and had quite enjoyed the view.

“I can help,” he said quietly after a few silent moments.

“Get out!”

If he hadn’t sounded like he was in pain, Erin would have obeyed immediately. But instead, he took a step forward and squared his shoulders.

“No, I know you’re in heat.”

“I know that. looked it up. You just want me because of the pheromones.”

It was true that he did smell amazing, even with the collar blocking most of it, but perhaps that was just his amazing sense of smell since he didn’t see many other students eyeing him in the halls.

“I can smell them even with that collar on.”

“Of course you can. You’re an elephant. Now go away.”

“No.”

Grayson let out a frustrated squeak and Erin saw his blurry figure behind the curtain slowly slide down the wall to the floor of the bathtub.

“Please, I can take care of myself.”

Okay, time to say the right thing, Erin.

“I want to take care of you.”

He took a step forward, then another when he didn’t hear Gray protest. That left him standing right in front of the frosted curtain, his heart nearly beating right out of his chest.

“Gray?”

Erin’s voice was a whisper, but he knew that Grayson’s adorable little ears would be able to pick it up, even with the shower thrumming water overhead. When he didn’t answer Erin slowly began to strip off his clothing, but left his boxers on before he climbed into the back of the shower.

Awwwww.

He was crouching beneath the warm water, eyes wide and nose almost as pink as his shift forms’. If Erin didn’t have some serious self control and he wasn’t still wearing his cross-shifter necklace he probably would have done something seriously stupid, but instead, he crouched, careful to keep his balance but not get too close.

“Hey there, Gray.”

He had his knees squeezed together to hide his obvious arousal but Erin didn’t focus on that. Instead, he carefully sat down and tilted his head back,relaxing as the warm spray hit his bare lower chest and legs.

“I don’t want to have kids.”

Grayson’s wide eyes blinked up at Erin once, then he hid his face in his arms, which were wrapped around his knees.

“Hey sweetie… want to know what I heard today?”

Grayson’s breathing was beginning to get heavy again but he ignored it to sneak a peek at Erin, then nod.

“I heard from a new friend of mine that I could never do that with you… that it would be dangerous for you.”

He looked confused at that.

Okay, I guess showing an example would be easier.

With that thought Erin reached behind himself to the waistband of his boxers and produced a very obvious item that made Gray’s face burn bright red.

“I d-don’t want to.”

Erin held out the tiny package of plastic to him and smiled.

“I know you don’t feel well and my friend said that it would take a seriously long time to break your heat without help…”

He fidgeted, eyeing the package but not taking it yet.

“E-Erin…”

“What if I said that this can just be because of your heat? I won’t hold this against you at any time. In fact, we can forget it happened if you’d like… though I’m sure that you know I do like you this way. I’m willing to wait until you’re ready to return or reject those feelings. But, seeing you hurting like this is just something I can’t handle.”

Erin’s heart jumped into his throat when Grayson shakily reached forward and took the condom from his fingers. He stayed completely still as the guy slowly unwrapped the plastic. When he looked back up at him, biting his lower lip, Erin quickly pulled off his boxers and took the condom from him.

“You won’t hurt me, right? I heard that it hurts.”

Erin looked up at him with a devilish smirk as he finished covering himself.

“I’ll be extremely careful. If it hurts, just tell me to stop. Anything you want, I’ll do it.”

Grayson took a few deep breaths before hesitantly crawling toward him. Erin lowered himself back down so that he was sitting comfortably, then took Gray into his arms when he got close enough. He was completely ready to do it , but he wasn’t going to rush him at all.

“Do what you feel you can, I’m here to help you so don’t try to meet any kind of expectation, because I just want you to feel better. Okay, Gray?”

He moved a bit in Erin’s arms, obviously trying to avoid what he had that was poking him, but Erin had a feeling that he was getting more and more uncomfortable.

“Here, maybe this will help you calm down a bit…”

Erin reached around the back of his neck and took a deep breath, then undid the clasp on his cross-shifter collar. He really had no idea what they did and didn’t do besides the pheromone thing, but the second that thing was unclasped and set aside he was on him like, well, an adorably horny animal. Even though he was now much more interested in their intended activity, just like Erin was, he still did his best to keep everything as painless as possible. The water definitely helped as a slight distraction as they got further and further into it and if Erin hadn’t put the condom on before he’d took the collar off, he might have done something terrible to him, so at least that was done.

When they finally managed to calm themselves down Erin was on his back, panting on the floor of the shower with a very tired Gray partially curled up on his chest. The shower had gone cold awhile ago and since sitting beneath chilled water was never a good thing for long periods of time, Erin quickly turned off the water after taking off the condom and rinsing himself.

Erin moving had Grayson stirring with a tiny squeak, but Erin just grinned in response and mussed his hair, making him give him a sleepy leer that he couldn’t help but chuckle at.

“Feeling better?”

He got himself up into a partial sitting position and winced.

“You need size reduction surgery.”

Erin’s inner elephant snorted in his head and he swore that if it was a cat, it would totally be preening at that comment.

“I’ll just take that as a compliment. Come on, I’ll get you dried off and into bed.”

He pouted when Erin grabbed a towel and gave him a quick dry off, then scooped him up in it.

“I’m not a kid,” Grayson grumbled.

“I’m not treating you like a kid, Gray. I just know that you’re probably sore from your first time.”

He blushed furiously as Erin set him down on his little bed, then scrambled beneath his blankets.

“That wasn’t my first t-time.”

Okay, eye roll.

“Oh?”

Erin leaned down and tapped Grayson’s naked bum where it stuck out from the blankets, startling Gray enough for him to shift.

“Oops.”

His fuzzy little head popped out from under the blankets a moment later, giving a loud squeak of annoyance.

“Sorry sorry, you were asking for it, though.”

He flattened his ears and disappeared back beneath the blankets. When he didn’t come out again, Erin carefully lowered himself into his bed, being sure that there were no mouse-sized bumps beneath him as he did so.

“So… can I sleep here? I’m really tired after all that exercise.”

Erin noticed the clock on his bedside table flashing seven and nearly laughed out loud.

Darn, little mouse, you had some stamina!

When Erin didn’t get a response, he glanced under the blankets, smirking when he found out why he was getting no replies. After getting comfortable, Erin grabbed his little matchstick-box bed and set it beside him, then carefully put him inside, then tucked him in with a tiny piece of comforter that had been cut specifically for the box. Once he was sure that he was nice and comfortable, he turned onto his belly and sighed out a content breath.

He would have loved to cuddle with Gray’s human form, but he supposed tucking in an adorable mouse was just as good. His elephant gave a tired snort in his mind as he chuckled and leaned over, pressing a soft kiss to Grayson’s whisker’d cheek, then flopped his head down onto the pillow for some much needed sleep.

Chapter 20: Off Guard

He couldn’t believe that he had one of his older kittens back. He remembered him, of course, and had secretly named him Melayo. It was an odd name, but he was an odd little furball. He loved sucking on his back feet and mewing when he fed. Tiegan cleaned him until he was completely out cold, then looked over to Tarren with excitement.

His love’s lion definitely didn’t seem to share his happiness.

Tarren?

Tiegan leaned over a bit to hide the cub from his view. The second his line of sight to it was blocked, Tarren blinked and licked his nose, then yawned.

Hm?

Are you okay? With him being here?

Of course.

Tiegan’s eyes narrowed as he noticed his lion trying to sneak peeks at the kitten.

What’s wrong? Your lion is really fidgety.

When Tarren just flopped his head down facing away from him, Tiegan licked his lips and considered what little information he understood about lions. They’d had a shifter class last year in school which had focused on the more aggressive species so he knew how to diffuse a situation if they ever had to deal with another kid’s immature animal.

Wait a second…

Tiegan looked down at him wearily as he remembered something extremely important he’d learned about adult male lions.

He’s mad that it isn’t his. I’m sorry.

Don’t be. He’ll get over it.

Tarren honestly wasn’t sure about that. Adult lions, more than often, killed another male’s cubs so that they could reproduce their own offspring faster.

We still have our baby and I have no intention of treating them any different.

Leaning over, he nuzzled through his mane until he found an ear, then grabbed it with a playful growl. His lion was obviously pouting, though, since it just grumbled and shook its head in response.

Not right now, Tiegan.

Okay.

He settled down, resting his head on his paws as Melayo slept beneath him. Their own little kitten wouldn’t need fed again for another hour so, so he took the chance and closed his eyes for some much needed sleep.

At some point during the night Grayson had shifted because he awoke with his matchbox bed pushing into his lower back. When his eyes finally blinked open, he noticed nothing but darkness, at first. It was definitely still night time and as he sat up, he started to notice the glow from the clock on the nightstand flashing three A.M. He was just taking in a deep breath for a sleepy sigh when he smelled musk… sweat. It didn’t take him long to realize that Erin was sleeping next to him and was likely butt-naked beneath the blanket.

Panic time. Yep.

His mouse felt like it was running on an exercise wheel in his head!

“Gray?” a groggy voice echoed in the tiny bedroom, making him jump before he looked over his shoulder. The slim amount of moonlight drifting through the window outlined Erin just enough to tell Grayson that he was sitting up, leaning on one arm as he faced him. IHecouldn’t really see his expression, but judging from his voice, he’d have to say that he was still half asleep.

“Um, hi.”

“Is your butt feeling okay?”

Straight to the point much. Wait, oh god. We did have sex!

Grayson began moving toward the edge of the bed, but Erin’s hand suddenly grabbed his left arm and tugged him back until he was partially in his lap. His very naked lap.

“E-Erin?”

Grayson’s voice squeaked from nervousness, but Erin just chuckled, the deep rumbling sound vibrating through his chest and into his back. Erin then leaned closer until Grayson could see his face. You’re smirking at me! It was hard to see well, but the moonlight was perfectly directed where his face was, letting Gray glimpse just enough.

“What’s so funny?”

He tried to make his voice sound deep and angry, but Erin just cracked a smile and mussed up his hair with his free hand.

“Hey!”

“Hm?”

“Don’t mess up my hair,” Grayson whisper-hissed, trying to come off as annoyed. Which he was. Heck, he was still trying to figure out how he’d let him shove his stuff up his butt earlier.

“But it looks so adorable all messy.”

Erin did it again and Grayson growled, jumping on him and biting his ear in revenge.

Take that!

Don’t mind if I do.

Suddenly, Grayson was on his back with a very naked Erin leaning over him, his hands pinning his own near his head.

“What are y—?” His mouth took Grayson’s in a rough and hungry kiss, making him dizzy for breath but also seriously confused. Erin never acted so aggressively before. Gray could feel his body lowering as it rubbed against his own, too. He would have been lying if he’d said that he wasn’t getting turned on, but his butt still hurt from the previous night and they weren’t even boyfriends yet.

“Erin, stop!”

He ducked down and began nibbling at Grayon’s neck right as a soft light from the hallway slipped into the room.

“Grayson?”

Oh, crap. Mom!

Grayson jerked his head to the side to see her walking toward Erin with a baseball bat.

“Wait!”

She ignored him and instead swung the bat straight for Erin.

Grayson closed his eyes, a scared squeak slipping from his lips. When he didn’t hear Erin scream out in pain, he let his eyes flick open.

Oh wow, he caught the bat.

Erin’s chest was heaving as he snorted in aggression, his head shaking slowly back and forth like an angry elephant’s.

Uh oh.

“Erin, calm down.”

He turned to look at him while Grayson’s mother struggled to get the end of the bat out of his hand. The skin around his eyes was wrinkled and grey, but Gray could also see small tusks breaking the surface on either side of his nose.

“Don’t shift! Erin, you’ll break our house. Please don’t shift.”

He blew out a heavy breath through his nose, the force of it moving Grayson’s bangs along his forehead.

“Mom, my collar. It’s in the shower. I need it.”

He knew that he had promised to never take it off in case he forgot to put it back on, which he had last night, but she didn’t argue. Instead, she dropped the bat and bolted for the bathroom, grabbing the collar before running back. Erin jerked his head to the side when she got closer again and let out a deep trumpeting roar, freezing her in her tracks.

“I got the collar,” she whispered carefully.

“Okay. Erin, look at me,” Grayson said as calmly as possible.

He did as told, but Grayson could see that he was barely controlling his elephant right then.

“Take a deep breath.”

Again, he did as told. Except it made him lean in closer and nuzzle at Gray’s neck.

Oops. Good one. Telling an animal with an amazing sense of smell to take a deep breath after you had sex with him.

At least his face was buried in Grayson’s neck now so that he couldn’t see his mother toss him the collar. He grabbed it when Erin loosened his grip enough on his right hand, letting him slide it free. He had moved his other hand to grab the bat so that left Gray with both free to buckle the collar on as fast as possible. The second it was in place he began trying to calm Erin down. The effect was almost immediate as the collar masked most of his pheromones from his senses.

“Hey Erin, take a few more deep breaths for me, please?”

His eyes were back to normal when he leaned away to do so, but it took a few minutes of silence before he finally got off the bed, looking utterly mortified.

“I’m so sorry.”

Before Grayson could tell him that they could talk it out, Erin shoved open the window and jumped to the tree, then dropped out of sight.

Chapter 21: Hello Mr.

Walking into the destroyed vets office had his lion on edge. The destruction wasn’t the main cause, though. The overwhelming smell of a tiger and its cubs, was. Nothing was more dangerous to another animal than a mother protecting its babies… and considering Tiegan was a tiger, he was one big scary mother. Even to a juvenile lion.

He remained in his human form as he walked through the building. The front desk was halfway across the room and the whole front wall was leaning in at different angles.

Man, my brother was seriously pissed.

When he stopped in the doorway of the least-destroyed room his eyes immediately fell upon the two large cats against the far wall.

“Hey there, bro.”

Tarren’s lion slowly lifted its head and grumbled, making Rylan roll his eyes.

“Yeah yeah, get over it fuzzbutt.”

When he didn’t reply and instead turned his head toward his mate, Rylan stepped into the room, trying to see what he was looking at.

What is it?

He knew that his cub was in the incubator since it was plainly visible off to the right, so then what could be making him hunch his shoulders and swish his tail? Both were obvious signs of stress.

Nothing.

Yeah right.

Shut up, Rylan. Get out.

Ignoring his brother, Rylan walked over and knelt down in front of a snoring Tiegan. It was probably the dumbest thing he’d ever done, but before he could talk himself out of it, he reached forward and grabbed the plump sleepy cub dozing against his mother.

Ah ha, I knew it.

When Rylan glanced back up at his brother’s lion, it seemed completely indifferent.

You don’t want this kitten here.

His cat’s eyes widened and he growled quietly, but didn’t answer.

Tarren, you can’t do that to your mate. This is his baby, one that he’s finally gotten back after losing so many.

Shut up. I know that, idiot!

Then why are you not defending it? You just let me take it from Tiegan without even a hiss.

He seemed conflicted, but Rylan could see why. His lion didn’t want it. It kept flicking glances back at the incubator where his last kitten was, even though he was still holding the tiger cub.

My lion doesn’t like it. I know it’s childish to humans, but it’s taking a lot of my strength to keep him from hurting it.

Well, he’s gonna have to learn to like it. This kitten is a part of Tiegan that was ripped from him before, and to finally get it back must be an incredible relief. He still loves your cub as much as this one, but come on. If you suddenly had the chance to get one of your kittens back, wouldn’t you?

I know, Rylan. It’s not me! It’s my darn lion that’s making it difficult.

Rolling his eyes, Rylan set the cub back down against its mother and pulled out a bag he’d set down when he’d knelt to grab the cub. Pulling something out from within it, he knew that he had immediately caught Tarren’s attention.

“Want it?”

Rylan waved the large buffalo bone in front of his brother’s lion, watching as it began to drip drool onto the tile floor. It was his one weakness. The only thing that could get his brother to do anything he wanted. When he let the bone drop Tarren’s lion snatched it out of the air and immediately got busy crunching away at the thick femur. Their father had always had a few of the bones lying around because it was much better to let a frustrated lion shred a bone then, well, a vet clinic.

Tarren was slowly beginning to relax as he took off layer after layer, but still had a long way to go. Rylan was just about to sit down when he noticed a certain tiger cub on its belly, front paws clawing at the end of the bone as it tried to nibble one of the end sockets.

Uh oh.

Tarren, behave.

He looked up at Rylan but stopped chewing, allowing them both to hear the tiny scritching of the baby tiger’s teeth on the end of the bone.

Terran, don’t. It’s your mates baby. Don’t do it.

Rylan saw him turn his head slowly and bare his teeth. Thankfully the little tiger understood and stopped chewing, but the pout it gave him was just adorable. The cub didn’t meet Tarren’s eyes, another plus, even though it didn’t really back away.

Let him nibble at it, Tar. You know he won’t be able to get through such a tough bone. He probably just wants to see if you are okay with him and teethe a little.

He grumbled but after a long moment of silence he went back to chewing on the giant bone. The little cub lifted its head and glanced up at Rylan, then back to Tarren, then mewed.

Tarren glared at the kitten.

It mewed again before pawing at the end of the bone hesitantly, watching Tarren with curiosity. When the much bigger cat didn’t growl or hiss, he settled in again and licked the part he’d been trying to gnaw on earlier.

Rylan held his breath while Tarren’s lion paused in its chewing. Then he began to lean over, making Rylan fidget until his huge jaws clamped down on the bone’s socket and broke it. He then dropped the piece in front of the cub’s paws before going back to the huge part. The little tiger mewed happily and attacked the piece Tarren had given him, growling as he gnawed at it like crazy.

When it was finally time for school, Grayson was fidgety, to say the least. Erin hadn’t returned any of his calls or texts and he never came back to explain anything. Well, he knew exactly what they had done and was incredibly embarrassed that his mother had come in right afterwards, but still. He didn’t want Erin hurting because they got caught or he might have lost control a little. The fact of the matter was that he hadn’t. The house was fine, his mother had also been okay with it after he had spoken with her for a bit, and he was also out of heat. That, Gray was definitely grateful for.

So, when Grayson finally stepped into their first class they had together he frowned when he noticed Erin’s seat was empty.

I swear I saw his car in the parking lot.

Pushing that aside for now, Grayson sighed and sat down. It wasn’t like he could just get up since the teacher had walked in, so he had to wait out the class before he could go look for him. It, unfortunately, took him until lunch time before he finally managed to track Erin down. His nose was pink from his mouse’s help in said finding, having needed its sense of smell in order to find the darn elephant, but it was worth it. Erin was sitting behind a tree, right next to the table they usually ate at.

Dork, he thought with a grin.

I heard that, Squeaker.

Sure, Tusks!

Butt-face.

Hey!

Erin grumbled and glanced over his shoulder at Grayson from behind the tree.

Er, you look like sh—poo.

Glad I look like a shipoo. Isn’t that some stupid kind of mutt dog?

Grayson’s eyes narrowed he shook his head and grinned, then walked over plop down right between Erin’s legs. Getting comfortable, he turned and smirked up at the guy’s shocked expression, then leaned in to try for a kiss. It hurt a little when Erin put his hands on Grayson’s chest and easily held him back from completing the gesture, though.

“What’s wrong? Besides the fact that my mom was fairly close to trying to castrate you with a baseball bat,” Grayson asked with a frown. He could see the glint of pain in Erin’s eyes at his words but he eventually ended up chuckling and replying, “you’re not mad at me?”

Grayson’s head tilted, his tongue darting out across his lips. Erin’s eyes followed the action until his tongue vanished back into his mouth.

“I’m not mad. You might have had some trouble controlling your elephant but that wasn’t your fault. We forgot to put my collar back on.”

Erin’s shoulders sagged some and he shook his head.

“I should have remembered. That was incredibly irresponsible of me. I could have gotten you…”

“Pregnant?” Grayson added helpfully.

Erin’s head jerked up a little, eyes meeting his own.

Whoa.

“What is that longing look for?”

Gray probably should have been able to put together the answer by himself, but he wasn’t really focusing on anything that might have come from what they had done the other night. Protection and all that.

“Wait a second. You… want kids?”

Erin flinched, chewing his bottom lip before shrugging and looking down at the grass.

“I guess it’s just my instincts?” he mumbled awkwardly.

Grayson tilted his head again

“Then why was there a question mark at the end of that sentence?”

His eyes lifted to Grayson’s and he scowled.

“You can’t see the question mark at the end of the sentence.”

“Nope, but you just told me there was one with that statement.”

Erin paused for a moment, then rolled his eyes and flopped his back against the tree.

“Yeah, I want kids. Okay? But I know we’re still in high school. It’s just that, well, elephants have really long gestation periods so we tend to want to mate earlier, because the calf won’t be born for at least two years after breeding.”

Grayson’s eyes widened at that bit of information.

Carrying a kid for two years?

He looked down at his flat belly and blushed.

There’s no way that I’d live through that.

“Wait a minute, isn’t a pregnant shifter often stuck in their animal form for most of the their pregnancy?”

Erin looked a little sheepish as he slowly nodded.

As cute as that expression is, I still can’t shake the image of my poor little mouse with a belly the size of an elephant calf. I’d definitely blow up.

Erin’s arms suddenly wrapped around Grayson, pulling his body flush against his as he buried his face in the crook of his neck.

“I’m really sorry, Little whiskers.”

The edges of Grayson’s lips tilted up as he moved a bit, getting his arms up and around Erin’s neck so that he could hug him back.

“It’s okay, Tusks. We’ll figure things out. My mom isn’t mad at you, I promise. You just surprised her.”

Suddenly, there was a tongue on Grayson’s cheek, making him squeak and squirm in Erin arms.

“Gross!”

Erin laughed and tugged on Gray’s ear with his teeth before leaning back with a quirky grin on his face.

“Sorry, things just got too tense. I don’t want you to worry, okay?”

Grayson pouted and stuck his tongue out at him the slightest amount.

“I’m not the one sulking behind a tree because I almost got beaten up by a mouse with a bat.”

Erin looked like he was about to argue, but he really couldn’t.

“Uh, touche.”

Jordan swore that he was going to go broke with how much each tiger cub was costing him to get back. His private delivery man had just dropped off two more sealed crates with a few holes punched in the top. After grabbing a switch blade he cut both open and quickly retrieved the two female cubs inside. They immediately snuggled into his arms with quiet grumbles. One was definitely underweight and younger, but the other seemed to have a few more months on it, possibly a year. After he got them settled in a makeshift bed he’d made in the corner full of soft blankets and towels, he checked his phone for messages.

One other kitten confirmed dead while the last two are on their way. Unfortunate that one hadn’t made it, but at least the last two boys are going to have a new chance at life with their real mother.

Jordan grinned and tucked his phone into his pocket. Rylan was out at the vet with Tarren so at least he knew that he would have someone to help with his lion. And, once they were all calmed down, he was going to bring his older brother and his mate home to their new additions.

Chapter 22: Accident

“Ready, dad?” Rylan shouted through the door, making sure not to have it open more than a few inches so that his brother couldn’t smell the stack of cubs curled up on each other in the far corner of the living room. Rylan could just barely see them from where he stood, but Tarren’s lion would definitely zero-in on the poor kittens if given the chance.

“Yeah! Let him in,” Jordan yelled back.

Rylan backed away from the door, allowing it to swing open and give Tarren a perfect view of the sleeping cubs. Tiegan was back in his human form with a pair of loose black shorts on and two kittens wrapped securely in his arms. He looked flabbergasted at the sight, but Rylan’s brother looked just about the opposite. He did exactly what Rylan had expected and began stalking towards the cubs, head swinging from stress and anger. It was an obvious sign that he was going to kill them… that he had been pushed too far too fast.

That’s where their father came in, though. He stepped in front of the little tiger cubs and let out a very impressive roar. The resonating sound shook the walls and vibrated through the floors. It did its job, too, stopping his brother in his tracks. Cutting off the lion’s vision of the kittens also helped snap him out of his aggressive state.

Rylan slowly walked around him and knelt beside the squirming pile of butts, pulling a particularly wiggly one out before turning to move in front of his father’s lion. Tarren’s eyes were immediately locked onto the cub, but it didn’t dare take a step closer with Jordan’s lion out. There was definitely one person who did, though.

A very excited tiger ran over with its two tiny cubs carefully held between its teeth. Tiegan gently set his kittens down on the blanket with the others and curled up protectively around the huge group. He began cleaning mewing bundles of fur without a second to spare, moving every single one to nurse after he was content that they were nice and squeaky clean… and covered in tiger spit. The bigger cubs got a little aggressive with the smaller ones, and especially the little hybrid, but one upset roar from their mother quieted all of them down immediately.

Jordan cautiously stepped aside then, so that Tarren could see, but sat down instead of walking away. They could all tell that Tarren was on edge and Tiegan wasn’t paying enough attention to really defend his cubs if the lion attacked.

Rylan.

Rylan could feel how hard his brother was fighting with himself with just that one thought.

If you need to go upstairs and get control, go do it. These are Tiegan’s remaining babies. Dad worked really hard and spent millions to get them back for your mate.

I know. My lion, though…

He’ll need to get used to them. Look how happy Tiegan is, and I know he’d love to share that with you, your cub, and his older babies.

Rylan felt his brother struggle to nod as he turned, then stalked upstairs.

That went better than I thought it would. Throwing all of these cubs at him was definitely a hard trial for his lion, Jordan thought to him calmly.

Rylan nodded.

“Want me to go upstairs and hang with him for a bit?”

Yes. Take him some food. That should calm his lion.

“Alright.”

Rylan ran to the kitchen to grab a good amount of chicken before heading upstairs.

Erin swore that Grayson was the cutest and sweetest mouse he’d ever seen. He hadn’t really met many mouse shifters, but he definitely was way above the ones he’d had the unfortunate pleasure to meet.

These daydreams are going to get me in trouble.

“Hey, Spots!”

Arron turned with a smile, his little silver cub tucked into a blanket in his arms.

Cute little brat.

It had been so long since Arron had been at school, and Erin hadn’t had much of a chance to go out to Larro’s place to play with Roan.

“Can I ask you something?”

Arron smirked and walked over, handing him their son. Well, Erin’s, his, and Rylan’s. Long story short, nature is weird as hell. Erin took Roan without a single complaint and nuzzled his nose against his soft furry head.

“Have you seen Grayson around? Little kid with grayish-white hair?”

“You mean the mouse-boy?” Arron asked.

“Yeah.”

Erin handed Roan back as Arron spoke again, making his heart sink a little.

“He bumped into someone in the hallway and the last I saw of him he was being lead toward the stairs. That was just a few moments ago. I told a teacher but they didn’t seem that determined to check it out.”

If Erin didn’t have Roan with him he would have been pissed that he hadn’t tried to help, but there was no way he could get involved with the cub in his arms.

“Okay, thanks.”

Erin rushed past him and nearly broke the door to the stairwell as he crashed into it. A group of three boys, surprisingly all of them human, were surrounding his little mouse. Grayson was literally in his mouse form sidled up against the wall as the boys tried to use him as a soccer ball.

“Excuse me, but that’s my mouse.”

They turned around at his words, the tallest one sending him a glare.

“Yeah? Well you can have him back when we’re done playing with him.”

“I don’t think you understand. That is my mouse… and I don’t like it when anyone besides me plays with him.”

The boy was about to throw a punch at him in response, but Erin grinned and let his elephant take over just enough to wrinkle his eyes in grey.

“Oh shit, you’re that elephant!”

“Oh shit, you’re right. Smarter than you look. Now get the hell away from my mouse, and if I ever see you messing with him again I won’t hesitate to teach you a very painful lesson about bullying!”

They were already stumbling out of the stairwell before he finished speaking so he doubted that they heard him much, but he was pretty sure the threat was solid enough that they weren’t going to mess with him again.

Erin let himself relax after a moment, then walked over to kneel down next to Grayson. He squeaked up at him, making Erin grin and reach over. Grayson scurried up his arm immediately, then plopped down on his shoulder.

Those guys were butts.

“Oooh, bad word from such a little boy.”

I’ll pee on your shoulder.

“I love you, Gray.”

That’s what I thought.

He squeaked again for good measure as Erin laughed and walked back out into the halls, grabbing his clothing and backpack before leaving.

“I’m not really feeling gym or art today. Want to go on a date instead?”

Erin’s shoulders suddenly felt a lot heavier as Grayson shifted, his legs on either side of his neck and a certain something a bit too close to the back of his head. At least for a public situation…

“Yeah!”

Thankfully, most of the kids were already in class so there weren’t many people to stare at the very naked Greyson cheering with his legs over Erin’s shoulders. Either way, he didn’t want anyone seeing his mouse naked, so he grabbed his shirt and quickly set him down before yanking it over his head. Since Erin was so much taller, the thing easily came to rest just above Grayson’s knees.

“Alright, you can get changed in my car on our way to Menzini’s, okay?” Erin asked with a smile.

“Sure!”

Erin knew that he’d love the place. They had lactose free cheese. It sounded terrible, but eh, it actually was pretty good, especially with all the other toppings on the pizza.

Gray was dressed after only a minute and buckled in, allowing Erin to pull out of the parking lot and head toward downtown. They didn’t quite make it there, though, because about halfway to the restaurant something darted out in front of the car, forcing Erin to swerve and skid into a drainage ditch. They were incredibly lucky that it wasn’t very deep and he was able to drive the car out, but he wasn’t too sure if the thing that ran in front of them was as lucky.

“Hang on, it’s laying on the side of the road.”

Grayson was already out of the car and running across the road to scoop up whatever they had just clipped. Erin figured that it wasn’t going to survive and they could at least bury it, but when Grayson ran back across to him panicking, he knew that something was up.

“He’s got a diaper on. It’s disgusting and super old, and he’s got healing wounds.”

“Oh shit! Get in the car!” Erin exclaimed worried.

Grayson was already doing just that, the dirty little shifter hugged tight in his arms. Erin floored the car back onto the road and drove to the first vet office he could find.

He held the door open for Grayson, watching as he literally ran into the back area and screamed for the vet.

Good kid.

Erin followed after him after he’d parked the car. Thankfully, a doctor was there who wasn’t busy. He was a bit peeved that they had run into the back, but as soon as he saw the bleeding wolf pup in Gray’s arms he immediately grabbed it and rushed to a different room, shouting over his shoulder at them before disappearing.

“Go sit in the waiting room, I’ll be awhile!”

Chapter 23: Little Paws

They sat in the waiting room for the better half of three hours before the vet finally came out with an exhausted look on his face. When he stopped in front of them, Grayson squeezed Erin’s hand and licked his lips.

“Well, that was definitely a surprise.”

He brought his clipboard out from under his arm and knelt down, showing them all of his notes.

“He’s about two, maybe a little younger judging from his teeth. I got the diaper off and found a really nasty infection for obvious reasons. His fur is missing from his back end and half of his tail but after cleaning everything up I think it’ll grow back in fairly well. Now then…”

He flipped the page and looked over the microchip information.

“Wait a second. It just says erased in both spots where his parents’ names should be,” Grayson noted, confused.

“Yeah. Unfortunately, he was likely dumped. I wouldn’t doubt in front of a fire station or something of that sort, but you can’t just sit a two year old down and not expect it to run off. That’s probably how he ended up on the road in such bad shape.”

Grayson’s eyes widened as they rose to look at the vet in shock.

“So they just abandoned him?! Is that legal?”

“No, not really. Considering how much he’s suffered there could be criminal charges pressed, but I’ll take care of that. I already called the police and they should be here momentarily to take some DNA evidence for testing.”

“Good. Um, what is going to happen to him?”

“He’ll likely be taken to an orphanage to heal or foster home if one is available. Then he’ll be put up for adoption.”

“Oh…”

He didn’t like the idea of him going to an orphanage all alone, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. His mother would kill him if he came home with a wolf pup. Even if it was a shifter. With his inability to control his shape-shifting, it would end very badly to have a young puppy in the house. If he got spooked at all, the pup would have a field day with his mouse.

Looking up at Erin, Grayson noticed that he was basically showing the same expression he felt.

“I can’t take him. I don’t have the money to take care of him…”

Erin sighed and looked down at him, giving a sad smile before returning his attention to the doctor.

“We can visit him at the orphanage, right? Will it be the one near the high school in town?”

“Most likely. That’s the closest one to me and I’m sure they’ll want me to keep up with his infection. Thankfully his wounds were somewhat old, likely from other animals or vehicles, and they only required some cleaning up and stitches.”

They both nodded, then Grayson smiled up at Erin as he squeezed his hand.

“We’ll visit him after school as often as we can.”

“Yeah.”

The doctor chuckled and stood up, dusting off his pants before returning his attention to them.

“Well, I’ll keep him for now since he’s resting in the surgery room. There’s no charge but can I have a phone number to contact in case the cops want to speak with you two if they have questions and for when he goes to the orphanage?”

Erin jumped up and quickly gave the doctor his number, then Grayson stood and they headed towards the door. As much as he wanted to see the puppy again, he knew that it needed to stay quiet back there and having already run in the back screaming a few hours ago, he figured that he’d leave quietly this time. Stopping right at the door, Grayson glanced over his shoulder and thanked the doctor before leaving.

His tiger cubs were awesome! They tried to bully their newborn sibling at first, but after a few reprimands they actually began helping her by cleaning up her face and keeping her warm. Tiegan couldn’t help his contentment as cubs climbed over his chubby belly and others tugged at his fur. After losing most of his and Tarren’s kittens, his milk had mostly dried-up, but now with six hungry mouths attacking him for food again, they were more than full.

Jordan relaxed nearby in his lion form, playing with any of the kittens that happened to wander close. At first, Tiegan’s instincts had him growling at him, but when he showed that he was just there to play with them, he relaxed and let him stay.

Tiegan watched the kittens roll around, Melayo taking the forefront on pouncing lessons. The rest weren’t named yet, but that would come in time. Right then he was just content to enjoy them being back with him after so long.

I don’t need to be babysat by my little brother. Go away, Rylan. 

Uh huh.

Dork.

Butthole.

Bastard.

Stupid.

I’m not stupid!

Yes, you are. You’re letting your lion control your actions while your mate is rolling around with your kittens downstairs, the happiest he’s been in awhile.

They aren’t my kittens. Only one is.

Yeah right. Those are all your kittens, Tarren. Every single one means the world to Tiegen and if you can’t accept that then you don’t deserve him.

Tarren ground his teeth together, stifling a growl as he pawed at his buffalo bone. Rylan was right. He really needed to get his lion under control, because even if only one of them were truly his, every single one was Tiegen’s.

Pulling himself together, he pushed himself up onto his paws and meandered back down the stairs. It took a lot of effort, but he managed to force his lion back so that when he stepped onto the living room rug, he was back in his human form.

“Hey there Tiegen.”

His mate’s fuzzy tiger head lifted, ears pinning back with nervousness.

“It’s okay. I won’t hurt them, I promise.”

Tiegan watched him closely as he sat down a few feet away from the cubs. Most of them were wrestling while their single remaining one was nuzzled beneath a larger kitten, obviously asleep. At least they weren’t being mean to her.

Hmm?

A nip on his left pointer finger made Tarren glance down at a familiar fuzzy face and smile.

“Hey there, you.”

He carefully scooped the little boy up and set him in his lap.

His name is Melayo.

“Hm?”

Tarren glanced up at Tiegen, his tiger’s attention completely locked onto what he was doing with his cub.

His name. It’s Melayo.

“Ah.”

Looking down at the squirming cub, Tarren poked its belly and then held up his front paws so that he could stretch him a bit. He growled playfully at him, but didn’t show any signs of distress.

“Look at you, Melayo. You’ve got some guts standing up to my lion when he’s got a bone.”

The cub grumbled again as Tarren let his paws go. He dropped back down into his lap, then began swatting at his fingers.

Okay. This isn’t too bad. My lion still isn’t happy but he isn’t trying to push his way out any longer, either.

With a grin Tarren waved his fingers in front of the cubs nose, snickering when he jumped around to try and catch each of the digits. They played like that for a few minutes before another fuzzy head came into view, peeking at him from where it had its paws hooked around his right knee, trying to climb up, but failing since it wasn’t quite as big as its brother.

“Wanna play too, little guy?”

He made a quiet growling sound but quickly turned and ran back to his mother, nuzzling against Tiegan’s neck as he tried to hide in the fur there.

Okay, that is pretty cute.

After another minute a little female came over, but instead of trying to get his fingers she pounced on his toes, making him hiss in surprise. The little tiger had guts, though, because she didn’t back off from the sudden hiss and instead sat up and grumbled quietly.

“That better have been an apology young lady.”

She looked like one of the older ones so he figured that she likely understood at least a little bit of what he’d said. In fact, she actually did seem to look a little apologetic.

“You want to play, too?”

She grumbled again and raised a paw, waving it like a dog might who wants to shake hands. Tarren chuckled and reached forward, taking the paw and tugging, gently guiding her onto his knee near where her brother was busy rolling around. Of course, he was a bit hesitant with their claws since he was still naked, but they seemed to be fine staying away from the obvious.

Are you doing okay, Tarren?

Tarren’s eyes rose to Tiegen’s and he grinned.

“Yeah. It’ll take a bit to really get used to, but I think as long as they don’t bully our last kitten I can get my lion under control.”

His tiger gave a funny smile and seemed to relax a bit, making him laugh. Tarren then went back to playing with two of his new tiger cubs. Two out of their new remade group of six.

Chapter 24: Something Bigger

School kept them insanely busy as the year began to fly by. Erin finally managed to get Grayson to agree to be his boyfriend after five failed attempts, thirteen interruptions, and a flash rain storm.

Yeah, it was that bad.

But now they were an item, and he was ecstatic about it. Tonight was their first official date though, and he had a surprise he desperately hoped would be liked. In fact, he had to slip out early just to be sure that he could get it and make it back to Gray’s house before he was late to pick him up.

Erin literally ran up the steps of the orphanage and through the huge double-doors, smiling from ear to ear. The woman at the receptionist’s desk grinned up at him and he returned the gesture as he quickly signed in and then ran down the hall she was pointing towards.

“Be sure to have him back by seven!”

“Yes ma’am!”

He ran to the back door, slowing when he got to it so that he could be careful pushing it open. Warmth overtook the brief chill he’d gotten from the air-conditioner as he stepped back outside and immediately felt something pawing at his pant-leg. Looking down with an excited grin, Erin saw Flip eagerly trying to get his attention, yipping every few seconds as he danced around his legs.

“Hey there, you. Miss me?”

He gave a little howl, making him chuckle as he knelt down. The pup didn’t waste any time scrambling up onto his bent knee before putting his little paws on his shoulder and licking his face like he hadn’t seen him in years. Erin quickly wrapped his arms around him so that he wouldn’t fall, then enjoyed the little kisses and puppy breath for a minute before dropping down onto his backside and snuggling him to his chest.

“Tonight’s a very important night for Gray and I.”

Flip looked up at him, but he knew that his attention was only half there as he began nibbling at the nice white dress shirt Erin had put on.

“Now’s not the time to play, bud. We’ve gotta be men and completely win the heart of my new boyfriend!”

His newly-furred tail thumped against Erin’s knee in excitement… and then he rolled over in his lap and lifted his paws over his head.

“It’s not time for belly rubs, Flip!”

The little pup whined, eventually deciding to just bite his back foot since Erin wouldn’t at least scratch his belly.

“Stubborn kid.”

Erin swatted the paw out of his mouth and poked his pudgy belly with his finger.

“You know the doctor said no chewing on random appendages.”

Even though it looks absolutely adorable when he does it. Shoving that thought aside, Erin got himself up, holding Flip in his arms before going back inside. Instead of leaving right away, he took a right into a small changing room and sat him down on a table sticking out of the wall. Of course he tried to run, knowing exactly what was coming, but the stink must be removed!

Smirking to himself, he grabbed Flip’s scruff gently and carefully undid the sides of his diaper until it fell to the table beneath his fuzzy butt.

“Ewwww.”

Every time I do this I curse my elephant’s sense of smell.

Tossing the diaper in the trash can, he made sure that the lid secured back over it before grabbing some wipes and getting busy. For such a small puppy he sure knew how to fill diapers fast. And he always made sure they were extra messy for him.

“I don’t know where you get all that poop from, but you’re a master.”

Right as he was finishing up with his bum Erin heard the tell-tale sound of pee on paper.

“Aww, come on. We’ve been potty training you, couldn’t you hold it till we found some newspaper?”

Flip tilted his head slightly and glared, making Erin look down at the table.

“Oh. Newspaper. Good… job?”

Flip huffed a little woof as Erin shifted him away from the wet spot and cleaned up his paws with another wipe. With that finally done, he got him on his back after changing the newspaper and slid a new diaper beneath his bum, then fastened it on and carefully tugged his tail through. Himself or Grayson always came after school on Mondays to clip enough diapers for Flip for the week so that his tail didn’t risk getting infected again being stuck in the diaper when he had to go bathroom. The orphanage didn’t have many shifters so they tended to forget to do it.

“There we go, all clean.”

Erin was just about to pick him up again when he remembered something important.

“Oh! Here, you’re gonna need this.”

Grabbing something from his back pocket, Erin quickly nudged it right beneath Flip’s neck and fastened it around.

“Perfect. You look so handsome.”

Flip evidently didn’t think so since he was already starting to try and swat the bow-tie off his neck.

“Just keep it on for tonight, please ?”

Erin knew that he didn’t really understand him, so he just quickly picked Flip back up and carried him out the front doors. After fastening him into his car harness, he dropped into the driver’s seat and got them heading toward Gray’s. Everything about tonight had to be perfect, especially after so many screw-ups. He didn’t want anything to go wrong.

His eyes darted a glance in the rear-view mirror and he immediately blanched.

“Flip, stop trying to eat your bow!”

He just got an annoyed huffed grumble in response.

Darn it.

About twenty minutes later they were pulling up outside of Gray’s house. He had intended to go up to the door and get him, but Grayson was already running down the steps before Erin could even put the car in park… and the excited grin and twinkle in his eyes was totally making his heart melt into a tiny puddle of mush. Erin had cleared the front seat for him, but the second he saw Flip he dove into the back and unbuckled the puppy, snuggling the insanely hyperactive wolf pup in his arms while his face got cleaned from forehead to chin.

“I brought you a fuzzy present… and he had a present for you, too, but I left that at the orphanage in the garbage cause. I figured it was for the best.”

Grayson laughed as he nuzzled his nose against Flip’s, making the puppy yip happily and wiggle its butt, tail and all, like a mad-dog. He knew that the little guy liked Gray a little more than him, but that was totally fine. They just clicked, like they were meant to be father and son. He did, too, but it took a little bit longer.

“Ready to go get some dinner?” Erin asked with a grin back at his boyfriend.

“Yeah!”

“Alright, seat-belts and harness then!”

They left as soon as he heard two clicks from the backseat and headed for downtown. At first he had planned to take him to the same place he had taken Arron on his birthday, but then he realized that would definitely not be smart. So, he decided to switch things up and go with Chinese food. When he pulled up outside of the take-out place, Gray furrowed his brows in the backseat, unbuckling his seat belt hesitantly before getting Flip into his arms.

“We’re… having take-out?”

Definitely didn’t sound impressed. Well, eh, neither would he if his boyfriend brought him here on their first official date, but he had a plan to complete.

“Trust me, don’t worry.”

Erin quickly hopped out and shut his door before running around and helping Grayson with Flip, out. Once the back door was shut and the car was locked, he took his free hand and walked with him into the small restaurant. They could technically eat there since there were a few little tables and chairs, but he had other plans.

“Get whatever you want.”

Grayson gave him an awkward smile and ordered some crab rangoon and pork egg rolls, then Erin got some rice, sweet and sour noodles, and some barbecue pork for Flip. Once they had finished paying, he grabbed their bag of food and headed right back out to the car, setting it in the back on the floor so that it hopefully wouldn’t fall over. Grayson slid into the backseat and buckled himself and Flip in, but then eyed Erin with confusion.

“Don’t worry, I promise you’ll love this.”

He looked skeptical, but seemed to shrug it off as he unclasped his keys from his waist and dangled them above Flip’s head. The little pup was immediately enthralled in his favorite game of try to eat the jingling metal stuff . Well, at least that kept them occupied for the last few minutes of the drive down the street. Erin hopped out the second they were there and ran around to grab the food with a big grin. Grayson was looking around and undoing Flip’s seat-harness when Erin opened the back door.

“We’re… at the park?”

“Yup, come on!”

Erin grabbed the blanket from his trunk and winked as Gray finally realized what was going on.

“You’re such a dork! This is like, the most cliche date I’ve ever read about.”

Erin stopped for a second, then smirked.

“You read romance novels?”

Grayson’s entire face turned red as his jaw dropped… and promptly got a slight french-kiss from an overly-excited Flip.

“Ah, Flip! Eww.”

Gray wiped his mouth and made a face as he stalked past Erin. He was perfectly okay with his boyfriend leading the way, though. It gave him more time to stare at his pretty backside. He’d done a lot more than look on certain occasions… when Grayson went into heat.

“You coming, pervy elephant? Or are you just gonna stare at my butt all day?”

Oops, fell behind. Heh.

“Yes and yes?”

Grayson rolled his eyes as Erin ran to catch up, stealing a kiss with a chuckle before he could duck away.

“Right here.”

Gray hit the brakes and turned, eyeing the spot Erin was now spreading the blanket over. It was right up against a huge tree with roots sticking out everywhere. Not exactly the best place for a picnic.

“Set him down.”

He did as told, though didn’t really look impressed. Well, that is until Flip began scrambling up onto one of the roots, then bounding around to the next, and the next, and the next, then sliding down that one with an excited yip. Instead of getting the food ready right away, Erin tied the bag and set it aside, then sat down and grinned up at Grayson.

“Shift.”

His face paled considerably before he shook his head.

“No way! Flip is here and I remember what he did to that stuffed toy mouse we got him last month.”

Erin rolled his eyes and grabbed Gray’s hand, tugging him down into his lap for a hug… and maybe a bit of hand-roaming. Leaning over after a few moments, he placed a chaste kiss on his cheek and smiled.

“I’ll be here. I thought this would be the best place to try since he loves climbing so much and always wanted someone else to play with.”

Erin could only ever play in his human form because he was too afraid of hurting Flip with his elephant and Gray had been too afraid to try his mouse.

“But I don’t wanna be the squeaky toy. I’d only squeak once!” he groaned, leaning back against Erin even though he could tell he was a bit miffed that he hadn’t told him what he was going to pull earlier.

“I promise I’ll keep you both safe… but I have something else as a reason why I wanted to do this tonight.”

They had been hanging out for a long while and getting to know each other so even though they just made it official, he pretty sure that they had been a couple for a good while… or at least a couple with some pretty adorable benefits. Pushing those thoughts aside before he replayed last week’s benefits in his head, Erin quickly fished out a few pieces of paper from his pocket and unfolded them in front of Grayson. The gasp was totally expected as he took the papers and read over the first one quietly.

    Dear Grayson. This may come as a surprise, or perhaps not so much, but I think since school will be ending soon and I'll be getting that paid internship after graduation, I think now would be the perfect time to test Flip with your mouse.

It was a short message, but as he moved it behind the other pages, his eyes went super wide. They were adoption forms for Flip, completely filled out in Erin’s name with spots for a co-signer… Grayson, in all the important places. While he knew that they were still a bit young to consider it, he just felt like them finding Flip that night had been exactly what was supposed to have happened.

Heck, they had even named him when his chip didn’t show any. They decided on Flip because he would always get so excited when he saw them that they thought he’d start doing back flips.

“I think he’s been ours from the beginning. His parents were just surrogates for our family to begin.”

It had taken awhile for him to come to terms with not being able to have a calf of his own, but he was never going to put Gray at risk for such a selfish reason. Besides, they had the perfect little pup right in front of them… hanging from a low-lying branch by his teeth as his butt wiggled with excitement.

Yup. Definitely ours.

He watched as Gray quietly set the papers aside and licked his lips, eyes lifting to where Flip had just flopped down into the mowed grass.

“I guess I could try…”

“Here,” Erin reached forward, cupping his hands on the ground. It was their normal signal for I’ll carry you . Gray slowly nodded and, after a few deep breaths, let his body disappear inside of his clothing. It was only a few moments later that a little fuzzy grey head poked out of the shirt collar and squeaked up at him.

“There’s my adorable Gray.”

He huffed and Erin grinned, picking him up even though he knew that he hated being called adorable. It was too bad that he was the most adorable little mouse. Considering that Erin hated mice at the beginning of the year, he pretty much didn’t a complete one-eighty.

Or is it more that that since I’m technically screwing the mouse?

Boy does that sound awkward in my head.

Anyways, Erin whistled quietly to Flip, getting his attention before he tromped over and plopped his fluffy, diaper-clad bum in front of where he sat. He seemed a little confused as to where Grayson had gone, but when Erin opened his cupped hands and showed him the mouse, he immediately pounced.

“Whoa!”

Erin jerked Gray up, lifting him over his head so that Flip couldn’t get his paws on him… though the little pup was trying his best!

“Flip! Sit!”

He surprisingly did as told, but his eyes were glued to Erin’s hands.

“Flip. This is Grayson.”

Hearing Gray’s name immediately had his ears perking up and head tilting sideways, confusion clear on the puppy’s face. Erin slowly lowered his hands again and let Gray peek out from between his fingers a little.

“Flip. Grayson.”

The pup leaned forward, sniffer going like crazy as he tried to figure out how the little mouse was suddenly Grayson.

“Can you be nice, Flip? He wants to play with you.”

The word play made the pup jump back and give a little bow, diapered-bum wiggling happily in the air along with his tail. Erin chuckled and carefully set Gray down, watching very carefully as the two inched towards each other. Flip was crawling on his belly while Gray walked on his tip-toes… obviously trying to seem higher than two inches tall. It wasn’t working.

When the two finally met, Gray got up on his hind legs and pressed his tiny front paws to Flip’s nose while Flip sniffed Gray’s, huge black nose to tiny pink one. It was probably one of the cutest things he’d ever seen… and then it just became absolutely hilarious when Flip jumped back, did a play bow and gave a little bark, then lifted one paw and swatted Gray’s poor little face right down into the dirt.

Erin was seriously laughing his ass off, but he knew that it was wrong. His eyes were blurring over a little as he wiped at them and watched Flip nudge Gray, curious as to why he’d suddenly fallen over when he tried to play with him.

“You have to be gentle, Flip.”

The pup looked up, then back down at Gray, who was now back on his feet and rubbing his head feverishly. Flip licked his nose and lifted a paw again, dangling it above Grayson’s head. When the poor mouse finally looked up, the paw came down, bopping him for a second time into the dirt.

Well, at least it had been gentler?

Gentle my butt!

Erin smirked at Gray’s response and licked his lips.

You liked it rough last time. I didn’t think you wanted it gentle.

If a mouse could blush, he totally would be right then judging from the jumble or unintelligible words Erin could hear coming through their bond. While Grayson grumbled at him mentally, Erin watched as he got back up, shaking his head to clear it before looking up at Flip.

He’s curious, but eh, he’s not trying to attack you at least.

It was definitely turning out better than he had anticipated. Grayson’s mouse nodded, but instead of trying to play again, he shifted back and scooped up a surprised Flip and hugged him to his chest.

“You’re a little brat, but I still love you.”

Grayson grinned and kissed Flip’s head before setting the pup down. Erin took him shifting as a sign that it was time to eat and got busy unpacking their meal on the blanket. Grayson tugged on his boxers before digging into his food the second he got the lid off, and Flip literally dove into his… sauce and all.

At least he’s dark enough so that we don’t have to really worry about stains? And the orphanage can give him a bath.

He was a bit evil, but Flip always dove into his food so it was kind of foreseeable. Giving a quiet chuckle, he got his own food out and relaxed against the tree, eating as his eyes wandered over his hopefully, soon-to-be, family.

Chapter 25: Epilogue

He felt a playful nudge in the back of his mind drawing him out of a meager sleep, but couldn’t pin-point where the darn tiger causing it was hiding. Growling beneath his breath, Tarren began to trudge down the hall, dragging three chubby cubs, two tigers and one liger, along with his tail. They had decided that it would be fun to let themselves be pulled around. It wasn’t exactly fun, considering their little teeth did actually hurt, but he didn’t have the heart to reprimand them… yet.

As he turned a corner, his lion huffing with the effort of added weight, he was suddenly tackled by a very playful tiger. Said tiger also earned an abrupt smack on the nose for being a brat.

You are such a—

Hot kitty? Why yes, I am.

Tiegan turned around, flicking his tail just to agitate his lion before dropping down to the floor and giving a quiet grumble.

That’s not going to work. I’m still mad at you.

He rolled over, growling as his big paws swatted at Tarren’s furry chin. At first, his lion just tilted its head to avoid the taps, but when Tiegan gave a rather pathetic whine, Tarren sighed and reached up, bopping him on his tiger’s forehead.

You are such a dork.

That’s okay, because I’m your dork.

Tarren chuckled, his lion giving off quiet grunts for the action as it leaned over and began licking at Tiegan’s tiger’s face. While he was busy cleaning his mate, the three cubs who had been latched onto his tail finally released him, but now they were jumping all over their mother’s belly and tugging on his ears. They really should be reprimanded for being so rough, but Tiegan always got upset when he tried to punish them, even though Tarren now accepted all the cubs as his own. His punishments were usually just losing dessert or time out from play time, but nope. Mother Tiegan didn’t think that his babies should be punished at all because they were all angels.

Rolling his eyes, Tarren glanced to the side as a paw swatted at his cheek. Melayo sat there on his haunches, paws held up like he wanted to box with him.

Think you can finally take me on, kid?

He got a raspy growl in response, then gave a little off-balanced hop and popped Tarren on the cheek a few more times… but he barely felt it. However, since he was an awesome dad, he flopped onto his side and gave a defeated roar while allowing Melayo to jump on his big chest like he’d just won the battle of his life and everyone should bow down to his might.

Keep dreaming, little guy.

“Ice cream, guys!”

Jordan’s voice rumbled up to them from downstairs in the kitchen. Tarren was slow to get up but the kids and Tiegan were already blurring down the hall. He heard a few squeaks as a few undoubtedly flopped down the stairs in their hurry, but then he heard his father’s laughter a moment later and figured that they’d all made it down just fine.

You’re all ice cream whores.

Tiegan snickered in his mind as he sensed his eagerness through their bond.

I’m also a whore for you, love.

Am I first or second to the ice cream, though?

There was a very long pause, making Tarren huff.

First. Unless it’s mint chocolate chip with those little fake eye sugar sprinkles that we get the kids at Barney’s store up the street.

You mean the sugar sprinkles that you always have to have everywhere on your own ice cream? And you eat the kids’ sprinkles half the time, too.

Okay, I like the ice cream better.

Rolling his eyes again, Tarren got himself up onto his feet and padded down the stairs. He figured that Tiegan would be in the kitchen with the kids eating, but the moment he set paw on the downstairs floor he was there, nuzzling and rumbling loudly against his large mane.

I lied. I love my Tarren best.

Hmm… you don’t smell like ice cream.

I didn’t eat it. I wanted something sweeter.

That was beyond cheesy, but when he gave Tarren a small nudge with his shoulder, then shifted and began running up the stairs naked, Tarren didn’t hesitate to do the same. The guy was honestly his addiction, as long as he had him and their cubs, he couldn’t want for anything more.

“Come’re, you!”

Grayson stumbled around the coffee table as Flip waddled and rolled around beneath it, just barely managing to escape his lazy attempts to grab his fuzzy butt. They only had a few weeks of school left and his mother had finally agreed to let him try to stay with them. Of course, he had to prove that he wouldn’t eat his mouse, though. She wasn’t happy about Flip pawing at him in front of her like he’d done at the park, but eventually he calmed down and they snuggled, making her finally give in.

She did, however, make the stipulation that if he shifted and no one was home, that he had to hide until either her or Erin came back. He didn’t like the idea, but he did as told. Thankfully, the one time that it had happened, he only had to get under the sofa for a few minutes before Erin walked in.

After all the weeks they’d been taking Flip out to lunch from the orphanage and then finally having brought him home, he’d gained a good four pounds and now was a plump, happy-go-lucky puppy that couldn’t be sweeter. He was actually potty training really well, too, and hadn’t had an accident in four days. He still hadn’t shifted to a human form, but that was totally fine with them. He would change when he was ready, and if he had to go to kindergarten before he shifted, well, then everyone was going to be super jealous of his and Erin’s adorable son.

Grayson was just about to reach down and scoop up Flip when he felt strong arms wrap around his shoulders and tug him against a firm chest he knew all too well.

“Hey, you,” Erin whispered against his ear before nibbling at the lobe, making Grayson’s insides twitch with excitement. He glanced back at him and stole a quick kiss before ducking out of his grasp and picking up their son.

“How was work?”

His job ran late most nights after class, but he never complained. In fact, he always ended up bringing Grayson home little chocolates or a new bow for Flip. They found out that while he hated wearing them under his chin like a good boy puppy, he did love having one on his head, especially if they were a little lacy. His mother thought that it looked a bit funny at first, but now she even buys him bows since they look so cute on him. He was actually wearing a purple one right then, pinned carefully near his left ear.

“You’re my little present, aren’t you. All wrapped up with your bow and ready to be loved on!” Grayson cooed to Flip as he held him up, getting a yip of excitement in response. After a good hug and kiss to his forehead, Grayson carried him into the kitchen.

“Mom’s gone for at least another hour so I made dinner. I already fed Flip so we can eat while he tries to sneak bites from our plates, like usual,” Grayson said as Erin walked up beside him and sneaked a kiss before grabbing a huge plate of pasta salad that had been left out for him.

Grayson’s own dinner was a little helping of the spare macaroni from the salad and a bag of salt and vinegar chips. He then joined Erin at the table. It didn’t take Flip more than five seconds to realize what was going on before he popped his little fuzzy head up from between Grayson’s arms and sniffed at the plate from where he sat in his lap.

“Oh yeah, I got the final form for the adoption certificate.”

Grayson’s head jerked up as he quickly chewed and swallowed the mouthful of pasta he’d just stuffed int his mouth.

“You mean…?”

Erin unfolded the piece of paper and held it up so that he could see it.

“Yup. Flip is all ours.”

Excitement welled up in his belly before he looked down with a huge smile… only to see Flip with a spiral noodle sticking out of his mouth.

“Hey! That’s mine you pudgy little fudge-ball.”

He let his big ears droop to the side and looked up at Grayson with wide, but I’m starving , eyes.

“Bah. You are going to have people bowing down at your feet when you get older, kid.”

Figuring that he’d just won the silent debate, Flip gave a happy “Woof” and finished off the noodle, then hopped up on his back legs and snatched another small mouthful of pasta.

“Oh, you little thief!”

“He’s become such a porker now that he knows he can actually have food when he wants it.”

Grayson sighed and nodded, patting Flip’s head with a soft smile.

“Yeah, I would never take food away from him, not after what he had gone through.”

Erin nodded as he continued to inhale his huge salad. Grayson wasn’t all that hungry anyways, so he just nibbled at his food, giving Flip a noodle every once in awhile until he curled up on his lap and began to snore quietly.

The sound of a chair pushing back against the floor made Gray look up from Flip a minute later to see Erin heading towards the kitchen to put his plate in the dishwasher. He quickly tucked Flip in his left arm and grabbed his mostly-empty plate to bring it to the kitchen just in time to slip it into the dishwasher before Erin closed it.

“So…”

Erin waggled his eyebrows, making Grayson blush and lick his lips. He didn’t resist at all as Erin grabbed his free hand and tugged him out of the kitchen. His face heated more and more as they headed for the stairs, except, right before they were about to go up, Erin pulled Grayson to the left and then onto his lap as he plopped down on the sofa.

When Gray didn’t say or do anything, Erin leaned over his right shoulder and pressed a kiss to his cheek, snapping him out of his daze enough to look back at him.

“You look so confused. I’m sorry, babe. Do you mind if we have a little date night instead?”

Grayson was just opening his mouth to reply when he realized something.

“You were totally messing with me!”

“Shhh, Flip,” Erin chided, though he was grinning from big ear to big ear.

Giving Grayson a light squeeze, he grabbed the remote and turned on the television, then the recorder.

“I saved something for you.”

Gray’s eyes glanced over to the TV as The Jungle Book came on.

Oh!

Grayson sat up in his lap, hugging a knocked-out Flip in his arms like a pillow.

“I knew you’d love this movie.”

Grayson grinned back at him with a cheerful smile and nodded.

“It’s one of my favorites.”

Erin matched his grin and leaned forward, pressing his lips to his softly before they both snuggled in with their puppy for the night and enjoyed their quiet movie date. While seeing something in the theater was nice, they didn’t have the money… but watching an older movie together as a family meant so much more to him, anyways. He had his boyfriend, and hopefully soon-to-be, fiance, and their new adorable son. There was nothing else he needed, nor wanted.

“Love you, little Squeaker.”

Rolling his eyes with a chuckle, Grayson snuggled a little more into Erin’s arms and gave a quiet yawn before replying sleepily.

“Love you too, Tusks.”