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

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

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

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

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

About damn time. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I don't like it. 

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

Fast little shit. 

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

Where are you going, brat? 

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

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

Not someone I wanted to see right now. 

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

Del. Fuck my luck... and Mina's. 

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

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

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

"And with Mina." 

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

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

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

Am I missing something? 

"His shift loves me." Del said, making Mangus's mouth drop open. 

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

"We'll take care of him from here. Go home, Magnus. You look very stressed." 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fatal attraction. 

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

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

This cub... is a pervert. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"You've never managed to catch me before. How about giving it another shot, Maggy?" 

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

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

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

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

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

Finally. Mine. 

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

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

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

Injured prey. Easy prey. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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