Rubbing the back of his neck, Mina watched a second man walk away from him. He'd lead them on, then backed out at the last second. What are you waiting for? Del is out of the picture, and even if he was still in it, he's much more dangerous than a random guy  at a bar. He told himself as he bumped his forehead against the bar he sat at twice before groaning. 

"It sounds like you could use some alcohol, brother."

Mina's eyes jerked open and he sat back so quickly that Roan had to grab the front of his shirt to keep him from having a nasty fall. He had not expected to see his brother at all!    

"How did you know where I was?" He asked, already feeling the need for fresh air. 

It wasn't that he hated his brother. The guy was sweet and really did care for him, but his entire family in general just felt suffocating. He'd left as soon as he could, and even before that he'd run away more times than he could count just to be entirely alone. 

"The vet who checked up on you was an old friend. They recognized your name and gave me a call because I'd been worried about you." He said, then quickly raised his hands. "Please don't be mad. They meant well and didn't know that I'd come out here to try and find you." 

Mina would have been more angry at the vet, and at his brother, if his head didn't feel like it was overheating. Hell, his whole body was too warm, and now that his brother was sitting beside him, he couldn't stand being in the stuffy bar any longer. Tossing a couple dollars on the bar for the one soda he'd been sipping, Mina hopped off his bar stool and hurried to the door. He knew that his brother would follow him, but he didn't want him to. 

As soon as the crisp night air hit his face he gave a stressed sigh and turned to head down the street in no specific direction. He just wanted to get away from it all. 

"Mina, please wait." Roan called from behind him. He could easily catch up if he tried, but he knew that it would just make him start running. And if it was one thing Mina could do, it was run. 

That's all I've ever done. 

Clenching his jaw, he picked up his pace and immediately heard Roan's steps hurry to match his own. He was just about to start running when he noticed a familiar silhouette far up ahead.    

Oh, come on. 

Stopping abruptly, he took a deep breath, then sighed it out as Roan stopped next to him, but a little behind. It was something he'd learned to do over the years they had lived together. He knew that Mina didn't want him around, but the guy was persistent and had picked up little habits to try and make himself more bearable. 

"Mina?" Roan asked at the same time the figure a good ways ahead of them stopped. 

Go away. Just turn around and go away, please. 

Of course, Del didn't even hesitate as he started forward again, his pace doubling as Mina felt his eyes on him. He immediately began backing up, drawing a frown from his brother as he looked back and forth between the two of them. 

"What's wrong? Is he a bad guy?" He asked. 

You have no idea. 

Without thinking, Mina swung around and grabbed his brother's hand as he began running. Thankfully, Roan caught on and hurried to keep up, his larger hand holding tightly onto Mina's as they rounded a corner, then sprinter toward the forest. 

Mina could hear Del's footsteps behind them, but it was obvious that he was having to work hard to keep up with them. They were just crossing a slightly overgrown lot that was up for sale when his perspective dropped abruptly and he rolled in a bundle of clothing and fur. The tall damp grass stopped his movement quickly, but by the time he was able to fight his way out of his clothing, Del was closing in, his eyes shining brightly in the darkness. 

Before he could warn him, Roan was running in front of his tiny lion form and holding his arms out to either side. Del stopped about ten feet away, just barely on the sidewalk as a deep rumble radiated from his chest. 

"Who the fuck are you? And what are you doing with him?" He growled as he stepped closer, onto the grass. 

Roan bared his teeth, then let out his own warning as Mina peeked around his legs. 

This isn't good. We don't even have a connection so I can't tell him how dangerous Del really is. 

Mina wanted to run, but he couldn't just leave his brother to get hurt. He didn't like the guy being around him, but he wasn't mean or anything. With a pathetic grumble of his own, he stepped around Roan and glared at Del. 

"What the hell are you doing with this silver-haired freak?" Del ground out, never taking his eyes off of Roan, who was returning the gesture in full with a narrowed glare. 

Let me just answer that as if you can actually freaking hear me! 

Mina's lion cub scowled and shook its head, but before it could try anything else Roan was picking him up and gently setting him behind him. 

"You can't fight him like that, Mina. You'll get hurt, and I can't let that happen." 

Del scoffed at his words and took another step forward as fur began to sprout from along the sides of his face. 

"Who. The fuck. Are you?" He snarled, just about at the end of his restraint. 

Roan grunted and stepped forward, a mixture of black and silver fur slipping from the skin along his neck and shoulders. "His brother." 

That actually had Del's fur receding abruptly. "Brother?" He asked, looking down at Mina for a second before returning his attention back to Roan. 

 Mina felt his body relax a tiny bit when he looked up at his brother and noticed that his mane was also disappearing. 

"Yeah. Why the hell was he trying to run from you? Are you messing with him?" He asked, his question ending on a growl.

Del looked away for a moment before returning his glare to Roan. "Running away from a predator is never a good idea. It makes them chase." 

Roan crossed his arms over his chest. "He is a predator." 

That had Del laughing in earnest, making Mina feel ever worse about his pathetic little baby shift.  

"Stop mocking him!" Roan roared, his inner lion coming through. "His cub will grow up in time." 

Shaking his head, Del actually turned and started walking away. Roan seemed surprised, and Mina definitely was. It usually took, at minimum, a near-death experience to get the guy to leave him alone. 

"What was his problem?" Roan asked as he grabbed Mina's belongings. They then slowly began following him back toward the town, keeping a nice distance between them and him. 

He tried to kill me. Then hated me. Now wants me because he's horny. He thought to himself, knowing that his brother couldn't hear. 

Looking up at him, Mina felt his paws slow to a stop at the guy's expression. Oh no. Without warning, Roan reached down and scooped him up in his free arm. 

"You are so cute! You look just like mom did as a kid but a lion version!" He yelled with excitement as he nuzzled into his fur. "I knew you had a shift buried deep down!" 

Mina hissed at him and swatted at his nose, but his tiny claws didn't even scratch him. Darn thick elephant skin. It was deceptively strong. 

"I'm sorry, I'm totally invading your space." He said before pausing, then giving him one more too-tight hug before setting him back down. "Okay, I'm good. I swear I won't do that again." 

My fuzzy ass. You take after your other father when you do that. 

Mina had only met Erin a couple of times, but that had been enough. The guy was way too touchy for his liking and he got excited about everything and anything cute. He'd doted on Roan like nothing else, and even tried to love on him, too, until Mina ended up running away because he wouldn't stop trying to talk with him or hang out. 

"Hey, Mina?" Roan asked as they walked. 

He didn't want to acknowledge him, but he had little choice as he glanced up at his brother. 

"You're a cross-shifter, like mom, right?" He asked, making Mina's paws pause on the dirty concrete. 

An awkward silence hung in the air between them until Roan continued speaking. "That collar you have on. Mom sent it to you. It can keep unwanted attention away, but are you feeling okay? Mom was worried about you since he said that the heats can get really bad if they aren't relieved often enough." 

This is not a conversation I'm going to have with you for two reasons. One, you have no right to be in my personal business, and two, I can't physically talk right now, anyways! 

Truly angry, Mina squeaked out a growl and turned into the alleyway to their left, then bolted. 

"Wait! I'm sorry!" Roan shouted as he started running after him. 

Mina would have likely been able to outrun him in his human form, but being so small, each of his little bounds were barely equal to half his brother's long stride. Go away! They ran for several blocks before a familiar building came into view. 

Del likely hadn't gotten there yet since they had run and took a different route, but he would likely be appearing soon if he hadn't intended to go somewhere else. Wait. He was walking away from the building. He must have been going out somewhere. 

"The hell are you two doing here?" 

Or not. 

Turning, Mina panted quietly as he stared up at Del, who was only a few yards away and closing. 

"I left, but you're in front of me again anyway?" He growled. 

Roan immediately stepped in front of him again, but when Del just walked around him, he relaxed slightly and turned to keep him in his sight. 

"How do you know my little brother?" Roan asked when Del stopped in front of the doors to fish out his keys. When he'd found the right one, he looked over at them and smirked. "He wants to fuck my brains out, but is a bit bi-polar about it. I'm sure he'll come around, though. He seems like he needs to get some soon." 

Bastard. 

Roan roared in response, his black and silver mane making another appearance as Del laughed quietly. "You really think that you can hurt me, little kitten? You have no idea what I can do to you, and I'll only warn you once. Fuck off or you'll end up dead beneath my claws." 

Don't threaten him! 

His brother wasn't good at taking threats. No lion was. His elephant side was also stubborn as all hell. He began walking toward Del, claws beginning to prick from his fingernails as Mina ran forward and grabbed the bottom of one of his pant legs, trying to stop him. 

"No one talks about my brother like that." He hissed. 

Mina tripped as he was being dragged, forcing him to let go and stumble a bit before regaining his balance and seeing his brother step through the doors leading inside Del's dangerous building. Mina managed to slip in right before the door clicked shut, but what he saw inside made his heart jump into his throat. 

Oh no. 

Roan was already shifting, his clothing scattered around the large open area as fur sprouted from his growing body. The elephant hadn't just lent him its color and thick skin. Oh no. His shift had grown very quickly as a cub... then just continued until it was insanely big for a cat. Del actually looked shocked as he watched Roan's silver cat grow to nearly half the size of an elephant. He looked like a lion as far as general features and sported a thick black mane that was woven with grey streaks, but his back end and front legs had faded spots decorating them. His entire body was more slim than a lion his size would be, but he still had a good size to him. Enough to be intimidating, even to Del, it would seem. 

The other man was already shifting, too, but to Mina's surprise, his brother actually stood only an inch or so below Del's massive wolf. It was actually pretty cool to see the cocky guy nervous, but at the same time, Mina knew that the situation wasn't going to end well if he let it play out. Del was ruthless and incredibly aggressive. He killed for a living. Roan might have looked threatening, and he could definitely fight if he had to, but he was a sweet guy and just wanted to hug people and make their day better. 

Stop!

Mina thought as loudly as he could as he bolted between them, growling as menacingly as he could... which was not all. Roan began pacing around him to the left as Del mirrored his actions, the two circling him with their teeth bared and hackles rising. 

Roan crouched down, his thick muscles bunching as he readied himself to pounce. Del did the same, but only lowered himself a fraction as he spread out his giant wings just-so. 

Mina tucked his tail and looked between the two, unsure of how he could stop them both from getting hurt. He might not have liked Del, but he didn't want the guy to get torn up. And, of course, he wanted no harm to come to his brother, either. 

Dammit! Both of you stop right now! He thought as loud as he possibly could. It would be meaningless, though. He had no connection with either of them, and as he looked at his brother, it was clear that he'd heard nothing as he inched forward, trying to get a path around Mina so that he wouldn't be right in the middle of them. 

Turning to Del, Mina pressed his tiny ears against his head in defeat, but he paused, eyes widening when Del stood in front of him, completely naked and clearly stunned. His huge wolf was gone, replaced with his confused human self. 

"What the hell was that?" He finally muttered as he stepped forward, only for Roan's massive cat to move over Mina and roar a warning. 

Del snarled, but when he started to shift again, Mina quickly stepped out from between his brother's giant paws. 

Don't change again! He thought loudly, making Del wince as what little fur that had managed to slip through his skin already quickly receded. 

Del's eyes flared brightly with fury, but his wolf remained inside. 

Thank god. 

Flicking his tail, Mina turned toward his brother's cat and growled, jumping up and swatting at his chin until he looked down with a deep rumble. Mina quickly shook his head when he finally got his brother's attention. 

Roan was clearly not happy, but he relented after a minute and began to shrink back to his human form. Once the two were finally calmed down a bit, Mina walked up to Del. He was fighting himself not to look at a certain object that his lion suddenly wanted. 

I'll only let you bite it. We're not sleeping with him. He told his shift, only to look up at the same time Del cringed. 

Wait. 

Mina narrowed his eyes on the man, but didn't get another thought off before Del growled down at him. "You bite it, I eat you." 

Oh shit. What the hell? 

Roan walked over once he'd pulled on his pants, frowning down at Mina before leaning over to pick him up. He struggled as soon as his paws left the ground, but when Del suddenly grabbed him away from his brother, he felt himself calming a little. He still didn't like being held, but for some reason, Del was less of a stress than his brother. 

"Let him go." Roan growled, his fists clenching at his sides. 

"Think for a second, you pussy." Del said with a roll of his eyes as he moved Mina a little, making it more comfortable to hold him. He's not fighting me like he was fighting you."  

"That's... He's just stressed." Roan said, stepping forward. 

Mina didn't want to stay with Del, but he knew that if Roan remained, there would likely be another fight he might not be able to stop. 

Tell him I said to go. 

Del smirked and raised an eyebrow. "He said to go." 

Roan frowned, looking between them with a questioning glare. "You can actually talk to him? You, have a connection to him?" He said, disbelief heavy in his words. 

Don't worry, Ro, I can't believe it either. I feel like I need to wash my mind out with soap already. Mina thought, making Del bare his teeth down at him before he looked back up at his brother. 

"Yeah, unfortunately. It literally just kind of happened, so we have some things to discuss." He said before turning toward the elevators on the far right wall. 

I'll call him later... I promise. 

Sighing, Del stopped and looked over his shoulder, scowling. "He said that he will call you later, and that is a promise." 

He made a gagging noise after saying that, but Mina finally relaxed a little when he heard his brother's response. "I expect to hear from you before four in the morning, or I'm coming back here." He said before finally turning  to leave. 

One down. Mina thought, already feeling exhausted. 

"I have some suggestions for you about what to do with me that involves the word down." Del said with a grin as they started heading upward. "It starts off with your head between my legs after you shift back." 

Mina sagged in his arms, already wanting to be free from his current nightmare. 

Just knock me out, please. I won't even be mad if I get a concussion at this point. 

Del ignored his thoughts and instead reached a hand up and pet his fuzzy head. 

I wonder if I can knock myself out if I fall from this height. 

"Don't worry. I'll wear you out enough so that you'll sleep for a week." 

Deciding that any kind of thoughts would just continue to get him into more trouble, Mina just closed his eyes and grumbled. His night had gone straight to hell.