As Jordan's car pulled into a huge turn-around driveway, Arron couldn't help but stare up at the giant mansion looming over them. It had to have at least eight bedrooms, and was god-knows how many square feet. Jordan noticed his jaw hanging down and laughed, drawing Arron's attention over to him.

"I guess it is a rather big house, but we often have people from out of town staying over, so the rooms are surprisingly full most times."

Oh, well, that made sense then. But still, it must be awesome to grow up in such a huge house. Arron could just see all the lion cubs running down the halls playing together. It was a cute thought, though he hoped that he didn't end up becoming their new toy.

"I'm going to head inside and grab Rylan to help you with your stuff. He'll show you to one of the guest rooms, too."

Great.

"Sounds good." Arron mumbled.

"Here, hand me your leftovers, I'll put them in the fridge." Jared said.

Arron did as told, then swung his backpack over his shoulder and grabbed a suitcase before following Jordan inside.

"Rylan! Help bring in our new guest's suitcase and show him to his room."

Holy booming voice, Batman... He was going to have to get used to that so his instincts didn't go crazy. As it stood, he was pretty darn close to shifting right there from nerves alone, and that was the last thing he wanted to do in a house full of lions.

His eyes lifted from where they had settled on the carpet when Rylan came running down the long, winding staircase in front of them. He froze for a moment as their eyes met and Rylan's flared a bright gold, but he clearly knew better than to mess with him right in front of his father, and quickly reigned in his beast.

"Hey, Arron. Looks like we're going to be living together for awhile. Nice to have you."

I already want to hiss at you again.

Arron peeked up at Jordan to see him smiling at his son.

"Good, you know each other already." Jordan said, nodding. He then quickly headed toward where Arron assumed the kitchen or dining room was in the next room. As soon as he was gone, though, Arron was shoved up against the wall in the hallway and lifted by the front of his shirt, his feet dangling off of the ground as Rylan leaned in to whisper a growl into his ear.

"Listen, little kitten. This is my house and my territory. When dad's not around you better be submissive to me, or I'll put you on your back."

He didn't exactly have an argument that was worth starting a fight over, especially one that he would definitely lose, so Arron just gave his best nod, then was promptly dropped. He stumbled, trying to regain his balance, but failed miserably. He'd thought that Rylan had wanted him on the ground, but he guessed that hands and knees weren't good enough, because he was soon pinned on his back with Rylan towering over him. There was no contest between them so Arron didn't know why the guy had to be so mean... besides the fact that he had unintentionally embarrassed him at school earlier.

Either way, he couldn't really argue his frustration, anyways, because his cheetah had pushed itself out again, leaving Arron a squirming bundle of fur in a pile of clothing on the floor.

"That looks about right." Rylan noted, a smugness to his voice.

Hearing Jordan's footsteps returning, Arron saw Rylan quickly jump up, turning with an innocent expression as he noted the surprised look on his father's face.

Right, pretend you didn't just scare me into my cheetah form on purpose.

"Oh..." Jordan mumbled, clearly surprised.

As Arron got himself free of his T-shirt, he looked up again, noticing that a woman was now staring at him, too. Must be Jordan's wife. He tried his best to look embarrassed, because frankly, he was since shifting at random was usually looked down upon when you were out of middle school. Arron knew he should be able to control it easily by his age, and have a shift that was actually grown up, but he had neither.

While he expected Jordan and his wife to be at least a little bit annoyed, or maybe even aggressive, the lioness actually squealed and ran forward, scooping him up for a strong hug. Pretty soon he felt a tongue running along the top of his soft mohawk of fur that ran all the way down his back from the woman's lion form. It was something he should have lost as he grew up, but his cheetah had evidently not wanted to do that last part.

He kind of spaced out with all the attention because he was soon being set into Rylan's arms and toted upstairs. Judging from the kid's grip, he wasn't too happy. Maybe his dad was asking him why I had shifted.

When they got upstairs and into the hallway, out of view of Jordan and his wife, Rylan switched the way he was carrying him. His partially clawed fingers grabbed Arron's scruff and began swinging him like a bag of clothing he'd just purchased at the mall. Needless to say, his stomach twisted and turned with the food he'd eaten before coming over. Arron tried so hard to keep from throwing up, but right as he was thrown onto his new bed, he started feeling it come up.

The bed was huge and definitely comfy... but now there was a small pile of throw-up right in the middle of it.

Rylan glared at him in disgust once he'd finished emptying his stomach, but Arron was too dizzy to really care.

"Get that cleaned up, now!" The young lion shifter yelled at him.

The shouting got his attention, but there wasn't anything he could do about his mistake right then. Rylan seemed to figure out that he wasn't changing back quickly and growled a warning, but again, Arron couldn't control his shift. When he finally understood that he literally couldn't change back, he snarled and yanked the comforter Arron had just thrown up on out from under him. The action sent his kitten flipping head over tail until he flopped back down on the sheets onto his belly.

Rylan disappeared out the door a moment later with the blanket, only to be replaced by two little boys. They were peeking inside, curiosity playing with instinct in their eyes. Uh oh... Jared and Jamie.

The two little blonds were up on the bed in their lion forms in seconds as Arron quickly jumped off the other side and ducked beneath the mattress. Unfortunately, the cubs were just small enough to shimmy under the bed after him, forcing his cheetah to run out into the hallway. He quickly realized that the stairs wouldn't be an option, since his cheetah wasn't used to them at all, so he darted toward the only door in the hallway besides his own that was open.

Please have somewhere to hide!

Arron skidded into the room, running strictly on instinct at that point, which had probably been for the best, considering that he would not have moved an inch into the room if he had realized who it belonged to. However, all he was aware of at that moment were the two lions about to grab his tail, and if he didn't move, he was going to be the chew toy of their dreams.

With a mew of effort Arron ran around the big bed and quickly wedged himself into the corner between a big computer desk and the wall. The space was just big enough for him, leaving the two lion cubs pawing eagerly at the opening as they whined.

I'm sorry that I took away your chew toy, but I want to keep myself in one piece today.

As the two lions continued to try and get to him, Arron's own cat began turning back to its instincts with the understanding that it was cornered and needed help. Without meaning to do so, he began chirping for his mother. He knew that he was stuck in Rylan's room, too, as his scent finally pushed through his panic. Unfortunately, he'd take the guy's aggressive threats over actually being bitten by his little brothers.

Thankfully, it wasn't long before he heard Rylan growling as he stomped into his room. One lion cub was grabbed, and Arron heard its backside thump onto the carpet in the hallway as it was tossed out, then the other quickly followed before a door was slammed shut. Even after the lions were removed, he couldn't manage to stop chirping.

Rylan soon came over to kneel at the opening where he was Arron was hiding. The look on his face was none-to-happy, but he didn't try to reach for him.

"Come here, Arron."

He hesitated at his words. It was definitely an order, but he could tell that he was trying to reign in his temper. It took Arron about five minutes to finally take a step forward, but the look of relief on Rylan's face made that two steps, then three...

As soon as he got close enough Rylan scooped him up, and moments later he found myself on his back on his bed. This isn't exactly helping me calm down. Well, at first... It took a bit, but as Rylan easily but gently held him down with one hand, Arron wrapped his paws around the lower half of his arm and slowly began to relax. He couldn't fight him off, that much was obvious to his cheetah, and his mother wasn't answering his chirping calls, so eventually those slowed, then stopped.

His form wavered after another minute as he stared up into Rylan's eyes. His lion was close to the surface, it's glowing golden eyes prominent as Arron felt his human body taking shape. When it finished, he could still feel Rylan's hand on his chest, holding him down against his blankets as he leaned over his body.

"I would advise your kitten not to take over when my brothers are around. They have no self control when it comes to chasing prey."

Good to know. Hopefully my cheetah takes that to mind for the next time you decide to scare it out.