As he pulled on his shirt, Arron could feel more eyes on him and quickly looked toward the hallway.

"They didn't take Jared or Jamie?" He asked.

Rylan smirked and walked over to his little brothers, scooping one up before carrying him right over to Arron and handing him off.

What the heck are you doing? Arron thought, very much not interested in hold the lion shifter.

"Of course they took them, that's why they're right here." Rylan said sarcastically.

Smart ass.

"Boys! Dinner's ready!"

The kid in his arms started to squirm and growl to be put down, so Arron definitely didn't mind obliging the request.

"Careful, Jamie."

As the kid ran off, he realized that Rylan was glaring at him. What is your problem? They already established that Arron was a cheetah and Rylan didn't like him, so he didn't need to keep reminding him of the obvious. When Rylan finally spoke, Arron fidgeted at the normal, non-aggressive tone.

"You knew that was Jamie?"

Was he not supposed to be able to tell them apart? He was a sight predator... vision differences were extremely important to his animal species.

"Yeah. Um, he has an extra freckle under his right eye."

I can even see it in his lion form.

"You've only seen them one other time. You picked that out that one time before they pounced on you?" Rylan asked, his voice sounding disbelieving.

Arron gave a shrug and stepped back as Rylan took a step closer.

"Yeah, cheetahs rely on their sight the most."

Reminding him that he was a cheetah seemed to snap him out of question mode.

"Right."

With a growl Rylan stepped past him and went into the kitchen. Arron didn't really want to, but he slowly followed, his stomach pulling him toward the delicious smells coming from the other room. Walking into the kitchen was quite an experience. Sure the room was huge and full of a restaurant's worth of fancy appliances, but what actually had him grinning a little were the two lion cubs rolling around on the tile floor while Tarren, still completely naked, got pot roast and salad dished out to plates waiting on the set table.

"Hey Rylan and Arron, can you get Jamie and Jared to the table please?"

He was still a bit afraid of the little lions still, but surely the cubs weren't too much to handle. With a deep breath, Arron walked over to Jamie and carefully scooped him up into his arms. At first he was crying to get down, but when Arron sat him down in his seat he instantly changed back to his human form to start stuffing his face.

That's almost cute.

"Oh yeah, Arron, the vet said not to eat dinner." Rylan said.

What?

Arron's smile died instantly as he turned to look at Rylan's fake apologetic face.

"But I didn't hear him say that."

The loud rumble from his stomach mirrored his words. All he could remember the vet saying was to eat lunch before he came next time.

"You were out of it when we talked, then you fell asleep. He said not to eat anything tonight just in case."

Arron's stomach clenched as the information sunk in. He couldn't really argue, though he had a feeling that the vet didn't really say those things and Rylan was just upset that he had tried to go to the vet by himself. Either way, Arron had to do what he said.

"Okay. I guess I'll um, go upstairs." He said quietly.

Each step he took away from the delicious smelling food had his belly hurting more. By the time he got to his room he was literally starving. After only a few minutes Arron was digging through his backpack for his small stash of pretzels, only to realize that they were all gone.

Darn you, lion!

He couldn't really go back down and tell the lions that he wanted part of their meal after Rylan's lie. They'd kill him in the wild and his instincts alone were yelling at him to just deal with going hungry for the night. He still had forty dollars left from his last part time job, so he could buy himself something to eat tomorrow. With that settled, Arron got his homework out and got to work, doing his best to keep his mind off of his growling stomach.

Around eight o' clock Arron heard something by his door and glanced up. He had only left it open a crack, but he could easily see Jamie nudging it open with his little lion nose. He was also holding a small paper towel wrapped bundle between his teeth.

"Hmm? Come here, Jamie."

Arron slid out of his bed, setting his book and paper aside as he walked over. When he reached down, Jamie dropped the item into his hand.

Why is this warm?

Arron opened it slowly, smiling when he uncovered some roasted beef and salad. It was a bit of a mushy mess, but the gesture alone was super sweet, and he doubted that his stomach cared.

"Thank you very much, Jamie."

The little lion gave a playful growl and then pounced on his foot.

Arron didn't have his shoes on anymore and those small claws were pretty sharp. The little lion jumped back quickly when Arron yelped in response, looking a bit surprised and curious.

"Sorry, you wanna play?"

He wondered where his twin brother was, but figured that he was either asleep or just doing something else. Either way, he could use some time away from his math homework. With a playful growl, Arron got down on his hands and knees and nudged the small cub, who quickly bounced back with a playful growl.

He let the cub tackle him to the floor several times, but always made sure that when he tried to claim any kind of dominance by biting or being too rough, Arron nudged him away. His older brother might be able to do that, but he wasn't going to allow a cub to pin or bite him in his human form.

They wrestled for the better half of an hour before Tarren and Rylan walked in. He hadn't even heard them coming considering him and the cub had both been growling and rolling around on the floor. When Arron noticed the two older lions were there though, he quickly sat up and caught Jamie in his next pounce. The cub tried to squirm out of his arms to keep the play time going, but Arron had a feeling that it was the cub's bed time.

"Hey Arron, time for Jamie to go to sleep."

Hearing his older brother's voice, the cub halted and looked back toward the door with the cutest pouting face Arron had ever seen on a vicious predator. He carefully set him back down on all four paws, then gave him a gentle nudge toward Rylan, who was now squatting down to pick up Jamie. When he walked out, Arron figured that Tarren would follow, but as he got himself up off the floor, Arron heard his door click shut, then lock.

Huh?

"You know... you smell really good, Arron." Tarren whispered.

Arron straightened immediately and fought himself to not step back.

"Thanks?"

The grin that spread along Terran's lips had Arron flinching and giving way to his instincts as he took a step back. Tarren's face seemed to shift to confusion for a moment before realizing that he likely looked threatening.

"It's okay. I just want to smell a little."

That was probably the most awkward request he'd ever heard. Arron really wanted to say no, and quite frankly run, but he could already see the lion in Tarren's eyes trying to push itself free. His cheetah was trying to get his body to bolt toward the balcony, but the human part of him knew that Tarren would catch him since the doors leading to it weren't open yet.

Feeling something touch his arm, he quickly glanced up to see Tarren's hand firmly locked onto his elbow. Before Arron even began to turn his attention back to Tarren's face, he could feel teeth nibbling at the exposed side of his neck. Just the faint brush of them had his heart jumping into his throat, thundering with fear.

Arron knew that Tarren could sense it, but his lion evidently liked to tease its prey, because it quickly figured out that when it nipped a bit too hard, his pulse jumped under its lips.

The next thing Arron knew, he was pinned on his bed, his math book painfully pressing into his shoulder. Tarren's right hand had both of his wrists against the blanket above his head, while his left one was doing its best to mess with his the button on Arron's.

Someone is getting a little out of control!

"Rylan!" Arron yelled. He hadn't wanted to call the other shifter for help, but he clearly couldn't be picky right then.

There was a sudden slam against his door a few seconds later, then another before it splintered and the lock broke off. The door swung open, the handle denting the wall behind it as Rylan charged in with a rather terrifying roar.

"Tarren! Let. Him. Go. Now!"

Arron thought that his brother would be able to get through to him easily, but Tarren actually turned and snarled out his own deafening roar. His body was even beginning to change as he kept him pinned, but Rylan didn't seem fazed.

"Tarren! He's a male cheetah, ignore his damn pheromones and stop this."

Pheromones? I'm a male, we don't usually give off pheromones.

Tarren's lion seemed to hesitate at Rylan's information. He was still baring his teeth, but thankfully his hand had stopped trying to undress Arron.

"Tarren, calm down. Dad trusted you to look after him, remember?" Rylan said.

Arron saw Tarren turn back to look down at him, but when he began to lean over, Arron squeezed his eyes shut and whimpered a tiny bit. He might have been a predator, too, but there was nothing he could do once pinned by a lion. Even in the wild, if a cheetah was caught, it's chances of getting away were practically zero.

Arron was expecting another bite, but when nothing came he hesitantly blinked open his eyes to meet stormy brown ones. It looked like Tarren was trying to get his lion under control, and thankfully, he seemed to be managing the task.

After a long, silent minute, he relaxed his grip on Arron's wrists, then slowly climbed off of the bed. He seemed a bit dazed. Arron hadn't even thought pheromones could even have that kind of affect on a full grown lion. But the idea of it being possible made him wonder why it wasn't affecting Rylan at all. Not that he wanted him chasing his tail, for any reason. It was just curiosity.

"Go finish getting Jamie and Jared tucked in." Rylan said as he put himself between his brother and Arron.

"Right." Tarren mumbled awkwardly, rubbing a hand over his face.

The second Tarren was gone Arron shifted and jumped off of the bed, landing rather painfully on his head but not caring in the least. He was much more interested in getting under the bed. He heard footsteps again as he turned around to see who was coming or going.

Suddenly there was a back right in front of him, forcing a squeak of surprise from his little mouth as he darted further under the bed. When he turned again and took the time to look, Arron realized that it was Rylan, leaning against the bed.

"Hi dad. Yeah, Tarren um... kind of jumped Arron."

"Yeah, I know. He honestly didn't mean it. The kid is giving off some kind of pheromone. I don't know why, but it might have something to do with what the vet shot him up with earlier."

"Yeah, okay. Everything is fine with Jamie and Jared. Yeah, they were actually playing for awhile. Yeah, right?"

"I guess I can. He won't like it though, I'm sure. Yeah, I'll call you tomorrow and let you know how things are going. Okay. Yeah. Good night, dad."

When he hung up the phone, Arron watched him tuck it back into his jean pocket, then move till he was lying on the floor staring at him.

"Hey, Arron."

Slowly looking back up, Arron flattened himself as close to the floor as he could get. No way was he going near another lion willingly right then. Rylan noticed he wasn't going to be coming anywhere near him and sighed.

"Fine. If you wont come to me, I'll have to come to you."

Arron's ears pinned to the side when he stood up. He wasn't sure what he was thinking, but he didn't like it. However, when Rylan's clothing dropped, piece by piece near his feet, Arron understood. Oh god, please don't change, too. As soon as Arron thought that, he saw Rylan's feet turn into paws, then his hands dropped to the ground and shifted.

The next thing Arron knew the bed was shoved against the far side of the room and he was completely exposed to a pouncing lion.

Moving fast was his specialty, but Arron was too freaked out to even flinch. When Rylan noticed this he thankfully didn't pin him, but did carefully grab him by the scruff with his huge teeth. Arron hadn't been carried like that in years, but it did remind him of his father. He used to always do that when Arron was upset about something and had shifted. It calmed him down quickly, letting Rylan easily carry his tiny kitten form to the bathroom, then gently set him in the bathtub.

Wait a second.

When he let him go, Arron's mind realized what came after being put in a bathtub.

Oh no. Not interested!

"Oh, don't you start."

Start? I want to stop, not start. With a little pathetic growl of his own, Arron thrashed to get out of the tub when the water began to run, but just cursed his tiny legs.

"You really hate baths this much? You're acting just like me."

Huh?

Arron's struggles stopped for a moment as he looked up at him. He even offered Rylan a cute little head tilt that his mother tended to love, though it wasn't really on purpose.

"You're lucky those pheromones don't affect me as strongly as my brother, because that looks almost cute."

Arron's jaw dropped at his comment.

Obviously his pheromones were working just fine on him since he wasn't threatening to beat him up or worse. Rylan seemed to notice that and shook his head.

"Not gonna happen. Even if I can smell them, I'm not into guys, for one. And, for two, I'm not into little cheetah kittens."

Well pardon me. I'm not interested in your big fuzzy butt either.

With a grin Rylan chuckled and splashed him in the face with warm water, making his cheetah shake its head like crazy to try and get it off. Of course he lost his balance on the slippery tub floor and ended up flopped over on his belly with his fluffy backside in the air.

"Alright, now hold still. I'll try to make this as painless as possible."

No thanks!

Arron gave a loud squeak and tried again to get out of the darn tub but failed miserably.

"Not going to happen, midget. Just grin and bare it." Rylan said.

Before Arron could try to object again he felt shampoo squirted onto his back, and then hands began to scrub it into his coat. He was about to try and bite Rylan, but then the guy started using his nails...

"You look like you're about to cum from me scratching you. Please, don't."

Arron definitely wasn't going to do that. And considering Rylan didn't stop, or even slow down those amazing scratches, he didn't really care about him doing untoward things in the bathtub, anyways. As his hands moved around his body, Arron couldn't help but move whichever way he hinted at. Rylan had him on his darn back, kicking his left foot for in the air for god's sakes.

Why does this feel so darn good?

"Hah! Are you sure you hate baths? Because you're totally like putty in my hands right now." Rylan purred, clearly entertained.

The only sound Arron made in response was his stomach rumbling loudly. That had Rylan's smile faltering a bit.

"You can have something to eat once I'm finished rinsing you off. Nothing big, cause the vet really did say not to eat too much tonight."

I knew it. But for a lion, it wasn't that mean since he was at least offering him a chance to eat. Arron was also feeling pretty good, even though he was in a bath. With a playful mew, he tucked his tail between his legs and grabbed it with his teeth, chewing on the tip a little as he tried to get a hold of it with his paws.

"Okay, you better stop doing that or I'm going to end up molesting you in my bed tonight."

So I was having an affect on him. Wait, his bed?

Judging from the grin on his face, he knew exactly what I was thinking.

"Yes. We're sleeping together tonight."

Arron froze at that information, then when he tried to take a breath again he realized that there were suds all over his face and promptly sneezed them everywhere. Rylan just laughed and quickly got him rinsed off and secured in a big soft towel.

"Alright, let's get you to bed."

I don't want to sleep in your bed!

"Don't worry, like I said. Not interested. And my dad only wants us sleeping together because my brother's having trouble with your scent."

They turned into his room and after the door was shut and locked, Arron was set on the bed and dried into a messy fluffball.

"Here, you can have this."Rylan said as he leaned over and pressed a piece of roasted beef against Arron's lips, which he quickly snatched up and swallowed in one go. Rylan laughed and gave him more pieces. They seemed pre-shredded and kind of like he'd brought them up just for him to have after the bath. He would've had to have made it before Arron yelled for him.

The food stopped after a minute, letting Arron know that he'd finished off what he would get for the night. The few morsels had at least quieted his stomach.

"I think I just made you fat, look at that belly." Rylan joked.

He poked Arron just enough to make him flop onto his back and burp without meaning to.

"Gross, little midget. Let's go to bed."

Arron was promptly tossed up toward the pillows when his slow crawl over the blankets hadn't quite cut it. He was too tired to paw at Rylan's face in response.

The lights went out a moment later, then Arron felt the bed dip with Rylan's weight as he joined him.

"Night, brat."

Arron was nice and curled up on a spare pillow when Rylan spoke, and gladly replied with a hiss. That got a sleepy chuckle out of the lion shifter, then silence came over them both.