Into the Lion's Den

Leaning back in his office chair, Del glared at the clock above the door. His heart still hadn't managed to calm down completely and his fingers twitched every few moments with the memories his mind refused to quell.

Buck walked in on the phone but ended the call after a few moments. "I took care of the three hunts for the day. We made great money and there were no issues." He said as he pocketed his phone and walked behind Del's desk to start massaging his tense muscles.

"That feels like hell... and heaven." Del groaned, drawing a chuckle from Buck as his office door opened again.

Magnus walked in, immediately making Del lean forward with a lifted eyebrow. He hadn't expected the guy to stick around.

"That kid smelled like a damn bacon cheese burger. I've never seen someone with such a powerful heat." He said, seemingly licking his lips at just the thought.

Del felt his jaw tense as his heart rate picked up, but he shoved aside the feelings as he felt Buck's hand squeeze his shoulders gently. "Perhaps it's time to stop trying to get around this situation and meet with Mina to figure things out?" He asked.

Figure what out? That he smells like a fucking buffet I want to shove my dick inside repeatedly? He thought to Buck, making the man bite back a laugh.

"You know that's not exactly what I meant." Buck said, making Del lean back a little further in his chair so that he could roll his eyes at him.

"Well, I suppose that is kind of what I meant. Perhaps you two can find ways to enjoy each others' company. You'll probably be able to get rid of some stress, and he'll possibly manage to sate his awkward little shift."

Magnus dropped down into one of the two chairs opposite Del's desk and crossed one of his ankle's over the opposite knee.

"I wouldn't mind enjoying some company tonight..." He drawled, his eyes narrowing on Buck.

Del let out a quiet warning growl, making Magnus lift his hands with a grin. "I wouldn't eat him that way. I can behave myself if I'm full." He said with a wink.

The feelings he sensed from Buck were unimpressed. He wasn't one to care about anyone besides the two of them. Magnus was a colleague, and a bit closer than others, but Buck was clearly not interested in getting close to the man in such a way.

Deciding to push the situation forward, Del sighed and focused his attention on Magnus. "I have a new retrieval for you." He said, making the man grunt. "That kid? No thanks. Something tells me that he isn't a hunt target, and I don't want to get my hands dirty kidnapping something that might end up living to tell about it. Not to mention that I was already seen with his kitten form by several people."

Growling louder, Del pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut.

Buck gave his shoulder another squeeze before walking around the desk to slide onto the thick armrest of the wing chair Magnus was sitting in. It didn't take the guy but a second to reach around Buck's waist and tug the man down into this lap. They were both well built and could probably stand on even ground in a fight.

You don't have to do this, Buck. I have other retrievers. Del thought to the man, clearly unhappy with him acting before talking to him about it.

He watched Magnus sniff Buck like a dog smelling a delicious steak. The man was even panting a little as he ran his nose along Buck's side, ending with a few rapid inhales at the crook of his neck.

I can handle him, Del. He's our best retriever, and if you plan to keep Mina alive for any amount of time after taking him, we need a retriever who won't be seen. Buck thought to him, making Del sigh out a frustrated growl.

Watching him sniff you like a mutt is not helping my stress.

Buck gave him a small smile before turning his head and leaning over to nuzzle his nose into Magnus's hair. "I'll play with you when you bring Mina back here, deal?" He asked, a hint of a rasp to his words.

There was clear hesitation in Magnus's eyes as they looked up to meet Del's.

"Fuck you both if this shit blows up in my face." He growled before standing, bringing Buck to his feet with ease, too.

When Buck turned to face him, Magnus bared his teeth and ran a hand through his shaggy black hair. "And I'm going to fuck you into next year. Don't you dare try to run." He said before turning and stalking out the door with determination.

Magnus took the steps to try and run off some of his excess energy from being so close to that damned deer. He knew that Buck was playing him, but he hadn't been able to say no because of the slim possible piece of shit chance that he'd hold true to at least part of that unspoken promise.

Licking his lips, Magnus slid into his small, inconspicuous black Honda Civic and headed for the guy's neighborhood. He parked at a 24-hour Wal-Mart, then got out after slipping a small force-change pill into his pocket. He checked his phone for the basic information on Mina and the number of people living with him, then began calmly walking down the street.

It took him about thirty minutes before he felt the need to disappear into the forest. It was easy enough to follow his nose from there, but he didn't like the other scents he found when he actually got to the house Mina was in.

Lions... and a bird of some sort. Possibly a chicken. The last scent, though, smells like Del. He didn't like that one bit.

He waited until sunlight was barely brushing against the edge of the forest before carefully making his way over to the privacy fence. There were several small holes and missing scratches of wood in it for him to easily glance inside the area. No one was out, which made sense, since he hadn't heard anything while he'd been waiting for the sun to go down.

Magnus heard a door closing from the other side of the house a minute later and crouched down, focusing his attention on listening.

Four sets of footsteps.

He hurried around to the side of the house, keeping himself hidden behind a large bush as he glanced at who was in the car that was now backing out of the driveway.

Not him. Del had said four others in the home besides his boy in the text message.

More secure in the fact that his target was now alone, Magnus headed back to the backyard and easily hopped the fence. He was just straightening up to look for an easy way inside when his eyes locked with wide, worried ones.

"Magnus?"

Mina's voice was full of worry. Magnus picked up on the tiny shakes from his body. He didn't want to have the guy scream, though he was almost certain that no one else was inside the house. That would just leave neighbors.

"Hey there, Mina."

He was trying really hard not to raise any further alarms, but it was probably fruitless. The kid had seen him with Del several times. Knew what he did, or at least had a damn good hint if he hadn't been able to focus through the situation with his perverted kitten. Magnus had only one reason to be standing where he was right then, and Mina understood that.

"Please don't..." He whispered, his worry triggering Magnus's shift to push against his mind.

Need to deal with him, fast.

Stepping forward, Magnus walked until he was just about a foot away from Mina, then slid his hand into his pocket. He took out the force-change pill and offered it to him.

"Make this easier on both of us. I don't want to hurt you when I was just told to bring you back to talk." He said.

He waited a solid minute for Mina to take the pill, but the guy was already too far gone in his fear. Shaking his head, Magnus reached out in a blur and grabbed the guy's shoulder, easily swinging his body around. Before he even felt Mina's back collide with his chest he was shoving the pill down his throat, then covering his mouth with a firm hand.

The guy struggled, of course, but his meager scratches and squirming did nothing but make Magnus tighten his hold to keep him from screaming. He waited as Mina slumped against him a few moments later, clearly having given up, likely because he'd swallowed the pill, but he didn't loosen his grip on him until the guy's body began to shrink into a tiny lion cub.

He was just gathering him up to head out when he heard the sound of wings. Big wings. Magnus turned just in time to drop Mina and throw a slew of curses as he just-barely dodged talons that had to have been at least three inches long. They left gauges in the ground where his body had been seconds earlier, sending earth flying across the yard.

"It would be the fucking wolf hybrid." He snarled as he began to shift, only to force his beast back so that he could react enough to roll to the side as the giant wolf lunged again, roaring loud enough to make Magnus's ears ring painfully.

He turned to try and get himself some footing in the fight, but was only rewarded with being tackled off his feet as the huge wolf sank its teeth into his shoulder and they both went flying into the swimming pool.

Fucking hell. I can't swim.

The situation had definitely gone to shit. He struggled for the surface, but his vision didn't last. His mind shut down as his lungs ran out of air, his body drifting to the bottom of the pool, swaying gently like a leaf.

It felt like he'd been out for just a few seconds when he felt something firm press against his mouth, then everything abruptly rushed back to him. Gagging, Magnus felt his body turned to its side in a rush a moment before he emptied a good amount of water from his stomach.

He could hear several different growls around him, but to hell with it all. He felt like absolute shit. His head felt like it had been hit with a hammer multiple times. There was definitely a damn good bite bleeding on his left shoulder still, and he could feel a few other nasty scratches along his skin that he didn't remember getting.

"Fuck." He coughed, trying to keep himself from gagging.

Magnus was thankful for whoever was holding him up with an arm around his waist right then, because he sure as hell didn't want to go swimming in his vomit.

"Deep breaths, Magnus." Buck said.

Hearing his voice was such a relief that it started shivers all over his body that continued to grow from the stress of the whole situation.

"Wait, Why are you here?" He asked once his brain finally came down from panic mode and he could begin registering what was actually happening.

Buck gently pulled him up a bit more, then leaned him back against his firm, damp chest. Magnus sighed, letting himself lean against the man for support he desperately needed right then. His body wasn't responding to him well.

"We have cameras in the area and saw them returning home rather quickly. Turns out that Jamie had forgotten his phone on the counter and Palace managed to hear what was going on in the backyard." He said, making Magnus groan and cough a few more times.

"Palace is my father, if you didn't piece that together." Del said from somewhere nearby. Magnus didn't bother trying to open his eyes yet to glare at the man. He knew that they'd just make him horribly dizzy and cause another bout of vomiting.

"You sent me into your daddy's den to try and kidnap his brat?" Magnus snarled quietly, wanting to put more force into his words, but not having the energy to do so.

There was a grunt in response somewhere before he felt Buck tug him a little closer. "Don't. He was on orders." He said.

Magnus didn't like the man trying to protect him, but he knew that he was useless right then.

"You should have let him drown, deer." Came a rough voice a few feet away. There was a feral tone to the words, making Magnus think that the man was the giant wolf who had mauled him.

"Listen, we didn't want to hurt Mina. The pill he was given was just a quarter dose. He would have likely shifted back before even getting to us." Del said to someone, only to earn a growl in response from several people.

"You didn't want to hurt him? That's why you sent one of your guys after him? What the hell did you want to do to him, then? You know those pills are illegal, right?" One of them yelled.

There was a bout of stressed silence before Del spoke again, his voice much less sure than it had been.

"I just can't stop thinking about him, and I know that it's likely the pheromones and stuff, but it seems like he's having a much worse time with it. His shift seems determined to get to me, and well, I actually wanted to ask him if he wanted to maybe, just... use each other."

Another heavy silence took over until there was the sound of little scratching claws on the concrete. A few growls followed that sound, but when someone finally spoke, it was actually Mina.

"I want to talk to him, alone, please." He said, his voice clearly very sleepy. The pill did take a toll on people, even if it was only a little piece of one.

Magnus didn't hear anyone move until a few minutes had gone by. Two sets of footsteps went back inside, followed shortly by one more set.

"They leave, too." The gruff voice said, indicating that Palace had stayed behind.

Magnus knew that he wasn't exactly a threat lying limply against Buck, but he bit his tongue as he was gently lifted into the deer-shifter's arms and slowly carried off. He wanted to stay conscious and try to recover a bit before passing out, but his body had other ideas. He was already drifting off to sleep.

"Get some rest, Maggie. I'll be here when you wake up. I promise."