It had been nearly a week and Larro was feeling pretty darn good.

"Ready to head to work?" He yelled, even though he knew that Pascal was probably still sleeping. Tayn had been up half of the night sick, but hadn't wanted to wake up his lover.

Probably just couldn't shake him hard enough to get him up. Either way, Larro had heard him in the bathroom around three and had been staying up with him for the past few hours to be sure that he was feeling better. Shifters tended to show pregnancy a lot faster than humans since their animal halves sometimes lent them an uncomfortably short gestation period. It seemed like his hyena had taken over, because he was already feeling terrible after only a week, and the gestation for Hyena's was only around three months.

Larro was pretty surprised how well Tayn took the whole thing, though, especially when Ariel finally decided to accept his offer for the job. That allowed her to be around quite often to visit with Arron and even stay some nights. When the two had first met he was pretty shy, but Larro supposed because of the pup or pups in his belly, maybe he connected more with her than he normally would with males. Either way, they were already on comfortable grounds and spoke once in awhile.

Ariel stumbled out of the guest room hopping on one foot as she slid on a pair of heels. Those definitely wouldn't do. Larro caught her right as she began to fall, then set her back on her feet with a quiet cackle he couldn't silence fast enough.

"I'd suggest something a little more, useful. This job doesn't require any kind of strict dress code and you don't seem like you're used to those spiky things on your feet." He said.

She glared up at him but he just smirked and raised a brow, challenging her to argue the obvious truth. Instead, she just rolled her eyes and turned to stomp back to the room she sometimes shared with her son.

A minute later she was back in a pair of black tennis shoes. Much better. Without waiting he snatched her hand and pulled her out the door.

"See ya later Tayn and Arron. Rylan will be here to pick you up for school soon so be ready!" He yelled to them.

It was a bit of a drive for the lion, but he'd been making it every single day to pick up his boyfriend. Yes, he was slowly becoming okay with that. Of course, they still had to keep the door open and what not, but he could tell that Arron's heat was getting stronger. He still didn't want to think about that right then, though.

The second they got to work he had her following him upstairs to the top floor. The building was a good sixteen stories tall and boy did they use every single floor of it. The place was bustling even so early in the morning but he had no issue navigating to his office between all the rushing people and shouts of greeting.

He nodded to several people before tugging Ariel into his office and closing the door quickly. When he turned around he could already tell that she was a bit winded from the run through the crazy floor.

"Going to be able to handle that?" He joked with a grin.

She blinked, then quickly straightened up and nodded.

"Of course, boss." She replied curtly.

He gave her a smile before walking toward the stack of papers piled on his desk and turning with them in his arms.

"It's just Larro. Though, I guess boss is okay, too. It's just weird. Anyways, I need these sorted into the cabinets behind you. Just alphabetical. I have a meeting to run to right now but if you finish before I'm back please check the calls on my phone and write down names, numbers, and reasons for the call so I can get back to them quickly."

Ariel took the papers and nodded.

"Absolutely, boss."

Okay, he knew that she was joking with that boss thing now, but he let it go with a wave as he ran out the door.

The school day passed decently quickly since most of his classes were pretty busy with exam reviews or assignments, so he could manage to push his heat back just enough to focus. However, come his late lunch period, Arron was fidgeting beside Rylan and Erin. He did actually manage to get them somewhat talking to each other since Rylan had refused to leave his side and he'd refused to leave Erin sitting alone. Well, he was never really alone since he was pretty popular for standing up to Rylan, but he still wanted to sit with him sometimes.

After nibbling at his sandwich for a few minutes Arron jumped up and quickly left the cafeteria. He knew that he was acting weird, but he also knew that quite a few of the other kids could already tell that he was in heat and that it was bugging the heck out of him.

He ended up going to the sports locker rooms after walking around for a few minutes. Thankfully, no one was around.

He quickly got the water running in one of the back showers before tossing his clothing somewhere behind him and jumping in. His hand immediately went between his legs to try and get some relief. He really couldn't afford to skip anymore classes, but he couldn't focus at all right then. In mere minutes he had climaxed, but it barely helped at all. that's what he had been doing all week to keep from literally having sex, but now it wasn't doing nearly enough to ebb the heat.

Arron?

His eyes widened when he heard his boyfriend's voice in his head.

I'm fine. He quickly replied back.

Arron, where are you? I can tell you're not fine. Rylan replied.

I can handle it.

There was silence for a few minutes, so he figured that Rylan was done trying to find him. Except, he began to hear footsteps inside the large room all of a sudden. Arron held his breath, then realized that it was pointless since the shower was on. If it wasn't Rylan then he could just pretend to be just showering, at least.

The shower curtain was yanked open abruptly, making him jump and jerk his eyes wide from surprise. He tried to turn away from whoever thought that it would be funny to peep on him when clothed arms pulled him into a tight hug. Strong arms that he was all too familiar with.

"Rylan?" Arron mumbled against his chest. "You're getting all wet..."

His words were barely whispered since he was much more focused on the strong scent he had come to recognize as Rylan's begin to wash over him. He seemed tense, but was slowly relaxing as Arron hugged him back. He was also really glad that the locker rooms they were in were generally only used by the after school sports teams. There were others in the gymnasium.

"Rylan?" He said after a minute.

"I'm trying." Rylan growled.

Huh?

"Trying, what?" Arron asked as he leaned back slightly so that their eyes could meet.

Oh wow. His lion is just beneath the surface. He even has a few whiskers on his human face.

"Trying not to..."

Arron understood and pursed his lips in thought. That wasn't exactly easy though, since his heat was still going full force. Before he could get a decent sentence out Rylan continued, and honestly made his heart flutter.

"I love you, Arron, but I can feel it. It's hurting you. Please, let me help.
I'll be gentle, I promise. Let me help you." He rasped.

"We don't have..." His words died on his lips as his face burned hotter.

"We'll get another pill from the vet on the way home." Rylan said as he tightened his hug.

He knew that Rylan did actually want cubs, and his family definitely had the money and space for them. It wasn't unusual for a lion to have cubs early and he'd caught Rylan staring at pictures of them in the books they got. The fact that he said he'd get him a pill to keep that from happening this time meant that he honestly cared about what Arron wanted. Rylan had come such a long way in such a short time after they made the effort to understand each other.

"Okay." He finally said nervously.

Rylan's eyes went wide when he'd agreed, but when Arron just took a step back and didn't change his mind, Rylan was quick to begin getting undressed. He'd be lying if he said he didn't sneak a few glances.

"Arron."

Feeling a finger beneath his chin, Arron felt it being lifted and blushed furiously when their eyes met again. Rylan had shut the curtain once he'd tossed his clothes out and was now standing in front of him, completely naked, with hunger in his eyes. He looked like he hadn't been fed in forever and he was his next meal.

They were quick to get busy with the deed. Rylan started off a bit aggressive, but managed to pull himself back and became extremely gentle as they got into a rhythm. They both actually got so into said rhythm it that once Arron was finally feeling better they just kept going... Until the sound of guys running into the locker room had them both freezing. A few started coming closer judging by the sound of their shoes on the cold tile. Arron felt himself begin to shake as Rylan set him back down on his feet and slipped out of him, but everything stopped the second he roared loud enough for the sound to echo off of the walls long after he'd finished making it.

There were a few whispers about Rylan before Arron heard a guy step a little closer.

"Yo Ry! Let me get some, too!" He called.

Another roar rumbled through the small shower stall, warning the other boy to not come any closer.

"Really, man? Is it that little kitten? Cause I'm pretty sure that's pedophilia." He said, making Arron scowl. He might act younger sometimes because of his shift, but he was perfectly legal!

He could feel Rylan tense as he began to change, but quickly fumbled for words to prevent him from letting his lion out.

Stop, please! He doesn't know anything.

He could tell that his mind was more lion than his own, but he wasn't sure what to do.

Rylan! Arron thought as loud as he could into his boyfriend's mind.

His mane was sprouting as his muzzle began to elongate. Rylan began kneeling as his lion's body started shifting, but then Arron remembered something that might help. Without much more thought he sank his teeth into his neck with a determined, yet much less threatening growl. Thankfully, when his teeth broke his skin Rylan's lion instantly backed off, switching his growling to a deep, rumbling purr. Arron knew that Rylan had bitten him several times already a few minutes ago, but when he returned the gesture it sealed the deal. They were now a mated pair.

"Fuck off, Randal." Rylan snarled.

The kid started arguing and Arron heard him walking closer, but Rylan let out another loud roar and soon everyone was running out of the locker room.

"Alright, let's get you to the vet." He finally said once they could hear no one else in the room.

But didn't they have to finish the school day?

Wait, was that the soccer team? Then it was already after school?

"You were really horny, hun."

Darn this kid is amazing. Not just because he was the most amazing lay he'd ever had, but he was just too cute. He'd been so into his heat that he hadn't realized that he'd nearly run Rylan ragged. Not that he minded, but Arron's little backside was going to be very sore for the next few days. Either way, as soon as he got him home from the vet he fully intended to spoil him.

He felt a heavy weight of uncertainty slip from his shoulders that he'd been carrying since he had first tried to court him. He never thought that he'd thank a stupid children's book, but if he hadn't read the thing, and others, at least five times, then he wouldn't have been able to control himself while they were mating. Hell, he also wouldn't have been able to say that he'd get him a disruption pill, because he desperately wanted cubs from him. They hadn't been dating very long, but lions weren't picky about being together physically and females often tried to use males to get pregnant in order to get them as a mate. He'd sure had to deal with enough determined teenage lions sniffing at his pants.

I don't want those people, and neither does my lion. We both want Arron, and that's it.

About thirty minutes later they were both clothed and walking into the vet's office. Well, he was carrying Arron inside. He had been having trouble even sitting in the car after a short time... which kind of boosted Rylan's ego a good bit. 

Stupid elephant, take that.

"Hey Doc!" He yelled.

The man sauntered in after a moment, raising a brow when he saw who they were.

"What can I do for you, boys?" He asked.

Since there was no one else in the office right then, Rylan figured that they didn't need to go to an exam room to talk.

"We need a disruption pill." He said.

"No."

What?

"Wait. Why?" Rylan asked, his eyes widening.

"You can only take one once every three months. I only gave him the pill so quickly last time because I am the only vet in town that treats shifters and if not given almost immediately, it won't have time to work."

"But, is there another way to, uh, prevent things." He asked awkwardly.

"No. Humans have abortions if necessary but when a shifter gets pregnant it is a much different story. The general biology is the same, but they are much too fragile to operate on once the baby is settled and pregnancy occurs."

Rylan could feel Arron's depression through their bond and sighed.

"Alright. Is there anything that can help with it then?"

Arron hugged him a little tighter and he could feel warm tears against his neck. Rylan really hoped that he didn't think that he'd done it on purpose. He'd had no idea about the rule for the pill. Thankfully, the vet smiled and nodded, walking over to pat Arron on the back before nodding for them to follow him.

"Being the only vet who deals with shifters also means that I carry quite a few things for them." He said.

Rylan nodded and followed him into an exam room, then shut the door as the doctor set a few bottles on the counter as well as a small packaged item.

"What's that?"

He turned and unwrapped the small package.

"Pregnancy test." The vet said as he nudged it closer to them. "Shifters can get pregnant very quickly. Even faster than their mammal counterparts." He added.

Arron flinched in his arms but Rylan thought that it was a better idea to do it. If he wasn't pregnant than they could just avoid buying all the extra stuff and he'd just stuff his backpack with condoms to prevent the situation from happening again until Arron was ready for cubs.

"I just need one drop of blood. The hormones present should easily tell me what we need to know." The vet said.

I don't want to. Arron thought to him nervously.

You know we should, though. Rylan replied.

Arron looked up at at him with his beautiful golden eyes, but the added tears just broke his heart. Blinking back his own tears, Rylan carefully grasped his right wrist and held his hand out so that the vet could prick his finger. Thankfully, he was quick and set the test aside, explaining that it would take a minute to show results. In the meantime he took Arron's temperature and blood pressure to be sure holding back on relieving his heat hadn't gotten him sick. 

"Everything checks out. Now, Arron?" The vet said seriously.

Rylan gently set him down but wrapped his arm around him tightly.

"If that test reads positive I want you to know that I'll be here to help you with anything you need medically, and I'm sure your family will be by your side every single step of the way." The vet said.

Rylan watched Arron nod but could tell that he was still pretty upset.

"We'll get through this. It's only three months if the test is positive." Rylan said, trying to be reassuring. It was just hard, because lions always welcomed babies, even if they were a bit young. Eighteen was logical in his family, but he knew now that it was too soon for cheetah shifters.

Rylan leaned over and licked his cheek, then nudged it with his nose.

"We'll still finish school and then go to college, but we'll just have some adorable cubs to dote on, too." He said.

Arron slowly nodded, but Rylan noticed that his eyes were still looking behind the vet at his test. The guy figured it out quickly and went to check it, then brought it over. There was a big blue dot were the drop of blood had been placed.

"You're having cubs." He said quietly. 

I'm ecstatic, but I need to make sure that he's going to be okay. 

It was hard to control himself, but Rylan managed to take a deep breath and tug Arron completely into his arms. 

"I love you, and I'm going to be here through the whole thing and beyond."   

He wasn't going to tell him to relax or calm down, because it really wasn't something that could just be shrugged off whether the cubs were wanted originally or not. But, he was going to make himself become the best damn father, so Arron would never regret the lives they were going to bring into the world together.