Full Moon Rising

Author Note: Sorry for the year long wait. Thank you for your patients and as always a big thanks to my amazing beta Tish.

Chapter 16

Anita slammed the door to her office after telling Mary, the daytime receptionist for Animator’s, Inc., to hold all her calls. The day had started off okay enough until she met her first appointment, which turned out to a colossal waste of time. She really needed to talk Bert about accepting every job that came his way. She could do nothing for the old Socialite, who wanted her to resurrect her beloved prize winning poodle. Raising one deceased pet from the grave was enough to last her a lifetime.

She sat behind her desk and turned on her computer. The computer was state of the art and one of the few luxuries that Bert, her money grubby boss, splurged on. Her next appointment wasn’t until after lunch, which gave her all morning to run a background check on her new house guest. But half an hour into the search Anita was ready to chuck her new state of the art piece of crap out of the window. With no priors, no arrests, not even one stinking parking ticket, Xander’s records were squeaky clean, too clean for someone who had already admitted to have hunted vampires in the past. His medical records were even less helpful. Except for the normal childhood ailments there was nothing in the man’s medical record that would explain his new found werehyena status.

Maybe she was just being paranoid, but Jean Claude was acting more secretive than usual and her instincts were telling her that something wasn’t quite right. When the computer search proved useless Anita turned to another source for information, one that didn’t necessarily follow proper legal channels. Edward had always proved to be a reliable source for information. As a bounty hunter that specialized in preternatural creatures he would know if there had been any new reports of shifters causing trouble in the area. The only problem was that Edward wasn’t exactly an easy guy to contact. Her call went directly to voice mail and Anita left a brief message detailing all the pertinent information. If she was lucky he would call back within a couple of days, but until then Anita was on her own.

***

Jason, Nathaniel and Xander didn’t leave the house until after noon. Tony, the hotel manager, didn’t seem too sad to see Xander go. However, he did manage to keep his beady eyes to himself and off Nathaniel, much to brunet’s satisfaction. After a quick change of clothes-because wearing someone else’s underwear was just gross-it took Xander less than ten minutes to pack all of his belongings into his duffel bag. It was hard to believe that just two months ago he had a nice apartment, a decent job and a beautiful fiancé. Now he was homeless, broke and apparently gay. Even worse, he was crushing on a guy who may, or may not, be involve with a woman who had already shot him once. He could almost hear Cordy’s shrill voice calling him a loser in his head.

It was too early to hit the clubs so Jason reluctantly agreed to go to the zoo first. Since it was a weekday the normal crowds were absent, leaving the grounds relatively quiet. Nathaniel bubbled with excitement as he told Xander how he and his brother used to love going to the zoo when they were kids. It was one of the few good childhood memories that the young man could recall and Xander was glad for every one. His own childhood with his alcoholic parents hadn’t been too great, but he was beginning to suspect that Nathaniel may have had a rougher time than he had.

But this was a different Nathaniel from the one Xander had met last night. Instead of leather the wereleopard wore a pair of tight designer jeans, which drew attention to his narrow waist and muscular thighs, and a tiny black tank top that stretched across his chest, stopping just short of his belly button. His long dark auburn hair was pulled back into a heavy braid that hung past his waist, accentuating his slender jaw and flush face. At the club the wereleopard oozed sexuality and desire. But here his face was carefree and shined with a youthful exuberance that Xander found incredibly attractive. It took everything the brunet had to stop himself from reaching out and taking the beautiful man right then and there. His body burned for contact, to feel the young man’s skin underneath his own and to reclaim what was his. But despite what happened at the club earlier Xander wasn’t much of an exhibitionist. With his beast under control, he was too insecure with his own sexuality to allow himself to do anything but hold hands with another man in public. He just hoped Nathaniel didn’t mind sweaty palms.

The wereleopard’s excitement was contagious and Xander smiled indulgently as he was dragged from one exhibit to another by his over zealous lover. And, in spite of all his complaining, even Jason seemed to enjoy himself. The werewolf spent most of the time trying to stare the animals into submission, figuring that this would be the only time he got to play Alpha. This made Xander laugh uncontrollably when it didn’t always seem to work.

To bad the zoo’s long term occupants didn’t share their enthusiasm. The animals lay leisurely behind their cages staring back at them with listless eyes. Xander wanted to see the hyena exhibit. Cliché he knew, but when you suddenly started turning into a huge hyena, you couldn’t help but be a bit curious. The zoo had three spotted hyenas, a small female and her cubs. They seemed a bit scrawny compared to the ones he’d seen at the Sunnydale Zoo, but of course those hadn’t been ordinary hyenas. He had nothing in common with these animals. The thing that possessed him in Sunnydale was more of a spirit than an animal. His beast may resemble this animal in appearance but his instincts and awareness of himself and the world around him far surpassed these creature’s abilities. He wasn’t just an animal but something much, much greater.

By time they left the zoo it was beginning to get dark. They were hungry, so Jason decided to take them to the Lunatic Cafe. The restaurant was more of a diner than a café, serving as a popular hangout for university students and on occasion a meeting place for the local wolf pack. Nathaniel sat down in a booth in front the window. Xander slid into the seat next to him while Jason took the seat directly opposite to him. Xander threw his arm over the back of the seat, allowing Nathaniel to cuddle up into his side and nuzzled his neck as he rested his hand high on the larger man’s thigh. The wereleopard’s body burned like a furnace and Xander sighed in contentment as the heat penetrated through his clothes and settled in his skin like a warm blanket. It wasn’t quite skin on skin contact, but it was enough to hold him over until he got a chance to spend some private time with his kitten.

Soon a pretty waitress with long chestnut hair came to the table and greeted them with a bright smile.

The werewolf flashed her a toothy grin. “Bernice, when are you going to break down and go out with me?”

The waitress giggled. “Sorry honey but I don’t think my fiancé would be too thrilled with that.”

Undaunted, the blonde continued to flirt shamelessly. “Hey, you guys aren’t married yet. What about one last ride for the road? I’ll even let you drive.”

“Jason! Shame on you! I’m practically a married woman.”

“Not yet,” purred Jason seductively.

The waitress rolled her eye but otherwise ignored Jason comment. “Are you ready to order?”

“Just give us three Lunar Specials. Trust me, Xander, this is the best burger in town.”

“Sure thing sugar, I’ll make sure Joe fixes them extra special.”

“Aw sweetheart, I knew you loved me.”

A few minutes later Bernice brought out three large cheese burgers with red juices running off the side.

Jason and Nathaniel immediate dug into their burgers while Xander scrunched his nose in disgust.

“Hey, what’s the matter?” mumbled Jason around a mouth full of food.

“It’s raw,” said Xander in disgust.

“No it’s not, it’s rare.”

“You got to be kidding me. It’s still bleeding. I’m not even sure it’s even dead yet.”

“Try it. It’s really good,” said Nathaniel as he took another small bite of his burger and chewed cheerfully as he made encouraging humming sounds with his mouth.

Xander looked skeptical. “All right, but if I get food poisoning I’m blaming you.”

Jason laughed. “Just eat it already.”

The brunet took a small hesitant bite that was more bread than actual meat and chewed. Xander’s eyes widen in surprise. “Wow this is good.”

Jason smirked. “Told ya.”

Suddenly the blonde werewolf stiffened and Xander grew alarmed as the blonde’s face grew so pale that Xander thought perhaps the food was indeed poisoned. “Hey are you okay?”

Jason ignored him and quickly dropped his eyes to his lap as a large shadow fell on the table.

Xander swiveled around in his seat and frowned in annoyance as his dark eyes fell on Richard’s rigid form.

Xander growled. “Oh well, if it isn’t our resident jackass.”