"We didn't really think about how we were going to get this collar on, did we?" Jamie mused as he held up the soft leather collar with a little bell in the middle that Jared had just driven two hours to get.
It was clear on his face that he couldn't fathom how a little herb in the bell actually had such a huge affect on pheromones, but the thing sure worked on Spots, so they weren't going to hesitate to use it.
"No, we didn't." Jared replied as he noted that Knight wasn't there, having likely been taken back to his room while he'd been gone. He walked over to the computer for the room and pulled up the video Jamie had paused for him. "Did he really shift?" He asked as he clicked play, already knowing that Jamie had confirmed that Palace had, indeed, transformed into his human form when they had spoken on the phone a little under an hour ago, but seeing it happen on the video made it feel a hell of a lot more real.
"Almost feels like a horror movie, doesn't it?" Jamie whispered as he appeared to Jared's left, his eyes on the screen, fascinated, even though he'd likely watched it a dozen times already.
Without really thinking, Jared nodded, his attention too focused on the video to figure out how to use words. It was seriously hard to believe what he was seeing. Palace had indeed shifted, but his movements were very awkward and unrealistic. Of course, he couldn't really blame him for not knowing how to use his human form after likely having been stuck as a wolf for so long, but watching him start hunched over in an awkward sitting position on the floor, then seeing a bony arm reach up toward the door, jerking as if it were weighed down by something invisible...
"Christ." He murmured as he made himself blink, his eyes stinging from being forced to stay open.
It took Palace nearly a minute fumbling with the lock before it turned. Another two minutes were spent on getting his other hand up to the doorknob, then using both of them, and a disturbing twist of his thin body, to make the heavy door slowly begin to creak open.
"Wish we could see his face." Jamie said as Palace slowly shifted back into his wolf form and began nudging the door open further before disappearing from that camera's view.
Jared leaned back, sighing as he ran his fingers through his previously-styled hair. "It was creepy as hell, but at least he can shift and is comfortable enough to do it now."
Jamie nodded slowly before heading toward the exit door. "I'm going to let Sherry know to double his food. He's definitely gaining weight, but I want to see him fat." He said, earning a rare chuckle from his brother.
"Yeah, get out of here. I'll watch him for a bit." Jared said as he dropped down into the chair Jamie had recently vacated.
Grinning, Jamie tossed him the collar and ducked out of the room, then hurried toward the kitchen. They had one full time employee that just made the animal diets and distributed medications that weren't required to be administered by a vet.
"Sherry!" He called as he stepped up into the bright room of stainless steel and large containers.
There was a walk in refrigerator and freezer to his left and rows of garbage cans full of different animal feeds lined up along the back wall. In the middle of the room was a shelving unit that held another fourteen or so smaller containers of food. Sherry appeared from behind that shelving island and grinned. She was around fifty and a little plump, but she refused to let her hair turn grey so she dyed it random colors every other month. This month it was a light brown with a few purple highlights mixed in.
"Well if it isn't the energetic brother." She said, tossing him an apple without even needing to be asked.
Jamie smirked and caught it, taking a bite, chewing, and swallowing before he walked around the steel table in front of him that had several of the animal's already-made diets on them, waiting to be picked up by those who handled those specific animals.
"I need to make a change to the new wolf's diet, again." He said.
Sherry didn't seem surprised at all and tossed him a marker as he walked over to the diet book that held all of the information for each animal's feeding requirements.
Flipping to the back, he snagged the damp papertowel Sherry tossed at him and rubbed off their last diet increase for Palace, then swiped his sleeve over the damp spot before uncapping the marker and writing the doubled amount.
"Is everything going well?" He asked after capping the marker and flipping the book back to the page it had been on.
Sherry nodded, but then held up a finger. "That hawk shifter you brought in with the wolf."
He frowned, nodding as he replied. "Yeah, Knight. Did something happen with him?"
The woman finished making the diet she was focusing on, then labeled it and slid it to the others waiting to be picked up before turning to him.
"He hasn't been eating much. When you first brought him he would eat at least two or three mice a day. Now, his bowl returns with at least two, if not all three. I offered him human food, too. Fruits, vegetables, and some cooked meats, but he didn't even touch them."
Leaning against the stainless steel table beside him, Jamie licked his lips, then took out his Chap Stick to swipe across them. "What do his keepers say?" He asked.
Generally, him and Jared took care of him if they had the time, but dealing with Palace and the constant barrage of reporters trying to get in had taken Knight's care away from their hands most days.
"They said that he's been in his hawk form more often than not. You guys gave him the ability to have a keeper take him to the restroom, but he doesn't even bother shifting to ask."
Odd, he's been his regular self around us.
"Thanks for the information, I'm going to go pay him a visit." Jamie said as he finished his apple, tossed it, and headed out.
He caught one of the keepers they had assigned to him stepping out of the room right after he'd finished cleaning, making Jamie wave at him to keep the door unlocked.
"How's he been, Rob?" He asked as he glanced inside the room through the small window in the door.
Knight stood perched on one of the many different branches they'd brought in and fastened to different fake trees placed around the room. Judging by the wet spots from the mop Rob had used to clean, Knight at least seemed to appreciate their effort to offer his hawk form several places to perch.
"Hello, sir. He didn't eat today, and barely ate the last few days. I was going to come let you know after I finished putting this stuff away." He said, earning a simple nod from Jamie.
It wasn't abnormal for an animal to refuse food for a day or two in a row, and since he hadn't really refused to eat, just hadn't eaten much, he didn't mind that they weren't told yet.
"Alright, thanks. Make sure to wright it in his records. I'll lock the door after I speak with him."
Rob agreed, then picked up his cleaning supplies and disappeared around the corner down the hall. Jamie ran his Chap Stick over his lips one more time before sliding it back into his pocket and stepping inside Knight's room.
The guy jerked his feathered head toward him right away, then leaped from the perch he was on and shifted so that he landed on his bare feet instead of talons.
"What's going on, Knight?" Jamie asked, getting straight to the point.
He knew that the guy didn't like being stuck in the room, and they tried to let him out as much as possible, but he wasn't the only thing they had to look after. Hopefully, after the paperwork for the case was processed and reviewed, then Knight was behaviorally tested to be safe around other people, they could just let him go.
I doubt he'd leave, though. Not without his brother.
"I need to see my brother." He said as he headed toward the door, making Jamie run to cut him off.
"You can see him, but you need to talk to me, first. Why haven't you been eating or shifting?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched Knight start to pace in front of him.
He did look a little skinnier, but their attention had been so focused on Palace that he was a bit ashamed that he hadn't even thought to look Knight over carefully since the day after he'd arrived and gotten checked by their vet. The guy had seemed much more stable than his brother, but clearly there was also something happening with him that they needed to address.
When he stopped and turned to glare at him, Jamie let his arms drop back down to his sides and shrugged. "You can glare all you like, but that won't help you get to Palace any faster. Jared just got back from getting him a pheromone collar so that no one will notice his scent, and I'd like to get that on him as soon as possible. So, talk to me and we can both go help him out."
Knight seemed taken aback by what he'd said, though Jamie couldn't figure out why. Does he still not believe that we just want to help them? Sighing, Jamie ran a hand through his hair and shook his head.
"I know that your brother is in heat, and I won't lie, my lion very much wants to do something about it." He said, earning a toxic look from Knight.
Jamie leaned back against the door and eyed the young man in front of him.
"Help me get the collar on him so no one who is trying to help him is tempted to do something idiotic. I'd rather live than procreate, and I don't want any of my workers getting killed because they couldn't handle his scent." Jamie said quietly, watching as Knight's expression slowly shifted between several different emotions.
When he finally returned his attention to Jamie, there was a hesitant look of hope behind his worried eyes. "You knew?" He asked, his raspy voice making the words a little hard to understand.
Nodding, Jamie offered him a small, reassuring smile.
"Our older brother's husband is a cross-shifter. He's the sweetest guy we've ever met, but he used to drive everyone crazy with his pheromones until our brother got him a collar that blocked the chemicals and scent."
When Knight didn't reply, but appeared to be thinking intently, Jamie walked over and grabbed a pair of sweatpants they'd lent him and tossed them over.
"Come on, Palace needs his brother, and we could use your help." He said before turning to walk out the door.
He held the door open for Knight after he'd tugged on the pants, then followed him as he hurried toward where Palace was.
Can't blame him for being so protective. I'd be even worse if Jared was ever in trouble.
When they got into the room, Jamie walked over to the computer, gesturing for Knight to follow as he pulled up the video of his brother from earlier.
"Look." He said as he fast-forwarded it to where Palace had shifted.
Knight's attention immediately zeroed in on his brother's fragile human form. Jamie turned his own attention to Knight, watching his worried expression brighten just the slightest. They all knew that Palace didn't look good in the video, but he'd shifted. That was the big deal.
When the video had finished, Knight looked up at him with cautious hope. "He shifted... so does this mean that I'm no longer more valid to save over him?" He asked.
Jamie hadn't even thought of that, but he found himself nodding as his brother got up and walked over, holding the collar out to Knight. "Any good ideas on how to get this on him without knocking him out?" He asked.
Knight took the small black leather collar and held it up. His head tilted much like it would if he were in his bird form as he observed the item.
"I'm not sure... but can I try to talk to him again?" He asked as he headed toward the feeding door and knelt beside it.
Jamie looked at his brother, both of them shrugging as they followed him and tugged open the small door enough so that Palace would be able to hear Knight, but only swipe at him from an awkward angle if he wanted to try and hurt him.
"Hey Pal!" Knight called into the room.
Jamie looked up at the video monitor to see the wolf's reaction.
"He's heading over." He said as he watched Palace get up from where he'd been lying against the far wall and slowly pad his way toward the opening.
When Palace stopped near them, Jamie knelt beside the others.
"Hey bro, how are you feeling?" Knight asked.
The growl he got in response made him chuckle. "Yeah, pretty much the same." He said as they heard the entry door open, drawing Jamie and Jared's attention.
Sherry walked in with a large platter of meats, fruit, and vegetables. All of it was dusted with vitamin powder. Jamie jumped up and took it from her, making her sigh with relief. "That double portion is darn heavy." She said, earning a chuckle from him before she headed out and he brought the tray over to the opening.
Setting it on the floor, he wasn't surprised in the least when Knight grabbed a huge piece of deer meat and carefully offered it to his brother through the risen metal door. Palace snatched it up in the blink of an eye, and it was gone even faster.
"It looks like they doubled your food, Pal. Ready to get fat?" Knight said as he fully sat down and grabbed a cored apple and tossed that through the opening.
It, too, was gone in a blur, taken and swallowed after a single bite. He followed it up with two zucchini, another piece of deer, and four carrots. Jamie wasn't sure when they should broach the subject of the collar so he just let Knight have the time with his brother. They were making progress right then, so the collar could wait a short time.
Palace emptied most of the tray in about twenty minutes, leaving behind just a few more carrots and two pieces of meat.
Glad we increased his food again. Jamie thought to Jared, who smiled at him from where he'd found a spot leaning against the wall near the feeding opening.
He watched quietly as Knight picked up one of the remaining carrots and offered it to Palace, but everyone seemed to take in an abrupt breath at the same time when the wolf's jaws didn't grab it, but instead, a fragile clawed hand shakily wrapped its fingers around the food.
Knight was having trouble keeping his own hand still as he released the carrot so that Palace could take it. Only, Palace's hand only retracted for a moment before reappearing to hesitantly nudge at Knight's.
The guy looked absolutely elated, but also terrified. Jamie was holding his breath again and he could feel the tension radiating off of his brother in his mind.
He could tell that Knight wanted to grasp his brother's hands and comfort him as much as possible, but thankfully he knew that it was too early for that. Palace wasn't trying to hold his hand, but instead, was just touching with the caution of a scared animal that was just curious enough to allow a tiny amount of risk.
Soon enough, Palace retracted his hand. Knight took a minute to calm himself down before feeding his brother the remainder of the food. He'd shifted back to his wolf, but everyone knew that they'd had a huge success, even if it only lasted for a minute or less.
When the tray was cleaned of food, Jamie got up, lifting it into his arms. "Come on, Knight. Let's go get you something to eat, then maybe you can come back here for a bit and keep an eye on him?" He offered.
Knight got up and nodded, a rare smile nudging at the corner of his lips.
Jared stepped forward and took the tray, making Jammie blink at him in confusion.
"I'll take him. Chill here for a bit?" He asked as he headed for the door, gesturing for Knight to follow after him.
Jamie was a little hesitant to let Knight be alone with his brother, but he'd been pretty good about not messing with his mind anymore, and they seemed to be getting along decently enough.
"Alright. I'll be here." He said as he dropped down into one of the chairs.
His eyes rose to the video monitors as he heard the door click shut behind Jordan and Knight. Palace was stretched out next to the wall, a few feet away from the steel feeding door.
He's not all the way across the enclosure...
His lips turned up and he leaned back in the chair. They could do this.
Patience.
"You'll get there, bud. You'll be great. Just a few more good experiences and you'll be able to hopefully stay with your brother. Things can only look up from here, as long as we're careful."
He knew that Palace couldn't hear him through the walls, but he'd needed to hear the words for himself.
"We'll do this."