The blue hybrid walked down the brick road swaying his tail side to side, dragging it along, occasionally whipping at the ground. The sounds of the claws at the end of each toe clicked along the road, a looming look of irritation was on his face, looking to each alley as he proceeded through the town. His golden eyes made sure to capture every last person he saw, wanting to remember every last face. His trust for anyone was at a minimum, even his own agency.

With the loss of his mother from a village of those hating that bred outside of his lion heritage, he bore a distrust to all, for he wasn’t even able to trust his own kind. As he looked over he saw a petite female with lengthily purple hair wearing a turquoise lace camisole with dark blue jeans just under her waist. He noticed her arms crossed over her chest, rubbing her arms with a small shiver.

Her wardrobe left him curious, in this cold weather he wore black and white camouflage cargo jeans along with a black short sleeve and black leather jacket. His jacket was a bit shabby, but heavy and warm, it did the job. “Girl like that shouldn’t be out here alone,” he muttered to himself, keeping focus on her. The female had a strong resemblance to a vixen and curvy in all the right places.

He knew the area they were in was notorious for sexual abuse, and one like her, he knew was just another girl waiting to be prowled. He managed to get closer, staying several feet away from her before catching a ladder to a fire escape and climbed up to the rooftop and noticed she had gotten considerable distance. It worried him to a point, but he kept in mind she might be trying to escape someone.

The girl wandered off into a bar and quickly managed to find her way through the back door. As she stepped into the alleyway, her small hands reached out to knock on a door in a distinct pattern. The door quickly opened and the vixen was whisked away in a moment. The male on the rooftops growled and hopped down quietly, jumping wall to wall in the narrow alley until reaching the ground. He noticed a barred window and peered in to see her being yelled at and manhandled by several large Rottweilers intimidating her as well.

She soon fell over and scrambled to the door, throwing herself out to only hit her back against the wall. Looking over to the hybrid that was following her she trembled and quickly tried to back away, but he stood between the entrance to the bar and herself. One of the Rottweilers burst out of the doorway, “Where’d you got bitch, daddy’s in debt to us and you’re paying one way or another!”

The male hybrid looked over to the Rottweiler before grasping his throat and lifted him off his feet, “Let me make myself clear, if I hear the word ‘bitch’ again, the only ones that are gonna be bitches are you and your boys.” Another Rottweiler rushed out and tackled the male to the ground. Growling a bit irritated now by the aggressiveness of the gang, he bared his fangs and whispered, “Varen’s got a bit of cleaning up to do.”

The canine that had pinned him quickly staggered away and shook his head, “No way, you ain’t that damn merc Varen.” “Half dragon, half lion, blue, and a pissed off look on my face, you think I’m not him?” The two canines rushed at him as he roared out an enormous cloud of ice freezing one, before grabbing the other by the waist, raising him completely off the ground before dropping back to slam the Rottweiler hard. Dusting himself off he stood up only to see one more walk out, but he wasn’t like the other two.

“Yo, DJ, didn’t I tell you keep out of this shit?” Varen asked, knowing the very male standing before him. It was a Doberman, standing a bit over six feet tall, thick muscled arms and toned legs, wearing a white muscle-t and camouflage baggy shorts. “Varen, I thought I told you get your ass out of this town last time.” “Sorry, got a strict no abuse policy here, you know that.”

DJ snarled before snapping, “You’re a damn merc not a cop. The hell do you want with us, we’re just doing business. Aislinn’s family owes us and we want payment. Her pretty little body for a week should do for a month’s rent.” “Aislinn huh? Sorry to tell you kid, you ain’t going anywhere, just wait where you are while I talk to DJ here for a moment.”
Varen walked up to Doberman and quickly headbutt him before clenching a fist tight and punched the canine across the jaw. Noticing the stagger he roared out a mist of ice freezing DJ slightly. “Aislinn, come with me, you three, no more problems or next time I break you, got it?” Taking her wrist with a firm grip he lead her through the bar and ran her a few blocks down until walking into a motel and opened a door leading her inside.

“The hell you doing involved with Marco’s men?” Varen questioned as he tossed her onto the bed. Aislinn couldn’t help but hold a hand over her chest, feeling her heart race for several more minutes before finally calming down. “I live on my own and my parents help me pay but lately things have been tight… I gave them whatever money I had left, but it wasn’t enough.”

“Damn it all, more cases like you popping up and the cops refuse to couch Marco’s men. They keep their work so discreet it’s hard for me to even land a pin on any hard evidence.” Aislinn sighed before curling up and wrapped her long tail around her feet, “Why did you help me? He said you were a merc, a mercenary?”

Varen groaned before walking over to a mini fridge and pulled out a beer, “Yeah, no charge don’t worry. I’ve got personal beef with those guys, and they shouldn’t be picking on a girl like you.” Looking over to see her shivering, he took off his jacket and tossed it to her, “Put it on, it’s a bit old, but we can get it fixed so it doesn’t ruin your pretty image.”

“What are you talking about?” Aislinn curiously asked as she put the jacket on and walked over to the fridge, pulling out a beer curiously as Varen nodded approvingly. “Well you’re gonna need protection. I’ll watch over you, and don’t worry no charge. I’ve got my reason to protect you.” A small blush came over her face as she sat at the edge of the bed, popping the beer open and sipped, “You really Varen?”

“No reason to lie, you’ve got a notorious guardian on your side, people call me a merc, but I don’t really charge, I just get tipped well for my work.” Giving a quick wink he reclined back in a chair and yawned, “Get some sleep, you can use the bed.” Aislinn nodded before crawling back onto the bed and sat against the headboard, “You can sleep with me if you like, you did save me after all.” “All professional, I won’t do more than that,” he replied in a soft tone before laying beside her and turned the t.v. on as they drank their beers.