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It was a smog alarm day when Jack decided to kill Vasili.

The afternoon sun looked blearily through the blood red haze in the air, through the window slats and giving Vasili's living room a dull monotone hue. The place smelled of champagne and sex, both stale, and debris of ill-conceived partying laid scattered over the floor and furniture. Vasili was hungover but dressed up, and nursed a glass of mineral water as he thumbed through his messages in irritated silence. He sat on the couch with thighs spread wide like a mound of flesh, rude yet insurmountable, and for the first time in his life Jack despised him more than he feared him. How dare you decide how I live my life, he thought as he stood in attention nearby. I am not your property.

“Why did you do it?" Jack asked. He knew that you did not speak up when Vasili was in one of his moods, but he was beyond caring.

The polar bear made a noncommittal grunt without looking up.

“Why did you hurt Alex?" Jack kept his voice steady with some effort.

This time Vasili looked up, glowering at him under his eyebrows. But when Jack did not shy away from his stare he did not explode into rage. Instead he spoke in a slow, deliberate manner.

“Because I know better."

“What that's supposed to mean!?"

“That you are dumb. You are dumb and don't understand who you talk to, so I fix that for you."

Jack inhaled sharply. “Was the prison your doing too?"

“Dumb."

“Did you think that I would talk in prison so you decided to fix me there too?" Jack kept his hands to his sides, but they opened and closed in anger.

Vasili breathed in deeply and huffed, then got up from the couch with some difficulty. He crossed the distance between him and Jack like a professional returning to his work. Jack tensed up, his mouth dry and heart hammering furiously in his chest, but he was determined not to break eye contact with the approaching thunder.

“Vas-"

The polar bear moved with speed belying his size. A single smack with his meaty palm sent Jack sprawling on the floor, his ears ringing as he smelled the carpet.

“You were getting uppity, boy, and needed to be put back in your place," Vasili spoke with a voice quiet enough to loudly demand all of Jack's attention.

“Never forget that I picked you up from the gutter. I can put you back. But I choose to keep you safe. Because I'm the one who loves you." Anger started seeping into his words with every passing breath. “Me and me alone!"

Jack shivered on the floor, gripped by fear and anger. He curled up and covered his ears so that listening to the larger man could come to an end. Vasili stopped, his chest heaving as he looked down on Jack.

“Fuck you for not listening. What do I care? You know it is true. You're mine and no one else's."

He leaned over Jack and fished out his phone and wallet, and stuffed them in his jacket pocket. Vasili's touch made him freeze and he did not offer resistance, instead wishing for the contact to be over as quickly as possible.

“You stay here," Vasili rumbled. “And you better get over your fucking mood before I return. I have guests to entertain."

He stepped over Jack unceremoniously and walked out, not even having the consideration of slamming the door as he left. Jack was left alone in the room at the end of the world, crying with tears rolling on his cheeks and gasping for air between uncontrollable sobs, his stomach clenched into a tight knot from anxiety. Vasili would kill Alex if he ever saw him again, the one thought so bitter that it made him forget his own misery.

After an indeterminable time Jack got up stiffly. He padded to the front door of Vasili's apartment and looked into the corridor, not knowing what to expect. Perhaps he wanted to test if he could push himself to cross that threshold and run, and keep running until there was nothing left of him. To his surprise he saw Sarah leaning against the wall, looking straight ahead, deep in thought. She pushed herself off the wall and extinguished her cigarette on a no smoking sign.

“I overheard everything. You need my help," she said as a matter of fact.

“With what?" Jack looked at her warily.

“To take the bastard down."

“How?"

She got up close, close enough for Jack to smell her smoky voice and suggestive perfume.

“You need to know some things about me. First, I got approached by the Feds. They made a deal with me for becoming their mole. If Vas hears of this then it's over for me, understood?"

Jack nodded, looking serious. He wiped off the tears on the corner of his eyes.

“So I'm telling you this as a show of trust. They want Yan's files because they hold all kinds of Syndicate secrets…but if it fucks over Vas in the process then I'm in. Deal?"

Jack locked his eyes with hers, two predators looking at each other unflinching.

“Tell me why you want to help me."

“I'm tired."

“Deal."

“Second, I'm not going to fuck you. In case us working together is giving you any ideas."

“Of course, I would never-"

“Otherwise you might catch crabs from me."

“What?"

“It's humor to lighten a tense moment."

“Jesus Christ, Sarah."

Jack shook his head, but the lioness caught his eyes again.

“Third, you're going to do exactly what I say, no questions asked. If you hesitate you're not getting a second chance."

“No."

“What?"

“I'm tired of being told what to do. We're partners or we're nothing. Understood?"

Sarah opened her mouth, ready to protest, but Jack's expression made her reconsider. She looked aside and huffed.

“You found the damnedest time to grow a spine. Very well, I like assertive men. Maybe I'll let you fuck me after all."

“We'll see about that. Do we have a deal?"

“Partners." She extended her arm for a handshake, and Jack took it. Hers was pleasantly soft for someone so toughened by life.

“Now what?"

“That little twerp Yan ratted you out to Vas. You know what to do."

Jack knew.

--

“Yeah? What do you want now?"

Yan's voice carried his now-familiar undertone of annoyance and slight disdain. If he felt any unease or guilt for selling out Alex he wasn't showing it.

“It's the job Vas gave me. He told me to work with you."

Yan's groan came a bit crackled through the interphone but the door to the building opened with a buzz.

“This better not be like last time," the hare said before the line was cut.

No, it won't, Jack thought as he rode the elevator.

The hare opened the door after the second knock. “I'm warning you, whatever it is, you're doing the heavy lift…"

Jack's fist caught Yan on the side of the head and sent him reeling back into the entrance corridor. The blow had been poorly delivered, barely strong enough to leave a bruise, but Yan opened and closed his mouth like his brain had gone through a cocktail shaker.

“Hey, what the…"

Jack rushed him and gave him a good shove in the solar plexus. The other male fell to the floor and landed on his elbow with a sharp cry.

“My arm!" he cried out.

“Why did you do it?" Jack yelled and slammed the door shut behind him.

“Do what?" Yan whined and crawled away clutching his arm.

“You fucking know what I'm talking about."

“You're crazy, all I did was help you," he moaned and turned his head away. “My arm, you broke my arm…"

Jack wavered, this wasn't how he had pictured it in his head. Without thinking he crouched to check the wounded limb. It was pure dumb luck that the knife's blade simply ripped into the fabric of his jacket and did no more than graze his skin. The panther let out a sharp cry of surprise and kicked Yan in the temple. This time the man didn't have to fake the pain.

“Now we're going to have a chat," Jack said and picked up the fallen knife.

“Fuck you."

The young feline grabbed the thin man by the collar and dragged him kicking and swearing into the living room.

“I know you're the numbers guy for Vas. I want his files."

“Take a mint first. Your breath smells like fox cum."

Yan let out another yell when the handle of the knife struck him on the same spot where Jack's boot had hit him. “You little sack of shit. I trusted you, why did you tell him? You know what he did to Alex?"

“Smashed his pretty mouth I reckon," Yan snarled, eyes bright with pain, “But don't worry, you can still use his other end. Unless you're the girl in the couple."

Jack felt a rush of heat envelop his face. His fist surged forward and punched the hare in the eye. Before Yan could even raise a hand the panther grabbed his left ear and pressed the knife's blade against it.

“Asshole, I bet you'll shut up when I stuff it into your mouth."

He was screaming, spittle flying out of his mouth. The stainless steel made contact with the vessel-rich skin and blood, bright and warm, flowed from an unseen cut. The sight and the scream of fear from the man at his feet sent a jolt through Jack's body. He let go and took a step back in recoil.

“Coward," Yan sniffed, “You fucking coward. You shit your pants in front of Vas but you sure feel like a man now, don't you?"

“Cry me a river. Now give up those files or I'll show you a couple tricks I learned from Vas," Jack said and waved the blade under Yan's nose. The young feline had made his best tough guy impression, the one he had been working on since the failed bodega robbery. The delivery was good, with the right mix of coldness and nonchalant threat, but when he and the hare's eyes met there was a discordant note. It was a mere split second of hesitation, but from that moment Jack knew he couldn't do it, and Yan knew it too.

“Go eat a bag of dicks," he muttered and fell into a silence that no amount of swearing and threatening could break.

Jack bound his wrists and ankles and locked him up in the toilet before calling Sarah.

“I got him," he said.

“The files?" she replied tersely.

“He's not talking."

“Just slap him around a bit. He's a wuss."

“I did, he's not talking."

There was a long silence, and Jack realised he had been expecting Sarah to tell him what to do next. He cursed himself.

“But I'll go through his stuff, it must be somewhere in here."

“What, you think he keeps a folder with evidence in capital letters on it? Let me come over, I know what will make him talk."

She hung up.

Yan shot her a hateful glance from his unbruised eye when she opened the door to the toilet. “You're so fucking dead when Vas finds finds out," he hissed.

“My," she whistled and took the knife from Jack, “I didn't believe you, but you actually did slap him around. Now start smoking and drinking and you'll make me wet."

They dragged Yan to the bedroom and shoved him belly-down on top of the bed.

“Make sure he doesn't move," Sarah said to Jack. The panther nodded despite his growing unease and straddled the hare to keep him from escaping. Yan remained mute until the lioness grabbed the sides of his pants and pulled them down, revealing a small black-and-white tail and a pair of pale blue briefs.

“Hey, HEY!"

She snickered. “As cute as those look on you, they have to go," she said and slid the blade under the briefs' waistband, ripping them open in one swift motion. Yan's bare butt was surprisingly plump for someone so lean. Between his legs a white-furred sack jiggled on the bed-cover. Jack thought he understood and felt a knot in his throat.

“You're not going to…" he whispered, looking at the blade.

“Huh…? Oh… No, I've cleaned up enough blood to know it's a real hassle to get off fabric."

She motioned Jack to move aside and took his place atop Yan, her head facing the panther who now stood uneasily behind their captive. “Now take your pants off and plow him good," she grinned.

“Wha…?"

“No!"

The hare began to struggle and whine, but the heavier woman easily held him down. “You're into boys, right? He's a jerk but he's got a nice ass, it shouldn't be that hard."

“But why?"

Sarah grinned. “Our friend here got a bunch of mommy issues, or maybe daddy issues, I don't know. What I do know is that he's deadly scared of being intimate with anything other than his hand. So give him some dick therapy."

Yan hollered and tried to wriggle out of her grasp like an animal caught in a snare. “You're dead, you're both so fucking dead," he hiccuped with sobs of shame and rage.

“I… I don't know if I can do it," Jack said and swallowed uneasily.

“Sheesh… I'd do it myself but I don't have a spare dick in my handbag. You want to stay Vas's bitch forever? No? Then you gotta get your hands and your cock dirty."

Her hand clasped Yan's buttcheek, just under his little tail, and her index finger probed his crack, drawing a panicked scream in response.

“See? It's either that or I'll have to use the knife to get him to talk."

Jack hesitated. He hated the man and beating him up had felt good in the heat of the moment, but this was different.

“You really want me to use sex to torture him?"

“Why not? That's what Vas does to you."

Something switched inside Jack. It was less a revelation and more a shift in perspective, but nevertheless the world suddenly made more sense to him. Seeing his expression Sarah smiled and grasped both of Yan's buttcheeks to spread them open wide, enticing him to enter.

Jack looked on for a moment and then shrugged. He had a role to play and experience in being on the receiving end, so he might just as well make a good show out of it. He knelt behind Yan and touched him under his bushy tail with his cold nose tip. The hare's whimpering stopped and his entire body tensed up, holding his breath panicked disbelief. Jack gave his pink pucker a lick, his tongue darting across the sensitive spot lightly, but even that was enough to break Yan into sobbing pleading.

“Oh no no no, please no…"

He was still tense, but the fight had gone out of him and was replaced by the numbness of a prey caught in headlights waiting for the inevitable. He tasted nice, his scent masculine yet light, almost coy, and Jack licked him again, this time slurping his hole and dipping the tip of his tongue in. Sarah shifted her weight back, straddling Yan's shoulders between her thighs. As she watched Jack her hand found its way under her pants, and her fingers in her crotch, and she let out a satisfied murmur.

Jack got on top of Yan, still clothed but letting him feel his weight, and reached over Sarah to whisper in his ear.

“Is this really how you want your first time to go," he spoke with low malice. “Against your will and with an ex con?"

When Yan replied only in sobs he continued.

“Once I put it in, nothing can take it back. The memory will be with you for the rest of your life. Every time you want to fuck, every time you want to pleasure yourself…you will see me instead."

He eased back to kiss Yan's balls, leaving a strand of saliva glistening on their fuzz. The touch made the hare shiver.

“Th, fuh- f-files, they, they're under the nightstand!" Yan gasped out with a warbling voice.

Jack got up and toppled over the desk, finding a small hard drive taped on the bottom. He ripped it off and brandished it at Sarah. Someone had written 'my insurance' on a masking tape on its side.

“We got what we came for."

She frowned, annoyed that her pleasure was cut short. “It's guaranteed to be encrypted."

“That's a problem for the feds to solve. Let's go," Jack said and nudged his head towards the door.

“You, you want his laptop too." It was Yan who spoke up, still hugging the bed and looking firmly away from the two, his voice slightly muffled.

“The fuck are you babbling about?" Sarah grasped him by the ear and pulled it hard.

Yan yelped and flipped over. His modest sized cock was rock hard, with a single vein throbbing along its white underside as it bobbed proudly in the air. He was hyperventilating, but gave them a defiant stare and did not move to cover his nakedness.

“You want the data leak to come from the idiot's laptop. That way the Syndicate thinks that it's his fault."

“Liar," Sarah snarled, but Jack laid his hand on her shoulder.

“He knows what he's talking about."

“Why would he help us? He just told us that we're dead, remember?"

“It's not like I have a choice now," Yan said angrily and sniffed. “If I don't frame Vas for what you two are planning to do then the Syndicate blames me. I'll be lucky if I get away with a bullet to the forehead."

Sarah studied him while fuming silently, then came to a decision. “Fuck it, we roll. You can come with us but only because I'm counting on you two finishing later." She looked at Jack. “Keep an eye on the twerp so he doesn't run away."

She left the room with a haughty pose to hide her displeasure, leaving Jack alone with Yan. He grasped the hare's arm and yanked him up, using a little more force than necessary, but let him pull up his pants on his own before shoving him to make him walk. They left the building without being seen.

--

The car ride to Vasili's apartment was uncomfortably silent. Sarah drove tapping the steering wheel with an irritated cadence, and once they joined the highway she rolled down the window to smoke. Jack and Yan sat on the back seat quietly as the street lights glided over them like dead souls, their sodium color casting hard shadows on the two men. Yan sat arms crossed and staring intently out of the window, and Jack felt a twinge of sympathy for the man. It was not enough for him to drop his guard, and he stayed ready to grab the hare in case he decided to bolt.

After a while Yan turned his head to look at Jack, under his brows and with an unreadable expression. His body unclenched and he let his arms fall to his sides, and without saying anything he unzipped his pants. He slouched a little and fiddled with them until his erection popped out, as fierce as the first time Jack had seen it, alabaster white rod with precum beading on its pink tip. He glanced at Jack again with accusing eyes and then slowly turned his head, leaning his chin on his hand and studied the faraway lights on the opposite side of the bay with a renewed interest.

Jack sat in awkward silence next to the man who a couple hours ago had tried to stick a blade in his guts and who was now presenting him with his cock to do whatever he wanted with it. He squinted his yellow eyes a bit and tilted his head to examine the hare, trying to decide if this was a trick. Yan gave him a quick sideway glance before looking back at the scenery outside. He didn't say a word but his erection twitched, like a little man nodding with impatience.

It was curiosity more than anything that drove the young man to extend his hand towards the offered manhood. Yan tensed visibly as the hand crept closer to his exposed privates and for a second Jack thought he was going to have a panic attack and try to bolt out of the speeding car. The feline drew back, threatening to withdraw his hand, and Yan stopped wriggling. He looked afraid of being touched, but also even more afraid of losing an opportunity that might never come up again.

The hare let out a small whimper when Jack wrapped his fingers around his erection. A faint smile crept up the panther's lips when he felt the little prick get stiff as a branch. He started to play with the hare's manhood, slowly at first. A beam of translucent precum oozed from his tip to dribble down the black fur of Jack's thumb. The young man cast a quick eye towards the front seat but Sarah hadn't noticed them, her attention fixated on the road and on the cigarette she was holding between her two fingers as she steered the car. Still, it was only a matter of time so Jack relaxed his grip on the other male's junk before the game went too far.

Yan's head turned halfway towards the man who sat next to him, his expression half-reproachful and half-pleading. I could be dead tomorrow, he seemed to say, I could die without even knowing what it's like. Jack felt another pang of mixed sympathy for the hare. His hand closed around the unsatisfied cock and began to jerk it off more frankly, stopping once in a while to play with his sack and roll his little orbs. Yan exhaled and shut his eyes, his body shaking slightly from the novel sensation of having a hand other than his own touching his intimate parts. His hand crept behind his back and he began to finger his crack through his pants. Jack had jerked off quite a few curious boys before. Usually they blamed it on hormones and booze afterwards, or they pretended they had been thinking about a hot girl all along. He wondered if Yan would bother with an excuse.

More precum seeped from the hare's circumcised tip and onto Jack's fingers where friction turned the goo into a frothy, schlicky mixture. Jack was about to look around for a tissue to catch the release when Yan let out a moan and came without further warning. The first rope of his cumshot splattered against the back of Sarah's seat, the off-white spunk leaving a visible trail on the dark faux leather. The second and third traced two arches that fell on the carpet at their feet. Then, after a short pause during which the hare whimpered again, his final and weakest jet dribbled down Jack's clenched fingers.

“What the… are you two for real?" Sarah yelled as the noise made her glimpse at the rear view mirror. She turned her head with the look of an angry mother who was sorely tempted to abandon her kids in the toilets of the next truck stop. “When I said finish later I didn't mean in my fucking car and all over my fucking new upholstery!" A loud honk interrupted her and forced her to swerve the car back into the right lane. “You fags didn't even have the basic decency to wait until I could touch myself," she fumed.

“S-sorry, it just… happened," Jack said and instinctively started to wipe his cummy fingers on the seat. He stopped when Sarah's expression changed from child neglect to imminent infanticide. “I wasn't thinking…" he added lamely.

“Yeah, I get the feeling that you don't think very much," she said between clenched teeth. Yan's limp dick was still hanging out of his zipper, and the guy looked like he would have cried if Sarah had yelled at him directly. His face was pale and he smelled of stress and armpit sweat.

Sarah twisted her right arm to reach behind her seat and sweep the fabric. Her fingers came back smeared with hare cum. “Fucking DNA evidence all over the place," she said and licked her fingers. “Now if I need to kill you I'll also have to burn the car."

Jack and Yan waited for her to conclude with a 'just kidding'. She didn't.

--

They parked some distance from Vas's flat, in a place where Sarah was pretty sure there was no CCTV to record their arrival. When they reached the corner where the building was Sarah stopped them and signaled Jack.

“You go. If Vas is around then play it cool and find an excuse to stay with him until he lowers his guard."

“Wha-? I thought we were doing this together?"

“Even after his second bottle he'd find it suspicious if all three of us showed up at his place for a surprise party. Just go and pretend you want to apologize for earlier."

“He'll figure out I'm the one who stole his laptop."

“All the more reason to get the job done. You walk in there, get out and then you're free. Or you chicken out and live in fear for whatever time you have left."

Jack opened his mouth in protest but closed it when he realised he couldn't disagree. You have to figure out what you really want, Alex had told him.

He wanted Vas out of his life.

The elevator ride up to the apartment felt like the longest trip he had ever to take. All the usual sensations of anxiety swarmed around in the pit of his belly, but this time was different. Being afraid of Vasili had been one of the cornerstones of his life for so long that it was easier than breathing for him, and being acutely aware of the emotion for the first time felt like waking up from anesthesia and starting to feel the pain.

The doors slid open and he padded cautiously down the corridor, stopping in front of the apartment and hesitating whether he should knock or not. In the end he decided to slip in unnoticed if he could, like a beaten dog slinking back to his master. To his relief the lights were off and a sense of stillness had taken over the apartment, clinging to the air like a held breath. The only sounds were the unceasing susurration of traffic far below and the occasional hum of the fridge. Burning with nervous energy Jack hurried to Vasili's room, finding it as messy as always, and started looking for the laptop. As seconds turned into minutes sweat started to trickle down his collar and along his back despite the air conditioning, his hands fumbling through bedding and discarded clothing on the floor and drawers filled with pointless junk that would never see use.

Jack stopped to gather his thoughts, his heartbeat panicking in his chest and his ears trying to pick up the inaudible sounds of footsteps from the outside corridor. Despite all his money Vasili was still a street rat at heart. He blinked, then strode with purposeful steps from the bedroom to the bathroom. Its lights turned on automatically, casting a creamy shade of white that made him squint his eyes for a moment, but he was already on his knees on the floor and groping behind the toilet bowl. Finding nothing he moved on to the washing machine and the dryer, but it wasn't until he searched behind the boiler his fingers brushed against a sleek, hard plastic casing. He pulled out the expensive looking laptop hidden away from the prying eyes of cops and other thieves with a jolt of excitement.

--

"Are you in yet?" Jack asked, but Yan furrowed his brows and shushed him.

The hare sat on the backseat of the car, lit by the bluish glare of the laptop screen and typed out a rapid staccato of keyboard commands before returning to frowning. Jack turned around on the front seat and drummed the console impatiently with his fingers, mimicking the sound of rain tip tapping against the windshield. It smelled like hare cum and cheap perfume in the car, and the humidity was making his shirt stick to his body.

"Stop that. It uploads slower if you make noise."

"What?"

"I'm telling you to stop bothering me while I work. Go check up on Sarah or something."

Jack hesitated, then realized that he could do nothing to help, and stepped out into the rain. The lioness had graciously went outside to smoke, standing under a canopy hugging herself while propping the cigarette between her lips. It was not cold so she was nervous too, Jack thought to himself. The street lights across the empty lot where they had parked cast deep shadows across her face, accentuating her angular features and making her look older than she was. Or perhaps they revealed her true age.

"Is it done already?" she asked Jack when he stepped up next to her.

"I don't even understand what we are doing here. I got the laptop so shouldn't we go?"

"And let Vas blame you for stealing it? No, everything needs to lead back to him and him alone. That's why Yan leaks the data, makes it look like it was done by a bumbling idiot, and then you return the laptop where you found it."

"What?" Jack turned his head sharply. "I'm never going back there ever again."

Sarah pinched the bridge of her snout. "Then you will die." She said it flatly, as a matter of fact.

She then sighed and tossed away her half smoked cigarette. "We all have done things to survive that we didn't want to. Do you know how Vas finds his boys?" When Jack shook his head she continued. "I pick them up for him. It's easy to spot a stray or runaway on the streets, and it's even easier to make them trust you if you just offer them a place to stay and a pussy to fuck. Then I tell them that I've found someone who can help them, and introduce them to the big guy. Most are too timid to say no to him. The ones he personally likes he keeps around for a while, while the rest have other uses."

"Why are you telling me this?" Jack's voice was quiet, but his tone was loud.

"Because if you run now then it'll keep happening." She lit another cigarette, if only to hide her face behind her hands momentarily. "He wants you to become the pimp for his stable, you know."

Jack closed his eyes and leaned the back of his head against the damp brick wall, his hands in the pockets of his sweatshirt.

"You know, I never dreamed of becoming anything." Sarah inhaled the smoke quietly so he continued. "Even growing up other kids wanted to become an influencer or streamer or whatever when they grew up. But not me. It didn't even occur to me that I too could become something."

He turned his head slightly, the coarse wall biting into his skin, and looked at Sarah with his yellow eyes.

"But I think now I can help other people avoid that fate. I think that's what I want to do."

"Yeah, be a big hero and return the laptop you stole."

"Don't mock me. I'm having a moment."

"Maybe you should pick up drama classes afterwards. So you're gonna do it?"

"Yeah." He pushed himself off the wall. "Thanks."

"No problem," she said and took a drag of her cigarette, and did not watch his receding back as he walked through the rain back to the car.

By the time Sarah returned to the car Yan was finished with his work, and there was nothing left to decide. As the car rolled back onto the road to take Jack to meet with his fate he tried to convince himself that everything would go as smoothly as the first time, but his body decided to clench the pit of his stomach into a tight knot nevertheless. Turned out that one could not dispel a lifetime's worth of being afraid with one high minded speech. He shut his mouth and focused on not showing his growing unease. He did not know what Sarah would do if he suddenly got cold feet, but he imagined that it would include body disposal.

On their way back they stopped to pick up gloves and bleach from a corner store. The boar behind the counter did not ask why he needed cleaning supplies so late, and Jack was not in the mood to explain himself. Out of impulse he tipped the man handsomely, which in retrospect probably made it easier for him to remember his face, but it was too late for regrets. Most of his life had been that way, and he was not going to start now on the cusp of a new beginning. Yan wiped the laptop with diluted bleach to destroy evidence of anyone else handling it, so that all he needed to do was to return it and then he would be free.

They parked the car a short distance from the front door of Vasili's apartment complex, and waited to see if the way in was clear. The rain had intensified into a curtain of water drumming the car with the intensity of a subtropical monsoon, driving away onlookers and drawing a veil of anonymity over them.

“Ohshit," Yan suddenly pointed from the back seat, “that is Vasilis's car."

Jack and Sarah followed his finger and saw the sports car crawl to a walking speed in front of the building, then turn onto a ramp that led to the building's underground garage. They could make indistinct shapes sitting inside, more than one of them.

“That's Vas's guests," Jack huffed. “He's going to be angry when he finds out that I'm not waiting for them up there."

“What are you going to say when he calls you?" Sarah asked. Her expression tightened as she stared at Jack.

“Nothing. The idiot took my phone. Let him call all he wants."

Sarah sighed in relief, but Yan looked increasingly queasy.

“What if he notices that his laptop is missing?" Yan continued, squeezing the headrest of the front seat as he leaned forward to face Jack.

“Nah. He does office work in the morning when he's hungover."

“...That explains a lot about his emails." Yan let go and slumped on the back seat. “What do we do now?"

“Wait," Sarah said curtly. She pressed a button to ease back the driver's seat and crossed her arms under her breasts. “The big guy is going to booze up his guests for an hour or two, before heading out to the nightclub with them. Probably earlier when the entertainment is missing."

Jack knew that it was true, so he tried to make himself comfortable and wait. His legs were too long for the cramped car and he fidgeted on his seat. Yan intended to check his phone but then thought better of it, and stashed it back in his pocket. Sarah rooted around her pack of cigarettes, but the downpour of rain showed no sign of letting up so she put them away. Time lurched on. Jack watched the neon digits of a clock on the dashboard move slower than usual, glowing in the darkness and refusing to budge. The air inside the car had become damp and harder to breathe as the rain kept drumming the windshield and side windows in violent pulses, and Jack felt itchy between his shoulder blades in that one spot he could not reach.

“You guys wanna fuck?" Sarah looked over her shoulder at Jack and Yan.

“I'm not in the mood for jokes, Sarah." Jack did not even bother to look at her.

“I'm serious. You guys still owe me a threesome."

“You're crazy."

“Nuh-uh. It's a great way to pass the time."

Jack sighed. “Look, there's a thousand things that could go wrong. What if Vas catches me? Or the Syndicate realizes what's going on? Or the Feds doublecross us? There's a very real chance that I could be dead tomorrow. That we all are."

“That's why we should do it," Yan surprised him from the back seat. He had spoken quietly but with a purpose.

Jack turned to look at him askingly, so the hare continued.

“Like you said, these could be the last 24 hours that we are alive. And I don't want to die a virgin."

Jack turned back and exhaled slowly, pinching his eyes shut and rubbing his temples. The day had been a rollercoaster of emotions, and he had a hard time knowing what to feel anymore.

“What he said," Sarah pressed on victoriously. “Besides, in the stories the maid always fucks the knight for good luck before they send him to the dragon's lair."

“That's a lie, Sarah. I'm dumb but not that dumb."

“Fuck it, I believe it." She leaned over the seat to look at Yan. “What about you, bunny boy? Ever wondered how a lioness's pussy feels? Now's your chance to find out."

Yan hesitated and cast down his eyes. “I'd like to do it with him, please."

“You heard the man," Sarah grinned at Jack. “Will you do it as a favor?"

“To you?"

“No, to him. Just look how pitiful he looks!"

Yan was twiddling with his fingers while he waited for Jack's judgement, his long ears hanging floppily by the sides of his head. One had a large, square patch on it to stop the bleeding, adding to his haggard appearance. He cleared his throat.

“I fantasized about you after we first met. Just once though, if that makes a difference." He paused before continuing. “…I think my type is you."

Jack frowned. He knew that he should say no, but he felt his determination waning.

“I dunno about this…"

“Maybe I can help you to make up your mind?"

Sarah leaned forward to crawl onto his lap, pushing her hair back with one hand while releasing Jack's cock from his pants with her other. She was not taken back by the size of his shiny black panther member, but instead kissed it softly and curled her tongue under it to pull it in her maw. She was very skilled and her mouth was wet, sending through his flaccid manhood a pleasant tingle that bloomed into a full bore erection quickly

She was Jack's senior by two decades, and on the driver's seat of their operation, but she was now serving him like a soft and submissive college girl. It sent a thrill along Jack's spine, the thought making him harden more than just her attention on his cock. He petted the back of her head lightly, and when she did not growl he continued more boldly along her neck and between her shoulder blades. She purred and took his member all the way in her mouth without gagging.

“Fffuh, you're good…"

She pulled back and spat on his cock, the drool glistening as it dribbled down along his shaft, then looked up at him with a knowing smile.

“No, I'm bad. Very, very bad."

She reached behind her to pull up the hem of her tube skirt, rolling it over the curve of her plump buttocks, revealing that she wore black lace panties that hugged the base of her tail and her groove snugly. Jack smacked her firm rump, intuitively and quite hard, and she hissed between her teeth and buried her face in his crotch to snuggle with his shaft and balls. He struck her again, then once more, making loud slaps while she arched her back and purred in his lap, the smell of her arousal leaving a damp patch on the front of her panties.

On the back seat Yan had gotten out of his clothes. He had a lean, almost malnourished build, with his ribs rising into view under his skin and his short fur accentuating the shape of the slim muscles on his arms and legs. His erection already had a bead of precum at its tip, as it bobbed stiffly along his breathing.

The damp air felt heavy in Jack's lungs, and he saw the same, slightly dizzy look also in Yan's eyes. He nodded to the hare.

“How you wanna do this?"

“Like you threatened to do me." Yan swallowed, his prominent Adam's apple making a bobbing motion. “From behind."

He squirmed to turn around, getting on his knees on the back seat and rested his upper body on the rear shelf. The confined space of Sarah's economy model car left his cheek pressed against the back glass, but his bushy tail was propped up perkily. Jack pushed Sarah off his lap gently but firmly, and then clambered up and squeezed between the seats to get behind Yan. His strong hands stroked the hare's sides, making him flinch under their touch, wandering up and down his slender frame until they settled on his hips. When his panther cock touched Yan's pucker the hare clenched himself tight, but Jack told him to relax, all the while smooshing his fat glans slowly against his opening. Little by little the hare let go of his resistance and Jack eased himself in, becoming a little surprised by how heated his insides felt. He started thrusting into the smaller man, cautiously at first, and when Yan started panting and moaning he picked up speed.

Sarah spread her legs on the front seat, looking over her shoulder at Jack and Yan while her fingers moved under her panties making slick noises. She reached over with her free hand and slid it under Jack's shirt, feeling up the small of his back and the motion of his musculature as he plowed into the hare.

Sweat beaded on Jack's nose tip in the humid air, on his abs and down the back of his neck. Yan squirmed pleasantly under his weight, bucking his hips to receive his thrusts after picking up his rhythm, the back glass misting over under his frantic breathing. Suddenly Sarah curled her fingers around the base of his tail and tugged at it.

“My turn now. Turn him on his back," she said with a hint of impatience.

“Huh?" Yan glanced behind him, but was cut short.

Jack paused to grasp Yan under his chest and wrestled him to roll over, squeezing their limbs into tight spots and bumping Yan's head on the ceiling as they maneuvered grunting in the small space, until he was sitting on the back seat and Yan sat spread eagled on his cock. Sarah climbed between the seats and on top of Yan, straddling him with her thighs. She let out a low huff when the hare member slid in her, and she started rocking her hips.

“Is it as good as you imagined?"

She spoke with a purr as she clasped Yan's muzzle with her pussy juice slickened fingers, while she unbuttoned her shirt with her other hand. Jack helped her to release her breasts from the modesty of her clothing, a soft pair with dark brown nipples that flopped hypnotically as she rode the hare. She fondled them as she picked up the pace, pinching her nipples while the weight of her ass pressed Yan down onto Jack's cock. Despite her question she kept clamping the hare's mouth shut, her hold over his nostrils keeping him from drawing breath properly and reducing him to making muffled whimpers.

The additional weight on Jack's lap made it hard to hold back, and as his cock was plunged to the hilt into the hare's hot insides he was pushed over the edge. With a rumbling snarl he climaxed, shooting jet after jet of ex con semen in Yan's virgin ass. The hare tried to inhale sharply, loosing a warbling cry, and from the pulsing of his sphincter around Jack's cock he could guess that he was cumming into Sarah. The lioness made shallow gasps and bounced her hips on Yan, taking in the spurts of hare seed in her lust soaked pussy, and threw back her head in delight.

Exhausted, she collapsed on Yan and rested her sweat soaked forehead between the faces of the two men. Yan had been finally released from her grip and was hyperventilating, his gaze on somewhere else as he rode the pink clouds of post orgasmic bliss. Jack could feel something warm trickling down his shaft and over his balls, but the pile he was under felt too nice to push off.

“How's that for anointing a knight," Sarah smiled and kissed him. “Now go and slay that dragon."

--

Jack braved the elevator again and let himself into the blessedly lightless apartment, crossed the living room and headed straight towards the bathroom, the closeness of his goal making him giddy and nervous at the same time. Sarah had cleaned him up with her mouth, but his clothes still had that fuck smell to them. It felt like a violation of Vasili's domain, as if he was marking his territory.

The lights suddenly turned on.

The marten he had seen previously with Vasili was standing at the front door, wearing a pink crop top shirt and booty shorts, and carrying shopping bags from fashionable design stores. When he took off his oversized sunglasses he frowned at Jack.

"Why are you sneaking around in the dark? And why do you have his computer?"

The best Jack could manage was a few words after an awkward pause.

“Hey. I… I was just, like, you know…" he blurted and strained his eyes to see if a mountain of white fur and muscle was lurking behind the slim man.

“I know you. You were with him that night," the marten said. In a different context the sentence would have broken the ice but now it brought back unpleasant memories. That's right, Jack thought, It was my welcome party and Vas feasted me with booze and drugs and even a cute boy so I could empty my aching balls after a year in prison and finally become a real man. That boy was you but unfortunately I couldn't get it up. I hope that didn't offend you, your ass was plump and clean and everything but I just had a bit too much to drink that night.

“Huh, yeah, I work with Vas too," Jack mumbled. He put the computer on a low table and took a step towards the marten.

The youth took a step back. “Why do you have his laptop?" he asked again. He clutched his bags closer to his chest, as if to put something between the strange cat and his own increasingly worried-looking face.

It would have taken a world-class liar to explain away the situation, and it would have taken an even greater actor to hide the feeling of sheer panic that rose within Jack. The young panther was neither, so he took a deep breath.

“Listen, I know you're afraid, but I'm not going to hurt you. In fact I'm just as afraid as you are."

Bad move, Jack knew even before he finished his sentence. The marten looked scared shitless now. “I have five hundred in my pocket. If you leave now you can have it and the bags and I won't tell Vas anything, but if you do something to me he'll kill you."

“I know Vas. I know he'll kill me," Jack said. He thought about raising his hands to show the other male he was unarmed but stopped when he realized the prospect of being shot or knifed in the back was all that kept the marten from running away. Instead he slipped his free hand inside his pocket, as if to grip a hidden gun.

“Which is why you need to listen. I don't care what he's been telling you and what promises he made but he told me the same things. He saw I was scared and he said he'd teach me, protect me and that everything would be fine because we were in it together. Then I went to jail for him and he hired a guy to kill me."

He moved as he spoke, following the wall and edging closer to the front door. The marten moved away, keeping a safe distance between himself and the intruder.

“I'm really sorry, but…" he marked a pause, as if not sure he wanted to proceed, “... but Vas wouldn't have done that. You must be mistaken, or perhaps…"

“Perhaps I did something to piss him off? Is that what you're thinking?"

“No! I didn't mean…"

“I trusted him because he made sure I knew I was weak and dumb and he was big and strong. So I did everything he said, until the day he thought I wasn't useful anymore. He'll do the same to you."

“He's not like that! I'd be on the streets without him, he gave me a place to stay."

“And then you ended up in his bed? And the next day he said it would be good if you entertained his business partners too?"

“You piece of…" the young man began, a spark of anger flaring in his green eyes. “He didn't force me, I chose to be with him. Because he's the best thing that's ever happened to me."

“Did he hit you yet? No? But you've seen him when he gets angry, and drunk. You know what would happen if you tried to say no."

Jack closed the distance between him and the other youth without even realizing it. This time the marten did not step back, instead he stared at Jack with his hands closed into fists around the handles of the shopping bags. The one in his right hand was from a fashionable electronics store but the panther caught a glance of a packet of sexy lingerie hidden underneath a tablet and a set of headphones.

“I know how you feel. You think if you keep him happy he'll stay nice and you'll never have to deal with his other side. But you're wrong. One day he'll be in a bad mood and you'll say something he doesn't like, or he'll grow tired of you, or he'll decide it's either you or him…"

Jack ducked just in time to dodge the bag that was aimed at his face. It struck something behind him with the sound of expensive glassware breaking. The little mustelid was snarling now, his dark-furred lips curling back to reveal a pair of thin canine teeth.

“You're just fucking jealous."

“What?"

“You fucked up and now you're angry he's with somebody else. I'm not ungrateful like you, get out or I'll tell him you were here."

Jack shot forward and grabbed both his shoulders. “You idiot! I'm giving you a chance to get away from him. If I didn't care I'd just get rid of you!"

He shook the smaller man violently, not seeing that the marten's eyes were turning into pools of naked fear as his voice rose in a crescendo of anger and frustration. The remaining bags fell to the floor at their feet and then the boy's features lighted up in relief.

“Vas!"

Jack's blood froze. It didn't even occur to him to hold the other man hostage when the latter slipped from his numb grasp and ran towards the other side of the room.

“It's alright now. Go into the bathroom and don't get out until I say so," said a voice that came from a cavernous chest.

There was the patter of lithe feet on tiles and then the clank of a door being locked. Then there was only the sound of two sets of breathing, one fast and raspy and the other deep and slow.

“It hurts me, you know, that you think I'd do the same to him."

Jack slowly turned around, the sweat icy on his skin. Vasili was looking at him, one huge paw resting casually against the door frame. His jacket was wet and stray drops of rainwater ran slickly down his white fur.

“You expect me to believe you've changed? That you love him?" Jack said. His eyes quickly scanned the room for an escape route. There was none.

“What, him? No. I mean, he's got a pretty face but he's nothing special to me. At some point I'll put him to work with the others."

He gave Jack a smile full of teeth that could crack bones.

“But you, you've always been special. I never could bear the thought of letting you go."

“You couldn't have me in the prison so you tried to get me killed."

Vasili made a noncommittal shrug and detached from the doorway, walking slowly towards Jack, so he continued.

“There's no fucking way I'd ever love you again." Jack backed into a couch, and went around it to keep it between him and the polar bear.

“I admit we've had our disagreements," Vasili said, his expression disinterested as if they were talking about mere hypotheticals, “but I know that in time you'll come around and then it'll be like the old times."

“You're insane!"

“Anyone in love is mad."

Jack tensed, making his stand behind the couch.

“You need to die." The word was a cold whisper from his lips, but it cut the air like a blade.

“Don't say things like that." Vasili frowned, genuinely taken aback.

Jack drew breath. “I refuse to look over my shoulder for the rest of my days. I can't live unless you die."

“I SAID DON'T SAY THAT!"

Vasili bellowed and barrelled through the glass coffee table and into the couch, tripping and toppling over it. Jack skittered backwards, dodging the swipe of Vasili's arm as he tried to grab his ankle and get up at the same time, and bumped against a dresser with a rattling noise. Vasili stumbled forward, swinging his fist and punched the wall hard enough to crack it, and then sent knicknacks on the dresser flying towards him with the swing of his other.

“You don't get to say hurtful things to me! Not ever!" His voice had raw anguish to it that Jack had never heard.

“I say whatever I please to a loser shit like you! You're not a big man, you're just a fat leech!"

Despite his defiance Jack kept taking steps back, not taking his eyes off Vasili, and realized that he was being goaded into a corner.

Then he caught in the corner of his eye the samurai sword Vasili had bought him.

He had forgotten it at the apartment after their night of drinking, but now he snatched it and swung its handle sharply, sending its sheath clattering to the side. The blade looked sharp enough as he raised it.

Vasili had regained some of his composure, and looked down at Jack, breathing heavily.

“Put that cheap toy down. You're just going to hurt yourself with it."

“You would know, it's your gift you fucking cheapskate."

“Do you think yourself valuable?"

Jack yelled and swung the sword overhead.

Vasili raised his arm reflexively to block it, and the blade cut through the jacket and through the muscle and hit the bone hard enough to snap in two instantly. Vasili howled in pain and grabbed surprised Jack by the throat, and slammed him into the wall. Jack's skull made a loud bang and his vision blurred as Vasili lifted him off the ground, digging his fingers into his neck like a vice grip. Jack tried to struggle free but he felt dazed, strength draining from his body as Vasili squeezed the life out of him.

“This is on me," Vasili huffed and tried to wrest the sword handle from Jack's hand, but his wounded arm refused to cooperate and the two just slapped each other ineffectually. “This is what happens when I take my eyes off you for one. Fucking. Second."

Dying, Jack made a desperate swing and stabbed Vasili in the face with the broken sword.

The polar bear's grip loosened. Jack dropped on the ground coughing and gasping for air. When he glanced up he saw Vasili towering over him, his hands hanging slack by his sides, his body swaying a little, and the sword buried to the hilt in his eye socket.

“I… I can't see," Vasili mumbled with a blank expression, with a glazed look in his other eye.

He tried to take a step forward but lost his balance and fell on his knees, hard.

“Are you there boy? I can't see you."

Jack swallowed and stepped back, watching him tensely.

Vasili fell over with a heavy thud, landing on his back and stared through the ceiling into the distance. He raised his hand and grasped the air weakly.

“Are you there? He needs to know…" His voice was growing fainter, the speech turning slurred.

Jack crouched and took Vasili's hand cautiously, but it had no more strength left than an old man's.

“I'm here."

“Tell him… to take care of everything." He tried to swallow but his mouth was too dry. “It's… all for…him..."

“I… I'll make sure he knows."

Jack's eyes watered for no reason, and he struggled to find words to say, and then it was too late for Vasili to hear anything ever again.

Jack closed Vasili's eye and got up and kicked in the bathroom door, without anger and filled with cold purpose. The marten was cowering behind the shower curtain but Jack grasped him by his arm and pulled him out.

“Look at me. In the eyes."

The marten had been crying but he managed a sideways look. Seeing Jack's expression frightened him even more.

“I know where your family lives," Jack lied. “If you talk to the cops they all die. Is this clear?"

The marten kept sobbing, but Jack shook him and that way he understood to nod.

“I want you to run. I want you to run as far as you can, and never stop and never come back. Okay?"

He dragged the marten into the living room. The young man made a warbling cry when he witnessed the carnage, but Jack just gave him a shove towards the doorway.

“Are you stupid or deaf? I said RUN!" he roared.

The marten shrieked and bolted, and whether he obeyed his command or was frightened out of his mind did not matter to Jack. Most things that mattered to him had been taken care of now.

--

Like in all major events in life there was cleanup to be done afterwards. Sarah grumbled about having to dispose of the body, but Yan was pleased. Vasili's disappearance would make his ruse that much more believable.

“What are you going to do now?"

Sarah exhaled a long plume of blue-grey smoke and flicked her cigarette onto the street. The bright little stick traced an arc against the dark pavement and disappeared into a puddle.

“With Vas gone there's a vacant seat on the board of the syndicate. I've been extended a job offer."

“I thought you were working with the Feds to take down the whole organization?"

Jack took a sip from his cup and winced. He still had not gotten fully used to hot beverages, but the taste of iced coffee now brought back too many unpleasant memories.

“It's not as simple as that. There will always be demand for the kind of goods and services that more legitimate businesses cannot provide, so in the end it's better if these things are run by people who are on decent terms with the police."

“You could have just said 'I lied'."

“Tsk tsk, your youth and innocence, all gone," the lioness chuckled.

She leaned back on her plastic chair and lit up another cigarette. “What don't you work for me? I can tell you've grown a pair."

She took a drag and studied Jack's expression for a moment. “I won't be like Vas, I promise."

“I know," he sighed, “But nah."

“I figured as much," she shrugged, “But I wanted to ask anyway. So, what are you going to do?"

“I want to be with Alex," Jack said, “He's letting me stay at his place, and he said he'd help me find a job."

“With me you'd make as much in a month as you'll make in a year delivering pizza or flipping patties. No offense."

Jack did not acknowledge the little barb, his yellow eyes seemingly lost in the contemplation of a Rorschach-shaped stain on the surface of the table. Sarah sighed. “How's he doing, by the way?"

Jack looked at Sarah. “He's back from the hospital, he's doing ok." He allowed a few seconds of silence to pass before continuing. “If you have a problem with me leaving, then tell me. I don't want him to ever get hurt because of my actions again."

“Didn't I just tell you I'm not like Vas?" she frowned and tapped her ash into Jack's cup. “You say you've had enough of this life and you want out? That's good enough for me. You don't strike me as the backstabbing kind, you're too dumb for that."

Her face softened. “Well, in that case I'm not sure we'll see each other again. I'll give you a ride home, it's the least I can do. Fancy some muffins on the way?"

--

“How did the first shift go?"

Jack stumbled into the living room, kissed Alex on the cheek and collapsed groggily on the sofa. The first light of dawn came through the window and illuminated his tired features.

“I got yelled at, messed up the orders, burned myself with a hot plate and dropped it. In the end they put me on mopping duty."

Alex sat next to him and placed his hand on Jack's, he was in his pajamas and the fur on his head was still ruffled with sleep. “They didn't let you go, did they?"

“No, in fact that rottweiler guy told me to come back tomorrow. He even said if I kept working hard he'd teach me how to cook, one day."

“Really? That's great!"

“He's gruff, but he's ok. Gave me some food to bring home," the feline smiled and opened his bag. The smell of burgers wafted from a couple of greasy boxes. “He even made one for you."

Alex opened a box, sniffed it and smiled.

“Burgers for breakfast? What's the world coming to?"

They ate and washed down the lukewarm burgers with hot coffee. “Are you gonna try to move to the day shift at some point?" Alex said and repressed a burp.

“I'd like to, but the partner who manages the day shift's a weirdo. I saw him before I left. He said he used to be a hitman, and that if I broke any more plates he'd go after me."

“Sounds like he's just messing with you."

“Probably. Anyhow I think they rotate so I'll have to deal with him at some point. He's a panther like me, maybe it'll make things a little easier."

Jack swished his coffee pensively. “I think they are, you know, together."

“He better not make a pass at you."

“I wouldn't let him. I won't let anyone use me ever again."

Jack's voice was soft but his expression was unflinching. He paused to finish his coffee and looked at the fox. “I'm so sorry you're the one who had to pay the price for my lesson."

Alex's right ear twitched in response. There wasn't a lot of it left. As Alex laid on the ground with the white fur of his nose matted with blood his assailant had sliced it neatly with a blade, a first and last warning to stay away from Jack. Perhaps it had also been a half-conscious attempt to make him ugly in jealousy. Alex had not even seen the man who beat him unconscious, but he was very big, with a gruff voice and hands that hit like hammers.

“I got an appointment with a surgeon to see if anything can be rebuilt," Alex said and touched the side of his head, “If not, well, maybe a piercing artist can turn it into something trendy. My parents are going to freak out though."

“I'm sorry…"

Alex drew him closer for a kiss. “Idiot…" he whispered.

“I know," Jack murmured back before their lips met.