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The Runt.

Chapter 10.

By: Wolfie Steel.

The night shift at the Fast Lane went without any further hitches; I had left the keys of the bar with Dillon so that he and Lola could lock up at the end of the evening.

The following morning I head out to the bar and wait for Dillon and Lola to arrive, ten minutes later and Dillon pulls up in his truck with Lola in the passenger seat, they both get out of the truck and make their way to the front doors. Dillon now unlocks the door with the keys and we walk inside, as soon as we enter I get the feeling that all is not well with the place, almost as though we are not the only furs there.

"Dillon, Lola, take a look around the bar and surrounding lower level, I'm going up to the spare room, I have an eerie feeling that somebody is here"

I head upstairs to the spare room and find that the door has been left ajar, which is unusual as whoever locks up the previous night always checks that all the doors are closed. I slowly enter the room and at first everything seems to be ok, then in the corner of the room, I see a small furry bundle curled up on the floor.

Dillon and Lola join me in the spare room and like me stare at the small bundle of fur, Dillon whispers to me, "Well that explains the broken window in the basement", I quietly walk over to the bundle and can now see that it is a young male fox cub, I can also see that he is shivering and probably both thirsty and hungry.

"Lola, go to my office and get some blankets, Dillon, go fire up the kitchen and get our furry friend something to eat and drink".

With both Dillon and Lola gone, I decide to wake the young cub up; I kneel by his side and gently shake him. The cub's eyes slowly flicker open, then go wide as he sees me, he then cowers deeper into the corner, bringing his knees up and hugging them tight.

"Hey little one, don't worry, I won't hurt you", the cub looks at me with both fear and tears in his eyes, just then both Dillon and Lola arrive back with the food and blankets, I take a blanket and hold it out for the cub, at first he is reluctant to move, but then he slowly inches forward and takes hold of the blanket. Dillon then sets the tray of food and drink on the floor and we leave the boy in peace for a while as we head back towards the bar area.

Lola was the first to speak, "So Sonny, it seems as though we have us a small, hungry, thirsty, shivering problem, from the state of his clothing I would say that he has recently been in a family, though the rips in his clothing also say that he has been abused, I wouldn't mind betting that some of the street perverts have probably taken away his innocence"

After an hour I head back to the spare room and find the young cub now wrapped in the blanket and an empty tray on the floor, again I slowly approach the boy and speak in soft and gentle tones.

"Hi there, my name is Sonny Lane, now I promise you that I'm not going to hurt you, can you tell me your name?"

The cub looked at me and at first, said nothing, but then he slowly edged forwards towards me, he began to cry and held out his arms, that was all I needed to see, and I slowly picked the young cub up into my arms and held him tight. The cub then began to sniffle a little then spoke.

"Please sir Mr. Lane, I didn't want to break the window but it was cold outside and...And I just needed somewhere to sleep away from the bad men. M---my name is Tyler Stride and I'm all alone in the world"

A lump forms in my throat as memories of my own puppyhood begin to resurface.

"Ok Tyler, you say that you are all alone, apart from some tares in your clothes you appear to be well clothed and well looked after, so where are your parents?"

The boy snivelled again and then started to cry, "My mummy and daddy both died in a fire at our house last week, I have been on the streets ever since, I got out of the house through my bedroom window, but as I got through it I got the tip of my tail burned, I jumped from my window and hurt my paw when I landed. I wanted to run back in and save my mummy and daddy, but the smoke and the heat was too much"

The cub then tailed off and continued to cry his little heart out, I slowly headed back out into the bar area to join both Dillon and Lola, suddenly there was a knock at the door, Dillon went to the door and called back to me.

"Boss, the musicians are here for their band auditions"

Damn it, I had completely forgotten about the band auditions. I look down at the cub, he looks to be about eight to ten years old, and so I guess he could be into music.

"Hey Tyler, do you like to listen to music?"

The cub nodded his head, great now I can get another critic to help choose the band's line up, so I tell Dillon to let them all in. With all of the musicians and singers inside, there is one more to enter, Mason.

Mason spies me sitting next to Tyler and walks over to me; the look on his face was not one I liked.

"Sonny, what the hell is a child doing in the bar? Have you taken complete leave of your senses?"

Tyler cowers back into his seat and I stand up and lead Mason away.

"Mason, Hun, we got here this morning and found young Tyler curled up and shivering in the spare room upstairs. Hun, he has lost everything in a house fire, he has no parents, no family and no home, and I want us to give him a home, get him off the streets and give him a fighting chance"

My plea to my lover didn't go quite the way I expected, in fact, things turned decidedly hostile.

"For fuck sake Sonny, we are running a bar here not a fucking crèche, it's time for you to choose where your loyalties lie, if the kid stays, I take a walk"

I stand there open mouthed, I mean sure Mason and I had never talked about adopting kids, but I always thought that he would be ok with it, I guess I really didn't know Mason all that well. I had now seen a side to my lover that I didn't like and so I made my decision.

"Mason, I love you dearly, but I will not allow Tyler to go back out onto the streets to be preyed upon by perverts, he has already had more than his fair share of that, as much as it kills me to do it, I choose to keep Tyler and if you are so narrow-minded..........."

I didn't get to finish my sentence; Mason laid me out with a huge right paw to my face and then stood over me growling. One of the band hopefuls, a Tiger/Husky mix, rushed over and held Mason back, and then with the help of Dillon and Lola, he led Mason out to the street.

The Tiger/Husky came back to me and helped me back to my footpaws.

"Are you ok Mr. Lane?"

I look at the fur; he is pretty much all Husky with the exception of some Tiger stripes on his back and tail. Now I know that this seems a little rushed and that I am on the rebound, but right here and right now I didn't care, this guy actually stood up for me, he is also very handsome, I decide to find out more, I hold out my paw and he takes it in his and shakes it gently.

"What is your name hun?"

The Husky/Tiger looked back at me in a wistful almost loving way and replied.

"My name is Rion Kagemon, and I think that you looking out for that young fox cub is the coolest thing ever, I wish I had a mate who is that considerate, hell I wish I had a mate period, but I would definitely want to adopt kids, if I get the chance that is"

In that one paragraph I had learned all that I needed about this fur, he was single, looking for a mate, and the fact that he was talking about adoption told me that he was at least bi if not gay; I decided I would throw caution to the wind and ask the question.

"Rion, I know that this is going to seem a little quick and I understand if you need time to think about it, but I was wondering what you would think about becoming my new mate?"

Rion's muzzle fell open at the question, Damn I knew it, I've jumped the gun again. Rion managed to get hold of his composure and made his reply.

"Mr. Lane, it is a bit short notice........and I am flattered that you would even ask me", Dillon gives Rion a nudge.

"Hey Rion, one thing that I have learned about Mr. Lane is that he doesn't go around asking questions like that if he doesn't mean it, hell, if he asked me I would be in there quicker than you can blink, so do yourself a favour, there is a black furred lonely but very loyal Wolf that has just asked you to become his mate, seize the opportunity before he changes his mind"

Rion started looking me over, taking in all of my features from my now stylish black fur to my jade green eyes, I even noticed him checking out my package, and just then Rion's face took on the look of a fur that had just reached a life changing decision.

"Mr. Lane, I.......I would love to become your mate"

It was now my turn to stand there with my muzzle down at my feet, then it suddenly hit me, Rion had just accepted me as his mate, now I know what you are all thinking, that I had used looking after Tyler as an excuse to get rid of Mason, but that couldn't be further from the truth, I loved Mason dearly, but I was not about to let him dictate to me about taking Tyler in, especially when it seems that Rion is all in favour of it. I offer my paw to Rion and he takes it into his own and places a small kiss on it. This is it, the start of my new life, I now have a new mate, my next move is to try and help Tyler out.

I was about to leave the bar and head into town with Tyler to search for a new apartment, after all with Mason ditching me that most certainly means that I'm homeless, and whilst Tyler and me could sleep in the office at the bar for a couple of nights, it wouldn't be something to do on a permanent basis. I handed Dillon the keys to the bar.

"Dillon, Tyler and I are heading into town to look for a new place, we should be back before the bar closes, but if not I will come to your place and get the keys, then at least we can stay here overnight"

Rion overheard me saying this to Dillon and walked over to me.

"Mr. Lane, if I'm not mistaken, you and I just became mates, what sort of a mate would I be if I let my lover and a young cub sleep the night in a bar when I have my own place with ample room for three?"

I looked back at Rion with a loving smile on my muzzle.

"Rion, firstly, you can call me Sonny, as you said we are mated now, secondly, I wouldn't want to put you to any trouble, but if you are sure that it wouldn't be a problem to have a Wolf and a Fox Cub living at your place, then we would gladly accept your kind offer"

As I finished speaking, two more furs entered the bar, one a light blue furred Husky and the other a black furred Fox.

"Can I help you gentle furs?"

The Fox makes his reply.

"Well, I can't speak for the Husky here, but as for me, my name is Warrior Scribe, I'm here to try out for one of the backing vocalist spots in the band Changing Lanes" The Husky nodded, "That goes for me too"

The Fox is the first to take to the stage; I press play on the CD player and listen to the Fox belt out the lyrics. With his song now complete he leaves the stage. I look towards the door waiting to see if there is anyone else waiting for an audition, that is when I see her, a strange looking wolf with wings.

I look to the female and speak.

"Can I help you miss?" The wolf makes her reply, "My name is Angel, and I was wondering if the Lead Singer position for Changing Lanes is still available?" I gesture towards the stage "I was going to do the Lead Singer auditions tomorrow, but you're here now so I don't see why I can't audition you now"

Angel takes to the stage "Mr. Lane, do you have any music that I can sing along to? I forgot to bring my CD" I head over to the CD player "I have one already and waiting, and I warn you, the track that I am about to line up for you is one of my favourites, so no pressure"

Again I press play on the player and Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart begins to play, Angel's muzzle breaks into a smile and then she begins to sing the lead vocals. I close my eyes, and let Angel's voice fill my soul; I would swear that if I didn't know any better that it was Bonnie Tyler herself singing, Angel even managed to get the artists husky Scottish voice almost to a tee. As Angel sang the song James the blue furred Husky joined in singing the male parts of the song.

The song came to an end and I made my way over to the stage. "I guess I can take the audition sign down from the door now, The Fast Lane now has its very own house band; Changing Lanes is officially formed". Angel looked at me in a startled way and replied: "Mr. Lane, does that mean that I have been accepted?" I hold my paw out to the female wolf "Welcome to the band Angel, in fact, I would like to welcome each one of you to what will hopefully be a long and fruitful relationship"

I look to Dillon and tell him to get the band a drink on the house, they will need it, because afterwards, they will be playing together as a complete band, Angel (Lead Vocalist), Rion (Keyboards), Ryan Lewis (Guitar), Warrior Scribe and Furyl_lover (Backing Vocals), and Matt Bond (Drums).

With the drinks finished I put the band to work, "Ok before we open in an hour's time, I'm going to give you guys time to do a run through together, so take your positions and I will come up with a song for you to play, oh and before you get any ideas of using a CD for backing music, forget it" I pull the power cord out of the CD player and then it hits me, the song that I would get the band to play would be a song that is very close to my heart, Coward Of The County by Kenny Rodgers, I knew that it would test their skills as it will be country music played by a predominantly rock band.

The gasps that went around the band as I made my song choice were enough to tell me that I had made the right choice, I sat down at a table facing the stage with Tyler, Dillon and Lola sat next to me, for a moment there was silence, then I spoke.

"Come on guys, I'm not hearing the song I asked for, so let's get to it" that brought them out of their shocked state and they began to play the song. While it wasn't a flawless rendition of the song, the band did at least try their best and sitting at the table I realised that their version wasn't at all bad. The song came to an end and the three of us sat at the table began to applaud loudly.

"Ok guys, have another drink and rest for the next half an hour, because after that, I will open the doors, and you will be playing before a live crowd who will I have no doubt be asking for requests, but if you have any songs that you like to play, then you can use them too, good luck guys, let's make The Fast Lane the best entertainment in town"

Rion collected his drink and came and sat next to me "Sonny, hun, I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity" Rion then kissed me on the cheek before downing the rest of his drink and making his way to the bathroom, I could see that each of the band members were getting more nervous as the minutes ticked by. Suddenly I look at the clock, Midday, time to open the bar and unleash the band of Changing Lanes.

I head to the doors looking back to make sure that the band was ready; they started playing a quiet instrumental number as I unlocked the doors. I took a piece of chalk from my jacket pocket and wrote on the chalkboard outside the door The Fast Lane proudly presents live on stage Angel and Changing Lanes.