Xander lay in the window as the last rays of sunlight warmed him, making him comfortable while the gathered Scoobies worked to find a way to reverse the process. Not that he was interested in getting turned back, but the cub at least needed it because she was beginning to lose herself to the animal. THAT would likely lead to some very embarrassing moments once she became 'Of Age' and followed her nature in seeking a mate. a mate he would then have to kill for touching her, fight off her advances for beating her mate and convincing her that he was not interested in that, then she would just start the process all over again.

It was all very bothersome.

His quiet reflection was interrupted by the obnoxious ringing phone he had been trying to ignore for the last couple of minutes, whoever was on the other side was very interested in getting in touch with someone. Rolling his eyes, Xander got up and made his way to the desk, picking up the phone he briefly considered dropping it back down and hoping whoever it was would get the hint before sighing and bringing the annoyance to his ear

"Yes, Hello? Is anyone there? I need to speak to Buffy, is she available."

"Mrs. Summers?" Xander asked in confusion as the older lady sighed at getting a hold of someone finally.

"Xander, oh thank god is Buffy there? Dawn has run away."

Any further statements were cut off as Xander dropped the phone and left the library with a snarl.

-

Damn it, he should have known, he should have expected this… the cub was as independent as he was and not nearly strong enough to survive being so. Running full out, Xander made it to the Summers household in record time, shaking off the urge to comfort Joyce, instead he took a moment to find the cub's scent before following after the wayward member of his pride. The scent that was mixed with Dawns was also something that interested him.

-

Giles, Buffy and Willow entered the Library and blinked at the empty cage they had locked Xander up in before they left. They had managed to find a cure for the possession, but it required the blood of the caster and the possessed. It was also time sensitive, a condition that was of most concern right now as it left them with less than three hours to find Xander, set up the ceremony and get the blood of the caster and the possessed into the ceremony before the possession became permanent.

Splitting up, the trio went about their work, Willow to get the ceremony prepared, Giles to find the caster and Buffy to find their possessed friend and get him back to the library where he belonged.

-

Xander, for his part, was currently glaring at the Big Cat exhibit with a mixture of anger and fear. The cub had been getting more and more scared as they got closer to this point, someone was waiting inside, someone that had deliberately left him several clues and even went so far as to steal his cub to entice him to this point.

As the scent of the cub's blood drifted out of the building Xander felt his blood start to boil, whoever it was, whatever it was, it was gonna be dead when he got a hold of it.

Taking a deep breath, Xander stalked into the exhibit house.

-

Dick Rash waited impatiently in the circle for the Alpha. The process should be simple enough, he already had the young one, her blood already graced the ground along with the two Jaguars he had worked so hard to get. All he needed was the elder, how the boy managed to get the power he would never know, but now all he needed was to spill the older teen's blood on the floor, mix his own in and hey presto, nobody would ever make fun of his name again.

His internal gloating was interrupted by a near silent cough behind him. Spinning away from the entrance, Dick took a step back in shock from his target before rallying. He didn't know how the boy had managed to get in here without being noticed, but there was no way he had control of the jaguar's powers yet. He was still just a mortal, after all.

-

Giles entered the Zoo house in a rush and skidded to a stop. The corpse of the zookeeper lay on the floor, his blood spilling out around him as Xander knelt in the middle holding his nose as an apologetic Dawn begged him to forgive her.

The watcher's training in the occult was enough that he could feel the rising arcane pressure and far more importantly he could easily tell its target.

Rushing forward, Giles tackled the young girl and curled up around her as the magic build-up finally exploded.

As the nature magic swirled around the room, Giles worked to keep his hands over Dawn's eyes even as he resisted the urge to peek himself. Around them, the spirits of the very world chattered back and forth to each other, from the chattering of monkeys and screeches of birds to the roar of the great predators and buzz of the insects filled the room. The sounds growing and combining to make even more of a cacophony as they worked themselves into a deafening sound unheard since the more primitive ages of man.

In a moment, his own screams joined the sounds when the tattoo on his right arm began to burn as the natural forces consumed the unnatural mark.

The burning seemed to go on forever, he could only imagine what Xander was feeling.

-

Xander sat on the bench and watched the pigeons approach carefully, it had been a week since that fateful day at the Zoo, a week and everything in his life had changed.

"Xander," Willow warned as she noticed Xander tense before the massive cat turned to look at her innocently. "No eating the pigeons, what would the old people do without them?" Willow chastised the Jaguar before Xander coughed and turned back to his lookout.

The Sun was setting and he was almost ready for his nightly patrol with Buffy. He knew he would probably one day get back to his human form, the spirits had been very blunt about that, but they said he needed to 'Learn' before they let him go back. An explanation that was less than helpful, but it at least gave him hope. Currently he was staying with Giles, he doubted Joyce or Sheila would be very accommodating to a large carnivore living with their daughters and that left Giles as the only one with room.

As Willow slowly ran her hands down his spine, Xander felt his muscles tense and relax under her touch and let out a rumbling purr at the contact. So far things had been pretty quiet around town, a situation he was willing to let remain as long as possible. Giles was feeling better than he had in decades and Dawn was back to her own self… of course she now had this obsession with big cats and Shaman magic, but what Sunnydale kid wasn't a bit weird.

As the last rays of the sun disappeared below the horizon, Xander's ears twitched at the slight sound from behind him as Buffy joined the two.

It looked like it was going to be a good night.

-

(A/N) June 7th 2004, an odd combination of sleep deprivation and Caffeine got me wondering... why would the Shaman use a pack animal?

at 6:20am the first chapter of this fic was poster... six years later is finally at an end.

I hope you all enjoyed this story and I am sorry for the long wait.