When his sister vanished Gavin almost snarled. Darius was a bastard, an utter bastard, for seeing things in such a clinical, detached – passionless – and sexualized manner. It was all he could do to squeeze his sibling’s hand as they were given the dress down, to not scream in rage at the older, careless man as he walked away. And then he was gone, and so was she. Etania fled in a furry of tears and confusion and Gavin was barely equipped to deal with it; hell, he didn’t know how to address his own emotions, let alone those of a teenage girl whom he’d just really met. It made him angry and, if he was being honest with himself, more than a little scared.<br/><br/>He tuned to the dogs, watching them. One bitch, alone in her spacious kennel, shifted forward and gave him soulful eyes. Reaching through the grate, Gavin stroked her luxurious fur and felt himself grow a little more calm. The animals always helped. Which gave him an idea.<br/><br/>Shifting to one of the littering cages – bigger, with finer mesh, he opened the door and pulled out a scrawny little runt of a Boxer-Dane hybrid, destined for huge things clearly, and wrestled the little fella into his arms. Thankfully, the arm-full of mutt was sleepy, having fed recently, and took it all with merely a wiggle to settle closer to Gavin’s source of warmth. It helped, handling the young as soon as they were born.<br/><br/>Into the house Gavin went, hoping that he wasn’t too late. He approached his sister’s room through their shared door and knocked gently.<strong> “Hey, sis…I brought you a present?” Gavil’s tone was gentle, apologetic. “He’s a lot better than Darius, I promise.”</strong>Moving forward, into her room so she could see, Gavil presented her with the black and tan, sleepy dog. The dog yawned at her. Gavil looked more than a little hopeful.<br/><br/><div align="center">(http://www.coloradodogbreeders.com/wp-content/uploads/Mini%20Boxer%20Puppies.jpg)</div>