"Doctor, are you sure there's no other way?" Mom had already been begging with him for an hour. "There must be something!"

The gazelle just looked at her, barely bothered to glance at me before he shook his head.

"He's already gotten a lot more leeway than other predators have in his situation," he started again. I'd pretty much memorized the stupid speech by now. "Delaying it any longer would not only be irresponsible, but dangerous, for him and everyone around him."

"B-But he's still just a child," she just kept arguing with him. "I will not subject my son to that…thing any earlier than I have to!"

They stared at each other, then he sighed and shook his head.

"I understand your fears, Mrs. Constantine," he said. "My wife and I went through something similar when it was time for our foster son to get his collar, but Randall does not have the same conditions that Nick does, which have the potential to make him more dangerous than mammals three times his size."

Mom put a hoof to her mouth, tears in her eyes. She got upset whenever she had to talk about it, but I still didn't really know what was going on. I didn't bother trying to ask, knowing the doc would just explain it like he did every time. Except this time, I actually tried listening.

"Your son has what's known as Instinctual Suppression Syndrome, or ISS, meaning the part of the brain responsible for controlling our more basic instincts never developed properly," he stopped, watching her like he always did. "This means he is more likely to see other mammals, especially larger predators, as a threat, and has less hesitation about reacting accordingly. There's also the matter of his other chemical imbalance to consider."

He actually looked at me for a second before going back to my mom.

"His testosterone levels are higher than they should be, while his myostatin is lower, meaning he is more likely to act aggressively toward threats rather than flee or try other less physical ways of diffusing any hostile situation he might find himself in," he looked me over again. "His musculature is already more developed than it should be for a child, especially a fox, his age, and there's no telling what degree it'll reach once he does hit puberty."

He shook his head again, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Constantine, but I must insist you get him fitted for his collar as soon as possible. You all may be able to help him control himself for now, but that won't always be the case," he looked at her again, but this time there was something different about it. "I'm also going to suggest he begin anger management courses, as they may help him to better control himself in the future, or if none of you are available to calm him down."

She just sniffed before nodding, taking my paw as we walked out.


I couldn't get the taste of Wyatt's blood off my tongue. No matter how many times I gulped water from the lake or spit it out, it was still there, burning its way from my mouth to my stomach. I'd finally managed to get enough breath to react when he'd pointed the gun at me, kicking his paw just as he'd pulled the trigger. The shot had gone wide, but he hadn't let go, the last of the cool leaving his eyes as I'd gotten up.

I could still hear myself growling at him, smell the fear that'd started just pouring off of him as I'd stalked closer, crouching low on all fours. Andrew and Eric had taken one last look at me before hightailing it, both screaming their heads off. I hadn't understood any of it at the time, and most of the color had faded from the world as I'd focused on Wyatt, the part of my brain I could never fully control or bury screaming at me to do one thing.

Kill! Kill the threat! KILL!

I'd leapt at him, knocking him down, my teeth sinking into what ever part of him had been closest. I'd started jerking my head around, ripping and tearing, his screaming only driving me on. But then someone else had started, and I'd froze, looking up to see Savage staring at me. The disbelief and fear on his face had snapped me out of it enough to let go, to back away when he'd started getting up, taking off when he'd walked toward me. My tail tucked itself back between my legs as I thought about it, tears running down my face as I stared at myself in the water. I'd lost control before, more than once to the point where I'd hurt mammals, but it had never come out like that, where I'd actually…

No! I threw myself back from the water. That hadn't happened. I'd heard Wyatt moaning as I'd run off, I hadn't killed him!

But you wanted to…by god you wanted to.

I'd be lying to myself if I said I hadn't, after hearing everything he'd done, seeing him turn members of his own family against each other. What the hell kind of monster did that? I shuddered, getting as far from the lake as I could, curling up under a tree and throwing my tail over my face. I was always exhausted after a spell like that hit me, and all I wanted to do now was sleep, hopefully long enough for me to starve to death or something.

"Nick?"

My ears flicked at the voice, familiar and worried, faint but getting closer. "Nick, where are you?"

I didn't answer, staying low on all fours, my gut tightening when the scent hit me.

No, anything but that!

I crouched, ready to bolt when she pushed through some grass, looking so relieved when she saw me.

"Oh, Nick," she smiled, sniffling a bit. "Thank god, I've been-"

I took off, speeding up every time I heard her call out behind me. I didn't know, didn't care where I was going, I just wanted to get away. I had to.

"N-Nick, wait!" she already sounded tired, her words actually slurring a bit as her steps faltered. The tranq Wyatt had hit her with still hadn't even completely worn off, and she'd been out here looking for me, but why would she want to?

"Go away, Carrots!" I yelled over my shoulder, my voice still tinged with a growl. Her scent thickened as she chased me, and I was terrified it'd drag me straight back down. "Y-You can't be near me anymore!"

She was starting to stagger, tears spilling down her cheeks as she reached for me.

"N-Nick, please!" she finally slowed down, her chest heaving as she cried harder. "Y-You don't have to be alone in this, I-I lo-aaaAAHH!"

I slid to a stop when she dropped out of sight, her scream cutting off with a grunt, then it went completely silent.

"No!" I took off, racing to where she'd vanished. "Judy!"

I barely managed to stop at the edge, panting as I stared into a steep ravine, Judy lying by a stump at the bottom of it. My heart jumped to my throat when I realized she wasn't moving, and I slid down to her, not caring about the rocks and sticks that dug into me, my whole side burning when I finally stopped. But I didn't care, dropping to my knees next to her, my paws hovering as I looked her over. She was bleeding in a few spots, her clothes torn and grass-stained; the worst of it was her ankle, already swollen, her skin discolored through her fur. I sighed in relief when she moaned, her face twisting in pain as her eyes cracked open.

"N-Nick?" she tried to move, biting her lip as she sucked a breath through her teeth. "Sweet cheese and crackers…"

"I know, you took quite a ride," I looked around, grabbing a couple thicker sticks and kneeling next to her feet. I pulled my old neckerchief from my pocket. "This is gonna hurt, but I should at least stabilize it a bit before I take you home."

She winced, pulling her foot away and glaring at me.

"I-I wouldn't be in this situation if you had just l-listened," the tranq still hadn't worn off all the way. "W-Why'd you keep running off like that?!"

My ears went flat against my head, I looked away.

"I-I just didn't want you to see me, n-not after what I did to…"

"Nick," she breathed sharply as she pushed herself up. "E-Eric, Andrew and Jack told me what happened. My uncle attacked and provoked you, it's not your fault what happened to him."

She looked at me.

"But it is kind of weird you didn't realize what was happening earlier, what was going on there?"

I shrugged, taking her paws and guiding them to the sticks I'd put on either side of her ankle.

"Just hold these still, I can take care of the rest," I started wrapping the cloth around them. "I was too focused on what he was saying, I didn't really notice what he was doing until it was too late."

I tied it off, groaning as I got back to my feet. I rubbed the spot where he'd kicked me; my ribs were bruised at least, if not fractured. I hadn't even noticed the pain until now. She sighed.

"But you sure got him back for it," she smirked a bit. "You mostly just got his shirt, but you tore up his chest enough that he'll hopefully think twice before screwing with preds again."

I stared down at her, relief flooding me. I hadn't ripped out Wyatt's throat, I hadn't killed him!

"Oh, thank god," I slumped back to my knees. "T-That's what I've been terrified of, Carrots. As much trouble as he's been, the last thing I wanted to do was…"

I trailed off when she grabbed my paw, the smirk fading as she crawled toward me.

"Jack said that wasn't the first time that's happened to you," she sounded hurt. "And he also said it's why he left the band."

She sat next to me, taking my paw in her lap. When she looked up, her eyes were bright with tears.

"Nick, what's going on with you?"

I hesitated, decided it was long past time I'd told her. I shoved out a breath, squeezing her paw, not meeting her gaze.

"The truth, Judy, is I don't need some drug to go savage," I got up and walked away, keeping my back to her. "I never have."