Author's Note: Hello Lads and Ladies.

It's been a little time and we are continuing onwards with the story beats that are getting closer and closer. I so far have my problems with one or two plot holes I might address at the end of the story because I think for an author writing his first feature length series one needs some self awareness and self reflection to make the best of some experiences. Lesson of the day, learn to self reflect and be aware of what you do and how you treat others. Be nice to yourself and each other.

I myself am just suffering a bit due to the social isolation of the virus completely boxing us in. I have my Toybox-nights which are nights from 7 to 11 pm where me and my close group of friends meet in an xbox party and just have some fun with each other, and I thrive off of them. These people are the best friend group of my entire young life, no joke in any form.

I hope you also have a few folks out there that you talk to on the off chance, stay social. If not for yourself then for others, but keep your mental health in check. I know exactly what happens when you don't and I don't want that to happen to you.

Have a good time reading the chapter, we're getting closer to the finale and i'm very excited, the last season of this three season endeavor will be AWESOME. Clone (second editor) knows what I'm talking about. Big thumps up to my editors btw, they are both awesome and impacted this story in their own ways, great fellows with great artistic views.

See ya around.

Edited by: SuperAverageFoxyboy

some random reader32

Enjoy!

-Portal

Chapter 24: Herd Thinking

Strawberries… Vanilla… Roses… warmth on his chest… beautiful dreams. He hugged the warm form closer to himself, feeling like he was in heaven. Waking up beside her was the best thing every morning, and falling asleep beside her was the best thing at night. Two wolves under the moonlight, his cure to all ailments.

Legosi awoke with his Juno in his arms, the outside of the world being brightly lit even through the curtains. He looked at the wolfess peacefully sleeping, clutching his chest. He draped the blanket over her body and hugged it closer.

"Morning." She mumbled beneath him. He smiled.

"Good morning, my love."

She shifted out of his hug, stretching her limbs as she yawned. Legosi leaned in and caressed her cheek, leading her into a kiss, her arms hugging his frame.

"mmmmmh…" she cooed. Legosi pressed his nose against hers, liking the cool sensation. He grabbed her in another hug and rolled back to his side. Their faces disconnected and she looked at him with care.

"How are you feeling today."

His smile was enough to stagger her, the kiss making her melt.

"Better than ever," he answered. The two hugged a little longer and then rolled on their mats into a seating position.

"What day is today." Legosi stretched his arms, his shirt ever so slightly creeping upwards, revealing his stomach line. Juno ogled for a second before catching herself.

"Sunday…" She turned her head at him, a sultry gaze that elevated his heartbeat. Sunday meant they had no schedule, which meant no morning classes… which meant they had free time.

She pounced forward, knocking him on his back. Her hands pulling his shirt up send shivers down his spine. She traced his stomach, muscles under the pelt. She reached up to his chest, drawing lines with her claws through his fur.

"Aaah…" involuntary noise escaped him as he felt her claws on his chest. He suddenly noticed that she had pinned his arms. He looked up at the marvelous creature he called his, an image of beauty and power. He was at her complete mercy.

Juno pressed her face onto his as a loud knock sounded from the glass door.

They both looked at the door, their ears twitching in relative synchronicity. They looked at each other and laughed quietly. It was bound to happen that their good time was interrupted. She kissed and slid off him.

The wolf smiled and got to his feet. The she-wolf's hands lingered over his body as he stood up. She sat up, leaning on her arms that were propped up behind her. Her face was still a sultry gaze that made Legosi grit his teeth involuntarily. He came to realize that no other animal could control his beast-like she could. She was to be cherished and protected, his mind knew, his heart knew, and most importantly the instincts inside him knew that.

Legosi growled at her for a moment. Her eyes kept up the arousing signal of desire, the wolf growling only for a moment until his expression broke up into a smile again. He forgot the door by the look of her until the knocking sounded again, the two looking a bit dismayed that their dominance game was cut short.

Legosi turned around and slid open the curtain, revealing a rather surprising sight.

Pina's outward appearance was still the same as every day. His wool was combed, straightened, and conditioned. He obviously took his time with his morning routine, but his expression was on edge. His smile was nowhere to be found, a for him uncharacteristic neutral tug on his mouth. But the most troubling thing of the whole package was his eyes.

For as much as one could curse their instincts for being useless leftovers of the past, instincts were truly good at detecting feelings. Pina wasn't scared per se. He was positively terrified of whatever happened to him. Assuming just what did happen to him was no hard feat, knowing just what was still out there at this moment.

Legosi opened the sliding door.

"What's going on?"

The Dall-sheep, in turn, looked over at Juno. The she-wolf, who was still in her sultry pose of before, intently staring at Legosi's rear, ignoring the sheep completely. He couldn't help but smile, cracking up from his terror to his usual cocky self.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your bed sheet tumble, but there's no bra hanging off the door handle… unless you were still in the disrobing process."

Pina's highly inappropriate comment went unnoticed by the wolf, still highly focused on the sheep that was a terrified mess for his standard just a moment prior.

"Pina." The sheep looked at the wolf, his worry seething through his focus. "Tell me what happened."

The Dall-sheep's expression changed to a serious one that looked severely unnatural. He grabbed at his arm and breathed out, the pure act of telling the wolf costing Pina precious energy.

He exhaled strongly, his breathing picking up. His hand wandered from his arm to his chest in a cramped clawing gesture. He looked as if he was trying to claw out his exploding heart.

"Hey!" Legosi caught the collapsing shell of Dall-sheep. Pina was hyperventilating, grasping the wolf's arms in a panicked state that overtook him in a sweep.

"What's going on?-" Juno asked from behind him. He could hear her stand up when she caught a whiff of his stress.

The mess in his arms didn't get better, the wolf holding Pina who started to slouch inwards, his grip releasing as he sank to the ground.

"What's going on-… oh no." Juno reached the two staggering in front of the doorway. Pina almost looked like he was about to start thrashing around, suffering a seizure.

"What's wrong? Pina?" Juno asked, walking around to face the Dall-sheep who sank even lower towards the ground upon seeing the she-wolf.

"Legosi, what's happening?" She looked up at him, his full focus on trying to keep the Dall-sheep on his legs.

"I don't know. He wanted to tell me something and started hyperventilating."

The herbivore in Legosi's arms sagged downwards one last time, going lifeless, his loud breathing stopping in an instant and his eyes closing shut. The two looked at the body helplessly for a moment, completely shocked at the sudden turn of events.

Legosi lowered Pina fully to the ground, leaning over his throat in order to hear any airflow. There was none.

"HE STOPPED BREATHING!" The wolf's head darted over his chest, still hearing his heart beating.

"His heart's still beating- why isn't he breathing?" Legosi shouted, the she-wolf looking down at the white wool of the herbivore on the ground as her mind pulled open the box containing the memories of that night.

She had always been afraid of losing Legosi, always and only him. Had she ever stopped to think about what could've happened to Louis or Haru? Had she ever stopped to think about what actually could've gone wrong? What horrid thing could've happened that night?

Pina flickered away, as she saw the dark floor of the lion's den. The shadowy wisps of cold night fog. That poor white rabbit's body on the ground, the neck obliterated with a single huge bite, the head hanging by a few left tendons and a single muscle strand. She looked up and saw the chief lion, licking his fingers as the red blood dripped down to the ground. It didn't look at nor see her. It was far too busy enjoying every single drop of the vile savagery on his hand.

"NO!"

The lion's den was gone in the blink of an eye, Legosi staring at her, the still lifeless body in front of him. Her inner voice reached out.

I will not let others die.

Juno scampered beside the Dall-sheep, opening his mouth. She looked at her mate for a second, uttering a short simple sentence.

"Forgive me."

She leaned down and blew air into the sheep's mouth, Pina sputtering to life. The Dall-sheep jolted into a seated position, drawing in a huge gasp of air. He panted, both wolves holding him by his arms. As Pina caught his breath he looked at the she-wolf and wore his normal cocky grin.

"You taste good… no wonder that wolf is wild about you." Pina knew he deserved the slap even before it came.

"Are you ok Pina? What was that?" Legosi asked, still worried over the well-being of his friend. Pina looked over, more himself than before.

"That was… delayed instinct. I played dead... I've been on edge since yesterday." The curiosity of the wolves flared up instead of dying down.

"Pina, what the hell happened yesterday."

The herbivore looked at Juno with a truly frightening seriousness for an animal like him. The smile that followed was one that seemed to channel unassuming madness. Like he quietly lost his mind the day before and they just now saw the signs.

"I know who the killer is."

Juno and Legosi stared glanced at each other for a moment. Their alert of the situation rose to a whole new level at this new information.

"Are you sure?" Legosi asked.

The sheep turned to him slowly, the panic attack costing him considerable energy.

"Well… I was cornered by him yesterday… I think that speaks for itself. If not for that moose, I would be in the headlines by now…"

At least I wouldn't have been forgotten by anyone in that case. They would keep me in mind every time they passed by the place I met my end… I would have my place in the spotlight…

Legosi and Juno glanced at each other while the sheep glanced into space, stuck in his head. The wolfess took action and lightly shook Pina, who in turn grasped at his forehead in pain. Juno immediately let loose, feeling guilty.

"Are you ok? You seem beside yourself." Legosi took the lead in

"Just a headache. My instincts are going insane right now." He chuckled lightly, the madness growing more apparent this time. The wolves helplessly looked at each other, the sheep between them openly laughing as if he lost his mind, which at this point was a real possibility.

"I guess I might feel safe between-" He laughed throughout the sentence, the laughing swallowing the words halfway through. He started again after a small period of recovery.

"I guess I might feel safe between you two-" He tugged on both their shirts, pulling them a bit closer to him. "-but my body doesn't trust you. Scared of two puppies."

He laughed so long until he began to sag backward, Legosi continuously hoisting him to the seated position.

"Pina!" Juno called out, getting the Dall-sheep to come back to his senses.

"What the hell is going on? Who attacked you and what happened?"

Pina held introspection for a while, his expression going to the uncharacteristic seriousness. It was by far better than the madness of just a few moments prior. To see Pina laugh with that much insanity was frightening.

"Can I have a glass of water? I'll explain it to you."

The three animals collected themselves, Legosi setting Pina down on the bed, his legs still shaky after the sudden activation of his instincts in such intensity. He gladly drank the water when Juno brought him a glass. Afterward, he looked at his legs and positioned them properly with the added guidance of his hands.

"Yesterday, while I was using the restroom, I walked into him. He boxed me into the corner and showed me his claws… I'm damn sure he would've eaten me if that moose hadn't walked into the room. And ever since then, that bear has been following me. I can tell… I can hear his stomping footsteps, smell his odor, and always his damned shadow… I didn't sleep too well last night." He shook slightly, Legosi freezing up.

"Did you say bear?…"

Pina looked up and nodded.

"It's Riz… He's the… shadow of a carnivore."

"No no no no no no no no..." The words died down to a mumble in Legosi's mouth. He held his head and looked down, his fingers curving upwards on his fur.

Riz had been a friend, Riz had been a trusted part of the drama club, Riz had even bought him breakfast on the off chance. He couldn't hurt a fly even if he wanted to. How could someone like that be such a monster? He had awkwardly laughed with him.

"He can't be… He's…" Legosi held his head, Juno walking over.

"Legosi. Calm down." She grabbed for his arm, gentle touches on his tense posture.

"He is a friend… how can he?…"

"Legosi." Juno grabbed his arm again, her voice becoming firmer.

Legosi yelped in a sudden cry, engulfing Juno in his arms. She rubbed his back, the shock of learning who killed Tem having taken her in just as much. But Legosi pressed her tightly against him, the information being a direct shock to his core in the worst way possible.

Who can we even trust when monsters walk among our friends?

"I'm sorry." Legosi broke the hug and wiped his tears away.

"I was just taken aback, that's all… I'd never expected Riz to have that in him… Are you alright, Juno?" The she-wolf took the shock relatively well, her face only mildly shaken.

"I'm ok. Here." Juno grabbed a packet of tissues on the worktop.

"Thank you." Legosi took one and blew his nose, only then realizing that Pina was, in fact, still in the room. He crumpled the tissue, threw it in the bin, and turned back to the Dall-sheep.

"I'm sorry, Pina. What exactly happened?" Legosi's question got Pina to avert his gaze, that unnatural seriousness on his face that made the two wolves moderately uncomfortable.

"I was using the restroom after a… rejection. To keep a long story short, I couldn't remember the girl's name, used the wrong one, and got slapped. I probably deserved that." He spoke with somber regret continuing his retelling of the previous afternoon.

"Riz was in the same bathroom. I thought he might have just been mistaken and walked into the herbivore bathroom… but when I talked to him he stood in my way… Thinking back on it, now I'm pretty sure he was waiting for somebody to catch off guard."

The information made Legosi sick to the stomach. A club member had done all of this. A friend of Tem's had done this. Even if that could've been a lie now that he thought about it. The bear was feeling guilty over what he did. Why else would he visit that memorial all the time?

"I'm glad you got out… that must've been terrifying for you."

"No," Pina answered. The wolves were looking at him in surprise. He continued in a completely monotone voice.

"I didn't feel… anything. I was nonchalant about it… I mean I came up here to look for two carnivores to help me from getting devoured." He laughed that terrible maddening laugh. Noises no sane mammal produced. It gladly died down as quickly as it had come up.

"It messed me up… I don't even know what to feel anymore… I looked death in the eye, and I… was ok with it. I didn't worry or care… I was just ok with it… Talking to you was the most logical thing I could think about… I hope you understand."

Legosi walked closer to the Dall-sheep, a carnivore approaching a hurt herbivore. And in a twisted sense of irony, the carnivore sat down beside the herbivore and started petting his shoulder. The predator offering companionship to the prey. Juno sat to the other side of Pina after a short while. She had to admit to herself that seeing the cocky Dall-sheep vulnerable was in this circumstance not in any way satisfying.

"Thank you, guys." Pina hung his head, his mountain of self-esteem having flown out of the window for the moment. Legosi laid his hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly. Juno thought that the wolf looked a lot more mature in moments of encouragement. He shined brightest when helping others, even in the face of his tremendous fear of social interaction.

"Well… I also came up here because… I thought that you would know what to do, Legosi." Pina looked at the wolf, some of his energy returning, the muted sadness dwindling. Legosi, in response, looked thoughtful, though never distant from reality. This matter needed awareness of reality.

"We need to tell Bill first. Let him know to be cautious in his meeting."

"What meeting?" Juno was confused. Legosi looked at her in surprise and realized she didn't know of their gathering in the bathroom yet.

"I forgot to tell you. Bill is training with Doctor Gouhin, that panda that helped us with the Shishigumi." Juno looked at him in disbelief.

"Is he trying to get himself killed?! Going out and trying to do police work all by himself!"

"Well, the police weren't really doing their job all too well," Legosi answered Meekly, his mate retaliating in another barrage.

"So he goes out there and tries to catch him himself? We're high schoolers, not mercenaries." Juno grabbed at her head in frustration. Legosi quietly and meekly answered for a second time.

"Well, we did help Louis save his girlfriend from the Shishigumi…"

"What was that?" She looked over, trying to look annoyed but failing upon seeing his submissive and helpless expression that made him look undeniably cute. He looked at her, still upkeeping the meagerness.

"We beat a mafia." His expression broke upon her sultry gaze.

"What was that?…" She leaned forward. Pulling the wolf towards her by the collar.

"We beat a mafia." He repeated louder. Juno closed the gap, the two locking together before a loud ahem between them made them quickly scamper back to their respective side. They didn't need to see his face to know that Pina was wearing a dirty grin.

"Now I know you two are full of raging hormones and love, but I came up here to hear your ideas for plans, not watch you two going at it… even if that sight isn't that unappealing." The second slap from Juno wasn't strong enough to wipe the 'worth it' smirk off his face.

"Well… I'm gonna tell Bill about Riz. Then I'll find Louis and tell him too, then we'll call together the pack to make sure we're all on the same page."

At that moment the three of them suddenly got a shiver up their spines. The world had seemingly finally caught up with them, the actual weight of the situation sinking in. They were about to make decisions that would mean they were going to fight this monster, and none of them had even realized it had gotten to that point. Juno was instantaneously painfully aware of the bitter pointer of the giant clock of time hitting five before midnight.

They had the same moment a few months prior when Haru went missing. And again they were forced to take care of the matter themselves, abandoned by adults who flailed around in panic instead of taking action. Maybe that was just what they were destined to do, take care of each other because no one else would do it.

"Alright." Juno's tone was somber, thinking about their plan of action. She turned to Legosi.

"But if we do this… then we do it smart. Last time we were just extremely lucky."

Legosi nodded, and Pina looked a bit confused while back to his not caring self.

"While you tell Bill and Louis, I'll tell Haru and start making a plan B."

The two nodded, the Dall-sheep in the middle feeling left out.

"And what is my role, you two geniuses? If you may have forgotten, but Riz is targeting me, not any of you. If he catches me, I won't be able to fight back." Pina pointed at himself. A part of the fear of before returned.

Legosi and Juno looked at each other, questioning looks on their faces.

"I could start escorting you from your classes to your room. Make sure you're safe if you're ok with that." Legosi proposed. Pina straightened his posture, breaking line of sight between the wolves. He looked first at Legosi and then at Juno, the horrible seriousness mixed with a glint of insanity.

"Look, guys… his near attack messed me up. I've had nothing but nightmares last night, my instincts going crazy when someone taller than me is close to me… I don't want to be the Damsel in distress. I want to help you out. Make sure Riz gets what he deserves, making right by my own mind… Let me help you out."

Pina leaned back a bit, allowing the wolves to gaze into each other's gaze again. Their expressions held a conversation without a sound being uttered. It took less than five seconds for both of them to have the same thought.

We have to protect him.

"We can't really tell you to stay away so…" Legosi reverted to his meek behavior, fidgeting his fingers. His energy of decision-making was exhausted for the moment. The whole situation was too much to be processed at once. Thankfully for him, Juno took the lead once more.

"Pina. For now, you'll stay here in the garden. We'll keep you safe. But I have to talk to Legosi for a moment, may I?" Pina nodded and stood up, his cocky dirty smile back in full power.

"But don't take too long in the sheets, I get bored easily, and I can't speak for what I might do if I'm bored."

Juno didn't even bother trying to slap him this time. The Dall-sheep calmly walked to the door, stepped outside, and glanced back inside.

"Have fun." He slid the door shut.

Juno sighed, Legosi physically easing up as well.

"Even when he's terrified, he still manages to be exhausting…" Juno's posture slagged a bit, Legosi observing her.

"What do you think we should do? I mean, what can we even do…" The wolf asked his mate. His mate, in turn, looked blankly across the room.

"I don't know. This isn't how I thought I'd spend my Sunday…"

Neither of them did. They remained In silence for a moment, letting the situation finally sink into the sand, making the plans concrete.

"Ok… Well, we'll do it like we planned. You'll go tell Bill and Louis, I'll tell Haru and work on a plan B…" Juno began to snicker, getting the wolve's attention.

"Huh?" Juno waved Legosi's confusion away.

"We've done this before. The Lion's den and now this… feels special somehow."

Legosi looked at the ground and noticed the similarities.

"mmmmmh… yeah. Maybe that's what we're meant to do. Keeping the herd safe." The two stared out of the glass sliding door. The Dall-sheep strutting along a flower bed, kicking his feet, hands in his pockets, careless on a Sunday morning. Careless because of them.

"I think you're right." She patted his knee and squeezed it firmly but gently. She looked at him with endearing eyes.

"If we don't keep them safe, no one will."

"He doesn't look like that!" Els shouted in a playful faux offense. She and Bill were eating breakfast in the cafeteria, as Bill had started to eat meals with her more and more often. He, of course, was explaining his attraction to her as nothing but protective instincts over the naturally weaker than him. But even he was only delaying the realization of a crush that would sooner or later dawn on him.

Her cute giggle, smile, and peachy red cheeks after every joke told by him. He enjoyed the innocence of the moment while he could, his normal day-to-day routine having to turned to mostly darkness.

He spent his days streamlining the learning process, working on assignments every working hour in school, his notebook nearly filled to the brim with information gathered from classes. His free time, on the other hand, was a methodical noting down of behaviors of classmates and students. His investigations went deep enough that he now knew the daily routine of Principle Gon and the highest circle of admin. And in trying to catch the killer red-handed he caught a male student stealing underwear from the female locker room.

And his nights were the most exhausting of all. Hour after hours he spent with Doctor Gouhin, getting patient after patient. His training even went into the section of conducting therapy and starting the process of rehabilitation on the ones susceptible to it. Gouhin had a strict policy of only calling the police on repeat offenders that rejected all help.

Bill was skeptical about how the therapy training would help him later on, but Gouhin didn't relent on his choice. Bill had to learn all the ropes before he could become a true fighter, and empathy and understanding would be key factors in rising above the shadow.

He enjoyed every single moment he could spend with Els in between the harsh circumstances of the outside. She was inside, a lovely warm fireplace in the dark halls of reality.

"He does, and you know it. His wool makes him look like a giant white broccoli." The sheep laughed hard, clutching her stomach in laughter.

"If I'm honest, he really does." She whispered back while still laughing in bursts. They had talked about Karl's ridiculous new hairstyle. Both of them found him to be quite a loudmouth and obnoxious in boastful bursts of arrogance. She averted her gaze when she noticed that he was staring into her eyes absent-mindedly. Her cheeks becoming red.

"You, on the other hand, have beautiful wool for a sheep." She laughed, heaven in his ears. She awkwardly ran her hand over her top tuft of fur.

"I'm not a sheep actually… I'm an Angora Goat."

Now Bill became red with embarrassment, his expression turning to one of shame as he looked at the table.

"Sorry, I didn't know…" She laughed again, his nearly bashful behavior catching her off guard.

"I didn't even know you could be flustered. But don't worry, it's no big deal. Some of my friends forget all the time." Bill's eyes narrowed, his smile faltering a little.

"That doesn't sound very attentive of them." Els shook the notion off.

"It doesn't matter, really. I don't care, nor do they. It's fine." They smiled at each other, the tiger's hand creeping forward towards her own hand busy holding her chopsticks.

His phone buzzed, his face looking at it in mild irritation. He picked it up and tapped the screen, revealing the message note.

[Legosi sent you a message]

He opened his text messenger and read the message which was in many ways just like his own message in the club only a few days earlier.

[Meet me at the Back of Class building. Extremely Important.]

Bill closed the message and for a moment looked at the doorway, contemplating if he should or shouldn't go. He helped me out. One hand washes another.

"I'm sorry, Els, but I gotta go. I enjoyed my breakfast very much and would like to eat with you again later… but I have a few things to do. See you later." He bowed and took his tray to the food cart.

"Goodbye, Bill!" She excitedly waved, letting the Tiger feel at ease about leaving earlier than usual.

He walked down the hall, his tail twitching from left to right in asynchronous patterns. He wasn't worried per se, but he had an ugly feeling in his stomach that Legosi had once again gotten himself into more trouble than he bargained for, now requesting Bill's help to pull him out of it.

He exited the building, the wolf standing by the downwards stairs.

"Legosi, what's up." He held up his hand to wave and casually walked down the stairs, making his way in front of the wolf who looked at him in close to actual fear. Bill was strongly conflicted on how to react to the wolf's emotion but figured he had just not slept well again.

"What's up?" Bill repeated himself, Legosi struggling to get a word out. While the wolf was choking on his own words the feeling of bad foresight turned into an ugly premonition of what was to come. Maybe Legosi had-

"B-B-Bill… We know who the killer is…"

Author's Note: Had to do it to em. Muhahahaha. Will continue next chapter.