Chapter 3

A gazelle professor paced back and forth on a small stage, lecturing to a large group of young animals in a lecture hall. She prattled on about the importance of having a basic knowledge of the biology of one's species, and then referred to specific differences between animal classes. Some students were not very attentive, especially a young female bighorn sheep. She was considered one of the more attractive ewes among her peers, with her glossy brown fur, long eyelashes, and clear eyes. Right now, said eyes were more focused on an empty seat a row below her than the professor.

This is normally his favorite class and it's far too unusual for him to be absent. While she sat there pondering about possible scenarios that could keep the other student away from class, her phone rumbled in her school bag. She discreetly pulled it out to find a group text sent to her and her twin brother.

After reading the text from under the table, she let out an audible gasp and suddenly stood from her chair.

"Hmm? Do you have a question, Miss Maria?" asked the professor.

She became slightly flushed as she now felt the many eyes on her, as well as noticing that she accidentally bumped the elbow of the red deer sitting next to her.

"It's...nothing," she said timidly as she slowly sat back down.

Maria turned her eyes towards the poised, almost regal male deer whom she'd bumped, and who was now quietly erasing a large scribble made on his notebook.

"Sorry about that," she whispered.

"It's nothing," he replied. Though he had a calm demeanor, he still showed a bit of annoyance with his slightly creased brow.

Maria sighed inwardly as she tried to process what she read from the earlier text:

Maria. Joe. We're here with Rob at the hospital. Just letting you know.

-Dad

What in the world happened to you? she thought, tightly clenching her white skirt.

Dean leaned back against the wall, his horns giving a dull clunk from hitting it, while sitting on the bench just outside of Rob's room. The doctor just finished explaining to him and Sandra about the injuries the young lion sustained, which included deep claw marks by his mouth and a mild concussion. He even inferred that his fur turned white possibly due to some sort of psychological trauma. As such, he would need to be monitored for about a week or so.

Rob had fallen asleep, completely drained from what transpired earlier, while Sandra sat by his hospital bed, gently squeezing his hand.

"What a mess. Like he doesn't already have enough $&!# to deal with..." Dean mumbled to himself, pinching his fingers between his eyes.

"...Need something?" he grumbled as he glanced sideways towards a large, bespectacled black bear with big, bushy fur— large tufts growing around his ears—and a white muzzle. His long claws were also reminiscent of a sloth's, hence his species' namesake.

"Yer the kid's legal guardian?" the bear asked. Dean narrowed his eyes.

"Don't worry. I won't take up too much of yer time," he said as he lowered his hat from his head. He then revealed a silver badge from his breast pocket. "Detective Rudy, from the city police department."

Dean simply grunted in response, knowing full well a detective coming around doesn't bode well. Detective Rudy scratched the side of his head having sensed obvious hostility from the ram.

"I'll get straight to the point. Yer boy is a suspect for a recent homicide," he said grimly. "Specifically… predation,"

"...What?" Dean said as his eyes grew wide.

"Got a report from our officers sayin' that they found 'im in some empty classroom next to a body of an herbivore… at least whatever scraps were left."

Dean could only sit there, stunned at what he just heard, with his mouth slightly agape. The young lion he just held, as he has done many times before, could have just eaten someone? In his mind, he knew a large carnivore like Rob is fully capable of doing so; but it was impossible for him to imagine it really happening, especially with how docile the young lion is.

After about a minute or so of silence, Dean finally spoke, "So...what's going to happen to him?"

"Well…" the detective began as he sat next to Dean. "That's gonna be a bit tricky to predict."

Dean cocked his head a bit at the bear's statement.

"See, we usually would've conducted a full-on investigation of the crime scene hours ago, but we'd been ordered to keep things hush-hush, what with it happenin' at that private school."

Detective Rudy frowned as he rested his muzzle on his right knuckle, his elbow propped up on his knee. "Wouldn't surprise me if they already cleaned up the body."

Dean blinked. Cleaning up the body before fully investigating a predation?

"Hah! School board politics, amirite? Always workin' hard to keep the status quo, an' all that," the detective laughed facetiously, giving a toothy grin.

Politics, huh? Dean thought as he began to scowl at the floor.

"So, what now? You're gonna be taking Rob in for interrogation?" he asked without lifting his head.

"Hmph, I doubt we'd get anything out of the kid if he starts freakin' out like he did a while ago," detective Rudy said. "Nah, better we wait 'till after he's out of the hospital an' he's relaxed a bit. Plus, I'm gonna need to find me some evidence to see if there'll actually be a real case."

The bear then furrowed his brow as both hands folded together under his chin.

"Ya know… lookin' back on that report, I can tell this ain't yer run-of-the-mill predatory situation."

"What do you mean…?"

"Hmm… can't really say much without checkin' things out myself," Detective Rudy said. "Now, if only I can get the higher-ups to let me investigate on my own…"

While he continued to mumble to himself for a bit, Dean was still processing everything in his mind. Being as straightforward and logical about most things in his thinking—at least when his emotions are in check— it normally would be easy to accept it as just a carnivore being a carnivore; it's an instinct they all shared… and it's inevitable they will act on it.

No…

...not him. Not our Rob! Dean yelled in his mind, his hands squeezing into tight fists.

He and Sandra raised that boy along with the twins from four-years-old. Sure, it did take some adjusting with feeding him a proper carnivore's diet, bathing him differently, and even having to find bigger clothes when he had that sudden growth spurt—thanks to his mixed genes.

There were also some very difficult times early on when Rob would get frequent panic attacks and night terrors. Dean had to teach himself how to pacify him, and he had plenty of scratches and occasional teeth marks from those episodes that were still somewhat visible on his tree-trunk arms.

Despite all of that, both Dean and Sandra grew to cherish every moment with the gentle young lion. He was as much their child as Joe or Maria.

It's a mistake. Just a sick joke someone's playing! He would NEVER—

"...Oop! Looks I've overstayed my welcome. Welp, I'll be gettin' out yer fur, now," the detective suddenly said, looking at his watch.

Dean snapped back into reality from the carnivore's sudden exclamation. Noticing pain in his palms, he opened his hand to see indentations from his nails pressing on them, some of which had already drawn a little blood. He sighed quietly and then discreetly wiped his hands on the side of his pants.

The sloth bear stood up while adjusting his glasses and started putting on the dark sports coat he had been carrying.

"Here." Detective Rudy tossed a card from his coat pocket with a flick from his long claws, with Dean barely catching it in his hands. "We'll be needin' to keep in touch so we can sort this thing out fast," he said to the ram. His expression then softened a bit as he watched Dean's forehead creased with concern, which he was accustomed to seeing in worried parents.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure to go easy on the kid when he comes down to the station," he added. Dean nodded in response.

"Ya know, after goin' at this fer twenty odd years, that was my first time seein' an herbivore tamin' a dangerous carnivore like that." the bear chuckled as he put on his hat.

Dean gave his own facetious smirk as his eyes met with the bear's. "Hmph, guess that's one way to look at it."

The detective bowed his head and then walked down the hall, leaving the bighorn to stare at the business card. Dean then pulled out his wallet to stash it away. As he did, he gazed at an old picture of a young ram and a lion with thick, curly brown mane wearing school uniforms. The ram had a somewhat exasperated expression as the carnivore's arm draped over his shoulder and the lion himself wore a huge and almost ridiculous grin.

"So, think you can tell me what the next best thing to do for him is… Kim?" he asked, not really expecting to hear an answer.


Author's Note

I'm sure some of you have noticed that Rob is called a lion even though he's technically a liliger. I based him off a real male liliger named Chimera. He looks like an extra large lion with some faded stripes; he's even growing a full mane!

Just a little tidbit of info in case you were wondering why.