Third person view/Six months later
Life in the Raptor Paddock had been good so far. DJ hadn't killed any of the girls and the girls hadn't killed him or each other. There had been fights during their heats but they were mostly just quick nips or screeches at one another.
When the time of the month came for the girls, a fence was lowered from the catwalk which cut the paddock in half. Like Owen had predicted, during that time the girls didn't really listen to him. All they did was stay near the fence where ever Bravo went and vice versa.
Oh yeah, about five months ago the male Raptor had decided to join in on the daily training that Owen had with the girls, so he had to give him a name. It took him a few times to get into how it went and responding to the name but soon enough he was up to Blue's level, making him in the pack's eyes a second Beta.
Normally him being the strongest and the only male of a pack entirely made up of females, if they had been in the wild Owen guessed he'd already be the Alpha.
But there was a few problems with that in here. Security around the paddock didn't let up until three months ago just to be safe. And Owen took note that the male seemed to always watch the humans with guns on them all the time.
He guessed after twice being hunted down, he was now not taking any chances and that included hurting the girls to rise his rank in the pack. Whenever he and one of the girls got into an argument, normally with Delta, Owen seen that the male always noticed that the humans with guns came running. However over the last few months, Owen noticed that Delta had started to warm up to him.
Owen was standing above the paddock watching the Raptors communicate with each other, the male Raptor being the center of attention.
This was something he had noticed for a couple of weeks now. For about an hour before when it was the scheduled time to release the pigs, the Raptors would all gather round and watch as the male did some kind of move he'd never witnessed his girls doing ever before he'd jump onto a rock about the size of a small car.
Or sometimes he'd stalk the rock before jumping onto the middle of it and digging in his claws the best he could.
It didn't take Owen long to figure out that he was training them how to hunt like a wild Raptor. He assumed that normally this would be done on live prey by mothers to their adolescent children but given they had no other live prey other than pigs, the male was using what he had.
"Owen" Barry called out coming onto the catwalk. "Bill said you wanted to see me" he said as Owen never took his eyes off the Raptors as Charlie now pounced on the rock with some difficulty but stayed on.
"Did you place next week's order for the Raptor's food?" Owen asked finally turning away from the animals.
"No, not yet. I was actually just about to make that call. Did you want to add something different to it this week?" Barry asked as Owen nodded. Barry nodded before dialing a number on the satellite phone and holding it to his ear.
"Okay what were you thinking. Some goats and sheep?" he asked as Owen just smiled.
One week later
The entire pack slept peacefully for their afternoon nap in the lair that they had rode out the storm in six months earlier. DJ brought his claws up to his face and lightly scratched his snout.
He then sniffed the air in his sleep and smelled an unfamiliar scent. He stirred away and rose as best he could in the den. His suddenly stir caused Blue to also lift her head.
"DJ, are you okay?" She asked quietly as to not wake her sisters.
"Something is nearby, something I've never smelled before" he said. Blue immediately rose as well and sniffed the air, also picking up the scent.
"Sisters" she said waking up the other three animals, with some difficulty with Delta, but soon they were all crouching just like the two Betas.
"I've never smelled anything like that either. It has the slight smell of Pink Squealer but that it might have eaten them and is trespassing in our home" Blue said before growling.
DJ slowly made his way to the entrance and peered outside. He gave another sniff the make sure that the thing wasn't nearby before he turned and nodded to the other beta.
Climbing out first, he kept a defensive stance while the rest exited the den. Once they were all out, the male entered the brush and began stalking the scent with his pack behind him.
It wasn't like any hunter he hasn't smelled before, but it was also didn't smell like any other prey that he's hunted before so he wasn't taking any chances.
All five Raptors got to where the Pink Squealers are normally let out and froze in the brush still crouching.
Standing there was a large black animal eating grass. It wasn't huge like a Long Neck or a Spiketail but it also wasn't as small as a small Squawker. It was about the size of a juvenile Three Horn. It had two horns on the top of it's head like a Three Horn but it didn't have the third one on it's nose.
"It's a prey" Echo said slightly loud from behind the rest as the animal obviously heard her as it lifted it's large head.
"Shhh" the male said quietly while also averting his eyes from the animal and focusing on the ground. The girls didn't know why he was doing but also did the same.
The animal scanned the edge of the trees with it's eyes, looking for anything that would indicate a predator was nearby. Seeing nothing, it let out a loud and deep moo before shaking it's head and snorting.
Nothing happened once more, so he dropped his head back down and went back to eating. The male slowly raised his head and seen that the thing had gone back to eating. He sighed in relief as they didn't loose the advantage a sneak attack, having the wind in their favor.
"Okay, so what's the plan DJ?" Blue whispered to him. He paused and thought over their options. The thing had nothing on it's tail, so it's only defense might be it's horns.
Yet it has long legs and with that means it could kick, stomp or run as a defense as well. But they were in a closed area meaning it had nowhere to run.
"Okay, Blue and Delta, you two go left and stay in the bushes. Echo and Charlie, you go right. Go until you're at it's side. And none of you four move until I yell 'now' and when I do go for the legs but only one at a time. Quickly swipe and bite at them and run back into the bushes. And when he faces away from you is when the next Raptor goes" he said as the four nodded and began moving away from DJ.
Normally, they would've gone to Blue being that she had been the Beta of the pack for a longer time. But DJ has more experience in hunting larger animals.
The bull suddenly heard a twig snapping from it's side. He raised his head to scan again but a chirp came from in front of him.
He looked back in front of him to where he thought he had heard something earlier. But this time, a head was poking out from the jungle.
It just sat their breathing heavily for a few seconds before it snarled showing off it's Razor sharp teeth. Instantly the bull knew that this was a predator. He stood so he was facing straight at it and shook his head again before kicking up dirt with it's front leg.
The Raptor slowly came out of the bushes, standing at it's full height and screeched loudly. The bull lowered it's head horns pointing to the predator's leg and lower body.
Suddenly intense pain shot through his right back leg. He turned and seen another predator had taken a large chunk out of his leg. Once Blue had seen the head turn, she was already running back to the bushes.
The bull turned it's head and threw it upwards at the predator, barley missing her hindquarters and tail.
However he soon felt more intense pain in his other leg. After a few more strikes at it's legs, he began running away. But due to the wounds on it's legs, he wasn't running very fast.
"Okay" DJ said coming into the clearing as the others did the same. He chose to stay back and see if they could handle the initial attack on their own. Which they did.
"Blue, stay with me. The rest of you, chase him around the paddock and wear him out" he said as the others nodded and did what they were asked immediately jumping onto the blood trail.
"So what are we doing?" Blue asked as DJ looked found the perfect spot for an ambush. A large rock behind a few bushes that almost covered it completely.
"Okay, you get on the rock and crouch down. When the prey comes by next, jump on it's back and dig in, just like I taught you" he instructed before going off on the other side and hiding in the bushes while Blue jumped onto the rocks.
Blue breathed heavily as she waited on top of the rock. She could hear the pounding footsteps of the prey as her sisters screeched and roared. They were getting louder. Closer.
She readied herself as the prey came into view. Once he got beside her, DJ jumped out and roared at it. He stopped almost giving her a perfect broadside angle.
She jumped onto the back of the beast and it immediately began attempting to shake and buck her off. However before he could succeed, DJ jumped onto the side of it and began tearing into it's side, so the beast shifted it's focus from her to him.
Blue quickly began to tear into it's back with her claws and teeth. Soon enough she hit bone and immediately bit into it and crunching down with one bite which made the entire beast drop to the ground. However it's head was front legs were still working.
DJ quickly fixed his teeth into the throat of the beast and ripped out his jugular with one quick motion.
Immediately the beast began making a gurgling sound before it stopped breathing. DJ and Blue looked at each other and, without any words, they both threw their heads back and began to bark in victory at their first shared hunt. The rest of the pack, who had arrived when Blue had jumped on but had been too starstruck at seeing their sister on the back of the beast to even help, quickly joined their Betas in barking.
Above the paddock on the catwalk stood a proudly watching Owen, an astonished Barry and dozens of other people that were a mixture of tourists and staff.
Owen nodded as he watched them all stop barking at once and end with a screech. They then began to dig into their prey with Bravo letting Blue go first.
'My girls are all grown up' he thought to himself with a mixture of pride and sadness. A few more hunts like this and the girls would be able to survive in the wild, heaven forbid if they ever got out.
"Alright people who work here. Show's over, back to work" he said as the staff slowly disbursed from the scene.
Later that night
As DJ used branches to cover what was left of the bull, which was only a small snack for tomorrow, the four girls all met with each other out of earshot from the male.
"Okay, so we're all in agreement" Blue said as they nodded. After a few months of him being in the pack, the girls all discovered that they had started to developed feelings for DJ.
For Blue, it was because he was rugged and wild. For Delta it was because he was good at fighting and hunting. For Echo and Charlie it was because he was always nice to them and didn't treat them different because they were lower rank then himself.
So after a few heats of fighting over his attention, they all decided that even though Alpha didn't let them Rut while they were in season, they'd still admit their feelings to him.
"Hey" DJ said coming up to them which caused them all to shriek in surprise.
"You ready?" he asked Blue. She simply nodded and followed the other beta while her sisters looked at her with a slight scowl at the fact that she would get him first but she was the Beta.
DJ was walking around the paddock with Blue by his side. Since he had become a Beta, he had started patrolling the territory before bed and early in the morning and after a few times of doing this alone, Blue joined him.
"So-" Blue began but immediately lost her train of thought when he turned and looked at her. There was something about those eyes. Rugged and wild yet a softness within.
'Focus Blue, focus' she thought shaking her head.
"Um well me and the pack were talking-" she stated as she stopped walking which caused him to stop as well.
"-And we... like you" she finally said. He shrugged and smirked, laughing slightly.
"Well, I'd hope so since I'm one of the Betas" he said. Blue immediately shook her head, realizing that she had made a mistake when explaining what she meant.
"No... we like you more than a friend and Beta and we're willing to share you" she said. This time DJ's eyes widened.
"Oh" he said in shock. Yes he did find them rather attractive but he didn't think that they liked him back. Given the introduction that the five had. And multiple mates wasn't something uncommon in his old pack.
"Well um, I'm honored but... you know your Alpha won't let us be together" he said. Blue nodded before she began rubbing against his side and purring.
"Well, I don't have to be in heat to be mated~ And Alpha can't separate us forever" she said before running her whole body under the male's chin. With him slightly nipping at her neck as she did which sent shivers down her back.
He smiled but before they could do anything about it, he heard a noise.
"Shhh" he said snapping his head in the direction he had heard the noise. Blue was still in a light bliss from the shivers but snapped her head towards the noise as well.
They immediately crouched down in the bushes and stalked towards the west wall of the paddock. Unlike the others that were concrete this side had bars on it.
They got to the bushes closest to the wall and seen what was making the noise. It was three young humans.
One was dark skinned like the one that always hung around Alpha. The next one had the same skin color as Alpha but had black hair. The last one was a female with pink hair.
The white skinned male had his arm through the bars and was holding a phone in his hand. DJ and Blue stood up and began walking towards him, now mad about the intruders in their territory.
"Here Compy, Compy, Compy" the black haired boy said as he held the phone through the bars of the paddock.
"This isn't the Compy pen!" The dark skinned boy yelled down.
"What's he babbling about?!" The one on ground level asked. He then turned and see the two Raptors coming towards him and began shaking. Suddenly his finger hit the button on the phone that took a picture with the flash on.
Both Raptors flinched at the suddenly light before screeching and running at the bars, DJ slamming his head against them while Blue reached through the bars trying to get at the boy who fell back out of reach.
Blue and DJ raised their heads and began barking loudly, alerting the rest of the pack while the boy ran away but the Raptors kept up with him after they were done sending out the alert call.
He got to a door and began pounding on it. The pink haired girl hit a yellow button on a control box and immediately several red lights began going off around the two Betas as well as a loud buzzing.
Suddenly the bars that separated the boy and the Raptors began going up. Alerted by the loud metallic clang the door made when it opened fully the boy turned and came face to face with the two Betas.
Blue hissed at the boy but was torn on what to do. Sure, she and the others would occasionally jump and snapped at some of the other humans around the paddock but that was just warnings for getting too close to their Alpha. This one however invaded their territory.
She looked over at her companion but seen the look in his eyes. Too many times had humans messed with his life. Now it was time to get some payback.
However they heard a clanging above them. Looking up, they seen the dark skinned boy was stomping on a pipe while looking at them.
Thinking this was an intimidating demonstration, DJ immediately began stomping on the ground while maintaining eye contact with the boy.
However one of the kicks broke the pipe, showering them in steam. However it didn't last too long and when it cleared, the dark skinned boy was also down at their level looking shocked.
"Uh oh" the boy said. DJ looked behind him and seen the rest of the pack was behind them. They all began walking towards them.
The smaller boy tripped over bones as he backed up. Blue's screeching caused him to fall back against the wall in terror.
Suddenly several flood lights came on momentarily blinding the Raptors who found the brightness during the night irritating.
"Hey! Come and get it!" A feminine voice yelled out as several large chunks of meat were thrown into the paddock.
The rest of the pack immediately ran for it, eager for a midnight snack. However DJ and Blue had their minds set for defending their territory and charged at the two boys.
However the door opened behind them and the gate slammed shut at the same time. DJ and Blue slammed against the bars and reached through but getting to them was pointless.
They just growled a few more warnings before turning to the rest of the pack, hoping that they might also get a midnight snack.
"I hate it when humans are in here" DJ said snarling. Whenever humans came into the paddock, they always left the stink of them behind and he hated it. Blue nuzzled under his chin, calming her new mate down.
The rest of the pack, having gotten a chunk of meat each, turned and seen what the two Betas were doing. Immediately they growled slightly while Blue opened her one eye and smirked at them. She loved being the Beta female.
"Come on" Blue said walking away. "We still need to patrol the rest of the territory" she said. She also had to have her 'fun' before the sun came up. After that, he'd be fair game to the rest of the pack.
"I just hope that was the last human to enter our territory for a while" DJ said as the pack split up. Four going back to the lair while the two Betas continued their patrol.