-Months ago-

It was a dark stormy night. Alice was just getting ready for a good night's rest when she got a call. It was from one of her co-workers from her job at the station. Her co-worker urged Alice to get her detective gear and to head down to where their crime scene was. Alice could hear the urgency in their voice and got dressed and headed down to the crime scene.

Once she had arrived she found a bunch of cop cars and crime scene tape all over the area. As Alice came up to the scene, her coworker found her, they had tears in their eyes.

"Oh Alice, it's horrible!" They cried as they hugged Alice. Alice put an arm around them and rubbed their back. "What's going on? Why did you need me?" She asked urgently. Her coworker led Alice to the main scene and Alice's eyes widened as she choked back tears.

There. On the ground, was one of Alice's coworkers that she had been close with throughout her career. His stomach was torn open, his hands or..what was left of them, looked as if they were bitten off. One of his legs was missing and overall, it wasn't a pretty sight.

"T-This can't be real…Who would.." Alice couldn't finish. She felt a warm sensation at the back of her throat. She felt like she was going to puke. But she held it down. She cleared her throat, now was not the time to grieve, she had to investigate. She looked at her coworker, with sudden hard eyes.

"So what's the situation?" She asked, suddenly going into 'work mode'. Her coworker cleared her throat. "R-right. So far from what we know this was a planned attack. We found video evidence on his phone, he seemed to be recording his final hour." They explained as they pulled out their clipboard from their jacket.

Alice nodded. Her coworker passed her the victim's phone and played the video.

"To anyone who finds this video; Warn your local station of what has happened to me. I have been kidnapped, or worse KILLED! I-I have been trying to warn people for MONTHS of a stalker out to get me, but no one would listen! I-I'm not crazy! I could hear them now! They're out there, ready to get me! I-I've called the cops, but they haven't arrived yet. I-I-"

As the video plays, suddenly the sound of a twig snapping is heard and suddenly the victim looks wide-eyed. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?! OH GOD!" Suddenly, the phone is flung from the victim's hand and lands on the ground while they could hear loud screams of agony. As the video keeps playing, Alice could swear she could hear something.

"Real quick, rewind a few seconds and put the volume as loud as you can." Alice ordered.

"Roger."

Her coworker does as they're told and Alice puts her ear to the phone. She could hear a low chuckle. As she listened she could hear the sounds of multiple thudding and the sounds of bushes and twigs could be heard.

Alice nodded. "I figured. It sounds like our culprits ran deeper into the woods." She explained.

"Wa-wait. Culprits?! There's more than one!?" Her coworker gasped.

Alice nodded. "I could hear multiple footsteps in the clip." She said as she began walking towards the woods. "Flashlight." She said as she held out a hand.

Her coworker quickly got her a flashlight for her, as well as themselves. They began walking deeper into the woods, her coworker had their gun drawn to protect them both from whoever could be out there. As they walked on, Alice, without warning turned around and held her fists up, scaring her coworker to turn with them, gun drawn.

"WHO'S THERE!?" Her co-worker yelled. Suddenly, they were face to face with two large yellow gleaming eyes. Alice looked them up and fear went straight to her heart as she saw that it was a large growling panther. Before Alice's coworker could shoot, the panther sat up from its prowling position, looking sheepish.

"Whoops! I didn't mean to startle, it's these infernal instincts of mine." The panther said.

Alice swallowed hard as she registered its words. She took a quick glance towards her coworker, but they had long run out of the woods in fear. Alice's eyes widened at the shock of it and looked back at the panther, the panther's eyes were enlarged as they took in Alice's form.

"Do not be alarmed..My name is Cole, and I'm a detective. I've been called to investigate a murder. However, as you can see…I've been inflicted with quite the predicament." He explained.

Alice nodded. "Well..Cole, as it so happens-"

'Cole' cut her off. "No need for introductions. I already know who you are. I already know that you've helped all those transformed boys." He explained.

Alice didn't say anything as he continued. "I'll cut you a deal. I help find your culprit, you help me transform back. Unless you end up preferring me this way." He told her.

Alice narrowed her eyes. "And who's to say you're not the culprit? How can I trust you?" She said, demanding an answer.

Cole chuckled darkly as he began to circle around her. "You don't have to trust me. You could choose to walk away and leave me alone even though I'm the best chance you have at capturing your culprit, or even try and prosecute me for something you have no proof of. The choice is yours my dear." He said, purring at the end. Alice swallowed hard. She didn't know what to do, should she trust this possible suspect? Cole watched her think with enlarged pupils. Alice noticed, she thought he was looking at her like she was his next meal. She backed up a few steps.

A thought suddenly hit Alice. "Y-you're also a detective? How come I've never seen you around?" She asked, becoming suspicious.

"I tend to keep a low profile. After all, what good would come out of being a known detective to the world?" He stated.

Alice didn't say anything. It sounded like it made sense….on paper, but in actuality? It was too suspicious. "You can trust me." He suddenly said, prowling closer to Alice. "I can even provide the proof you need to do so." He said as he couldn't stop looking her up. Alice noticed and put her arms across her chest, causing him to chuckle slightly.

Alice chewed her lip. Should she trust him? This panther seemed so keen on working with her…

"I-If you can provide proof, then fine. I'll let you help me in this case." She said sternly.

XXXXXXXX

Alice was back at the scene of the crime with Cole. He had insisted that he show her the proof of his job after inspecting the body. As Alice and Cole approached the body, Alice's coworker noticed them and visibly relaxed as they went up to them.

"Oh thank god you're alright! I thought you were done for!" They exclaimed.

Alice shook her head disapprovingly. "Oh now you worry about me." She muttered. She went over to the body with Cole and they looked it over.

"So, what do you think happened here?" Alice asked Cole.

She watched Cole as he looked over the body, she couldn't help but notice the enlargement of his pupils as he looked it over, it was almost like he was liking what he saw. After about a minute of looking the body over he looked towards Alice.

"This is certainly the work of a lunatic. Staging the murder as if it was an animal attack. But don't worry, we'll find out who did this. After all..they're only human." He explained.

Alice nodded. "I figured as much. Alright. We looked at the body, now lead me to your proof." She said sternly.

"Eager are we?" He purred as he circled Alice. "Not eager. Just need to confirm your line of work, if I find out that you're lying, there'll be hell to pay."

XXXXXXXX

After some chat with the local cops and telling them about this new suspicious detective, they gave Alice all the info they've gathered and let Cole lead her to his workplace to confirm his identity.

As Cole led her to his workplace, Alice couldn't help but keep her distance. Something about him was very suspicious and she wasn't sure if she should trust him fully.

Soon enough, Cole led her to a seemingly small house. "Here we are." He said as he pushed open the door. Alice looked skeptical. "Here? This is just a house!" She pointed out, her hand was behind her back as she was ready to grab a spare taser in her back pocket.

"Do not be alarmed. I work remotely." He said to her.

Alice nodded, but didn't move her hand as she followed Cole into his home. She looked around and noticed how…messy everything was. Papers were scattered on a desk, some were ripped and torn on the floor, the couch was torn up and ripped apart, the tv had a large crack in it and the walls had a few paw prints on them.

"I apologize for the mess. You see my animal instincts can be..overpowering." Cole suddenly said. "It's..fine." She said as she still continued to look around.

She watched as Cole directed her to his desk. There she saw a bunch of scattered papers and a folder. Before she could pick up the strange folder, Cole quickly put a paw on top of it and snatched it.

"That one is…personal documents." He said, not keeping eye contact with her.

Alice quirked a brow but said nothing as she picked up one of his papers. It seemed to be information on Cole's employment. It had details of where he worked, how long he has been working for as of late, and details of his expertise. One thing caught her eye, it was the address of where he worked.

"This…is where I work. How come I've never heard of you before?" She asked skeptically.

"As I said before, I tend to keep a low profile. I also take on the more…gruesome cases instead of the 'tame' ones like you do. So of course we wouldn't have met." He explained.

Sure..it sounded like it made sense, right? So then why did it feel wrong? She looked at Cole, then back at the document, that's when she noticed his employee photo. He was pale, had messy brown hair, dull gray eyes and it seemed like he was wearing an unkempt white shirt and an unkempt red tie. He wasn't smiling in his photo. Alice eyed Cole. "How should I know this is really you? You're a panther."

Cole chuckled. "There's only one way to find out now isn't there?" He said as he stalked up to her.

Alice fought the thoughts in her head before answering; "Fine. you've given me sufficient proof, I'll help you out." She said.

"Excellent..Our investigation begins.."

XXXXXXXX

-Present day-

"Wait a minute, how did you have detective work?! You worked at a zoo!" Lilian pointed out.

"I had a lot of time on my hands." Alice answered.

"Shut up, Lilian! I'm more concerned if Alice caught the culprits!" Alexis said before looking at Alice. "Well! Finish the story!" She exclaimed.

Alice sighed. "Alright alright." She said as she continued her story…