FSE

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Broken Pieces

Chapter Twenty

By Roofles

Down near the fish market, Reese was getting out of the fortified vehicle he drove in whenever he had to leave his packs territory. It wasn't often that he had to go out like this these days. Extenuating circumstances called for his direct involvement. He wasn't a low-ranking members or a lone wolf any longer. He was top dog here and would act accordingly.

Uncle Gristle, as he was known as in the pack, worked at a cleaners. It was a little on the nose for his actual job, but it got the job done. Reese knew that PB had thought Gristle had dropped out of the "cleaning" line of work, unaware that because of him and his situation, Gristle had to keep cleaning up the messes others made.

Blood, bodies, witnesses... Gristle took care of it all. He was a shorter wolf and was commonly thought of as a dog if he hid his ears under a cap and kept others from looking directly at his face. Like Clem in a lot of ways, Gristle could go where other predators couldn't.

There were always dogs running here or there. Doing maintenance jobs, usually. People were used to seeing them as construction workers, firefighters, cops or even plumbers. Most in the pack still thought Clem was just some plumber.

Just like most thought Gristle was a cleaner.

Reese had sent several of his goons already to the place. Sniffing out every inch and corner for what happened to the wolf. Gristle was experienced but age made fools of us all and even someone with his background would slip up eventually. Something Reese had begun to worry about and dreading.

He wasn't young as he used to be. His left arm was still acting up even after all these years of therapy after nearly losing his life confronting his brother Bale. His stamina was decreasing slowly and he wasn't as strong as he used to be. Reese was forty and, when he looked in a mirror, he could see the white fur beginning to show up on his face.

He hated it. Not the white fur, but that reflection. With cold dead icy blue eyes staring back at him. Reese looked so much like his father that, at times, others in the pack had even mistaken him for the man. Even though Mauler was dead. Long gone and yet the memory of it still haunted Reese, like it did so many others...

The wolves had returned from their mission before Reese departed. They had only needed to say one word.

"Herbs," with the h. Reese always hated when they did that. Not everything needed to be abbreviated. Herbivores worked just as well as grass-eaters or others slangs did.

The herbivore groups were more legit than the predators around the city, and world. They were allowed to be seen in public. On TV or talked about on the radio openly. They were crooks pretending to be everyday businessmen, running shady companies and pulling pathetic scheme likes insurance fraud while skimming off the top.

The groups were rarely openly active like this. They only got worked up when they were "spooked" by a predator. Or riled up by a third party. One that he and Logan were currently trying to investigate. Taking down some bunny rabbits wasn't the challenging part. It was sniffing out their backer and putting them down, or all this shit would repeat itself.

And his home, his territory and his den wouldn't be safe for his mate...

Reese hated leaving Alan behind like this. The two didn't go out to see movies or get coffee like they used to. They didn't even work in the same office any longer. Things had changed and not for the better. Reese hated it. Hated this and he used that anger to continue forward. Woe to anyone who crossed his war path.

Reese would make his rounds around their ever-expanding territory, meet up with other wolves in the area and keep in touch with the pack up north in Canda when he had to. Coordinating with them about the going ons in the world. They had wanted much from him, to even become a sort of second Alpha to their pack.

He flatly refused. There was a reason why he had this pack, and Reese hadn't let anyone know outside of those he trusted most. Those he could trust with his mate. Others didn't need to know how he truly felt. These intrusive thoughts that growled at him from the back of his mind were his own demons to face.

Reese had never wanted this.

All he had wanted was to spend his time at home, where he belonged. Where he could spend time with his mate and his estranged family. When he could. To possibly reconnect? Reese doubted he ever could. He was too broken for that. Reese could play that role though, to be there for Alan who could be that bridge he needed to grasp normal interactions one might have with their friends and family.

Pleasant thoughts for another time, another day. Reese had a job to do now. As he had been ever since being forced into this position.

Reese was left in charge of dealing with the packs budget, expenses, and various needs. It was a lot of work keeping a pack running. The paper work would put his old job to shame. He hated it even more than working in that cramp, tiny cubicle. It was an endless stream of new information that left him staying up late into the nights, away from his mate, dealing with all this shit the others in the pack couldn't handle on their own.

Being Alpha came with several benefits but even more responsibilities. Everyone in the pack referred to him. Even minor disputes or scuffles between pack members needed to be checked over with the Alpha beforehand, during and after. It was endless and tiring. Reese needed to hire some more wolves to deal with these tasks.

The issue with that? He barely trusted them. Any of them. He had made an exception for his brothers and even then he still had to put his foot down.

When Salt and Pepper had first been dropped in his lap by their crackhead of a mother, Reese had quickly put the two in their place. Setting down some extremely strict ground rules before he let them anywhere near his mate, let alone allowing them to follow him home like the stray wolves they were.

It had been violent and messy, but necessary. Wolves only understood their place in the pack. The strong ruled. That's what Reese knew and been taught by a man he had never called father. Strangling Pepper, Reese stepped on Salt's throat. Pinning the smaller wolf to the floor under his immense weight and strength as he lifted his brother up off his feet with one hand easily.

Demonstrating his strength, even if he was pushing his limits.

It was showboating and wolves tended to do that to prove a point or impress others. Right now? Reese was making sure he got his point across. He wouldn't be reminding them again in the future. If they fucked up? He'd fuck them up. Permanently.

There were no second chances in his pack...

"Got it?" Reese had snarled in Pepper's face and the wolf had backed down. Ears folding back, eyes looking down as his whole body seemed to deflate like a balloon with the air being let out of it. "Good."

Reese had tossed Pepper down on the floor next to his brother as he glared down at them. Under him. Meek, subservient. It made things easier to deal with as he confronted the two about it. Their place in the pack going forward.

It could create complications in the future. But Reese would deal with that then. There was only one thing that mattered to him.

"I don't care what you do here." Reese stated with a low warning growl. "If you are hungry? Go raid the damn fridge. If you are bored? Go light a fire. I don't care who you fight with or what you break or steal or whatever you flea ridden mongrels want to do! There is only one rule in my pack. One. You do not hurt my mate." Reese bared his fangs. "Understood?"

The two quickly nodded, looking away from their older brother. Reese was twice their age with a couple of years added on, pushing forty back then. His fur was still the color of obsidian, but the edges were beginning to dull and lighten in color. Strands of gray and white showing. Showing his age. Each day he looked more worn and tired. More like his father. The wear and tear of the stress the position was putting on him. As it had done all the others.

It would only be a matter of years before the others began questioning and challenging his station. Strength makes right. Such a stupid, basic, barbaric ideology that he knew they'd follow if he ever shown a moment of weakness in front of them.

He was still larger than they were, right now. Stronger. Reese had an air about him that made them, like all the other wolves, want to obey and listen and, more importantly, follow. It wasn't that though. There was one thing all the wolves understood. Despite his years, there was still a viciousness about him that reminded them all of his father and Mauler's legendary anger within the pack was well known.

If you crossed Reese? You would end up getting buried like the others.

Reese had always been a legend in the pack. The perfect son of the former Alpha, Mauler. He had taken down his brother, killed lions, destroyed the market because it hadn't respected him (or so the rumors in the pack went). One thing after another. And everyone knew he was capable of the tall tales. Each more outrageous than the last and yet, somehow true.

Every wolf that joined his pack went through a similar ordeal as Salt and Pepper did. Beating up, humiliated, and put in their place. And then given one single warning. Even as his brothers, they weren't spared the treatment as Salt wiped blood from his nose.

The initiation into this, his, pack.

"If you want to leave? The door is right there." Reese would snarl. "I don't care what you do or where you go. This is my pack. My home. My mate lives here. You will not disrupt that. His daily life? Means more than your entire life does to me!" Reese would snap his jaws next to their faces and smell the piss between their legs after. "I will tear your throat out and make the others watch if you so much as upset him... this is your first, and only, warning."

With that, Reese had left his brothers. Unaware that Alan would visit them shortly after. Wanting to see the boys after Reese had told him about them; unaware of the traumatic experience they had just gone through.

It had taken a lot for Pepper or Salt to open up to the human after that warning. Everyone walked on eggshells around Alan as the Alpha's ever watchful eye was on them. Waiting for them to slip up. Waiting to give Reese a reason to hurt them. The wolf, if the rumors were true, enjoyed that. Hurting and tormenting others.

He just needed a reason...

"What do your brothers like?" It has been such an innocent question. Alan confronting Reese about it after he introduced the two to Alan and who they were to him. "I didn't even know you had other brothers." Alan had followed Reese into the living room after the wolf had come downstairs.

Neither of his brothers followed him downstairs and Alan glanced back at the stairs, expecting them to show up. They never did.

"Neither did I." Reese grumbled, not enjoying the conversation. He had assumed his father Mauler had other litters. It would be strange if that bastard only had one. Mauler was obsessed with creating the perfect offspring. To make the pack strong through his strict breeding program.

Reese didn't like to think that there might be someone else out there like him. Someone else with his kind of bloodlust and these dark urges haunting him inside. Able to do the things he could and had done over all these years? The world only needed one Reese. If that.

He knew life would be better, easier if he just wasn't there in it... but his pride and selfishness prevented any of intrusive thoughts from winning out in the end. He would best them as he did his brother, his father, and the pack. Reese would win in the end, even against himself.

"So...?" Alan asked, resting against his side. Reese glanced down at the human. The two sitting on one of the downstairs sofas. It had been so long since they even had this chance encounter together. Reese's phone buzzed but he ignored it.

"What?" Reese asked, unsure what his human was getting at. His ear flicked.

"Your brothers!" Alan had laughed and the sound of it made Reese smile, tail wagging once. Easing his stress. His worries. His doubts and fears. Making all this worthwhile, for these brief fleeting moments of happiness. "What do your brothers like or enjoy?" Alan pressed him.

"The fuck would I know?" Reese said with a shrug. "Why does it matter?"

"Dude!" Alan groaned, covering his face as he rested forward. "I've never met any of your family! Well, other than Bale..." Alan frowned recalling their childhood together. "And I don't think he liked me much."

"To be fair, Bale hated almost everyone." Reese shrugged a shoulder again, giving a cheeky smile. Alan gave him an elbow to the side and Reese grunted. Alan was the one left to rub his elbow after.

"Still! I want to make a good first impression." Reese could practically smell Alan's fear at the idea. "I'm terrible at first impressions. Remember ours?"

"I believe you ran into me." Reese said casually, as if he barely remembered. Downplaying that moment. He remembered it. Reese remembered every interaction the two of them had together before they had to split apart. So many years they had been apart but when Reese had smelled Alan at his work place? He had almost lost it.

Reese doubted it at first. Doubted his senses and figured the human was someone else. He wasn't proud to admit he had begun stalking Alan before the two talked that fateful day in the storage room. Where his life had been restarted. Like an old engine that had died out. Alan had reignited the spark in his life.

"Exactly!" Alan covered his face once more. He pulled his legs up next to Reese, resting against his wolf's side. "I'm SO bad at first encounters! It's a wonder how we even ended up together..."

Reese just nodded but didn't add more to what he said. This was a usual routine between the two. Any onlooker might think Reese was bored about the exchange but, to him, every word said by his mate was like a breath of fresh air to his lungs and, even if Reese would deny it, he smiled.

Smiled at the man that had saved him from it all.

"Maybe a coat? I noticed they seemed a bit... malnourished and, uh, scrawny for wolves." Alan grimaced at the thought. Salt and Pepper looked like two old throw rugs that had been left out in the rain that Reese had dragged inside one day. "Maybe food. Everybody likes food! What kind of food do they like? That would solve so many problems!"

Reese gave him a look and Alan rolled his eyes. Jumping back to his feet, the human slapped his cheeks several times to wake up and get his game face on.

"Okay! First thing first? Food." Alan was already heading for the kitchen before stopping. "Wait, do they have any allergies?" Reese quirked an eyebrow without a word. "Right, right. Let me go ask." Alan turned towards the stairs before stopping. "Shit! Reese," he groaned loudly. "What do I even say?"

"How about hello? That usually works for starters." Reese smirked and Alan wanted to throw a pillow at his dumb handsome face. The wolf always had that playful look when he teased his human like this, making Alan want to both hit and kiss him for it.

"Fuck you," Alan flipped him off instead before marching for the stairs. He stopped at the bottom, glancing back. "A-aren't you coming?"

"Alan, I can't be around you all the time." Reese said in a flat tone, despite how his ears folded back. If he could, Reese would happily be with him at all times. Just stitch the loud, annoying him to his side. "Besides..." He grumbled. "I'm not good with people," it was a reasonable and believable excuse.

"Right." Alan gave him an understanding look and didn't press the issue. "We're terrible at this. I wish Togo was still around. He was so good at breaking the ice..." And Alan took the steps one at a time as he slowly made his way up to the second floor. The wolf could actually hear Alan egging himself on, giving him encouraging words like "you can do this" and "don't be a fucking pussy, Alan." His favorite part was when Alan began rehearsing the lines before even saying them.

Like a student forced to be in a play and was trying to memorize his lines right before being shoved out onto the stage. Alan always did hate the spotlight. Reese would be there though, like a stage hand. In the background, lost in the shadows. Aiding him and helping him through it, even if Alan wasn't aware of it.

Reese had followed the second Alan vanished up the steps. Lurking behind him. Out of view, out of sight as he kept his ears perked up. Listening in to make sure nothing happened. He needed Alan to be less dependent on him. But... but that didn't make it any easier to let the human go through with this.

"Hey," Alan greeted the two wolves sitting on a pair of beanbag chairs in front of the TV. Reese had forced his brothers to take a shower the first thing after they'd shown up. Scrubbing them down himself to make sure they didn't track fleas inside. "I'm Alan," the human said and the two tensed. "I'm Reese's... uh, your brothers boyfriend?"

They exchanged a look.

"Mate." Alan rolled his eyes.

"Oh," Salt spoke first. The smaller of the two. He kept his head down before him. "W-what can we do for you, s-sir?"

"Sir?" Alan wanted to laugh at that. "I was just about to make some brunch. Are you boys hungry?" He asked and the two perked up at that. Pepper tried not to appear as interested in the idea of food as Salt was. Their empty stomachs growled voraciously at the prospect of food. It had been several days since they'd last been allowed any food. "I wasn't sure what you two like, so I wanted to ask your opinions about it. I have a bit of a sweet tooth, see. And was going make some waffles..."

The two just gave him a blank look.

"Uh, do you not like waffles?" Alan was feeling increasingly anxious about all this now. The way they looked at him like that. He was sure the larger of the two was drooling at just hearing the word food.

"What's a waffle?" Salt asked and Alan thought he was joking, again.

"W-what?" Alan laughed uncomfortably. "Are you serious?"

Salt's ears folded back and he tucked his head down, tail curling around his body as he tried to shrink himself away from view as he covered his face with his arms. A defensive posture Alan had seen other wolves do around Reese. Wanting to vanish from view, to go unnoticed before him.

"Whoa, easy. Easy. I didn't mean to offend, fuck. Shit, sorry. I'm not going to hurt you. Honest. I'm so sorry..." Alan cursed, rubbing his left arm feeling awkward as fuck about all this. "I-It's a sweet treat. I mix it with peanut butter powder and buckwheat flour... that way the other wolves can eat it without getting upset stomachs. With lots of whip cream and syrup and butter! All homemade, uh other than the butter." Alan said, practically drooling by the end. "Sometimes I like to cut up strawberries or use blueberries! Fresh from the garden, of course." He chuckled. "You can also use other things but that's just my personal favorite... Uh, w-would you boys want me to get you some?"

"You aren't going to tell Reese, are you?" Salt whined.

"If you eat some or... if you don't?" Alan wasn't sure which option was worse.

"Either?" Salt still refused to look at him. His stomach growled and he covered it with a hand, not wanting to seem like he was as hungry as he was. Salt would get punished if he came off as ungrateful in his old pack.

"How about... we just don't tell him then? That way it'll be the safest option," Alan teased with a warm smile. "I'll get you boys some waffles and eggs and I'm sure I can find some kind of meat to go along with it while you play games."

He thought it over, planning to make a breakfast brunch for them to enjoy together. Good, fresh food could bring anyone around.

"M-meat?" Pepper asked and it was Salt who looked at his brother, surprised he talked. Pepper never talked. To anyone other than Salt.

"Sure! I'll wrangle some up from somewhere and we'll all have brunch together in the backyard... together. Just the three of us. Together... Uh, i-if that's alright... Pepper, wasn't it?" Alan asked and the larger of the two brothers lowered his head as if trying to hide behind Salt. "If that isn't alright? That's okay. Really! I promise I won't tell Reese. I just want to make sure you two are, uh, adjusting. I know how it is, being the new guy here."

The two looked at each other.

"I don't want you to go hungry or cold while you both are here. But, you have to let me know if you are or if you need anything else." Alan tried to comfort the two without getting any closer. They looked like beaten stray dogs and even Alan didn't dare risk closing the space between them.

Yet.

"Fine." Salt ended up saying before hesitating. "If... if you can show us how to turn this on." He pointed at the TV and, once more, Alan was left speechless for a moment.

"Sure." Alan walked over and took the remote off the side table. He kept his heads up and visible, so they didn't misconstrue what he was trying to do for them. "These newer TVs don't have switches like the old ones do in the back," he explained in a calm, compassionate tone. "You have to use one of the remotes. Not all the remotes are connected, though. That's why I marked them," he pointed at the bottom to a colorful sticker with a letter on it. "We have so many damn TVs these days, I swear. And if either of you two need help? On anything... Just come to me from now on. You don't have to worry about going to Reese or to one of the other wolves for stuff... I, uh, understand. Really. I do."

And Alan did.

Being the Alpha-mate, he was privy to special treatment but that, in itself, had separated him from the others in the pack. These two were fresh and new and would be pushed to the bottom of the totem pole until they could work their way up. If they ever managed to. Alan had wanted to intervene the second he had had heard about them, knowing the experience they'd have to go through.

Despite how much Reese was trying to change this back for the better, some things were ingrained into their very DNA it seemed.

Just like how PB used to struggle as the runt of his litter, bottom of the pack. Teased and made fun of, picked on and humiliated... Alan didn't want Reese's brothers to go through that. That kind of abuse? It changes you. Fucks you up. Alan didn't want to see them hurt any more than they already were.

Salt was small for a wolf, scrawny and would be picked on because of that alone. While his brother was larger and would grow to be around Domino or Barrett in size, he was also far meeker than other wolves and would have troubles standing up for himself because of it. Alan needed to make sure they were okay being here.

They were Reese's brothers after all.

This was his chance to fix his mistakes. So many mistakes...

"T-that won't bother you or upset you will it?" Salt looked up at him before quickly lowering his eyes. He shuddered as if worried Alan was about to walk over and strike him for the disrespect he'd shown.

"What? No. No, no. Please. I insist! If you two ever need anything? Just, uh, think of me as family? I mean, I know wolves don't have the same kind of family as humans do but like... just think of me as someone on your side instead...?" Alan wanted to face palm after that. He was so bad at this! "You're Reese's younger brothers and I'm his mate, or whatever, and like I just want to be sure that I just..." And Alan faltered at the end.

Wanting to apologize. To apologize to them, to Reese... to PB. For everything.

"O-okay..." Salt glanced at his brother who gave a single nod.

"I'll be back shortly with food t-then. Don't go anywhere! BUT that's not an order! Just like, yeah... fuck... D-do you boys want anything to drink?" And that was how Alan slowly began to get the two to open up to him.

Something Reese would've never been able to do. Even offering an olive branch in peace required more than just smacking them over the head with it. Something Reese would've liked to do more than be patient and understanding as Alan had been. Could be. Would be...

Like how Alan had been with him.

Just like how Alan now was with his brothers and would, later on, be with Barrett. Alan would always give them a chance, at least once. Something the world wasn't willing to try. To be kind. Trying to be kind and understanding... where Reese just didn't have the patience for it anymore.

If he ever did...

As if, he didn't know how to be to begin with. As if... as if there were a piece of the puzzle known as Reese missing. Replaced with something else, something his father had put in him. Violent and angry. Always so angry...

It was different with Alan. Because, to Reese? Alan was a possession that he owned. His property. And, because of that, he was able to forcibly trick his brain and those intrusive thoughts to letting Alan do his own thing. To be happy. Because, seeing him happy? Made Reese feel, as if, maybe, he could be allowed to be happy as well... vicariously living through his mate.

But Reese had to protect that happiness. No matter the cost.

Out here, down by the fish market, Reese hated to be around, he was stuck playing Alpha for all these mutts and mongrels that came belly up to him. Wanting, begging, pleading for him to lead them where no one else would. Crawling at his feet, kissing his toes, licking the dirty water from his paw prints... They stunk of fear and submission. A sour smell just like the smell wafting from the fish market now and Reese sneezed, trying to shake the smell out of his nose.

He knew it would cling to his fur and body for the rest of the day.

At least they could be useful. These expendable pawns and tools. Tools he would use to create a perfect place for him, his mate and... maybe, someday, his family.

"Over here," one of the wolves he brought along with him motioned. "They have it set up around back." They had their coat open, the holsters visible underneath both arms as they stood back for Reese to proceed.

Like Reese, they were dressed in the heavy suits. Looking professional, wherever they went. That way, people wouldn't dare fuck with them. It was a message and others understood it well. Even clearing a path as he stepped out of the car, flanked by two others.

Those in the pack would die to protect him and would kill just as quickly at his command. They could be useful, at least...

"Let's get this over with," Reese growled. Two other wolves stepped out and, flanked by four more, he headed down the street for the nearby hotel back entrance. Off the main road but not enough to be disrespectful to the Alpha.

This entire area was run by a small clawed Asian otter by the name of Zhang. He ran the docks and kept the aquatic gangs in check, running his headquarters out of Chinatown. The other gangs stayed away from it. Not wanting to keep the sharks and orcas in check. That was a whole other situation land-based gangs wouldn't deal with or touch. Reese was never sure how someone as small as Zhang managed to do so, but he figured he had to be like Bale back in the day. Making up for his petite size with an overabundance of cruelty, manipulation, and violence. A lot of violence.

Some people just didn't get it until you dropped the sever head of their loved one on their doorstep.

Because of Zhang's widespread influence in the area, it forced the other gangs to behave. Keeping them in check or risk earning his ire. The Puget Sound county was a neutral zone between the ruling gang territories with some overlapping areas that changed sides back and forth every other day. Or so it seemed.

The sea folk lived along the waterways of the world and were heavily populated here in Seattle, like any major city along the sea. They had their own turfs within the different lakes and waterways, needing it for both their ways of life and illegal explicit deeds. Aquatic species couldn't survive for long outside bodies of water. Their skin would dry out and their nature wouldn't allow it, requiring a daily swim.

With one exception. When it rained.

The streets were filled with sharks on one side, orcas on the other as the heavy clouds above poured down over their heads. Despite the cold, despite it being December their chests were exposed, their skin hungrily drinking in the water raining down from above. The sharks and orcas bodies were tatted up, something wolves couldn't do because of their fur. Each with their specific tattoos designed according to their associated groups they belonged to. The two groups eyed each other before watching the wolves pass them by. Several orcas heckled them. Yelling slurs at the "land walkers" or "Dry skins." Whatever came to mind as they laughed about it after.

Their words were almost innocent and friendly at first. Reese ignored them and it was then they began throwing the real slurs at the canines.

"Don't," Reese warned one of the others who reached for his gun. "They aren't worth it. We have bigger fish to fry," he flashed a fang at his own joke. Finding it rather amusing. The others thought he was threatening them.

"What about them?" One of the wolves asked, nodding their muzzle towards the lions standing outside Golden Gate, a massive hotel, located near the fish market. Mostly because then it was in the center of the neutral zone.

"Don't be stupid." Reese snarled. "That's why we're here. Eyes open, ears up." He ordered as he came into view of the lions standing out front smoking a cigarette. He flicked it to the side seeing them approach.

"The Mane is inside, waiting for you. Join him." The lion greeted them with disdain, barely showing Reese the respect, he deserved. "Took your sweet time-," the lion continued and was promptly slammed into the wall by one hand.

Reese dangling the feline a couple of inches off the ground, just enough that he struggled to breathe without even looking at him. Just standing there, holding the lion up as if he weighed nothing. Not letting the effort Reese exerted show on his face.

It was a sickening display. Taunting the feline. His feet kicking out, trying to find a perch to stand on but Reese refusing to let him. Holding him up, just inches away from salvation of the ground as the feline suffocated under his bodies weight and the crushing force the Alpha used to keep him there. Nearly crushing his windpipe.

"I. Know." Reese brought the lion closer, hissing the words in his face as he bared his fangs as his cold ice blue eyes finally looked at the lion. "Don't. Tell me. What to do."

Another lion jumped, seeing what had happened and dared to reach for his gun.

"Do it and I won't be at fault." Reese warned without looking at them. They hesitated as the wolf dropped the first lion to the ground in a crumbled heap of fur and fabric. They gasped and held their throat with claws out, eye wide as they coughed. "Pathetic. Bottom feeders. The lot of you," he spat down at the feline.

"O-Once The Mane hears about t-this!" The second lion backed away. He hadn't reached for his gun, or touched it, so Reese let him go as he walked into the building.

"I'm sure he will, after I tell him." Reese chuckled darkly at the thought. He strode past him, past the others, and ignored everyone else in the hotel as he made his way towards the center elevator. The carpeted floor led straight to it. Everything was gold tinted except for the red central carpet that led them towards the center elevator.

Like a red carpet that had been unraveled for their approach. Reese saw it for what it was. A tongue. A tongue they were willingly walking onto as it led towards the throat of the elevator and into the bowels of this place. They could call it whatever they liked but it was clear the intent the designer had going when drawing this room out.

There was a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling like a uvula. Marble pillars lined the walls. Each with gold trim and polished until they shined like mirrors, reflecting everything in their surface. Looking like pearly white fangs in the white light.

It would've been easier if they had just added a pair of googly eyes and a button nose to this ridiculous amusement park of a room. Decorating it to look like a predators maw hadn't been necessary and yet when you have as much money as they did? They were willing to splurge on the most wasteful of things.

Reese snorted in disgust. It was a place that his brother Bale would've liked. It reeked of money and waste. Flaunting their fortune to anyone foolish enough to walk into this place.

The door to the elevator was left open, waiting for him as Reese walked forward as if he owned the place.

The room was filled with other, minor, predators that sought shelter and safety within these walls within the neutral zone. Predators that existed and yet were commonly ignored and overlooked throughout history. Yet, even they were still persecuted, nonetheless. Weasels, bears, cheetahs, badgers, dingo's, otters, several types of felines and jackals...

It didn't matter. If your diet required you to eat meat? Then you were lumped together with the rest. Only those like wolves and lions had been wise enough to take advantage of the situation.

The list went on from these minor land predators. There were of course dozens of different kinds of birds of prey. Then there were the aquatic feeders such as seals, several dolphins, and, of course, a couple of foxes lurking nearby hoping to steal a meal where they could... there were so many people in the world who had to eat meat, of some kind. Fish or just the flesh of an animal. These minor predators were commonly overlooked. Not being popular, or threatening enough to be notice. Not like wolves and lions who formed packs and prides.

Gathered, crowded together... They had come here for one reason. Safety, sure. Everyone of them must've been closely watching the news. Wondering if the next missing person was one of their kind or even a loved one. Staying in a group, like a school of fish, was the best way to prevent yourself from being targeted next.

But there was one other key reason why they had gathered here. Something that everyone in the world needed to survive.

Food.

After The Market had been burned to the ground a year ago, it had caused a ripple in their community. Meat prices had skyrocketed and, even then, it wasn't enough to feed all those craving it. Plant proteins and artificial dog foods had tried to fill the void, but it hadn't been enough.

There was one other source of food that most of them could eat and still enjoy. Fish.

Zhang controlled the fish market and majority of the people here needed seafood to survive. From shellfish to crustaceans to just good old fashion swordfish. Though, most wouldn't be able to afford such a thing. The price kept creeping higher as the months ticked on and those in power did nothing about it. Some claimed it was because of inflation but, like with meat, everyone knew the real reason why.

When you spent your entire budget on food to survive, you didn't have the means to do anything else in the world. The poor could do very little against the rich in the long run of things. Money made the world go round and, those with it, were the ones in power.

It was why Reese's great grandfather had created this pack after all. Even so many years later, things hadn't changed. Not really. Sure, they called it something different and there were those who claimed everyone was "equal" nowadays, but it was just one lie after another trying to convince the masses to behave and keep themselves in check...

Reese stepped into the elevator, not even looking back as his fist clenched painfully at his side. Thinking of it. Recalling it. All those things from his past, his life, who he was and those who had raised him... of his father. His brothers. What was left of his family.

Sometimes... sometimes it was easier just to forget.

To pretend to be docile and tame. It just made things so much easier to live. To get by.

To survive...