There was a new scent at the compound.

They had all heard the chatter and rumors spread among the Ferals but didn't pay too much attention to it. Darius had confirmed there was indeed a new Feral that was found in the woods but they needed to be rehabilitated before they'd be released.

Apparently, they were extremely feral.

"Predator or prey?" Adrian questioned curiously, thanking Levi for his plate of breakfast with an eager kiss. The elephant gladly accepted it, ruffling Adrian's curls before giving Darius his own plate with another kiss.

At that, Darius let out a small, amused chuckle. "Technically prey but they're certainly not behaving like it. The issue is that they seem to have adopted a younger feral as their own and are fiercely protective of the youngster."

That made Adrian hum, feeling respect bubble up for the newcomer. After all, if his sisters had survived, Adrian know that he would've protected them till his own death.

"We've already received some reports that the Feral attacked a few humans near its old territory. Luckily without causing lethal damage but enough to gain the attention from the Council. They requested that he'd be rehabilitated or..."

None of them liked the alternative but sadly it was something they all had to consider. While some ferals posed no real threat to their surroundings, there were others that could slaughter innocents if preparations weren't met.

It was why there was a bias towards the predators, as their attacks were more likely to cause lethal or lasting damage. However, like Adrian had pointed out, there were several herbivores that were far more dangerous than most carnivores.

Hell, if Levi were to ever get pissed off and go on a shifted rampage, he could kill simply by trampling people. And that was while ignoring all the power the massive elephant possessed. If Levi's elephant managed to get their trunk onto someone that had pissed them off, they would've been ripped to shreds with minimal effort.

Most ferals could still be reasoned with and rehabilitated. Sadly enough there were also ferals who had succumbed to their instincts, yet were far more powerful than their wild counterparts. It would be extremely risky to allow such ferals to roam around freely.

And while there were some compounds where those ferals were gathered to live as wild animals, there was far too little place to keep adding ferals to the mix. After all, none of them wanted to be responsible for potential death between two ferals merely following their instincts.

"So what's the deal with this feral? There must be a reason why they're considered to be more dangerous than Adrian while he's a massive predator." Levi pointed out as he took a seat at the table and dug into his breakfast.

Darius made a hum of agreement, struggling to chew fast enough to respond. "Like I mentioned before; when they were found, they were protecting a younger Feral. It seems both imprinted on one another. While it does happen, usually it's a bond of kinship and brother hood. In this case, they see each other like parent and child."

They all shared a pointed look, knowing exactly how dangerous any Feral could become once they had offspring to protect. Any animal with paternal or maternal instincts firing up was a force to be reckoned with and few dared to bother such animals.

"How old is the kid?" Adrian questioned, crunching down on the crispy bacon before emptying his glass of juice. He had studied for his tests and knew that the younger a child was, the more potent a Feral's protective instincts could be.

After all, newborn whelps were unable to protect themselves from harm while adolescents could at least fight back. A mother or father with newborns would most certainly be far more aggressive than one with teenagers harassing them at every moment of the day.

Darius sighed in response, shaking his head. "We can't really say. He's been hiding the kid from view and last time when Willem attempted to get close enough for a look, he got kicked in the ribs."

Adrian's brows shot up in surprise before snorting. "He hasn't been having any luck with newcomers lately." He teased knowing that while he may have never physically harmed Willem, he had more than frustrated the bear on multiple occasions.

Plus it seemed the bear was often asked to aid with the more dangerous newcomers, resulting in an inevitable back and forth between both parties. Willem had butted heads with ferals more than the other teachers and that would probably never change.

"So one unknown underaged shifter and one who's overly aggressive trying to protect the former." Levi summarized, cleaning his plate with a sigh before he nodded to himself. "I'm guessing they're asking you to help, considering your calm demeanor?"

Darius flushed slightly but nodded, making Adrian release a content grumble. He wanted to help too but he wasn't sure how useful he would be. After all, he was still considered a Feral himself. Then again, perhaps the newcomer would feel more trustful of someone still relying on their instincts compared to someone who seemed more human.

Or less, considering a predator near the child under their care would stress out any parent.

Nonetheless, Adrian was surprised when Darius invited them both along. Adrian went along gladly, only slowing his pace when they approached the holding quarters. Hackles rising as he let out a low grumble of disgust.

"It's okay darling." Levi murmured, making Adrian shake himself out with a frustrated sigh. He didn't know why but he just disliked being in this building. Rather, he knew why; this was his first introduction to the compound, where he had been trapped into a room, albeit a large room.

Darius grimaced, nodding to himself as he too noticed Adrian's disgruntled mood. "It is a necessary evil we need to commit when accepting new Ferals. Most if not all of them are, well, feral. If we were to let such individuals roam freely, give them a room among the others, there are multiple ways for things to go very wrong, very quickly.

That pulled a grimace over Adrian's own face. While he had disliked the idea of being plucked from his home and dumped into a new environment, he could only imagine the damage he'd be able to cause if they had ignored any sensible intelligence and had given Adrian a room among the other Ferals.

Anyone who could've been classified as prey, would've been at immediate and lethal risk.

Hell, when Adrian had been guided out of the external cages by Jacob the hippo, he had contemplated going after that rabbit shifter that was about to run. And that was after he had already been fed and gotten slightly used to his surroundings.

If he had been dumped among the Ferals, Adrian wasn't sure if he had been able to contain himself. Anyone who'd dare challenge him or got too close would've gotten an introduction to the business end of his sharp claws.

He sucked his teeth at the very idea of the amount of stress the poor Feral had to be under, worried about the youngster within their care. The sooner they dealt with this, the sooner the Feral could relax and the adults wouldn't be on high alert.

Further down the hall, there was a small group standing out of view of the last room, murmuring softly. Before they even reached the area, they all heard a dull thrumming call that rumbled through their bones.

For a moment both Adrian and Darius reacted in a similar way; eyes blazing as their feathers peeked through their hair while their shifts went on full alert. It took Adrian but a moment to realize this wasn't another Raptor.

Not exactly. It may not be one of the Ancient Bloodlines like the two raptors but it was a descendant at the very least.

"Ah, Darius. Thank God, we'll need all the help we can get." Charles greeted them, stress clear in his voice as the serpent was lisping ever so slightly. "If any of you can calm him down-"

As if to stress Charles' words, there was a sudden slam against the windows with such power that the thick pane of glass rattled within its frame. The same angry call echoed through the hallway as the group turned around.

In front of the window, the angry Cassowary puffed out its feathers even more, pacing back and forth as if daring any of them to enter the room. Throat expanding as it thrilled angrily, stomping at the window at their slightest movement.

Instinctively, Adrian's own throat rumbled softly. A soothing sound he often produced back when his sisters were alive and spooked by a storm. It had settled them down after a while and it seemed to have some effect on the Cassowary as its feathers slowly settled.

Knowing that none of the adults had probably tried to communicate verbally with the cassowary, Adrian spoke aloud. "Do you understand me?" He questioned, imitating how Jacob had started their very first conversation.

The Cassowary startled, stumbling back with ruffled feathers puffed out as it crouched slightly. Tilting its head at Adrian and observing him closely with its amber eyes before ever so slowly... it nodded.

A relieved smile spread over the group as Darius slowly pressed a hand against Adrian's lower back, encouraging the young raptor. Feeling a bit proud with himself, Adrian motioned towards the others at the window before explaining, "We want to help. Living in the wild is hard, especially with a chick needing protection. They have food, water, warm nests and medicine to help you feel better if you're sick."

The massive bird didn't respond, eying everyone warily. There was some rustling in the bushes to the left of the window but one call of the Cassowary made the youngster stop instantly. Instead of eying the bushes and potentially making the bird think Adrian was scoping out the youngster, he poked a finger at the door.

"May Darius and I come in? We just want to make sure that you and the chick are alright." He assured, lifting his hands in the air when the Cassowary let out a booming rumble at the suggestion. There was a protesting squeak from the bushes, making the Cassowary hesitate with a clack of its beak.

It relented after a moment, backing away from the door. Adrian glanced at Darius and after the man's nod, slowly opened the door and stepped inside. The Cassowary even allowed Levi to walk in after Darius but when Willem took one step towards the door, it charged with a venomous hiss.

The polar bear wisely backed up from the door even though he grumbled with annoyance. The Cassowary seemed agitated at best but when all three of its visitors simply sat down on the floor, it calmed for a moment.

Another squeak sounded, drawing the Feral's attention to the bush before it hurried over. Inspecting its young before wading through the bushes to disappear out of view.

"This is new..." Levi murmured before giving Adrian an appreciative smirk. "All it took was one Feral to realize we need more communication in order to handle new Ferals."

An appreciative trill rumbled through Adrian's throat as he lifted his head, unable to hide his grin. The same trilling sound rumbled through the bush with another squeak before hesitantly, the Feral appeared once more.

His long black hair gleamed in the artificial light, giving of a feint deep navy hue as he shook his head. The same golden eyes as before gleaming as he pinned all three with his gaze, daring them to make a move against the youngster he was holding protectively against his chest.

None of them had expected the Cassowary to be an adult in his thirties. However that wasn't the thing that had everyone enveloped in stunned silence.

The Feral cleared his throat with that same booming trill as before, shuffling his feet as he hid his lower half in the bushes. "Need. Milk."

Normally the present adults would've brought over a dish with milk and bread, thinking the Cassowary's chick needed to be weened on dry food. However all eyes were settled on the wiggling youngster against the Cassowary's darker chest, fussy and clearly hungry.

Fingers gently scratched through brown fur, easily soothing the stressed platypus as it cooed at the scratches given. The Cassowary responded with softer trills before shaking his head, pressing a gentle kiss against the platypus' bill.

"Kiau... hungry." He struggled, clearly thinking on each word as his animalistic instincts warped it with deeper rumbles. The group outside seemed stunned while the trio inside nodded.

"We can get you some formula for the kid. And a bottle small enough to drink from." Darius reassured smoothly, making the Cassowary sigh in relief as one of the adults outside rushed to do as told. The older raptor motioned to the people inside the room, "These two are my mates, Levi and Adrian. I'm Darius."

The Cassowary nodded, letting out a low thrum before moving the platypus higher up his chest. "Kiau." He said as he turned the wiggling platypus and scratched its belly. "Kemai." The man added with a tap to his own chest.

A tap on the window announced the arrival of a bottle of lukewarm formula, which Darius accepted and handed to Kemai. Smiles filled the room as they all watched the tiny platypus eagerly feed while Kemai sat down, staring down at little Kiau as if he was holding the entire world in the palms of his hands.

Those who saw a few stray tears trickle down Kemai's face wisely kept their mouths shut, unwilling to break the precious moment between a father and his adopted child. It made Adrian lean against Levi and Darius, happy that he managed to help.

Happy that they managed to at least get some humanity out of Kemai before the Council would've been forced to intervene in order to protect the people they've sworn to protect. It would be a long road of rehabilitation and recovery but judging from Kemai's expression as he fed Kiau, he would do anything if it meant keeping his youngster safe.