Feral

Chapter 34

In fact, everyone was certain it was the other way around, as the poor feline could easily be crushed by the larger herbivore!

The Board seemed to be ashamed as the three pointed out their shortcomings and bias against predators before Darius sighed. "I understand that everyone is wary after the Council's visit due to Willem's actions, but neither Willem nor the other predators need to continuously be punished for that."

"Nor are we saying that the herbivores shouldn't be kept safe." Levi added with a nod from Adrian as the elephant sighed deeply. "We simply want to point out that each case need to be fully investigated without always taking the herbivore's side from the start."

Adrian was the last to speak up, silencing the agreeing murmurs of the board by stating a simple fact. "You cannot punish us for following our instincts while using the same instincts to protect the herbivores. In that fact, both prey and predator are slaves to their own instincts."

The board withdrew after that tidbit, needing to overlook all of their rules and teachings. While they haven't gone astray to the point where the Council needed to be involved, all of them realized that it could have led to that point.

A point in the future where they oppressed the predators under the pretense of protecting their oppressors.

"Instincts are annoying at times." Adrian sighed, flexing his neck to get rid of the tension within his muscles. He could easily think of moments where his instincts had saved him but also times where he regretted listening to them.

Levi huffed, the sound more animalistic than ever as the elephant agreed. After all, he was the perfect example to the Board about what happened with herbivores losing control to their instincts.

And whilst Levi's father had been punished, nobody had dared to point out that if it were a carnivore, the punishment would've been far more severe. Not to mention that their society would've condemned it for the actions of a ruthless man, instead of a man becoming victim of his own bestial instincts.

That survivorship bias against predators was sadly enough very common. Most herbivore attacks weren't as lethal or common as a carnivore and thus, people tended to pick the side of the herbivore.

Preferred to be around herbivores because they never had any issues with them and ignoring the fact that the same could be said about many carnivores.

It was only natural that people thought about their own safety. But we all needed to be careful that the need to safety didn't turn in merciless and unjust persecution of one half of the population.

The Board excused themselves after a while, realizing they needed to sit down and elaborately discuss this situation. To make sure that none of the compound had suffered irreversible damage under their carnivore bias.

Adrian sighed and stretched his limbs before letting out a huge yawn. Even while he had gotten used to classes and sitting still for long periods of time, he still got incredibly bored and exhausted from doing so.

A nose brushed against his nape before lips tenderly caressed his mark, making Adrian trill in delight. Darius' lips curled against his flesh as Adrian turned to nuzzle against him, sighing contently when Levi plastered himself against Adrian's back.

"Why does the world need to be such a stressful place?" Levi grumbled, chin resting on the crown of Adrian's head. His eyes followed the last Board members, scowling after them before he rumbled audibly, gaining their attention."

"Oi, what about Adrian's case?" He growled, the vibration rumbling through the room as even Darius and Adrian turned to observe the Board members.

They were quick to reassure that Adrian would be regarded higher and security measures against him would be turned back to a reasonable level.