It was interesting how quickly shifters adapted to new things. As Adrian walked around more in his shift, interacting and playfully chasing his mates, the others within the compound seemed to calm down more and more.
The young Feral had come to learn that Darius had pleaded for more leniency on Adrian's behalf. Even though his shift was that of a massive predator, Adrian and his shift alike had been more well-behaved than expected.
And that was more than some smaller predators like the lions could say about their kin. As both Darius and Levi had pointed out, the lions weren't as restricted as Adrian, nor did their shifting set off any alarms.
Despite them attacking others on multiple occasions. Zuri and Adrian being their latest targets, which Adrian had reacted remarkably restrained to the attack.
A new feral who's food was stolen would usually have to be sedated in order to stop the fight. Given that Adrian had merely bitten Ethan once and let go instantly without causing further damage, his reaction had been underwhelming, if anything.
"He might be a bigger predator than most but that doesn't mean that the Board and its teachers can discriminate against him." Darius had stated when a few protested.
"Given Adrian's size-"
A low growl escaped Darius, resulting in a soothing thrill from Adrian in response. Calming down his agitated mate before Adrian stood up and pointed at Levi.
"He's bigger than me, shifted or not. Does that mean he's under more scrutiny?" Adrian cocked an eyebrow as he crossed his arms. "What about Willem? Considering his easily triggered shift and suppressed retaliations, is he on lockdown?"
Silence filled the room as Adrian pointed out several behavior he had spotted throughout his stay. "While it's understandable that predators are put under higher scrutiny for everyone's safety, you all are forgetting that some herbivores are far more dangerous."
The young raptor pointed at several teachers including Jacob as he added "All of you form a danger to my shift and can easily break a bone or seriously injure me." He gave the hippo a pointed look and Jacob didn't even deny it.
After all, Adrian's instincts had been more than wary of the portly man with oversized canines back when they first met. And whilst the man had been nothing but kind and polite, he also knew that if the man's instincts drove him to attack, Adrian would be severely injured.
Levi cleared his throat when there was a moment of silence, gaining the room's attention. "Do I need to remind everyone about the zebra incident? Where Maya and several of her friends cried about feral predators threatening them, stalking them to their dorms while it was the other way around?"
"Whilst you all have an eye on our safety and need to make decisions in a split second... you all seem to forget your own bias towards large predators. Ethan got severely punished for attacking and physically scarring Zuri, but what about Maya kicking Conny in the ribs, breaking several and claim self-defense?"
At that, Kwame scoffed as the honey badger curled his nose in clear disgust. "To be fair, I haven't met a single zebra that isn't a dick for no reason."
There were several murmurs of agreement and even Adrian had witnessed enough on his own. Small sneaky gestures of zebra shifters tripping up others, snapping at those smaller than them and overall bullying anyone who got too close to them.
Certainly there were actual self-defense cases where zebras were cornered or threatened by a carnivore. But in the case of Conny and Maya, hardly anyone believed that Maya had felt threatened by the caracal.
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.
"Even though he is a predator with remarkable restraint, he still is very new to all this." Teryn pointed out, the male Moose eying Adrian before glancing at Levi and Darius. "Even though you are his mates, you understand that all Ferals need to undergo rehabilitation before we can forgo the security measures."
They all nodded in understanding, smiling as Teryn gave another nod before following his fellow board members. The trio made their way out of the building, smiling as they playfully bumped into one another.
"So people are going to stop screaming for no reason when we run around." Levi smirked, making Adrian snicker as he all too clearly remembered the incident that occurred a few days ago.
Adrian, Darius and Levi had all been exercising in their human forms when they decided to shift and exercise their animals. As luck would have it, just as Adrian had shifted in the changing rooms, a jackal feral turned the corner.
And the poor thing started howling as if it was being mauled the moment it realized it came nose to nose with Adrian's raptor.
The jackal had sprinted out the locker room with his tail between his hind legs, leaving poor Adrian utterly confused. He hadn't even raised his lip to bare his teeth or snarled, barely had the time to take a whiff of the Jackal before it had acted as if Adrian had threatened to rip out its spine.
Naturally the room had soon flooded with teachers and both Levi and Darius had to explain what happened before they would be left alone.
It had been one of the main reasons why the three shifters had grown more and more frustrated before Darius had stomped towards the Board to teach them a lesson or two.
"So, now what?" Adrian murmured, enjoying Levi's nuzzles and nudges before grinning when Darius pinched the elephant's ear and pulled the man away from him.
Levi only smirked innocently as Darius reprimanded him "Now we're not mating, as we all agreed to give each other some time to do something else."
The elephant merely stuck out his tongue and winked at Adrian, knowing that their youngest hadn't exactly protested at Levi's advances.
Adrian might be new to the physical aspect of mating but it turned out he was just as highly sexed as Levi was. And if Darius wasn't there to keep the two somewhat separated, they would've been going at it from dusk to dawn.
"Like I said. Were-rabbits." Darius huffed with one last pointed look at the pair before motioning towards the dining hall. "Let's get some food in our system before we consider doing anything else."
Levi hummed in agreement, quickly pulling Adrian against his chest to hug the young raptor. "Can't leave our poor baby to starve." He teased before laughing when Adrian gave him a playful nibble in response.
"See? What a ferocious predator."
"Then lets feed him before he eats you. Though I doubt you'd protest... much." Darius pushed Levi slightly, getting both of them to start moving.
A low groan rumbled through Levi's throat as Adrian wiggled free, tugging Levi along. "He does it so good though." The elephant praised, much to both Adrian and Darius' amusement.
Adrian pressed a kiss against the back of Levi's hand, fingers still interlocked with his. The young raptor grinned, feeling his own shift huff with interest before he managed to tamper it down.
Later. Food first.
He was ever so grateful that none of their shifts seemed to clash with one another. Even with control fully given over, they still saw one another as treasured mates. Adrian and Darius had even woken up from their slumber only to realize that Levi's elephant had been guarding over their sleeping forms.
Protecting the lethal predators that were his mates from any harm, even though the gesture was slightly unnecessary.
But Adrian wasn't going to protest something that made Levi and his elephant feel accomplished. If it made his mate happy, he was happy.
In fact, Adrian realized he was happier than he had ever been in his life. For once, both he and his shift weren't in survival mode, thinking about the next meal, the next den to find.
Instead they were planning their travels throughout the world. To find Feral children and protect them, bring them back to the compound so they could start living.
With a spring to his step, Adrian guided his mates towards the dining halls. Knowing that the chefs there would great them with what he could only describe as magic.
After dinner they would probably have a small nap.
And maybe after that, he could have a nibble of his mates.