Fraudulent Death, Draft 01, CH 24 (Patreon)

The weather was pleasant, finally. Enough Trembor hadn’t been able to stay inside. He’d driven randomly, and when even being in the car proved to be too confining, he parked and began walking. His driving hadn’t been as random as he’d thought; he was walking through Safe Knoll. His hunting territory. Maybe his subconscious was reminding him he needed to hunt.

He had enough, with what Dania brought him, to last a week, and things could be over in a week. He hoped they would be. He hated this handing state, where he was stuck waiting for things to happen on one side and working up the strength to make them happen on the other.

Maybe a hunt would do him good. It wasn’t like he had to worry about how much the body would cost him. It would give him something else to think about for a few minutes.

He looked at the other pedestrian, surprised to notice they were close to him. Normally they kept their distance from the predators walking the street. Had his mood been so dark he’d felt like one of them? Was that what marked prey? This constant waiting to die? For it to be over? He couldn’t imagine that being true. He knew prey that were more alive than some predators.

He chuckled. More alive than he was these days. Hela’han, for all that she was quiet and shy, had a joy of living about her. More after Jesdan became part of her life.

His mood had to play a part in how he’d accidentally camouflaged himself; those closer to him were now away. They’d felt the change, realized a predator was among them?

He wasn’t the only one. He could spot four others on the prowl, now that he was looking, it made him realize how archaic the mindset that called this neighborhood his territory was. A territory implied he was the only one allowed to make use of it. He was the only one who benefited from his RI territory. Had been the only one. So if this was really his hunting territory, he should chase off the intruders.

But he didn’t feel the urge. Had never felt it. He had no problem sharing the neighborhood with other predators. It had to be a mindset dating to older times, back when the prey population wasn’t as abundant. When the availability of naturally growing food kept their numbers down. Back then. Having another predator intrude in his territory could mean going hungry.

He wondered what it would be like to feel the need to protect what was his, and smiled. He knew what that was like. He’d almost killed a male to protect Marlot. He’d wanted him dead not because of hunger but because he’d dare hurt his wolf. He should have been angrier about what Nikal had but his brother through, but Bo was his brother, Marlot was his life.

He forcefully changed the direction his thought took. He couldn’t think about Marlot now, not with what he’d do soon.

He realized now could be the best time. The prey around wouldn’t kill him accidentally, but those predators would defend themselves if attacked. The problem there was that they might refuse to kill him, preferring litigation over food. Dressed in his wool vest and slacks, he looked more expensive than everyone else here. Predators had the training to hold back a scared prey lacked.

The lack of certainty of even that decision; to force a predator to kill him to defend themselves got to Trembor more than he expected. He’d thought more things in his life were certain. He’d thought how his death would happen was certain, a hunt gone bad, the way nearly all predators died. But now even that lacked certainty.

One of the predators took off running, and Trembor found her prey, an antelope calling for help, while the others just moved out of the way. This was common enough they knew not to get involved. They didn’t even complain. It was simply the balance of life and death. Someone had to die, and today it wouldn’t be them.

Did they rejoice? Did they celebrate this extra day of life? Or did they simply plod on, knowing it was only a question of time?

“And I’m getting too philosophical.” He was a predator. Beyond making sure not to hunt an area to extinction, preys’ lives shouldn’t be a concern to him. “Maybe gaining sentience wasn’t such a great thing after all.” His ancestors almost certainly never wondered if the prey enjoyed life or not. Survival had been all-encompassing.

He paused, looked around. Was he going to hunt anyone? He didn’t need the food, he couldn’t be sure even the biggest prey would kill him. So what was he doing here? There were more enjoyable places to appreciate the warm weather while it lasted.

He turned to head back to his car and paused on seeing the pair of males approaching. A fox and a hyena; neither looked like they lived here, their jeans and jackets too clean, not sufficiently worn. They weren’t hunting the people here. Their eyes were fixed on him.

Couldn’t they just call, like everyone else? He waited for them.

The fox looked him over and smiled in appreciation.

“I’m mated,” Trembor felt the need to say before he received a different offer than the one he expected.

“Am I supposed to care?” the fox replied, his voice full of malice. “It’s my understanding you belong to us now.”

“Someone wants to see you,” the hyena said before Trembor could tell the fox what he thought of that, or show him. He could kill him, and he was certain he could afford him.

That leering smile made it difficult not to reach and snap his neck, but Trembor looked at the hyena. “Someone? Is it a thing with you people that you never use the name of the person giving you your orders, or has Maoma been replaced?”

“Oh, he’s got a mouth on him,” the fox said. “I’d love to see what it can do with he’s not using it to talk.”

“My mouth can bite it off, if that’s what you’re wondering about,” Trembor replied without looking away from the hyena.

“Maoma wants to see you. She said not to rough you up.” He glared at the fox. “Unless you made things difficult for us.”

The fox grinned. “So, if you’d be so accommodating as to make things difficult, I, for one, would really appreciate it.”

The hyena’s ears folded back. “Please don’t listen to him. I don’t want to have to hurt you.” The hyena was muscular, and had the controlled demeanor of someone used to their strength. Which meant there would be no accidentally killing Trembor.

“Lead the way,” Trembor said, and smiled at the disappointment the fox showed.