Chapter 15:

After we ate, we went to the zoo in Nevah Flow called Der Tierpark Für Tiere. The owner, Jon, was a very scrappy young man who looked like he was ready to run away once he saw Marcus come up to him. "Good day, Jon," Marcus declared in a threatening tone of voice.

"Good day, sir," Jon said as if he was ready to slowly dissolve into nothing when Marcus talked to him.

"Jon," Brian said, also in a threatening tone.

Jon did not reply and just kept his eyes glued to the floor.

"What is wrong with him?" I whispered too Sly.

"He and Dad had an argument a while ago, and Marcus had to settle the disagreement. Jon ended up getting brutally hurt and was kicked out of the pack. He didn't want to go into the Slechts, so he decided to start up the zoo to help train more beasts and to get packs off his back," Sly explained.

"So, what did he do? And how is he not in a pack if that is how wolves' function and all predators work?" I asked as I looked over Jon and noticed a scar running along his chin.

"Well, your dad disagreed with Jon's behavior towards Sly. So, your dad got into a fight with him, it kind of reminded me of a battle for alpha. Your dad was willing to kill. The only reason it stopped was because Marcus literally jumped into the fight to stop it," Kenny whispered, joining the conversation.

"Yeah, and even Marcus' order couldn't stop Brian. It was amazing!" John commented a little too loud for the conversation.

Marcus cleared his throat and gave us a death stare. "Girl, this is Jon."

After he said the word girl to me, I was seconds away from attacking him. My wolf and I were both angry with him. Brian quickly jumped in front of me before I could react. "Calm down. Not here," Brian whispered as he put his hand on my shoulder. I rolled my neck around and let out a sigh.

"Hello there; you must be Belle. I am Jon Benseiter. I run this zoo, and a little beast told me that you are new to this. No one ever taught you how to transform properly. What a terrible parent," he said, which made me a little angrier.

Ready to attack again, Brian grabbed onto me with his other hand and said, "I would let you go. I know you could take him. But not here or now, Belle Eve."

I let out a low growl and a heavy sigh. I stared Jon down and ordered, "Well… first, I like to be called Eve. No one, especially someone like you get to call me by my mother's name. And second, please, do not insult my mother like that. She knew to keep me a secret from this weird and messed-up world known as beasts and witches. So please refrain from being rude to the dead. Or I might have to teach you a lesson on how to behave."

Jon looked a little startled by the way I said that because he shocked a little and instantly put his head down in submission to me. "I am sorry. I didn't mean it that way."

"Well, maybe you should think before you talk and act," I said. My wolf is enjoying his submission but hearing a low growl come from Marcus, I rolled my eyes.

"Yep, she is definitely Brian's kid with that attitude," George said with a boisterous laugh.

Jon nervously chuckled and said, "So, what do we need to do to train the only female beast today?" I let out a low growl. "I mean, what do we need to do to help Miss Eve," he stumbled to say. Brian let out a slight chuckle followed by the boys.

"She has started her training in wolf form but has not changed into anything else. She needs to see and learn about the other predators here at the zoo, so she can change into something new," Marcus instructed with a low growl and a glare to us all.

"Well, feel free to roam around the zoo at your leisure and learn all that there is about these animals. The zoo is open until nine. Until then, be good and be careful. Don't cause any troubles or fights, I think I saw some of the other packs in here today," Jon said with his eyes searching around for anyone that was listening to our conversation. "Remember this is a neutral place."

"We will, Jon," Marcus said with a slap on the back. Turning to us, he continued, "Eve and Sly, you go together. And keep talking while watching the animals. Everyone else, on your best behavior. There might be witches here, too. So be good, no problems here." He must have given an order with his alpha tone because everyone shook and bowed to him.

I grabbed a map and started to head towards the Big Katze Sanctuary to start. "We don't need that. I am here. I am like a walking talking map," Sly said with a smile.

"Yeah, I don't completely trust you," I said slyly.

"Ouch, that hurts," he said with a smirk. "Come on!" With a wave of his arm, he led me the way to the Big Katze Sanctuary. As we walked through the twists and turns of the park, we ended up getting lost and having to use the map.

"I told you so," I said, as we readjusted ourselves to be on the correct path.

"Whatever," he chuckled. "So how has this transition been since you know the full truth? I know you were having some troubles with things before,"

"Well, to be honest, I am not quite sure. My head is spinning about what to do and what 'not' to do. I had this encounter with Liam and these two other guys…" I could tell by his face he had no idea what I was talking about and was getting angry. "I mean, it was a dream. Maybe since Mom was a gold, we might have some of her powers too. But anyway, they were telling me that I should hang out with them sometime to learn what it is like in their life. But it really felt like it was real," I nervously laughed.

"Well, I think that could be a good idea, but I think it might just be a Deja vu dream. Now… What happened with Liam?" Sly asked with crazy eyes.

"I don't know what you mean," I laughed as I went to stare at the lions in the cage. I could feel his eyes driving a hole into the back of my head, so I asked, "Why did Jon say this was a neutral place?"

"Well… As you know, beasts can be in packs. But not everyone goes with a pack, the worst or the ones who do not want to be in packs can be on their own… doing whatever they want. They just associate with whomever they want to at the time," Sly said. "They are called the Wanders. Some have loyalties but others are wild creatures. Some do not even change out of their wolf forms. But when some do they come here to relax and talk with other Wanders and feel safe. This is the one place no one attacks anyone. Even if you are a witch, you can come but they have to respect and use no magic."

"Why are witches allowed to come but I get the sense that Jon doesn't like them?"

"He…" Sly struggled to say. "He is an egotistical man and the girl he loved gave him a challenge to see the good in everyone. If he did that then he would get the girl."

"I thought that beasts don't have girls?"

"Well, Dad was the only one that had a girl and Jon was angry with the fact that Dad got the girl. That is why the fight happened and that is why Jon is going through a midlife crisis of finding who he is in this world. He wants the girl and to know how to help the world."

"Jon really is not that bad of a guy."

"No," Sly said, looking at me. "He may be a little self-centered, prideful, and a jerk, but his heart is in a good place."

"Interesting," I said as we continued to walk around. "Do you think I should call Brian Dad now?"

"Well, I think that is up to you. Dad will be okay with anything, but I know he will be happy if you do call him, Dad. And, well, did you call your stepfather Dad?"

"Well, to his face I called him Mayor because that is what he wanted to be called. To everyone else, I called him Dad because they only knew him as my dad. And to myself and Mom, I called him Mayor Angry Pants because he hated me, and we never got along. So, I disrespected him," I said with a smile on my face.

"I bet he did not hate you; maybe disliked but never hated," he said, moving to the leopard. "You never know… he might be like Jon."

"Yeah, maybe," I said with a smile on my face remembering all the time Major and I had a silly argument and how I kind of missed the weirdo.

"Anyway, we should get back to actually watching the cats before we find a certain uncle and then a certain girl get into a fight," Sly joked and slightly hit me on the shoulder.

"I don't know what you are talking about," I said with a smirk.

So, we went back to watching the big cats interact with other species. There was this male lion that was rubbing up against a female panther. "That is weird; usually opposite species do not like each other. Maybe since this is run by Jon, they might all be equal in their eyes. I wonder if we can talk to the predators we change into," I said, observing the animals.

"Well, maybe the true spirit of the animals just wants to be together," Sly said, looking around for something.

"What are you looking for?"

"Nothing," he said with a twitch in his left eye.

"You are lying," I said.

"Just go back to watching the animals," he said so blankly.

I gave him a side eye as I went back to the animals. We spent about 30 minutes watching the cats interact in the same environment. When Sly suggested, "I think that you have learned enough from these cats before you forget how to transform into a wolf. How about we go to Hund Park?"

"You read my mind, Sly. I was about to fall asleep watching them. I knew about most of this information about cats before because I used to have a cat named Dust Bunny, whom I watched for hours at a time," I said, remembering my little Siamese kitty with blue eyes.

"Okay. At least, Dust Bunny helped you learn some valuable information for the real world of the beasts," Sly jokes.

"Yeah, come on; let us go to the Hund Park. It is about a couple of feet over this way. Let us go." I said, pointing it out on the map.

As we walked, I still could feel that Sly was sidetracked in what was going on. But I avoided talking about being afraid of learning something I did not want to know. Once we arrived at Hund Park, I saw Kenny and George walking around too. They did not come over. They seemed to be having a secret conversation with Sly in Gualta. They just simply nodded their heads and went on with their day. At Hund Park, there were lots of different types of wolves, foxes, and other weird types of canines. They looked a lot sadder than the cats did. "Wow, they looked so sad to be trapped," I commented as we watched them.

"They are sad. Most cats are okay with being trapped, but dogs do not like the idea of being caged or trapped. Dogs are supposed to be man's best friend, right?" he said while watching a black wolf.

"Yeah, and cats do what cats want to do," I said, looking at a white fox.

"I have a question for you," Sly said so matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, what?" I asked.

"What was it like to have a mom?" he asked with a little tear in his eye.

"Uhm...it was really nice. She would listen to my problems and just talk to me. I bet Brian was about the same, right?" I asked, knowing how hard this could be for him.

"Not exactly. He would be there to talk about beast things, but when it came to real talk. He was gone," he said, wiping away a tear.

"How about any of the other adults around here?" I asked, observing the fox.

"Well, Marcus is completely anti-talking." I chuckled. "George is just all muscles and no love," Sly said.

"I guess just like Kenny," I said.

Sly ignored me and kept talking, "And Donny is probably the most loving of them all, but I still can't talk to him about everything."

"So, I guess you were trapped with your emotions and thoughts to yourself," I suggested.

"Yeah, that is why I was so against you coming here and staying because then they would open up for you. But not for me or the rest of the boys," he said, still looking at the wolf.

"You were all trapped… well, if you need to talk, you can come to talk to me. Mom gave me a lot of experience in understanding people's problems," I said while rubbing his back.

"Don't tell the other guys. They might use you for something else, I just want this to be a sibling thing," he said while enjoying the back rub.

"Sure, brother. I won't tell anyone about our little talks," I said, nudging him.

"Good, now get to learning about these different types of dogs," he said, gesturing towards the enclosure.

I watched as the dogs just moped around and did not do much of anything. I think I know why they do what they do, and that is because they want to have the choice to do it.

"Do you understand dogs now?" Sly asked, looking at my puzzled face.

"Yep. Let us go to the next one," I said prideful.

As we started to walk away to the next location, I turned around and saw Liam and his friends. I could feel a tension in Sly's posture, but luckily, they just made eye contact with Sly and I, but kept walking. "I guess, Jon, was not joking about this being a neutral place."

"Yeah," Sly said with a smirk, but tense.

"What is the next sanctuary called, Sly?" I was glad that it was just me and him.

"It is the Vogel Kafig. It is where birds and other flying things are," he said as we walked.

That is when I saw the falcons, eagles, hawks, owls, and even bats were at. They all were flying around the edge of the fence. The way this cage was designed looked exactly like a bird cage.

"Is it just me, or does this remind me of a bird cage?" I asked, looking at the fence.

"That is because it is a bird cage," Sly answered while calling over an eagle.

"What? That makes no sense. This is a zoo. Aren't they supposed to treat animals nicely?" I asked, observing the eagle flying over to Sly.

"Yeah, but since it is run by Jon, he can do what he wants because the majority of this place is made up of beasts, those from good packs and bad packs and those that are Wanders," Sly said while almost talking to the eagle.

"Wait… so there are other packs around here and more than just Liam's pack?" I asked, looking at the bats.

"Well, we are the biggest pack; same with Liam's, but there are smaller packs made up of like two to four beasts that join up in crisis with either the good or the bad. Even the outsiders have a place in the groups," he said with the eagle trying to get out.

"Okay, that makes sense, I guess, but still...why cages?" I asked, spotting an owl.

"It is so beasts in training can learn everything about the animals they can get with cages and for people to have some enjoyment. What do you think these birds want?" Sly asked, letting the eagle be free.

"I see the sense of them wanting to be free. The way that they fly around in circles wanting to find a big enough hole to be free," I said, observing a hawk flying around in circles at the top of the bird cage.

"Exactly! Each animal or species, we are going to see, has their reasons for being out of these cages. The cats wanted to do what they wanted. Dogs want to be equal with humans. And birds want to fly above with freedom."

"So, each of these parts is going to be a teaching lesson that I could have learned in high school and middle school. Like respecting yourself, respect others, and respecting the rights, ``I realized.

"Yeah, basically that is how it works to be a beast. They relate to the six pillars: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship," Sly instructed like Marcus.

"So, cats and dogs want respect, and the birds want citizenship," I said.

"The way that this zoo is laid out is by the pillars. First respect, then citizenship, followed by caring, responsibility, and trustworthiness, and finally fairness," he said, so proud of himself for telling me this.

"Well, at least I know the basics. So, each pillar has two animals representing two different ways it can be interpreted," I realized.

"Yeah," Sly said with a smile.

"Well, then let us keep the learning going then. Shall we?" he asked.

We continued down the path, stopping at every different animal exhibit where I would guess the meaning of the animal with the pillar. The other one for citizenship was amphibians because they want the right to express themselves for being individuals. Caring had a swampland and an ocean. In the swampland, there were alligators and crocodiles to represent their care for themselves and their kind only, while sea mammals represent the care for only themselves. Responsibility had fish and lizards. Both of which were about the same because they cared about either themselves as a species or them. For trustworthy, there were bears and snakes. They wanted the trust to be alone, and if someone messes with them, they will mess with you. For fairness, there were insects and omnivores. The insects wanted respect for their size, while omnivores wanted respect to be known as predators.

At the omnivore's exhibit, we met some visitors…