No DAIR unit could ever truly sleep, because the city never did. At best, the hive of activity only dimmed a little.
Eventually, the overhead lights in the garage bay were lowered to their night setting, just a few still lit, allowing people to move around and read. Using gym equipment this late was heavily frowned upon, unless one took the utmost care to not be loud.
The television in the living room corner was murmuring to itself, the late-night anchor’s voice swallowed by static. Two enforcers, a coyote and a black dog, had fallen asleep on opposite ends of the couch, still in uniform, boots on, heads tilted at uncomfortable angles. No one had bothered to wake them.
Juno stood at the second-floor balcony, a steaming cup of coffee cradled in his hands. No one else needed to know the extra hit of peppermint and whiskey he added.
Leo sat on the floor beside him, chest pressing against the railing as he rested his snout and arms over it. Massive legs stretched out beneath the protective bars, dangling into open space. From here, they could see almost the entire unit. The people. The machines.
It was their den. And they watched the space as one would keep watch on a dying campfire.
“So,” Leo said at last, voice low, rough with fatigue. “Do we just act like nothing’s wrong? Like as if there is no alpha threat in the city?”
Juno didn’t answer right away. He leaned back against the lion’s shoulder, enjoying the comforting presence.
“On the surface,” he said finally. “Yes. We both know the current scenario sucks. But what scares me more is what isn’t happening. City Hall’s quiet. The Chief’s quiet. We crossed the twenty-four-hour mark hours ago and it feels like trying to grab smoke with my bare hands.”
Leo exhaled through his nose. “Tell me about it. What time did the fringe captains agree to do the meeting?”
Juno flicked his wrist terminal to life and pulled up Ava’s message thread.
“Ten a.m. Joel’s unit,” the hyena said. “Off the books. As off the books as anything gets these days. Dammit, Leo, honestly, I’m not sure what else we can do.”
Juno heard a metallic groan as the lion squeezed the top rail.
“You and Ava are right,” he relented. “Unless someone finds a way to track down the mayor and the other DAIR leaders, we either organise ourselves without Kai and the Precinct, or we sit here on our asses and watch the circus catch fire while that idiot tries to harvest glory for himself at the cost of our lives.”
“Some stupid people manage to climb the ladder, and I have no idea how. Or how they don’t fall down.”
“Hah. It’s a matter of how many boots you are willing to lick. Or how many times you can sell your soul and ideals. This thing that Ava and this Vallerie are planning... even if we don’t get officially in trouble because of it, it's usually a career-killing move.”
Juno chuckled. “When you put it like that, it actually casts a better light on both of them. Just don’t praise that woman in front of her, gods know her ego is already way too bloated. Anyway, part of me is afraid that something official but also confidential is happening and we might mess it up.”
“Yeah, then we are just doing a mutiny,” Leo said plainly.
The word sat heavy between them.
“Way to calm me.”
“Relax. The benching might get Kai an Inquiry later on. And our brothers and sisters in arms that died are justification enough for any action on our side.” The lion sighed. “We know the higher-ups are prone to politicking. It even affects our maintenance budgets. They’re always a little self-serving, but Kai is going over the top. It violates the core tenets of our purpose. There’s no way the precinct would escape a purge of their bobble heads.”
“If they catch the alpha, they might still have their jobs.”
“Only way for them to do that is if Varro falls dead on their laps. We both know it. They are limiting their people according to Ava, to concentrate the glory,” Leo made air-quotes. “But that is only going to backfire and get more people killed.”
The hyena nodded, feeling lost in so many ways.
Missions usually had a clear start and then a game plan to follow. Yes, sometimes things went pear-shaped, but never this bad. Never this big. It had been more than a decade that he had truly feared for his own life. Staring at his dark distorted reflection in the coffee, he considered the changes his body had undergone across the years since becoming an enforcer.
He was bigger, stronger.
But last night, none of that had mattered.
He had been the ant facing off against a mountain. Even Leo, the biggest predator he had ever known, wasn’t up to the challenge.
That scared him more than he wanted to admit.
Juno wanted to do something. It was their duty. Yet, a treacherous thought whispered at the back of his mind, telling him to pack up. Vanish. Take Leo. Take Morty. Go somewhere quiet and small and forget this city existed.
“Have you ever faced an alpha before yesterday?” Juno asked, swirling his coffee. “Before I joined up, you had already been in the field for a few years.”
“Never…” the lion answered after a few seconds, as if gathering his thoughts. “I knew about them. Everyone does. Stories, reports, grainy footage. Varro’s been popping in and out of records for over a decade. Always fast, gone before anyone could respond properly.”
“So,” Juno said. “There might be a chance that he goes under the radar again and we don’t hear from the moose for a while. I read somewhere about him wiping out a farming village near Amaranto City-State. He can’t try something like that here. We do have enforcers, guns, weapons. We aren’t a far-flung outpost he can harvest to fill his tank.”
“That’s the thing,” Leo said, shaking his head slowly, as if weighing the words. “There is a wrongness to all of this.”
Juno frowned. “Explain.”
Leo leaned back, staring up at the exposed ceiling beams. “Being an alpha is serious business. Hun… this body of mine,” he hesitated. “I’m authorized to do field executions when the enemy meets certain criteria. That gives me a tremendous boost you don’t have. With all your size, you can’t handle a full person in your gut.”
“Sounds like a weird turn on the conversation,” Juno replied, his voice more defensive than he wanted. “And you know how I feel. I don’t want to increase my livestock intake just to be able to also consume someone. Even if we are speaking of a murderer, a rapist… you are not proud when reaping their lives. And I don’t think I’d stomach it.”
Leo gave him a side glance. “Bad pun.”
“Sensible topic. I’m usually better with words. And I’m still not getting the point that you’re trying to make.”
The lion sighed and cleared his throat.
“There are bottlenecks. If I wanted to increase my power. If I wanted to become something like him, a proper alpha…” the lion moved his hand around in the air. “I’d need to increase the rate at which I consume people. For now, that happens two, three times a month, and I need to fallback to livestock to keep my body in this shape. Varro… to get to that point, the amount of lives he has consumed needs to be in the hundreds. Thousands, maybe. And I’m not even counting livestock. You can only push a body so far on livestock alone. You know that. You’re near that limit yourself, hun.”
Juno grimaced. “Can you get to your point?”
“Every alpha attack on record follows the same pattern. Hit a small, defenseless population, like a village. Then move on. There was this orca named Mako, I think, who got killed before I was born. Terrorized some fishing boats, devouring the whole crew in the middle of the night when they were offshore.”
“How did they get rid of him?”
“They packed a vessel with explosives and let him board,” Leo said with a grin.
“Let’s call that plan B for dealing with Varro then,” Juno muttered.
“We’ll just need to figure out a good bait for him then,” the lion tried to laugh, but his expression was still heavy. “The thing is… as I said, the Alphas are mostly on the move. Their bodies demand constant feeding. They can’t be static. So, why was Varro trying to take over the drug ring from Endon last night? He wasn’t eating the drug dealers. He was taking over. And all those goons that the other units have been facing. The ones that were with him…”
Juno felt a chill crawl up his spine.
“The alphas, are they usually loners?”
“Joel might know more. He’s the oldest enforcer in town. But, yeah! As far as I know, all the alphas were loners. Rogue predators bouncing around, consuming, and moving away under the radar. This is new. And it worries me. Because it might indicate he isn’t going to vanish under the radar.”
“So, you don’t think the city is just a stop in his path, do you?”
Leo huffed and again shook his head.
“Doesn’t feel like it.”
=================================
They were still leaning against the balcony rail, talking in hushed voices, when the calm was broken.
Quick footsteps scraped on the concrete below, fast and uneven.
Maribel Knox was a goat and the night-shift secretary. She burst out of her office on the first floor in a hurry, terminal clutched tight to her chest, eyes wide and ears pinned back.
“Captain. Lieutenant. Active call,” she said, breathless. “South of here. Farm village. Disturbance outside a bar.”
The two enforcers who had been sleeping on the couch jumped to their feet at the sound of her voice. Juno and Leo dashed downstairs.
After the secretary handed each of them a small map printed on perforated paper, Leo insisted that Juno stayed back at base and refilled his tank more. He was, of course, disregarded. With a sigh, the lion stabbed a finger toward the coyote and dog enforcers.
“Niccolo, Peter, you both ride with the Lieutenant. I’ll follow.”
Still catching her breath, the secretary quickly relayed the last bits of information from the call, her voice still catching with urgency.
After a quick gear check, Juno gave Leo a hug and climbed into the passenger seat of the cruiser, watching as the lion marched to the far end of the garage, where his custom-built motorcycle waited. He removed a tarp covering it and climbed on top of the massive, low-slung machine fitted with cruiser-grade wheels and reinforced suspension to handle his size.
Despite everyone calling it a motorcycle, it had four wheels and the frame was nearly as wide as a cruiser. The engine gave off a deep, throaty growl as it came to life.
Juno knew his husband didn’t like to ride in the rear bay of a squad vehicle. It worked when the ceiling was rolled down; they had done it the night before, since they hadn’t expected to make any arrests. Tonight, however, was a proper mission, and they’d likely have to apprehend someone. They needed the space.
Followed closely by the quadricycle, the cruiser rolled south leaving the city’s glow behind as they headed toward one of the small villages surrounding Endon. Streetlights thinned, then stopped being a thing. Concrete gave way to packed dirt roads that cut between dark fields and low fencing.
Juno watched the land roll by. Crops lay flattened in places from earlier rain, their leaves catching moonlight like dull metal. Wind moved through the grass in slow waves. Feral Cows and horses could be spotted grazing on fields.
Places like this always smelled different. Earth. Fertilizer. Animals sleeping nearby, and all of the rain from the day added that damp organic scent to it all.
I think Ava said this scent was called petrichor, he wondered, basking in it. A nice change from the city smells
The village appeared in the distance as a loose cluster of houses stretched along a single main road dimly lit and paved with cobblestones instead of asphalt.
The bar from which the call originated was impossible to miss, its sign flickering unevenly, amber light spilling out through the open door. A small crowd had gathered outside, forming a wide, loose circle.
At the center of it, a bull was coming apart.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
He was large by regular standards. But not a heavyweight predator. Smaller than Juno or the other two enforcers that came with them from the unit.
With barely more than 6 feet in height, the bull still had a good set of shoulders on him. Both horns were broken. One very close to the skull, leaking blood down his neck and staining his caramel-coloured fur. His clothes were torn, dirt-stained, and soaked with sweat.
His left eye was already swelling shut.
The bull didn’t even register the cruiser and quadricycle pulling up, nor the crowd shifting away at their arrival.
“Here, officers,” a chubby woman shouted, hurrying toward them and stopping a few feet before Juno. “I own this place. I was the one that called you.”
“What is going on here?” the hyena asked.
Leo pulled off his helmet, frowning. “To me, this seems to be handled. Poor sucker can’t even stand straight.”
As if on cue, the bull staggered and bellowed.
“Bastard,” the word ended in a wet, choking rasp as he spat a red-tinged glob onto the ground. “Did you think I was so dumb that I wouldn’t find out?”
“Dude’s as drunk as one can get,” said Niccolo, the coyote. “And being a predator? His breath’s probably flammable right now.”
The bull swung at nothing, fists clenched, muttering curses under his breath.
“Aren’tcha gonna do nothin’?” the woman demanded, exasperated.
“We’re watching him, ” Leo said, scratching his chin. “And he seems plenty roughed up, don’t you agree?.”
Juno nodded, and took a step closer to the woman.
“Explain to me what this mess is about.”
“But he…”
“We have eyes on him. And Captain Leonardo can be very fast if he needs to. Now, talk.”
Leo raised his voice suddenly. “And you three with the metal bars. Drop them! NOW!”
Three people creeping up behind the bullfroze froze, then dropped the rebar they’d been gripping like clubs.
Eventually, the woman ended up telling the story.
Branik, the bull, worked on his family farm, and had started to consume livestock for over a year. Trying to bulk up to work faster and harder. Trying to maximize their yields. She said that as if the idea disgusted her. Branik had a fiancée. While he worked the land, his brother — either a regular or a non-active predator — started an affair with her.
Branik found that out today. Came to the bar where his brother was having a beer with some friends. To confront him.
“Where’s the brother now?” Juno asked.
The bar owner blinked, surprised. “Well, home,” she stammered. “We’ve been holding back this brute for you guys to take him away.”
They ask us for help, Juno thought, but can’t help showing how much they hate people like us.
“Did he actually injure anyone?”
“Yes, his brother,” someone else offered. “Punched him in the face.”
“Is the fiancée safe?”
“She’s with her parents. Can you please take care of this?”
Juno scoffed and gave a tired glance towards Leo, who, in turn, gave a small nod. Niccolo and Peter stood back by the cruiser as Juno and Leo approached the bull.
“Alright. That’s enough for tonight,” Juno said, both hands raised.
The ring of people parted to allow him and Leo to get even closer.
The bull turned to face them, chest heaving as he panted. His eyes were both glassy with alcohol and wild with humiliation and rage.
Juno didn’t have to make too much of an effort to dodge the bad swing. The punches weren't just desperate, they lacked the fighting experience, and the sobriety to aim. He caught Branik’s arm and guided the momentum downward, using the bull’s own momentum to force him to his knees — and then to lie down.
The bull collapsed into the dirt with a sob. The fight went out of him the moment it had been actually answered by someone experienced.
Leo hurried to step in, helping hold him steady as Juno moved to cuff the man.
The bull sobbed then. Big, ragged breaths that dragged sound out of his chest like something tearing. Between gulps of air and tears, they made out his words.
“She kept saying my brother was dropping by to help,” words blurred as snot ran down his snout. “The bastard was doing her in my bed. The bed I bought…”
Words spilled out thick and tangled. Cheated. Drunk. Betrayed by someone he trusted. Then beaten by several people that took his brother’s side.
Minutes later, they had him tied down in the cruiser’s rear bay.
“They don’t have any cameras,” Niccolo said. “I talked to a few folks. He got the one punch to his brother, then everyone dogpiled him and kept him pinned so he wouldn’t leave.”
“No one hurt?” Juno asked, scanning at the expecting crowd.
Heads shook. The mood had lightened. People looked happy that the bull was being taken away. Someone offered a round of beer and music started playing at the bar.
=================================
They rode back in silence. The only sounds were the occasional thuds of Branik’s broken horns knocking against the metal floor of the rear bay as the cruiser rumbled over cobblestones and then the dirt road.
Later at the station, Peter and Niccolo jumped out of the cruiser as soon as they parked. Saying they would be at the dorms for some proper sleep.
“I know that you don’t like the intake paperwork. Leave it with me,” Juno said, patting Leo’s shoulder.
He met the secretary in her office, accepted the cup of coffee she offered and filed the little report about their incursion. Nothing else had happened while they were away.
Having taken care of that, he went to the holding cells. Those were in the basement.
There he found Leo crouched outside one of the cells.
Inside, Branik stirred. He shook his head as he woke up, blinking blearily — confusion quickly shifting into panic the moment he focused on who stood outside the bars.
He scrambled backwards, pressing himself into the corner.
“Please,” the bull said hoarsely. “I know who you are. I’ve heard the stories. You… you eat people who commit crimes. Please, give me another chance.” He started sobbing.
Juno closed his eyes briefly.
Leo didn’t react the way people expected him to.
He didn’t loom. Didn’t bare teeth. He sat.
“No,” Leo said calmly. “What you heard isn’t how this works.”
Branik’s ears twitched. Confused.
“This is disorderly conduct,” Leo continued. “You threw a few punches. No one was hurt. Just your brother, but if what I heard is true, he kinda had that one coming. You’ll pay a fine tomorrow. Then you’ll go home.”
“That’s it?” Branik whispered.
“That’s it,” Leo said. “We don’t kill people for being drunk and stupid. You did scare a lot of folks. But in the end, if we didn’t get there, you’d be the one dead.”
The bull stared at him, disbelief cracking through the fear.
“So… what now?”
“Now you sleep that alcohol off. Pay the fine tomorrow, as I said. If you don’t have the money or can’t get someone to come bail you out, we’ll file your paperwork and a judge will convert it to community service. It might take an extra day or two of you staying here. Judges are slow.”
“I’m not going to die?” he asked, incredulous. “That’s really it?”
“Did you hurt your fiancée? Kill anyone? Did anything else besides punching your brother?”
“No…”
“Then that’s all!” Leo said. “Just… next time, don’t do it in front of so many people. Honestly, I think I’d do the same if I was in your shoes. But, you were one against many.”
Branik broke down then, shoulders sagging. Relief, shame, and exhaustion crashed together, and he crumpled forward, burying his head in his hands.
Not every night meant a Varro breathing down their necks.
Not every predator was a monster.
Sometimes, it was just a man who drank too much and let the wrong kind of hurt spill out into the open. Sometimes, lives were shattered by it — stupid people acting on impulse and resentment.
Funny how they thought we were saving them from a predator bull, Juno thought.
We actually saved the bull from them. A guy pushed over the edge.
================================
Now, it was just the two of them sitting in silence in the open space of the unit. They decided to shut the television off. Juno was lying on his back across the couch, legs draped over Leo’s lap.
Leo glanced toward the stairs.
Juno followed his gaze automatically.
The dorms were up there. Morty was up there. And so was that jackal, sleeping under their hoof. Probably sleeping.
Well... They were looking at each other like that.
Juno studied Leo’s face and guessed he was thinking the same thing.
“Nice having Morty at the base,” Juno said, keeping his tone deliberately casual — like talking about the weather. “Shame we didn’t get the chance to talk much with him before he called it a night. Hope he had his fun.”
Leo’s head turned so slowly it was almost comical.
“What?”
Juno blinked. “Oh, come on. Don’t act surprised. He is a grown man. So was that guy with him.”
Leo’s eyes narrowed. “He’s in a shared dorm. With bunks.”
“Yes.”
Leo’s ears angled back. “With other people.”
“Are you sure?” Juno teased. “Korin gossips like it’s his job, and he said our boy was very possessive of that jackal. And that they took a room for themselves.”
Leo stared at him for a long beat, eyes narrowed with suspicion. “You’re doing that thing where you tell me half a sentence and expect my brain to fill in the worst possible conclusion.”
Juno smiled sweetly. “That’s because your brain is very good at filling in the worst possible conclusions. But hey, I think it’s good for them.”
Leo’s jaw flexed. “He barely knows that jackal.”
Juno shrugged. “Morty’s been nearly dying with strangers all day. I think the whole ‘barely knows’ stopped mattering the moment Kassur dragged him out of the Stockyard and waited in the hospital like he was glued to the floor.”
Leo made a low sound in his throat. Not a growl — something closer to a warning.
“Juno…” he shook his head. “Okay, okay. Yeah. He’s an adult. But it is hard for me to see him as anything else than that kid from years ago.”
“Yet, even at eleven, that kid killed a predator as tall as I am now. When you got to him, he had saved himself.” Juno said as he adjusted himself on the couch. “Give him more credit.”
“Stop making sense and lemme worry,” Leo grumbled.
“What?” Juno asked innocently. “You wanted him safe. He’s safe. He’s asleep with someone who gives a damn about him.”
Leo looked away.
“I don’t like it,” he muttered. “Too fast for them.”
Juno’s voice softened. “You don’t have to like it. You just have to recognize it. Remember when you pulled me from the rubble? You too followed me to the hospital and stood there. I knew you had ulterior motives the second you asked for my number.”
Leo didn’t comment. Still not meeting his eyes.
Juno watched him for a moment, then reached up and tugged lightly at the part of Leo’s mane that would be a beard to someone else.
“Promise me you won't try to scare the guy?” Juno asked.
Leo’s head snapped back. “I would not.”
“You kind of already tried it.”
“I am this unit’s Captain. I was just acting accordingly in front of a civilian.”
“Mm-hm.”
“And…”
“And you’ve been acting as if Morty’s a naive young thing that you need to keep ill-intended people away with a stick,” Juno finished, deadpan. “You can call it whatever makes you feel less sappy. But give him a chance.”
Leo’s muzzle wrinkled like he wanted to argue, but remained quiet.
Juno let the silence stretch, then added lightly, “Besides. If we’re going to discuss questionable sleeping arrangements…”
Leo’s eyes widened. His mane and fur fluffed out. “Oh no.”
Juno’s grin widened. “I was thinking we could go for some city-gazing.”
Leo didn’t move. “No.”
Juno blinked slowly. “Wait. But you know that I mean. Our spot. So we can…”
“The answer is still no,” Leo said sharply, stealing a glance at Ava’s office.
“Come on…”Juno sat up and leaned in, voice dropping into that sweet, coaxing tone he used when he wanted something and had no shame. “The rooftop…”
Leo’s entire body reacted like Juno had shouted something obscene.
“No,” Leo said immediately, louder.
Juno lifted a brow. “Why not? Fresh air. Quiet. You and me. So we can relax and enjoy ourselves.”
Leo’s flushed, and for the first time, Juno could tell it based on how red that regrown ear became.
“Ava said,” Leo began, then stopped himself.
Juno’s grin sharpened. “Ava said what?”
Leo looked like he wanted to dissolve into the floor. “She said… the precinct can hear us.”
“Oh?” Juno’s eyes widened. “Wait! When you say that the precinct can hear us, you mean…?”
Leo’s growl came back, embarrassed and helpless. “They can hear us when we do it on the roof.”
“No wonder sometimes people said I should take you to the roof whenever you’re in a foul mood.”
Leo shot him a look that could peel paint.
Juno held up both hands again. “Okay. Okay. I’m done. I’m done.”
Leo exhaled through his nose, then muttered, “We are not doing that again.”
Juno’s tone turned gentler, still teasing but softer at the edges. “I mean… if they always heard it, and we have been doing it for years… One could say that they are ok with us doing it.”
Leo’s eyes narrowed. “Do you honestly think I can get it up knowing they might hear us?”
Juno tilted his head. “Well, I can. And lemme try my magic. I bet I can motivate you enough.”
Leo hesitated. Then shook his head.
“Well, not tonight. Morty’s staying here.”
“Ok. That is a good boundary. We can just traumatize the rest of the staff some other day.”
Leo huffed once, almost a laugh. Almost.
Juno leaned his shoulder against Leo’s arm, letting himself rest there for a second. It felt like pressing into a soft and warm wall. One that could withstand anything and would never let him fall.
“Come on,” Juno murmured. “We don’t need the rooftop. We just need five minutes where you’re not pretending you’re made of stone.”
Leo didn’t answer, but his posture eased a fraction.
Juno knew that was as close to a yes as Leo got when he was scared.
He glanced toward the stairs again.
Up there, somewhere behind a closed dorm door, Morty was asleep. Kassur was asleep.
The whole day had pushed those two together in a way neither had expected.
It reminded him of how he and Leo had started. He smiled and wished them luck.