Something had to be done, Harry thought, but he was in no position to do it. Clearly, there was some serious corruption in the park, involving
several people in a position much higher than his own. It might even be the entire company. He had Naomi's word his phone was never
monitored by anyone in upper management, but what did she have to base that on? There was a clear divide within the company between the
huskies, there to maintain a security presence in the park, and those involved in the business side of things. Even under the best of
circumstances, there was something slightly sinister at play there. Not only did he have no real authority to pursue matters of security that high
up, he, and everyone else in his pack, had been given a form specifically tailored to show an almost blind level of loyalty to unaltered humans
when they were present. If he tried to pursue things from this side, he could be dismissed, fired, or possibly even just scolded until his
instincts forced him to drop the matter. The best he could really hope for at this point was for his friends outside the park to really bring down
the hammer and take things to court. With the sort of information Charlotte was compiling, moral outrage would trump what advantage the
company had from its legal team. Of course, the downside to that plan is how much ammunition it would give to those "moral majority" types
who'd been trying to have the park shut down from day one. At the very least, they'd have the entire place shut down for the duration of any
serious investigation. What would happen to everyone? Forced back to human forms by a device whose workings were only known to someone
who was suspected of being on the take from foreign powers? Just sent home as they were? Harry was fairly sure he could work security
anywhere, but some forms just weren't suited to life outside the park. Just a couple days ago there'd been that incident with the rabbit girl
someone found catatonic in a ditch after that whole Lone Wolf incident-
Harry felt dizzy for a moment as a rather horrific potential connection came to mind. Charlotte had just mentioned transforming "political
dissidents" and criminals into "loyal" huskies and concubines. He thought back to the list Naomi had left him. He'd completely forgotten until
now but that was the same rabbit, wasn't she. The one who'd come to the park to research some hack "documentary" about the possibility of
the park doing exactly the sort of thing he was learning was happening behind the scenes. First off, it was clear everyone owed her an apology,
but the last he'd heard, she had earned a reputation as a bit of a sex addict even by rabbit standards. And then there was Goldie. They didn't
come much more loyal than her. It could be coincidental, but if someone did want to test the effectiveness of pacifying dissidents and
criminals, you couldn't pick much better test subjects than a vocal filmmaker who'd been making waves for weeks before signing up and a
slimeball who'd only just been given a lifetime ban and got caught by a last minute scan. Naomi would be disappointed to hear that one.
None of this would really suggest someone was spying on their internal reports of course. The rabbit girl was a lot more well known outside the
park than in, and he'd obviously had to send the Lone Wolf's ban up the chain of command to enforce it. Still, at least he couldn't think of any
older oddities that matched up with any of this, so odds were against any of the real sinister elements being reported on stretching back more
than a couple of weeks. At least as far as trial runs went. Of course, now that he was coming to think in such paranoid terms, another point hit
him. The management rep he'd talked to about all this stag stuff that was apparently just the top of the iceberg had told him to his face some
of that dirty money was going into salaries for this latest batch of new huskies. Any given one of them could be some kind of double agent,
keeping tabs on him and furthering some of these crooked plans. Hell, all of them might. The only ones he could really trust were Katie, and
funnily enough, Goldie. He still had his doubts about where her loyalties lied, and if the whole "enhanced loyalty" thing was true, there were
some serious ethical issues there, but at least he had a solid handle on what made her tick... or used to. The "Lone Wolf" had needled him
about bribery, but that was clearly just a head game trying to keep from being ejected. Obviously he'd valued personal freedom over money.
Harry picked the phone back up. After giving Charlotte his feedback, he'd have to tell her not to call anymore, and any serious meetings would
need to take place outside where there was nowhere to put a microphone. He might have to let things slide with that stupid tournament the
bucks were holding, but they were pacing it out over several days. He had at least a little time to work with there.
++++++++++
Harry's timetable overlooked an important point. When real bucks clashed every spring, it wasn't to settle power struggles in a men's club, it
was a display to help them attract a mate. The plan Chad and Vinny had for the bucks who dropped out early wasn't to humiliate them after
everything was over. They wanted their new does watching the rest of the action, at least for the final day where the best of the best were
decided. The thinking was that instinct would win over, just as it had the last time this sort of event had happened in the park. Just as it was
now in fact, for those at least relatively natural does watching from the nearby rocks for the matter. The newly minted does would be
overwhelmed by the desire to mate with the strongest bucks, and as Chad put it, "forget being weak little beta males" letting everyone else
walk off with a "prize." A few had already been eliminated and marched off for their conversion. The way the agreement they'd signed was
worded, they weren't all exactly sure what they were in store for, and those that knew figured it was just another form of hazing. Spend a
couple days looking like a girl, playing cheerleader for their seniors. They'd faced more humiliation than that before now. Most of the "local"
bucks who'd agreed to enter were still in the running, showing experience did mean something against a physical edge. Those who went down
early from that group however were safe for the time being. They hadn't signed any pledge, but they had agreed to accept the rule of whoever
won. Assuming it was someone from the Stags, that would be another story. Chad, meanwhile, knew exactly what was on the line. He'd started
all this expecting to win, and he wasn't going to let some stupid busted antler stop him.
To his credit, Chad's injury wasn't necessarily crippling. A wise old buck with years of experience could even turn a thing like that into an
advantage. Charge a bit off center, really throw his shoulder into it. He'd catch his opponent off balance from the side and send him twirling
into the dirt. A wise old buck would almost certainly do something like that, but this was Chad.
As he charged forward, he simply bent his neck to one side. This left his good antler nice and centered, and even put the points farther ahead
which he figured would give him the advantage of reach. No, wise was not a word that described Chad at all, and despite screams from the
sideline from people with a better grasp of anatomy and physics, he refused to straighten out his neck. This time, it was more than an antler he
broke.
Further fights were cancelled for the rest of the day, with very little resistance. Katie swore under her breath as the medics loaded Chad onto a
stretcher to rush to the exit. Chad was loud, arrogant, sexist pig, and apparently the one who lead this sideshow, but if the transformation
process didn't happen to be the best cure in the world for a broken neck, he'd be paralyzed for life if not worse thanks to his own stupidity. At
least this meant an early end to crowd control duty. Harry was supposed to be getting another call about this whole mess, and she was all for
leaving early to hunt him down.
++++++++++
As the eager doe guided him into her waiting folds, Wally almost gave into trying life from the other side, and if circumstances had been only
slightly different he probably would. As it was, just as they made contact he shoved her away, leaping to his feat, and backing away.
"What's wrong?" asked Terry with a sly lustful grin. "Did you want to take it a little slower?"
Wally simply turned and ran, not stopping until the warren was far behind. There was no way that could really have been Terry. The thought he
could really have changed into... THAT in so little time horrified him so much he could almost vomit. He'd come so close to just joining in on
things himself too. What was he supposed to do now? Run off to the exit and demand to change back before the same thing happened to him,
and just abandon that... creature of pure lust that used to be Terry to her fate? Head back in and just physically drag her out with him? Would
the park even allow that without her consent? Terry had signed some papers that would force his release after 60 days were up regardless of
his, or Wally supposed, HER wishes, but so far as an early release went... "And what am I supposed to do about this!" he asked out loud, staring
down at the very obvious indicator of what he'd just barely stopped himself from doing.
"Well, I could certainly show you," said Katerina, catching up to put a hand on his shoulder. "But first I think we really need to talk."
++++++++++
Zack hadn't really lied to Goldie, not exactly. No one had officially been reported as "missing" exactly, but there was a she-bear scheduled for
checkout a few days ago that hadn't turned up. Guests missing their checkouts was hardly a rarity, but usually they'd at least give one of the
huskies a heads up so they could have the right forms processed, or there'd be someone to spread gossip of how they'd "eloped" with someone
else. Besides which, bears were a rather unpopular choice, and hard to miss. She was a bit of a loner, apparently, but asking around, he
couldn't find anyone who'd seen her in any reasonable length of time.
So fine, he had lied, but he had a good reason. Goldie had a very good instinct for this sort of thing. She might have missed her true calling as
a criminal profiler. However, what she also had was a complete lack of hand to hand combat training, and a personal connection here. Everyone
was being extra careful not to let it slip who she used to be, but when someone from your gang gets arrested, and the rest start dropping one
by one without any screw-ups, Zack imagined you would be able to put two and two together. If this Max was as much of a psycho as he was
starting to fear, having Goldie around when he brought him in could lead to some serious complications.
++++++++++
The incident had pushed her confusion about Sam out of her mind for the time being, as Goldie made sure the crowd properly dispersed, and
seeing her alone, glancing around for signs of trouble, Brian came over and asked if she had a minute to talk.
"Hi, don't think we've met. I'm Brian."
"Is something wrong?"
"No, no. Not with me anyway, but I couldn't help but notice the look on your face after that kiss, and I'm the one assigned to talk the regular
guests through this sort of thing. If you need someone to talk to about it, I'm all ears."
Goldie blinked in confusion. What was this guy even talking about? Talk about what? What 'kiss' did he mean? "I don't really..." she started.
Brian had some other people to check in on, and decided to cut to the chase. "Look. Birds and the bees time here. When you come to the park
as a member of the opposite sex, if you started gay, you still are, and if you started off straight, that doesn't change either. Heterosexual.
Attracted to the sex opposite of your body. If you're wondering why it felt right getting kissed by a guy, that's why."
Goldie realized what he was talking about. Sam licking her face was an odd thing to do, but that wasn't a KISS. It was just a friendly lick. They
were both part dog, and that was just how dogs showed they liked someone. She'd had the urge to just run up and lick Zack's face several
times, when he'd thanked her for help with something or smiled after she'd done a good job. It gave her the same sort of giddy sensation too.
"No, that was just trying to cheer me up. I'm not really a proper member of the pack so..."
"Look, you can deny it all you want, but that there dog was clearly into you, and deep down you know you like him back. When you try and deny
this sort of thing, that gets you in trouble. So I want you to take a deep breath, accept your feelings, decide what you want to do about them,
and this guy where he stands with you. And if you need any more advice, I hold support group meetings every morning not far from the
entrance. Most of the older huskies should know where if you have trouble finding the spot. Can you do that for me?"
Goldie knew he had to be mistaken, but nodded anyway to escape the conversation. The only feelings involved here were pity, and some
gratefulness to receive it on her part. Her heart did beat a little faster thinking about meeting up with Sam later to talk about things more, but
that was clearly just from all the excitement earlier. And of course if that Brian guy had misread things so badly, she could dismiss all that
other stuff he said about sexuality following your body. Just someone else trying to convince her that 'gender change syndrome' myth Harry'd
try to scare her with was real was all.
++++++++++
Max tossed the plump squirrel he'd snagged for breakfast up in the air, watching it twirl and panic before catching it again by the tail. Playing
with his food was almost as much fun as playing with his toys. Of course, the way things were looking, he'd have to move on soon enough.
He'd had to abandon his old toys when a plumber had heard them screaming. He'd thought he had plenty of sound proofing down there, but
that pipe he'd chained them to carried sound surprisingly far.
He twisted his catch around, then grabbed two legs and began to pull. No pipes here, no basements either, and no chains. That's why he only
had the one at the moment. He'd found it in a cave. Plenty of big rocks to hobble it with sitting right there, and a few narrow passages in the
back it just barely fit through to hide it. That wouldn't last forever though, It was a risk bringing it food and water to keep things going, and if it
really had enough determination, it could probably pull itself back through the gaps, at least far enough for sound to carry outside.
He tossed the squirrel up one more time, this time catching it in his teeth. He should probably finish it off before leaving. Can't have it talking
later, that's where the rookies around here had all slipped up.
++++++++++
The huskies laid Chad down in the chamber, and after a bit of discussion over the intercom, agreed to transfer him back off the stretcher and
remove it. This sort of procedure hadn't been done often enough to have a properly established protocol, but it wasn't entirely untested. The
hardest part was sorting out what the final result was going to be, but there was a very clear if rather unusual order for stags coming through
today, and those with this sort of injury preventing them from explaining themselves was actually specifically addressed. Apparently this was
even the guy who'd drafted the agreement.
The next time Chad came to, she didn't have so much as a crick in her neck, but the realization of what had been done to her left her lying still
on the floor so long the medical huskies had to check her over again before helping her out. Her mind could barely process the indignity of her
situation. She was supposed to stay head of the Stags after all this! Vinny had even said something about keeping an edge! The only reason
she'd gone down was some crazy fluke, or some cheating punk pulling some pressure point garbage! She was just going to march back out
there and demand a proper rematch!
Chad was too stubborn to acknowledge she didn't even have a pair of antlers anymore to properly compete with, and she was too angry to
consider if her "prize" theory would hold true. The other bucks who'd suffered elimination were rather beside themselves as well when they
finished "accepting the brand of shame" for the rest of their trip as Vinny had put it to them. In there case, the process was decidedly more
voluntary. Better to deal with an embarrassing body for the rest of their stay than be drummed out of the Order after all. Of course, what none
of them, not even Chad could know was that it wasn't just "safety" modifications for the bucks Vinny had successfully lobbied for. Thanks to
how much money he'd greased the right palms with, those being reprocessed as does were to be set up with special "upgrades" too.