Tyranny of Steel

It was an average spring day in the City of Kufstein. The air was warm, and the people were going about their daily lives. However, outside of the city limits, there was a new attraction which crowds had gathered about to witness. This attraction was none other than the Kufstein Zoo. 

Since acquiring the leopard Genseric, Berengar had gone out of his way to pay trappers around the globe to capture magnificent beasts that were not found in the fatherland. After substantial effort and funding, there had been enough beasts to fill an entire zoo. 

Currently, Berengar was standing among the crowds with his large family. It was a Saturday, and because of that, he had taken the day off so that he could escort his loved ones to the newly opened zoo. Naturally, the man paid for all their tickets before walking into the establishment with a wide smile on his face. 

Berengar now had a total of seventeen different legitimate children from as many as five different women. Two of his sons were engaged to at least one girl, meaning that there were more people within the Kaiser's group than just his immediate family. 

Upon entering the zoo, the various children of the Kaiser had excited smiles on their faces as they witnessed the many sights. As for Berengar, he already had an exhibit in mind that he wanted to show his kids first. Thus, Berengar pointed at the map in his hand and gave out an order to his family.

"We're going to check out the leopard exhibit first. From there, we will make our way around the big cats section before going towards the Wolf exhibit." 

Linde, who was pushing a stroller that contained her youngest children, had a warm smile on her face as she nodded her head in agreement. 

"It sounds like a plan to me!"

The other women nodded silently. For dates like this, they usually just followed whatever their man had planned for them. Thus, the large group made their way to the leopard exhibit. Where they witnessed Genseric, along with several females of various different leopard subspecies lazing about in their confined area. 

Genseric roared loudly when he saw his former master. He quickly jumped up onto the edges of the confined space, where his head pressed against the cage. The sight of which scared most of the people in the crowd. The only thing separating them from this magnificent predator was a thin layer of steel fencing. 

The exhibit was large. In fact, all of them were. When compared to the zoos within Berengar's past life, the Kufstein Zoo was several times larger. Each beast was given a proper living space to run around in and enjoy themselves. The leopard exhibit was no exception. 

Though many in the crowd were initially frightened by Genseric's actions, in the next moment, the leopard simply rolled onto the ground and exposed its belly to its former master as if it were a mere house cat. 

Berengar gazed upon the big cat with a complicated expression. In years past, he had raised this leopard as his personal pet. It was also the son of a deity's familiar and, because of this; it had a superior intellect to other members of its species. However, Genseric was also raised around Berengar's family, and as a result, it was an incredibly social creature. 

The leopard seemed to be genuinely happy to see its former master visit him. After all, Berengar's schedule was busy, and he did not often have the time to visit his old pet. However, after gazing at the five female leopards, along with the many cups they had spawned together, Berengar knew his decision to send the beast to the zoo was correct. Thus, he could only wear a smile as he pet Genseric before giving the creature a command.

"Go on, get back to your family. You're startling the crowd!"

Genseric responded by licking Berengar's fingers before doing as commanded. The entire sequence had thoroughly shocked the crowd, who were entirely unfamiliar with the fact that this mighty beast had once been the Kaiser's pet. As a result, rumors would randomly begin to spread of Berengar's superhuman connection to animals, and how quickly he could tame them. 

After seeing the large cat, many of Berengar's children had cried out in joy, as they were well accustomed to the mighty leopard, and had missed him since he departed from the Palace. Overall, it was a pleasant experience for the family, who stayed and watched the beast as it forced its children and mates to line up in front of the Royal family, as if giving them a proper salute. 

Those humans in the crowd who had portable cameras on them had taken photos of the event, which would find themselves in the paper's headlines on the following day with the following caption.

"The Kufstein Zoo's leopards pay respect to the Kaiser and his family." 

After taking their time enjoying the leopards, Berengar and his family moved onto the next exhibit within the section of the park, which contained big cats. Lions, Tigers, Cougars, and even Jaguars from the Amazon, there were plenty of large cats to go around. Perhaps the most exciting exhibit was the rare white tiger, which had been purchased as a cub from an Indian trapper for a substantial price. 

All of Berengar's children enjoyed the sights of the mighty beasts. However, after seeing the cats, Berengar led them to another area of the park, which was reserved for canines. In this area, there was a wolf exhibit. Where Hans gazed in awe at his former pet. 

Linde had never been happy about her little boy having such a dangerous beast as his personal minion. Unlike Genseric, this was no deity's familiar. It was a wild, vicious beast, which the boy had raised from a pup. Still, a tamed wolf had the ability to bite the hand that fed it, and in the end, after Hans had left for college. Linde forced young Wulfgar into the Zoo, where he now was the alpha of a pack of wolves. 

Despite being an ordinary wolf, Hans could immediately tell that the alpha of the pack was his boy. Thus, he walked over to the edge of the railing, where a similar scene from earlier occurred. Wulfgar rushed towards the fencing, where he nuzzled his head against the cage.  A solemn expression came from Han's mouth as he petted the beast's ears with a hint of sadness in his eyes. 

"Good boy..."

Though Hans knew the pup was better off in the zoo with a pack of its own. He still felt bad knowing that he could no longer look after it. Despite this, he held no ill will towards his mother for sending such a dangerous beast away. At the very least, the creature could live a long and fulfilling life in captivity.

However, despite this rationalization, there were still tears forming in the boy's eyes.  Just when these tears were about to break free and fall from the boy's cheeks, his father placed a hand on his shoulder before giving him some comforting words. 

"Wolves are not solitary creatures. Though you raised him since he was a pup, there was no chance of him truly being happy while confined in the palace. Here he has a family, and the Zoo's caretakers meet all of his needs. It is a better life than releasing him back into the wild. Your mother did what was best for the family. A wolf is not an appropriate house pet, especially when you have a bunch of infants running around. I only let you raise the beast so that you could learn some discipline."

Hans silently nodded his head and choked back the tears in his eyes. He had long since heard his father's speech about being a man, and not crying around others. He was not a little kid anymore and knew this was not an appropriate place for him to lose control over his emotions. His response to his father was one that was far too mature for a boy his age.

"It's good that he's happy, and that's all that really matters..."

While Hans was having a moment with his former pet, the rest of the family gazed upon the plaque which described the history of these wolves. On this board of information was a photo of the young prince Hans hugging Wulfgar, while the two of them had wide smiles on their faces.

A passage described how the Alpha of this pack was raised by the German Prince since it was a mere pup, and was donated to the Zoo when Hans went off to college.  After a few moments of silence, Berengar patted Hans on the head before giving him a comforting smile. 

"Come, let's go find something to eat. You would be surprised how good the food is here!"

Hans looked off at Wulfgar one last time before nodding his head in silence and departing from the area with his family. The beast continued to gaze upon its former master until he was no longer present, only after Hans was gone did it turn its attention back to its family.

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