Friday morning…

Velvela went to work. Once again, her son was struggling. He had lost his best friend because he inherited something from her husband. She wanted to help, but she knew it would probably worsen the situation. They needed to sort things out between themselves. For work, she needed to shut everything else out and focus. It was hard, but she did her best. The traffic was as usual, so she reached her workplace on time. At one of the red lights, she noticed a commotion right beside her.

A woman was shouting at another woman. The cause was that they had bumped into each other, and the contents of her purse were scattered on the asphalt. The woman was extremely aggressive and, instead of picking up her things, she just kept shouting. Meanwhile, the other woman was trying to apologize and collect everything. It was really mean behavior, not something a lady should do. Velvela was, in fact, a werewolf, and with that strength, she could do something to help.

After she parked and got out of the car, Velvela approached the commotion in a way that only the distressed woman could see her. At first, none of the humans noticed her coming, but as she got closer, the submissive one first became nervous and then panicked. However, the woman who had been shouting continued to complain. It wasn't until Velvela's shadow fell over her that she realized she was in trouble.

The "Lady" turned around and saw nothing but a massive maw descending rapidly toward her. Her tone changed from demanding to pleading, but she could barely speak as her mouth was quickly filled with Velvela's saliva. The wolf found the woman to be mouthwatering, stomach-filling, nutritious, and succulent. A perfect meal. It was even more satisfying to get rid of someone so rude. Velvela pinned the woman's arms to her sides, making it easier to consume her, just as predators had done for hundreds of years. The wolf was so strong in comparison that it was virtually impossible for the woman to escape that iron grip.

Once everything was secured, Velvela made her first swallow. The woman's head slid into her throat perfectly, just like every other human before her. The other woman could only watch, too scared to move. She was completely frozen. Another swallow echoed, and Velvela's lips reached her meal's belly. She didn't want to waste too much time on the rude one, so she decided to speed things up. Just as her mother had taught her, she lifted her snack toward the sky, allowing gravity to aid her. With that, the woman descended into Velvela's stomach much faster.

The "Lady" kicked her legs and tried to plead, but by then, she was nothing more than food, nothing more. Her head squeezed through the ring muscle, and soon the rest of her followed. One more swallow, and only her knees remained outside. Two more gulps later, the woman was fully enveloped as a meal. It was warm and filling. Inside Velvela's stomach, the woman curled up, and the enzymes already began their work on her. She had been loud and attracted the attention of a predator. Her last mistake in life. As her meal settled into her furry belly, Velvela looked down and said.

"She's not gonna be rude to anyone anymore. I guess you can keep those to compensate yourself."

"Y-yeah, t-thank … you."

She couldn't believe it. She was saved by a predator and not eaten by it. With that, Velvela turned around and the human saw her enormous belly struggling in the daylight.

Vel got back to her car, and she went to work alongside with a newly received meal. The car was indeed really comfortable. A gift from the boss of the company where she works as his secretary. Her destination was near. Inside there was a female badger with the same looking belly as her colleague.

"Hi, Vel."

"Hi, Kibi."

"It's nice to see that you're having a filling breakfast as well."

"She kinda deserved it. She was very rude."

*GIGGLE*

"Was."

"If everything goes well, I will have a free Sunday. Are you free for that day?"

"Hmm, sounds like fun."

The door opened at the tenth level.

"Well, this is my floor. By, Vel."

"By, Kibi."

She worked on the twenty-fifth floor, so she had a bit of privacy. The human was curled up in a fetal position, which wasn’t comfortable. Not that her opinion mattered in the first place. Some gas was generated inside due to all the struggling, which escaped in the form of a loud belch. The air was completely gone from the stomach. The human kept moving for a few seconds but gradually stopped. No more movement. Her life had ended.

When Velvela reached her floor, she saw workers everywhere from every species. The humans, however, were relaxed around the predators because company rules prohibited eating co-workers, even if they were human. If a predator did that, they wouldn't need to come back to work the next day. Of course, that rule only applied at work. Outside of work, everyone was fair prey. That's why all the humans tried to maintain good relationships with everyone. As Velvela strolled to her destination, everyone who knew her waved, and she politely did the same. Her boss was already in.

"Good Morning, Velvela."

"Good Morning, Mr. Fod."

"I hope that's not one of my precious employees."

"No, Mr. Fod. It's just a stranger from the road."

"How could I ever doubt you? You are my most precious employee."

He enjoyed having power over predators like her, who were superior in every way compared to his own body. But in that building, he didn't have to fear any of them. As long as none of them did anything foolish. Her boss stretched out his arm and waited. She knew what that meant. When she got within reach, he started rubbing her belly. Mr. Fod relished the power he held over her. Velvela needed to make money for her son, so she tolerated things like this.

He took delight in how quickly her body could reduce prey to nothing but fat. And she couldn't say a word about it, or she would lose her job. The thrill of having a predator under his control was exhilarating for him. Compared to the other things he usually did with her, this was nothing. Suddenly, he pulled his hand away, and as if he were a completely different person, he said.

"So, what do we have today?"

The end of the day…

She was exhausted by the end of the day. Her boss had already gone home, but she knew him well enough to know that he had probably just had dinner and then returned to work from home. He didn't have anyone else in his life, so he focused all his time on the company. Before going home, she decided to do something she could only do here. She took out two photos from the desk. This was where all the family photos were kept, tucked away in a drawer like exiled treasures. There weren't many, but an entire drawer was dedicated to these memories. Most of the photos were of her son, but she didn’t want to keep them at home, either.

In the first photo, there were three figures. Herself, a very young and joyful Gregory, and Grace. All three of them were smiling brightly at the camera. The photo had been taken just one week before fate decided to take Grace away from them. She had been a really good friend and didn't deserve such a fate.

In the other photo, it was just her and her husband. Gregory wasn't around back then. Her husband looked quite a bit like Gregory, just an older version. There was no doubt that Gregory was his son. Her husband never had the chance to meet Grace, but she was sure the two of them would have liked each other.

Her favorite thing to do with those two photos was to fuse them in a way that made it look like her husband was standing next to the three of them, creating the image of a family with an adopted human daughter. It was a sight that existed only in that moment, a blend of happiness and sadness.

She grew more exhausted as the years went by, but the only thing that kept her going was her son. With her job, they could afford for Gregory not to eat humans. He would rather starve than digest another person. For a split second, she pictured her son, all skin and bones, lying in bed without the strength to get up. That was the scenario she worked so hard to prevent. He was all she had left, and she was determined to do everything for him, no matter what. When she got home, she called out to her son.

"Gregory, I'm home!"

No response.

"Gregory?!"

Strange.

She searched the whole house, but he was nowhere to be found. There was no note either to indicate where he might be. Luckily, his phone was left in his room, so she called David. It was her only chance to find him. When David saw her name on the caller ID, he immediately rejected the call. She expected that and called again. When David finally answered, he was furious.

"I told you-"

"David, I'm his mother! Don’t hang up! He's not home, and there's no note saying where he is! Do you know anything about where he might be?"

Her voice was filled with panic, making it clear how nervous she was about her son. David could hear the anxiety in her tone, and he realized that something bad was happening to Greg. He could no longer keep his secret.

"Ms. Moon, we need to talk about what happened two days ago."

Somewhere else…

Greg opened his eyes and felt a headache. He tried to touch his head, but he found himself chained to a stone table. All his limbs were bound, even his neck, leaving him with nothing but the ability to breathe.

"You're awake. Good. The others didn't think you deserved to know why you're here, but I believe it's the least we can do."

Said the figure who had been stalking him for days.

"Who are you? Why do you need me?"

"Who we are is irrelevant. And for the second is .. your heart."

"What?"

"The heart that you possess is an important part of our plans. Just like your father was."

Greg's mind reeled as he heard this. His father had disappeared without a trace, and now it was his turn.

"You killed him?!"

"Yes. Removing a heart is always fatal. Accept it, because tonight will be the last one."

A wave of cold terror washed over him. He began to struggle, but it was no use. He felt the fear that all those humans must have felt when a predator devoured them. Now, he was the one whose life was in danger. The figure turned around and left the room without another word. The chains were incredibly strong. He needed to find a way out before it was too late.