"Ohh, we knew a human." Jalnaq said to the crowd in his classroom. "Well myself and my wife that is."

"Really Professor?" Said Hilva, a notorious busy body, and what Jeff would have a teacher's pet. "Will you tell us about them?"

"If you really want to hear about it. But I must warn you that the store that pertains to our class, is not a pleasant one." Jalnaq said, in fact, it was this series of events that had led him to study and fall in love with the topic of interspecies relations.

"Please tell us." The words sounded out as a chorus from many of the two hundred or so gathered for his lecture.

"Very well." Jalnaq said, composing his thoughts and then continuing to speak. "As you all know the topic that led to this story is how humans can pack-bond with almost anything. Well, when I was attending this very college, I shared a home for rent with Killa, who would become my wife, and a human man name Jeff. "

Jalnaq thought for a moment thinking back to the time he had spent in the home, and the everlasting friendship he had built with Jeff. "Humans were new to the galactic community then, few had ever been accepted into the college, Jeff was one of the first. As he was from a deathworld, Killa and I were quite apprehensive to interact with him. But we needed it as well."

"Why did you need to interact with him?" Hilva asked, doing what she did best and trying to flatter Jalnaq into giving her a good grade but only ending up on Jalnaq's nerves.

"The house that we had rented, was in a less than desirable neighborhood. Since then it has been cleaned up and renamed, it is actually the school's shopping district now. But at the time it was where many people went for activities that were less than legal, and for extraordinarily cheap housing. So when the human applied to rent our spare room and was a fellow student, we knew that we could play off the reputation his people had for some level of protection." Jalnaq chuckled to himself, remembering the conversation that had led to Killa and himself deciding to live with Jeff.

"There are stories I could tell, of times when he played the role of the barbarian savage and scared off many rougher sorts, but that is for another day. When he arrived he asked us both to meet his pet. The creature that he brought in was small, seemingly defenseless, and craved social interaction as if it were a lifeline." Jalnaq smiled fondly to himself remembering the countless hours that he had spent scratching gently at the soft ears of the animal.

"Jeff told us that it was called a dog, specifically a golden retriever. He loved that dog and thanks to recent advancements by the humans, the dog would live to be as old as Jeff would, rather than the few rotations that was its natural life span. His name was Ruffus." Jalnaq smiled sadly at the class who exclaimed in delight at the picture he had quickly pulled up of the dog sitting on his lap.

"Anyways the dog will be important later. It is important to note that humans who have pets, do not think of them as solely a pet, they are an extension of the family rather than a possession. But back to the story, to understand everything you need to know more about Jeff. Jeff was large, even by human standards, he looked as if he could walk through a bulkhead." Jalnaq pulled up a photo that both he and his wife loved, it was of Jeff standing in the back of a music festival holding Jalnaq on one shoulder, and Killa on the other smiles plastered over all three of their faces.

"And while Jeff could have quite easily been the brute that we thought he was, truth is that he was the gentlest soul you would ever meet. Rather than killing pests in the house, he would capture them and release them into the nearby park. If someone asked for help, Jeff would move mountains one stone at a time if he had to. Jeff was, in a word, kind." Jalnaq said remembering several times that Jeff had made them late to class insisting that they help a professor or some random person carry heavy things.

"Jeff however was not naive, he would play the role of home protector, putting on a gruff voice, and telling people who intended anyone in our house harm to leave, and they always did. Jeff would then come inside and sit on the couch talking about how he hated that people always assumed that he was violent, even other humans, just based on his size." Jalnaq took a breath.

"Then one day someone started a rumor about Jeff, that apparently he was incredibly wealthy. Jeff and I laughed it off, because anyone who knew us or had seen our home knew that was the opposite of the truth. This did not matter because the Ikling mob heard this rumor." Jalnaq listened as the wave of whispers went around the room.

The Ikling were a race that excelled in criminal activities for various reasons, but for some reason, they never crossed a human's doorway or infringed on any target the humans declared off-limits. Jalnaq chuckled quietly to himself, the students would hear this story and assume what he had, that Jeff was the reason.

"One day as the three of us arrived home, A group of fifteen Ikling pushed in behind us and bound our hands. They began demanding that Jeff hand over his fortune. Jeff gave them everything he had. One of the Ikling opened the door to the room that Jeff stayed in when they heard Ruffus barking, and was bowled over by the dog thinking that everyone was a friend of ours. Ruffus ran to Jeff, and began licking his face."

"The next moment was what inspired my thesis paper, on mutual pack bonding." Jalnaq said. "Seeming to pick up on the atmosphere, Ruffus turned to stand between the three of us and the Ikling, his hackles rasing, and a low growl that I had never heard before terminating from his throat. Jeff tried to calm the dog, but Ruffus was dead set on protecting us, and when one of the Ikling reached to harm Killa, Ruffus tore its throat out."

The classroom had fallen silent. "Anarchy ensued. Jeff calling for Ruffus. Myself trying to get between the Ikling and Killa, and the Ikling shouting and drawing knives. One of the Ikling moved behind Ruffus and in a swift movement killed the dog."

Gasps ran through the classroom. Jalnaq quickly wiped a tear from his eye, he had loved that dog too, but he had to continue the story. "The silence that followed was broken by a primal roar that deafened the entire room. In a flash, a red-faced Jeff, shouting at a volume that I had not believed possible, had torn through the restraints that they used, and hurtled through the room to where his dog lay. Tears streamed down his face, as he hugged his friend, and then he seemed to become still."

"Tell me Hilva, since I know you dying to interject. What do you think the most dangerous living thing is?" Jalnaq said seeing the girl squirming to contain herself.

"That would be the Qualnaught of the Jeshi homeworld, Professor." Hilva said with a sense of satisfaction, and had she been in a biology class she would be right.

"You are wrong." Jalnaq said and then continued. "You see when humans pack bond with another entity, and then someone else kills that entity. There is a moment. A terrifying, beautiful moment, of serenity when the human whose bond was broken loses all their inhibitions, their bodies activate every latent drop of rage and adrenaline that it can, and they lose all care in the world, except for the death of the who killed their friend. At that moment humans are the most dangerous hunters to have ever lived."

Jalnaq let what he had said sink into his students, he could see the pieces falling into place, why war on the humans never targeted the young or civilian colonies. Why humanity was widely regarded as a peaceful people, but anyone could find the warnings of those who had faced them telling others that they should never cross the humans.

Jalnaq continued. "When I tell you that at that moment Jeff, who was never a violent person, could have killed a Qualnaught with only his hands, I need you to understand that that does not do credit to the rage that I could quite literally feel radiating off his body. It took him seventy-three seconds to kill every single Ikling in the room. And then he collapsed to the floor holding his dog after untying Killa."

"Professor," Uldishner, a student who was much liked by his classmates, and always put in good work on his assignments seemed to hesitate as he spoke. "What are we supposed to take away from this?"

"It's quite simple really." Jalnaq said, hearing the chimes that indicated the end of class, but none of his students moved. "Humans are temperamental, they love, laugh, cry, and do everything they can for those who they bond with, but should you ever break one of their bonds, the only thing to do is hope that your end is quick."

Jalnaq canceled the rest of his classes that day, choosing to go home and see his wife and their two newly born children. When he arrived his wife, holding both their children as a golden retriever of their own licked the children to giggles. Killa gave him a look and nodded knowingly saying only three words. "Humans are Temperamental."

Jalnaq nodded smiling scratching Rufford behind the ears as he hugged his children, and then went to his study to call on Jeff and invite him over for diner.