"Are you angry Phi Mate?" Rain asked, voice low, worrying his lip between his teeth, as he sat with Phayu in Phayu's wing of the house. The four couples had retired to their respective sides, wanting time alone with each other. After whatever had happened at the amusement park, and the confession of the younger vampires a while ago, the four older mates just needed to ensure that their Draugs were real and okay. A heart to heart was much required. Of all the things Phayu had expected of his mate, this spectacular show of power had not been one of them. He knew that he had powers, but his had come from years of use and practice. But this casual show of strength by a 19 year old fledgeling, who could have pretty much blown off the building he had been imprisoned in, and the men who had captured him, but who had chosen to wait to be rescued, because he didn't want to give away what he was, blew his mind.

Phayu had seen a lot of things in his life, and he was mostly hardened against them. But seeing his little one worry was not a sight he would be able to be callous against. "Come here little one," Phayu said gently, as he opened his arms for Rain. Rain lost no time in throwing himself into the waiting arms. Phayu gathered him in without any visible effort. "Little one, I am not angry with you. I can never be angry. But that said, you are my mate, so I will always be worried about you. Now however, my worries have increased," Phayu said, still hugging Rain close. "Why Phi Mate?" Rain asked, his eyes wide, as he stared at Phayu. "Because you and your friends managed to hide this for so long little one. It is always a cause of worry, right? And now, we must protect your family as well, and ours," Phayu said.

"I am sorry Phi Mate. We trusted our parents. And guardians. We still do, we always will. But somehow, their safety was necessary for us," Rain said, pouting softly, his eyes wide. Phayu simply and completely melted. This little boy would be the death of him. He had always prided himself on being someone very sure of himself, someone disciplined, someone with an immense love for structure. But from the moment Rain had come into his life, Phayu' life had been.. well.. colourful, chaotic almost. The boy was a constant reminder that his life was no more his own. He was tied to another, and tied for eternity. Every single moment of his life, from the moment he had caught the scent of his Draugs, had been written into Rain's hands. He was holding the strings to Phayu's life and Phayu had no regrets. But Rain's honesty needed to be reciprocated.

"Rain," Phayu said. Rain immediately looked up, understanding the seriousness of his tone. "Phi Mate?" he asked, looking worried, but trying to sound hopeful. "You were so honest with me little one, so you deserve honesty in return. This is something I have not even told my brothers, but you are my mate, my Draugs. You are my world, and my mind is open to you. I don't want you to find out anything about me from my mind. I want to be open with you," Phayu said. Rain nodded, shifting next to Phayu on the couch. "I was around 7 when I was found by Pakin and Chai, in the rubble of the home of the human family I had been placed with. 2 years later, 8 year old Pai and Win and 9 year old Dean were found in the same way. I had already been training for a while, so I was taking care of them. Pai and I were shocked to know that our surnames were the same, because I had felt a sort of kinship when he was found."

Rain listened intently. He knew Phayu was only physically there, this mind completely immersed in those far away memories, so Rain didn't even try and reach out, even though he desperately wanted to. "As the years went by, we started working more and more for the Council, until finally, one day, we decided we didn't want to. We became targets of the Council that day. Even though we are close in age, I always felt the weight of being the oldest in the group, and so I decided that it was my responsibility to protect my brothers. Soon after we split from the Council, we enrolled in courses we wanted to do. And that's when the idea of this home came to me, a house which would be our sanctum. I had thought of a simple house, for the four of us. But Dean refused. Perhaps he had a premonition of what was going to be our future, or maybe he just manifested his dreams and desires, but eventually, this is what we ended up with."

"But slowly, I started to withdraw. Being here, in this big house, that had been built keeping mates and families in mind, started to gnaw at me. It was like a never-ending pit of misery, and it hurt to be present. Years of training and conditioning ensured that I was able to hide my more morbid thoughts from my brothers, but somehow, they knew. They felt that I was planning to walk into the darkness and end everything. I just had one last mission, the destruction of the Council. Once that was done, there was nothing tethering me to this earth, not even my mates-in-arms. But they sensed something amiss. Which is probably why Pai insisted we go meet Pakin and Chai that particular day, the day we were asked to rescue you. Maybe they thought that the adrenaline rush might do me good."

"Then we found you," Phayu said, turning to look at Rain. Rain was looking down. "Rain?" Phayu asked softly. Rain looked up at him, his eyes shining with unshed tears, lips trembling. Phayu immediately pulled him into his arms. "Rain! What is it?" he asked, alarmed, feeling Rain's pain slicing through him. "How could you think like that Phi? If you had left, what would have happened to me? Did you not once think of the fact that you have a mate somewhere?" Rain asked, his voice hoarse with pain. Phayu hugged him close, feeling the boy shudder. Rain was right. Phayu had never thought about his Draugs when he had decided to end his life after his work with the Council was over. But now, his skin chilled. How could he have so easily dismissed his mate? What if he had done what he had planned? What would have happened to Rain?

"I am sorry little one," he said, breathing on the pulse at Rain's neck. Rain stiffened. All of a sudden, Phayu felt Rain's arousal tinge the air, the aroma mingling with his natural scent and seeping into Phayu. Phayu pulled back, putting Rain on the couch and stepping away. Despite the permission and the blessings of the parents of his mate, he would never risk Rain. Phayu's need was too great. He had stopped drinking from humans a long time ago. The only reason he had used a stranger the previous night was because of the wards that had to be erected. He used to use his brothers, but he stopped that too, choosing bagged blood. Rain was his mate, his Draugs. Every cell in his body called for that exchange that would bind them together in a ritual as old as time. All his senses wanted to drown themselves in the scent of mate. But the fear in Phayu was greater than his desire.

His little one was just 19, and while more than justifiably powerful, he was still coming into the ways of their people, the ways of their world. He could not, and would not, force a bond that was still blossoming. Tying his mate to himself was not something Phayu would do, especially with the battle against the Council looming on his head. "You know I can hear your thoughts Phi Mate," Rain said, bringing Phayu's head up with a snap. "I thought you can read the minds of humans little one," Phayu asked, shocked. "I can hear all thoughts Phi, just like Sky can feel emotions," Rain said, cocking his head to one side. "But..," Phayu sat up straight. "Why I didn't say anything?" Rain asked. Phayu nodded. "I didn't want to make the other Phis uncomfortable. Also, we have learnt to shield our thoughts, as well as the thoughts of and from others. So my brothers shielded the thoughts of your brothers, their Draugs, for two reasons. First, so that I do not feel a sensory overload as it's extremely distracting. Two, because I don't like to read the thoughts of others, especially without permission. Especially since they are the Draugs of my friends," Rain said, calmly.

Phayu found it very hard to believe that Rain was the boy everyone thought had ADHD. Never had he seen a more sorted, more thoughtful and more loving boy. His smile was like sunshine, his eyes like stars. "Face like the moon Phi Mate?" Rain giggled. Phayu jolted again. "No," Phayu said. "Face like my little one!" he said, pulling Rain close. "Phi Mate, you never have to hide from me. If you ever want to keep things to yourself, you just have to tell me. I will never hold that against you, or feel upset. I know there are things we don't wish people to know, and I also know that there will be no secrets between us. You already have proved that by including us in the strategy planning against the Council," Rain said. "I regret that now," Phayu said. Rain's face fell. "No little one. Not because of anything else. Only because you have powers. It worries me that you will become either victims or bait," Phayu said, sensing Rain was hurt. Rain immediately brightened. "Don't worry Phi. We will not take unnecessary risks as we promised you all before. We will support from behind the scenes. I will not put the life of my brothers in danger," Rain promised solemnly.

"Well, I seem to have a very smart little one," Phayu cooed, bopping Rain's nose. "C'mon little one, it's time to go home," Phayu said, standing up and moving towards the door. He turned around when he did not feel any movement behind him. Rain was still sitting on the couch staring at him. "Are you not coming little one?" Phayu asked. "Uh-uh," Rain said, shaking his head. "And why is that?" Phayu asked. "Gonna stay with Phi Mate today," Rain said. Phayu stared at Rain. "No little one. It's not safe for you," Phayu said, desperately wanting to give in, but trying to stand strong against his deepest, darkest urges.

"Phi Mate, I know you drank from a human yesterday," Rain said, shattering Phayu's resistance. He strode over to his Draugs. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I sensed your disquiet. And the way you hated the stench because it hid my scent," Rain said, with complete equanimity. "Rain..," Phayu trailed off. "Phi Mate, you are my mate, and that's an undeniable fact. None of the four of us intend to go home today. Our parents know that. We know that. Why don't you?" Rain asked in a completely reasonable tone. "Because, unlike my brothers, I can't trust myself," Phayu said, dropping on the couch with his heads in his hands. "What do you mean Phi Mate?" Rain asked, gently stroking Phayu's back, feeling the turmoil and darkness swirling in his Draugs' head.

"Rain, little one, you know that it's not that simple. The ritual between us, it's not all that easy as it seems. Your fathers, and mine, have been mates for centuries. So now what they have seems perfect, but I am pretty sure that it didn't begin that way," Phayu said, trying to dissuade Rain from any ideas he had in his head about mating. Although he had never been through it himself, he knew that mating was a hard battle. Luckily, Rain was already a vampire, so maybe it would not be too much for him, but the intensity of emotions and the kind of bond that happened when the blood between two mates was exchanged, it was an extremely powerful thing. He may not be human, but Rain was a mere fledgeling, and Phayu was so much older.

"Are you afraid you will hurt me?" Rain asked, sounding wise beyond his years. "Phi Mate, maybe I should remind you that I may be a fledgeling, but I am not without powers of my own. I am not a foolish child as most people around consider me. I can read your mind, your emotions, and I know very well that you wish to shield me from the power that we would exchange. But Phi Mate, you must understand that the strength we both would gain from this whole thing will be beyond compare. There is a reason you were chosen as my Draugs, and a reason why I was chosen as yours. You need to be at more than full force, if you wish to bring down the Council, and we can help you. Our powers, combined with yours, and we will be invincible," he said. His clear and linear thinking put Phayu's to shame. Why had he ever thought his mate was just a fledgeling? There was so much more to Rain than met the eye.

"Rain, it's not going to be easy," Phayu tried to convince him, still reluctant to mate, not knowing the consequences. He would be going in blind. But Rain took away all the thoughts, questions and confusion he had in his head, as he took the decision away from Phayu. He softly slid into Phayu's lap, straddling him perfectly, the tiny hitch of his breath the only indicator that he could feel Phayu's arousal. Even though he tried to show he was calm, there was a fine raging in his blood. He could only see red, a field of it, as a primal haze took over his mind. He tried to draw his mind back to his control, but somehow, it was like he was fighting a losing battle. Instead of the haze calming and retreating within him, it worsened, spreading like wildfire, saturating ever cell in his body, and giving him no respite as he clung to Rain's shirt, looking for an anchor in the punishing storm in his body, mind, heart and soul.