"You seem to have very intense admirers," Vegas said laughing, as all of them entered the house. "And you seem to have pretty much consummated the mate bond as well," Type said. "Paaaaa!" Rain whined, while all the younger vampires blushed to the roots of their hair. "We will get to that later. However, I would definitely like to know why your juniors were hanging around this area, looking for you?" Tharn asked, a bite in his voice. "Khun, trust us. We had no idea why they were there. In fact, we didn't even know who that was," Phayu said, sounding sheepish. He did not want to talk about this in front of Rain. He could bear anything in the world, but if his little mate turned away from him, Phayu did not think his life would be worth living. Phayu looked down as Rain slipped his small hand into Phayu's. "You will always have my trust Phi Mate, no matter what happens," he said, speaking directly into Phayu's mind. Phayu smiled, feeling at peace.

"So boys," Kinn said, after everyone was seated. "Tell us everything." "Where do we begin from?" Pai asked. "First, tell us why the Council is so scared of Phayu?" Leo asked. The four boys looked at one another. "The current Council has 7 members, the original had 9. Did you all know that?" Win asked. "Yes, two were killed in a coup is what we heard," Sean said. Phayu took a deep breath. "I killed them," he said. There was complete, deathly and pin-drop silence in the room. Phayu looked around at the shocked looks on all the faces, except for his brothers, and surprisingly his mate, who smiled reassuringly at him. "Explain!" Pete was the first to speak. Killing a Council member could be a death sentence. Just how was Phayu so calm with what had happened?

"On the day we were asked to meet the couple with the child, who the Council thought had been turned, we were instructed to kill the 'abomination', as the members called it. And we were more than willing to do it, because a child vampire is definitely not a good idea. An example had to be set, and we were willing," Dean said. "You know what happened after. We were all revolted. So we went to meet the Council. We questioned them on what they had done," Win said. "Did Pakin and Chai know about this?" Charn asked, sounding disgusted. "We had informed them that we were going to question the family and test the child. And then we told them that we are going to meet the Council, after the family was massacred," Pai said. "They told us not to meet the Council immediately, when we were this angry. They said that Council may not want to meet us either. But we are contrary people. The moment they said that, we immediately made our way to the Council, the office where Pakin and Chai sit now," Phayu said.

The four of them strode into the Council chambers. Phayu banged his hands on the table. "Why the hell did you give the command to kill the family? We said we will test them and you agreed," Win said, his eyes shifting between red and black, both signs of his seething anger. "The child was an abomination!" Tiew shouted. "And how do you know that? Did you get the child tested?" Pai asked, calmly. The Council members went into a flurry of explanations. The argument continued, but apart from that first banging of his fists on the table, Phayu neither uttered a word, nor showed any outward reaction as to what was happening. He stood aloof, almost as he was bored, looking away.

"That child didn't deserve to live!" Tiew said, and the entire room plunged into silence. That's when Phayu finally looked at the members of the Council, his eyes boring into Tiew's. Tiew raised his chin belligerently. "Tiew is not wrong!" Aya said, anger swirling in her voice. Phayu didn't utter a word. But something in the room changed, an electrical charge going through, the fine hair on everyone standing on end. "Phayu!" Win hissed. The room settled as fast as it had blown up. Phayu's eyes held clear retribution as he looked around one last time and walked away.

"You.. you.. you.. c.. c.. an't kill m.. m.. me!" Tiew stuttered as he looked up into the eyes of death, floating above him. He already had hundreds of little cuts on his body. When Phayu had entered his home, Tiew had thought that, as a Council member, his enormous strength would be enough to subdue him. But he had clearly underestimated the younger vampire. Phayu had used Tiew's bulk and complacency against him, and sliced him up in shallow cuts in every spot where the little girl had been sliced. While she had died horrendously, parts of her body all over the house, Phayu intended to do the same. He had understood very clearly during the meeting that Tiew and Aya were the people who had given the orders. However, Aya now lay dead in her home, walls splashed with the blood of betrayal, her body marked and burnt, the symbol of a tornado etched boldly into the walls. And now, Phayu stood like the avenging angel of death, twirling his sword, the blood already on it, leaving macabre stains on Tiew's walls. "Really? Try again?" he said, his eyes red with fury.

"You are a stain Tiew, a blot to our kind. You gave an indiscriminate order to kill a child, a child only you believed was made, not born. You killed her with a cruelty not even shown to grown vampires or rogues. You went against everything, we, as Council members, are taught to do. You became a monster Tiew, and as an enforcer, I can do nothing but rid the world of you," Phayu said, as he swung the sword down, severing head from the body. He used Tiew's own blood to draw the storm symbol on the wall that would be clearly visible to anyone who entered the house. His work for the night was done. And now it was time to disappear with his brothers.

The senior vampires all looked at Phayu with a newfound respect. "Is that why the Council decided to assassinate you?" Tinn asked. "They tried to assassinate us before that, almost as soon as we came back from that first meeting. Phayu killed them after that," Dean said. "They gave the orders for your assassination? Tiew and Aya?" Bun asked, his eyes switching between red and his original colour. Tan placed an arm on his mate's arm. He could feel the same rage in him and in everyone else. They could have lost their sons even before finding them. And the little fledgelings could have lost their Draugs. It was unthinkable.

"No wonder the Council was shaking in their boots when they heard your name," White said, smiling faintly. "Phayu did what was right, what was necessary," Pai said, soundly faintly defensive, worried that the men in front of him would not appreciate what Phayu had done. He was even more afraid of losing their mates. "Not going to happen, P'Pai," Sky spoke softly in his head. "Don't worry. We have no intention of condoning what Phayu did. He was right. Justice was served," Vegas said. "I think we can all agree that whatever happened, happened for the best," Tae said, looking around. "But I have a question," Min said, frowning. The boys nodded. "You told us last time that you will not kill the Council members, that you want to take them down in other ways. But seeing how they are scared of you, why don't you end them the same way?" Min asked.

"The Council never allowed the news of the deaths of their own to leak. Plus, this was more than 50 years ago. The technology today, the Council members would have taken every precaution," Win said. "We are more likely to become sitting ducks if we deal with them this openly. Before, we could have thought about it, maybe even planned it. But not anymore. We all have Draugs, and we will not put them in harm's way, no matter how extraordinarily powerful they are," Phayu said. "So what are you planning to do?" Tan asked. "We need to expose them, bring them out in the open, make them admit to their crimes openly. Until they continue to stay in the shadows, they will always have the upper hand," Dean said.

"And how do you plan to do that?" Porche asked. "By finding out why they kidnapped our Draugs. I mean, I know that no one knew that they were our mates, but having said that, truth is, they were taken," Win said. "And Pakin and Chai," Pai said. "What about them?" Type asked. "We need to know how involved they are," Dean said. "And if they are involved?" Kinn asked. "Then they will meet the same fate as the others," Phayu said, his tone soft, yet sending chills down everyone. Only Rain seemed unfazed, looking at his mate as if the sun rose and set with him.

Rain knew very well what Phayu had originally planned. He had decided to kill the Council members on his own, without saying anything to his brothers, and then ending his life. But Rain was not going to let that happen. What powers Rain had shown his mate and his brothers had not even scratched the surface of what he actually was. His powers were explosive, which is why Sky, Pharm and Team kept such a close eye on him. But if he needed to unleash those powers to help his mate? Then he would do so, no questions asked. "What about the rogues?" Pete asked. "That is a question for the ages. How did they know where the fledgelings were? There were 3 at the Uni, and 7 yesterday at the amusement park," Win said.

"What?" Type shouted, before the men lunged towards their sons. "There were rogues at the park yesterday? Seven against 4? How did you manage to fend them off?" The questions came at a rapid-fire point, while all the men checked the youngers for injuries. Pete crushed Phayu to him, the whole thought of losing his son settling in a shuddering fear inside him. Phayu gently hugged his father back. "I am fine Pa, I assure you. With mates like these by our side, we will never be harmed," Phayu said. Pete sniffled. "What happened Pete?" Vegas asked, putting his arms around his husband. "He called me Pa," Pete said softly, but everyone obviously heard. Phayu's eyes widened and he pinked up. It had slipped out before he could think about it. "Don't say anything Phi Mate. He is very happy right now," Rain said in his mind. He wasn't going to, but he was happy his mate was just so caring and considerate about the feelings of others.

"What did you mean 'with mates like these'?" Sean asked, suddenly homing into what Phayu had said. Phayu and his brothers looked towards their mates. They wanted to know their final decision. The four youngest vampires imperceptibly nodded, then turned towards their fathers. "Maybe you all should sit," Pharm said, immediately causing a frown to crease their faces. But everyone sat down without question, since they were able to see that none of the children were harmed. "Do you all remember the incident that occurred when we were four?" Team asked. The elders all nodded. The four of them went on in great detail, recounting whatever had happened, whatever they had told their Draugs the day before.

There was shell-shocked silence again. No one moved or uttered a word, almost as if they were carved out of marble. The fledgelings shifted closer to their mates, afraid of the reaction from their parents, afraid of disappointing them. "Why didn't you tell us this before?" Min asked, his voice a bare whisper. Tae immediately shifted, putting his arms around his mate. "We were afraid," Team said. "Of what?" Tharn asked, his voice cracking at the end. "Of putting you in danger. If you didn't know anything, no one else would. We can shield our thoughts, but not everyone can," Rain said, sounding sad and apologetic. "When did you get to know this?" Vegas asked. "The whole truth yesterday. But we suspected since the rogue attack at the Uni," Win said. "How? What?" Tan asked. He too looked shocked. "Well, as you know, Pai can feel when someone is lying. Our Draugs were not lying about what happened at the Uni, but they were not telling the complete truth," Dean said.

"And honestly, Rain's behaviour. In front of you all, he was a different person altogether, and different with me. I wondered if he has something else apart from the ADHD that you told me about. Then it struck me that it is something else altogether," Phayu said. "So, he doesn't have ADHD?" Type asked, looking hopeful. "No, definitely not. With the powers he has, he is sometimes not able to confine it, so he gets unfocused. That's all there is to it," Sky said. "I am still unable to digest the fact that you all hid this from us for 15 years!" Fiat said. "Why tell us now?" Tinn asked. "Because we want you to understand that we need to be a part of the war that our mates are planning to wage. They need our powers and our strength for this," Pharm said. "They need all of us. Even if one of us is missing, the whole tapestry will unravel," Team said.

"What is it that you are all thinking?" White asked, looking at his son and his friends with a newfound respect. "Rain? Would you like to take this one?" Sky asked. Rain looked around, a little shy at all the attention he was getting. Phayu slipped into his mind. "I am with you little one," he said, on their private pathway, engulfing Rain with unconditional love and support. Rain nodded stoutly and laid out a plan. "Did this all come from your head baby?" Vegas asked, shocked at how brilliant a strategist the little boy turned out to be. "I had a basic plan in there, but Phi Mate has so much knowledge in his head, that I used it to make my plan better," Rain said, sounding quite proud of his Draugs. Phayu nearly laughed. He should have been proud of himself, instead, he was giving credit to Phayu. "Silly boy!" he whispered lovingly on their path, making him feel as if he was kissing his cheek. Rain's hand immediately fluttered to the spot and he blushed. The others, noticing this little by-play, just smiled to themselves.