The silence stretched. None of the men sitting at the table had any idea on how to begin the conversation. "We never stopped looking for you!" Pete suddenly blurted out. "I am sorry. I know it may seem like we stopped looking for you. But we didn't. We scoured the earth. Finally, we concluded that you all must have..," Tinn trailed off. No one misunderstood the implications of the statements. "We stayed away almost 200 years, looking for you. Whenever we decided to come back here, something sent us in another direction. We finally came back to settle here around 25 years ago, when we found that our friends planned to do the same," Porche said. "Something sent you in another direction? What do you mean?" Dean asked, sounding perplexed. "We don't know son. It was not something we really bothered to find out about. Mainly because we didn't see any point coming home," Kinn said. "But if we had known..," Charn trailed off.

No one said anything. "We are sorry," Porche said. "Why?" Pai asked. "Because we didn't come sooner," Tan said. "Who sent you on these missions?" Phayu asked. Vegas looked at his son. "The Vampire High Council," he said. "Oh!" Phayu said. Just that. He did not elaborate or utter a word. "What does that mean Phayu?" Charn asked. "If P'Pakin and P'Chai knew who we were, and knew who you were, then the Council knew as well," Win said. "So there is no way they sent you off for all those missions without an agenda in their mind," Dean said. "Are you saying they deliberately kept us away from you?" Bun asked quietly, his red eyes the only indication of the anger bubbling beneath the surface.

"I think it was more the other way around," Phayu said, deep in thought. "What do you mean?" Tinn asked. "Do you know why we retired?" Pai asked. The older men shook their heads. "It is true that we were taken in by P'Pakin and P'Chai. But the fact that we got training was on the behest of the Council," Win said. "They weaponised us, probably knowing very well who our fathers were and that we would make excellent warriors," Dean said. "However, what they didn't quite count on, was the fact that we refused to become mindless puppets. We had brains, and we used them," Pai said. "We were sent for mission after mission, with no breaks. We were sent with instructions, but we did things our way. And that the Council noticed. They wanted us to listen to what they were saying, do things the way they wanted. But that was not going to happen. So, they made a mistake," Phayu said, sneering.

"What did they do?" Kinn asked. "Outside of the four of us, no one knows this, so..," Dean trailed off. "Rest assured, it will not be us who tell," Vegas said. "They sent in assassins. But they forgot who they were dealing with," Pai said. "The way we sent back the bodies was warning enough," Phayu said. "All of you get the violent, sadistic streaks from your Dads," Pete said, snickering. "Hey! Not fair!" Kinn said. "I agree with Kinn. True, but not fair!" Vegas said. All the men laughed a little, breaking the tension. "I know it's going to take us time to get to know each other, but I was hoping we can do it, one step at a time," Tan said. "Actually, I know the perfect activity that help with all this bonding," Pai said. The older men looked confused. "Help us take down the Council," Phayu said, not mincing words.

Gasps went around the table. "Do you know what you are saying?" Pete asked, shocked. "Yes, we know. And we also know that if anyone has suffered as much as we have at the hands of the Council, it's you!" Dean said. "Khun..," Phayu had just started speaking when Vegas raised a hand. "I know that it may be very hard for you, for all of you, to call us Dad and Pa, but we would like it if you could call us at least Phi. Khun is so formal," he said. The four younger men looked at each other, then at the older men in front of them and nodded. "Phi, we know this may sound harsh, but the vampires on the Council are too set in their ways. They do not want to adapt with the times. They do not have respect for newer or younger vampires. They don't accord respect to 'born' vampires, forget the ones that are 'made'. Mates are not given common courtesies. Forced matings have become common. And if the children of four of the strongest and oldest vampire couples were kept in the dark about their family's existence, then how much worse could it be? Most important. The fledgelings, our mates. You already know how precious and valuable they are. Can you imagine what would happen if they were taken with no second thought?" Phayu said.

The older couples listened to what Phayu said without once uttering a word. They knew that all the arguments put forward were extremely valid. Plus, they had been given the charge of taking care of the fledgelings. It was too much of a coincidence that their sons ended up as mates to their charges. "You have already taught Rain that enemies must not be killed in one fell swoop. They must be tortured to the point they tortured us," Phayu said, making Vegas look at him in surprise. "Which is why we told you not to tell about P'Pakin and P'Chai to the Council. We need time, if we are planning this coup d'état," Win said. "You are actually serious about this?" Tan asked. "We are. We had been thinking about it awhile. But it didn't just didn't fit. We knew we needed more people on our side. And who better than those who have been betrayed more than us," Pai said.

"Okay," Vegas said, as all the others looked on in surprise. "What? We will help them. Even if they are playing with fire. They are not wrong. It's time for the winds of change to blow away the dust settled on the Council. We deserve to be led by better people, who want the best for us, not those who prefer to do things the archaic way," he said. He looked at the men he had called family all his life. He could see the indecision on their faces. "Do you really want to sit around and wait for the other shoe to drop? Will we take action only after we lose our charges, the way we lost our sons so many years ago?" Vegas asked again. "It may be harder than we think, but these boys are determined to do it anyway. We have lived longer, have more experience and know more about the Council than anyone. What if they walk in with no idea what to do? What happens if our charges lose their mates? We will be left sitting on our asses as we lose not only our sons, but also their mates," Vegas tried to drive his point home.

"Okay! Done! Let's do this," Tan said, first to agree. The others also nodded. "The first thing to do is to ensure that this discussion doesn't go out of this room," Phayu said. "While I agree with you Phayu, I must say, it will be important for us to include the parents of your mates as well into the plan," Pete said. Phayu's face set into mulish lines. Kinn began to snicker. "What?" Vegas and Phayu snarled together. That made everyone else also start laughing. "You guys will understand why we are laughing when you look together into the mirror. The resemblance is uncanny," Tinn laughed uproariously. "Why do we tell them this?" Dean asked, after the room had subsided a bit. "Mainly for two reasons. First, they can protect their children better while you are fighting a war. Second, however they may look like, all eight of the are ferocious warriors who chose a life of peace. They will go to any lengths to support the mates of their babies," Bun said.

"Okay, the safest place for any discussion is our home," Win said. "Why do you say that? Our homes are safe as well," Pete said, sounding disgruntled. "With all due respect, the security of this compound is negligible. There is a stronger word I would like to use, but I will stick with this one for now. Our mates were taken from under your noses," Pai said. "Moreover, P'Pakin, P'Chai and the Council got this compound made. Do you really think they would have left it completely alone?" Phayu said. "Then what about this room?" Kinn asked. "Win took care of it, I am sure," Dean said, smirking. At Win's nod, everyone looked at him. "It's one of my abilities. I can short out any electric or electronic device using my mind," he said, smiling a little. "Okay, then in that case, let's go to your home. We can use the excuse that your mates and their families want to see where you all live," Bun said.

"Tharn!" Vegas called out, as he entered the Kirigun residence along with his husband and his son. "Phi Mate!!!!" Suddenly Phayu found his arms full of a little whirlwind! "Rain! Behave!" Tharn said, walking in behind him, along with Type. "But I am with Phi Mate!" Rain pouted. "It's okay Khun Tharn," Phayu said. "Well it's really not," Type said. "When will you learn to behave na lu? You have a mate now. You need to be good, so that your mate will love you," Tharn said. "But Phi Mate already loves me, just like I love him! Right Phi Mate?" he asked as he turned around to look at Phayu, still hanging on to him like a koala. Phayu smiled and nodded, unable to believe his fate. How had someone grumpy like him ended up with this little ball of sunshine, he had no idea. But he was not going to question them anyways. He was just going to take pleasure in the fact that he would never be alone.

"Well, Phayu has invited all of us to his home, as he wants all of you to see it," Pete said, laughing at Rain's antics and secretly pleased to see Phayu smile. During the entire time they had spoken, he had noticed how serious all the four boys were, especially Phayu. But if their cute little boy could put a smile on his son's face, that itself would make him indebted to Rain. "Yes! Let's go now!" Rain said, immediately jumping down and stomping his foot. "Little one," Phayu said softly, but his tone held enough of a warning to make Rain subside. "Can we please go now Phi Mate?" he asked sweetly. The older men looked at each other, completely startled. They had never seen Rain behave in quite this way. "Well, if you can get Rain to do whatever you say, we may have to keep you around Phayu," Type laughed.

"You can't keep him Pa. Phi Mate is Rain's," he said with complete confidence, tucking his hand into Phayu's and smiling sweetly up at him. "Is that so lu?" Pete asked, laughing at Rain. "Yes P'Pete. He smells like strawberries and vanilla! I love strawberries and vanilla!" Rain jumped up and down in excitement and gesturing wildly. "Little one, let's keep our hands close to our body, yes?" Phayu said softly. The four older men noted clearly how his voice and eyes changed when he spoke to Rain. He never raised his voice, but his tone was firm and never hurtful. Rain immediately brought his hands closer and wrapped it around Phayu's biceps looking up at him with complete adoration. "Shall we go little one?" he asked. "Okay Phi Mate," Rain said delightedly.

"I don't have my car. It's still at the warehouse," Phayu said apologetically. "It's okay. You can come with us. Rain will go with his parents. That way, we will get some time to talk to you," Vegas said smiling. "But Phi Mate..," Rain's whine trailed off when Phayu just glanced at him and cocked a single brow. "We will meet you at your house soon," he said, pouting only very slightly, eliciting a bark of laughter from the older men standing around. They immediately left. In the car, Vegas and Pete spoke to Phayu only about general things, things like how he was a youth, what he studied, what were his interests, as they well knew that the car could be bugged too. They were amazed by the house the four boys lived in. "Did you design this Phayu?" Pete asked wonderingly. "Yes, with inputs from the other three. I couldn't have done it without them," he said, looking proud.