Darius murmured softly to himself, fingers trailing over the backs of the books, hoping to find the information he required.

Yet he knew there was little to find. As a hatchling, he had started to scour through the library from the moment he could read, to give him any information about kin, a possibility to find his parents or siblings.

Little to no information was found of course. There was limited information about the ancient bloodlines for a reason. The fact that another of the ancient bloodlines had been brought to the same compound Darius called home, was nothing short of a miracle.

During his hatchling years, it had been something that Darius had dreamed of. To find word of his parents, of any siblings he possibly had.

Hell, he would've been glad if he found any evidence of others like him, related or not.

He had spent several years reaching out to other compounds in an attempt to find out more about their rare bloodlines, only finding a handful of ancient ones.

Plus, not all shifters found their way to compounds. Only the Ferals, children left behind by their parents, would be brought here.

That is to say, if they were found in the first place. Darius was one of the few who had been found incredibly young.

Which, he had come to realize over the years, meant that something must've happened to his parents and nest mates.

From what little information there was over Utah raptors, they had at least some parental care for their young.

Which meant that at the age Darius was found and taken to the compound, he should've been in the company of nestmates and parents alike.

Instead, he had been found newly hatched, feathers still damp and surrounded by the cold eggs and half-hatched siblings.

For one reason or another, his parents had abandoned the nest. Most likely they had sensed something was wrong with his siblings and had chosen to let fate deal with any lucky survivors.

But species that had excellent parental care, who provided for their offspring and remained close, wouldn't find a need to send their young away.

Instead, they would take care of their young, even if they were wounded or sick. Their paternal instincts proved too strong to abandon their young.

As it was, Darius knew of a small community of Wooly Mammoths that lives in isolation, providing for themselves within the wilds. He had tried to reach out but they were highly territorial and defensive, especially so knowing that Darius was a lethal predator that could potentially form a risk for their young.

So he had wisely kept his distance, offered contact information and returned home empty handed. But satisfied with the knowledge that perhaps, there were more ancients remaining isolated throughout the world.

Simply wanting some peace and quiet, to not be disturbed by the more modern shifters.

A sudden vibration that rippled through the air and sank in his bones made Darius look up, startled. He recognized the sound, one of agitation and excitement that his kin made.

Adrian.

Worry sank within his system, a shot of adrenaline made his heart race. Something must've happened and the young feral had been triggered.

Just as he stuffed the book back in place and turned around, the door swung open and Adrian entered the room, looking around until he spotted Darius.

"Darius." He crooned, the feathers visible in the younger raptor's hair a clear sign that the young male was agitated.

Darius wet his lips, surprised when Adrian's gaze followed the small motion before the male took a few whiffs of the air, curiosity clear from his posture.

"I have...question?" Adrian murmured as Darius waved him in and towards the table. The older Raptor nodded, curious what brought this on.

"Of course Adrian, I'll try to respond to the best of my ability." Darius smiled, offering Adrian a drink before raising his mug to his lips to take a sip of cooling coffee.

Adrian's nostrils flared once more, pupils slitting to show just how close his shift was getting to the surface. Darius was anticipating that there had been a fight, or a territorial display that had unsettled the inner beast.

"Why do you smell...like you wanna breed?"

Coffee spewed over the table as Darius choked, feeling the liquid burn in his nostrils. Coughing and sputtering the lukewarm liquid everywhere while Adrian's eyes never moved from Darius, he managed to croak a surprised, "Oh."

Darius was mentally scrambling to get his thoughts in order, wondering where this suddenly came from. Meanwhile Adrian was observing him closely, watching his every move.

Analyzing my scent.

It made Darius shiver, though not necessarily for bad reasons. He just never had this amount of focused attention on him before, that didn't feel perverted or obsessive.

Adrian truly just wanted to know why he could smell those particular pheromones.

"I'm sure you, ahem, learned the basics in biology?" Darius asked, gaining a nod from Adrian so he continued, "Well, attraction is instinctual. Some would say an animalistic need."

A little thrill escaped Adrian as he shook himself, feathers slowly disappearing within his hair.

"Just because there is a hint of pheromones within the air, doesn't necessarily mean that I- the individual, wants to breed." Darius stuttered for a moment, eyes flitting over Adrian, who simply cocked his head and let out a curious thrill.

Darius hurried to explain, fighting back the awkward stuttering as he continued, "Our inner beast, our instincts, will always search for the perfect partner. At times you may encounter someone who is interesting for both you and your beast, which will be displayed in one way."

"Pheromones." Adrian nodded with understanding. Pursing his lips, he took a few audible sniffs, making Darius swallow thickly before the young Feral nodded.

"Another question...if I can?"

Darius motioned for Adrian to go ahead, only to choke on his own spit this time as Adrian motioned between them with the question, "So how does breeding between two...males, work?"

The Utah raptor had to lean against his desk, swallowing heavily as he croaked, "Are you asking me... how sex works between men?"

Adrian tilted his head pensively. "Well, not at first... Was curious...why some couples are all male or all female. But yes, now I am curious in that too."

"I'm not getting paid enough for this job." Darius couldn't help but think, shaking his head slightly as he struggled to find words.

It was only natural that the young Feral had questions about these things. After all, much like himself, Adrian hadn't encountered any others of his kin besides his own siblings.

There had been no sense of attraction to someone, or to have someone be attracted to him. Now that he was being presented with the obvious, the poor raptor was confused.

Here at the compound, with Ferals of multiple ages and genders, pheromones flew freely. It definitely wouldn't be the first time that the adults were called to intervene with amorous teen couples and prevent anything from happening.

Darius sighed, rubbing his hands tiredly over his face before motion Adrian to take a seat.

"Why the sudden interest? In same sex matings, that is." Darius questioned as Adrian sat down, tapping his nail on the table for a moment.

"Talia and Uma. They sent away a girl. She was in... what's word.... Heat?" Understanding flooded Darius while Adrian continued, "They told me not all mating is for breeding, for young."

Darius nodded at that, walking towards one of the bookcases to take a couple of books. "Correct. There are some who believe that matings are only done to produce stronger offspring. But, that only works for a male and female mating."

Adrian nodded, eyes intense as he absorbed any of the information that Darius shared. "Some bloodlines will keep their breedings pure, restricting themselves to breed only within their species. In such cases, any other mating than between a male and female is forbidden, as it doesn't produce young. A lot of these matings are loveless."

"Loveless?" Adrian's confusion was obvious, so clear Darius could almost taste it. He nodded, tapping on the table in thought.

"You said that they pulled a girl in heat away from you?" Adrian nodded in reply so Darius continued, "What did you think of her behavior?"

The instant curl of Adrian's nose made Darius chuckle, even as the Dakota Raptor shook his head with disgust. "Not interested. It was... annoying."

Darius hid his smile as he leaned back in his seat. "Okay, now imagine, if you are forced to live with someone like that? Have to breed her and have young, even if you don't want to."

Adrian's pupils turned to slits, a disgusted snarl showing his protest against the very idea. Darius nodded, clarifying "That is a loveless mating. Neither party wants to be in the mating but in order to keep expanding their bloodline, they are forced to do so."

He let out a disgusted sound of his own, could feel his own hair shift as feathers ruffled in barely contained anger. "In those matings, a lot of cheating occurs. Meaning that even when marked, they'll still go and breed with someone else to satisfy their urges."

Darius shook himself, sighing. "But that happens in only a few excluded bloodlines. Most of the other bloodlines don't care about purity and will instead mate out of love."

He pushed a few books closer to Adrian while he spoke. "There are many mated couples in the world, consisting out of all males, all females or a combination of both. Depending on the shifter's race, it isn't unheard of to have multiple mates."

Adrian made an understanding sound from the back of his throat whilst eying the books curiously. "What those?"

Darius smiled at that. "Books that I want you to take back to your dorm and read in your own time. You don't need to rush them at all but they detail how... physical mating...works."

He knew the younger Feral had at least learned some rudimentary reading so he should be able to understand the books with a little time.

Adrian nodded, grabbing a hold of the books as Darius scratched the back of his own neck. "Mating has a lot of different aspects to it and is complicated on several levels. Just know that you shouldn't rush to find and select a mate. Something as important like that is best done over a stretch of time."

"I get to pick?" Adrian hummed, a smile sliding on his face that had Darius swallow once more. There was a glint in the Dakota Raptors gaze, as if he was deeply immersed in whatever thought he had.

"Of course. Nobody can force you to mate, it has to be your choice. Yours and your partners."

Darius knew that some of the youngsters didn't necessarily wait to become physical with others. Some waited, kept themselves pure for their intended mate.

But some species were more promiscuous and weren't shy of experimenting with others before they finally settled down.

If they settled down to begin with. There were always a few that felt the need to keep spreading their wild oaths instead of calming down over time.

Plus, their inner beasts' instincts didn't help the situation either. For some of them, it was only natural to breed and move on once the deed was done.

It had been Willem's reply when Darius asked him years ago. At the time, he had been curious why his father figure wasn't happily mated with cubs of his own.

The massive bear had simply shrugged and pointed out that while he had several relationships throughout his lifetime, none of them were lasting.

Plus, Darius had the sneaking suspicion that Willem feared what would happen if he remained around his own cubs for too long.

After all, Polar Bears were known to attack and kill young cubs. Their instincts see the fast growing cubs as future competition for their food, territory and breeding partner.

The grumpy and often misunderstood bear would rather not take any chances and deprive himself of a deeper, lasting relationship with both his partners and cubs, than to play a dangerous game with his cubs lives at stake.

Adrian's voice snapped through Darius thoughts as the Feral murmured, "I'll try to...read these. And think. About mating. And breeding." Adrian added with a confused frown.

Darius nodded, watching as Adrian took the books and left. Once the door fell shut behind the young Feral's heels, Darius sagged in his seat and let out a frustrated but relieved groan.

"Glad that that subject is off the table..." He muttered tiredly, already dreading the moment Adrian finished reading the books and came back with more intense and complicated questions.

He could only hope that he had an answer ready for them.