"Alright class, pens down. That'll be all for today." The teacher's voice pierced through the silence and was a blessing in disguise.

Flicking the pen on the table with disgust, Adrian was pleased that finally they were done with the tests.

Yawning, he stretched in his seat, feeling his shirt rise slightly with the motion. His satisfied groan as he felt his joins flex and stretch was mirrored and when Adrian lazily opened an eye, it was to a blushing wolf that quickly averted his gaze.

His tongue flicked over his lips, tasting the pheromones in the air before a slight smirk pulled at the corner of his lips. After all the research Adrian had been doing, he had grown more confident on what made some potential mates tick.

He had cheekily put his theories to the test, wanting to confirm that a simple gesture, a simple action from his end could induce the pheromone bombs he encountered on a near daily basis.

There was something oddly empowering about being able to provoke these reactions. To be desired, be wanted and not feared.

Judging from the scent that drifted through the air, fear was the last thing on anyone's mind. Instead there was a mixture of pheromones that clung to the air, filling the classroom and stunning the young shifters into a stupor until the teacher's barked order to leave the room snapped through them.

Adrian stretched once more, feeling oddly jittery as he stood. There was a restlessness that slowly slipped through his system, made him feel warry, attentive to his surroundings.

Even the hairs at his nape lengthened, slowly shifting to show his agitation as feathers puffed out.

He didn't understand what his instincts were telling him, why he wanted to go out and explore. That there was a biological reason why Adrian had been so interested in what mating entailed.

After having spent so long on his own without any suitable partners, being thrown in a mix of both male and female shifters had triggered the last and final stage of his hormonal development.

Every student within the room could smell the moment where Adrian's glands secreted the subtle pheromones that announced his sexual maturity.

And his fast approaching rut.

All Adrian understood was the desire, the need to roam freely, to find the one who's scent would appeal to him. Who could be considered to be a mate.

Even if Adrian was sensing the disturbance, could visibly see the effect his pheromones had on the people around him, he could do nothing to stop them from spreading and affecting the others.

He merely watched with slight curiosity as several of the young Ferals shivered, nostrils flaring as they took delicate whiffs of the air.

The few herbivores present backed out of the room at the teacher's uttered command while several of the predators shivered, seemingly taking a keen interest on Adrian.

However, Adrian merely gave them a sideways glance before dismissing them. Even if these young ferals were attracted to his pheromones, they were not what Adrian or his shift were looking for.

The back of his nape tingled, much like when his feathers game through as several of the present carnivores released their own pheromones in response.

A low, pulsing thrum vibrated through Adrian's chest and throat, creating another wave of shivers through the room. A room that was quickly evacuated by the teacher, who kept eying Adrian nervously.

Not a few seconds later, an alarm blared to life, signaling that one of the Ferals was out of control.

This time it wasn't to alert the school of a Feral who had shifted but one that was in Rut. Which made it equally if note more dangerous than if it had been shifted.

"Adrian, please go to your room until your Rut has ended. We'll send someone over to check up on you." The rhinoceros smiled tightly, peering at Adrian over her black rimmed glasses.

Huffing, Adrian stretched his neck before pushing away from the desk, already hearing footsteps scurrying away from the room while others hurried towards it

"Fucking hell, no wonder." Willem growled, nostrils flaring before he snorted animalistically. "You stink, brat." He added after getting a whiff of Adrian's pheromones.

Confused, Adrian raised an arm and sniffed at his pits before scowling. He didn't stink. He always made sure to keep himself clean, to bathe and preen regularly.

Adrian hissed in annoyance, making the polar bear grunt and roll his eyes. "Look brat, the sooner you are in your dorm away from others, the sooner you'll be rid of me."

That made the raptor scoff before he shook himself out, stepping around Willem to head to his room.

But he didn't want to go to his room. He wanted to go out and explore, felt this need to establish a territory. To look for a potential mate and when he found him, start his display.

There was little information to be found on his species besides the fossilized bones found of the wild ancestors. The only things Adrian knew, was instinct driving him.

Instincts that told him to find a good territory and prepare a nest that would be fitting to a mate. Attract a male or female and then seduce them until he was judged a proper candidate.

A sudden thought gave him pause as Adrian blinked before licking his lips in confusion.

If I were to take a male mate... who does the courting display?

The little book that Darius had given him before hadn't exactly touched that topic. All it had taught Adrian was how same sex relationships worked physically.

Even that had been confusing to an extent; all his life, Adrian had always assumed that mating with another was always for a single purpose.

Breeding. To produce a clutch of offspring. Yet offspring couldn't be created between two same sex individuals, at least not naturally.

"Question."

Willem huffed, rolling his eyes at Adrian. "No, that was a statement, not a question but sure brat. What's on your mind?"

Adrian snorted, shaking himself out and watch a feather come loose before twirling in the wind. His eyes followed the drifting motion before he glanced back at the slightly annoyed bear.

"Why do people breed, if not for young?"

The polar bear stumbled on his legs, huffing once before releasing a sigh. "You're so much like Darius when he was a hatchling, I shouldn't even be surprised."

"So?"

Willem grunted, holding the door open and glaring at the few Ferals who were dragging their feet, obviously interested in the pheromone bombs going off.

"So many reasons kid. Mostly pleasure, some do it because it gives them a sense of power or makes them feel closer to their mate." The bear grunted as Adrian ducked under his stretched arm and walked into the hallway.

Adrian automatically tilted his head, inhaling the air to sample the pheromones, only to hiss in protest when Willem's massive hand palmed his face.

"None of that." He growled as the strong scent of a fully matured polar bear spread through Adrian's nostrils, not finding a single hint of attraction.

The bear released him as Adrian scowled before the man shook his head. "You really know how to stink up a room, don't you."

"I don't. stink." Adrian hissed a venomous protest, feeling his clothes protest, becoming tighter as his shift pressed closer to the surface. "And why can't I?"

At that, the bear sent him a droll look. "You really think that any respectable teacher is going to allow underaged kids or any kid within their care to go at it whenever they feel like it?"

The raptor couldn't respond to that because the bear was right. If this compound allowed the Ferals to follow their instincts, there would be a surge of underaged pregnancies before they could blink.

"Why are you not..." Adrian gestured to the air, pointedly glancing at a Feral across the room, who was too busy scenting the air until Willem sent the kid such a glare, the poor fox shifter yipped and darted back in his room.

"Two reasons, " Willem said as he stopped at Adrian's room and opened the door before checking that nobody has snuck inside. "One, you don't have the necessary goods that I prefer. Two, the only chicken that I wish to devour, is a fried one."

Adrian snorted at that, feeling amused despite the situation. His shift still felt jittery, wanting to go out and explore but he realized that he wouldn't be allowed to go outside unless under strict supervision.

Willem nodded as Adrian flopped on his bed with annoyance. "We'll see if we can find any suppressants that work for your shift, otherwise I'll have to sent Darius over so that he can...give you a few pointer how to...relieve the pressure, I guess."

Adrian just gave him a look, one that obviously disagreed with the bear while he pointed at the book. "That book already said that any self help wouldn't work during Rut."

He remembered clearly when he had been reading that, and the bits of information during biology. Any shapeshifter that went through their respective Heat and Rut cycles couldn't break out with simple masturbation.

Somehow, the body recognized the difference even if so called toys were used. The only thing that completed the cycle, was to mate regularly.

Pheromones released by the partner were key to break the cycle and soothe that need. Without a partner, the young Ferals had to either suffer through their Ruts and Heats or take suppressants until they were of the right age to mate.

Even then, Adrian had learned that Fiona provided the mated couples with contraceptive injections, just to nullify any chances of offspring.

Nobody wanted the young, hormonal and at times explosively aggressive Ferals to bring innocent and vulnerable young in the mix.

A knock on the door sounded and all the hairs in Adrian's nape prickled with awareness, feathers making an appearance as Darius waited outside with a cautious expression.

"Willem, why don't you... patrol the hallway?" He suggested after eying both of them warily, noticing how Willem was trying and slowly failing to contain his beast. "Bears don't really deal well with any contenders in their turf and you staying here will only piss you off further."

He didn't even grunt in disagreement, simply stalked out of the room and headed outside while Darius shook his head. Both the raptors didn't move otherwise, scenting the air.

Scenting each other.

Both parties were at the very least interested, given that they were raptors. There was hardly any size difference, never mind species difference between them.

But that also meant there wasn't an obviously weaker, more submissive partner between them. Both had powerful shifts that didn't bend down to the whims of others.

Even if they recognized one another as possible candidates, there was that lingering question, that hint of wariness in the back of their minds.

Nobody wanted courtship to fall down a slippery slope that let to dominance fights.

Adrian nervously scuffed his foot over the floor, as if he was in his shifted form scraping along the dirt. He wanted to shift, run outside but...

A low, thrumming pulse shivered through his throat, the sound vibrating to a barely audibly degree.

Barely. But not completely silent.

Darius' eyes glowed, his own dark hair falling over his shoulder with a hint of feathers peering through. Making Adrian realize that unconsciously, perhaps unintentionally, they already have been courting.

After all, it was commonly known that male birds of prey brought meals to their designated partner as gifts. To prove to their intended mate that they can provide for them and their young.

And ever since Adrian and Darius have met, there were very few moments where Adrian ate on his own. More often than not, the Utah Raptor would find him before dinner time and lead Adrian back to the dining hall.

Even if the meal wasn't caught nor cooked by Darius, the gesture was instinctual and remained the same.

A courtship offering.