The room was quiet, a tension in the air that made Adrian's nostrils flare anxiously. Darius hadn't moved from his spot at the door, yet didn't radiate a menacing aura that made feel Adrian feel like he was trapped.

On the contrary; with the way Darius was warily eying him, shuffling his weight from one feet to the other, it appeared that the other Raptor was more nervous than himself.

Adrian didn't understand why the man would feel nervous. After all, he was the one being outmatched by a stronger, more powerful predator standing inside his room.

His nest.

The young raptor also knew that this wasn't the first time that Darius had ventured here. He remembered the day when he had shifted in full view of everyone and the resulting chaos. Returning to his dorms only to find a lingering scent that curled around his nest.

At that time, it had irked Adrian beyond reason. Who dared to disturb his nest, one he built to be as comfortable as possible?!

The then unknown scent had clung to his nest of blankets and pillows to the point that Adrian had rolled all over his nest to eradicate the scent.

Now, Darius' scent was slowly mingling in the air, permating the room along with Adrian's scent. Releasing puffs of pheromones that made the hairs in the back of Adrian's neck prickle with sensitivity.

On an instinctual level, he understood perfectly why Darius was wary, why he hadn't fully entered the room. The same reason why Adrian hadn't boldly walked towards Darius to take a better whiff of that scent.

Because they were both predators. Courtship between predators wasn't always smoothly. Even within the same species, approaching a potential mate wasn't taken lightly.

Wild lions were known to maim and sometimes kill unknown lionesses and the same went for wolf packs. Even the more solitary animals like tigers and leopards were always hesitant to approach the other sex until they knew with absolute certainty the other was friendly.

They were more than just animals. But they were also more than just human. And one's instincts were often hard to ignore.

It was one of the reasons why the adults kept a close eye on the Ferals. Depending on their shift, teenage pregnancies were lurking around the corner if their instincts ran out of hand.

Adrian only needed to remember that one rabbit shifter to know that all it took was one small mistake. This place was a compound, a safety measure for young Ferals who had been left on their devices.

Not a breeding hall for young shifters.

With a slow, barely audible thrum in his voice, Darius took a hesitant step in the room, never moving his gaze from Adrian.

Adrian replied with a thrill of his own, nervously shuffling his weight around, muscles twitching with suppressed excitement.

Unlike the other pheromones that had made him shudder with disgust, Adrian now tilted his head in the air, nostrils flaring to catch the slightest whiff of the scent wafting from Darius.

Saliva flooded his mouth and he swallowed reflexively, shivering all over his body. There was a low heat that burned in his loins, invisible flames that lapped at his body and set him ablaze.

A knock on the door instantly turned the simmering heat into frigid tension as a few of the honey badgers stood in the doorway.

They gave Darius and Adrian pointed looks, a few chuckles rattling through the room as Darius sighed and shook himself, as if shaking off a daze.

"Might I suggest getting some fresh air, Darius?" Kwame chuckled, waving the air in front of his nose away. "The room stinks of pheromones and you two are only adding to it."

His mate Nailah chuckled in agreement, leaving the door open to air out the room. "Honestly Darius, the second you left to come help with Adrian, we already know you were influenced by his pheromones. Ignoring compound protocol around Ferals in heat, really?"

Once more Darius shook himself before sighing, rubbing both hands tiredly over his face. "Never allow an unmated shifter near a Feral in heat, especially not alone."

Kwame grinned, white teeth a shark contrast against his dark skin as he shook his head. "And only let mated couples supervise, as they are not attracted to others in heat."

Nailah shook her own fuzzy hair and sighed, pressing a kiss against Kwame's cheek before she ventured further in the room. Adrian bared his teeth slightly but the woman wasn't deterred.

"First things first. Hi darling, I'm Nailah, while we've had brief introductions, we haven't really spoken much. Now with all due respect, Adrian I believe? Right, Adrian... we can't let you alone with Darius, or any other Feral until you're out of your heat."

Adrian huffed at that, nostrils flaring as his shift disagreed. Darius had said that Adrian was the one who got to choose who he wanted as a mate, so why were people telling him what he could and couldn't do?

Seeing his confusion and frustration build, Nailah smiled understandingly. "Darling, your hormones are making you act unreasonably. Your shift wants only one thing, and that is to breed, even if you're not physically or mentally prepared for it."

"Good point. Darius, do you even know how old Adrian is? You know, so you're not thinking of mating a literal kid?" Kwame gave the raptor a pointed glance, who had the good grace to flush a bright pink.

"Amina and Kassim are on their way as well. They were going to ask Jacob if he was willing to come along on Heat duty, you know..." Nailah motioned towards Adrian, who understood perfectly what she meant.

Despite honey badgers being ferocious little predators, if Adrian were to shift, he could quite easily cause serious damage before he was overwhelmed.

Now, against a fully matured Hippo? Not so much. Adrian would be less inclined to shift and attack in a room with a herbivore that could quite easily snap his legs in half.

"Good thinking Nailah, thank you. And yes, Kwame, Fiona contacted me with the results of Adrian's DNA sample to give an idea of his biological age."

"And? Y'all mating or do we need to keep you seperat-Ouch!" Kwame yelped, rubbing over his arm where Nailah had slapped him.

The slightly smaller woman gave him a pointed look. "You should know better than being so nosy, Kwame." She huffed, crossing her arms as she added "We all know Adrian is estimated in his early twenties and that's all we need to know. The rest is up to them."

A knock sounded on the door, drawing everyone's attention to Amina, Kassim and Jacob, the later smiling slightly as he chuckled "Are we interrupting something?"

Irritation, frustration and wariness surged to the front in a dizzying mix of emotion. Adrian backed up another step, eying everyone as a slow hiss expelled from his lips.

Everyone was instantly aware of how they were technically intruding on a predator's nest. A Feral predator that was present and very much aware of their intrusion.

A few of the adults warily raised their hands in an attempt to soothe the confused predator. "Adr-"

"Out."

The sound was a sharp bark, sounding very much like Adrian's shift as Adrian slowly lowered on his haunches. Everyone could see clearly that the young male was heavily stressed, not to mention close to shifting judging by the membrane that flitted over his eyes.

"Okay sweetheart, we'll leave the room but we'll be right outside." Nailah smiled sweetly, ushering everyone back out of the room including Darius. There was a clear reluctance in Darius' movements which Nailah ignored.

"Dealing with a first Rut or Heat cycle is already taxing enough on the Feral in question, without having to consider a potential courtship offering." She patted Darius on the head and chuckled when a little growl slipped from both Darius and Adrian. "Give the boy some time."

The door gently shut behind her, but it still took Adrian several long minutes before he could fully relax. Even then, his body still felt jittery, restless. As if he needed to bolt out the door and run, never looking back.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself had quite the opposite effect. The second he did, a mixture of his pheromones, Darius' pheromones and the different scents of all the adults that had been in his room, his nest, shot straight up his nostrils.

Adrian released his breath in a low, frustrated hiss that was replied with a few nervous rattles from the other side of the closed doors. Ignoring the honey badgers on the other side, Adrian felt a spark of frustration as he heaved himself in his nest.

He instantly stripped down to his boxers, flinging the remaining clothes through the room to spread his scent and erase that of the others.

Nuzzling in his blankets, he rearranged everything meticulously, annoyed and frustrated that his room, his nest, the one place that was supposed to be his own, had been intruded on.

In some distant, vague thought, Adrian knew that he wasn't acting normally. He wasn't this ill-tempered or easily riled to begin with, so behaving like this was abnormal.

And yet as soon as the fleeting thought came to mind, it was gone. Pushed aside by the insistent need to scent his bed, his room and douse everything inside with his pheromones.

His shift only had one thing on its mind.

Attract a mate.

He didn't know how much time he spent scenting the blankets, pillows and bedcovers before he huffed contently. The room once again was filled with only his scent, marking it as his property.

Adrian was aware of the shifters standing guard just outside the doorway but he chose to ignore the group. He still felt jittery, overheated. Unable to think straight beyond the notion that his shift wanted out and explore.

There was a harshness to his breathing, almost as if he was getting feverish. Adrian hadn't been sick many times during his childhood and the few times he had been, was nothing compared to how he felt now.

A low, throbbing ache pulsed in his lower back, completely in tune with the burning heat that gathered in his groin. Adrian huffed uncomfortably but no matter how many times he twisted and turned in his nest, the ache remained.

And grew overtime.

Closing his eyes, Adrian could hear a few huffs followed by a snort coming from outside the door. "Man, the kid's scent is potent. Wouldn't be too surprised if we're going to have to fend off would-be suitors throughout his entire Rut."

A sound of agreement followed before Jacob sighed deeply. "Let's just hope that Fiona's has some suppressants at the ready. Though they may not even work on Adrian."

"Well...Shit."

Adrian nuzzled closer to his blankets, burying himself completely in his nest as he absentmindedly listened to the conversation, audible to his heightened senses.

"Shit is putting it mildly. Did you smell the pheromones both of them were producing? I have no issues with guarding Adrian's room but what the fuck are we supposed to do if two fully matured Raptors decide that they wanna fuck?"

There were a few snorts of laughter and few feminine sighs of exasperation before Amina murmured lowly "At this rate, I'm putting my money on Adrian to control himself. I mean..."

"Hmm, good point. Darius was already presenting a courtship offering without his own full awareness." Kwame replied pensively before there was a soft creaking sound as the door slightly squeaked open.

Kwame barely stuck his head inside before he cringed back as Adrian glared from the safety of his nest. Mouth slowly opening to reveal shifted teeth, a deep, warning snarl erupting as the door slammed shut instantly.

"Fuck me, he can be scary." Kwame murmured before he let out a frustrated groan. "This is going to suck if we need to give him any food and drinks."

A few murmurs of agreement sounded before there was a bark of laughter and a set of feet hurrying away. "There's the first one! Should've placed a bet on it."

Adrian huffed before nuzzling back into his blankets, a languid yawn escaping him. He closed his eyes, hoping that the aches and twitchy sensation in his nerves would be gone after a short nap.