Fiona sighed with exasperation, shaking her head as she looked at the trio seated in her room. Adrian couldn't quite understand why they had been lead back into the infirmary, nor why all three of them needed to be here.

All of them had taken another dose of suppressants at their dinner, but had been observed closely. Before Adrian knew what was happening, Willem had appeared beside Charles and together, they had herded the trio back to Fiona's domain.

"Honestly, I wouldn't have believed it until I saw it with my own eyes." Fiona clacked her tongue in disapproval, removing the blood pressure cuff from Darius' arm.

Her sharp gaze flitted from the scribbles on her paper, to Adrian and then the two shifters beside the young raptor.

While Darius looked slightly ashamed, Levi felt no remorse, leaning against Adrian and occasionally taking in a whiff of his pheromones.

"Stop that." Fiona snapped her fingers before nudging her finger against Levi's cheek. "You three are in so much trouble."

Trouble? I didn't do anything wrong?!

Adrian puffed up his cheeks in annoyance, slouching down his seat in clear defiance. He didn't do anything bad, nor had he misbehaved or broken any rules. He didn't deserve to be punished or lectured.

Levi snickered beside Adrian before fingers gently sifted through the hair at his nape. "You're not in trouble hun, relax." He added with a little squeeze to Adrian's nape.

"Yet!" Fiona added sharply, huffing with annoyance as she looked over the data in front of her before letting the research paper flutter back to the desk.

She was clearly disturbed, eyes turning golden to betray how close her Eagle got to the surface. "The suppressants have nearly no effect on you for some reason!" She snapped, pointing a finger against Adrian's chest before glaring at the two men beside him.

"And because your Rut is still active, you are sustaining theirs, which in turn sustains your own Rut!" She squawked, throwing her hands in the air. "This is outrageous!"

Adrian blinked in confusion, feeling the fingers at his nape squeeze again, a hand settling on his left thigh as Darius leaned forwards slightly.

"I've been on the suppressants for years without any issue though. How-" Darius' confusion was clear in his voice, the tension of his facial muscles but more importantly, his scent.

A low rumble startled the group before all eyes turned to Adrian, who was letting out a continuous soft growl while glaring at Fiona.

She pointedly motioned towards the young raptor. "That is why. You three are developing a bond and during those times, instincts are stronger than ever. Apparently, strong enough that some can resist the suppressants almost perfectly."

"If he didn't have any suppressants in his body, I wouldn't be surprised if he had attacked by now." She added with a click of her tongue.

Darius blinked in shock while Levi twirled a piece of Adrian's hair around his finger. "Why would Adrian even attack you? He's interesting but calculative. He wouldn't just attack at random like a testosterone driven lion." Levi protested.

Adrian growled again when she turned her gaze on Levi before pausing in confusion as the Elephant pressed his finger on Adrian's nose.

Fiona huffed out a frustrated breath, heels clacking on the floor as she took a few steps back to lean against her desk. "Because to him, I'm the cause of distress in both of you. The little raptor is protecting his Potentials."

Little?! I'm not little!

Adrian huffed out another growl before playfully snapping his teeth at Levi's fingers when the elephant once again reached to boop him on the nose.

The elephant chuckled, sighing as he leaned closer to Adrian. "Calm down, little one." He murmured against his skin before pressing his lips against Adrian's temple.

At that, his thoughts short-circuited. The amplifying growls turned into a sedated purr as Adrian blinked in confusion, wondering where this reaction came from.

Apparently, so did Levi, as the man leaned closer to take another whiff of Adrian's scent.

Levi's blue eyes darkened significantly, leaning even closer before letting out a protesting rumble when a bunch of papers was pressed between him and Adrian.

"Until we have resolved this issue, please keep your lips to yourself." Fiona sighed, rubbing her temples after she dropped the papers back on her desk. "You Ferals give me a headache."

"That's something we kinda agree on." Levi muttered, shuffling in his seat as he groaned with annoyance before readjusting his pants.

Adrian simply blinked in confusion, not understanding what they meant, or the pointed look Darius and Levi shared with one another.

Licking his lips, Adrian locked eyes with Fiona. "So, what are our options then? We can't be kept in Isolation indefinitely."

"Nor is a perpetual Heat or Rut cycle healthy. There is a reason why they only come once in a while." Fiona agreed with a soft murmur. Her eyes narrowed at the papers on her desk before she let out a frustrated sigh.

"Our options are very limited in this scenario. The only real option we'd have..." She gave a helpless motion to the trio, making Darius slowly finish her sentence.

"...Is letting the bond establish itself completely. Letting things run its course." The Utah raptor sighed with his own reluctant nod.

Levi stretched out in his seat, fingers scratching at Adrian's nape and making the Dakota Raptor huff at the weird, tingly sensation. The elephant snickered softly when feathers started to peek through his fingers.

"And why exactly would our bond, any bond in particular be a bad thing?" Levi's lip quirked slightly as he motioned towards Adrian. "As long as all three of us are consenting adults, I see no issue in bonding and potentially mating."

A shiver darted over Adrian's spine as he mindlessly arched into the scratching. The membrane flitting over his eye showing that his shift quite enjoyed the grooming as well.

Darius seemed more troubled with the idea of bonding and mating, though Adrian could spot the keen interest in those golden eyes.

"I'm...not opposed." Darius confessed, scratching at the back of his neck. "It's just... I don't want this bond or mating to be forced due to our Ruts."

At that, Levi turned in his seat towards Darius. "What exactly about this is forced? Yes, we are all led by our instincts to some degree but none of us would mate against our own wishes."

Jabbing a finger over his shoulder towards Willem, Levi smirked as he added "I mean, all three of us have been in Willem's vicinity while in the deepest stages of our Ruts. If we were truly mindless beings controlled by hormones alone, the three of us would've jumped him when we had the chance."

Levi did make a point. Adrian could clearly remember that, even while his Rut was controlling him to some degree, he had the last choice.

He had walked through the hallways, smelled different shifters all in different stages of their own Heat or Rut cycles.

And even with that deep, burning desire that seeped into his very bones, pulsed through his blood as he sampled the air for a potential match... Adrian hadn't given the other shifters so much as a sideways glance.

Why would he, if he knew that somewhere on the compound or beyond, someone out there, was a perfect match?

"Levi..." Darius sighed tiredly, rubbing his hands over his face. "Some shifter species are more promiscuous than others. Most herbivore species like deer, elk and the like will be attracted to the strongest, virile partner they can find. They aren't picky."

A deep rumble vibrated through the air as Levi's elephant snorted. "So? Do we have to hold ourselves to the stigmas of our shifts? Do we need to compare ourselves to what others do? If that were the case, why are any of us interested in one another? We are all males, competition to one another."

He snorted, shaking his head like his shift would do in anger. "With your logic, all three of us should be fighting. Hell, we should be trying to fucking murder each other."

The room was silent as Levi's words sank in. Because he was speaking the truth; if they truly were like their animal counterparts, none of them could be in the same room with one another.

Let alone consider the potential between them as mates.

But they were more than just their shifts. They were human as well and their inner beast took that into calculation.

Even though Levi was a herbivore, Adrian's shift didn't seem to mind. Though he had a feeling that, were Levi to be something utterly harmless like a rabbit or a deer...

Well, he would devour Levi in a completely different way than what his shift had currently in mind.

Adrian licked his lips as Fiona sighed one final time. "Well, there isn't much that we can do about it anyways. Since there won't be any offspring between you three, it isn't like we have to worry about that either."

"Unless you believe those Jurassic Park movies where the dinosaurs can fucking change their sex." Willem grunted with amusement, making the others in the room chuckle while Adrian just felt completely and utterly confused.

Change my sex? Is that even possible?

Charles noticed the utter confusion on Adrian's face and waved his hand through the air. "Don't you worry about it Adrian. It's a movie, fiction. There's only a few animals that can change their born gender naturally and luckily, we have none of those at the compound."

Willem snorted at that. "Good. Can you imagine the fucking pain of dealing with a Feral that needs to be permanently kept in solitary confinement when in Heat?"

They all muttered their agreement, as Adrian could only assume how he would deal with being confined to a single room for his entire Heat.

Badly.

It wasn't too bad while they were working on the suppressants. Most of those days he slept anyways, anything to escape that insistent need to go out and find a mate.

And when the suppressants had initially kicked in, he felt better. Amazing even. But also bored out of his mind, having nothing to do, nor the ability to go out to stretch his legs.

So imagining being locked away now until his body calmed down, was anything but pleasant.

"Welp, since we can't give them anymore suppressants even if they would work..." Charles clapped in his hands, drawing attention to him. "I guess we'll need to relocate them to the block for the Mated couples until they've settled into their bonds."

As Charles motioned them to follow him, he added "If either one or both of the Potentials aren't...selected by Adrian, we'll have to keep you three separated for a while, at least until your Ruts whittle down."

Adrian snorted, scratching at his throat before pushing off his seat. Levi and Darius were quick to follow and surprisingly, it was Darius this time that placed the palm of his hand against Adrian's lower back with a gentle smile aimed his way.

Licking his lips, Adrian glanced towards Charles before questioning "Why can't we stay in my room? Or any of our rooms? Why do we need to move to a new one?"

Charles smiled understandingly and opened his mouth to respond before sighing as Willem deadpanned "Cause the Mated rooms are soundproof."

Adrian blinked, feeling slightly frustrated that he didn't seem to quite grasp the situation. And judging from the amused looks Levi and Darius shared, they knew what was going on.

"Don't fret, Adrian." Charles spoke gently, patting the young man on the shoulder. "I'm quite certain that these two will be more than delighted to explain everything in great detail."

While Darius looked a little flustered, Levi simply snickered and gave Adrian a wink. "I wouldn't be opposed to give Adrian a demonstration."

The elephant grinned, eyes darkening in such a way that a tantalizing shiver darted up Adrian's spine. Meanwhile Darius cleared his throat, fighting off the slight flush as he added "Bonding first. After a bond has been settled we can...demonstrate later."

Charles choked on a laugh before guiding them into the building. Adrian instantly spotted a different scent in the air, one that was absent from the previous dorms.

It was a unique taste to an individual's scent, one that he had come across some of the adults before but never really questioned it.

But as he spotted a few groups walking hand in hand, a girl laying on a bench with her head in a boy's lap, Adrian realized what the scent entailed.

Matehood.

Showing that the individuals were claimed, always carrying their mate's scent within their blood. Unifying it intimately, to the point where you couldn't get rid of it, even if you bathed yourself.

And while Adrian did slightly carry Darius' and Levi's scents, those were superficial. Purely from physical contact with one another. If Adrian were to take a bath or simply scent mark his room, those other scents would diminish and eventually disappear.

Unless they mated.