There was something insanely satisfying, watching your mates roam around and do household chores. To provide and care for you and your health, showering you with love and affection.

Adrian shivered, humming contently when Darius' fingers scratched through his hair, gently scraping over his scalp until the younger raptor was putty in the larger male's hands.

It made a tingle of awareness shoot down his spine, a temptation for more, but Adrian shoved it back down. After mating twice in a row without any real break, his body was protesting vehemently.

And as Levi had pointed out earlier, mating while one partner is not enjoying it, instantly kills off the mood for everyone involved.

A plate of food was placed down in front of Adrian, who's nostrils flared at the thick steak cooked to perfection, plated with crispy fries and a slice of garlic butter.

Looking up at Levi, Adrian happily gave the elephant a warm, heartfelt kiss. It made the man chuckle and sigh, leaning in for a moment longer before sitting down before his own, completely vegan plate.

Adrian shuffled slightly, this time to relieve the deep, pulsing ache in his lower back and to get rid of the slight discomfort in his groin.

Levi seemed to notice straight away, snickering slightly as Darius pushed away a curl of Adrian's hair.

"Believe me darling, I'm more than willing to fully mate with you. But I want you to be completely comfortable and healed. After all, I want you to enjoy yourself as you take a seat on your throne."

Levi's eyes were heated as they slowly caressed each visible inch of Adrian's body, who shivered and smirked at the image presented to his mind.

His throne...

Adrian really liked the sound of that. He also liked the obvious praise in those words and couldn't help but let out a content thrill, making both Levi and Darius chuckle.

It sucked that they couldn't do anything now. Adrian was more than willing to drag Levi and Darius back to their shared bedroom and finish the mating.

But just shifting his weight around made his lower back protest quickly, tempering the heat within his groin.

They didn't need to rush. He had the time and patience to wait.

So instead he relaxed into his seat, humming pleasantly before digging into his food. Even if the food was nowhere near the professional levels of the canteen, there was something about a meal cooked by your mate that made it that much better.

"Seeing how we'll all be mated in short notice, I think it's safe to assume we'll move to either this room permanently, or receive housing later on?" Levi inquired, aiming his attention to Darius. The older raptor awkwardly looked up with a chunk of steak between his lips before nodding, chewing his mouthful rapidly.

"Indeed, though seeing as both of you are still considered Feral, it's more likely that they'll assign us to this apartment now and perhaps in the future provide us with a different settlement."

Flicking his fork to indicate the two, Darius added "Plus, we'll need to consider your future. What do you both want to do once you're fully reformed?"

That gave Adrian pause, simply because he hadn't really thought about it up till now. His life had consisted of hunting, finding shelter, sleeping. Rinse and repeat.

Now... Now he had optioned he had never dreamed of before. And Adrian had no idea what he wanted to do with his life.

"I'm not sure." Levi replied out loud, finishing the last of his vegan dish before licking his lips. "My kin tends to live in family groups until well..."

Tension slipped into his shoulders before it disappeared. Adrian didn't even need to press for the reason why; he had seen the thin scars that were easy to miss. The only telltale sign that a shifter had once been heavily injured.

And he had heard the adults talk back when he was brought to isolation. What Levi's own father had done to him...

Elephants weren't the only creatures who cast out their young, especially so the males. Many others did and some didn't even differentiate between gender.

Especially lions were particularly aggressive with casting out young males that had matured. Even if these young males were their own sons, their fathers made it painfully clear that they were no longer wanted.

Though from what Adrian had picked up on, Levi was one of those cases where he was still rather young to be chased off.

"We're all led by our instincts to some degree but..." Rubbing his hand through his hair before scratching through his nape, Levi sighed. "Well, I've never really thought about... What to do after all this."

Darius pursed his lips, weaving his fingers together before resting his chin on them. His black hair spilled from his shoulder, draping over his bared chest as he hummed softly.

"I've had more time to think about it than either of you. Part of me wants to travel, find other Ancient Bloodlines and make sure that Ferals out there don't need to die unnecessarily when they can still be saved."

He motioned to Adrian beside him, licking over his lips. "After all, we only were notified of Adrian's location due to human hunters finding him. Injured, I may add."

Adrian snorted at that, making a soft, displeased sound. "They startled the prey. I wouldn't have been injured otherwise." The younger raptor touched his leg, where he was formerly injured. Beside some slight scarring, there was no sign of his grave injury.

At that, both Levi and Darius chuckled and Darius ruffled through Adrian's hair. "It might not have been your fault that time. But what if you stumbled into a bear? A sow with cubs?"

A shiver darted over Adrian's spine at the notion because that possibility had been all too real. Raptors were stealthy predators and thus, could've quite easily spooked a protective she bear, signing his own death warrant in the process.

His sibling had been killed by a male bear. But even males knew to give berth to a female with cubs.

Levi nodded in understanding, platina hair shimmering in the sunlight as he leaned back in his seat. "You want to prevent any unnecessary bloodshed. Ferals starving, freezing, dying from sickness...."

Adrian's stomach twisted at that. If people like Darius had been around, perhaps his sisters...

Two sets of hands grabbed his own and Adrian looked up, giving Levi and Darius a tentative smile. "Like my sisters." Adrian murmured at their questioning look.

Both of his mates seemed surprised and Adrian couldn't blame them. He hadn't told them much about his past.

"Do you know what happened to them?" Levi questioned gently, fingers squeezing gently into Adrian's as he nodded. The calm smile twitched into disapproval at Adrian's next words.

"I think...no, it's a pretty safe guest that my older sibling killed them... Perhaps even...A-ate them." Adrian's throat hurt, remembering his own stress and fear when his sisters went missing.

How he had searched for hours on end, trying to find them. Chirping and calling, ignoring his own safety if that meant he could keep his family together.

Obviously, he never found either sister. Not a single trace of them besides a quickly fading scent that disappeared in thin air.

A troubled sound left both the shifters. "Cannibalism isn't.... unheard of, especially so in Ferals." Levi said with a cautionary look to Darius, who nodded with a frown.

"Some species gravitated towards it more than others. Lions, leopards... Most big predators basically. Though usually it's not aimed towards their own litter mates." Darius thought in silence for a moment before adding "Though in rare cases, mothers have been known to cannibalize if conditions are extremely harsh."

Adrian pondered about it for a moment before shaking his head. "We hunted in group. We still fumbled of course but, we managed and didn't go to bed hungry."

"Well, that excludes that theory." Levi said before clicking his tongue in disgust. "The only other theory I have is territory."

"Territory?"

Adrian's eyebrows rose in confusion. They had been youngsters, too young to squabble over territory. That normally started after several years.

Plus, they hadn't really squabbled, at least, not to his knowledge. There hadn't been any posturing and fights between them, though his brother had been more distant and observant than his sisters.

"It could be... Some animals and thus Ferals, are more aggressive than others. How many siblings did you say you had?" Darius asked curiously.

Adrian's eyes flitted between them. "Three. Two sisters, one brother."

At that, Levi let out a muffled "Ah." before nodding his head. "That explains it."

When Adrian only shot him a curious look, Levi gently explained. "In most predators, female territories border one another while a single male overlaps theirs. If all four of you shared that territory, your brother might've been slowly laying claim on it."

"But, there are other shifters who stay together and hunt in group. African wild dogs, hyenas, lions... They all hunt as a family." Adrian stated, knowing he was correct. He had studied this properly in order to attempt to understand his past.

Darius sighed. "Normally, yes. But his instincts saw you and your sisters as competition instead of family and hunting allies."

"Normally there wouldn't have been an issue. The four of you could've hunted, gained strength and either remained together or struck out to find others of your kin and start your own family."

Tapping his fingers on the table, Darius shook his head. "Your brother must've really liked the territory you all had established and didn't want to leave, but he also didn't want to share his turf and have it overlap that of his siblings. So he erased the opposition and started from the weakest up."

Curling his nose, Adrian growled softly. That was exactly what his sibling did. Kill his sisters and refuse to hunt afterwards, probably hoping that Adrian and his remaining sibling would grow weak enough to kill.

Which meant that, when the bear encountered Adrian and his brother, his brother had secretly hoped that the bear would attack Adrian.

Perhaps that was the reason why he had been so insistent to attack the bear. To annoy it, make it aggressive enough that it would retaliate and hunt down the nearest target.

And Adrian's brother would've made sure that all that muscle and rage would be hurled at Adrian. Turns out that fate had a different idea and his sibling had been mauled before he could even shift to try and flee.

Thinking back about it, it was a pity that there were no adults around. People who could've guided them to the facility earlier.

That thought gave Adrian determination, a goal to strive towards. To let his sisters' deaths be the last meaningless ones to happen.

Plus, he wanted to see more of the world. To be able to roam free, sleep under the sky if he wanted to but also have shelter when he needed to.

Now that he had experienced this pampered life of luxury, Adrian would be unable to let go of it completely.

But the idea to be traveling, to physically and mentally stimulate himself... Using his senses to track down Feral kids and save them...

Adrian wanted that too. And judging from the smiles that Levi and Darius shared, it was easy to read from his face.

"Well, at least we know what we want to do after the mating has been completed." Levi shrugged with a naughty smile on his lips before standing up to clean the table. "But until we're all mated and the bond has been properly formed, none of us are going to travel anywhere."

Darius smirked, tilting his head over the back of his chair as he teased "Anywhere, huh."

Levi caught on, snickering as he put the dishes into the dish washer and popped it shut with his hip. "Well... the only travels I foresee in our near future, would be to the bedroom."

"So," Levi approached, easily lifting Adrian in his arms with a smirk aimed at both of his mates. "Let us sleep and recover. We have nothing to do besides each other and I'm not willing to permanently injure either of you."

Darius flushed awkwardly at that, making Adrian purr as his nostrils flared. He had detected the man's unease earlier and seeing him shuffle his weight in a similar fashion that Adrian had done, made the raptor snicker at their shared discomfort.

They needed to heal and Adrian knew that thanks to their supernatural healing, they'd both be better by morning.

Which also meant that Adrian had an entire night to plan for what was to come.