It felt weird being out of their room.

It wasn't like they had spent months or even weeks in there, but Adrian realized that ever since they've been given their room only a few days ago, they hadn't even left it.

Not that Adrian complained in the slightest. But when he stepped out into the open air and felt the breeze ruffle over his skin, he felt himself take a deep breath, a sense of relief flitting through his senses.

His instincts might be demanding him to rut and mate with his chosen mates... but his shift wasn't meant to be cooped up inside a den for the entire day.

Levi chuckled, pressing a kiss against his temple before intertwining their fingers. "We really need to come out more often if that's how you respond to our first outing." The elephant chuckled.

"It almost looked like you've finally tasted freedom after being held captive." He added, raising their intertwined hands to brush a finger over Adrian's cheek. "And it's certainly not our intention to make you feel trapped."

The young raptor hummed at that, momentarily leaning into the touch before following Levi towards the other side of the compound.

The slight ache in his lower back wasn't too bad, but it reminded Adrian that they were all fully mated. Levi seemed to catch his own contentment, or perhaps the elephant was distracted with the smile that kept creeping on Adrian's lips.

He couldn't help it either. This giddy sensation in his body that made him want to sprint, to feel the breeze in his hair, to run alongside Levi.

Adrian noticed he was pulling Levi along but didn't care. In fact, the man chuckled and squeezed their joint hands before falling in step with Adrian.

"Do you even know where Darius is, darling?" Levi teased, making Adrian falter for only a brief moment before he shrugged.

He may not know the exact location, but he wasn't a raptor for nothing. Tilting his face towards the breeze, he inhaled deeply before smirking and nodded in the direction of Darius' scent.

Adrian quickly realized that Levi had already been heading in the general direction of Darius' scent and chuckled. "How good can you smell him?" The raptor teased, causing a wide smirk to slip over Levi's lips.

He tapped against the side of his nose and winked. "Darling, if I focus, I can smell water from 12 miles away. I could smell Darius while we were still in our room." The spark in his eye was nothing to the little pep in his step as Adrian's mouth dropped open before he hurriedly followed after his mate.

The young raptor had learned about other species as much as possible, but it was still slightly jarring to realize that a herbivore was up to par with his own skills.

Just the realization that his mate was powerful made Adrian release an unintentional chirp that made Levi's nostrils flare before he hummed softly. Pride and contentment flowing gently off the elephant, making Adrian's heart skip a beat before it raced quicker than before.

"Easy now. We're outside to take a nice stroll, relax and find Darius. Not to tempt one another with a quick rut against the nearest tree." Levi teased, though his scent and expression showed he wasn't against the idea one bit.

Neither was Adrian but he knew just as well that they should be taking some time off of mating. Plus, while Darius had mentioned it was perfectly normal in poly matings that some individuals would mate more than others, he didn't want to cause any strife by making Darius feel left out.

"Perhaps those suppressants would work, now that we've officially mated." Adrian thought out loud, making Levi chuckle before he pressed a kiss against Adrian's temple. Fingers gently squeezing his nape before reaching up to ruffle through the young raptor's hair.

"Not a bad idea darling. It's certainly something to consider so we don't stay virtually locked up in our room."

Levi pulled him closer against his firm body, making Adrian release a low purr and lean into the man's chest. "Plus, Fiona will be excited to see if it actually works."

A low hum escaped Adrian, eying a few of the Ferals he could see. While he knew that both himself and Levi were still in their Rut, he was surprised on the lack of response from the other shifters.

Beside a slight twitch of their nose and a quick aversion of their gaze, there was hardly any response. None of them were as bold as the lioness that had basically presented herself to Adrian when she was in her Heat cycle.

"Is this-" Adrian motioned towards the people they spotted, or rather their lack of response, "due to our mating?"

Levi grinned, licking his lips. "Partially. The components in your pheromones, well, our pheromones have changed." The Elephant motioned between them as he explained "While other shifters can smell that we're in our Rut cycle, but it's nothing more than a vaguely pleasant scent to them."

"Secondly, besides yourself, both Darius and myself are strong shifters. There are very few animals who would dare to try anything out of fear of our shifts lashing out."

A sense of pride flittered through Adrian's body as he barely bit back a smirk. It did make sense that those with weaker shifts were more wary of competition, especially certain herbivores.

Shifters like deer, horses and other herbivores were known to be more flexible in their choice of mates. If another, better potential mate presented themselves, they might be more inclined to break the bond and form a new one with their mate of choice.

However, those shifters would also be wary of predatory shifts like Adrian and Darius. Not to mention there was no chance that a horse could stand a chance against an angered elephant bull, protecting their mate.

Plus given the fact that Adrian and Darius were extremely dangerous predators, none of the other carnivores would even consider making a move against any of trio.

In fact, it would be more likely that other carnivores would be more protective of their mates.

"Hey." Levi nudged Adrian in the side before grinning, eyes sparking teasingly. "Race ya."

And then he booked it, sprinting away from a flabbergasted Adrian, who barked out a laugh before giving chase.

Without prompting his shift, Adrian felt his clothes tear off his body as he darted after and then past Levi, who shouted a frustrated "HEY! CHEATER!"

Adrian's caw of amusement bounced over the clearing, drawing attention to the group before he heard more tearing clothes.

And much to his surprise, the charging elephant bull was actually keeping up with the stunned raptor! The low trumpeting matched Levi's strides, trunk latching onto one of Adrian's legs and pulling him over before the elephant charged ahead and won their little race.

The young raptor shook out his feathers, looking back from where they came from and huffed. Finally seeing Levi fully shifted made Adrian realize that while he might be a predator, that didn't make him the biggest creature around.

In fact, while Adrian was about 7 feet tall, maybe 8 if he tilted his head fully up, Levi still had him beat with a staggering 10 feet tall.

It was his first time being around a shifted Feral that was actually bigger than him. Well, at least on all fours. Adrian had a sneaky suspicion that Willem's massive polar bear would also tower over him, if the bear stood on its hind legs.

The resulting shiver made his feathers bristle in agitation before Adrian shook himself once more. Feeling Levi's trunk gently pat the resisting feathers on his back into their right place.

"I didn't expect you to be so huge." Adrian murmured over the link, making the elephant beside him shake its massive head, ears flapping as a low rumble vibrated through its grey skin.

"Why thank you." Levi teased with a snicker, falling into step with Adrian. "To be fair though, you would've won if it was a longer distance. I'm not much of a runner in this shape."

Adrian hummed, nonetheless impressed. Playfully swishing his tail against Levi, only for the elephant to shake his head with a snort.

"One small detail we managed to forget with our race." A single glance indicating the scattered mess of their clothes and Adrian puffed out his feathers, realizing they couldn't shift without being bared for all to see.

And then the raptor sighed, eying the people in the distance. "And we forgot that they'd become alarmed as well."

Turning to face the oncoming group of teachers, Adrian felt a slight tug and glanced back. Levi followed behind him, emotions calm and soothing while the elephant gently held onto Adrian's tail.

When the man noticed Adrian's slight confusion, he moved his weight on his legs, seemingly bashful. "Ah, that's er... instincts. My shift wants to guard you but needs to stay close in order to do so." He almost reluctantly released Adrian's tail, trunk raising halfway as if to latch back on before pausing.

Adrian didn't protest, simply swished his tail in front of Levi. It was an invitation Levi couldn't resist and neither of them cared that it might've looked a bit silly.

The young raptor wasn't ashamed at all. Why would he be ashamed of a clear show of affection between their shifts?

However, there wasn't much that Adrian could do to return the favor. Levi's shift lacked any dense fur or feathers to preen, nor could Adrian's raptor hold onto Levi's tail without accidentally harming his mate.

Levi gently swished Adrian's tail before flapping his ears. "Allowing me to protect you, even if you don't need protection, is all I could ask for sweetheart."

It made Adrian feel something he couldn't quite place but the raptor eagerly picked up the pace, meeting the adults halfway.

Willem didn't seem surprised in the least. In fact, the polar bear took one deep breath before sighing and facepalmed in front of the entire group.

"Lemme guess... you're here for your chicken."

Both Adrian and Levi nodded in unison, sighs of relief echoing over the field as multiple teachers turned on their heels and left.

The polar bear sighed, rubbing over his face once more before motioning to follow. Adrian released a low crow, flicking his tail at Levi before stepping in line.

"You guys make quite a sight. Had half the compound in an uproar." Willem murmured, making Adrian tilt his head before ruffling his feathers.

"We didn't do anything bad though. Just raced a bit." Adrian grumbled, claw tapping against the floor in frustration. Willem snorted, shaking his head before motioning to the two Ferals following him.

"You're a massive prehistoric predator that outmatches most of the shifters here. And your mate over there is fully capable of killing most predators if he wants to and that's without really trying."

Levi raised his head as if it was a compliment, rumbling contently while Adrian simply crooned.

We are quite a match, aren't we...

The polar bear continued to grumble under his breath, pausing at a storage room. After providing the two with some clothes, Levi and Adrian wandered side by side through the hallways, eyes landing on a visibly flustered Darius trying to break off the conversation with the other teachers.

"You think we got to him?" Levi thought wickedly, making Adrian lick his lower lip before chuckling. Subconsciously reaching up to Darius' mark, which he felt pulse steadily.

The second he touched the mark, a low rumble sounded from down the hallway and Darius' head snapped up, instantly locking onto his two mates.

"You-" Stumbling on his feet, pupils dilated and muscles trembling, Darius was an absolute mess to behold. "Do you have any idea-" He waved behind him, to the meeting room he recently exited before releasing a sigh.

Levi simply smiled innocently as Darius approached. "What's got your feathers ruffled, my chickeny friend?"

Darius jabbed a trembling finger against the man's chest, glare silencing Levi as he grumbled, "Hours. Hours?! Are you were-rabbits?! I had to sit here and focus while you two-"

Adrian released a low croon, drawing Darius' attention as the younger raptor leaned in, nuzzling against Darius' throat. "I missed you." He murmured, snuffling contently while Darius sighed and wrapped his arms around the Feral.

"You're a menace. Both of you."

Levi snickered, pressing a kiss to Darius' temple. "But you adore us."

Adrian smiled, listening to the pair playfully bicker while Darius' heart thrummed against his ear. The man sighed, nuzzling against Adrian's hair with a grumbled sigh. "We'll have a discussion later today. I'm done with my meetings, thanks to a certain two, so we can leave."

"Goodie." Levi grinned before guiding the group towards the door. "You need to get freshened up to get rid of those pheromones and then we can enjoy our day outside. Like responsible adults. Not locked away like hormonal teens who discovered the bliss of an orgasm."

Darius didn't reply, simply gave Levi a look before shaking his head. Between Adrian and Levi, he didn't quite know who was going to break his composure first.

And while he wouldn't admit it... he was curious to find out in the flesh.