Adrian wisely stayed away from their dorm, even though he could feel his mark flair up hotly.

With Darius flustered and annoyed at the pair, Levi had jokingly guided the raptor back to their house and had playfully given Darius a slap on the ass. Joking that the man should wash up and take care of himself in the shower.

A grin slipped on Adrian's face, as he still clearly remembered Levi's shocked expression when the man was yanked in the room, the door slammed into the lock a split second later with a barely muffled protest from Levi.

The young raptor knew he couldn't handle another round so despite his mark roaring to life with pleasure, Adrian had sprinted down the hallway and ran back outside.

Because he knew that if he stayed there, caught the slightest whiff of their pheromones, his Rut would take over and make him join.

Now he faced the issue of feeling exactly what they had put Darius through. His face flushed with the emotions and sensations echoing through his mark, making Adrian stumble several times on his feet.

He finally made it to Fiona's clinic and the eagle widened her eyes when Adrian stumbled inside. Pushing out of her seat when the door accidentally slammed against the wall while Adrian slouched over, clutching his knees with shaking hands.

"Suppressors, please." Adrian gritted through his teeth, removing the tension from Fiona's frame as she chuckled and shook her head.

She easily found the vial, filling a syringe as she murmured, "The joy of newly mated couples. Unable to give one another a proper rest yet their bodies are begging for a breather."

Adrian snorted, presenting his arm gratefully for the injection. "Did you have to flee in order to get a breather?" Fiona teased, squawking out a laugh as Adrian couldn't quite deny the claim.

"Not...really. Levi and I had mated while Darius had a meeting and now Darius..." Adrian motioned with his hand, not really knowing how to finish his sentence.

Amusement lightened the eagle's scent as she pursed her lips, biting back a laugh. "I see. I'm sure Levi doesn't mind his noble sacrifice. For now at least."

Grins spread on both their faces as Adrian hummed, not even noticing the slight jab from the injection. "It should work pretty quickly, I increased the dosage slightly as the last one had no effect."

A wave of appreciation swept through Adrian as he could feel tensed up muscles slowly relax under the influence of the suppressors.

It allowed him to lean back in his chair with a sigh of relief, rubbing a hand over his face. Even though his mark was still flaring up, alerting him to Darius' and Levi's activities, he wasn't overwhelmed with them.

"Not for now, at least." Adrian thought, feeling a sharp spike through the mark and smirked. Realizing Darius must've remarked Levi at that moment.

And judging from the way the sensations kept jolting through his body, Darius was nowhere near done with Levi. It was almost amazing how Levi had the stamina to keep going but remembering how his mate had begged him to make it hurt so sweetly...

He might've pushed Darius on purpose to get what he wants.

If that were the case, his mates would be preoccupied for a bit, making Adrian look at Fiona. "Thank you." He breathed with heartfelt gratitude, knowing that he would've become a flustered, twitching mess if not for the suppressants.

"Don't mention it darling, just doing my job." Fiona said as she went about removing the sharp needle and properly disposed of it. "Not to mention that your mating is actually giving me some interesting research data to use."

Adrian snorted in amusement but didn't really protest against the idea of being researched. He knew Fiona didn't mean their physical mating, moreso her research in the suppressants.

After all, Adrian and Darius were among the largest predators on the campus. And both were of ancient blood as well.

While Adrian didn't fully understand everything about the subject, he did know that some shifter species reacted differently to medication compared to others.

Given how rare the Ancient bloodlines were, it only made sense that every member would be studied. Simply to make sure that they didn't experience any adverse effects from medications offered to them.

Plus, it wasn't like Adrian wouldn't benefit from this research. Already he could feel some improvements to the suppressants offered to him, making him sigh and relax a bit more.

"Thank you." He murmured, a genuine smile on his face while Fiona waved his gratitude away.

"Like I said, all in a days' work darling." The eagle washed her hands before drying them on a fluffy towel, smiling back. "To be fair, I was wondering when you guys were going to break out of your honeymoon phase. Or well, simply leave the bedroom long enough to breathe."

Fiona cackled, shaking her head as she made a motion to the building. "Hell, I've seen it happen multiple times. Some species' heat cycles are brutal."

Curiosity made Adrian tilt his head, wondering how exactly things could be worse than this constant drive to breed. Fiona offered a small smile, patting him on the shoulder.

"You think this desire is bad? Wait until you're a poor female ferret, who's body refuses to go out of heat until your bred and can even kill her if she takes too long. Estrogen induced aplastic anemia is a bitch."

Adrian swallowed thickly, feeling his feathers peek through at his nape.

While the sensations coursing through his body were uncomfortable, they weren't lethal. It made Adrian appreciate his heritage a bit more and he said as much against Fiona.

The eagle blinked slowly before clearing her throat. "About that... we got the full results of your blood tests and DNA samples."

"DNA?" Adrian inquired, remembering vaguely that Fiona did mention such tests in the past. They had even requested a single feather and some blood samples from him.

"To check what species your mom and dad are." Fiona simplified before grabbing some papers. "Not that it really matters in your case, but we're always wary of hybrid couples due to potentially lethal genetics."

When Adrian simply stared at Fiona, she cleared her throat, eyes searching through the room as if it would provide her with a hint to simplify what she needed to say.

"Let's say you were a female mated to Darius and Levi. Already you'd be adviced against any offspring with Levi, due to the size difference. Having an elephant-raptor hybrid would probably result in a pregnancy that is lethal for the mother."

Adrian nodded with understanding, remembering how Levi's shift had towered over him, much to his own surprise. Imagining having to carry a young of something that could outgrow him made Adrian cringe.

"Now, imagine if female you bred with Darius and got pregnant. Normally that wouldn't be any issue, given that you're both of the same or similar enough species." Fiona said before raising a delicate finger. "But what if Darius' has some unknown hybrid genetics? What if he's half raptor and half...let's say T-rex."

Adrian swallowed thickly as he understood. Hybrids didn't always visibly show their heritage and would only reveal it in their offspring.

Which meant that an unknown hybrid could accidentally kill their own mate simply through their desire to have offspring.

"Which brings me to my next point. As I said, it doesn't matter since your mating with Levi and Darius won't produce any offspring, but... you are in fact a hybrid."

Fiona smiled when Adrian didn't react right away, instead remained silent. Taking in the news that he wasn't what he thought he was.

"Now before you get nervous, it isn't anything bad really. While both of your parents are indeed a Dakota Raptor, either your mom or your dad had a parent that was a Utah raptor." She looked over her notes before smiling "So technically you're only a quarter Utah Raptor."

Motioning towards Adrian she continued, "I'm only bringing this up because you're entitled to know what you are. And the fact that Darius pointed out that your shift shows certain aspects that are curiously similar to his own. For example, your claws and feathers."

Adrian partially shifted his hands, his claws extending as he frowned at them curiously. They didn't seem that different or special but then again, he wasn't an expert.

A hint of confusion and slight frustration made Adrian release a sound of annoyance. Which made Fiona chuckle in return, even though Adrian spotted some brown feathers peeking through her own hair.

"We contacted council to see if they had any information on your bloodlines." She flicked through the folder that held Adrian's name before presenting a file to him.

The young raptor looked at the paper with interest, raising his brow as he realized what she meant. His height and claw size was larger than what was considered normal for Dakota Raptors.

As for the feathers, his coloration seemed to be an interesting mix of Dakota and Utah raptor. Considering the fact that he was larger than normal, he might even have bigger bones to take care of the extra weight that came with his size.

He hummed, spotting the few handmade notes on a loose page, to which Fiona amended "If things happen with any Hybrid, we always make note. Drug tolerance, unexpected growth spurts..."

She shrugged slightly, motioning to the multiple filing cabinets at her desk. "We keep physical copies in case the power goes down and digital copies are transferred to the Council."

"The Council... observes us?" Adrian felt a slight wariness tickle down his spin, which Fiona quickly soothed away.

"Not in a bad way, I mean, they observe everyone." The eagle tucked Adrian's files away, heels clacking on the floor. "They keep everyone safe and in order to do so, they need to know who they're guarding."

That was... understandable and not what Adrian was expecting. He initially imagined them to be some sort of overlords keeping everyone under a tyrannical thumb.

But thanks to Fiona's explanation, he came to understand the purpose behind the Council.

To keep their charges safe from harm. Be it harm among supernatural or harm due to humans. Keeping a delicate balance that safeguarded both human and supernatural.

Not only that, the Council could be invited to deal with internal affairs. Arguments between hotheaded shifters could be easily settled if a representative of the Council was present and criminals would think twice about treading on the Council's toes.

"Does that mean the Council will judge Ferals whether or not they can live alone?" Voicing his concern made Adrian release a wary thrill, especially when Fiona slowly nodded.

She was quick to explain that the Council only observed the Ferals' behavior and made sure that every Feral was properly educated before they were allowed to roam.

"As Kwame once put it 'Ferals are learning how to people.'" Fiona smiled warmly as she prepared two more syringes. "As a Feral, you already have a lot on your plate with trying to learn or relearn how to be human. Let the adults take some stress and worries away."

She motioned with her jaw to Adrian's mark before questioning "How's the suppressant?"

Adrian blinked, realizing that he was fully relaxed without feeling a hint of any urges. "Good. Better than good even." He smiled, rolling his shoulder before his ears picked up approaching footsteps.

Nose twitching, he grinned and stood up, opening the doorway to reveal Darius giving Levi a piggyback ride. The more mature raptor didn't seem the least bit surprised, instead offering Adrian a wink and a nuzzle against his cheek before greeting Fiona with a tired "We need more suppressants."

The room filled with her sharp laughter as she motioned to the two prepped syringes and patted the examination table. Levi managed to groan as Darius gently placed him down before giving the Utah raptor an accusatory look.

"You fucking broke my ass. And my back!" He groaned, laying down and sighing against the cool material of the examination table. He weakly offered his arm to Fiona, silently begging for the suppressants. "Horny bastard."

Darius merely cocked a brow at the elephant. "Didn't hear you complaining. In fact, I had to drag you out the room and carry you here. So who exactly is the horny bastard here?"

"According to my sore back and ass; you." Levi sassed, squeaking as Fiona gave him a second injection, this time of a clear fluid. "What was that for?!"

The eagle's lips twitched in a strained attempt to stop her smile as she deadpanned, "Healing agent. For your broken ass."

Adrian snorted before barking out his laughter, soon followed by Darius and Fiona while Levi averted his gaze with a slight blush. Darius' fingers easily found Adrian's nape, squeezing gently as he gave his fellow raptor a dark smirk.

"Don't think I forgot your part in these shenanigans darling." His eyes sparkled with a barely veiled promise, making Adrian shiver and thrill in excitement.

All he could do was grin and wink at Levi when the elephant gave a tired chuckle as he slowly rolled off the table. "I may not be a prophet, but I predict another broken ass in the future."

I can only hope.