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'I will get you back for this!' I mouthed to Xavier as I stood in front of his brother Keith, who was looking at me then back Xavier who was several meters away from us.

"What do you want female?" He asked with a huff, looking at me. Although he tried to act annoyed and indifferent in front of me, there was a small hidden amused smile behind that little scowl of his.

I looked at Xavier again who nodded and grinned at me. "I want to ask you if you want to become my mate" I said to him, glaring at Xavier in the process as he tried to hold back his laughter.

"Me? You want to take me as your mate?" Keith asked with a raised brow, that small scowl still present in his lips.

I nodded at that, tilting my head slightly as I looked at him. "Hmph, I suppose I can agree then. I do not want to disappoint mother after all, since she is close with you" he said, trying to act annoyed with it.

"Stop acting so stupid" Xavier called out, earning a scowl and glare from his brother. "Shut up you damn bird!" Keith said, making Xavier snort.

"You're a damn bird too!" Xavier retorted before shifting into his beast form and fly away as Keith, who also shifted into his beast form, chased after him.

I watched in awe as Keith's beautiful phoenix beast form chased after Xavier's white peacock form.

The one thing that I loved about the novel was the little details they would add. Like little crowns on the mating mark if your mate is a king, how the merfolks can naturally create silk and how the phoenix in the novel can use fire magic, being an ancient beast and all that small details.

Although they weren't that powerful of a flame, and can just create small fires, it was still a nice thing to add to the details which made reading it so much worth while.

I let out a soft chuckle, watching as the two of them chased each other. "Oh dear, are they at it again? Xavier does have a knack when it comes to annoying his brother" Erika said, appearing from one of the hallways.

A few of her mates were with her and she had a wide smile on her face. "Yeah, Xavier started it" I chuckled, turning my attention to her and letting the two males be.

"I'm pregnant! Although I don't know if it's male cubs yet again or a female" Erika blurted out with a huge grin.

"Really? That's good to hear!" I said with a smile. "I really hope it's a female" she murmured, gently rubbing her belly.

"I hope so too" I smiled. "Well, we shall get going now. See you around Sera, and do take care of those cubs of mine. They can be quite the troublemakers but they're strong males" She said which a chuckle before leaving.

"Hehe~ don't worry I will" I answered back with a laugh, watching as she left before turning my attention back to Xavier and Keith who were still chasing each other.

"That's enough you two! I'm hungry and I wanna eat" I called out to them, making them stop and Xavier immediately went to me and shifted back into his human form.

"Hm? What you want  to eat little mate? Fruits? Soup? Roasted meat?" Xavier asked as Keith also shifted back into his human form and walked towards us.

"Hmph, you should be greatful your mate stopped us or else I would have roasted you" Keith huffed.

"Correction, our mate" Xavier shot back making me chuckle. "I haven't properly courted her" Keith reasoned. "But you agreed to me my mate, so technically it still counts" I chimed in with a laugh.

"Shush little female" Keith said as he gently flicked my forehead. It didn't hurt though, since it was more of a playful flick in the forehead.

"Hmph" I huffed in response, which made him chuckle as he gently pinched my cheeks. "Looks like I courted a sassy little female" He snorted and continued to pinch my cheeks.

"That's enough brother, let's go. She's hungry" Xavier said as he playfully elbowed Keith on the side.

"Ughhh, fine" Keith groaned as he then picked me up, warning a small squeak of surprise from me.

"Hey! At least carry me properly and not like this!" I complained with a whine as I gently hit his back.

"No can do, little female" he laughed and began walking towards the kitchen, ignoring my complaints and whines. "Xavier!" I whined out but only received a chuckle from my mate.

"Awe, don't worry little mate. He doesn't mean any harm, his always just like that" he said, making me huff in protest.

"This isn't fair!" I whined out with a huff. "Not everything is fair little female" Keith chuckled, making me hit his back again.

"And that little punches of yours don't even tickle" he added with a small laugh which made me groan as I just gave up and let him carry me like that as he and Xavier walked towards the kitchen where some of my mates were already waiting, preparing some food for us to eat.

"Uhh... Do I even need to ask why you're being carried like that?" Carlos asked, looking at me who had a grumpy face and then at Keith who had an amused look on his face.

"No, don't even question it" I huffed as Keith finally put me down. "Damn phoenix" I grumbled with a huff.

"Too bad then, you asked this damn phoenix to be your mate" Keith retorted back and I huffed.

"Looks like you found someone who can keep up with your feisty and sassy personality" Ian chuckled. "Shush little fish" I shushed him, making him raised a brow with a snicker.

"Little fish? Really? Let me guess, you got that from the damn snake?" He asked, and I nodded which made the others laugh.

"Stop teaching her to call us those ridiculous nicknames" Roscoe said, smacking Carlos in the head.

"Damn stupid bear" Carlos grumbled, rubbing the spot where Roscoe had hit him. "Stupid snake" Roscoe grumbled back as he continued to cook the meat.

"Got a lot of sassy and snappy little mates huh? And here I thought only you would be like that" Keith said as he rolled his eyes.

"Shut up" all of us said together as he stared at him, which made him raise a brow and smirk. "Well, I'll be damned. I think I joined a little chaotic family" he said with a laugh.

"But trust me, we might be chaotic but we at least don't fight with each other over stupid reasons like most males in the other families" Xavier said with a chuckle.

"I'll be the judge of that brother" Keith rolled his eyes, but his lips couldn't hide the small amused smile.

••••

Hello there dear readers, I'm sorry if most of the times I have late updates or short chapters. It's just I've been busy with school.

And I also don't wanna drop the book just because I'm busy, not like most book you would find. Because I know some people really look forward to these updates, even they are short. So I really appreciate that!