New chapter yaay! Btw i looovvee the reviews 3 theyre awesome, you lovely people are amazing!

It pained Niroh to see his mate leave with the others. He wanted to go with her to keep an eye on her and never let her out of his sight. But he couldn't be so straight forward. He had to give the female time to accept him. Humans were delicate creatures and needed time to adjust. Hopefully, it wouldn't take long before she warmed up to him.

Tha'nir came over to nudge him on the shoulder. Come brother, before they leave to hunt without us. Niroh reluctantly backed away from the glass and joined his brothers as they filed out of the room and into a hallway that led to the deep dense forest outside.

The cool forest grass felt pleasant as he padded through the forest following the lead of his senior. They were hunting in a pack. Nirohs role was to attack and kill what prey his brothers drove in his direction. If not the deer the Facility had introduced to his planet then it would be retacs, large mammals similar to Earth's rhinos. He would wait for his brothers to corner it and both he and Malek would bring it down.

Hours later, they had killed three retacs and where now resting back at their underground hive. Enough to keep their group of sixty-three sated for a few days. Nirohs spirit fell slightly at the thought of the small number. Only sixty-three. None of the females had survived the disease. There was only males. Despite the small number, they were still standing stronger than the other hives on the planet. He was thankful for that.

Niroh left his brothers in the hive to climb an enormous tree just outside the entrance which it helped cover with its roots. He had done this every night since he allowed the Facility to test his blood and epithelial cells. They had confirmed positive results for a match and he had found the tree to overlook the Facility. There he watched as the carriers came and left with cargo. Niroh preferred to sleep in the tree than in the hive, especially now since his mate was residing at the Facility. This way he would know about the activity of the Facility and be on guard in case it was attacked. The attacks were less and fewer in number the past few months. He supposed they were diminishing in numbers. For this, he felt sorry for them. They would never know what it would be like. Even he didn't know, at least not yet. But he knew what it was like to feel the urge to be with her, to love her and be loved in return.

Niroh settled down in the crook of three large branches and laid his head down on his paws, recalling how he had been like before the Facility. Malek had been the one to introduce the idea of mates to the hive. The group was confused and nervous. All their life, their purpose was to protect and serve the hive and the queen. Nothing else. They had almost rejected the notion completely. Most of the males held back as a few volunteered, including Malek. The much older males who were several hundred years in age did reject the idea and left, not wanting anything to do with the hive any longer. They now fought these elders in the attacks to the Facility. The results were successful however. Except for Maleks. His mate was married. And with child. Both he and the Facility decided to leave her be and not disrupt her life. For a while, it seemed to not bother him. But Niroh as his close companion knew Malek wished things had been different. Because of this, Niroh did not have his blood and epithelial cells tested. That and he still had thought humans weak and were only vessels for the queens young. The thought of mating with a human had disturbed him. Of course, he was eventually tested. Mainly because Malek was called to the Facility again. His mate had lost her child before she could birth it and her husband blamed its death on the poor female. They divorced and after a year the Facility contacted her. Together, he and Malek went through the whole process and procedures. They understood it would take a few months and that the female had the right to refuse him. Niroh felt that it did not matter at the time. Until he met with his brothers from the first testing who had already mated and bonded with their females. He noticed the way they had behaved around them. It was like the female was their new queen. Niroh had tapped into the old hive connection and felt the emotions rolling off them in waves. Since then, his view about mates changed. He now yearned to feel what his brothers had. The bond they shared. Soon, he hoped it would be the same between he and his mate. Right now, he was jealous of his brothers. They were now married in human terms and living in a large hive a few miles from the Facility with young.

Niroh wanted young. Many, many young. But his mate was small and still young herself. Niroh sighed and closed his eyes, settling in to sleep. It did not matter. Once bonded, they would have a few hundred years to work on that. With that thought, he drifted off to sleep.

Back in their rooms, Raven had gotten Nika back. She was now in Ravens lap being stroked while her owner talked with Sarah via skype on her iPad.

"God," Raven was saying in disbelief "He's just so…so…argh!" she groaned into her hands.

Sarah laughed softly "Yeah, it's…its crazy." A moment of silence passed between them.

"Hey, Raven?"

"Yeah?" she answered looking up to the screen.

"You felt…'that' didn't you?" Sarah asked nervously, hoping Raven knew as to what she was referring to.

Raven cocked an eyebrow. "'That' as in the strange undeniable feeling of love and an impossible attraction?"

Sarah burst out laughing. "Yeah that. Thank God, I wasn't the only one. That feeling was weird as hell!"

"It felt soo weird" Raven agreed. "Like you've known him your whole life but haven't ever seen him before. An-and you almost feel like you've loved him forever, but you don't even know him!" Both girls where laughing now, the stress now faded and gone.

"Did you also feel…uh…you know?" Sarah twirled some strands of her hair and her cheeks went bright pink.

At first raven didn't understand, but immediately realized what her best friend was talking about when she noticed her blush. Ravens face then turned a light crimson red and she buried her face in a nearby pillow. The movement annoyed the feline in her lap which stood up and left to her pet carrier. Raven groaned into the pillow. "You mean…the attraction." her words muffled through the pillow. The thing was, it wasn't just simple attraction. When she had gone up to the panel, it was almost as if she could feel the energy he gave off. Something else as well. Just standing there, looking at him, admiring his form, his strength and the power that he radiated. Just that in itself had made her all hot and bothered. She was a little ashamed of that. That she had no control over her own reaction. Honestly, it kind of scared her.

Sarah nodded, her face still pink but she now held a smirk. Raven nodded. "Yes…I did." she embarrassingly admitted looking down, not wanting to meet her friends eyes.

"They said it was normal!" Sarah kind of whined. "It doesn't feel normal."

"No, No it doesn't, does it?" a long pause. "I'm tired." Raven finally sighed. "I want to take a nap before they call us back out for dinner. I'll see you then, k?" she smiled and blew Sarah a kiss.

Sarah returned the gesture. "K." They both ended the call and closed the app.

Its all sweet and simple now but how bout we see if we can shake things up a little in later chapters?...ok maybe more than a little ;)