Watching his youngest brother dart carelessly into the opening of the abandoned lair, Ares swore under his breath and followed, extending his stride to hopelessly try to catch up with Senri. Though he somewhat understood the kit's drive – or so he told himself – internally, his mind was running countless scenarios of how it could go bad if Hepaistos had the nerve to lay in wait for them.
And entering the underground tunnel, not for the first time, he regretted banishing the fucker instead of tearing his throat out. At the time, it seemed like a more painful option, and for all he did, Ares needed to inflict as much pain as possible… and death just seemed like a too-easy punishment. Too good for the kin-slayer who not only robbed them of their parents but later spend years trying to murder his youngest brother!
Now he fully intended to rectify that mistake and take the fucker's head – because, after this stunt, Hepaistos couldn't be allowed to leave this mountain alive. Even if that was the last thing Ares would do, he would tear the bastard to pieces and….
He skidded to a stop suddenly, furiously sniffing the stagnant air filling the passage before his gaze darted to the steel door he just passed, then toward the turn of the corridor his brother disappeared behind. Senri was utterly focused on getting to his mate and apparently ignored the whiff of the citrus scent… and he really should follow him and make sure that the kit in his haste doesn't slam right into Hepaistos's trap… or something, but that lemon-like scent tasted of distress and instantly sparked his instincts into a frenzy.
He recognized it instantly, obviously, and tossing another look toward the direction Senri left in, Ares swore again and Shifted, taking a humanoid form and turning toward the locked door. His brother was a hybrid and, if pressed, could disintegrate the fucker with less than a thought, while his mate's brother he could hardly expect to fend for himself… or so he told himself as he pressed his hand against the steel and unmade the whole thing. His unbidden curiosity surely had nothing to do with this, he somewhat deluded himself as he stepped into a small nook apparently turned into a cell.
The reason behind the kit's distress was obvious enough and turned the blood in Ares's veins into pure frost as he took stock of the interior. Empty but for a pile of hay and a bucket, the nook was tiny yet somehow made the small figure stuck in the middle of it seem even smaller. With a black material wrapped around his head, the teen didn't even twitch when he entered, but how his citrus scent spiked with fear was like a punch in the gut for a shapeshifter.
He already guessed how their uncle took the twins without any sign of struggle, but to think that even knowing – or at least suspecting their inheritance – the fucker would dare to put them in this sort of place and even deny them movement? It's been fucking hours… Was this kit stuck like this the whole time…?
"I'll rip his head off for this travesty," he hissed under his breath, nearing the immobile teenager. And swore internally when his scent thickened with that offensive tang of fear. Offensive because, considering their blood, the twins should know nothing but care and not... this. "Don't fret, kitten, I'm Senri's brother, and I wouldn't hurt you," he said soothingly and carefully pulled the black material off the teen's head, biting back a smile when the gorgeous cyan eyes widened impossibly but at least his fear seemed to melt away. Briefly thinking back to his encounter with the red-eyed twin and comparing them involuntarily, he would say that they looked less like twins than he and Senri did, despite the age gap between him and his youngest brother. Damon's red hair was much, much longer and bound into a braid that ended at the length of his waist, and his features were slightly more delicate, not to mention the obvious difference in their eye color. He did look – like his twin – like cuteness incarnate, so much smaller and nearly fragile compared to Ares's humanoid form… but opposite to his brother, probably, he would be inclined to admit that it disappointed him on some level. It was ridiculous, considering that he knew their age setting off, but this kit… well, despite his downright delicious scent, just looked too young and innocent for him. At over two hundred years old – not to mention his experience – Ares wasn't really interested in dating a human kit, even if he was, in fact, as Allagan as his twin. Hiding any of that from his expression, he smiled into the cyan eyes, hoping it was comforting enough as he opened his mouth again, at the same time reaching toward his gift. "You can move and speak, Damon," he said, pointedly backing away a step and quite glad that he did think to cover his form with an attire while Shifting. He hardly wanted to spook the kid more than he already was…
The redhead flinched, then exhaled deeply if his cyan eyes never left his face.
"…Ares?" he asked, and the shapeshifter nodded before looking toward the corridor over his shoulder and considering his options. Hades, with more than a few members of their Clan, was outside, surrounding the span of the forest nearby in case their uncle wanted to give them the slip instead of facing them. And he really should move on and check on Senri and his mate, if he didn't doubt that by now, his brother had to find him and… "God, but you're fucking identical," he blinked. His eyes darted back toward the redhead, somewhat taken aback not only by his foul language but more so by the look in the crystalline irises.
When he stumbled into Raha, Ares mostly let the kid be because of the way his crimson eyes clearly showed the boy's youth and innocence, only adding to his cuteness by somewhat reminding him of his baby brother. But this twin's eyes… showed none of that, instead looking toward him with almost inhumane cold calculation while the full, plush lips tilted into a distinctively devious smirk.
…and he would lie if he didn't admit that suddenly he was far more intrigued by that look than by his citrus scent…
"If you do rip the asshole's head off… can I watch?" the slightly haughty tone was almost funny while the teen visibly rolled his shoulders and grimaced slightly, looking back toward the opening that used to be a door. "God… I don't know how long it was, but I feel completely stiff. What the fuck did he do to me…? And where is Raha?" Damon tossed him an expectant look, and Ares blinked, looking away when he realized he was staring. He cleared his throat a tad awkwardly and moved around him at a safe distance, heading out of the small nook and motioning for the teen to follow.
"Some of ours are born with a gift to manipulate others," he said. "And if I do get my paws on him, you're welcome to watch," he tossed him a smirk over his shoulder and Shifted seamlessly, going back to his natural shape.
"…if?" the displeased tone startled him almost as much as the hand suddenly fisting in the fur at the base of his neck… not to mention the blaze of cyan fire in the crystalline irises when he looked back into them, twitching his whiskers with a hint of uncertainty. Because for someone so young… the sight of murderous glare was a tad unnerving. And again: intriguing. Especially since very, very few would have the nerve to touch him without first asking for permission.
Since the moment he took over their Clan, all he knew from his peers was submission, and perhaps the complete lack of it in the cyan eyes and the almost brutal grip at his neck was because of that far, far more arousing than it had any right to be. He shook his head slightly, trying to clear it but didn't attempt to shake off the teen's hand – as he perhaps should – instead pulling him along the corridor and following his brother's scent.
"That asshole is more likely to try to run away than face me," he said with disdain, feeling his tail whip with unbidden annoyance. Hardly anyone dared to defy him… and it was boring. Only Hades was likely to face him head-on if he believed that Ares needed an ass-kicking, if never in front of anyone else – but his younger brother was not only also a hybrid but completely immune to the compulsion, too.
"Then I do hope you had a good sense to have the place surrounded before getting in," the slightly snobbish tone of that almost made him snort.
"Obviously," he replied if carefully looking forward when they cleared the corner. Now – having the teen's safety at the forefront of his mind – he moved carefully if he would lie not to admit that he was intrigued by the thickening with every step scent of spices. He vaguely recognized it as the other's redhead scent, but there was something distinctively… off about it now. Frankly: it was growing too strong for it to be natural, and despite not really being interested… with every whiff of it, his gut tightened with arousal, not unlike if someone filled the air with a pure aphrodisiac.
Did that mean that Raha did Shift…? He wasn't sure – as after over a thousand years, Allag were more of a myth than history – and those did tend to be colored up… or so he always assumed, anyway.
"Why did that asshole kidnap me, though?" Damon asked in a whisper if he sounded more annoyed than unnerved. "I get Raha if he has some sort of beef with you… but why me?"
Ares almost cringed internally, stopping and looking at the teen. If his twin did indeed Shift… he couldn't drag him into that without warning – especially considering the circumstances. He looked for words for a moment, then sighed with resignation and sat back on his haunches, still somewhat surprised that Damon didn't seem at all unnerved by his size. The teen frowned and almost reluctantly pulled his hand back from Ares's neck, crossing his arms over his chest and staring at him expectantly.
"That… man is our uncle, and when Senri was a kit, he murdered our parents," he said calmly, watching the twin's expression barely twitch, if his full lips thinned noticeably. "Our father was the leader of our Clan, and at the time, I was considered too young to take over… and the fucker made it look like they were killed by… another Clan, so our clanmates made him a temporary leader until I reached maturity. The thing is, Miqo'te are split into two distinctive… races, in human terms, I guess. Seekers and Keepers, to make it simple, and both are on very bad terms with each other. Our father, a Seeker, had the idea to unite his Clan with that of our mother, a Keeper, and our… my brothers and mine… arrival was taken by our kind as the sign of our goddess's approval. In very broad strokes: we're the first known hybrids of both in more than a thousand years…."
"Ah… and with Bastet being known as the goddess of fertility, among other things, that would make sense," Damon hummed, and Ares smiled involuntarily, nodding.
"Yes, that… But when our parents were killed, this man – Hepaistos – was the one that brought their bodies back and swore that he saw the Keepers assailants leaving the scene. In the end, it wasn't even a lie since we later found out that he… hired members of another Keeper Clan to do it. Not all were happy by the perspective of unity with the Seekers," he added when the teen scowled. "Anyway… As I said before, some of our kind are born with a natural inclination to rule, usually at least two kits per generation, and those are always having a priority for the position of a leader. Like our father and his brother in their generation and me and Senri in ours. When our uncle took over, he set out to discredit me as the future leader using the fact that I'm a hybrid and saying that what happened with our parents proved that Keepers couldn't be trusted. I suppose that doing anything more than that would be far too suspicious, but soon… Senri became the most unlucky kit in the history of our lair. We weren't allowed to leave – ironically for our so-called safety – and our relatives on our mother's side were denied access to us for the same reason. When Senri was still too young for his first Shift, our middle brother – Hades, who's only a little bit younger than me – left him but for a moment and came back to our baby brother choking on a poison while refusing to part his jaw…."
"…compelled?" the teen paled noticeably, but his crystalline eyes narrowed with that cold calculation again.
"Mhmm," he hummed in assent, despite how his gut tightened with the memory of the terror he felt when Hades's enraged howl brought him into their then-shared nook. "We managed to save Sen… but it was a potent lesson. Hades, who was born with a natural immunity to the compulsion, put his paw down and refused to take his eyes off Senri – or let him leave his side – until I grew into my… power and could take over. Being hybrids, our natural skills are much more… potent than our pureblooded cousins, but because of that, we also aged at a much slower rate than them. So… it took years longer than it should, and to keep Senri safe and complaint… Well, we ended up stuffing his head to the brim with our kind's greatest… myth," he shrugged a tad helplessly, clearing his throat a tad awkwardly while… staring when the said 'myth' quirked his dark-red eyebrows slightly in confusion. "You see, Damon… According to it, long ago, there were three… races of our people, not two. The third – Allag – was the smallest one, but they were our goddess's favorite. Their lair, the grandest of them all, was Her court, and as the story went… Bast lived among them, inviting only those of the greatest skill to attend Her presence. And sometimes, those lucky few would return to their lairs accompanied by a… mate from the Allagan Clan, which was the grandest honor and proof of Bastet's favor. Allag, by their magic, among other things, were… smaller but also more intellectually inclined, and their presence brought joy and prosperity to our people. By Her wish, they worked as Bast's spokesmen and our spiritual leaders, championing unity. And some of the hybrids born of such unions… were most beautiful and powerful…."
"…some?" Damon tilted his head curiously.
"Some... as others were born Allag, too, and before reaching puberty were sent to attend our goddess's needs, to leave once more only when… mated," he said carefully, then wrinkled his nose slightly. "I never really understood that part of this story… but Hades, who most often spun it for Senri, told me once that he thought that it's likely either something completely made up as the years passed, or had something to do with the fact that some of the… passages, let's say, mentioned that the Allagans were in some way… different from the rest of us. How… we couldn't find, but it seemed that it was… dangerous for them to stay anywhere but in Allagan's lair and under Bastet's care when mature and unbound," and now, tasting the spicy scent tinging the air around them was giving him an impression that he could guess the reason behind it. If it was truly coming from the other redhead – his brother's mate – he should be wholly immune to that in normal circumstances. At some level, he was almost curious about how did it affect Senri… if feeling the increasingly mounting aggression and arousal accompanying every inhale, Ares thought that he could somewhat imagine that heading toward the direction of that scent too soon wouldn't be smart. "But when it became known that they could… breed not only with us but also with humans, some took it for an abomination. Some… raided the Allagan lair and slew every male, female, and kit… and that atrocity earned us Bast's scorn. She created us to guard Her temples, yet proving unable to protect Her favorite children… She turned away from us, and the Clans split, blaming each other for the tragedy. Those few remaining Allag already mated were guarded jealously… but bore no more Allagan young for their mates, proving Bastet's displeasure. According to that myth… before that, we were immortal, but with that failure that also was stripped from our kind, eventually leading to the Allag's extinction… and leaving the rest warring for more than a thousand years."
"…and you're telling me that lovely story because...?" Damon asked suspiciously, dropping his arms to his sides.
"Because…" Ares sighed, then motioned with his triangular head toward the end of the long corridor filled with his twin's scent – if the teen seemed unaffected by it. "…all of those stories agreed on one thing, Damon. Allag were famed for their crimson eyes."
The human-looking teenager blinked slowly, then understanding dawned on his features, and his jaw tightened noticeably.
"So… you think Raha's… that Allag-thing?" he gritted out, and the hands at his sides curled into fists.
"I think… both of you are," he admitted softly if a tad baffled by the fiery anger mounting in the cyan eyes. "He was just… born showing it more obviously. When I met him… Well, I noticed his eyes, obviously, but I didn't think of it much. Senri… well, always had the keenest senses out of us, and perhaps his reaction to sniffing Raha's scent on me should be a clue enough… but the silly kit never thought to admit to us that he was dreaming of the red-eyed redhead for more than a year."
"Huh?" the anger melted under the obvious confusion.
"Ah… some of the stories mentioned that when visiting the Allagan Clan, the first mark of being… claimed were the dreams," he chuckled involuntarily at the teen's baffled expression. "Claimed by an Allag, I mean. Some stated it was facilitated by Bast, and some that it was Allag's way of picking a matching partner… And I don't know which one is correct, but apparently, for more than a year, your brother was invading mine's consciousness. Senri told me that he believed that it was his fascination with the stories that caused it, and only after hearing of my encounter with Raha he got the idea that it could be something more than that. And… I have to ask you, Damon, not to… blame him for all of this," he sighed and lowered his head slightly in a plea, missing the way the teenager was startled by that. "He already blames himself plenty, undeservedly, while he couldn't know that Hepaistos was in your town. After I banished him, returning here is the death sentence in itself… and even I wouldn't think he would dare. For us, your appearance is a blessing… A sign that perhaps Bast is ready to offer us another chance and… Well, Sen is young and excitable by nature. And after we were free to do so… perhaps we – Hades and me – spoiled him a little, trying to make up for… earlier. He's a good kit, and I can promise you that he will treat your brother right… So, please, don't hold this whole mess against him, okay?"
"I think… you're misunderstanding my anger, Ares," the teen's voice sounded almost as chilling as the look in his cyan eyes when he met their narrowed glare… and the blaze burning in them caught him off guard almost as much as the heat he felt at sight. "I would have to be blind and deaf not to see how… caring Senri is about my twin and if anything… I wish them the best, but… If all you're telling me is right, and we're those… Allag, I guess… And that's why his eyes are red… I'm just pissed off that you didn't find him sooner! My whole life, I had to watch others… pick on him for that eye color, and now you're telling me that for yours, it's some sign of… royalty or something? If I knew, I would fucking shove him into your lair when we were kids!"
Ares blinked at the statement, then grinned involuntarily, half-consciously more than pleased when the teenager didn't flinch at the sight. This – the obvious care for a sibling and anger behind the crystalline irises at his mistreatment – he could more than understand. Then a new note in surrounding them scent prickled his nose… and he involuntarily exhaled softly with relief when it waned swiftly. Or perhaps more accurately: its effect on his senses dimmed. He didn't really need to guess to know the reason behind it: Senri found and claimed his mate. Which he had to assume meant they were at least safe.
"I wish it were the case," he said toward Damon. "Among ours… you will be revered as you deserve, kid. And I hope… that Hepaistos's mistreatment won't discourage you from letting us care for you and your brother."
"Huh?" the teen frowned, then bit his lower lip, and the sight was… distracting enough that Ares shook his head slightly and looked away.
"I… well, spoke of it at length with your parents," he said carefully. "And other than going back to reassure them you're safe… I hope you'll consider moving into our lair. I have… quite a good reason to believe that's what Raha will do, but I don't want to make you feel forced to follow him."
"I don't… understand," Damon said, and the strange note in his voice had him meet his confused gaze.
"Damon…" he trailed off, for a moment looking for correct words, then finally decided to go with complete honesty. It's not like – if his assumptions were correct – the teen wasn't bound to see the reason behind it soon, anyway. "To find you, I put Senri to sleep with a directive to… mate with Raha. Hepaistos used magic to mask your scents, so we didn't really have another choice than to try it, and we didn't know about this place. Senri told me that throughout the day, he could see that the stories about the Allag – in Raha's case – were quite looking to be true. He was turning – rapidly – to a Miqo'te," he added, and the teen's cyan eyes shoot wide open as his jaw dropped slightly. "That, according to the stories, was what allowed the Allagans to inbreed across the species: their physiology adjusting to that of their chosen mate. We think that Senri being a hybrid accelerated that shift for Raha, but by now… Well, I have a reason to believe that by now he's fully a shapeshifter, Damon," he said, then added softly. "Hence… he can't stay among humans. He's far, far too precious… as you are, boy, but you, I can and want to offer a choice. Being mostly human – or so I think, looking at your eyes – you can stay with your parents while I'll assign a few of ours to watch over you and your father. He's happily married to your mother, and I'm determined to respect that, while I do admit I was bold enough to suggest to them that having more kits… kids would be very much appreciated," he Shifted to his humanoid form and smiled a tad wryly, running his fingers through his hair and completely missing the strangely hungry look in the cyan eyes as he looked about both sides of the corridor they were in. "But you are an unknown, Damon," he sighed and turned his eyes toward the teen, smiling sheepishly. "Unless you suddenly show up in… one of our' dreams, I don't like the idea of forcing onto you any kind of… expectations. Hades, who is much more knowledgeable about these things, I admit, suggested that it… works based on proximity and pheromones. According to his theory… surrounded by our people, it's possible that you would start turning as your brother did. Or not, we really don't know, so I wish… to let you pick, boy."
"…boy?" the teen repeated slowly, and his face and eyes grew unreadable. "I seem to recall that Senri mentioned that… you were interested in me."
"I…" Ares cringed slightly and looked away from the crystalline eyes, clearing his throat awkwardly as he shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "Like I said… we matured slower, Damon. I might look young, but I'm over two hundred years old, and I'm not in the habit of… dating humans, especially as young as you. I might… ah... I do like your scent, and for us, it's… well, important in mating, but… I have responsibilities toward my people and you – especially if you choose to accept my invitation…" he trailed off, frowning involuntarily at the sight of a downright devilish smirk gracing the youthful face of the redhead.
"You know… you're cute when you squirm," Damon snickered, and he narrowed his eyes with offense.
"…cute?" he repeated as if that was an insult, then blinked with surprise when the teen's smirk bloomed into a devious grin, and his hand shoot up, fisting in his shirt and pulling him closer.
"Very cute," the teen drawled, surely to piss him off… if the look in the crystalline irises was any indication, while his citrus scent spiked, and despite his misgivings, Ares couldn't resist taking a deeper breath, barely managing to stifle an instinctive growl of appreciation. "Aww… something wrong, Ares?" the flutter of dark-red lashes seemed a tad too innocent in combination with that grin, but he shook his head, cleared his throat, and carefully unfolded the teen's hand, straightening to his full height.
"We should check on your brother," he said, hoping to change the topic. Intently trying to convince himself that he wasn't interested in finding out if those plush lips tasted as good as his scent seemed to promise. Other than the reasons he already pointed out, there was another that he didn't plan to discuss with someone so… young and innocent. Because despite the lack of it in his behavior, he could literally smell on him the lack of sexual experience. Which was another very, very good reason to keep his paws off him.
Plainly: Ares liked to take his lovers rough, and this… whiff of a cute redhead seemed just… too soft to handle him. Plus, whether he turned or not, Damon's blood made him far too precious to risk harming him.
Not to mention how fucking upsetting it would be if he did turn and ended up picking someone else…
Realizing that he was still holding his hand, Ares let go and backed away, shaking his head to clear it, looking anywhere but at the teen as he headed down the corridor.
"Mmm… I do like a challenge," he heard behind him but choose to ignore it.
Senri wasn't exactly sure what happened after he disintegrated the door baring him from his mate, and Raha's scent with full force slammed down his throat right before a flash of crimson slammed into him and pinned him down with an infuriated hiss. He had only a moment of clarity before a toothy maw clamped around his neck and tore a whine from his throat as his body went plaint instinctively, shuddering violently when a distinctively smaller form climbed his back accompanied by the vibrations of enraged sounds.
After that, it got blurred out by the furious torrent of the heady mix of lust and pleasure flooding his senses when his mate mounted him unceremoniously, then fucked him into submission… in their true form, answering his whimpers with aggressive growls. Lost in the mix of feelings and sensations, he would be hard-pressed to say how long it took before his senses reassembled themselves, prompted to it when Raha's jaw relaxed and he sagged against his back, groaning weakly.
"Is this… another dream?" he slurred slowly after a moment, and Senri blinked, trying to connect the words to the meaning.
"No, kitten, I found you," he sagged with relief, closing his eyes and drowning in the pleasure of the male's heat and spicy scent. Then a weird sound made his ears twitch, and he wrinkled his nose, mulling over what it reminded him of. Something like… a flutter?
"No, Senri… Can't be real," his lover sighed, burying his nose in his fur. That sound repeated, and he turned his head, looking toward it… and froze, staring. "I'm sleeping and dreaming about being a fucking Sphinx or something, and fucking you like that… How screwed up is it…? I have issues, man… That's a sign…"
"Raha…" he breathed, not daring to move a muscle when a glorious red wing protruding from his lover's back moved slowly, electing that soft, fluttering sound.
And suddenly, so many of the stories he grew up to make so much more sense… Bastet's favored children, indeed… In his true form, Raha looked like him, if he was much smaller (without counting in the span of those wings) and covered in the crimson fur that seamlessly turned into red feathers. Splayed around them, it seemed almost like blasphemy to let this glory touch the dirty floor, so without much thought, Senri carefully climbed to all fours, grinning involuntarily with glee when his mate grumbled a complaint sleepily and tightened his paws around him securely, perhaps instinctively folding his wings.
When he carefully turned toward the now nonexistent door, he startled a bit seeing Ares – in his humanoid form – stop at the threshold and was a tad tempted to snort at his expanse when his brother's jaw dropped, and he stared toward his back with too-obvious shock written all over his face. A moment later, Damon appeared on his side, and as relieved as he felt to see that the other twin seemed okay, he was a tad baffled, too, to see none of that surprise he felt show on his face.
"What is that?" the redhead asked, pointing toward his twin and looking at Ares expectantly, explaining his reaction.
"Great… Now it's getting even weirder," his mate grumbled petulantly, and Senri frowned with confusion.
"What do you mean, kitten?" he asked, turning his head to look at him and again almost snorted at the deadpan stare to the crimson eyes, now with very thin, vertical pupils. At the same time as Damon gasped, and a quick look toward him showed impossibly wide-open eyes and a slightly parted mouth.
"Because now I'm dreaming of Damon – with you – watching… What the fuck…? Think I need therapy or something…" he trailed off with a sigh, and Senri looked toward his brother with confusion, not really understanding half of that statement.
"I think… he's in shock," his eldest brother offered after clearing his throat and visibly collecting himself. He stepped inside the small nook carefully and soon kneeled next to them, never taking his eyes off his mate. "Raha, that man who took you… Where is he? His scent cuts off by the door," he added at Senri's quiet growl.
"Dunno," his lover sighed again and tightened his grip around him as his wings fluttered madly for a moment before settling again. "Probably, he's going to be there when I wake up."
"You're awake, boy," his brother said softly. "We found you, you are safe… But I need to know if you have seen him."
"No, no, no… I'm dreaming about being a nympho Sphinx and my brother watching… Yup, therapy, and perhaps someday I can look in Damon's face without cringing…." Raha muttered, and Ares's expression twitched. Knowing him as Senri did, he could clearly see his brother was stopping himself from laughing, and he made a mental note to ask him what was that 'therapy' his lover apparently needed. Hoping it was something he could learn to provide, he nudged his paw against his brother's knee.
"Can I take him home?" he asked, looking between him and his mate's brother. "Our home, I mean?"
Ares looked thoughtful for a moment, then finally hummed assent, nodding slowly.
"You better do, yes," he said slowly in their language, then a small smile appeared on his face. "And you do parade him a bit before ours while doing so, hm? Hades should be by the entrance, I'm sure he will assign you a proper escort, baby brother. Meanwhile, I'll take Damon back to their parents to reassure them while we have others scour this lair top to bottom. If the bastard is hiding somewhere inside, we'll find him."
"He can't be allowed to slip, Ares," he said softly, looking meaningful toward the cyan-eyed twin, who still looked quite shell-shocked, standing on the threshold and gawking. "Raha's mine now, but…."
"I know, Sen," his brother rubbed his hand over his head, then nudged him toward the exit. "Now, go and don't fret. I won't let anyone within touching distance of him."
Reassured, he nodded then, careful as not to shake up his mate more than necessary, neared the door and looked up into Damon's pale face and wide eyes stuck on his back.
"That's how you'll look if you mate with one of ours," he couldn't resist saying, or snickering when Damon's eyes shot toward his, widened even more, then returned to his twin.
"That's… really Raha?" he breathed in their language.
"Mhmm," he nodded, twitching his whiskers with amusement. "Now, if you excuse me…?" he trailed off when a downright blinding grin blossomed on the redhead's face.
"That's so cool!" he gushed, then moved around him and reached toward his brother, and switched to English. "Hey, hey… Raha, you there?"
"Leave me alone, asshole," his lover slurred, burying his muzzle in Senri's fur. "God, this is so messed up…"
"Okay, that's definitely him," Damon snickered and moved away, letting him pass while adding in their language. "He's always cranky when he is sleepy, Senri."
"Noted," he chuckled and headed out toward the surface and his other brother, perhaps a tad giddy to show off his prize.
Despite the situation… Well, it wasn't exactly every day that one's dreams came true, so he could be excused by feeling quite excited for once!
