😂😂😂

DYLAN ||

The whole time Raiden and Taj were in the bedroom talking, Bennett and I could feel how fucking upset and conflicted they felt.

I should really teach my mate how to keep his damn link closed off because I could hear his thoughts the whole time he was gone and on one hand, I was pissed the fuck off that he even had feelings towards Taj, but on the other hand, I knew this was a possibility once Raiden marked Taj, so I completely understood, but even with that, the things they were talking about were honestly so fucking ridiculous.

The bond is clearly going to town on their emotions and they're actually thinking about asking us to keep their bond. They don't even realize that's not even what they want, it's what the bond wants and they weren't meant to be true mates like me and Raiden or Taj and Bennett.

That's why we linked our Dad, Emilio, Miles and Allio to come back and help us explain what's actually happening to our mates.

Sitting in the livingroom, we all patiently waited for Taj and Raiden to find us and ask their foolishness.

Poor Leopards.

"They should be down here any minute." I tell everyone as Bennett snorts from the other couch. I looked over at my boys sleeping in their bassinets on the other side of the living room before I turned my attention towards the kitchen.

Hearing Taj and Raiden coming down the stairs, I give everyone a look we all knew, so we smiled as we saw the leopards walk into the livingroom.

"Oh, I didn't know anyone else was here." Raiden says, swallowing nervously before quickly looking at Taj than sitting next to me as Taj sat next to Bennett.

"We wanted to talk to you and Dylan about something really important, love." Taj tells Bennett, who shoots me a quick side eye.

"I guess everyone here could understand seeing how this has happened to you all in some way." Raiden says looking around the room before looking back at me and grabbing my hands.

"Pups, you know I love you right and nothing could ever change the way I feel about you?" He asks, I nod fully expecting what he was going to say. "Please don't hate me, but um..." He trails off before looking at Taj.

"We kind of wanted to um..." Taj takes a deep breath. "Raiden and I wanted to ask you both how you felt about us keeping our bond?"

Bennett frowns before looking at me and I return it with my own fake shocked expression before smiling at the same time that my brother does.

"That's not what you really want babe." Bennett tells Taj, who frowns and nods his head.

"Yes it is Benny, I want this but we knew we had to talk to you guys about it." Taj kisses my brothers hand. "This is what Raiden and I both want."

I look back at my mate.

"Is that true?" I ask, he nods. "Are you sure? Or is this the bond talking?"

Raiden seems taken aback by my question as he looks at Taj again. "Pups, this is what we want, not the bond talking, this is me."

"Sons?" Dad calls out, causing Taj and Raiden to look at him. "You we're right to say that we all would know how to handle this information because this has happened to us and let me just say that this is the bond fully affecting you, your emotions, your beasts, everything... this is the bond reacting to the brotherly love you already share... it's creating false senses of want inside you both and while yes, there is a connection you share, there's just no way that this is what you truly want." Dad explains before looking at Allio.

"This same thing happened to myself and Liam when he marked me." Allio tells us.

"But, you both chose to break your bond and we want to keep ours, this is what we want." Taj says.

"Are you sure? Deeply? Search your hearts and really find out if this is what you truly want because I can assure you that it's not..."

"It is Liam." Raiden says.

"Why? Why do you want to keep your bond? What is so special about Taj now that wasn't special before your bond? And Taj what is so special about Raiden now that wasn't special before?" Dad asks.

Our leopards seems to think after his question.

"Raiden understands me, he knows what it's like to be a feline, he knows what I need, what I like, how important certain things are to me." Taj smiles.

"Did he not know all of those things before?" Dad asks, causing Taj to frown again.

"Y-yeah I guess he did." Taj says, now looking at Raiden, who hadn't taken his eyes off dad.

"But he's also caring and compassionate and honest, he's a great person and the way I feel for him almost matches the way I feel for Bennett." Taj says.

"Really babe? Are you sure about that?" Bennett asks, raising his eyebrow. "Because I know you love me with everything that your heart is and I also know that you're so damn possessive that you would never actually take another mate if it were your choice in the matter."

"But this is my choice love." Taj tells him, but Bennett shakes his head.

"No it's not Taj, this is the bond making you feel this way.. you've told me yourself how much you love the brotherhood you've built with Raiden, but you also know deep down inside that if he never marked you, than you wouldn't even think twice about mating with him."

Taj goes to open his mouth and shuts it just as quickly before his frown deepens. His eyebrows knit together as he stares into my brothers eyes, confusion written all over his face.

So I look at Raiden who was now staring at me instead of dad. He held the same look as Taj, confusion painting every inch of his features.

"Allio and I wanted to keep our bond as well.. so very much, but we knew that our feelings for each other were forced upon us because of my mate mark... They weren't genuine and that's what makes a beautiful bond, not the fact that you're bound to each other, but the fact that you find each other, build with each other and work towards your love.... The way you feel about each other through this bond should have been the way you felt about each other without the bond and that's not the case." Dad explains, causing our mates to look at him again.

"I'm so confused." Taj whispers.

"Me too." Raiden whispers right after him.

"Well, did you love each other before your bond?" Allio asks.

"No." They both say in unison.

"Did you feel this strongly for each other or even a fraction of what you feel towards each other before your bond?" Miles asks.

"No."

"Any form of attraction? Anything special that you felt drew you towards each other besides the fact that you hold similarities with you both being felines?" Emilio asks.

"No." They both say in unison once again.

"So I think you got your answer on whether or not you actually want to keep this bond." Dad tells them.

Taj looks at Raiden then.

"But I really like him." He says quietly.

"And you always will, you may even come to love him, but that doesn't mean that's it's genuine." Dad says.

"Do you still love Allio?" Raiden asks him and Dad looks away.

I don't miss the moment when he clenched his jaw and shakes his head more to himself than my mate.

"Yes, I think I always will because a marking is eternal, the physical may go away after the rejection, but the emotional can linger."

"How did you get past that?" I ask, genuinely curious about my dads experience.

"I knew my love for Allio wasn't real, it was a reaction to the bond we shared and even once I rejected him and he accepted it, the love I felt for him was still there but it wasn't as strong.... Now it's more like a love between two friends that went through a traumatic experience together and came out stronger because of it." Dad explains.

"For me, it was knowing the love I felt for Liam didn't match the love I felt for Miles." Allio says looking at his mate. "Miles is my everything, the one that I want, the one that I need and even though I still love Liam, I know my love for Miles will always top that."

"Same with mine for Emilio." Dad smiles at his mate before kissing his cheek. "There's nothing that would make me leave this man a second time, not even the fact that I still love Allio because I know I only have feelings for him because of a bond from years ago."

I smile at the parentals, we have truly been blessed with the strongest, smartest and most selfless role models that anyone could ever hope for.

I pray that I can teach my boys these lessons someday.

"I still don't know what to do." Taj states. "This bond is making me so confused."

"Well why don't we just try something?" I offer.

"What?" Raiden asks.

"You both reject each other now that Taj's womb has developed and we give it the 3 days we know your bodies need to process through the mate mark and DNA and stuff.." I shrug. "Then after that, we see if you both actually want to be together, and if you do, than we take it from there."

Wow.. did I really just suggest that?

Man I really have changed for the better because in the beginning of our bond, I would have freaked the fuck out if Raiden would have even thought about some shit like this.

I'm not selfish anymore either for even suggesting this in the first place, this was all my idea with Raiden marking Taj and even understanding the risks, I was still willing to share my mate for the good of Taj and Bennett being able to have cubs of their own. I didn't even freak out earlier when Taj was literally fucking sitting on my mate's lap, crying on his shoulder and rubbing his body and shit.

Dude, I'm so mature now. Like what the fuck! GO ME!

"Will this hurt?" Raiden asks Dad.

"Yes, rejection always hurts, but the pain will subside after a few minutes... just make sure you go to Dylan for anything you may be feeling afterwards, he will help you work through it all." Dad tells him.

"What do I say?"

"I, than your first and last name, hereby reject you, than the person's first and last name that you're rejecting, than as my mate forever and always." Allio says.

My mate takes a deep breath before looking back at me. I smile softly at him before leaning in to kiss him gently, trying my best to show him that I would be there for him after this hard moment in his life.

Once I pull away, he nods then looks at Taj.

"Ready?" He asks softly.

"Ready." Taj confirms.

"I, Raiden Silas, hereby reject you, Taj Haller, as my mate, forever and always."

He sucks in a sharp breath the moment the words left his lips and reaches for me. I grab his hand and pull his head to lay against my shoulder. He took a few deep breaths as his whole body trembled through the pain of a rejection.

"Taj, accept the rejection." Dad says.

"I, Taj Haller, hereby accept your rejection, forever and always."

Taj sucked in the same sharp breath that Raiden did a few seconds ago as he fought through his own pain of the rejection.

"Ahh." He groaned clutching his chest and leaning into Bennett, who wrapped his arms around his mate.

Dad, Emilio, Miles and Allio got up and wrapped their arms around all of us, showing our leopards the love they needed in this rough time.

"I know you both will need some time for healing, so I suggest you stay away from each other at least for these next three days... let the bond do what needs to be done and separate your souls from one another." Emilio whispers.

"Yes I totally agree..." Dad says. "And no hanky panky during this time either, I think everyone would hate for the new cubs to have both felines DNA." He chuckled before Emilio slapped in the back of the head.

I glared at him before shaking my head as Bennett growls quietly.

"Sorry, it wasn't the time for jokes, I'm sorry."

Yeah... he's definitely where I get it from.

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|| FOUR DAYS LATER ||

_________________________

My poor mate has been bedridden the past four days because he's been in so much pain from the rejection. The day that everyone left, he cried and said his heart felt broken.

It was super fucking sad to see him like that.

The only time he's actually gotten up was to pee or help me take care of our boys. Anything else he didn't want to do, not even shower or eat and that man loves food more than he loves me.

I've had to force feed him because he just didn't have the willpower to eat. Seeing how sad he's been these last few days, should have made me jealous but it didn't. I knew he was upset because of the rejection and feeling your soul being ripped from another has to be a painful and emotional process and being able to feel all of Taj's pain as well wasn't exactly helping him, so I just let him feel whatever he needed to feel and I tried to be supportive through everything.

My jealousy or negative emotions wouldn't have helped his shit these past few days.

This morning was a lot better though, seeing how it's now been 4 days and the painful process was over with, now all he had to deal with was the lingering emotional stuff, which he said he could totally handle.

He got up this morning and told me that he couldn't feel Taj or their bond anymore.

After we celebrated, we went downstairs while the boys were still asleep. He cooked some steak for himself while I made eggs and bacon for myself, we ate together then he took a shower.

Now he's actually interacting with our boys, which is something he just couldn't do before this morning and I'm fucking loving it.

They are so damn cute together man and watching him be a dad is like the most sexiest thing ever.

"Hey buddies." He cooed at Gage and Ezra as they laid on our bed staring up at him, while Rhys was in my arms being the clingy fucker that he is.

"All of you are getting so big."

I smiled as he continued to talk to our sons, well the two that actually liked him. Rhys was a clingy fucking jerk and used my damn body as his own, if this boy could, he would totally become one of my ass cheeks.

Today marked the day our boys reached one month old and they have grown so fucking much since the day they were born, it's crazy.

Ezra was still the same huge, chunky, expressionless little fucker that he always was. That boy still hasn't cried since the day he was born and he hasn't cracked a smile either, the most emotion that we could ever pull out of him was a frown and he only gives those to Raiden and his uncle BenBen. He's still super observant and we noticed that he uses his aura a lot more than we originally thought. Like last night when we went into the nursery to check on the boys, Ezra had his aura wrapped protectively around Gage and Rhys. I've never felt him do that before and I wondered if he did it every single night, seeing as he rarely slept more than two hours at a time. He seems very protective of his brothers and it's almost like he really can sense that they are weaker than him, just like Quiweeme said.

Gage is still the loner he loved to be since the day he was born. He still doesn't like being held for very long and he prefers his space to do his own cubby thing. Raiden finds the little things he does hilarious, while I'm still confused as to what he's even been noticing. That boy doesn't do much if you ask me, but Raiden says he does the things that felines do.

Which is stuff like when he eats his bottles, he claws at the air. Raiden says cubs tend to do this when they eat because it's practicing kneading behavior and it calms them. He said Gage follows us with his eyes everytime we're in the same room, which is something that felines do because cubs follow their parents from the time they can walk, but in our case, he's following us with his eyes until he can follow us physically. Then there's the whole calling thing.

Whenever Raiden would huff or grunt at him, Gage would return it with the cutest fucking little mewls. Raiden said that was something all cubs learned to do because feline parents hide their young when they're hunting or if there's danger and they have to learn how to answer back in a way that wouldn't necessarily give away their position. It's also really cool to know that every feline parent's call thing is unique to them and that every cub's mewl is unique to them as well, that's so no other parent could call a cub that wasn't theirs.

Everything I knew about feline shifters was negative, which didn't surprise me because it all came from Dean, Jade and Jake, but knowing my mate the way I do and now having a cub of my own, it's been interesting to learn the positive things about their species.

Rhys on the other hand, was so much like a wolf pup, it was sickening sometimes. The little fucker was the clingiest, hungriest, messiest little boy I've ever met in my 23 years man. He definitely has the pack mentality, he absolutely fucking hates being alone, hates sleeping alone and hates sitting on his own ass. I'm praying for patience as this boy grows because if he's still like this as a teenager, he's getting an old fashioned Alpha ass whooping.

I absolutely refuse to allow grown dick to cling onto me. The only dick I actually want on me every second of everyday is connected to the sexy beast sitting next to me.

The whole situation with Alaric hasn't came into play yet either. He's kept his promise since that day in the hospital when he said he would keep his distance while Rhys was so young, only getting updates through me, Raiden or one of the grand-parentals.

I love Alaric and he was honestly the coolest vampire I've ever met, but ever since finding out he was mated to my pup, I couldn't help but feel overprotective. I felt bad for keeping him away from his beloved, but at the same time, my son is only a pup and I will not allow him to get his vampy, stone cold hands on my child until I felt comfortable with the idea, which probably wouldn't be for awhile.

Maybe once Rhys is old enough to actually tell me what happens, when and how, than I might be willing to accept the idea. Raiden thinks we should allow Alaric to come and visit while we're here to supervise everything, but I shut that shit down really quick.

Nope... Papa wolf is not ready to do that.

__________________________

Watching Raiden blow bubbles at our cub and little hybrid brought another smile to my face as I rocked Rhys in my arms.

"You know you're a great dad, right?" I ask, smiling once my mate looks at me.

"Yeah thanks, I'm pretty awesome." He teases before playfully nudging me with his elbow. "And you're the best dad, seriously I don't know how you do it."

"It's because I'm fucking awesome!" I smile before covering my mouth. "Shit... I mean.. oh damn it.. ugh."

"You know you were born with a potty mouth, you don't have to change yourself for our boys." Raiden laughs, but I roll my eyes.

"I just don't want their first words to be a curse word, if they are, I would feel like shit." I cover my mouth once again before growling at myself. "You know what, I'm done talking."

"You are a mess, pups."

"A sexy mess." I tell him, confidently.

"I can't disagree." He smiles before turning back to our less clingy boys and blowing spit bubbles again.

Shaking my head at their cuteness, I look down at Rhys in my arms, who was staring up at me with his big amber colored eyes.