The moment I saw that dark expression go across Dad's face, I knew something was wrong. I've never seen him react like that before. He's usually laid-back and cool about things.

I pushed his arms off Damian and got in front of him, arms crossed. "Okay, you need to chill." I say, despite my racing heart, which I'm sure they can both hear. Dad stared at me for a moment, before walking over to the brown chair in front of his desk. He sighed as he sat, the creaking of the chair from his weight echoing throughout the room. Damian and I walk closer to the desk and lean on it. "Dad, what's wrong? Is it really that big of a deal?" I ask, my exhaustion being heard through my voice.

He rubs his face, exhausted, with his elbows on the table. "I'm not supposed to be talking about this, but seeing as you're close to finding your mate and becoming Alphas, I'll tel-" Damian cuts him off before he can finish that statement.

"What do you mean by being 'close to finding our mate'? How can you tell?" He asks, leaning closer to the desk. Dad pauses, irritated at being interrupted.

"I can tell by how you've been acting. Damian has been happier than I've seen in a while, which is a common trait in feeling ease before meeting your ma- wait," he says, before looking closely at us. He quickly jumps up with a large smile on his face. "You've already found your mate! Who is he? Or she? Or they? Did you meet them at school? Was this why you've spent all this time in the woods? I'm so hap-"

I quickly interrupt him. "Stop! Please, oh my god. You're embarrassing us! Stop acting like a fangirl, please! It's creepy coming from you!" I breathe out while getting off the desk and backing away, towards the door. Damian sighs at the both of us. He puts his hands on the desk before clearing his throat.

"Can we please get back to the subject at hand? We can talk about Yuki afterwords," he says in a placating tone of voice. Dad sighs, nodding and sitting back in the chair. Jeez, if they sigh anymore, then their souls are going to escape. I walk back to the desk as well with my head down like a scolded puppy. Damian sighs in relief, yet another sigh, as Dad opens his mouth to speak again, with a serious expression on his face.

"Can you at least tell me if Yuki is a boy or a girl or non-binary because I think, as your father, I have a right to know what gen-"

"Dad!" My brother and I shout, exasperated. Dad throws his hands up in a surrendering pose, looking ashamed.

"Sorry, sorry. Okay, so... Oh, yes! Cat shifters! This subject is highly sensitive and top secret in the supernatural world, and I'm trusting you not to let any of this information be released to the general public. This goes back to the beginning of when werewolves were formed. A branch of werewolves went and lived in the tropics and started... adapting. They grew up with a lot of wild cats and started accumulating cat traits such as longer tails, softer fur, and more defined claws. Time went on, and they started just having cats as their spirit animals. Normally, this wouldn't be possible, but this certain branch of werewolves were easily adaptable in situations such as these. And the magic of whatever caused people to be able to turn people into werewolves in the first place must've helped out with this. Or at least that's what werewolves who know the secret have deducted. So, eventually, these shifters started being called cat shifters or werecats instead of werewolves or wolf shifters. They lived peacefully in forests, choosing to stay hidden. There were as many werewolves as there were cat shifters. Cat shifters, somehow, were much more beautiful. They were graceful and magnificent. Some males even had the ability to have children," Dad said, and let his eyes close with a sad smile on his tired face. "Sadly, these traits are what caused hunters to desire them."

Damian and I stiffened as Dad continued. "The werecats were targets for hunters. Most, after being caught, were forced to live terrible lives. They were trapped in fighting rings and forced in breeding cages. After being bred in these breeding cages, their children were forcibly taken away from them and sent off to another location to be forced to fight and/or be bred when they come of age. All these instances kept happening until their ability to have children dwindled, female and male alike." Dad sighs, but continues. "Now, there are only three cat shifters in existence." I gaped in horror. Damian had an identical expression.

"I think it's fair that you tell me where you heard of a cat shifter. Now," he demanded. Damian looked to me with a nervous expression. I swallowed and spoke.

"Yuki is a cat shifter. And he's our mate."

There was a pregnant pause of silence. Then Dad swayed in his chair. And then?

He fainted.

*-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-**-*

2 hours later

Damian and I ended up sitting on the floor, leaning against the desk. Dad was still behind it, laying face-first on the floor next to the chair. I could've over him to a more comfortable position, but I didn't really feel like it.

"We're about to be caught up in some deep shit, aren't we, Damian?" I asked with a sigh. He looked over at me with a sad smile on his face.

"Yeah, I guess so. I'd do anything for Yuki, though. That's what mates do. We be there for each other," he said with a melancholy face, but with determination alight in his eyes. I nodded. A smile spread across my face unwillingly as I thought of our beautiful mate. I still can't believe we were lucky enough to be mates with such a beautiful creature. My eyes slid shut as I pictured him.

I thought of his beautiful face. Yuki's little nose that compliments his huge, bright, almost feminine green eyes. His dark pink lips that curl upward even when he's not smiling. His hair that would be fluffy and soft if he used shampoo but still looks adorable. It falls down to at least the top of his plump, soft-looking ass. I've never seen such a beautiful ass. When I cupped those amazing, round cheeks, I couldn't help but imagine how it would look as I pumped in and out of him with a slow and deep rhythm as-

"Galen, your pants are tenting," Damian said with a deadpan expression on his face. I could feel a blush spread across my cheeks. I ducked my head in embarrassment.

"Like you don't get a hard-on when you think of Yuki! He's beautiful so I can't really help to think about making him ours..." I said, and trailed off when I realized how difficult this language barrier between us is. It's going to be hard, trying to convince Yuki to move in with us. And we have to explain everything and learn everything there is to know about him. I guess we can just try to teach him English as much as possible. Maybe we can learn some Japanese for him if it helps.

"Hey," Damian said as he put an arm around me. I looked over to him. "It's going to be fine. I know what you're thinking. We can just teach him English and learn about him on the way through it. It may difficult, but if we want Yuki, we have to be patient. I already know that you'd do anything for him, just as I would."

I smiled and nodded. Damian always knows exactly what to say. A groan behind the desk is what caught our attention.

I quickly got up and looked over the desk to see Dad finally waking up. I smiled. "Did you have a nice nap?" He glared at me and I stopped smiling. He got up, rubbing the side of his face with his hand.

"Damn, that hurt. What's this about you saying a cat shifter is your mate? Yuki, was it? We're in big trouble if that's what you said," Dad said as he sat in his chair, looking at us in the eyes. Damian got up from behind me and stood next to me.

"Sorry to say this, dad, but it's true. Damian met Yuki first. And Yuki feels the mating bond as we do, I'm sure. I don't know what to do. He doesn't speak our language. He speaks a little Japanese. He has adorable little cat ears and a cat tail. He's like some sexy Neko and I can't even communicate with him," I let out with a breath. Damian nodded next to me. Dad looked at both of us, eyes switching from mine and my brother's eyes. He made a 'tch' noise and and leant back in his chair, looking ahead of him as if contemplating life.

"I guess all we can do is let it happen as it comes. Or as you come, when you mate with him," Dad whispered into the silent air, eyebrows wiggling and all. He looked up to us and saw us glaring and quickly stopped. He smiled. "But seriously, just let everything happen as it's supposed to. If hunters come and try and steal him, we'll fight them back. If Yuki can't speak English, teach it to him. Learn some Japanese. You certainly watch enough anime to know some. And just trust each other. And love each other. That's what mates do."

I looked to Damian and he looked to me. We both had a silent agreement to do just as Dad says.

"Thanks, Dad," Damian mumbles, "we'll do that. Tell if you need us." Dad nodded and we both walked out of his office. We started walking back toward our rooms, silence echoing louder than words. I think we both have enough to think about. We both arrived at our rooms and waved each other off.

I walked in and plopped on my bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking about life.

Damian and I were very close as kids. We shared everything and every friend. We sat next to each other during lunch at school and we both never argued. We both look exactly alike, except I have green eyes and Damian has blue eyes. I got green from Dad and Damian got blue from our mother.

Then as we grew older, we distanced ourselves. I started seducing girls and he started reading. Though, I started reading, too. Instead of the normal books he read, I read manga. We're both fanboys in our own ways. He watches Supernatural Doctor Who while I watch Bleach and Naruto and One Piece. He has posters of Jenson Ackles and David Tennant while I have posters of Luffy and Ichigo. I never would've been popular at school if I brought the girls I was with home instead of going to their houses.

Anyways, back to the point. I think Yuki will be good for us because not only will we have found our soulmate, but we'll also get closer again. I miss our being so close. He probably does too, but it's mostly my fault for it. Being close to my brother is something I've always wanted but my pride always hot in the way. I knew our mate would show up, so I wasn't really worried about us being apart forever. But now that we have him, I regret pushing Damian away. And now, I can be his brother.

I got up from the bed and went to look out the window to look at the forest where my mate is. As I looked deep into the brush, I could've sworn I saw glowing green eyes staring back at me.