Kitten being aggressive to older cat

[JelloOut]

So I recently got 2 kittens (female) after my first cat went missing (male), so they lived together alone in my home for a few weeks and then my other cat was found. They all get along fine, and the male of course is the alpha. It only took a day for them to be done hissing at each other and to want to play with each other, however this passed week the youngest kitten has gotten aggressive towards the older cat. She’ll activate a play session, but then gets mad if he plays back? He doesn’t play rough at all, he’s very gentle and shows absolutely no aggression, but the kitten will start swatting/hissing/biting even though she wanted to play. She doesn’t do this to the other kitten, in fact the other kitten will come to the rescue and attack my older cat when they “play.” And again, I don’t know why she would act this way because he shows no aggression- never has. She will let him groom and cuddle with her, but once he plays back she gets angry. How do I fix this?

[Mollycat]

First you need to understand there is no such thing as "alpha" in cat society, cats are much more sophisticated than that in their relationships. Forget the "alpha" idea and everything that goes with it.

Difficult to know if batting swatting and hissing is really aggression or not but it sounds unlikely. How does your older cat respond, is he defensive, does he walk away, does he try to pin her down and groom her ... what does he do when she starts to get rough with him? Does she have her claws out or does she bat with velvet mittens?

What age are the kittens? Like all animals and people, growing up involves the transition from baby guided by mother and other adults, to making one's own way in life and being the adult. Think teenage rebellion.