Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 321: Episode 319: Why are you looking at me?

The grand parlor of the Iron-Wood Manor looked as though a hurricane had just touched down directly on top of the woven rugs.

Cushions were strewn haphazardly across the floorboards. A heavy side table had been completely overturned, and a few stray illusory butterflies Ren had conjured earlier were glitching frantically near the ceiling.

A heavy, synchronized sound of collective, ragged panting filled the air.

Everyone was slumped down in the living room, completely and utterly spent.

Ren was sprawled uncharacteristically flat on his back near the stone hearth, his chest heaving. The Fox King’s usually pristine, perfectly styled, vibrant red hair was a bird’s nest, sticking up in every conceivable direction.

Syris was slumped against the arm of the sofa, his elegant green robes rumpled and his long dark green hair thoroughly tangled. Tanith had woken up halfway and came to sit down on his thighs, clapping and giggling.

Torian was sitting cross-legged on the floor, rubbing a highly tender spot on his ribs where Axel had aggressively head-butted him, while Kaelen simply lay spread-eagled on the main rug, staring blankly up at the ceiling as he fought to catch his breath.

Never in their entire life.

Even Caspian, who had wisely remained seated during the worst of the carnage, was leaning heavily back against the cushions, his newly mortal lungs working overtime just from laughing so hard.

In the center of the devastation sat Roxy.

She was completely out of breath, her violet silk robe hanging loosely off one shoulder. Her beautiful dark curls were a wild, untamed halo around her face, plastered to her forehead with a fine sheen of sweat.

For a long, heavy moment, no one dared to speak.

Then, a small, sudden movement broke the silence.

Iris, who had somehow managed to completely avoid getting squished during the massive puppy-pile, suddenly jumped straight up.

The little wolf pup clutched her worn stuffed rabbit tightly to her chest, her fluffy black ears perked straight up, her golden eyes shining with adrenaline.

"That was fun!" Iris chirped, her sweet, high-pitched voice shattering the heavy panting of the warlords. She bounced on the balls of her feet, looking eagerly around the ruined parlor. "Let’s do it again!"

A collective, horrified groan erupted from the Alpha Kings.

"Absolutely not," Ren wheezed from the floorboards, throwing a dramatic arm over his eyes. "My dignity cannot survive another round."

Sitting heavily against the base of the overturned oak table was Zarek.

The towering Dragon Alpha looked absolutely wrecked. His dark tunic was pulled askew, and he was covered head-to-toe in a myriad of tiny, comical injuries.

He had a distinct set of small, blunt teeth marks on his left calf courtesy of Axel, a smudge of dirt on his nose from Onyx’s boots, and a blooming red mark on his bicep where Roxy had relentlessly smacked him.

Zarek was brooding. His eyes were narrowed into lethal, highly offended slits, his broad chest rising and falling in heavy, frustrated huffs. He crossed his arms, fully intending to unleash a dark, terrifying draconic lecture about the utter lack of respect for his authority.

But as he opened his mouth to growl, his eyes snapped to the center of the room.

Roxy was looking at Iris. The fierce, terrifying Matriarch who had just beaten the absolute daylights out of him was completely gone. Instead, Roxy let out a bright, breathless, incredibly genuine laugh.

Her eyes crinkled at the corners, overflowing with such profound, boundless love and joy for her daughter that it seemed to illuminate the entire ruined parlor.

Zarek’s breath caught in his throat.

The heavy, suffocating anger sitting in his chest instantly, entirely deflated. The sight of his mate so happy, so vibrantly alive and surrounded by their chaotic, beautifully fractured family, was the only magic that could ever truly tame him.

The terrifying Dragon Alpha’s jaw relaxed. The fierce scowl melted away, and despite the throbbing ache in his bicep and the bite marks on his leg, Zarek found himself smiling too. A soft, incredibly fond, and thoroughly whipped smile touched his lips.

He uncrossed his massive arms, leaning his head back against the table.

He took a deep breath, fully intending to speak, to call Roxy over and pull her into his lap so he could properly apologize for his arrogant behavior with Titus.

He opened his mouth.

"WAAAAAAH!"

The furious, ear-piercing wail dropped from the second-floor nursery like a bomb, instantly slicing through the lingering warmth of the parlor.

Zarek snapped his mouth shut, his pupils constricting in shock. Ren groaned louder, dragging a throw pillow over his face. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Dena hurried downstairs. She looked entirely apologetic, wringing her hands as she navigated the obstacle course of sprawling Alpha Kings and overturned furniture to reach the center of the room.

"Queen Roxy, I am so incredibly sorry," Dena stammered, her wolf ears pinning back in distress. "But Princess Tyara has woken up. She needs food."

Roxy blinked, her jaw dropping open in disbelief.

"She just ate!" Roxy cried, throwing her hands up in the air. "Dena, I literally just fed her twenty minutes ago! She drank until she was entirely milk-drunk! How is her stomach completely empty again?!"

Dena offered a helpless, highly sympathetic shrug. "I don’t know, my Queen. She is... very demanding."

Roxy slowly turned her head. Her eyes narrowed into lethal, accusing slits as she locked onto the White Tiger Alpha sitting on the floor across the room.

Torian immediately sensed the shift in her aura. The massive warlord froze. He slowly turned his head, refusing to meet her blazing gaze. He looked entirely somewhere else, suddenly finding the intricate woodwork of the ceiling completely, utterly fascinating.

He pursed his lips, casually whistling a tuneless melody to avoid acknowledging that his incredibly dominant, ferally powerful tiger genetics had gifted their daughter with the metabolism of a black hole.

Roxy tossed him a withering glare that promised a separate, highly specific punishment later. She let out a heavy, exhausted sigh, pushing herself up from the floorboards.

She swayed slightly, and Roxy then turned her gaze to the brooding Dragon sitting against the table.

"Z, darling," Roxy called out, her voice dropping into a sweet, utterly exhausted, and incredibly demanding octave. She held her hand out toward him. "Come with me."

Zarek didn’t hesitate for a microsecond.

He let out a loud, highly exaggerated, deeply pathetic groan. He grabbed his sides, acting as though he were hauling thousands of broken ribs off the floorboards.

The towering Dragon Alpha stood up, wincing dramatically and limping slightly—a completely theatrical display of his "severe" injuries meant to garner her ultimate sympathy.

Despite his massive performance, he eagerly closed the distance between them, wrapping his thick, solid arm securely around her waist to bear her weight as she leaned heavily against his side.

As Roxy and Zarek turned to head for the grand staircase, a sudden, synchronized shuffling echoed behind them.

Axel, Onyx, and Iris immediately scrambled to their feet. The children, fueled by the lingering adrenaline of the puppy-pile, took a collective step forward, fully intending to follow the Matriarch and the Dragon upstairs to continue the chaos.

Zarek stopped. He didn’t let go of Roxy, but he slowly turned his massive head, peering over his broad shoulder.

The Dragon Alpha unleashed a terrifying, completely silent glare. It was a look that explicitly stated: The playtime is over. Do not follow us.

The children froze in their tracks. Axel swallowed hard. Onyx took a swift step backward. Drax crossed his arms but wisely halted his advance. In total unison, the children hurdled backward, practically hiding themselves behind Kaelen’s broad, sprawled-out form on the rug.

Roxy felt Zarek tense. She peeked around his massive bicep, seeing the children cowering behind the Wolf King.

Her heart softened instantly.

"Don’t worry, kids," Roxy chimed in, her voice sweet and melodic, completely overriding Zarek’s terrifying pressure. She offered them a warm, reassuring smile. "Papa Z and I are just going to feed baby Tyara. You stay down here and rest. We will be back soon."

The children instantly relaxed, letting out a collective breath. They all nodded fervently, their eyes wide and innocent.

Satisfied, Roxy turned back around, leaning her head against Zarek’s solid chest. The Dragon Alpha offered a final, smug smirk over his shoulder at the rest of the immobilized Kings before he practically carried his Queen out of the parlor and up the sweeping grand staircase.

The sound of their footsteps slowly faded into the upper levels of the Manor.

The grand parlor was plunged back into a heavy, suffocating silence.

Torian was still intensely studying the ceiling. Syris was massaging his temples. Caspian was closing his eyes on the sofa, and Ren was actively trying to finger-comb the catastrophic knots out of his vibrant red hair.

Kaelen remained exactly where he was, lying flat on his back in the center of the main woven rug, thoroughly exhausted and incredibly grateful for the quiet. He closed his eyes, letting out a long, slow exhale.

But the quiet felt... wrong.

It was too heavy. Kaelen slowly opened his golden eyes.

He didn’t have to look far.

Standing in a perfect, tightly knit semicircle directly over his head were Axel, Onyx, and Iris. The children were entirely silent. They were staring straight down at him.

Kaelen’s breath hitched. A cold sweat broke out across his forehead. He swallowed hard, keeping perfectly still as he looked up at the children looming over him.

"Why are you looking at me?"