Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 76: Episode : Can I have you for today?

"We need to first expand the cabin."

Roxy’s voice was steady, cutting through the silence of the firelit room. She stood by the hearth, her hands clasped in front of her thin robe, looking at the three powerful men seated around her small wooden table.

Zarek blinked, his coffee cup pausing halfway to his mouth. "Expand? The structure is okay. I reinforced the beams myself."

"It’s not about structural integrity, Zarek," Roxy sighed, gesturing to the cramped living space. "It’s about volume. We have three growing babies. We have a toddler dragon who takes up the space of a Great Dane. We have two Kings."

She turned her gaze to the corner where Syris sat wrapped in his blanket, looking like a sulking statue.

"And now," Roxy continued, "we have a guest who requires a heat source and is currently sleeping on my rug like a forgotten pet. It’s not sustainable."

Kaelen leaned forward, his elbows on the table. "You speak of construction. But that is not why you called this council, Roxann."

"No," Roxy admitted. She pulled out a chair, the head of the table, and sat down. She looked exhausted, but her eyes were clear. "It’s a metaphor, Kaelen. We need to expand the cabin because we need to make room. Physically... and emotionally."

They didn’t understand what Roxy was talking about, but when she got serious like this, they knew what was coming.

Roxy took a deep breath in. Surprised she was the one bringing this discussion up again, so she doesn’t end up being the next meal on their plate.

Though she was 100% sure they could never eat her.

"I told you," Roxy began, her voice soft but firm, looking directly at Zarek. "When I first came to this world, I told you I wasn’t normal. I told you I was brought here for a purpose."

"To breed," Zarek stated flatly, though the word lacked its usual cruelty. "To rebuild."

"To be the Mother," Roxy corrected. "And a Mother doesn’t just birth children. She gathers and unites."

Although it’s that fucking cunt of a system that did all this, not me.

[...]

She reached out, placing her left hand on Kaelen’s clenched fist and her right hand on Zarek’s forearm.

"My heart," she whispered, "is not like yours. Your hearts are designed to claim one thing and guard it fiercely. My heart is designed to... expand. When I met Zarek, I didn’t think I could love anyone else. Then I met Kaelen, and I didn’t stop loving Kaelen; my capacity just grew."

I mean, I wasn’t lying when I meant my heart opened to them, though my purpose was set the moment I had to sleep with Zarek while he was sleeping.

[The goddesses are giggling and mocking you, saying you need to go to jail for that.]

Shut up.

She took a deep breath, turning her head to look at Syris.

"And now, with Syris... I feel it happening again. It’s not betrayal like what you think.." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Kaelen flinched, pulling his hand away slightly. "You compare the bond of the Wolf, the bond of the first mate, to a snake you found in the grass?"

"No," Roxy said sharply. "Do not twist my words, Kaelen. I compare the feeling. The pull. It’s my destiny, and it’s inevitable."

Fuck, I sound so miserable. Is this the life I am destined to live?

She looked back at her husbands.

"I cannot ignore him. I tried.. I tried to treat him like a guest. But when he held Iris today... when he soothed her pain... I felt he fit here. He covers the spots you two cannot."

Fuck it, my intention wasn’t pure from the onset.

Zarek narrowed his eyes, "What can a cold-blooded offer that a Dragon cannot?"

Roxy said gently. "You are the sun. You burn bright and hot. But sometimes... The sun is too much. Sometimes a fever needs ice. Sometimes chaos needs silence."

She gestured to Syris.

"He is quiet. He is cool. He balances the heat that you and Kaelen bring. Without him... this house is a furnace. With him... it feels more like home."

Syris, who had been silent, slowly lowered his tea. He looked at Roxy with an expression of profound shock. He had expected her to argue for his usefulness, that he could hunt or spy. He hadn’t expected her to argue for his necessity.

"I do not seek to replace the Kings," Syris spoke up, his voice rasping slightly.

Zarek and Kaelen snapped their heads toward him. Their gaze, already spitting fire.

"I am an exile," Syris continued, looking at his hands. "I have no clan. I have no territory. I sought this female because she smelled of salvation. But now..."

He looked at Roxy, his neon eyes glowing softly with warmth.

"Now, I seek her warmth. The warmth of the pack she commands. I have watched you. You are loud. You are messy. You are chaotic. But you are... alive."

He looked at Zarek.

"You are the Ruler. The King of Kings. I do not challenge that. I cannot. You are the sun."

He looked at Kaelen.

"You are the Guard. The foundation. I do not challenge that."

He looked back at Roxy.

"I am content to be the shadow," Syris whispered. "To be the third. To sit at the end of the table and catch the pests that slip through your fingers. As long as I am allowed in the room. To touch her."

Silence descended.

A Serpent Prince, known for pride and treachery, was bowing his head to the hierarchy, just because he wanted to be so close to Roxy.

Zarek drummed his fingers on the table. He looked at Syris with a calculating gaze. He saw the submission, and he could barely believe it.

"What did you say happened to you?" Zarek murmured.

"He watches everything," Syris confirmed. "So when he saw me, we had an all-out fight."

Roxy gasped. That little mutt was touching her people.

Well, technically, I didn’t even know Syris was the one touching me in my sleep.

Zarek looked at Kaelen. A silent conversation passed between the two predators. They hated sharing. It went against every instinct they possessed.

But they loved Roxy more than they hated the snake.

And they saw the toll it was taking on her. The stress. Trying to juggle everything. If they forced her to choose, she would choose them, but she would wither away.

"He stays," Zarek announced abruptly.

Kaelen exhaled a long breath, his shoulders slumping. "He stays."

Roxy felt tears prick her eyes. "Thank you."

Thank you for making my life easier!

[The goddess cheered you on. Fighting Roxy!]

[TheSassyGoddess winks at you. More dicks to your plot.]

Fucking cunt.

"But," Zarek raised a finger, his eyes flashing dangerous gold. "There are rules. We expand the cabin first. He does not sleep in the nest until there is space. He does not touch the female without explicit permission from her and notice given to us. We are not... surprising each other in the dark."

"Agreed," Syris nodded quickly.

"And," Kaelen added, his voice gruff. "He hunts, and he works. No free rides."

"I am an excellent hunter," Syris smirked. "When I am not being shot in the head with lightning toys."

Roxy laughed. It was a wet, shaky sound, but it broke the tension. She reached out and took Kaelen’s hand again. This time, he didn’t pull away. He squeezed her fingers, his grip tight and possessive.

"So," Roxy wiped her eyes. "We build a room. A cool room. For the snake. And expand the house."

"A cellar extension," Zarek suggested. "Or a stone wing."

"We will discuss blueprints tomorrow," Roxy said, standing up.

Zarek stood up. He walked over to Syris. He didn’t offer a hand, but he nodded.

"You watch the perimeter tonight, Snake," Zarek ordered. "Prove your worth."

"I see in the dark better than you," Syris accepted the task, standing up and shedding the blanket. "Sleep, Dragon. I will watch the gate."

Syris moved to the door. Before he left, he paused and looked at Roxy.

"Thank you," he whispered. "For giving me a home."

Roxy gave him a warm smile and waved. Then he slipped out into the night.

Zarek stretched, his spine cracking. "I will check on the hatchlings. Then I will sleep. This day has been... long."

He kissed Roxy on the forehead, a chaste, firm press of lips that claimed her, and walked toward the nursery.

Roxy was left alone with Kaelen.

The Wolf King remained seated at the table. He was tracing the wood grain with a clawed finger. He looked contemplative.

Roxy walked around the table. She stood behind him, wrapping her arms around his neck, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" she whispered.

Kaelen leaned his head back against her chest. He closed his eyes.

"I am adjusting," he admitted. "My wolf wants to tear his throat out. But my heart... my heart trusts you. If you say he is necessary, then he is necessary."

He turned in his chair, wrapping his massive arms around her waist, burying his face in her stomach.

"I never thought I would share," Kaelen mumbled into her dress. "But I technically took you away from the Dragon. Now the Serpent. It is... crowded."

"I know," Roxy stroked his silver hair. "But you are my second, Kaelen."

Kaelen tightened his grip. He inhaled her scent: lavender, milk, and the faint, lingering smoke of the Dragon.

He pulled back, looking up at her. His icy blue eyes were vulnerable, stripped of their usual Alpha bravado. He needed something. He needed to know that despite the expansion, despite the politics, despite the new room being built... The core of the house was still his.

He stood up, towering over her, and cupped her face in his large, warm hands.

He brushed his thumb over her lower lip, his gaze dropping to her mouth with a hunger that had been denied for too long.

"Can I have you for today?"