Help! Five Beast Alphas Want To Breed Me!!(BL)-Chapter 211: Be Their Mother

Selthía;

I stare at Zerana’s gentle brown eyes as she smiles at me.

We’re in the privacy of one of the corridors at the back of the castle.

She softly tucks my hair behind my hair, and I find myself leaning into her touch.

"How do you feel... Seeing them again after all these years?" She questions, and I shut my eyes.

"You left Zephan alone rather quickly." She adds without judgment when she sees I ignored the first question.

I stiffen at the question.

I am good at doing that. At becoming and staying stone...

"They needed their privacy," I say with my voice cold and flat, like it mostly always is.

"Zephan is still healing. Zethar need some time with his brother. And the Omega..." I begin, and the words stick to my tongue, unable to come out of my mouth.

"What about him?" Zerana wuestions as she tilts her head, and I look away.

I shouldn’t be worried about their omega, but I am. My relationship with the boys is so rocky, and now there just might be a baby added to the mix?

I wonder which of them owns the baby...

Zerana studies me quietly for a moment. Then her tone shifts to that gentle softness she always uses to talk to my soul.

"Selthía... are you truly going to continue being so distant from them?" She questions, and I freeze.

Of all the people in this kingdom...of all the people in the world... only one person dares to speak to me like this. Only one person gets to rip back my walls and see the scars I’m hiding.

And she’s the only person I let get away with it.

I exhale slowly and step away from her as I stare at the irridicent black and blue scales along my left arm.

"I am not distant." I lie, and there’s silence.

I steal a glance up at my physician, and she steps closer to me.

"You are, love." She counters, and I swallow.

I turn away from her again, pretending to adjust the snake–silk shawl around my shoulders.

"It is not like I hate them," I mutter, almost too quietly, and Zerana steps even closer to me.

Her footsteps are soundless, but somehow I always know when she’s close.

"But it is also not like you show them that you love them." She whispers, and her words sink into me like needles.

I grip the hem of my shawl tightly as I grit my teeth.

"Zerana..." I begin, but stop as I find no words to help me.

She stays silent. Waiting. She’s always patient. Always steady.

I inhale shakily as I summon the courage to look back at the woman whose judgment alone I fear, but who never judges me.

"Every time I look at them, I see her," I confess, and Zerana says nothing.

"Her face. Her eyes. Her stubbornness. Her smile..." My voice breaks,

"Her death..." I add in a small, almost inaudible whisper.

"Their birth was accompanied by the end of her life, Zerana. Every time I look at them, I am reminded of the part of me I lost." I say, forcing the words out like venom from a wound.

"One moment, Serenía was yapping with me about how she couldn’t wait to give birth to her boys... and the next..." The memory coils around my throat like a vicious noose, but I force the words out anyway.

"...and the next moment, she was gone." I croak, and Zerana gently places her hand on my arm.

Not pulling, not pushing... just there, so I can feel her with me.

"You lost your other half," she whispers, and as I stare at the young woman before me, a tear I didn’t expect burns its way down my cheek.

I swipe it away, irritated, but it’s too late. She already saw it. She smiles softly at me and takes the back of my hands to her lips.

She plants a small kiss and looks up at me.

"It is not easy for us, Zerana. Snakes... Nagarians... when we share a fated bond with someone...especially a twin...it is no light matter. She was more than my sister. She was my mirror." I speak in a voice so broken it doesn’t sound like mine, and Zerana nods.

"I know." She whispers, and I feel my lips tremble.

"I don’t think you do. When Serenía died, a part of me rotted with her." I speak honestly, and I stare Zerana in the eyes.

The early sunlight outlines her features, and I see understanding...not pity, never pity...reflecting back at me.

"I have tried to move on," I continue.

"I tried to bury it... tried to forget..." I add, and a humourless laughter slips out of me.

"But every time I look at the boys, all I can see is the moment I lost her." I breathe, and Zerana cups my cheek gently, her thumb brushing where tears should fall.

Her touch is grounding. Warm... home...

"Selthía." She calls in a motherly tone, and I swallow.

"A part of me just... cannot forgive them," I whisper. "Even though they are innocent. Even though they were newborns. Even though they had no choice. I can’t do it. I... I can’t... I just... can’t..." I cry, and Zerana’s eyes soften.

"We’ve had this conversation before," she says quietly. "Those boys are blameless. You know this." She says, and I nod, but it feels like dragging a boulder.

"You are the closest thing they have to a mother," She continues with her voice firm now, and I sniffle.

"You are your sister’s identical twin. Her memory. Her echo. You should let her love them through you. You should be there for them... and they for you." She adds, and my throat tightens.

I have never been good at softness.

I have only been good at surviving.

Zerana steps back slightly, but her gaze remains sharp and steady.

"I don’t... I don’t think I can do it." I confess, and she scoffs.

"Oh, love. You feel you don’t love them, but your actions betray you. You have kept our relationship a secret all these years because you are scared of how the boys will react. Deep down in you, you have accepted your place as their mother. Why not give in fully?" She replies, and I stare at her in silence.

She smiles at me, and I feel her hand slide down to my waist.

She wraps her arm around me and goes on the tip of her toes to connect her lips with mine.

She kisses me softly, and I feel butterflies erupt in my stomach.

She pulls back, and I blink at her.

"You can do this. They need you." She whispers, and I drag a deep breath.

She stares at me expectantly, and I nod slowly.

"I’ll... I’ll try my best," I reply, and she grins. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Good. And there’s more." She says, and I raise a brow.

"Selthía... you must watch over the omega." She says, and I blink at her.

"I could read his energy. He’s... important. Important to your family. Important to Nagari... Important to all of BeastHeaven. That’s all I could tell. It’s not much, but... we need to keep the boy safe." She says, and I stare at her in silence.

Aside from being a brilliant physician, Zerana has the gift of discernment. She senses things differently from others.

If she says the boy is important... then he is...

"Selthía," she continues,

"You must be a good host to him. Protect him. Guide him. If he is with child, then the boy... and the life inside him... mean a lot more than we can comprehend." She says, and I blink at her.

"And if he is not pregnant?" I ask quietly.

"Then he is still a wounded boy who needs love," Zerana replies. "Love you have denied your nephews for too long." She adds, and her words hit me like a punch to the gut.

"I will try," I say finally. "I cannot promise more than that," I add, and she smiles.

"Trying is enough," she whispers. "For now."

"Will I see you in my chambers tonight?" I question, and she gives me a knowing smile.

"If you’re a good host to your nephews and their omega, sure." She replies as she kisses my cheek, and I smile as I watch her turn around and walk away.