Help! Five Beast Alphas Want To Breed Me!!(BL)-Chapter 241: Enough Is Enough
Rhydian;
"Situations like these..." he breathes, and I raise a brow.
"is what I trโtrained you boys for." He adds, and my jaw drops as I stare at him. Stunned. ๐ง๐๐๐๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐๐๐ท๐๐.๐ค๐ฐ๐
WHAT DID HE JUST SAY!??
"You were born to lead kingdoms," he continues. "All of you. That was always the point." He adds as he shifts in the throne, straightening slightly.
"Your youngest brother, Lioran..." He continues as he struggles to keep his words and voice steady.
"Your youngest brother is... leading the capital as we speak. And he is doing a beautiful job." He continues as his lips twitch weakly, like a man trying to smile through grief.
"If Lioran can handle the capital on his own... You and Koda... can handle Gravemaw." He speaks like heโs concluded, and my throat tightens.
What heโs doing isnโt leadership.
This isnโt leadership!!! Itโs not delegation, either!
This is his attempt to escape a mess I almost know for a fact he had a hand in.
"Father," I whisper.
"Koda isnโt faring well under this stress. Heโs falling apart. And you know it." I try once more to reach out to my father. To move and push him to action, but he just closes his eyes.
"Why are you doing this, Father!?" I demand in annoyance.
"Why are you hiding? Why are you letting us bleed ourselves dry while you sit here drinking yourself senseless?" I rage, and his eyes open again... unmistakably tired, and distant.
"You wouldnโt understand." He rasps, and I scoff in disbelief.
"Then help me understand," I rage.
"Because everything is collapsing. And youโre not helping anyone. Not Koda, not the people, not even yourself!" I add, and...
Silence.
Long, heavy silence.
He suddenly stands from his throne, but his movement lacks the usual power or presence he always carries.
He didnโt rise like a king.
He rose like a man who is being crushed by something he couldnโt bring himself to talk about.
He sways slightly, and the bottle in his hand threatens to spill its contents on the floor, but Father regains his grip on it before that happens. I wish he could hold on to all of us like that.
"I donโt want to be disturbed," he groans, and my jaw and heart drop at the same time.
"Father..." I begin, but he grabs his goblet and tosses it at me... missing me deliberately because I knew if he wanted to take my eye out with that goblet, he would.
"Enough, Rhydian!" He growls as he takes one unsteady step down the stairs before the throne.
"We are not discussing this." He adds as he takes another questionable step, and my lips press into a tight, frustrated line.
I watch him stagger over to me, and as he rushes past me, his eyes hold mine. Warning and begging me not to push it.
"Not today." He whispers, and I turn to look at him, the stench of alcohol and... grief...
He reeks of grief...
Father has never let his emotions out through his pheromones and now... to smell grief off him... and to smell it so strongly...
This man... Father is drowning. But under what? Why... how... what has broken him so much?
Whatโs going on??
Just like the rest of us... he needs help.
"Father," I speak again, softly this time.
"Please..." I beg. Not knowing exactly what Iโm begging for.
For him to open up to me? For him to be there for us because we really need him now? For him to help me selfishly feel less alone? Or for him to just... let me in...
He pauses. Just for a heartbeat... like my plea touched something. Like my words mean something. But to my horror. He keeps walking.
"I just need to be alone," he mumbles, and I gulp.
"That is all I need. Please, Rhydian. Leave me alone." He adds as he pushes open the throne room doors and staggers into the hallway.
I stare at his pathetic form, and then at the bottle dangling from his fingers.
A king shouldnโt look like this. A father shouldnโt look... like this.
Itโs... Itโs shameful.
I stand in the empty room as the doors slowly close behind him, sealing the silence into me.
My nails dig into my palms as tears sting my eyes.
Fuck! I hate how easily tears come to me!
But Iโm tired! Iโm so tired.
I miss Eliรกn too! I have things I worry about! I hate to admit it, but oftentimes, I wonder if my mom has passed on or if sheโs still hanging on to life by a thread.
I wonder where Bram is. I wonder how Eliรกn is.
I feel miserable for the people of Gravemaw. For Queen Cassia, for Koda, for myself... and ke, for Father.
Iโm breaking too!
I am trying to be strong as well!
I havenโt let Koda see me, shed a single tear, even though I just want to scream till my their rips.
Our family is scattered all over the kingdoms, and I have never been so afraid of our division. It has never felt like this.
Everything feels like a mess, and I am in my very unnoticeable, pitiful way, trying to hold everything together!
Someone has to keep the walls from collapsing completely. Someone has to help Koda breathe when everyone else is resting. Someone has to help my brother keep Gravemaw from crumbling. Someone has to... someone has to make up for the absence of our King and Queen hiding away from their people.
That someone who needs to keep being there for his brother so he doesnโt crumble.
I drag a hand over my face and exhale in exasperation.
I donโt know how much longer I... who am I kidding!?
I canโt do this! Father canโt just walk out on me like that!
Heโs a king! A Father... our Father!! We need him!
Now more than ever, and he is NOT just going to walk away like that! Enough of whatever the fuck this is!
The throne room doesnโt answer my questions, and the silence presses against my ears so hard it feels like they would burst.
No! Iโm going after him. Enough is enough!
