Help! Five Beast Alphas Want To Breed Me!!(BL)-Chapter 275: Asa Stays

Zephan;

I chose to focus on the sound of cutlery clinking softly as we eat.

Meals in Nagari usually had this heaviness... but after Elian came, that heaviness thawed. It vanished. I could eat without struggling to swallow.

But now, with this girl here, fuck!

Everything inside me feels on edge. I feel uneasy. I can’t stay calm. Everything feels fucking wrong, and it’s all because of that girl!

Asa.

I look up at her, and her gaze is on her lap. A sight that causes me to roll my eyes.

My gaze drifts to Elián, who is humming to himself as he eats. The sight should make my chest warm... the way it normally does.

But nothing about this morning feels normal.

Not with Asa sitting at the table.

She hasn’t lifted her head once.

Not once.

She sits small and straight, hands folded neatly, eyes glued to her bowl like she’s studying the grains in it.

A quiet girl.

Delicate... Rabbit-eared and timid. The type of girl anyone would pity instantly... That’s the front she has put up. But I’m not buying it.

But her silence isn’t soft. It’s calculated.

A mask.

And Light help me—I can smell it. Not literally, but instinctively. The same way I smell a threat before it bares its teeth.

Deceit...

It’s so fucking obvious beneath that innocent exterior.

I don’t know what she’s lying about, nor do I know what she’s hiding, but something is... off.

"He’s so clueless." Zethar breathes, and we both turn to Elián, who is sitting at the other end of the table. Bright, beautiful, and absolutely oblivious, as he keeps smiling and trying to lighten the mood.

Alana stays close to him, answering whenever he nudges her with excitement. I can see a shadow around her. A tint that soils the facade of excitement, happiness and normality she’s trying to hold up.

Aunt Selthía is at the head of the table, and Zerana is beside her.

Zerana’s gaze is on Elian, but Aunt Selthia hasn’t taken her gaze off the girl.

Elian looks over at me with a smile as I force one back at him before returning to my food. But no matter how I fucking try, my attention keeps drifting back to Asa.

Nothing about her scent marks hostility. Nothing in her posture screams danger.

But the lie—whatever it is—hangs around her like a faint shadow everyone but Elian seems to see.

Zethar keeps glancing up at the same time I do, and every time our eyes meet, we share the same unspoken thought.

This girl is not as she seems.

Finally, Elián clears his throat, breaking the silence.

The moment is so sudden that the entire table freezes.

Elian rarely announces anything like this. He’d rather whisper his wants or observations to either Zethar or me.

Dragging such attention now... can only mean trouble is about to follow.

I watch as he fiddles with a grape for a moment, and then he speaks.

"...I have something to say." He announces nervously, and Zethar sits up straighter beside me, while I hold my breath.

Aunt Selthía tilts her head with curiosity, and Asa lifts her eyes for the first time.

Elián takes a soft breath as if gathering the courage to speak.

"In three days," he says gently,

"I’ll be sending Alana back to Gravemaw." He adds, and I pause.

The words drop like stones, and due to my shock, my fork falls from my hands with

A clatter.

Even Asa’s spoon pauses mid-air.

"You’ll be... sending her back?" Zethar questions, and Elián nods, with disturbing determination on his face.

"But—" I begin, confused,

"Alana just arrived yesterday," I note, not knowing if it’s fear or panic I’m feeling bubbling inside me.

"And she needs rest," Zethar adds, but the disregard for our words that I see on Elian’s face tickles me the wrong way.

"Elian, Gravemaw is stable," I try to reason with him despite and through my confusion.

"Gravemaw is a kingdom filled with warriors and advisors. Why would you need to send Alana back to— " I continue, but Elián holds up a hand, stopping me.

"I know she just arrived," he says softly.

"And that’s why I’m giving it three days." He continues, and my confusion twists tighter.

This time, Aunt Selthía is the one who speaks.

"What is your reason, child?"

Elián turns to her—and the softness in his eyes shifts.

It’s not stubbornness... nor rebellion in his eyes, it’s conviction.

"Koda is not okay," he says simply, and the way he says it... my chest tightens.

"Koda is stronger than most rulers," I reply carefully, "and Gravemaw has survived worse," I add, but Elián shakes his head.

"You don’t understand," he whispers.

"Koda doesn’t need a kingdom right now. He needs a person. Someone who can sit with him when his thoughts get too loud. Someone who knows how to bring him back." He adds as his eyes drift to Alana with tenderness and sorrow.

"That someone is Alana." He adds, and my face scrunches in utter discombobulation as I turn to my brother.

Alana looks down, guilt flickering across her face, and my jaw clenches as I watch.

Asa glances at her cousin and there’s this intensity in her eyes. An expression and intensity I can’t place, so I just tuck it away for later.

Elián, however, continues, voice trembling now.

"If it were me suffering," he says, placing a hand over his heart,

"I would expect Koda to send help to me. Not hold it to himself. Alana is the only person I can trust to care for him right, so... how can I keep her here when my husband is hurting?" He demands, and my breath stutters, while Zethar rubs his forehead like he’s about to lose his mind.

Aunt Selthía nods with quiet approval, and this makes me worried for what she might say. If she approves—

"You have a loyal heart," she whispers, and I swallow.

"But Elián," I try again, "sending Alana back—"

"Not just Alana," Aunt Selthía interrupts gently, and I turn to her with creased brows.

"I will send both girls. Alana and Asa." She adds, and before anyone can say anything,

Elián cuts her off.

"No."

The word is soft, but final.

Everyone at the table turns to him again, while Asa’s ears twitch.

Elián clears his throat, straightens, and repeats with firmer breath:

"No. Asa stays." He adds, and the room freezes. My heart drops.

Even Zethar’s hand—mid-reach for a cup—stops in the air.

What is wrong with Elian?? Has he been bewitched!?

Aunt Selthía’s brows rise, and Asa’s eyes widen. Seemingly genuine and startled.

In the chaos of everything, I just study Elián.

His face, his posture, his fingers, which are twisted nervously into the tablecloth.

Something is happening that he isn’t saying.

Aunt Selthía then asks calmly,

"Why must Asa remain here?"

Elián swallows. His lashes flutter.

"...Because I need her here." He replies, but I know that is a lie. We all do.

But this is not a malicious lie; it’s a protective one.

I am sure of this because he doesn’t meet anyone’s eyes—not mine, not Zethar’s, not even Asa’s.

Asa shifts nervously under the pressure, trying to make herself appear smaller, meeker, more harmless... But now that Elián has said those words, my instincts sharpen.

This is just wrong. A lir hiding in plain sight.

Something wrong, and hiding in a way I can’t pierce without slicing deeper than I’m allowed to.

Elián, however, keeps speaking, and it’s time I shut my eyes in exasperation. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"Alana will go back because Koda needs her. But Asa...she can stay here. She’ll be useful. She’ll learn. And she wants a new beginning." He says as he gives a small smile—one that doesn’t reach his eyes.

Alana watches him carefully, and Aunt Selthía watches him quietly before nodding.

"Very well," she says.

"If this is your wish... then it shall be done." She adds, and I exhale in frustration.

Something fishy is fucking happening, and I don’t like it!!

Asa bows politely, murmuring thanks, but there are flickers of excitement in her gaze. Excitement she can not hide quickly.

Zethar shifts beside me, leaning just close enough to whisper.

"Why does it feel like we’ve just been set up?" He whispers, but I keep my gaze forward.

"Because we just may have been," I whisper, and he sighs.

"What do we do?"

"I don’t know."

"And Elián?"

"...He’s hiding something," I reply, and we both glance at him.

He smiles at Alana, avoids Asa’s eyes, and won’t even look at us.

Two danger signs.

Aunt Selthía lifts her cup again, and breakfast continues as though nothing odd just happened.

Zerana begins whispering to Aunt Selthia, and Asa resumes staring into her bowl.

Elián pushes food around on his plate with a trembling hand, and Zethar and I share the same silent worry—

Whatever chaos stared with this girl’s arrival yesterday... the next step of it just started.