Help! Five Beast Alphas Want To Breed Me!!(BL)-Chapter 281: A Man Is What He Chooses To Be

Rhydian;

I don’t know how much more of this I can take before I crash. I’ve been trying to hold up. Take little breaks and support my brother, but I’m crumbling... and I can feel it.

I never thought I would care about another place so much, but Graveaw has started feeling like a home. The warmth, the care, the love the people have for each other...

"Alpha Rhydian, catch!" A little boy yells at me, and when I whip around, I see five boys playing with a ball. One of them throws the ball at me, and my instinct reacts before my body catches up.

I catch the ball, and a smile splits my face as the boys cheer.

"That was awesome!!" One of them cheers, and I smile before walking over to them.

I hand them back their ball, and they stare at me with awe in their eyes.

"When I grow up, I want to be strong and handsome like you and Alpha Koda. My mama says we are lucky we have men like you as our Kings, and you will be the reason BeastHeaven rises immeasurably." One of them says excitedly, and my heart skips a beat.

"Will you play with us for a while?" Another of the boys questions, and my smile grows as I tousle the hair of the boy next to me.

"I’d love to... but it’s late, and your mothers must be waiting for you. We all had a long day. You should rest. Maybe when Koda’s better, I’ll drag him down and make sure we both play whatever games you choose." I reply, and all their little eyes light up.

"Really!?" One of them demands, and I nod.

They grin widely, and they bow to me with excitement brimming in their eyes.

I stay rooted as I watch them run off—surely to tell their friends about my promise. I smile once again to myself, and turnback to Koda’s hut.

The moment I walk into his hut, the aroma of herbs and warmth welcome me, and I pause as I feel goosebumps run over me.

Queen Cassia, who is kneeling before Koda with a lamp beside her, briefly smile at me, and I smile back.

He returns her gaze to Koda as her hands work masterfully. I still can’t believe she went to change into a blouse and Krompa so she could work with the other people.

Her outfit is dirty, she looks stressed and tired, but I know rest isn’t something she’s currently going to give any heed to.

King’s wife or not, she was at work with the rest of us today, hauling timber and shifting rubble until she could barely breathe right. Only then did Koda force her to rest. And she only sat for an hour before returning to join us.

Seeing her crouched over Koda’s leg now, checking the thread she had used to stitch his wound earlier, feeling his skin to be sure all is right... makes my heart ache.

The gash is neatly, and my throat tightens as my eyes take in the thread knots that have darkened where blood dried.

I watch Queen Cassia’s fingers move over the wound with a tenderness I’m not used to seeing on a ruler’s face. She hums like a woman calming a child, and before I can stop it, I blurt.

"You should be asleep,"

Queen Cassia looks up, and there’s a tired crease in her brow.

"Me?" She questions as she and Koda blink up at me, and I nod.

"Hmm. You overworked yourself today. You should be resting by now." I reply, and she gives me a look... Like a mother would give a child while trying to understand what mischief he’s up to.

"I will rest," she says softly. "But not when there’s so much to do." She adds, and my lips part.

I want to argue. I want to tell her she’s a queen and that she ought not stress so much when she has her people, and Koda and me here to help. She only just recovered from losing her beast. I don’t want to see her hurt or broken again.

However, I know whatever I say, she will deflect, so I just fold my arms behind me and walk over to my brother.

I squat across from him, so I can at least be useful, and Koda smiles at me.

"Mother worries too much," he says with a grin that doesn’t hide the pain of the injury in his thigh.

"I told her I was fine, but she insisted on checking the wound again." He adds, and my gaze sifts to his mother, who’s applying some herbal mix to the injury.

Then, she stands.

"You both did a lot of work today. So, now, please go to sleep, and stop pretending you don’t need it," She orders, and Koda nods.

As she turns to leave, I know in my bones she’s not going to bed and would go around the entire village to be sure everyone is settled in before she goes to sleep. I want to haul her by the sleeve to the nearest bed and force her to get some rest, but Koda’s voice cuts my thoughts short.

"Mama, you should rest. You’ve done enough," he says gently, and the quietness in that sentence is stronger than anything I could have said to her.

"Your people are glad to have you back." He adds, and I see a small smile split her face.

She nods wth what looks like appreciation, and then she turns around again. She leaves with her shoulders straight and steps gently. There’s something in her that eases grace into her every action. It makes me respect her... More than I do my own mother...

When the door shuts, I realise I’m all alone with my brother, and he smiles at me.

I sigh and stare at the bowl filled with water and a piece of cloth on the floor beside him.

I move closer to him and kneel down. Squeeze the cloth and gently press it against where he bled. The thread is holding, but with how slow his healing is going, I can tell that he’s been fighting much longer than the morning’s accident. The work has finally taken a toll.

"You’re lucky," I say, because I don’t know any other way to start.

"To have a mother like her... You guys are such... good people..." I add, and Koda snorts.

"Lucky’s only part of it." He replies, as he watches me with that quiet that always makes me straighten up a little.

He’s looking at me like he can see the unfinished part of me. I hate it. It makes me feel small. But I can’t run from his scrutinising gaze now, can I?

"What’s the rest?" I ask, and he breathes out and looks up at a candle in the wall.

"Choice." He says flatly.

"Luck hands you a start. The rest is what you decide to keep. Ma does what she can, our people do what they can... but I chose who I want to be." He replies, and I blink in intrigue.

"You’re saying...?" I question because I’m honestly confused, and he smiles down at me.

"I’m saying I decide not to hand off my bitterness to others. I long decided to learn how to mend, not to make worse. There’s work in being that kind of person, Rydian. Being... good is... harder than breaking, and just... bleeding on others." He replies, and my gaze drops as I remember my mother... and the fool I was just months ago...

We bled on others because we couldn’t handle our grief...

"That sounds like me... and my mother," I say, spiteful because it’s true, and Koda lets out a breath.

"She is what she is." He says softly, and I look up at him.

He gently places his hand against mine, which is cleaning the dried streaks of blood from his leg, and I pause.

"But Rhydian, you can be more than what you grew up with. Your mother... taught you to be hard, yes. That doesn’t have to mean cruel. You choose where to put your hand." He whispers, and his words fold into a place where I keep things I don’t say aloud.

"You have a good heart, brother. You need to learn to lean into that... instead of the bitterness that strives to drown that heart." He adds, and I swallow.

The truth is, Koda’s right. You can either let the world make you bitter, or you can take what’s good and keep making good. It’s not grand heroic gestures that make you good... it’s little things...

It’s breakfast handed to a tired neighbour. It’s offering a smile whenever you can... it’s patching a wound and staying... it’s... It’s being a person truly...

I have watched Koda do these thingsfor years, and I had been slow to understand that despite all my brother faced, he always chose to be a better person. A conscious choice.

"How do you keep choosing?" I ask because I need to know. I want to be a good person, but... every time I try, I end up being a jerk, a fool, or just unable to...

He smiles at me brightly, like this is something he’s been waiting to tell me.

"You collect small mercies, and inwardly acknowledge them... be grateful for them. Someone who has little... decides to share their food with those around... A kid laughs through hunger because he understands his parents wish to feed him, but can’t, so he laughs because he doesn’t want them to worry about his sorrow alongside his hunger... You begin to see that most of the world will mend if you tend it. Then you choose, every morning, to be the person who helps that mending." He explains, and I swallow as his words settle.

I blink at him with new weight in my chest, and he smiles. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"You’ll be an old man who lectures children about hard work," I mutter, and he laughs.

"Good. Till our kids come around, I’ll keep practicing on you," He laughs, and I smile.

I gently stand up, and then I look at my brother properly. I look at the way his shoulders hold the kind of quiet strength people lean on.

He isn’t trying to be a king; he’s trying to be a shelter... And that’s the kind of thing that makes me want to be better. It’s the kind of thing that makes me willing to learn the slow work.

"You will make a wonderful King, Brother," I whisper, and he simply smiles at me.

"With the brothers I have? Of course, I will." He replies, and I smile.