Help! Five Beast Alphas Want To Breed Me!!(BL)-Chapter 293: The First Time In Years

Zephan 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"I forgive you."

The words leave my mouth before my mind has time to catch up.

Aunt Selthía gasps softly at the words, and I struggle to hold back the quiver I feel building in my chest.

My heart aches as I realise that forgiving her is what it truly wants... but the hurt I’ve accumulated over the years... all the pain... the tears...

I need to let go, but a part of me feels too angry... too wronged to let go.

Like a vexed viper wrapping round the sword that hurt it... too blinded by rage to see that letting go is better than holding on.

I watch as a small, bitter smile splits her face, and she stares at me.

"Oh, Zephan..." She breathes as she drops her gaze in what seems to be shame, and I lose the battle against my tears.

They start pouring silently... too silent for the scream my soul longs to give.

I slowly go down on my knees before her, and she looks at me.

She smiles. A small, delicate one, as her golden eyes take me in.

"You’re my child..." She mutters as she reaches out and touches my face.

"You... and your brother are my happiness. I... I was foolish to not have admitted it, but the only reason I didn’t drown completely after Serenía’s death was because I had you both... my precious, little boys..." She croaks as she caresses my cheek, and I lean into her touch.

"I have wronged you both... badly..." She cries, andI swallow.

"I will try," she then breathes.

"I swear, I will try to rectify the wrong I’ve done... I was childish... and foolish... and I... I will do better. I just... I can only hope it’s not too late..." She breaks completely, and the sight of her hurting like this stings.

Every single wall I’ve ever put up crumbles.

The walls of strength I started building when I was a little boy.

They all come crumbling down.

I pull her to myself and hold her in an embrace as everything breaks loose.

The pain. The tears. The years of false strength when I’ve only been rotting and hurting inside.

The facade of control, when all my life, I have felt cursed and inadequate.

Everything crumbles, and so do I.

She wraps her arms around me, and I let out a shuddering breath, and my tears pour.

I did not know. And that is the thought that devastates me the most.

I did not know how much I wanted her to love me.

I built my life around not wanting her affection. I constructed walls of reason and responsibility and control... I convinced myself that I had outgrown the need for a mother. I told myself I was stronger for this reason. A man who never had, and doesn’t need a mother...

But in this moment... in this raw, aching moment, the truth crashes down mercilessly on me.

I wanted my Mother.

I wanted her warmth, her approval, her presence. I wanted her to look at me and see a son rather than a reminder of loss. I wanted to be held. I wanted to be chosen.

And now that she had finally offered it, the realisation of how long I have been starved crushes me.

Sobs rake through me, and I bury my face in her neck as I let go of years of hurt.

The aura in the room falters, and it dawns on me that she shifted.

Soon, her serpent’s tail curls around me, and I find myself too shaken to speak or oppose.

Her tail curls protectively around me like I’m a little hatchling she’s trying to protect.

"You poor child..." She whispers as she holds my head against her chest, and I look up at her in surprise.

She gives me a small, weary smile before leaning down and kissing my forehead.

"Let me hold, my dear... Please, let me hold the child I hatched but never held..." She whispers, and I give up.

I rest my head against her chest, and she gently strokes my hair. Her fingers run smoothly through it as she slowly rocks me back and forth.

I stare at her irredicent blue and black tail as it curls ever so lightly to match my every move.

"I didn’t realise how much my heart needed this..." She whispers into my hair, and I shut my eyes.

"From now on... You both are not my nephews. It’s okay if you want to keep calling me your Aunt. It’s... what I am after all... but from now on, you are my sons." She croaks, and I drag a long, tired breath.

"You are my son, Zephan. And I... I will make up for every single wrong I have done you. You and Zethar... I promise." She cries as she kisses my hair again. And I let myself melt.

Into this moment, into her arms... into the love my soul has been desperately seeking all these years.

"You’re my sons..." She whispers more like she’s talking to herself, but I remain silent.

It’s all I do right now. Just... feel and accept because I have no strength to respond, and not enough knowledge to react.

And for the first time in years, I let myself be held.

The world fades away, and all I can focus on is the steady rise and fall of her chest beneath my cheek... the warmth of her arms, and the quiet strength of her coils around me.

My tears soak into her dress, but for once, I do not care. I am not a prince. Not a strategist. Not the composed twin.

I am just... a son.

A broken, aching son who did not realise how parched he had been until the water was finally placed before him.

My sobs come in waves, each one pulling something loose inside me. Memories surface mercilessly. Small moments that had a massive impact on the man I grew to be.

I remember standing outside her room as a child, hand raised, but too afraid to knock.

I remember watching her pass me in the halls, eyes distant... always grieving someone she never spoke of.

I learnt, far too young, how to swallow disappointment without letting it show. But not letting it show isn’t the same as not letting it hurt.

I press my fingers into her sleeve as if all this might vanish if I let go.

She holds me tighter, and I sniffle.

"I should have protected you," she whispers, voice breaking again.

"I should have been braver. I should have loved you loudly... instead of letting my grief rot into silence."

Her words tremble, but they do not feel like excuses. They feel like a confession.

And Light, it hurts.

Because a part of me wants to scream at her. To demand why it took so long. Why she let two boys grow up believing they were burdens rather than blessings.

But another part of me... the exhausted, fragile part... is just relieved she’s here now.

That she sees me. That she loves me...

"I will make amends. I promise." She whispers with yet another kiss pressed to my hair, and I let out a breath.

"I promise..." She repeats, and I slowly hold on to her arm.

For the first time in years... I feel light. So light!!