Vengeance of The Broken Lycan Prince [BL]-Chapter 454: An Ultimatum, Never A Choice [6]

[KAWAI]

"You knew he would do this, didn’t you?" Kosta asked, and for the first time, Yilena looked up at the kid who was calling her by name. It was something so simple and yet it held the weight of the bonds that had been shattered that evening.

It held the reminder of what pain lingered and what Kosta had had to deal with. He was angry and rightly so. Perhaps they should have expected this from the man, but then years had passed.

So many years that Yilena had gotten used to being called Nana by her best friend’s brother. It was always what reminded her of home and yet as Kosta stood there staring at her with so much rage, the Hinata woman knew she was done for.

There was no point in playing hide and seek with Kosta anymore.

"Yes. I did," Yilena said, her voice unwavering. It still held the same warmth it always had when she talked to Kosta. It was like there was nothing that would change for her, even if the kid she had protected for years was starting to hate her.

It was inevitable, and perhaps that was a fate that Yilena had given in for the hundredth time.

"Why?" Kosta asked defeatedly.

"Why?" Yilena asked amusedly. She knew that the questions seemed like a weightless one and yet it was the one question she had been waiting for from Kosta for years on end.

The question that would trigger the answer to a past that had never really been explained back then. It had been over thousands of years and time always said number on the things that Yilena did.

But on this one, she had waited knowingly.

She knew that this particular day would come, but she had hoped that she wouldn’t have to tell Kosta about it. He didn’t deserve to be thrust into the past again, but what else was there for her?

"Why did you let him do that?" Igor asked as he stared at his guardian.

He hated that he was losing Tamiko because of a truth so fragile and one that would make him combust. He needed to figure out a lot of shit, but he was certain that he didn’t want to live a life without Tamiko.

He couldn’t let himself lean toward that emptiness. He couldn’t let that happen to them.

"Because I swore to protect you, Igor. I swore to your sister, Sahina, and I don’t intend to break that promise," Yilena said casually, like she was addressing a kid throwing tantrums. She wasn’t even fazed by the rage on Igor’s face.

She had seen him angry, happy, and through so many emotions, so this didn’t scare her. And it wasn’t even because King Zaffuto would slap Igor’s head off his neck if he so much as touched his little sister, no.

It was because she trusted in the fates and was waiting for shit to get better, but what the fuck was better for them?

This was not making any sense to anyone.

"Protect me? You’re hurting me. I love him. You know it. Everyone in the realm knows it, too. Why is it so hard for you to just let me be happy? You know he’s the one for me. He is the reason I want to go on living, Yilena.

"He makes... he makes the nightmares go away. I can’t lose him," Igor said, defeated.

Yilena just sighed.

She knew this wasn’t the easiest thing she had to do, but she also knew that this was for the best. Maybe Igor was not on the same page as her right now, but he would eventually. He would understand that she had done what was best for him.

"He is dangerous, Igor. He will hurt you. You know that, too, don’t you?" Yilena said as she stared at the kid before her.

To her, Igor was still the boy she had been assigned to protect, the kid whose life meant so much to her that she wouldn’t let her nephew fuck it up. They had fought the night that Igor had come back to them from captivity because of Tamiko.

Yilena had scolded him so much that that night, Kosta hadn’t slept a wink. She had been right and harsh, but love was love. There was nothing that the woman was saying that Igor didn’t know about yet.

But he wanted Tamiko.

He wouldn’t let them take his Erasthai from him.

"He is my Erasthai! How the hell am I supposed to live without him?" Igor cried out as the king, Lord Sadako, and Danny walked in. He could see the defeat on their faces and the certainty that was written all over the king’s face.

No father wanted to hear that the child was a danger to others or even wanted to deprive them of happiness, but this was just something that even Zaffuto couldn’t interfere with.

He needed to know what logic had been used here because otherwise this was pointless. He would lose a lot and had to think. He had to do what’s best for his son, too.

"You’ll live. But you must not go to Tamiko, that is not negotiable. The kid is a danger to you. Everything about him is power and ruin. He may not be the one holding the sword pointed at you, but he sure is the motivation for it.

"You might hate me for it today, but you will understand it someday. You will know why I did all of this, and you will realize that I did it for your good," Yilena insisted, and Igor felt like he had just been gutted.

His guardian was talking about his life like it was so okay and that things would eventually blow over, but he knew nothing would ever be the same. He knew it, and he understood it a little too well.

He knew what life without Tamiko looked like.

He knew what life with Tamiko looked like.

And honestly, all he wanted was Tamiko.

All he needed was Tamiko.

This little fucked-up fantasy that Yilena was setting him up for wouldn’t last a while and he knew it. They all had to have known it, right?

"You’re letting her break Tamiko’s heart like that?" Kosta asked as he looked at the king, Lord Sadako, and Danny – the trio that would never hesitate to lay down their lives for the said boy.

It wasn’t even a question of whether they would give up everything for Tamiko. It was evident in every way. The king was the father who had sworn to protect his son and his happiness.

The Lycan Lord was on who had sworn to be there for Liana’s kid and make sure the kid was the happiest, along with her brother. Danny was the werewolf turned Lycan who had left his entire life back in Grealor just because Tamiko had come calling for him.

It wasn’t hard to tell what they would and wouldn’t do, which was why Igor didn’t understand why the fuck they seemed okay with all of this.

He didn’t understand what it was about the chaos that didn’t trigger them enough, or maybe they just wanted to see the two mates miserable as fuck, right?

Would that be a better explanation for the madness that lingered in the hallways of Kawai? Would it ever be enough to make it all make sense, or was this just another attempt at a life that would never have meaning, unless they found a way to fix it?

"Tamiko made his choice, Igor. He chose you."