Chasing Back His Beloved Beast Husbands

"I came as soon as I heard," Aenyra set her luggage on the ground and immediately went up to hug Sseraphis, passing Aeltharion who had opened the door for her. "How are you doing? How is Aelthie and Nythe?" She asked, softly comforting him in the hug.

Sseraphis buried his face on her shoulder and let his body relax as he inhaled her mint and herbal scent. It was noticably calming.

"Aelthie is running around doing this and that... He just won’t slow down... I don’t think he wants to process what happened," Sseraphis said.

"I’m right here," Aeltharion reminded the two who seemed to have overlooked his presence entirely.

"And Nytherael? I take that this loss must be hard on him."

Aenyra continued to ask, ignoring her brother. Sseraphis sighed, when it came to Nytherael, he couldn’t say.

He honestly couldn’t. Even when he crawled onto the swing and spooned the fox for hours, he didn’t feel Nytherael move or react to his presence once. Every now and then, he switched sleeping positions but nothing further than that.

He had massagedd Nytherael’s body with herbal oils and hoped to at least ease the exhaustion in his body, but even then, the fox gave no response that showed that he processed his presence at all.

"Come in, Sheana," Aeltharion greeted the awkward phoenix by the door.

When Sseraphis heard the name, his face darkened and his eyes became venomous.

He broke the hug and straightened his back. He stepped aside and glanced over. "Stop!" He shouted just as Sheana’s feet was about to step into the house.

"Is there a problem?" Aenyra asked.

"Dearest," Sseraphis smiled softly at Aenyra. "I love that you rushed here as soon as I called for you but... she’s not welcomed here," his tone chanted significantly when he talked about Sheana.

"Why?"

"Did I offend you in any way?" Sheana asked in the softest and scared voice.

Since the news of Rhysandor’s death wasn’t public and the attack on the underwater palace hadn’t been disclosed, the two who had been nesting in Zhen family home had no idea about the recent developments.

Princess Sheana was unaware that her sister had committed a big sin for which she had paid a dear price.

"Ssera, I know you worry for me and you always look out for me but I bonded myself to her and I am done running away from that choice," she spoke confidently.

It came as a surprise to Sseraphis and Aeltharion because the last they saw her, she was denying the bond so hard that they got worried.

"We aren’t close yet...and I don’t know where this relationship will lead but I have decided to give her... Us a chance," she continued. "So please... as my friend... my partner in crime, I need you to get on board and help me. I will need you to translate relationships and sorta marriage to me," she said, acting cute to draw Sseraphis’ pampering side and get rid of some of his venom towards Sheana.

Sheana smiled. The awkwardness she felt earlier worsening. It wasn’t easy being in Sseraphis’ presence.

Aeltharion was more easy going, Nytherael and her had become sort of friends but as for Sseraphis, he was guarded against her for reasons she didn’t know. When all she wanted was to become a part of the family and feel the love that they showed Aenyra with.

"I’m happy that you... Oh heck!" Sseraphis cursed.

In as much as he wanted to be happy for Aenyra at that moment, he couldn’t shake the raw hatred brewing in his heart for Samahita. He hated her, everything about her and the perimeter of that hatred extended to every beast related to her.

He also couldn’t accept that Aenyra’s bond with Sheana made him family with Samahita. Just the thought of that ice phoenix who tried to kill him made his blood colder and venom inside him more brutal.

At the sound of his cursing, Sheana returned her foot outside the door. She didn’t dare step inside.

"Is there a problem?"

Aenyra sensed his unhappiness instantly. The outburst didn’t seem to just be from a place of affection for her but something deeper and more scary.

"What’s going on?"

"Venom, let them inside first. They are guests..."

"Wasn’t her sister a guest too?" Sseraphis fired, venom spilling from each word.

Sheana looked up at the mention of her sister. It brought back the horrible feeling she’d had in the pit of her stomach and the ache in her heart since the previous night.

It was as though a piece of her had been ripped apart. Taken, in a way that she could never reclaim and the pain was too much that she became restless. Aenyra stayed up all night with her, talking, telling her the history of dragons to distract her from the pain.

It reached a point that Madam Zhen had to come over, uninvited with medicine that eventually calmed her nerves.

"What about my sister?"

"Nothing that you should be told while outside the house. Come on in," Aeltharion nicely invited again.

"It is because of you and Nytherael’s kindness that..."

"Sseraphis!" Aeltharion snapped.

Sseraphis lowered his head. He realized his mistake but he felt too angry to back down so he simply muttered under his breath. "Sorry."

"We were worried for you. We thought... But if only you had trusted us enough with the truth, we wouldn’t have been caught off guard and desperate for a solution," Aeltharion pointed out, he disliked that the most about Sseraphis. "Trusting them was our choice, breaking that trust was theirs. I don’t blame Nytherael because... If even for a minute they did have a solution, I would’ve let them in myself too... That is how much we care about you."

The way the snake made sacrifices for them without informing them, the pain that he endured alone while keeping them in the dark and his selfless stance for them. In his opinion, they needed to discuss such matters and decide together so that they can bear the consequences together.

"I trust you, Ael..."

"Then prove it,"Aeltharion demanded. "No more self sacrifices and no more taking decisions alone."

"I didn’t mean to blame you or Nythe."

"Wait," Aenyra stepped in, confused. "What’s going on?"

"Her sister stormed my underwater palace with her friends to kill me!" Sseraphis blurted out.

"What?" Aenyra and Sheana reacted.

Sseraphis locked eyes with Sheana. "They failed only because Rhysandor took the blow for me," he let out. "He is dead. Killed by your sister and her friend... I hope for her sake that she finds a place so far and impossible to reach. Because if I find her... she’ll wish for the death she wanted for me!"

Sheana drained of colour, energy and will.