Chapter 50: Evelyn: Crushed Between Two Wolves
Evelyn~
Even though they still looked reluctant, both of them eventually calmed down.
After letting Dr. Caelis cleaned their wounds—he didn’t bother wrapping them with gauze since the injuries would fade on their own—and finishing lunch, we ended up sitting in the living room.
I actually had no idea whose house this was, since Rael’s home had already burned down to the ground.
"Should we ... talk now?" I finally broke the silence between us. "Or we can just sit together like this for another hour."
Honestly, I wouldn’t have minded just sitting, but being squished between the two of them on one couch wasn’t exactly comfortable. The couch wasn’t that big, and my sides were already protesting from the pressure.
"Why are you all sitting on the same couch anyway?" my wolf complained. "There are literally two other couches right here."
I sighed, answering inwardly. ’What can I say? Both of them want to sit beside me.’
Rather than making them fight again, I thought it was better to just let them both sit next to me.
I assumed they would feel uncomfortable sitting so close together, but even after half an hour, neither of them moved an inch.
Meanwhile, I was suffocating. It felt like I was being crushed between two walking walls of muscle, and honestly, it kind of hurt a little.
"Alright, I’ll talk first." I finally spoke up because I really couldn’t stand sitting like this anymore. "Why don’t we start with ... how many mates I actually have?"
Both of them stiffened, but since Rael already knew that I had five mates, he managed to calm down rather quickly. On the other hand, Theron looked as if he had just heard that one of his family members had died.
"W-what do you mean?" Theron stammered. "Don’t tell me ... this brat isn’t the only third wheel?"
Rael answered before I could. "Third wheel, my ass! You’re the one third-wheeling us!"
Before they could punch each other, I pushed their faces apart. "Calm down, both of you! Nobody’s going to die just because I have five mates."
Theron immediately clutched his chest after hearing that. He acted as if he had just suffered a heart attack and was about to die right then and there. "F-five mates? You have five mates?"
I nodded slowly, without saying a word. That tiny gesture was enough to send him spiraling. He leaned back against the couch, then slid down until he was sitting on the floor like someone whose entire world had just ended.
"Five mates ...," he murmured in a low voice, staring at the cobwebs on the ceiling. After a moment of silence, he asked in a low voice, "If I kill that brat, doesn’t that mean I only need to get rid of three more bastards?"
My mouth went dry. I couldn’t believe what I just heard. "Theron ... didn’t I already tell you that I’ll feel pain if you hurt Rael? That goes for my other mates too."
Theron let out a heavy sigh, bowing his head so low his hair shadowed his face. "I’m sorry. I won’t hurt you."
At that moment, I realized that Theron would have truly tried to kill all of my other mates if I hadn’t told him that I would feel pain whenever he hurt them.
"Theron," I called softly. "If you kill my other mates, you ... will die too. I don’t want something that awful to happen to you. So please ... don’t ever do something like that."
Theron’s head snapped up, his gaze locking onto mine with eyes that had softened in an instant. "Are you ... worried about me?"
I blinked, caught off guard when he suddenly dropped to his knees and leaned toward me so quickly it made my breath hitch. "My Lady, would you be sad if I died?" he asked again, his voice trembling slightly.
"Mhm." I gave a small nod and let out a hum. "I’d be really sad if you died."
Truthfully, I’d be sad if any of them died. I never planned on having five mates at once, but since fate had already shoved this onto me, I had no choice but to accept them all.
Besides, if one of them dies, the others will die as well. That means I wouldn’t just be facing one death, but five deaths at the same time.
I might not be the best at expressing my feelings, but I knew for sure I’d be devastated. I’d cry my heart out if something that terrible ever happened.
But Theron didn’t seem to care about the others at all. The only thing that mattered to him was the fact that I would be sad if he died.
"I don’t want you to ever feel that way." Theron took my hands gently but firmly, his voice steady with determination. "I promise you I’ll never kill your mates and I won’t hurt them even the slightest."
His words lingered between us. It felt heavy but oddly comforting.
For the first time since this whole mess started, Theron looked almost ... vulnerable. His sharpness was gone, replaced by something softer. He was still dangerous, I knew that, but at this moment he wasn’t the terrifying Alpha King everyone feared, he was just a man clinging to the one thing he didn’t want to lose.
"I don’t care about them," Theron whispered, his fingers tightening around mine. "I don’t care if they live or die. But if you ... if you ever cried because of me, I don’t think I could bear it."
For a moment, I got lost in his eyes. That calm, gentle look felt ... nice, almost comforting. I was just about to say something sweet back to him when Rael suddenly reached out and pushed Theron’s forehead with his finger, like he was flicking away a piece of disgusting trash.
"Stop pretending to be a gentleman," Rael scoffed. "Do you think I’ve forgotten your rotten behavior back then?"
The softness in Theron’s eyes disappeared in an instant, replaced by burning rage. "Rotten? Have you completely lost your mind?"
They hadn’t spoken to each other for a while, but Rael’s words lit the spark, and I knew this "conversation" wasn’t going to end peacefully.
"Lost my mind?" Rael growled through gritted teeth as he stood up from the couch. His voice exploded into a roar. "Do you think I wouldn’t lose my mind after your bastard father kicked me out of the palace!?!"
Rael let out a dry, bitter laugh before shouting again, "No, not just the palace. HE ALSO BURNED DOWN OUR FUCKING HOUSE!"
He grabbed Theron’s collar and pulled him upward. "We were living just fine, and that fucking old man suddenly barged into our home and declared he was your father." Rael’s grip on Theron’s collar tightened. "And you did nothing ... YOU DID NOTHING WHEN THAT BASTARD KICK ME OUT!"