Accidentally Mated To Four Alphas-Chapter 252: _ Lira

The silence in the room vibrates like a thread ready to snap. Amias stands at the foot of the bed, chest heaving, and fingers trembling so hard he can feel the tremors ricocheting up his forearms. The tear tracks on his cheeks cool slowly, sticking to his skin like glue, reminding him of everything he’s just lost and everything he’s about to lose.

Clarissa lies unmoving, her breath still shallow and uneven. Amias ignores all of Vark’s tantrums, mostly because if he acknowledges the thought, he might actually do it.

He sinks back down beside his mother’s bed. His knees hit the floor with a muted thud. He presses his forehead against her mattress, breathing shakily through his nose. The scent of her old perfume clings to the sheets, smelling like bergamot, clove, something sweet and floral. He hasn’t smelled it in years. She stopped wearing it the day she lost her mate.

"She’s still here," he whispers to himself. "She’s still... she’s still here." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Barely. Barely isn’t good enough. His eyes sting again, but before the tears can fall, a soft knock rattles the door. At first, he thinks he imagined it. His head lifts, blurred vision stretching the room. Another soft knock follows, more insistent this time.

"Amias?" Lira’s voice calls lightly and almost musically. "Amias, can I... can I come in?"

He flinches. Because why is she here? Why now?

Vark growls under his breath. "Not her."

But Amias doesn’t have the strength to tell anyone — even her to leave. He drags a sleeve across his face, wiping the tears, the snot, the whole emotional disaster zone happening along his nose. It only partially helps, but he tries to look... not destroyed. That effort fails instantly.

"Come in," he murmurs, voice cracking so embarrassingly that he wants to punch a wall just to distract from it.

The door creaks open. Lira steps inside with small, hesitant steps, her gaze immediately softening when she sees him on the floor by the bed. Her eyes flash with maybe... sympathy or pity... He can’t tell. Behind her polite smile, her fingers twitch but she quickly masks it.

"Oh, Amias," she whispers, hurrying toward him like a gentle breeze. She kneels beside him and wraps her arms around his shoulders before he can object. Her cheek presses against his temple. "I came as soon as I heard. I’m so, so sorry."

She smells like jasmine and honey... so warm and sugary. It’s a scent he normally finds cloying when she’s clinging too close at social events. But now? Now it feels like something to anchor to, something solid when the world is falling apart at the edges.

He lets her hold him because he’s at a point where he’ll cling to any speck of warmth as long as it’s not coming from a source that partook in hurting his mother. And gods, he hates that it helps to cling to Lira.

"I don’t know what to do," he breathes, voice breaking all over again.

"She’s stable," Lira whispers soothingly, stroking his back in long, slow lines. "She’s strong. She’ll hold on."

He shakes his head. "No. The healer said... she has a week. A week, Lira. Maybe less."

Her hand pauses in a brief, almost unnoticeable beat before she resumes the comforting strokes.

"Oh, Amias..." Her voice drops to something even softer. "I... I didn’t think it was that bad."

He pulls away just enough to look at her. "It is. And I don’t know how to stop it."

Lira’s lips tremble, eyes widening in perfect pity. "There’s nothing you can do. Sometimes..." She takes a breath, preparing her next emotional dagger. "Sometimes people slip away no matter how tightly we hold them."

Vark hisses. "She’s making it worse."

Amias can’t tell whether she means to or is just being honest. The truth hurts either way. His throat tightens painfully. He tries to keep himself together, but the words hit him with the force of a hammer. Slip away. Hold them. Lose them.

His eyes burn again. Harder this time.

Lira cups his face, thumbs brushing his tear-wet cheeks. "Hey... hey... you’ve been so strong for so long," she murmurs. "You don’t have to be right now."

He leans into her hands without meaning to. Because he’s so damn tired. And she’s right — he’s been holding everything inside for years. The loneliness, the pressure, the disappointment. Now the grief. All of it crashes back at once.

He can’t handle his thoughts. Thinking alone hurts. Breathing hurts. Living hurts. If only...

... if only he could just go with his mother. There’s nothing here for him. He lives in a house where he’s no better than a stranger. No one feels like home.

Now, after all of this, he’s supposed to watch his brothers have the mate he could never have. Like he watched them all make love to her at once last night.

He couldn’t look further, but he stumbled on them and it was the most heartbreaking thing ever.

"I can’t lose her," he whispers, voice shaking violently. "Lira, I can’t— I can’t do it."

She pulls him back into her chest, cradling his head, whispering. "You’re not alone. You have me."

Amias’s body collapses into the embrace fully. Shoulders shaking, fists curling into her dress as he cries; ugly, raw, and unfiltered. She rubs his back, letting his heartbreak bleed into her palms. And beneath the softness of her scent, beneath the gentle rhythm of her hand on his spine... something cold flickers in her eyes.

But Amias doesn’t see it. He’s too broken to see anything but the comfort being offered. When the sobs finally loosen, he slumps against her, exhausted.

"I should have treated you better," he murmurs hoarsely. "All these years... I didn’t see you. Not really."

Lira’s heart skips — but not for sentimental reasons. This is exactly what she wants.

"You’ve had a lot on your plate," she whispers.

"That’s not an excuse," he says, shaking his head. "Right now... when everything is falling apart, you’re the one here with me. You’re the one holding me up."

She smiles softly and strokes his hair. "Always."