Accidentally Mated To Four Alphas-Chapter 251: _ Plan Her Funeral

Amias hears the door swinging open without warning. No knock, pause, or respect.

Of course. Only one person in the entire mansion enters rooms like that. The Alpha. His father.

Amias stiffens where he kneels, Clarissa’s cold fingers still weakly cradled inside his own shaking hands. Vark snarls inside him, teeth bared, hackles raised.

"Ugh, we don’t need that now. Not him. Not when she’s like this."

But the Alpha doesn’t see his dying wife first. He sees Rayne.

"Rayne, my love," he exhales, sweeping her into his arms like the air might carry her away if he doesn’t anchor her fast enough.

Rayne gasps, startled, but melts into the embrace. The Alpha cups her jaw, lifts her chin, and kisses her deeply. Right there. Right beside Clarissa’s bed.

Right while Clarissa still breathes, barely, gasping for what little life remains.

It’s obscene. It’s sickening. And Amias feels something inside him twist so violently it’s almost a snap. His jaw clenches hard enough to ache. Vark thunders, low and dangerous in his chest, wanting to tear something apart.

The Alpha finally breaks the kiss, resting his forehead against Rayne’s. "What’s wrong, my heart? You sent for me."

Rayne’s eyes flick to Amias, guilt softening her already soft face. She steps slightly aside, revealing Clarissa’s sunken form on the bed. The Alpha barely glances even still. Vark lunges against Amias’s bones, and Amias forces him down with a sharp inhale that rattles his chest.

The healer, who had slipped back in after fetching some tinctures, clears his throat. "Alpha..."

"I didn’t ask you," the Alpha snaps without looking at him. "I asked my mate. I could hear all the wailing from the hallway."

Wailing. That’s what he calls this.

His hand curls around Rayne’s hip possessively. "Tell me what’s happening, love."

Rayne flinches at the bitterness laced into the air, but she steadies herself. Her voice shakes, not from fear of the Alpha, but from the tragedy she’s about to recount.

"Clarissa..." she whispers, "her wolf is gone. Entirely. The healer says her body is deteriorating. Magic is the only thing keeping her alive. He says she has... a week. Maybe less."

The Alpha lets out a breath. It’s not a gasp or from grief or shock. A sigh. A mildly inconvenienced exhale.

Then he says, "So it is finally happening."

Amias’s head jerks up.

"As expected," Tobias finishes.

Rayne flinches. "As expected?"

He nods dismissively. "Clarissa’s fate has been sealed for years. This is no surprise."

Amias stiffens. Vark growls low inside him, the sound vibrating straight down his spine like thunder waiting to strike. The Alpha continues as if he’s discussing the weather.

"It is her fault," he says, waving a hand at Clarissa’s dying form. "She chose resentment instead of learning her place. Choosing bitterness over loyalty has consequences."

Amias looks up sharply... so sharply his neck nearly snaps.

Rayne’s eyes widen. The healer flinches so hard he almost drops his satchel. The room temperature drops, the grief curdling into something darker.

Tobias doesn’t notice. Or maybe he does. He just doesn’t care.

"Very well," he goes, brushing dust off his sleeve like Clarissa’s death is an annoying chore. "See to it she’s comfortable. Reduce her pain." He waves a hand. "And Rayne, love, we need to begin planning the funeral."

Rayne’s hand flies to her mouth. The healer sputters. Amias’s hands clenches into fists. He is not sure if he heard correctly, but every hair on his arms lifts.

He is planning her funeral while she is still breathing. Something ruptures in Amias. His father is an animal. Yes, a fucking heartless one. He rises slowly like a man pulled upward by the throat. He can’t take it anymore.

No.

"She isn’t even dead. She’s right there. She’s breathing. And you’re planning her funeral?"

The Alpha turns, finally looking at him. He studies Amias like he’s studying a stranger, or a nuisance, or a child who forgot his place. What he says next breaks the last part of Amias that was still human.

"That is the only thing left that we can do for her," the Alpha replies. "Send her off properly. She should have thought twice about consummating her mate bond with her lover — that decision is what killed her wolf. This shouldn’t be a shock to you."

Shock?

Shock?

Shock?

Vark rips upward inside Amias, slamming against his chest so hard that Amias nearly doubles over.

He blames her. He blames her for being loved.

He blames her for surviving the only man who ever treated her like she mattered. He blames her for being heartbroken.

He doesn’t remember grabbing the bedpost. Doesn’t remember Vark snarling through his throat. Doesn’t remember stepping forward until Rayne pulls in a sharp breath.

But he’s there, right in front of his father, shaking with rage.

"You heartless bastard."

Rayne gasps. The healer drops something made of glass.

The Alpha’s eyes reddened not with remorse or anger, but with cold authority. "Watch your tone."

"No," Amias snarls. "You watch yours. Talk about her funeral again, and I swear on the Goddess, I will..."

Vark claws at his insides, trying to take over fully. "Let me. Let me tear him apart."

"Are you out of your mind?" Amias growls, raw and shaking. "Are you even a man?"

Rayne inhales sharply. "Amias..."

"No." He takes another step forward, hands trembling so hard they look blurred. "You left her. You humiliated her. You tore her life apart. And now you stand here and say this is her fault?"

Rayne can’t help it, she rushes forward before Amias’s finger can dip in his father’s eyes, hands out in front of her. "Amias, please..."

"No!" Amias barks at her. "She is dying, and he’s discussing burial arrangements like she’s a spoiled piece of meat about to be thrown out!"

Rayne swallows hard, eyes watery. "He’s wrong. But let’s not..."

"You will lower your tone before I make you," Tobias warns again.

Vark surges, a snarling blast of fury that slams against Amias’s teeth. Lower his tone? After everything this bastard has done?

Amias laughs.

"You want me to lower my tone?" he hisses. "When you destroyed my mother’s life? When you destroyed her wolf? When your decisions are the reason she is dying?"

The Alpha steps forward, power rolling off him in waves.

But Amias doesn’t back away. He stands on his ground.

"She loved someone," He spits. "Someone YOU ordered killed. Someone you murdered to parade your dominance — and you expect her wolf to survive that?"

The Alpha’s jaw flexes, hand raised to hit his first son. "You insolent little... "

Rayne grabs his arm. "Wait—Tobias, please—please listen..."

"Enough, Rayne," the Alpha snaps, yanking his arm free.

But she clings again, voice trembling: "He’s grieving. Let him have this moment. Let him stay. Let him breathe."

Amias doesn’t look at her. He can’t. He doesn’t want softness right now. He wants everyone in this damned room gone. And did she say he was grieving?

Seriously? Grieving a mother who still lay in that bed alive?

"She’s not even DEAD YET!" He screams, fisting the air.

Clarissa stirs faintly at the sound.

The Alpha crosses his arms. "This display is unnecessary."

"No," Amias spits. "What’s unnecessary is YOU being here."

Rayne’s breath catches. The healer edges toward the door.

"You’re all the reason she’s dying," Amias says, chest heaving. "Every single one of you. This house. This family. YOU."

"Amias..." Rayne tries again.

"Get out. All of you."

The Alpha’s eyebrows shoot up. "Excuse me?"

"I said get OUT!" Amias roars it, the sound cracking in the air like lightning.

The Alpha steps fully into his dominance aura, but Rayne pushes between them this time, both hands on his chest, pleading. "Please," she whispers. "Please. Let him have time with her."

The Alpha looks at her, then at Amias, then at Clarissa’s dying body. A muscle jumps in his jaw. For the first time, Tobiss pauses and it’s definitely not because he cares, but because Rayne asked.

He glares at Amias, jaw tight, nostrils flaring. "We will speak about this later."

"Don’t bother," Amias growls.

The Alpha snaps his head toward the healer. "Reduce her pain. Then leave."

The healer bows so low his forehead nearly hits the floor before scurrying out past them. Rayne hesitates, eyes full of sympathy and heartbreak. She reaches toward Amias one last time...

But he steps away.

She nods, small and devastated, and quietly guides the Alpha from the room. The door shuts and silence returns.

Except silence isn’t silent now. It’s loud. It’s ringing. It’s screaming.

Amias stands frozen, fists trembling at his sides. His chest heaves like he’s run miles. Vark growls deep inside him, wounded, furious, pacing in circles like he’s trapped in a cage too small.

"They don’t deserve to breathe the same air she does," Vark snarls. "We should have attacked."

Attacking won’t save her, Amias thinks painfully.

"But it would have felt good."

He can’t argue with that.