My Four Beast King Fathers Chose Her Over Me Chapter 04

The poison burned like venom through my veins.

But I smiled.

Third Dad once told me this toxin had no antidote.

If I swallowed it, I would die.

Third Dad froze for two seconds.

Then he pried my jaw open and shoved his fingers down my throat.

“Are you insane? Do you know what you just swallowed!”

He forced me to vomit, then pressed his palm against my chest.

Three of his tails wrapped around me as he channeled his spirit energy into my body, forcing the poison back out through my blood.

Black blood seeped from my pores.

Only when it ran red again did he finally breathe.

“Elara. It’s just a title. Is it really worth dying over?”

Fourth Dad was still shaken.

He believed me now—I truly wanted to die.

His voice trembled.

“Elara, please. Stop this. Yesterday the four of us spoke with Giselle. She’s willing to forgive you. After today, you can return to court. First Dad will name you Sacred Female too. We’ll treat you the way we used to. I promise.”

Tears spilled down my face.

They thought I was crying from relief.

Then I dropped to my knees.

“Please. I’m begging you. Just let me die.”

Third Dad’s expression darkened. “Elara, do you not understand—”

“I understand.” I cut him off. “But I don’t want to go back. I want to go home. To Mother.”

I told them everything. The voice in my head.

Mother being alive in another world.

That all I had to do was die to reach her.

Their faces shifted from confusion to something worse.

Finally, Third Dad pulled me to my feet.

“Elara. Listen to me. Your mother is dead.”

Mother drowned herself in the Blackwood River.

First Dad pulled her out.

Third Dad poured his spirit energy into her.

But nothing worked.

After they cut me from her womb, all four fathers stood vigil over her body for seven days.

They watched her flesh decay.

Watched her scent fade from the world.

Third Dad said the voice I was hearing was a delusion.

No.

I knew what I heard was real.

But no matter what I said, they refused to believe me.

Third Dad sighed. “If you truly can’t bear to return to court, then stay here with me. As long as you behave, I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”

I was about to refuse.

Then the ground shook.

Heavy footsteps and a low rumbling growl echoed down the corridor.

First Dad and Second Dad burst in, wild-eyed.

“Have you seen Giselle? She’s gone!”

Third Dad and Fourth Dad froze. “She’s supposed to be preparing for the Naming Rite—how could she disappear?”

Second Dad’s voice cracked.

“My fault. This morning she asked where the Feral Dens were. She wanted to bring Elara back herself. I was busy, so I refused. She must’ve gone anyway. It’s been two hours.”

He trailed off.

All four turned to stare at me.

I knew that look.

Before they could speak, I was already shaking my head.

“No. It wasn’t me.”

“How could it not be you?”

Fourth Dad’s talons closed around my throat, slamming me against the wall.

“No wonder you were so desperate to die this morning. You were covering your tracks. Where is she? Where did you hide Giselle?”

His grip tightened.

Tears streamed down my face but I kept shaking my head.

“I don’t know. I never saw her.”

Fourth Dad’s eyes blazed. “Liar.”

He pinned me to the ground and unleashed his mental power.

It was a crushing SSS-level force that suffocated every nerve in my body.

I couldn’t breathe.My vision went white.

He pulled back just before I blacked out.

“Last time. Where is Giselle?”

I know they won’t believe me.

They never do.

So I smiled.

“I killed her.”

All four went still.

First Dad’s voice dropped to a growl.

“What did you just say?”

I laughed.

“I said I killed her. Her mother destroyed mine. She stole my title and threw me to the ferals. So I killed her. And before I did, I let a pack of rogues ruin her. You always said she was pure, untouched. Well, now she’s filthier than I ever was.”

I grinned at their horror.

“So what are you waiting for? Kill me.”

Something inside them snapped.

First Dad’s bear form erupted.

His claws raked across my body, tearing flesh from bone.

Second Dad shifted into his dragon form and pinned me down.

His venom dripped into my open wounds, each drop burning like liquid fire.

Third Dad fed me a draught that locked my spirit consciousness wide open.

No matter how much pain I endured, I wouldn’t faint.

Fourth Dad gave the order. “Don’t stop until she talks.”

They took turns.

Claws. Fangs. Venom. Spirit pressure.

At first I could still scream.

Then even screaming left me.

The more it hurt, the happier I became.

Soon. I’d see Mother soon.

The four fathers turned to leave.

They were desperate to find Giselle.

Just as they stepped out, a young attendant came scrambling.

“My lord! The Sacred Female—she’s been found!”

First Dad seized him.

“Where?”

The attendant gasped for air. “She’s alive!She got lost on the way to the Feral Dens and is now coming back…”

Second Dad choked out, “She’s alive?”

The attendant nodded, confused. “Yes, my lord.”

All four faces went white.

Then I screamed.

They spun around and threw open the doors.

My blood sprayed across their faces.

I was standing with the dragonbone dagger in my hand, buried to the hilt in my own chest, straight through the heart.