CHAPTER 243: I AM ALWAYS HERE...WITH YOU

Kael’s POV

The day passed by, and all of us were in our rooms, retired for the night. We made sure Eira kept eating as much as she wished and had everything available for her at home.

Though it was midnight, I couldn’t sleep a wink, thinking about Eira.

My heart was telling me I should be with her—by her side, sleeping with her in my arms to make her feel better. She needed me, but... I couldn’t force her. I could only hope she got that comfort from Roman.

Despite trying to shake those thoughts aside, my heart felt heavy—emotional all of a sudden.Why am I being like this all of a sudden?

I felt a warm tear roll down my cheek. Realization hit me—it was her emotions I was feeling.

I quickly stepped out of bed and hurried to her room.

I didn’t bother knocking and entered, only to see Roman holding her in his arms and asking her what happened. She was crying like a child.

Roman saw me. He himself looked lost, unsure why she was crying so much.

She had cried even at noon, but I hadn’t felt it then. This time, I did—which meant she was crying because something was hurting her deeply.

I went closer, to her side of the bed. "Eira, what happened?" I asked.

In response, she cried even more, burying her face against Roman’s chest.

"If you don’t tell us, how will we know?" Roman coaxed her gently. "Even Kael is here. Whatever it is, we’ll make it right."

I placed my hand over her shaking shoulder. I could feel her pain. "Look here," I moved closer, like she was protected between me and Roman.

"Please tell me," I insisted softly.

She slowly turned toward me—and this time, she cried in my arms.

Roman and I shared gazes. Neither of us could guess what was going on.

The other three seemed to have heard my hurried steps when I ran over the staircase. Alert, they came to Roman’s room as well.

Everyone had only one question in their mind. "What happened?"

"We were sleeping. All of a sudden she started crying," Roman told us all. "She’s not saying anything."

I let her cry for a while and then asked again, "Eira, please tell me what happened. If you need something, just tell me. I promise I’ll do it—whatever it is."

After a moment of silence, she finally raised her head and looked at me, her eyes red from crying. "...You promise?.." The words barely came out between her sobs.

It was a relief that she was at least ready to say something.

"Yes. And I never break my promise," I said, looking straight into her eyes, my gaze gentle and assuring. My hand caressed her cheek.

"I... I... want my... son..." she said in a choked voice. "...My son..."

What Isla had said—and what I had been waiting for her to say—she finally said it. But it was all because of her emotional state. It must have triggered it, letting her buried emotions rise to the surface.

"Raven is here," I told her.

"He is... but I want my son... my Ray... Please find him..." she pleaded, "...You promised..."

Finally, she accepted that Raven wasn’t her son. Had she stopped deluding herself?

I could sense the same emotions in my brothers as I felt within myself.

Would it be right to tell her about her son now? Isla had said that day, Don’t be impatient just because she pleads with you to. You have to make sure she’s clearly stable first. And in her current state, she was overly emotional.

I felt caught in a difficult dilemma.

If I didn’t tell her now and did it later, would she get angry with me? Would she ask why I didn’t tell her when she was crying and pleading?

She would be angry for sure.

And I’d accept it—as always.

"...Why aren’t you saying anything?... You don’t want to?..." she asked, as I stayed silent for a while.

I simply looked at the desperation in her eyes, wanting to assure her that I would—but...

"...I promise, even if I get Ray... I will love Raven the same... You said he is the first child of this family. I promise, my son will never take his place... I just want him here... I want him to grow like Raven, with us all... Me and my son, we’ll ask for nothing else... My baby... I don’t know where he is... I don’t know if he’s even alive..." She continued to cry, unable to form any more words. "...I will let him call you dad... I will tell him call Raven his brother... I will do everything you say... I won’t run away with him... I just want a small space for my child... here... in this home....I want him to be safe...have good life..."

What we had been trying to make her realize—it had indeed worked.

"Can you please... will you..." she had no more words left to speak.

"I will," I finally said. "I’ll bring your son to you."

Her trembling lips moved to say something.

"But," I said—and that made her swallow her words back.

"...But?" she asked.

"You have to get better entirely," I said. "Do you want your son to see that his mother isn’t well?"

She shook her head. "I will get better... I will do everything Liam and Isla say... I want to...."

"I know, and we will help you," I said. "We’ll help you get better, and we’ll help you get your son. We’ll live as one family."

Though she was crying, her lips curved into a light smile to show her gratitude.

I hugged her gently and let her calm down.

My brothers simply looked at me, maybe wondering what to do. Through the mind link, I assured them everything would be alright.

In her current fragile emotional state, she would probably be overwhelmed to know Raven was her son. She would go to him right away and start sticking to him once more like glue—when we had just made her begin to slow herself down.

She would have all her attention on Raven only, forgetting even about herself. The little guy would be too overwhelmed by her.

The worst part was that we wouldn’t be able to stop her, as she would argue that Raven was her son. She could change in a moment.

It wasn’t healthy for Raven, who had already been through another kind of psychological torture before. And now that he had started to become normal, I couldn’t offer him a psychologically unstable mother.

To her, it would seem normal—her love for her son—but Raven wasn’t ready to accept that kind of affection yet. He would probably end up feeling forced and unwilling to be with her. Though he was always respectful toward everyone’s wishes, in his mind, slowly it would create negative feelings toward Eira.

I couldn’t let that happen.

This must be the reason Isla told me not to give in to her pleading. Giving someone what they want when they’re at their most vulnerable is never a good idea, but give it to them when they are ready to accept its true worth. Till now, Isla had been right about everything, so I was going to follow her advice again.

Finally, I decided to accept her hate if she had to scold me later for not telling her the truth earlier.

"Want to come to my room to sleep?" I asked. "You might feel better sleeping next to Raven."

"Will he be alright if I do?" she asked as she raised her head to look at me.

I nodded. "He’ll like it if his mother is with him."

She nodded.

I let out a sigh of relief, and so did my brothers. She was finally calm.

Lucian poured a glass of water for her, and she drank it. I carried her in my arms to my room, and she didn’t reject me.

It was time to sleep together like a family—both of us and our son.

Inside the room, I gently placed her on the bed. Raven was in the center of the bed, in deep sleep.

She turned to face Raven, her hand reaching out to touch him, but she stopped.

"He won’t wake up even if you touch him," I assured her.

She finally caressed his head, with the affection of a mother.

As for me, I didn’t go to sleep on the other side of the bed but lay down next to Eira, in whatever space was left behind her.

All her attention was on Raven—maybe that’s why she didn’t mind that I slept beside her. I turned to my side, my hand circling around her, her slender back pressed against my chest.

"Close your eyes. You need sleep," I said in a low voice.

I felt her let out a relaxed sigh, her body softening in my hold.

"Good night," I said once more and closed my eyes, inhaling the sweet scent coming from her hair.

Just as Rafe had said to me in passing—that she smelled different—he wasn’t wrong. To me, even her scent felt a little different.

My hand moved to her belly. Unsure of what I was even trying to do, I just wished to feel it—if it was even possible to.

She didn’t mind me touching her belly. Instead, she snuggled her back against my chest, as if trying to seek more comfort from me.

"I’m always here... with you..." I whispered gently—to her... to her wolf.