Chapter 5
Author's POV
Lucien walked into his hut, the familiar scent of his children a comforting balm after a long, strenuous day of hunting. But the comfort was instantly replaced with a surge of panic as he saw his six children on the ground, each one hunched over, their small bodies convulsing as they tried to vomit whatever they had consumed. His inner beast, the powerful Siberian tiger, roared with alarm.
"What's happening?!" Lucien demanded, his voice a low growl of controlled fury. He moved across the room in a single, fluid motion, his presence, though usually intimidating, became a beacon of safety for his terrified children.
Benjamin rushed toward him, his face pale and contorted with fear. "Father, Daniel received strange foods from the black witch and didn't tell us, and we ate it! We want to vomit it out before we die, you won't like seeing our dead bodies."
Benjamin's words were a frantic jumble, but the fear in his eyes was crystal clear.
Lucien's gaze hardened. He knelt down, his massive frame dwarfing his son, and gently patted his head. "Benjamin, his name is Jamie, and he is your papa. You will call him papa." He corrected the boy, his voice firm. He didn't want to discuss the reasons behind his mate choice, or the shame that came with it. But a mate was a mate, and his children would show the proper respect.
"Did any of you die?" he questioned, his voice calm and authoritative. He looked at each of their faces, searching for any sign of poisoning. But there was none. They all shook their heads in silent refusal, their eyes wide and innocent.
"Father, that black witch never liked us, so calling him papa…" Fiona's words trailed off, her expression defiant. She puffed out her cheeks, a cute gesture that contradicted the fierceness of her words. She meant business. Her loyalty to their father was unwavering, but her disgust for his mate was even stronger.
"Fiona!" Daniel's voice, a small but surprisingly strong sound, cut through the tension. "You're disrespecting father." He glared at her, his small body rigid with indignation.
Fiona simply turned her head, huffing out a breath of air. She clearly wasn't in support, but she also wasn't willing to continue the argument, not with Lucien watching.
Lucien stared at his children, the only people that filled the void in his heart, giving him reasons to be clearheaded and to have responsibilities.
Though Jamie was a pain in his side, though Jamie had made him regret ever choosing him as a mate, until their mate bond was broken, the children couldn't disrespect him.
He looked over to the room that was supposed to be theirs, his and Jamie's. It had been years since he had set foot in there, the memories of the old Jamie a painful scar on his heart. "Is he still asleep?" Lucien questioned, watching the kids nod in unison.
A small, genuine smile touched Lucien's lips, a rare sight for his children. He stood up, and went outside, returning with a large boar slung over his shoulder, the boar he had hunted for their dinner.
"Father, I wanna eat soup," Carlos begged, his eyes already teary. Soup was a rare and precious dish in their village, a luxury that only few omegas were skilled enough to prepare. Beast men, with their poor cooking skills, often risked killing their cubs with improperly prepared food.
"Carlos, we can ask papa to make it for us," Ella muttered, her voice so quiet it was barely a whisper. The words, however, gained the attention of all. Ella rarely spoke, rarely had something she liked or preferred. For her to speak up, it meant she truly desired something.
"Tell me, Ella, was the food sweet?" Lucien questioned, a genuine curiosity in his voice. He watched her nod shyly. He then looked over to Fiona, who didn't nod but didn't refuse, her face a mask of stubbornness. Adrien looked away, he didn't want to admit it, but his mind was still replaying the taste of the chips. Carlos nodded, looking serious and sincere, while Benjamin just smirked. Daniel kept nodding so vigorously that Lucien feared his head might fall off.
"Daniel, easy. Even if you had eaten his food, let's eat boar meat. This one is fresh, and I caught it from the west district," Lucien muttered as he used his roughly chiseled knife, made by the dwarves at the east district, to cut the boar's body in two. Adrien, ever the responsible older brother, went to work, fetching water so they could wash off the blood. Daniel sat quietly, his eyes fixed on the boar. He reached out and pulled on the boar's fur.
"These aren't furs, Daniel," Lucien muttered, a hint of confusion in his voice. Daniel nodded but still continued his action, pulling off the boar's fur and putting it in a small heap.
Ella sat beside Daniel, her quiet demeanor replaced by a look of intense concentration. "What is it?" Daniel asked, looking at her and listening carefully to whatever she wanted to say.
"Are you making gifts for papa?" she asked, her voice a hushed whisper. Daniel nodded. "I want him to give me that food again. This time, I'm not sharing it." He muttered, glaring at the rest of his siblings, who were now watching them.
"Daniel, if you keep going to the black witch, when your stomach hurts, I'll take you back to the village and abandon you with those wild cubs, where you'll be eaten before the poison kills you," Fiona threatened, her face a storm of rage.
Lucien, hearing her, gave her a hard smack on the head. "Who are you calling a black witch?" he questioned, his voice a low growl. Fiona frowned from the smack, her stubborn pride wounded. She scoffed and sat back, glaring hard at Daniel and Ella.
"Daniel, you'll give me some too, right?" Ella asked, her eyes watery, as if she would cry if Daniel refused. Daniel nodded and patted her hands, a small smile on his face. Carlos sat there, honestly wanting to tell Daniel to also include him, but a glare from Fiona and Adrien left him sitting back, and he pouted but said nothing.
Once the meat was cut and washed, they sat together to eat. The air was filled with the smell of roasting meat and woodsmoke.
"Father, aren't you calling papa? He seems to have changed after being in that prison. Did they beat the wickedness out of him a little?" Benjamin asked with a sarcastic tone as he bit into the fresh meat.
His face changed slightly. It wasn't as sweet, as flavorful as the food Jamie had given them.
Benjamin turned to look around, seeing everyone eating, but the slight discomfort on their faces told him they were also thinking the same thing. Turning toward the room where Jamie was sleeping, he longed truly for that food again. He received a glare from Fiona, who was stuffing a large piece of meat into her mouth, her pride not allowing her to admit that she preferred the other food. She was forcing herself to eat it.
This little sister's pride was above the moon, he thought.