Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 285: Episode 283: Protect the House.

The next morning came sooner than ever.

Roxy stood leaning against the railing, the cool morning air biting slightly at her bare arms.

She was still wearing the soft lavender silk sleep gown Torian had dressed her in the night before, her dark curls tumbling in a messy, unchecked tangle down her back.

Down in the courtyard, the atmosphere was strictly business.

Torian stood beside the five massive wooden crates of the Wither-Rot cure, his broad chest puffed out as he delivered Roxy’s deployment plan to the rest of the Alpha Kings.

Ren and Kaelen listened intently, their faces deadpan as they mentally calculated the quickest aerial and ground routes to their respective territories.

Syris simply leaned against a nearby fence post, his arms crossed, looking entirely unbothered by the logistics.

Zarek, however, looked ready to commit a massacre.

His jaw was locked so tight his teeth were grinding. He glared at the wooden crate marked with a ’D’ as if the wood itself had deeply insulted his honor.

Why was his mate always looking for a way to drive him apart from her?

That was the first thing Zarek thought.

"This is completely unacceptable," Zarek growled, his deep voice vibrating violently across the courtyard. He took a threatening, heavy step toward Torian. "You expect me to leave her here? With no King? The Manor is fortified, but she is pregnant, Tiger. She needs her mates."

"I didn’t write the plan, Lizard," Torian shot back, his own eyes narrowing. He was completely unfazed by Zarek’s anger. "I am just executing it. The Queen gave the order."

Zarek whipped his massive head around, his burning gaze snapping up to Roxy on the porch. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

He marched to the base of the wooden steps, looking up at her with a mixture of intense anger and desperate pleading.

Roxxy gazed at him lazily.

"Roxann, tell him this is a joke," Zarek demanded. "I am not flying to the Peaks and leaving you behind. Drax is strong, but he cannot hold off a coordinated breach alone."

Roxy didn’t flinch under his heavy, overbearing Alpha pressure. She simply tightened her grip on the porch railing and looked down at him with absolute, unyielding authority.

"It is not a joke, Zarek," Roxy stated firmly, her voice carrying clearly in the crisp morning air. "Your drakes in the Peaks are starving, restless, and terrified of the plague. If anyone else drops into your territory to hand out rations, your people will kill them on sight out of paranoia. You are their King. You have to do this."

"But you—"

"I will be completely fine," Roxy cut him off sharply. She softened her tone just a fraction, holding his fierce gaze. "Zarek, please. If the Wither-Rot reaches the mountains, your entire tribe will be wiped out. I need you to lead your people. I am safe here behind Ren’s barrier and Kaelen’s runes."

Zarek’s jaw clenched so hard a muscle feathered visibly in his cheek. He stared at her, his draconic instincts warring violently with his logical duty as a King.

But looking at her steadfast, stubborn expression, he knew he couldn’t win this argument. He couldn’t fight her logic, no matter how loudly his beast screamed at him to stay and guard her.

With a heavy, furious exhale, Zarek turned sharply away from the stairs. "Fine."

Roxy let out a quiet breath of relief. She shifted her gaze across the courtyard, landing on Sytus.

Syris was the only one heading into the true epicenter of the Wither-Rot. The Southern Swamps were a brutal, unforgiving, necrotic wasteland right now, and it was also the very place that had violently cast him out.

"Syris," Roxy called out, her brow furrowing in genuine concern.

The Snake Beastman pushed off the fence post and glided smoothly over to the base of the porch, looking up at her with those sharp, vertical green pupils.

"Are you going to be fine?" Roxy asked, her voice dropping slightly so the others wouldn’t hear. "Taking the cure to the Swamps... your people don’t exactly like you. They exiled you. Are they going to attack you before you can even give them the broth?"

Syris didn’t look worried in the slightest. A slow, lazy smile spread across his pale, sharp face, completely devoid of fear or hesitation.

"I am not the kid they used to bully before, Roxy," Syris replied, his tone smooth and dripping with dark, lethal confidence. He tilted his head, his eyes glinting with amusement. "Don’t you trust me, darling?"

Roxy looked at the dangerous, calculating smirk on his face, and the lingering anxiety in her chest completely melted away.

He was right. Syris was her husband. The Swamp tribes should be the ones terrified of his return.

Roxy smiled warmly, bringing her hand to her lips and blowing him a kiss down from the porch.

Syris pretended to catch it, pressing his hand over his heart with a dramatic, mocking bow.

He is so cute.

"Alright, enough stalling," Torian barked, grabbing the thick ropes secured around his designated crate. "We drop the payloads, ensure the tribes eat, and we return immediately. No detours."

The courtyard instantly exploded into motion.

One by one, the Alpha Kings shifted. Each of the massive beasts grabbed their heavy wooden crates with their jaws or claws. They all paused for one brief, unified second, turning their massive heads to give Roxy one final, desperate look.

Roxy offered them a firm, encouraging nod.

With a sudden, violent rush of wind and displaced dirt, the Alphas took off.

Zarek launched into the sky with a powerful, thunderous beat of his wings, while the others sprinted directly into the dense tree line, vanishing into the Iron-Wood forest in a matter of seconds.

The courtyard was suddenly completely empty.

The silence that fell over the estate was heavy and eerie. Roxy stood on the porch, staring at the tree line where Torian had disappeared.

"Are they going to be fine, mummy?"

A drowsy, slightly rough voice broke the silence.

Roxy turned around. Drax was standing in the open doorway of the Manor. The teenage dragon-shifter was rubbing his eyes, his dark hair sticking up in every direction.

He was wearing loose sleep pants, his small, hardened horns catching the morning light. He looked out at the empty courtyard, his eyes filled with a quiet worry.

Roxy’s heart softened. She walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his broad, teenage shoulders and pulling him into a warm hug.

"Yes, they would," Roxy murmured, rubbing his back. "Because they are your daddies. They are the strongest Alphas in the world, Drax."

She pulled back and let out a yawn. Her eyelids felt heavy.

Roxy guided Drax back inside the Manor, pulling the heavy oak door shut behind them and throwing the iron deadbolt into place.

"Get some sleep, Drax," Roxy said softly, patting his cheek. "Mama is going to sleep too."

She turned and headed heavily up the wooden stairs. She didn’t look back as she reached the master bedroom, pushing the door open and collapsing face-first into the massive bed.

Down in the hallway, Drax stood perfectly still.

He waited until he heard the distinct click of his mother’s bedroom door shutting.

The moment the door closed, the drowsy, sleepy teenager completely vanished. Drax’s posture snapped straight. His eyes sharpened into focused slits, and his jaw locked with absolute determination.

He wasn’t going to sleep. His fathers had left him in charge, and he was not going to fail them.

Drax turned on his heel and marched swiftly down the hall toward the children’s rooms. He pushed open the door to the twins’ room first.

Axel and Onyx were tangled in a pile of blankets, dead to the world after their exhausting shift in the kitchen the night before.

Drax grabbed the edge of the mattress and unceremoniously dumped both of his younger brothers onto the floorboards.

"Hey!" Axel yelped, tumbling onto the rug.

"Get up," Drax ordered in a harsh, commanding whisper, completely mimicking Zarek’s tone. "Right now. Hallway."

He left the grumbling wolf boys and marched to the next room. He didn’t disturb Tanith, who was currently curled up sleeping soundly in her small snake form. He moved past her to Iris’s small bed and shook her shoulder gently.

Five minutes later, Drax stood near the fireplace, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. He had lined the boys up in a perfectly straight line. Axel and Onyx stood at rigid attention, their little wooden swords clutched tightly in their hands.

At the very end of the line stood Iris. The little girl was swaying slightly on her feet, her eyes half-closed in a daze.

She was drowsily clutching a stuffed rabbit toy by its ears, completely unaware of what was going on.

Drax paced in front of them, looking every bit like a formidable warlord.

"Listen to me very carefully," Drax started, his voice a low, serious rumble. "The Kings have left the perimeter. Mother is resting upstairs, so now we are in charge of keeping the house safe."

Axel puffed out his little chest, his grip tightening on his wooden sword.

"We will patrol the hallways," Drax ordered. "We will keep the house warm, safe, and devoid of anything that would disturb her sleep. If a monster looks at the gate, we kill it. Do you hear?!"

Axel and Onyx slammed their wooden swords against their chests in unison. Their blue eyes burned with loyalty.

"Yes Sir!"