Scarred Luna

Xander’s POV

I took the stairs two at a time, making sure not to miss my step or anything. I wasn’t exactly in a hurry but I would rather get to the dining before her. She had barely arrived and yet she was already giving ultimatums? I could already feel a storm brewing. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my mother, but if there was something I didn’t love, it was her overbearing attitude.

She had barely settled down, and the entire mansion was already getting lit up by her little tantrums. It would only be a matter of time before it would blow up into literal flames. Hopefully, this time would be different and she would tone down on her attitude and tactics.

I knew how she could be. Especially to Kieran.

My mind wandered back to when my mother arrived. Kieran had been so surprised. It was obvious nobody told her my mother was coming but it couldn’t have been me. We weren’t exactly on talking terms and I had thought Sabrina would have done that.

What I didn’t expect was the instant vileness my mother held against her.

Kieran and I might have been on a bit of a rocky ground, but the last thing I would want would be for her to feel inferior or bad. Knowing Kieran, she would obviously retreat into her shell at the tiniest inconvenience and I didn’t want that.

Perhaps it was a stupid idea or an even more foolish thought, but I actually wanted the two women to work out their differences. I mean, it was only normal for me to want that right? My mate and my mother. Kieran was an amazing person and my mother would see that if only she stopped lashing out at her at every slight opportunity. She wasn’t like that towards Sabrina, so why was she so hostile to Kieran?

I put a halt to my thoughts when I approached the dining table. I heaved a small breath of relief when I realized mum hadn’t arrived yet, but as expected, that relief didn’t last long. I’d barely taken my seat next to Kieran, before someone’s footsteps echoed outside the dining room.

“Mother.” Sabrina exclaimed, signaling mum’s presence. My mother mirrored Sabrina’s huge smile before making her way to one of the chairs.

“You’re here, I was just about to come for you” Sabrina said.

“You shouldn’t worry yourself about these things.” Mum took Sabrina’s hand in hers, before giving her a wide smile.

“I can handle myself and I’m in my son’s house, aren’t I? I can cook myself a little something if I miss a meal” she said and laughter filled the room.

My mother? Cook? Oh please.

Everyone but Kieran laughed. Either because she didn’t get the joke or because she just wasn’t happy.

She didn’t look like herself if I was being honest. While we laughed, all she had managed was an awkward smile, and even that didn’t reach her eyes. I snuck a glance at her, but she didn’t hold my gaze for too long.

“Kieran, are….” The rest of my words were drowned by the clicking of heels against the tiled floor. It was Alice, and she was single handedly shepherding in the maids that carried all of our meals.

“I hope you enjoy tonight’s meal.” Alice gave a small smile after the maids had done their jobs dishing out the meals. According to the platter in front of me, we were having lamb chops with a side serving of some pasta and chicken sauce. It looked mouthwatering, but I guess mother had other opinions. Of course she did.

“I made sure to prepare it specially, just for our guest…” Alice started to say.

“Excuse you?” Mum cut her off immediately. “What did you just say? Did she just call me a ‘guest’?” she asked and I flinched slightly. Not again.

“Ma’am?” Alice was confused to say the least. It was so obvious.

“I don’t understand…” she trailed off.

“I don’t understand either.” Mum shot back.

“I don’t understand why my son would hire someone as incompetent as you, just the same way I don’t understand what she’s doing here!” she lashes out, directing her gaze to Kieran towards the end of her sentence.

I felt Kieran tense beside me.

“Just leave. Leave this instant.” She was no doubt referring to Alice.

Alice in question, wasted no time in rushing out of the dining hall, her lips pursed in a straight line.

A minute of silence settled between us.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s eat” my mother said and I resisted the urge to shake my head. I didn’t understand the woman.

In no time, the clatter of spoons and forks clanging against the plates filled the room. The atmosphere was tense but luckily, Sabrina was quick to the rescue.

“The food really tastes good,” Sabrina chimed.

“I remembered pasta is your favorite, so I made sure that was what was prepared” she said.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from you, my dear.” she said, a sigh following her words.

“And yes, the meal is delicious, even though that maid is quite annoying.” she admitted.

“If there’s anything I could do to make it up to you…” Sabrina had barely finished her sentence before my mom cut in again.

“Yes, actually. There is something you can do” she replied.

“You can take care of the trash that has decided to sit with us. She’s thoroughly getting on my nerves” she said, barely even looking up from her food.

She said it so casually, I almost thought I heard wrong.

Kieran’s fork clattered to the floor. In response, mum snorted.

“See. She doesn’t even have simple table manners.” Mum shook her head.

“I wonder what made you bring her in here.” she said.

“Mother.” My voice was stern. “Could you please stop?”

“Stop what?” She turned to me immediately. “Do you want me to stop telling the truth?” she asked, almost sounding truly offended.

“I want you to let us have a nice dinner without you causing unnecessary drama” I hoped she could hear the anger laced underneath my tone.

“The only time we can have a normal dinner is if you do what’s right.” She scoffed.

“And she needs to leave, right now. The last thing I would tolerate is some rogue feeling she has every right to be here. Did you even look into her background? What if she has any criminal records? She could be a thief for all we know. A murderer and…”

“Mother!” I didn’t bother to tone down the anger in my voice. “What is-”

“Excuse me.” The loud sound of the dining chairs screeching against the tiles cut me off.

I turned to my right and just as I’d feared, it was Kieran and she was on her feet.

“I’ll leave now.” she said softly, her voice slightly shaky.

“Kieran!” I called out to her, but she was already out of the dining room, her footsteps receding with each passing second. “Kieran, wait!”

“Good riddance.” A triumphant smile was on mum’s lips.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Now we can actually enjoy this dinner.” she said and I narrowed my eyes at her.

“No. Maybe you can enjoy whatever this is” I said, placing an emphasis on ‘you’.

“Did you really have to do that?” I asked, shaking my head in disappointment.

“Do what?” She said, trying to feign innocence and it was annoying to say the least.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I just want to eat in a serene environment” she said.

“It was my decision to make her stay. Not yours.” I said and she rolled her eyes.

“I really don’t get why you would do that. She’s a total stranger. What if she was a spy sent to kill you? How are you sure she hasn’t been giving our enemies information about you?”

“Stop.” I frowned.

I held her gaze for a while, but it was obvious she wasn’t going to budge anytime soon. I knew she was stubborn, but this was intolerable.

A couple of seconds passed and I found my gaze darting back to the door. Kieran had been gone for a while now, what was I supposed to do? Should I have gone after her? Is it too late to do so? What if-?

“Stop it, Xander.” Mum’s voice cut through my thoughts, reeling me back to reality.

If the cherry tone she’d used meant anything, it was the fact that she was happy. Overjoyed even.

“She’s gone and don’t think about going after her. I don’t even understand why it should cross your mind. Just sit back and enjoy dinner. Sooner or later, she’ll realize she’s not meant to be here and it was a mistake all along. Which is a good thing” she said and before I could say anything, she faced Sabrina.

“Right, Sabrina?” she asked, making me realize Sabrina has been here all along and so quiet since and didn’t even go after her best friend.

“What do you think about this whole matter?” my mother asked her.

For a moment, I’d totally forgotten she was even in the dining room with us. She was unusually quiet and it didn’t sit right with me.

“Um, actually.” Sabrina drawled. ” Well, I think that…”

Oh, hell no.

“You do know it wasn’t entirely my idea right?” I said, cutting Sabrina off sharply.

“You’ve been very passionate about your dislike for Kieran, but what if you found out that I wasn’t the one who let her into the house in the first place?” I said, carefully watching Sabrina’s reaction. Her eyes widened slightly, meeting mine with panic.

“Let Sabrina answer first.” Mum turned to Sabrina again.

“Go on dear.” she said with a smile.

“I’ll tell you what.” I cut in immediately, before mother would interrupt me again.

“Sabrina here was actually-” I started to say.

“Mother’s right.” Sabrina spoke up, cutting me off immediately.

“She’s absolutely right. Kieran shouldn’t be here at all.” she said.

What? I froze. There was no way I could have heard right. But as my mother’s smile at Sabrina grew wider, it dawned on me that she had really said that.

What the hell was that supposed to mean?