“Was that supposed to mean?”
Turning to his wife, the king gave her abehavelook and nodded towards me.
“What do you want from me?” she huffed. “She stole my son and then almost killed him!” Her accusatory gaze descended on me with the weight of a thousand tons. “You also, indirectly, took my daughter away. Do you want my husband next?”
Dread spread through my entire being. Hannes had told her about the boathouse incident and my fire.
I blinked away from them, pretending to fix my clothes to keep my composure. Out of everything I’d done, my fire hurting them still haunted me, especially with how bad it had been for Hannes.
“Alyce told her, but only because she was concerned for me…”Hannes’s apologetic tone begged me not to blame his sister, but we would see about that.
“That was not nice of your mother,”Star whispered, seeming saddened, and as rare as it was, I appreciated her words.
“She was just shocked that your fire could get to me… given my nature,”Hannes added, advocating for Alyce, and I hated to admit it, but I understood.
Emotion tried to grip my throat, and I still couldn’t lift my eyes.“Stop it, Star. You know I don’t do emotions. Don’t feel sad for me.”
“Do not speak to my mate like that again, Mom,” Hannes calmly warned her, surprising me. He took my hand in his and kissed it too.
He was defending me?
I lifted my gaze to look at him.
“Neither Natasha nor Natalia had any fault in what happened that night. And you know that. That’s not something you should be using against her.” There was actual pain in his voice, and my heart squeezed again.
“Star, please stop.”
“She didn’t steal me from you, Mom,” he continued. “She didn’t even know I existed. I chose her. I went willingly. And so did Alyce after she met Vanessa, remember?”
Wait, he chose me? I blinked again. What did that mean?“I thought the Moon Goddess had chosen our mates.”
“Me too…”
Hardening myself, I faced the queen, lifting my chin.
“I apologize for taking your son away, Queen Luna. To be honest, I didn’t have a choice in the matter. But I’m truly, truly sorry for hurting him. I didn’t have full control of my power that night, especially not as my mother and I were attacked. As I assume you know, my mom was taken, and my father is gone because of it. But I understand your concern. If you don’t want me here, I’ll leave.”
Regret and shame marked the queen’s expression, her eyes glistening with pain. Her previous overprotective stance gaveway to the compassionate and loving mother Alyce and Hannes knew.
“Dear Goddess, I was a total bitch to you, wasn’t I?”
“You were,” her husband answered without hesitation.
“Okay, I did not expect that.”Star seemed shocked, but so was I.
“I’m so sorry, Natalia.” She reached for me, pulling me into her arms tightly until it felt like love was emanating from her.
Trying not to tense in her hold and seem rude, I just let her, counting to three. That was an acceptable amount of time to let someone hug me, right?
Thankfully, she pulled away at three, but true remorse wrinkled her features.
“Forgive me for being so harsh with you, sweetie. Hannes is right, I never should have spoken to you that way. I don’t have an excuse. It’s just my children are everything to me, and I would destroy anyone who dares?—”
“Hurt them? I understand,” I conceded. “It was never my intention to hurt Hannes, but I am ashamed I did.”
“I’m shocked at how sincerely nice you are being.”
“Shut up.”
