Loyalty Or Honour (Book 3)

Chapter Eleven

Hunter bites down on his tongue and shakes his head. He steps forward and Orion rolls his eyes but backs away into the house and strides towards the kitchen. A woman stands behind a round wooden table. She wrings her hands nervously. Orion leans down to kiss her on the cheek and whisper something in her ear. She supplies a shaky smile and cups his cheek gently as she lowly says something back. Her hand drops and her gaze wanders to Hunter. Her smile threatens to shatter. Her heart feels like it will never stop galloping and if it does she is sure it will stop for good.

"I will go and see if the little beast has awoken." Orion announces and both of them look to him with wide eyes. Hers are more frightened than Hunter's. Orion squeezes his mother's shoulder as he passes her to get to the door and shoots Hunter a warning look. Nobody moves for a good minute after he has left the room. They hear his footsteps up the stairs and the sounds of him speaking to the child above.

Hunter shifts and regrets it immediately. Her gaze that had followed Orion to the door and remained there springs back to him. She stares at him, taking in every feature on his face. Unlike Hunter she had imagined this scenario a million times over and a good chunk of them had kept her up the night before. She never thought he would look so alike his older brother but she could not really be all that surprised. She wants to walk around the table and hug him tightly but the cold dark eyes and the tight stone jaw keeps her much further than at arm's length.

"Orion tells me that your father named you Hunter." She manages to speak, somehow keeping her voice steady. Hunter simply nods his head and listens out hopefully for Orion to come back downstairs. "That is a good strong name."

Hunter's stomach grumbles and he frowns. She rushes to grab a plate and holds it out to him.

"I have made breakfast for you." She quickly states, her hand sweeping over the table with ham, eggs and bread laid across it along with fresh water. The hand holding the plate slowly retracts as he makes no movements. She places it down on the table gently. "I know you must have questions. You may ask them."

"I am trying to work out how to ask them while showing you the respect Orion demanded I give you," Hunter answers honestly.

She chuckles softly and pulls out a chair and pushes it towards him before taking a seat herself on a different one. Hunter stays standing. "Orion is upstairs and he cannot hear us right now. Ask your questions."

Hunter studies her, half angry that his looks most certainly come from the woman before him. Black glossy hair falls to her shoulders in waves framing a face with strong features and dark blue eyes. Age has been kind to her with only small little lines spanning across her forehead. However she is softer than Hunter could ever be with a kind tilt to her mouth and openness in her eyes.

"Did you even consider fighting for me as baby?"

"Honestly... when I knew that nothing was going to separate him from Claire I was embarrassed and I did not want a reminder of my mistakes. He wanted you and I gave you up without a fight." She answers calmly despite still wringing her hands together.

"Then nothing else matters." Hunter states and glances at the door. "Tell Orion that..."

"That does not mean that I did not regret my actions after I left. You were my child and I should never have left you behind like I did. I was wrong to do what I did and it has forever haunted me. I wish..."

"Do not continue." Hunter sharply bites out.

She ignores him with a shake of the head. "I wish I had seen you grow up. To have been there for your first words or your first steps would have been incredible. I have imagined all of them countless times over the years but I know that they do not equal the reality. Claire saw all of those special moments and I hope she was the mother to you that I failed to be."

"She is my mother." Hunter coldly states. "She tucked me into bed every night. She helped me back up when I fell over as a child and scraped my knees. She stood by me even when I found out that she was not really my mother. She shielded me from the worst of the insults and accusations even when I pushed her away." His tone gets colder as he continues with each point, his intention to drive that cold through her chest. Tears rise in her eyes. "I struggled growing up because of what you did but now I see that I ended up in a much better situation with him than I would have with you."

"Hunter," she softly pleads.

"I apologise," his tone softens slightly but remains icy cold, "I was wrong to come here." He turns away and heads for the door. A child stops him in his tracks. He has only just appeared and he stares up at Hunter with wide, curious light blue eyes. Orion hovers behind him, brows furrowed as he tries to get a read on what he has missed having only just caught the final words.

The little boy glances back at Orion then looks again at Hunter before a grin takes over his chubby cheeks. "Two Orions!" He exclaims and claps his hands. Orion smiles down at him and nods.

"Go and grab some food James." Orion tells to the boy who runs over to his mother who lifts him up and places him on her knee. She hands him some bread and he starts to chew on it. "Hunter?" Orion asks quietly, looking worried as his eyes dart between mother and son. He receives no response from the stony faced Hunter.

"Let him go Orion." Khiara commands.

Orion moves to the side and Hunter quickly takes advantage and strides past and leaves. Orion watches him go and looks back to his mother. "What happened?" He orders an answer.

"Over twenty years of repressed anger. He needs time and you should give it to him. Do not make him feel bad for this. Do not get angry with him. He has every right to be upset with me. I left him behind and I did not consider what would happen if anyone found out he was not Lady Claire's. You will not speak a word of what happened today with him. You have built a relationship of sorts; do not sacrifice it for me."

"Could you not have lied to him? The first words you say to him should not have been that you never even considered trying to take him with you!" Orion says lowly, defensive although he does not completely understand why. "Do you not want a relationship with him?"

"Orion. A relationship requires trust and trust cannot be built on a foundation of lies." Khiara wisely speaks before smiling down at her young son. "Do you want some water James?" The boy nods his head and she pours him a glass. When she looks up the doorway is empty, Orion having left while she was distracted. 

So Hunter's first meeting with his mother did not particularly go very well... Do you think Orion will heed his mother's advice or reprimand Hunter?