Night Fury's Wrath

Chapter 46: Calm Before the Storm [Part 2]

"Where do you keep wandering off to?" I asked, keeping my voice down so as not to disturb the others' rest, though Stormfly had already left, for whatever reason.

Mom shot me a glance before refocusing on my shallowly breathing little sister. Moon laid beside the latter, watching Shadow like a hawk. "What I do in my free time isn't any of your business, son," she replied evenly. "Why aren't you sleeping with your mate and son?"

"For the past three nights, you've returned empty of scents, even your own," I pressed, ignoring her question. "You're cleaning yourself before you come back. You're hiding something." Mom could be strange sometimes, but this was too strange to be anything but suspicious.

She tensed, and she sent me a sidelong glare, instantly making me uncomfortable. "Auroon," she said, her voice dangerously calm. For once, Moon took her eyes off of Shadow to peer at us nervously, detecting Mom's deadly tone. "Take one more step out of line, and you will wish you hadn't."

I wanted to keep pressuring her for an answer, but self-preservation kept me silent. I knew from experience that Mom never made hollow threats and that she didn't fear me by any stretch of the imagination, regardless of my past or capabilities. She had hammered her authority into my head at a young age, and the effects of that remained as strong as ever.

Mom's unwavering glare eroded my defiance until I wilted and broke eye contact. "I-I just want to know," I whispered faintly, feeling like an insignificant hatchling. This calm anger was somehow much worse than her rare fits of loud or violent anger. It was wrath, disappointment, disapproval, and annoyance all bundled into one overwhelming glare.

"You don't need to know everything," she growled. "How do you know I wasn't looking for privacy and removing the scents so you wouldn't be scarred for life?"

I shuddered, crushing that thought as soon as it emerged. I really didn't need to know anything about what Mom did in her private time. "But... that isn't true," I objected timidly. 

I felt her glare bore into me as a heavy silence followed my quiet objection. I knew better than to speak again, lest I earned myself a more severe punishment. As it was, my punishment would already be bad enough for talking back to her, a choice I already regretted.

"Astra..."

"No, Moon," Mom growled, her infuriated voice making me flinch. "This isn't any of your business."

"Astra, please," Moon pleaded softly. "This isn't something to get so angry about."

"I will handle my son as I see fit," Mom retorted sharply. I discreetly peeked at them, noticing mom's glare had turned to Moon. "Focus on your own."

"He is my own," Moon corrected. "He's my son too-"

"Not in a way that matters!" Mom snarled, baring her teeth in the shocked female's face. "I laid his egg, I struggled night in and night out to keep him alive, I raised him, and I loved him no matter what he did! What did you do? You reincarnated him, abandoned him, then muscled your way back into his life! He's my son! Nobody's cared more about him than I have!"

"I have made mistakes," Moon admitted. "Many mistakes. I know that you're his rightful mother, and you always will be, but this anger is so unlike you. I envied your understanding and your seemingly endless patience; where has that gone?" She was right. Mom had turned hostile surprisingly fast, even resorting to her most intimidating method almost immediately. I was used to Mom's more severe punishments being merciless, but usually, it took a while or a blatant act of disrespect to reach that point. 

Mom's glare lingered on Moon for a moment, then turned to me, making me quickly look away again. Nobody spoke, only the sound of Shadow's frail breathing holding utter silence at bay. Shadow still hadn't fully recovered from her grievous wounds, much to her mother's constant worry, but she was getting better, albeit very slowly. I worried about her too. However, I knew she was in good paws—when said paws weren't angrily digging into the earth, anyway.