Freeing Starr✔️

Chapter 30 ~ A talk with mother

Before I knew what was happening, I was tugged into a large bathroom with two females trailing behind us. Without wasting a breath, Stacia ordered the females to clean me up and despite my weak protests, I ended up in the bathtub anyway, with one of the females, who I deduced to be a maid running a cloth across my skin. 

I was beyond awkward and uncomfortable as Stacia hurried around the room, setting up makeup supplies with different dresses hanging off her arm every time she passed by.

I was completely shocked into silence and allowed everything to play out. Lorena had long since excused herself after she realized her mother's intentions and left me here with the two maids who I learned were named Frae and Talia. According to Stacia, Frae was an expert in makeup, and Talia was a great dress designer, so I was instructed to get familiar with them as she'd appoint them as my personal maids in the future.

I honestly didn't know what to think. I thought back at when I had first mated Zion and met T'Niah, but it wasn't the same as now. These two maids were very nice and respectful, and I felt comfortable speaking to them.

After cleaning myself, I was placed into a robe and directed out of the tub and into a chair facing a vanity table with a mirror. I closed my eyes as Frae immediately began working on my makeup.

Talia and Stacia were behind me discussing which dress would look better on me for dinner later today. 

As much as being thrust into all of this unnerved me, I was somewhat... calm. It was nice being pampered for once. I've never worn makeup before. My father always said my natural face was prettier, and Zion didn't care either way, so I just never bothered to learn. 

After deciding on a dress, Stacia placed it on the side, then came up beside me and placed a hand at the back of my chair. I opened an eye when I felt her presence and met her eyes that stared at me in the mirror. The wolf behind her eyes was staring at me fiercely with its fangs bared threateningly, furs bristling as if ready to pounce at me at any moment.

I blinked in surprise and glanced away as my heart trembled. What was that?

"Alright, girls, I think I can handle the rest. You're excused."

Frae and Talia bowed in response, then immediately left, causing me to tense up. It's not like I could hit my mate's mother if she chose to attack me. 

I watched with cautious eyes as she took up a brush and grabbed a hold of my face, turning it to face her. She stared intently and began fixing my eyeshadow. I closed my eyes.

She worked in silence for a few minutes while I nervously waited, my mouth refusing to open and strike up a conversation. What I saw in her eyes not only confused but it scared me.

"You were mated before my son," her voice broke the silence.

My eyes snapped open in surprise, and I met her cold gaze while stuttering, "H-how do-"

Her eyes shifted to Leon's mark, "The wound from your former mark hasn't completely healed yet. I can still notice it despite my son's replacement."

"Oh..." was all I could say.

"Did you reject your mate after finding out my son was the king? What? Did becoming queen tempt you more than the bond you had already established?"

I flinched at the displeasure that coated her tone and sighed. It's not like I wasn't expecting this. Leon did say that the royal family treasured soulmates. It was embarrassing for them to get someone who chose a choice mate before even meeting her fated one.

"It's not like that," I muttered, "I was ready to take responsibility and reject him, but he convinced me otherwise."

"Why? I know my son. He doesn't take sloppy seconds, no matter who you are."