The Lord ✔️

Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Mother and Son

Hunter hoped that Borealis would stop worrying about Birch. It was clear, of course, that he was not in danger. He was just experiencing having his first prediction. Hunter had tried to explain this to Borealis, but he wouldn't see sense. Well, it was good that he cared about his brother, at least.
With time, though, Hunter thought hopefully, Borealis would see that Birch, and Midnight, who was experiencing the same thing, would be fine—completely.
Currently, Hunter was sitting in his cave, across from Ruby, Emerald, and Diamond, who everyone called "the gemstone sisters." He looked up, just in time to see Diamond walk forward, towards him, with a smile that Hunter had never seen before. Why did it seem like a mother's smile would be? A proper mother's? Hunter shook the thought off.
"How are you, Hunter?" Diamond patted his head with her paw and touched his nose with her own. Hunter was flabbergasted. Diamond was acting like she was his mother! Not that Queen Cora had ever been a proper mother, though. Diamond was acting like a true mother, one who cared about you and comforted you when you were sad. The kind Birch and Borealis had.
"I'm fine," he said, shocked at how he sounded a tiny bit like a little child. Diamond smiled, her eyes glinting with something that looked like—a mother's love—and she smiled warmly. Hunter looked up, and saw Emerald laughing silently. He shot her a questioning look, not sure what to feel.
"Diamond has decided that she will be your mother," Emerald blurted. Then she started laughing very hard, which amused Hunter. So that's what had happened. Diamond had decided that Queen Cora was not a good enough mother, and she would be his mother. Hunter had never appreciated someone as much as he did now.
Hunter looked at Ruby. Ruby looked at him. She smiled shyly, which Hunter returned. He realized, with surprise, that Ruby's were swarmed with happiness that he had never seen before, relief, and great shock and surprise. It puzzled Hunter.
Ruby sat down, curling her tail around her body. Hunter admired the way she did it, with grace. She was sleek and a great hunter, with bright, kind amber eyes and a black-brown coat. Hunter adored her. But how much? How much do I like her? I really like Emerald, too. Do I need to choose now?
He shook his thoughts off. He didn't have to choose either Ruby or Emerald. Now, at least. He knew he couldn't choose Diamond—his mother—that would be way too weird. Plus, he'd always felt something down there for her, but it wasn't mate material. He hadn't realized until now what it really was: the love of a son to his mother.
He closed his eyes. It was nice, having a mother. Even if he was helping his sister lead a rebellion, the Skystar Rebellion, life seemed better than it ever did before. He had a mother now. A real mother.