Scarred Luna

Kieran’s POV

I knew the view of the palace was going to be extraordinary, so I’d kept an open mind while I accompanied Sabrina towards the beautiful monument. If I was being honest, I didn’t expect to be blown away by how beautiful everything was. I’d heard stories of how the palace in the pack was breathtaking, but none of the stories I’d heard could actually match up to it.

I couldn’t reel in my excitement as Sabrina led me towards the palace. It was a hassle for me to keep my steps in check. If it weren’t for Sabrina, I would have dashed towards the direction of the palace a long time ago, leaving Sabrina behind. I felt giddy inside, almost like a child who had just been offered her favorite candy on a rainy day.

“Come on.” I latched onto Sabrina’s hand, looping my hand around hers. With all of my strength, I dragged her towards the direction of the palace. “Come on, let’s go.”

“I’m coming.” Sabrina chuckled lightly. Obviously, she was enjoying my little display along the street. ” Just calm down, will you?”

I sucked in a deep breath, willing myself to calm down. Luckily for me, Sabrina didn’t waste any more time in steering us in the direction of the palace. With each step I took, I could visibly imagine what it would look like. Nothing could prepare me for it.

My mouth hung open in awe when we got to the gates of the palace. Beautiful wrought iron gates stood in front of us, with even prettier flowers decorating each and every spot. The flowers seemed to catch the light, and they looked like something straight out of a fairytale. Guards stood their ground on each side, each one of them with nothing but pure focus on their faces.

“Wow.” I gasped and Sabrina chuckled beside me. “This is gorgeous.”

“Just wait till you see the inside.” Sabrina added with a smug smile. “Just wait.”

I watched as Sabrina wobbled towards the gate. The moment she drew close, two guards walked up to her.

“Halt!” One of them called out and I winced. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“We’re going inside.” Sabrina replied, her voice as cool as a cucumber. “Don’t you know me?”

“No…”

“Sabrina.” Sabrina cut him off immediately. Silence settled between them as my gaze darted from Sabrina to the guard and back to Sabrina again. In less than a minute, I watched a look of recognition flash on the guard’s face immediately.

“Oh my.” The guard bowed. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t recognize you earlier. Please come in.”

“Thank you.” Sabrina beamed. “Come on, Kieran. Let’s go.”

I walked towards Sabrina as the guards opened up the gates for us to pass. I thought the outside of the palace was beautiful, but the moment I stepped through the gates, I just knew I’d stumbled on beauty personified. A beautiful water fountain stood at the center of it all. The water caught the sun’s rays, filling the atmosphere with a blinding bright light. A fragrant atmosphere wafted through my nostrils and for a moment, I was reminded about the garden back at home. Even if I was not previously sure whether Xander liked plants or not, now I was.

This was all the proof I needed.

“Just wait till you see the inside,” It was Sabrina’s turn to latch on to my wrist. With a gentle tug towards the double doors that served as an entrance into the palace, she pulled me along.

“Then you’ll be wowed.” she added.

The closer we got to the entrance, the more servants and maids moved about, each one having to perform one duty or the other. As gently as I could force myself to, I climbed the little stairs leading into the palace. My jaw hung lower than before when I caught a glimpse of the inside. Huge and beautiful chandeliers dangled from the high ceilings. Not only were the ceilings way high up, they were mirrored ones, bathing the entire room in some kind of beautiful light show.

Growing up, one of my best fantasies was growing up in a palace and being treated like a princess. I had a wild imagination, but trust me when I said nothing in my imagination could stand up to what I was seeing here. The walls twinkled with a deep oxblood color, and gold finishings at the sides. From the size of the palace I could already tell what the rooms contained. A magnificent throne room, the most elegant ball room I’d ever seen, with the most articulate library I’d ever dreamed of. Everything I’d mentioned and more could fit in here and there would still be more than enough space for a second yard.

“The fun starts from upstairs.” Sabrina had caught me staring, and I wasn’t at all ashamed of myself.

“Let’s go.” I said excitedly. ” Come on.” I said as I tugged her hand.

“Just give me a minute. Wait right here.” I pouted at Sabrina’s response. “I need to use the restroom. Just give me a couple of minutes to freshen up and I’ll be back here again.”

“Okay.” The words had barely slid past my lips before she was gone. All it took for her to disappear from my sight was a little trip down the hallways and she was gone.

Loud voices reached my ears and only when they had gotten closer, was I able to tell the source. They were guards and I watched as they bustled past me, each one carrying a ridiculously heavy box in their grip.

Where were they headed? I wondered out loud. And why are they running around so much?

I allowed my curiosity to get the best of me as I trailed after them. Yes, Sabrina had said I should wait for her, but I’m sure she wouldn’t get mad if she realized I’d wandered off a bit. In fact, she would have wanted me to see a lot of places in the palace as well.

Somewhere in between my very loud thoughts and trailing the guards, I lost them. A mild wave of panic washed over me when I realized I was in an entirely different wing from the one we were earlier. The walls were darker, with little to no light illuminating the walls.

“Hello?” I called out, just to hear my voice echoing all around me. ” Is anyone here?”

Asides my voice echoing around me, there was really nothing else to behold. Without so much as another choice, I decided to retrace my steps. I took one step at a time as I consciously muttered a prayer to the moon goddess. If she could get me out of here alive, then I would think twice about wandering around in places I didn’t know.

Maybe.

“Oww!” I screamed at the top of my lungs as I bumped into something. Perhaps because it was so dark, I’d missed the sight of a wall in front of me. “Shit.”

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there. “More shock filtered in through my veins. Last time I checked, the walls couldn’t speak.

“What?” I was even more shocked when I realized the voice sounded familiar. I cocked my head to the side to catch a glimpse at the source of the voice. “Xander?”

“Kieran?” I could tell his expression mirrored mine, although I couldn’t see all that well “What are you doing here?!”

“I could ask you the same thing.” I chimed. “And what are you doing here?” I asked and crossed my arms over my chest.

Fuck. That was dumb. He was literally the King.

I mentally facepalmed myself as he chuckled, causing my insides to flutter a bit.

“Kieran. I work here” he said and I bit my bottom lip.

“Now, what are you doing here?”

“Well…” I drawled sheepishly. “You could say I was here because of an adventure gone wrong.”

“I see.” It was dark, but I could still make out the Alpha’s grin quite clearly. ” Did you come alone?”

“No.” I shook my head slightly. “I left Sabrina somewhere”

“So you snuck out?” He cut me off immediately. “That’s not exactly nice, you know?” he said and I giggled.

“I just kind of got lost” I explained and he hummed.

I couldn’t hold back my smile as a small chuckle slid from his lips.

A comfortable silence settled between us as I rocked on each foot, trying to balance out my weight on each of them.

“Come on.” He suddenly spoke up. “I’ve got somewhere to show you.”

“Where are we going?” I asked, my curiosity piqued.

“Or, I have a better idea.” he said, his voice sounding slightly excited. Before I could get the opportunity to ask what he had up his sleeves, his huge hands wrapped my waist.

I shrieked as he pulled me up, before making me wrap my legs around his waist. My nose bopped his gently and he grinned, while I tried desperately to hide the red tint that was slowly making its way to my cheeks.

I said nothing as Xander walked in the opposite direction. With each step he took, I could swear I could hear his heartbeat thundering under his chest, or perhaps it was mine. After walking for a reasonable distance, we stopped. Gently, he lowered me from his waist before making sure I was comfortably seated on another platform. I would have totally relaxed, if I didn’t sneak a peek behind me.

“Oh my!” I yelled out loud as I clung onto him as tightly as I could. Just behind me was the widest expanse of land I’d ever seen. We were at the balcony of some sort and I was seated on a brick railing. “Oh shit! I’m going to fall! I don’t want to fall! I don’t-”

“You won’t.” Xander’s voice cut me off. “Not if I do this.”

It all happened so fast, I didn’t even see it coming. Before my brain could get a chance to figure out what he meant, Xander’s lips came crashing down on mine and I gripped him for dear life.