The Luna and Her Moon

Chapter 27

Grasping the front of his shirt, I pulled myself closer in search of comfort. A look of shock painted his features as his mouth sat slightly agape. "Are you sure, Sunshine?"

Taking in his genuine concern and warmth I was more than sure. It has been long awaited and he deserved to know after all he's done for me. As I nodded my head his arms tightened, pulling me closer to his chest. I sighed in response, the comfort effectively muting some of my nerves.

Glancing down at his chest I began to draw random patterns with my finger across the expanse of his shirt. I knew I was only buying myself time but Xavier didn't seem to mind as a low grumble resonated through the room. "Can you promise me one thing, Xavier?" My voice was soft as I connected my eyes with his. "Can you promise not to freak out too much?"

The slight smile on his face tightened into a firm line at my words, seriousness taking over. He cleared his throat before responding. "Anna, I wish I could but I know I probably won't be able to. When it comes to you getting hurt, my wolf and I can't even stand it if a bee stings you." Bringing his hand to my cheek he ran his thumb against my face. "But I can promise to try."

My lips upturned at the response, content enough with the answer. If he was at least willing to try then he hopefully won't freak out. I pressed my face into his hand as I basked in the warmth. Sigh escaping, I mimicked his actions before dropping my hand from his face and leaning further into his chest.

Feeling me begin to shift around in his grasp he brought his hand up to my hair and pushed me further into the expanse of his neck. Connecting his lips with my hair he whispered out, "Take your time, we have all the time in the world if you need it."

Only the sound of my sighs filled the room as I processed what I was about to do. In all my years I have never admitted my past to anyone, and here I was ready to bare my soul. On one hand I still don't think I'm ready. But deep down I know that it is way past time and that it won't only help with healing, but also with my relationship with Xavier. He'll get me to know me at my fullest extent and can choose whether I was worth the trouble to continue what we have. I can only hope he won't throw me aside like the rest in my past have. Though the fears swirled around the confinement of my mind, it was time.

"When I was seven, my parents began to turn on me." As my sentence finished I felt the tensing of his body beneath me, but I decided to push through. "I'm not completely able to pinpoint the exact reason as to why they started but I think I have an idea of what did it. My parents decided to go away on a couple's trip in order to celebrate one of their anniversaries. It was only a short trip, no longer than two days, but because I was so young I had to have a babysitter. It was a family friend's daughter that came over but long story short, she had always hated me and locked me up in the pitch black pantry underneath the staircase." I shuddered at the memory as it came flooding back. "I was left in there for just over a day with no food or water. A-and I didn't get let out again until my parents arrived through the front door." Reliving the memory took a lot out of me, but I pressed on and gave him the more detailed version.

I jolted at Xavier's thumb tracing just under my eye. Confusion filled me as I realized his thumb was wet with my tears; I wasn't even aware I had begun crying. I brought my eyes up to his as my upper lip began to tremble. I was hoping that his presence would assist with reigning in the tears. Drawing his hands up and down my arms I felt the pain rising within start to subside, taking the tears with it. He began to whisper sweet nothings but the hurt and anger he felt for me was still on display. The worst part is that we hadn't even reached the worst of it. Trying to help me along he gave me a starting point. "How did they react? They helped you out, right?"

Drawing in a deep breath I continued. "When they got home, she began to tell them I had a plot to get her in trouble, because I had always hated her, despite the fact it was the other way around. It was ridiculous given I was only seven. What seven-year-old has a master plan to get someone in major trouble? In the end, my parents wouldn't believe me. They took the babysitters side, believing I would purposely lock myself in the pantry with no food or water even though they were well aware of my fear of the pantry; I had grown up thinking there were monsters in there."

Xavier's jaw began to clench as his anger grew more and more evident. I shifted slightly in his arms to see if he was alright. Beating me to the punch, he spoke first through clenched teeth. "Please. Please tell me that's it. My wolf will explode if it's anymore than that."

A sad smile graced my face as tears pooled within my eyes once again. Hearing those words nearly broke my heart, because I felt the same. I've wished for years that the story ended there and that they didn't torture me endlessly. But I'm afraid that it was just the tip of the iceberg. Voice cracking and on the verge of a breakdown, I stated, "You have no idea how much I wish that were true. But unfortunately that's just the start of it."

Seeing my reaction, his features softened with pain. Grabbing my face he whispered out, "Oh, Anna what have they done to you?"

This caused the dam to break as I began to bawl into the expanse of his chest. He gripped my form just as tight as I did his, and we stayed like this for ten minutes. It felt good to be able to let all of this pent up frustration out and share my past with Xavier, though I feared of his reaction when I reveal the full extent of it.

Pulling myself out of his chest I decided to continue, determined to finish telling him my truth. "I don't know how to tell you this because it's the most traumatic part of my experience and honestly I'm not sure if I can finish the sentence. B-but I have to, so just give me a few minutes." My voice was just above a whisper, hoarse from all the crying. "As the years passed, it only got worse for me. They moved me into the pantry for my room that couldn't fit any furniture in order to turn my original room into a business. They practically made me the live-in maid, waiting on them hand and foot and if I made a mistake with anything, I would be beaten for it. If something went wrong with their business they would allow their partners and friends to beat me, along with several other things. I was really their punching bag. But the worst of it all was what their business was. I-."

The tears were streaming down my face as I verged another breakdown. The possibilities began to swirl around my head of Xavier leaving me, being yet another person to abandon me. Or if he was disgusted with me for something I never would have chosen to participate in, I couldn't handle that either. The desperation seeped straight through my tone as I pled with him. "Whatever you do just don't hate me, okay? I never wanted it and I-I won't be able to handle it again if you decide to leave me, please Xavier! You have to promise me." I was grasping his shirt in both my hands as I begged him to promise, the shock depicted across his face at my outburst. It quickly morphed into confusion as he shushed me and rapidly told me over and over again that he would never leave me.

After several minutes had passed over his promises, I decided to just rip it off like a band-aid. Tears streaming, I began again. "I- They decided I needed to be their source of income. T-They began to collect clients for me and, um," my anxiety was beginning to spike through the roof as memories flew around in my mind, haunting me. My voice was just above a whisper, almost too soft to hear when I finally said it. "My parents decided the best way for them to make money would be t-to forcefully p-prostitute me, and let their friends and strangers r-rape me."

And that's when it all went to shit.

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I wanna apologize for being gone so long, but if you have seen my conversation board you have a better understanding as to why so I won't bore you with the details here. I must say that I have really missed writing about Anna and Xavier, but I also found this chapter really hard to write as it is such an important chapter! So I'm begging you, pleaaaase let me know your thoughts on this chapter, either by commenting or voting so I know if I got it right or not! I would really appreciate it! :)

I want you guys to know that this large gap in updates is never going to happen again as if you've seen my conversation board, this week I will be doing a whole lot of writing for TLAHM as I finally have a break from school! I plan to write at least 7 chapters this week but ideally I'll bang out around 10-14 so I'll be closer to finishing the book and having a bunch backlogged for you guys :) the next chapter is already written so you'll be able to see everything go to shit on Monday XD

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and you're staying safe! I've missed you guys so much in my time away <3

I have so much love for all of you!

xx kerfuffled_