Luna Audrey

Chapter 19 - Facing The Past

**SPOILER ALERT**

This chapter contains spoilers for one of my other stories, "Luna Lena." 

Angela quietly opened the door to the next classroom and motioned for me to follow her inside. I was quickly greeted with the smiles of about ten children and their teacher – another young woman with a bright smile and sparkling blue eyes.

I'd pieced together than these children were likely a mix of ages. Angela specifically said she taught the four and five-year-old children, and Rose had the older children – ages seven and eight. That would leave this classroom to hold the six-year-old children, or those who would be turning six very soon, or perhaps will turn seven at some point during the school year.

"Hello Luna, my name is Kristina, and I teach the intermediate children of the building," the teacher told me as she stood from her chair before bowing ever so slightly in respect.

"It's so nice to meet you and your students, Kristina," I told her sincerely with a bright smile.

"What are the children learning today?" I asked, determined to be more outgoing and keep the conversation flowing.

"Oh! Well, they've just woke from a short nap and were about to get started practicing their writing," Kristina told me enthusiastically.

Before I could respond, I noticed Angela tense up. She'd been standing to my side, allowing me to interact with the class for a bit, but she now appeared slightly startled.

"Luna!" Angela finally spoke, seeming to snap out of the trance-like state she'd been in for only a moment. "I apologize, I'm not used to the Alpha mind-linking me so directly. He's requested your presence in his office."

My shoulders relaxed once I understood Angela's temporary change in demeanor. I was sad to have to leave the school so soon, but I knew this was something I'd be able to do much more often once mine and Dean's mating was complete. That, and I was eager to hear the story of the scar on my mate's back.

I shot Angela an encouraging smile, "Of course! I'm sorry for having to leave so soon. I promise I will be making longer visits in the future."

Angela and Kristina both nodded to me in understanding, "You're welcome to visit whenever you'd like, Luna."

~~

I took my time walking back to the pack house. Although I desperately wanted to know what dark secrets my mate was hiding, I was also nervous. Did I truly want to know? We'd made so much progress – what if it was something so terrible, that I couldn't get past it?

I was scared. Little by little, I felt my mind reverting to its frightened state that it'd grown so accustom to over the years. Maybe I was overreacting. Maybe Dean was overreacting. Surely it couldn't be that terrible, right?

While lost in my thoughts, I'd managed to wander back to the front door of the pack house. With a sigh, I opened the door and stepped back inside. It was cooler inside, offering me relief from the heat and humidity that Dark Root provided us on a regular basis. I was thankful for the air conditioning, but still worried about this conversation I'd be having with Dean in a matter of minutes.

I made my way up the staircase as slowly as I could without looking odd and drawing attention to myself. My emotions were so conflicting – part of me wanted to sprint upstairs, and the other part wanted to run back down. If I thought about my actions any more, I knew I'd look like an idiot.

A little too quickly, I found myself standing outside of Dean's office, hesitant to knock on the door. Was I ready to hear this? Probably not, but waiting any longer wasn't going to make the situation any easier. With one last deep breath, I reached out and knocked on the door.