Loving His Broken Luna

Chapter 31

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Kris

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Kris violently shook the mind stone, hoping for clues to where the demon had his mate, but to no avail. No matter how hard he tried the stone stayed opaque to him. The air in his lungs had all but left him as he roared his frustrations against the smooth, cold face of the mind stone.

“Show yourself!” Kris brazenly demanded, expecting the demon to flash into view.

A second later Kris knew the beast wouldn’t show. Not many linger in a place they can’t easily make a deal. Only, this one… this Jason had something on her.

Kris grimaced at the repulsive thought.

What could he have? Kris snarled to himself, locked out of her reality.

He sneered at the two toned stone, disgusted. A demon had his girl. A dark one, estranged from the depths of hell from which he came.

… That’s what she let in.

… She let him take her.

The sick feeling of jubilation quaked through him next. She was happy? Sated, maybe, but the more his body relaxed with hers, he felt calm. It was all so… so unnerving!

How could she be calm with that monster around?

Despite wanting to fight it, to run wild looking for her, with nothing but a fraction of her scent left to chase, Kris stayed still. He silently begged the mind stone, the only other link to her that he had to let him in but that didn’t give either.

The sound of Kassian returning unnerved him too. Nothing could make this better. Not even his know it all friend.

His wolf pouted as Kris did, begging for a chance to fix this. Kris, however, didn’t allow it.

“She’s a lost cause,” he murmured to himself.

His emotions contradict each other. They raged on like a winless war.

… She’s human, he admitted to himself again as if he didn’t accept it before.

That was the whole thing though. How could he let go of her? How could he turn his shoulder? They already had a connection…

No non-soulmate could pull that off. It was unheard of.

Kris sighed, a long trembling breath.

Sleep pulled at his mind next. Maybe it was hers, Kris thought as he felt the need to cradle his sides. It isn't a comforting action though, Kris told himself. It was more like the feeling of bracing himself. Still, he did it, wishing he was cradling her.

“This is all so fvcked up,” he whispered to himself before falling asleep.

***

The next day Kris forced himself through his morning routine. A quick nod to Kass assured his friend they’d be back in the pool despite feeling so deflated about the whole situation. If anything, he told himself he was playing his role… Protective Watch or whatever Colla bought.

Getting in the pool before the team was one thing, recognizing that there were another two teams that swapped morning practice days at that lap pool was another. Goddess give him strength, Kris grumbled to himself. He hadn’t even seen the girl’s face yet!

Who knew if he ever would at this point?

Okay, okay… so what if it was only the second day that he knew of her existence? There was already so much of his life he’d missed without his other half. Having her would complete him, like all the others.

But the variables… so many fvcking variables! Not even the mind stone gave in on her facial features. At the very best he could see what Renee did.

A spark pricked his mind then.

“Renee,” he muttered to himself. “Colla goes to school with her…”

The pieces flew together. So what if it was illegal to look up a minor? It was only illegal if he got caught. Besides, how stupid could someone be, admitting to such a thing? All he had to find out was Colla’s schedule and go from there.

After another hour of their bullshit swim, gossip from some other team that he wished he never heard, and showering, Kris pressed on. His day suddenly became fuller.

Classes at Iridescent Valley University were just starting their spring semester. Missing the first two classes was not unheard of but yesterday was certainly a trip. Kris screwed up his whole day. Every class needed another walk through, setting him back a day, and today’s classes seemed to be no different. Only, the issue stopping him today was his need to find his mate.

Kris thumbed through his class lists on his phone as he made it into the building. As he passed through the corridors towards his room, his mind seemed to do the same through his thoughts. At the very least, Kris felt relieved that he didn’t pick a more studious profession. Sure, fabrication was in depth, but having to speak more than a couple of words at a time while she occupied his mind was terrifying.

Kris could see those epic failures spiraling out of control as he passed each door. The thought of opening his mouth now became the worst idea ever. He was hundreds of years old, been doing this for forever, and all he can be sure of is babbling about how good she’d be because she was meant for him.

Anxiety flooded him once more. Was that her or… Kris struggled to keep his wits about him. Of course it was just him freaking out about their situation.

Nothing to see here.

Kris pushed through the heavy double doors into his drafting studio that lead on into his class’ workroom. Some students already trickled in, making his stealth procedure lose its steam.

There was only one thing left to do: meet up with Colla at school.

Quickly Kris pulled out his phone and typed out his dilemma.

[Kris]: Stone’s broken.

Maybe that wasn’t enough, Kris grimaced.

[Kris]: Can’t fix.

[Colla]: …

Her dots continued tapping in the chat box screen. Their animation, their weight, the amount of time she let it continue all told him to back off.

Within the next couple of minutes the rest of his 10am class started filling in. Before long, he’d put his phone on silent and pushed on to handle his next task.

By the smell of them he had a mixed crew. At least it wouldn’t be boring, Kris told himself. New students that took fabrication usually only took it to bend scrap metal into jewelry since that studio was repurposed decades ago: Too many injuries. A handful of them would use it to get out of literature, which, honestly he couldn’t blame them. And one or two actually used the field to further their studies.

Those students rarely wound up in his class though. The whole need for the niche was to stay out of the public’s eye.

Kris counted out his students, then passed out a sign in sheet, as he always had in years past. It was just easier not to botch up people’s names, especially those in packs such as his own.

“My name’s Kris,” he introduced himself, sure not to be formal. “I’ve been here for years. I’m older than dirt,” he rattled off to be sure no one bothered him. “I hate technology,” he admitted as he noticed Colla’s dots had gone unchanged, gaining a wave of laughter from his students. “Yeah,” Kris assured them, not missing a beat. “I’m old school…”

That seemed to settle his ambitions. Kris went through all of the motions, then over the syllabus before realizing the time.

“We’ll get into projects by time period, next class. If you have questions, go ahead and email me. My information is at the top of the sheet.”

The rustle of bags nearly matched the scrape of the metal chairs against the linoleum floor. Kris winced at it, unsure of the sound. There was something about it… maybe the frequency that bothered his wolf, but the more they moved the more he paced.

Kris shoved his hand back into his pocket to pull out his phone, hoping for an answer to this.

No light ticked his messages. No interests on social media. No emails from students, he huffed, then finally his phone buzzed.

It was a call, from Colla.

“Hello?” Kris carefully asked.

“Do you have a free moment today?” Colla forced out. “Sub today. Mr. Andren’s out. If you can fake it, I can take a look sooner.”

“Why can’t we…”

Click.

Colla hung up on him mid sentence.

“… Kids.”