*Annabelle's POV*

Saying goodbye to Will and Isa was emotional to say the least. My sister means everything to me, and seeing her leave again hurt. Thankfully though, it would only be for a few weeks, since Thanksgiving was coming up.

When I got back to work on Monday I was surrounded by colleagues and students asking if I was doing better. I rarely get sick so they figured something had to have been seriously wrong. One kid asked what kind of terrible disease I had and how long I had left to live.

After calming everyone down and telling them I just had a really bad fever last week I resumed teaching. I was behind on schedule so I tried to go through the stuff as fast as possible without rushing it all too much for my students. Sadly, because I was behind I probably wouldn't be able to do my Thanksgiving lesson.

I was now stuffing papers to grade into my bad as students were leaving the classroom. It was the last class of the day already and I couldn't wait to get home to Adam. He wasn't kidding when he said that after marking we'd get closer to one another, I missed him and craved to be next to him a lot more since I've been marked.

"Miss Carter?"

I looked up at the sound of one of my students. In front of my desk stood Mora and Peter, two of my seniors. "Yes? Can I help you two?"

Mora and Peter gave each other a wary glance before Mora managed to collect enough courage to speak up, "Is it true that you are recently marked?"

I froze in place and blinked. "Huh?"

More gulped before she explained, "You smell like a marked female."

Something clicked in my mind, "Are the two of you..." I trailed off. If I was wrong this would be really awkward.

Thankfully, Peter and Mora nodded, "Werewolves, yes." Mora confirmed.

I let out a surprised breath, "Wow, I never would have thought." I then collected myself, "Well, to answer your question, yes."

I tried to keep the blush away from my face. Marking is really intimate, but at the same time every wolf I have met so far has been talking about mating like it's as normal as going to the grocery store so I figured it would be fine. Will be awkward if they find out I fully mate though. They'll know their teacher had sex.

"Congratulations miss." Peter spoke up, "O-or would you prefer Luna?"

"O-oh... um, miss will be fine. Might be hard to explain to everyone why the two of you suddenly call me Luna." I spoke, this time not being able to keep the blush from my face.

Mora and Peter nodded, "Will do miss." Peter spoke up.

I smiled, "Are there many werewolves at this school? I'm kind of new to this." I admitted.

"We figured, since no one ever just gets marked, always both at the same time." Mora spoke up. Peter elbowed her, probably scolding her for her rudeness. I chuckled, Mora has always been a student who speaks her mind.

"Not many others. There might be around 50 total werewolf students. A few teachers too. They range from a few different packs" Peter explained.

Damn... I never knew, "Oh... that's interesting."

Mora grinned, "You'll probably have a lot of other werewolves approaching you from now on. You're a brand new Luna after all. What pack are you in?"

"Um, well, Springfield Lake. But it's just me and my mate." I told her.

Peter's eyes widened, "That pack that was slaughtered years ago?"

I cringed and nodded, "My mate was the only survivor."

"Wow... I didn't know the Alpha survived." Peter mumbled, "It had a big impact on the surrounding packs." He explained.

It was interesting seeing this side of Peter, normally he was a quiet and collected kid but right now he showed maturity. "What pack are the two of you part of?" I asked.

More beamed, "Penobscot River pack. I'm one of the junior warriors, and Peter is the future Beta." She spoke with pride.

I smiled at the two, "That's awesome. Maybe in the future Adam and I can come visit."

Peter nodded, "We'd gladly show you around Luna."

"That's great. Thank you." I stood up and hung my bag around my shoulder, "Well, I should get going."

Mora's eyes widened, "Oh crap, I'll be late for training!" she spoke.

Peter rolled his eyes, "When will you learn?"

"Don't act all smug! Don't you have any meetings?" Mora countered.

"Not until after dinner." Peter said with a smirk, knowing he'd win the argument.

Mora just huffed and turned to me, "It was great talking Lun- Miss. I'll try to pay better attention to your lessons from now on."

I blinked, "Uh... thanks for your honesty. And it was great talking to more werewolves. I haven't met a lot of you guys as of yet."

Peter nodded, "If you have any questions we'd love to answer them."

I smiled, "Thank you." Suddenly, a question popped up in my head, "Actually, I have one now, if that's alright?"

"Of course Luna." Peter spoke.

"Which teachers are wolves?" I'd like to know which colleagues are werewolves.

Mora hummed in thought for a second before naming a few. Most of the teachers I didn't really talk to. The most surprising one was Marcel, my fellow geography colleague. I remember only a few weeks ago we talked about dogs and how he had said he was a dog person. I guess that statement was more true than I initially thought.

"Interesting. Thank you two, I won't hold you here any longer." I told the two students.

They both nodded and gave a bow before leaving. That's something we're going to have to get used to.

I looked at the clock to see it was already 4:15PM. I wonder if Marcel is still at school. I haven't seen him yet today.

I walked past his classroom, which was empty. I then made my way to the teachers lounge. Thankfully, he was sitting there grading some papers.

He looked up as I approached him and frowned for a split second. I figured he must have caught my different scent. "Hey Marcel." I greeted him.

Marcel nodded, "Anna. I see you've recovered fully."

I smiled, "Indeed I have."

Marcel seemed to hesitate as I sat down. I knew he must have wanted to ask. "Anna, this might be a weird question but have you recently started a relationship with someone?"

I nodded, "I have. His name is Adam."

"Ah... that explains quite a bit." He paused and set down his pen, "I assume you already know about them since you are marked?" he questioned.

I nodded again, "Yes. And some students told me that I should have taken you saying you're a dog person more seriously."

Marcel chuckled, "I prefer wolf, but I guess you're right."

"Sorry, wolf. You're right." I apologized.

"That's ok Luna." He spoke.

I frowned. How do all these people even know that I am a Luna? They figure it out just by looking at me I swear. "If I may ask, how do you know I'm a Luna?"

Marcel gave me a smile, "New to everything?" I just nodded sheepishly. "Not a problem. It's the aura you emit. I've felt it before too, but shook it off since you're human."

"Aura?"

Marcel nodded, "Yes, most of the higher pack ranks emit a special aura showing other wolves that they have a high rank. The Alpha and Luna aura is the strongest of them all and you've had it for a bit now, though it became a lot stronger now that you are marked."

"Ah... that makes sense I guess. We don't really have a pack though." I murmured.

"Even a rogue Alpha and Luna emit the aura. It started around a month ago, is that when you met him?" Marcel asked.

I smiled and nodded, "Yes. I adopted him from a dog shelter."

Marcel busted out laughing, "I heard that the Alpha of the Springfield Lake had survived but that story wasn't what I expected."

"Apparently he was basically a rogue when I found him, so him being caught wasn't really his brightest moment." I told Marcel.

He hummed in reply, "Really though, I never figured that you were his Luna. You visited our pack a few weeks ago right?"

"Howland River pack?" I asked and Marcel nodded, "Yes... we visited." I didn't dare say anything else. The visit ended quite awkwardly.

"I'm sorry for my Gamma's behavior that day. It disgusted the pack that such a high ranked wolf in our pack disrespected you two like that." Marcel spoke and I could hear the distaste for Tim.

I gave a patient smile, "It's ok. Everything turned out ok."

"You are too forgiving Luna. In my opinion getting kicked from the pack isn't enough of a punishment." Marcel said.

"But isn't it one of the worst punishments out there?" I asked.

"It is, but disrespecting an Alpha or Luna is usually punished with death." I blinked in surprise at his words. Marcel always seemed so passive, I never knew he had a side like this.

"Someone getting killed just because he grabbed my arm and called me words isn't worth it in my opinion. I'm not that special." I tried to brush it off.

Marcel shook his head, "And that is where you are wrong. The Luna is what keeps the pack together. She is a mother and caretaker that balances out the Alpha. It is very rare to have a pack without a Luna, mine being one of the very few. I think many wolves will place a Luna above an Alpha in rank. Of course, the Alpha is the leader, but an Alpha is nothing without his Luna."

I gulped at the words. Every time I talk about this title it seems to become more important. If we keep going like this I'll be as important as the First Lady sometime soon. How daunting. I'm just a teacher, am I fit to be a Luna?

"I didn't mean to freak you out Luna." Marcel spoke up.

I gave him a forced smile, "That's ok. It's just a bit scary at times. I don't feel like I'm worthy."

"You were born to be Luna. You have been worthy from the moment you took your first breath. It might seem scary, but I know you'll do great." Marcel reassured me.

I let out a breath, "Thank you." I paused before asking my next question in the hope it would change the subject, "What rank are you?"

"Just a regular wolf." Marcel answered simply.

I nodded, "And do you have a mate?"

Marcel beamed. Bingo! Another win for the mate question. "Yes, she's a true vision. She's a cook at the pack house. You met her during your visit."

"Really?! That's awesome!" I exclaimed.

Marcel's eyes twinkled as he started talking about her. He also spoke of his two daughters, who were both working to becoming trackers.

After a bit of talking my phone rung, and Adam's frantic voice came from the other side as I picked up, "Are you ok?"

I frowned, "Uh... yes? Why?"

Adam let out a sigh of relief, "I just got home and you're not here."

"Oh..." I glanced at the clock and noticed it was indeed past 5. "I lost track of time talking to some students and colleagues."

"That's fine. I was just worried." Adam replied.

I smiled, "I'll start heading home now."

"Good. Link me if anything happens." He spoke.

"Will do, see you soon." I greeted.

Adam said bye before ending the call. I looked up at Marcel, who had an amused look on his phase, "He's in the possessive and protective phase isn't he?"

I chuckled and nodded, "Yes, but I couldn't wish for a better mate."

Marcel smiled, "I remember those days. When I just marked and mated with my mate I wouldn't leave her side for weeks."

I chocked on my own breath, "Weeks?!"

"It's completely normal. I'm surprised at the restraint the Alpha has. If it were me and my mate I would have already been at the pack house to check on her." Marcel admitted.

I felt myself become light headed. Werewolves and their mates are such an insane concept. Marcel then sighed and got up, "Speaking of my mate, she always has dinner ready at 6 and I'm not going to miss it." He spoke with a wink.

I giggled and stood up as well, "It was great talking to you about this. I'm quite new to it all so it's nice meeting new werewolves."

"It was great talking to the Luna of the Springfield Lake pack too. It's an honor to work beside you." Marcel said as he bowed.

I was about to stop him when remembered what Adam told me. Unless it's family, anyone associated to you that knows you are Luna should treat you as one.

"Uh... thanks." I managed to say awkwardly.

Marcel laughed, "Better get used to being handled with respect Luna. I bet your werewolf students will start paying better attention to you now."

"That's what Mora said." I mumbled.

Marcel let out another chuckle before he bowed again and left. I took in a breath to collect myself before leaving too.

Yup, my life has officially gotten a lot weirder.

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