Maureen's POV

The day after my brother's birthday, I woke up very tired. Lucia was still sleeping soundlessly beside me. We had discussed late into the night. Our discussion was about everyone looking so confused, about Lancelot coming to me after he got his wolf.

I didn't see anything wrong with it. He was the closest person to me. Before I had Lucia as my best friend, he was my best friend.

We played hide and seek often, we played tag, and we chased each other around the house and even the compound. So I saw nothing wrong with what happened. To me, he was just playing with me as usual.

But there was doubt in my heart. My mum and the Luna acted weird yesterday after the incident. They left for Mum's room and didn't come out for a long time. I forgot to mention that my mum and the Luna were best friends and as luck would have it they were both mated to two friends, my dad and the Alpha.

The previous night when Lancelot finally came downstairs in his bright green shirt and black trousers, he seemed more appealing to me. But then I thought just maybe he was looking different and more appealing to me because he just recently got his wolf.

He suddenly looked more handsome and attractive. His voice also seemed deeper and then he seemed to look more serious to me.

Deciding to not wake Lucia up, I decided to go check on Lancelot. I was sure he would not have gone to training just yet. It was the morning after his eighteenth birthday, he should be let off training and just sleep in.

I knocked at his door the way I usually did. I heard him grumble but didn't ask me to come in. I entered the room and ran straight into his bed and landed on him.

Lance shot right out of bed as if my body burned him.

'Shit, Maureen what are you doing here so early?' Lancelot shouted at me the instance he got on his feet.

His question confused me to no end. I wondered why Lance would ask me such a question. I have always done it each time he slept in and skipped morning training.

Sometimes he would just allow me to lay my head on his chest and we would talk. I would tell him everything and anything. He was my confidant. Our parents were never around, they were ever absent, so all we really had was each other. My first day in my present school was made easier by him. But his question at that moment confused me.

'Lance, I have always done this in the morning,' I answered still looking at him confused. I had wanted to just listen to his heartbeat that morning and discuss last night's party.

'Look, things are different now Maureen. You coming here unannounced, you coming to cuddle with me, they have got to stop,' Lance shouted at me angrily.

Lance treated me like his baby. He never shouted at me. Even when I was being naughty, he found a way to calm me and make me smile. His words at that moment made my eyes sting with unshed tears.

'Why Lance, why are you being mean to me?' I lifted my head to look into his eyes with unshed tears welled up in my eyes.

Since he was standing up by the side of the bed, he looked rigid and anybody could have cringed by the look in his eyes.

But the instance he noticed the tears in my eyes, he turned away from me.

'You know what Maureen, get out of my room, I am not in the mood for your tantrums this morning.'

'I am not throwing tantrums, Lance. But you are being so mean to me?'

He turned to face me again, the look in his eyes harder. 'Please Maureen go to your room.'

'This is so unfair, Lance. Are you being like this because you turned eighteen?'

'Yes. Maybe when you turn eighteen, you will understand my plight' Lance said rubbing his face and running his hand in his hair. He looked between lost and frustrated.

I stood up and went towards him, I stretched out my hand to touch him but he moved away so fast as if there was something dangerous on my hand.

'Don't touch me Maureen, just go,' Lance shouted at me.

He didn't have to say it twice, I ran out of his room crying. I was blinded by my tears so much that when I got into my room, I didn't see Lucia standing by the mirror.

'Hey! What is going on Maureen, why are you crying?' Lucia ran to me and hugged me while we sat on the bed. She didn't ask me again but allowed me to cry. When she was sure that the tears had subsided, she asked again.

'Lance chased me out of his room.'

'Lance chased you out of his room, why?'

'I don't know what I did wrong. In fact, I did nothing wrong, he was very mean to me.'

'Maybe he was angry that he didn't meet his mate yesterday.'

'I have been with Lance when he was angry, he has never been mean to me.'

'It is ok. You calm down. Knowing how much Lance loves you he would be here soon to say sorry to you. Then you can take your revenge and be mean to him right back,' Lucia said with so much assurance that despite my mood I laughed.

That was one side of Lucia that my innocent mind saw as normal. She never let go of things. She believed so much in taking revenge for every wrong done to her, no matter how little the wrong was.

We took our bath in turns with my mind still on Lance coming to beg me. It was a Sunday so there was no school so Lucia still had till the evening to stay.

Her mum had promised to come pick her up in the evening. Lucia's parents are not like my parents but they were not around all the time. Although the few times they were around they tried to spend it with her as much as they could. Her mother was a drug sales representative in a pack close to our pack.

Her father was one of the pack warriors. He was a high-ranking officer and was well-respected among the pack warriors.

When Lucia became my friend they had not hesitated to allow her to spend time at our house. They knew she would be safe in the pack's Beta's house.

The pack Alpha and Beta's houses were in the same compound. My father and the Alpha had agreed for their families to be at close quarters so that soldiers would patrol both houses together without difficulty.

The previous Betas had always lived in the pack house with other wolves but that had changed with the present Alpha's friendship with his Beta and the Luna's friendship with the female Beta.

Sometimes I just wonder why they bother to build a house where they are never present. They are always away on one pack duty or the other.

My brother has been the one taking care of us for the longest time.

We got to the kitchen for breakfast and met Lance eating. Immediately he saw us he tensed up. I was very angry with him and I made sure to let him see it in my body language.

I totally ignored his presence. I wanted him to apologize to me but he seemed not to understand or see that I was ignoring his presence.

'Good morning, Lance,' Lucia greeted him.

'Hey Lucia. How are you this morning?'

'I am fine,' Lucia answered hanging on to every word that came out of Lance's mouth as if her life depended on them.

'Thanks for attending my birthday yesterday,' Lance took one of Lucia's hands and played with her finger.

I could see Lucia blush furiously. At least she was getting the attention she had always wanted from Lance. It wasn't a totally bad morning then.

'You don't have to thank me, Lance. I practically live in this house. It is not as if I can just stay in the room and not attend,' Lucia said looking at Lance like a lost puppy that has not eaten for days and just saw someone that promised a fat meal.

I rolled my eyes at her, she was just too hopeless when it came to Lance.

'Thanks all the same,' Lance said smiling at her.

'Your wolf was so beautiful. What is his name?' Lucia asked not wanting Lance to stop talking to her already. She was hopeless when it came to him.

'Marshall,' Lance answered looking as if he had lost interest in the discussion but he had to answer Lucia out of courtesy.

'It was so big and beautiful. Can I see him again soon?'

'He is not a pet Lucia, he is a wolf and a Beta for that matter. He will be unpredictable like any wolf with a strong bloodline,' Lance explained in a no-nonsense tone.

That was the kind of tone that my dad used anytime we asked for something he would not give us. Lance had truly changed in under twenty-four hours. He seemed more manly, even in his actions.

'I guess that is true. I was scared when he tackled Maureen to the ground yesterday. I thought he would hurt her but when Maureen laughed under him, I breathed a sigh of relief.' Lucia rolled her eyes and dramatically raised her hands.

I saw Lance go rigid when Lucia mentioned my name in connection with his wolf's action last night. He dropped his spoon and stood up.

'Maureen is his sister, he would never hurt her. He has to protect her as her Beta and that is exactly what he would do,' Lance said looking straight at me.

I wondered if it was my ears or if he actually placed emphasis on "sister".

'I will be out with Dominus.' You girls should not wait up for me,' he said again but this time he was looking at Lucia, who bobbed her head several times as if she had a loose spring.

I watched Lance walk out of the kitchen with a new kind of walking posture. My troubled young heart wondered why he turned indifferent towards me.

Maureen's POV

'Should I wait with you till he arrives?' Lucia asked me after one hour of waiting for Lance.

It was our routine. He came to my school to take me home every day and any day he couldn't come he would call me. I have tried calling him several times but he would not pick up.

'Will you try to call him again?' Lucia asked. I knew she was impatient to get home. Her father was off duty that day and she wanted to spend time with him.

'I have called him several times but he wouldn't pick, what makes you think he would pick now?' I snapped at Lucia.

'Hey, don't take it out on me, Maureen. I am only trying to show concern,' Lucia said surprised at my behaviour.

I realized what I had just done and apologized,' I am sorry, Lucia, it's just that he has been acting weird since his birthday,' I sighed sadly.

Something suddenly occurred to me.' You know what Lucia, give me your phone.'

'What are you going to do with it?' Lucia asked looking at me suspiciously.

Despite her reservation, she handed me the phone. I called Lance's number on her phone, put it on speaker, and pushed the phone on her to speak to him. Lance picked up almost immediately after it started ringing.

'Hello.' Lance's sleepy voice answered from the other side. I breathed a sigh of relief that he was fine. Why then was he not picking up my calls?

'Em, em hello Lance,' Lucia said looking lost for words. I signaled for her to ask him about picking me up at school.

'Hello, are you there Lucia, is everything ok?' Lance asked, his voice seemingly losing its sleepiness. Lucia's silence must have made him wonder if something was wrong.

'Yeah, everything is fine. I was just wondering if you would be coming for Maureen or if you would be sending Dominus,' Lucia rushed everything in one breath.

There was a long pause on Lance's side. 'Are you there?' Lucia asked not sure of what to make of his silence. I looked at the phone intensely as if I could see Lance by staring at it.

'Yes, I am here. Are you with her right now?' Lance asked. I shook my head telling Lucia to say no.

'No. I left her believing you would be there,' Lucia gritted her teeth. Lucia was all sorts of trouble rolled into one person but lying was not her thing especially not to her crush.

'She is no longer a child Lucia, she can take care of herself,' Lance's words broke my already hurting heart to a thousand pieces.

I looked back at Lucia with tears in my eyes. She looked sorry for me. I didn't want her to feel bad and spoil her time with her father so I tried hiding my pain and smiled at her but she wasn't fooled.

'When did your baby suddenly become so grown up? Because you turned eighteen?' Lucia got back to her normal self and decided to question Lance.

'You won't understand Lucia. There is a lot I am trying to process right now,' Lance sighed from the other side.

'Maureen has been calling your number all day but you are not picking,' Lucia accused him.

'Tell her to get herself home or better still sleep in school if she wants.'

'Tell her yourself I am not with her.' Lucia and I were surprised by what he said.

'You really underestimate me, Lucia. Have you forgotten that I have my wolf now? I heard two people breathing on the phone.'

'What!' Lucia and I said together forgetting the fact that we didn't want him to know I was there.

'My ears are four times sharper now than before as well as my sight. Imagine your sight better than what it already is now,' Lance explained further.

'Lance,' I called his name with a trembling voice.

'See you around Lucia,' Lance said and cut the call pretending not to have heard me call him.

I looked at Lucia with tears rolling down my eyes. I did not understand what he was doing or why he was doing it to me.

'Why is Lance treating me this way, Lucia?' I asked crying bitterly.

Lucia hugged me and patted me on the back gently.

'It's ok Maureen, don't take it to heart. He said he is going through a lot. Why don't you give him some time to adjust.'

'He is not the first person to get his wolf. Why then is he behaving like this?'

'True, he is not the first person to get their wolf but how many Beta wolves have you met in this lifetime?' Lucia asked.

I shook my head indicating none. Lucia smiled at me, she wrapped her hands around my shoulder and urged me towards the school entrance.

We walked in companionable silence till we got to the bus station and sat down waiting for the bus.

'I thought about something just now,' Lucia started a conversation to break the silence. 'I am thinking that you should try talking to Lance.'

'I tried talking to him yesterday,' I said stubbornly.

'Don't be hard-headed Maureen.'

'I am not being hard-headed, I do not like the way he is pushing me away,' I said close to tears again.

'He might just need somebody to talk to. Maybe then he can stop behaving this way.'

'I will try Lucia. I am his sister, we are closer than most siblings. I expect that if anything is bothering him, he should be able to talk to me.'

'Have you thought maybe he may not want to bother you with whatever he is going through?'

'Who then will he bother with it?'

'I am sure he will confide in Dominus now and then. You know boys and their ways,' Lucia said looking thoughtful.

'What is going on in your head?' I asked rolling my eyes. I know her too well not to recognize that look in her eyes.

'I am thinking maybe...' she suddenly stopped and shook her head lightly before she continued. 'You know what? forget about it.'

'Out with it Lucia, you know I would not let go, so just say whatever it is already.'

'I am just thinking of something. Is it possible that Lance is terminally ill?'

'What do you mean?' A fear I have never known crawled right into my chest and sat.

'You know, maybe when he got his wolf he discovered they were both going to die soon. You know your wolf will know these things,' Lucia explained.

I was too dumbfounded to say anything. My hands started trembling. Losing Lance was the last thing I wanted to happen in my life.

He has been with me from the beginning of my life. I trembled in the hot afternoon sun.

'Can being terminally ill make him behave like this?' I asked Lucia with my voice shaking slightly.

'I guess he is trying to make you hate him so that by the time he is gone, you won't hurt too much,' Lucia explained.

Each word she spoke felt like a sword piercing my heart. The thought of him dying turned my already shattered heart to shambles.

My hands trembled slightly as I adjusted the strap of my folder. As I was about to open my mouth to ask Lucia how best to ask him then her bus arrived. Right behind hers my bus also arrived.

I waved Lucia goodbye and boarded the bus. I intentionally went to the back of the bus to sit.

I was so lost in the thought of losing Lance that I burst into tears without even knowing I was crying until tears dropped on my folder.

I have never been that scared in my life. Losing anyone was strange to me. The fact that I might lose my brother soon scared me to no end.

When the bus got to where I was to alight, I was too carried away in my thoughts. But the bus driver had to shout to make me come out of my musing.

I was always the last to alight each time I used the bus. The Alpha and Beta's houses were built on the edge of the park's land, close to the forest. so the last bus stop was called AlphaBeta Line.

Since my father was the Beta, I was well-known in school and among pack members.

I walked the rest of the distance home with the fear of opening the door and finding Lance lying dead on the floor of the sitting room.

I opened the door and rushed towards Lance's room but was stopped when I heard a sound in the kitchen. I turned to check what was happening in the kitchen first.

I entered the kitchen to find Lance drinking directly from the bottle in front of the refrigerator.

'Lance, can we talk?' I said forgetting that he might not have noticed me coming in.

Lance nearly got water in his windpipe as he coughed hard from my interruption.

'I am sorry I scared you,' I said when his cough had subsided.

'It's ok. I should have paid more attention to my environment.'

'Lance, please can we talk?' I repeated my first question l.

'I am all ears.'

'Please be my brother again. Even if you are dying, I can take anything. But please don't keep me in the dark.'

'Wait wait wait. Dying? Me?' I am not dying,' Lance said looking surprised.

'Why then are you behaving like this? Why are you treating me like you don't love me anymore? If I did something wrong please tell me I will apologize Lance. Stop punishing me this way. You are all I have got please, Lance please,' I broke down totally in front of him.

Lance looked pained looking at me crying like that. He came close to me and held my hand firmly in his.

'Maureen, You have not done anything to offend me. You can't understand even if I explain it to you. Besides, you shouldn't know.' He paused a little cleaning my tears with the pad of his hands. 'You will understand someday but until then, no matter what I do to you, you must always remember that I love you, my dear sister. But for now, stay away from me.'

After saying that he walked out of the kitchen leaving me crying profusely. For the first time in my life, the fear of losing someone I love gripped my heart and squeezed hard.

Maureen's POV

I woke up with a start. Something woke me up or more like a person woke me up. I could smell Lance's scent in the air. I wondered for a while if he came into my room.

Since our talk Monday afternoon in the kitchen, he had been avoiding me like I had leprosy. At my most desperate moment, I kicked against his warning and went into his room. He was not in the room when I got there so I sat on his bed and waited for him.

I waited for a long time and when I started feeling sleepy, I laid my head on his pillow and fell asleep.

A loud growl woke me from my sleep. I woke up with fright so I started shaking from the impact. Lance did not look at me twice. He banged the door almost removing it from the hinges. Since that day for the whole week, I had not laid my eyes on him.

Sensing his scent in my room was the last thing I expected. I had always liked the way he smelled. He smelled like the forest after a heavy rain. Since he got his wolf, his smell has seemed more intense.

I looked around and found nothing amiss. I listened, yet I heard nothing. I laid back down took my other pillow to cuddle and sat back up straight, sleep leaving me immediately.

My pillow smelled as if Lance had lay there. I sniffed the part where the pillow was and found his smell very strong there. It was obvious he had been there.

Did Lance sleep in my room? How?. He knew I was a heavy sleeper, I rarely wake up when I sleep, except if someone woke me up. I quickly checked the time on the mini clock on my bedside table, it said it was just some minutes after four o'clock.

I knew that Lance always got up around four-thirty to get ready for training at five o'clock. I wondered if I had woken up when he closed the door.

Why was he avoiding me and then sneaking into my room to spend the night? I thought of calling Lucia to tell her what I thought had happened but then I would be waking her up so early in the morning.

I decided to wait till she came to visit that morning. At least then she can tell me her opinion face to face.

I hugged the pillow close to my chest. Lance's scent on the pillow relaxed me and soothing my hurting heart, I went straight to sleep.

I woke up refreshed and happy in days. I headed to the kitchen after having my bath. I was surprised to see my parents already in the kitchen. I have not seen them since the morning after Lance's eighteenth birthday when they left hurriedly in the morning mumbling about a pack giving a distress call.

My parents were the main reasons I always prayed to the moon goddess to never mate me with a high-ranked wolf. I would gladly accept a park warrior as my mate.

Our pack was in charge of keeping peace in our region, so our Alpha and Beta were in charge of keeping the peace. Anytime any pack sent a distress call, they had to drop everything and attend to it.

Each time they go, they leave the Luna and Gamma in charge of the pack. Sometimes I wonder why my mother could not just behave like the Luna and stay back once in a while.

'Good morning Mum, good morning Dad,' I greeted them and they responded 'When did you guys come back?'

'Last night. We didn't want to wake you up,' Mum said smiling at me.

'Ok. Have you seen Lance this morning, mum?'

'Yes, he left for training. I guess he should be back soon.'

I only nodded my head as if my mind was with her. I heard the front door open as we started eating the food the kitchen hands prepared.

That is one big minus against my mum. I have never seen her cook. She had said she hated cooking because it reminded her of her suffering before she met my dad.

'Good morning sir, good morning ma'am,' Dominus greeted my parents as he stepped into the kitchen.

'Dominus, how are you doing?' My mum greeted him smiling. Dad gave him a pat on the back when he got closer to him.

'I am fine,' Dominus answered and went straight to the refrigerator to get water. Dominus was not a stranger in our house. We were all raised like siblings. Dominus was an only child so he made up for being an only child by stylishly adopting Lance and me as siblings. Although he was very close to Lance, he treated me like an annoying little sister.

I liked getting on Dominus' nerves especially since I knew how much he liked my friend Lucia who had eyes only for my brother, Lance.

I looked at the doorway and was expecting

Lance to step in. I had barely raised my head when he came in. He looked me straight in the eye with a distant look.

I searched his eyes for the brother I used to know but he was not there. If it were the old Lance, he would have simply greeted our parents and come to greet me with a kiss on my head.

Lance was the first to break the eye contact. He walked to the refrigerator and took water out to drink without greeting our parents.

'Lancelot, are you ok son?' My dad asked seeming to pick up on Lance's mood.

'I am fine dad, just have a lot on my mind,' Lance answered after taking a long sip of the water.

'Mind preoccupied to the extent of not greeting your parents?' Mum asked dropping her fork on the plate with a loud sound.

Mum was the toughest of our parents, she didn't tolerate indiscipline or impropriety. We avoided making her angry because her stance was always Dad's stance on any behavior of indiscipline.

'I am sorry Mum. I just zoned out. My heart is so heavy,' Lance said with his head hanging on his chest.

His posture and words got to Mum immediately. Although she was the toughest on indiscipline, she was still the softest when it came to caring for what bothered her children.

I always wondered how loving and affectionate she would be if she were at home most of the time like the Luna.

'What is it, son?' Mum got up and held Lance to her bosom. For the first time in years, my brother cried. Dad stood up and wrapped his hands around his shoulder while he put his head on mum's chest.

'I guess I will see you guys later,' Dominus excused himself, getting that it was a family kind of discussion.

I watched as they embraced each other for a while then I decided to join them. I placed my hand on his back and he immediately went rigid and stopped crying.

'Don't touch me,' Lance shouted and removed his head from Mum's chest to glare at me.

'Lance I ...' I didn't even know what to say because I was short of words.

'I said remove your hand, damn it.' Lance glared at me and growled. I saw his eyes switch between his normal blue which was his eye color and gray which belonged to his wolf.

I stepped back from him with tears pouring uncontrollably from my eyes. I could hear Mum shouting at Lance to stop growling at his sister.

I ran from the kitchen with my heart beating like it was going to jump right out of my chest and fall on the ground to be trampled by Lance.

The hate I saw in Lance's eyes was the last straw for me. I ran into my room and jumped into bed crying as if I was dying. My heart was destroyed above repairs.

I was beginning to hate his wolf. If what Lucia said about it all having something to do with his wolf, then I was going to damn all consequences and face his wolf. With the resolve that I was going to face his wolf, I wiped my tears and waited.

I went back out after one hour to find the whole house empty. I asked the housekeeper about their whereabouts and she said my parents had gone to the Alpha's house but Lance said he was going for a run at the back of the house.

I went outside and followed the path into the forest knowing fully well that Lance would have gone that way.

I was there for thirty minutes before I saw the immaculate white wolf walking in the opposite direction.

'Hey Lance,' I shouted, the wolf turned his head and walked towards me. I was scared at first but then I thought if I was going to die then I had better say my piece.

'I don't care to know what your name is but I hate you. You hear me? I hate you with every of my being,' I cried harder as it came nearer.

Instead of pouncing on me, the wolf suddenly whimpered and lay on the ground in front of me in a submissive way. His eyes looked at me as if saying he was sorry.

I became confused. I thought it hated me so it turned my brother against me. But there it was looking at me with love in its eyes.

I crouched down and touched his head, rubbing it in a circle. It felt so good to touch his beautiful fur. I put my head on his back and hugged him close. It whimpered again as if saying sorry to me.

Suddenly I felt him go rigid. I drew back and looked into his eyes. It was going between gray and blue.

Just when I was thinking of what could be happening, he shifted back to Lance in his naked glory. I jumped back but I was not fast enough.

He grabbed me by the neck cutting off my air supply. 'I told you to stay away from me but you wouldn't listen what the hell is your problem?' Lance shouted in my face.

I clawed at his hands trying to save myself from him. I started seeing black dots as I started getting tired.

I heard someone shouting Lance's name but I wasn't sure as gradually the black dots grew larger and I had no option but to surrender to the darkness.