Lance's POV

'Lancelot tell me it is a lie,' my mum fumed immediately I entered the pack's hospital room where my sister laid hooked to a machine. I walked towards my mum holding my hands in front of me as if I was praying.

That day after I ran, I stayed away from home. It's been two days. Only Dominus knew where I was. I couldn't face my parents, look them in the eye and tell them I almost killed their daughter. Despite the fact that they weren't that close to Maureen, I knew no parent would want their child dead.

I walked towards my mum carefully, unsure of how emotionally stable she was. She was after all a Beta wolf. No amount of love she has for me can stop her from hurting me if her wolf decided to punish me for what I did and I was sure my wolf would not lift a finger in defense because of two things. One, she was my mother, two, it would be an opportunity for my wolf to see me punished. He has been going mad in my head for the past two days.

'Mum, I am really very sorry. You know how much I love Maureen and I would never intentionally harm her,' I said trying to calm her down a little because when I came closer to her, I saw her eyes flashed in colors, going from her regular eye colour to her wolf's then back again. I knew at that moment that I had to be extra careful because things could turn in the wrong direction at any moment. I didn't want her to do what she would later regret.

I knelt down in front of her with my head bowed in submission. I knew with my future status I was not supposed to kneel like that for anyone except my mate and my Alpha. At that moment I didn't care, I just wanted my mum to listen to me.

'I am truly sorry mum. Maureen is the center of my world and you know it but something is wrong with my wolf and...'

'Nothing is wrong with your wolf Lancelot. Your wolf will never harm your sister. Dominus said it was you not your wolf.' My mum cut into what I was trying to say. She was talking at the top of her voice not caring that we were in a hospital room.

'It was me mum but it started with my wolf,' I said, gently looking up into her face. Trying as much as I could to let her see the state of my heart through my eyes.

'What do you mean?' She asked, the volume of her voice going down a notch.

I sighed. 'There is something I need to discuss with you and dad.'

'What you want to discuss is what is causing all this?' Mum asked looking at me solemnly.

'Yes.'

'Ok then. But it had better be good enough an explanation because I do not understand why you would hurt your sister this much.'

'I am sorry mum, I didn't mean for things to turn out this way,' I said looking as apologetic as I could muster.

'Get up from that floor, you look ridiculous kneeling in front of me like that,' mum said with a very unladylike snort. 'If you kneel like this for me what will you do for your mate?'

'You are my mother, I don't care what the rules say. I should worship the very ground you walk on.'

Mum kept quiet and looked at me for some seconds. 'You are like your father in so many ways Lancelot. I sincerely hope you will get over whatever it is that is making you act like this.'

'I hope so too mum.'

'Get up from that floor before someone comes in and meets you there. It is bad enough as it is. I don't want to add another gossip to the present situation. I do not know what this will likely cause if pack members should hear about it.'

I got up from the floor and stood beside my sister's bed. I dare not touch her. I looked at her pale face and lips and I felt so guilty. Maureen was the center of my world. I was always protective of her, too protective. No one who knew us would believe I was the one who hurt her.

The beeping of the machine made my guilt worse. Her mouth was slightly opened because of the tube inserted in her mouth. According to Dominus I had almost crushed her neck so much that if she were not a wolf she could have died. When he told me that, I had cried the whole night.

'You should not make a habit of crying like this Lancelot,' mum said bringing me out of my thoughts.

I didn't know I was crying but when she spoke, I realized there was salty liquid in my mouth. My mum moved closer and embarrassed me. For the second time that week, I cried in her arms like a baby.

'It is ok Lancelot. You need to man up and deal with whatever it is that is breaking you down like this,' she said after I had calmed down . I nodded at her because at that moment I couldn't talk I could only nod, I was beyond exhausted.

'Go home and have your bath. Not to make you feel bad, but you stink. Where have you been though?' Mum asked with her hands on her hips.

'In the forest,' I lied. Only Dominus knew where I was. I was in one of the abandoned huts close to the house. We played there when we were small. It was our little secret hide out, even Maureen had never been there.

'Very well then go and freshen up, call me when you are ready. But I should be home as soon as the maid gets here.'

'Ok mum,' I kissed her softly on the head, looked at my sister's helpless form briefly for some seconds before exiting the room.

I made my way out of the hospital room with my mind preoccupied with the discussion I was going to have with my parents. I couldn't answer those that greeted me on the way home because my heart was very bothered.

I was about to tell my parents the biggest lie ever. Dominus and I went over the lies again and again throughout the night to make sure there were no loopholes that my dad could see through.

We leave for Royal White in two days. My parents had always wanted me to go after my eighteenth birthday but I told them I couldn't leave Maureen all by herself since they both clearly were rarely around.

I opened the door with my mind still preoccupied with the discussion I was going to have with my parents.

'See what the cats dragged in. The almighty Beta Lancelot, murderer of his own sister,' my dad said.

I looked up to see him standing at the bar with a cup of wine in his hands and anger in his eyes.

'She is not dead dad,' I said remorseful.

'She could be,' he said with anger in every syllable.

'I am sorry dad, I didn't mean to hurt her.'

He nodded gently. 'Your mother mind linked me. She said you wanted to discuss something with us.'

'Yes dad but first I need to freshen up, I stink.'

'Good you know. Come to the study in an hour. Your mum and I would be waiting.'

'Ok dad,' I said and headed upstairs to have my bath and prepare myself for the discussion.

As I entered my room, the first thing that caught my eyes was the yellow hand woven shawl on my couch.

It was an early birthday gift from Maureen. According to her, she didn't want her gift to mix up with others.

She had done the weaving herself not allowing anyone to see it until it was done.

I had been surprised when she gave it to me. I had not expected it to be that good. At the center of the shawl, she had woven two wolves. A white wolf and a black wolf. She had said they were us. According to her I was going to get dad's black wolf and she would get mum's white wolf. Only she was wrong I got the white wolf.

I held the shawl to my chest and cried. The way I was going about it, I might not have tears to shed anymore in years to come.

When I was sure I could muster the strength, I had my bath, changed into another set of clothes and waited for another thirty minutes before heading to my father's study.

I knocked on the door and mum's voice asked me to come in. I opened the door to meet my mum seated on dad's seat while dad sat on the couch.

I sat in the chair opposite mum. I preferred it that way. It was a good thing that dad was not sitting on his chair. I didn't want him to have a handle on my mood and expression.

''What is it that you wanted to discuss with us son,' mum asked.

'My wolf has been ridiculously restless. He wants to visit other packs in search of his mate. He has this insane idea of the fact that she is in danger. And he thinks it is Maureen that is keeping us here.' I explained quickly without even stopping for breath in between and I didn't look at either of my parents.

There was total silence after I stopped talking. I looked up to realize that my parents were mind linking. I knew they couldn't see me so I rolled my eyes.

'When are you leaving?' My dad asked after sometime.

'In two days,' I answered feeling really nervous.

'Nobody was holding you back son, you were the one giving all sorts of excuses,' mum said and I sighed with relief.

Dad got up and gave me a squeeze on the shoulder before leaving and so did mum.

Two days later I stood in front of our house and sighed deeply. My bags were already in the car while Dominus waited impatiently in the driver's side.

My parents already said their goodbye before heading to the hospital. They said the doctor called that my sister was awake. I couldn't go there. It was for the best.

I knew it seemed like running but I knew it was time to go at least for a while. I sighed again and headed for the car. As we rounded the corner and couldn't see the house in the side mirror again, I settled in the seat properly. It was going to be a very long three years.

I could hear voices around me even if I could not discern what they were saying. I heard but I was frustrated by my fussy brain. Why can't I understand a word of what they were saying?

I tried hard to open my eyes but it seemed something kept pulling me under. I almost wept. I tried, I fought, just maybe I could open one eye but I lost the battle and gave in. The darkness swallowed me again as I went under.

'Hey Maureen. Can you hear me?' I heard someone's voice saying. This time I recognized the voice as Lucia's and I understood everything she was saying.

'The doctors said we should speak to you that you can hear us. If it is true that you can hear me, I miss you Maureen. It is very boring without you. I want my friend back, I want all our silly jokes and adventures.'

She stopped a while. I heard her blow her nose. I knew she was crying, my heart ached. I wished I could at least talk to her and tell her to stop crying. I wished I could comfort her and embrace her. I wished I could tell her I was alright.

I tried moving my right hand which was closest to her. I heard her gasp as if surprised then she screamed and I heard footsteps as if the person was running. It then suddenly all went silent.

I heard several steps approach again. This time, the voices were all confusing as I tried to differentiate one voice from another. They all seemed to be talking at the same time.

'Please let her answer the question,' I heard a voice say as they all seemed to quiet down.

'What did you say happened Lucia?' Another voice that sounded like the Alpha asked.

'I was sitting next to her talking as the doctors instructed. Then suddenly she moved her right hand and I also saw tears stream down her eyes,' Lucia explained breathlessly.

'Are you sure of this?' The first voice that I didn't recognize asked.

'I am very sure. See, see.' I could feel her hand on the side of my face, cleaning the tears. 'This is the tears I said streamed down her face.'

I could only imagine what Lucia's face would look like as she explained. At that moment, I would have given anything to open my eyes and talk to my friend.

'She has never done this in three weeks doctor,' I heard my father's voice for the first time and I wondered if my mom was in the room too.

'What exactly did you say to her before this reactions you mentioned Lucia?' The first voice asked.

'I was only telling her that I missed her and I was telling her the things I wished we could be doing together now,' Lucia sounded so lost and sad that I couldn't help but feel my heart ache again.

'As I said before she should be awake by now, all her physical wounds are healed.'

'What then is keeping her under?' I heard the Luna ask.

'We don't know. But I guess her body is taking time to heal her heart.'

'Heal her heart how? Her heart was not affected in the attack,' I heard my mum for the first time in the discussion.

'This kind of coma is sometimes according to study, associated with heartbreak. Have you noticed if of recent...'

Suddenly their voices started to fade away, like the whispers from a distance. I struggled to stay on the surface but I failed. The more I struggled, the worse it became. When I discovered I couldn't fight anymore I gave up and allowed the sea of darkness pull me under.

As I sank under, I suddenly found myself falling in a very speedy way down through the darkness. I wanted to shout but I couldn't. I suddenly found myself standing on my feet in a lovely looking garden.

The shock I was in at first made it difficult for me to appreciate the colorful and beautiful garden. To make sure my legs were working, I tried moving them. When I was sure that I could move my legs, I started walking down the narrow path that opened up to a big path of the garden.

The garden smelled nice and radiated peace. I felt an inner peace that seemed to have eluded me in recent times. Momentarily forgetting my fear of being in an unknown place, I started looking around walking from one flower bed to another. There were different colors of flowers there, the ones I know and the ones I have never seen in my life.

The flowers all smelled divine. I didn't want to leave the place ever. I felt so much peace in me that I couldn't even explain how it made me feel. It felt as if I had come home.

'Hello Maureen,' a voice said from my left, from the narrow path that I followed into the garden and it startled me.

I couldn't respond as I was trying to make out the face of the person who just spoke. There was a bright light surrounding the person. It was as if the person and the bright light blended into one.

'Who are you?' I asked. I was surprised that my voice didn't shake.

'You know who I am, you just don't know it yet,' the voice replied and suddenly the person started coming towards me.

The movement was so majestic that it felt unreal for someone to have that much elegance. When the person stepped out of the light, I could properly see that it was a woman, too beautiful to be real.

I was staring at her and I was not sorry to. I was even scared to blink, in case I blink and she disappeared.

Her hair was so white that it shone like the moon got caught up in it. Her face was like something done by the best sculptor in the world. I couldn't find a word in my heart to describe her beauty. What thoroughly described her was perfection.

'Maureen are you with me?' She asked me.

'You are perfect,' I said instead of replying her. I was too carried away with my appraisal of her.

She only smiled and came closer to me. 'You are perfect too Maureen.'

Her statement about me being perfect snapped me out of my daze. 'Don't lie to me I am not perfect, everything is wrong with me,' I almost screamed at her.

I knew directing my anger at someone who hadn't offended me was wrong but I was reminded of my frustration with her calling me perfect.

'What is it that worries you child?' She asked. Her questions opened up a flood gate of emotions. And for the first time in my life, I opened up to a stranger about everything going on with me.

Talking to her felt like a I was putting down a very heavy burden. Her eyes looked patient and understanding. She only nodded when necessary and allowed me to talk.

I explained everything about my parents not loving me and my brother turning against me just because he got his wolf.

'I understand what you are going through child,' she said when I was through explaining to her.

'You understand what I am going through?' I was surprised

' Yes I do. And you need to be prepared for the task ahead of you. You need to brace up Maureen,' her words surprised me.

'How do you even know my name,' I asked when it occured to me that she knew my name.

She smiled beautifully, 'I know you more than you know yourself but that is not the most important thing now. The most important thing is for you to get ready for the task ahead of you.'

'Task ahead of me?'

'You have a huge task ahead of you. And you must be ready to stand right beside Lancelot.'

'Lancelot hates me. He would not even allow me stand by him. He almost....' something suddenly occurred to me, 'wait, am I dead? Lancelot wanted to kill me. Am I dead? Is this the after life?' The cocoon of peace surrounding me seemed to scatter immediately. I went into full panic.

She gently laid a hand on my shoulder and I immediately calmed down as if she used magic. 'You are not yet dead but you almost died. Your destiny is intertwined with that of Lancelot. No matter how much you both run, destiny would find a way.'

'What are we going to do. What destiny?'

'It is not yet time for you to find out. But I must warn you. The road ahead is a very bumpy one. It is going to be a difficult ride. So you need to get ready and be strong both physically and emotionally.'

I could only gape at her. All that she was saying was making little or no sense to me. I watched as she suddenly began to walk back to the light like a queen.

'What destiny am I to fulfill?' I shouted the question at her when I discovered that the light had started ascending.

'You will soon find out child. It is time to wake up. Lucia has an important message for you,' W

was the only reply I got before the light disappeared totally.

As if in a trance, I suddenly left the garden and was back in my struggling body on the hospital bed. I heard Lucia crying again.

'You need to wake up bestie. Nobody is here to talk to me. Dominus and Lancelot left the pack. They will be gone for three years. I ...'

That was all I heard and my heart started beating very fast and the next thing I knew my eyes flew wide open I was staring at the white ceiling. I turned my head and stared straight at Lucia's tear stained eyes.

At first she was shocked and only stared awe struck at me. She must have been wondering if she was hallucinating or it was actually happening.

Then I called her name and reached out for her hand. Just like that Lucia gave the most earth shattering scream I have ever heard.