My Brother, My Mate.

Lance's POV

I was going crazy and I knew it but I couldn't help it. The moon goddess must be playing tricks on me. It was my eighteenth birthday but it was my saddest.

My wolf had happily tackled my sister to the ground in happiness in the presence of all that were there to celebrate my eighteenth birthday.

As the future Beta of the park, it would have been disappointing if I didn't get my wolf. It had happened before in our lineage and this had made my parents especially my mum very anxious.

My grandfather was not the direct bloodline of the Beta post but according to history his elder brother who ought to take over from their father never got his wolf.

At first, they had thought his wolf was only delayed for a particular reason but when he didn't get his wolf at the age of twenty-five, my grandfather who was twenty years then was asked to start training.

According to my grandfather, the training was difficult and draining and he nearly gave up. It wasn't easy to train to become a Beta at the age of twenty. Betas started training around the age of twelve.

Betas were usually emotionally and physically conditioned to do their jobs. The Alpha and Luna he was to serve were his main priority. My grandfather survived the training and was made the Beta of our pack.

My parents were apprehensive that if what happened before should repeat itself, it meant the Beta position might leave our family forever. The elders might not allow my sister to take over as the Beta. Our pack had never had a female occupying the post of a Beta.

That morning of my eighteenth birthday I had woken up with a mixture of joy and anxiety. I was going to get my wolf and probably my mate and live happily ever after but the moon goddess sure had another plan for me.

It was painful turning into my wolf for the first time. It was a good thing that my dad actually took his time to explain to me what it was likely to feel like and because I was having a Beta blood, the transition might be more painful than that of any normal wolf.

I smiled when I looked at my dad immediately I was able to get on my feet after my first shift. He looked at me with so much pride in his eyes and I couldn't have been more proud of myself. I couldn't wait to see the look on my mother and sister's faces when they beheld my wolf.

I nearly bolted for the house but my father's steady hands on my fur stopped me. He signaled for me to turn and face the forest. It was then I remembered I would first have to go on a run with the men of the pack. It was a way of testing my agility since I was their future Beta, they needed to be sure I could take my father's place.

No normal wolf can go through the pain of shifting into their wolf and going for a run all in one night. It was only the Alpha and Beta that were made to do it. That was why our training was always difficult and draining, it was to prepare us for the task ahead.

I howled to the sky and broke into a run into the forest followed by the men in our pack and my dad, who by then had shifted into their wolves. I knew I shouldn't fail so I kept pushing. I was the first to get to the edge of the forest, I stopped and waited for them to get to me.

My father was the first to appear I gave him a tired yelp. He came to me and rubbed his snort on my tired face as if he were cleaning my sweat. I turned away from him, mind linking him to stop, he only laughed and told us all it was time to head back, his son had proven himself worthy of being their Beta.

We stopped at the stream to drink water but I didn't want us to stop, I wanted to see my sister already. Our parents were rarely around except on occasions like my birthday so my sister and I kind of take care of each other always, more like I became her father, mother, brother, and confidant all rolled up in one.

She was my confidant too. It kind of got crazy sometimes when I tried to deal with her emotional mess alongside mine. I was just three years older than she was, yet I had to take care of us.

I could already imagine what the look on her face would be like when she beheld my wolf. We had both talked extensively about what my wolf would possibly look like. She had said I was going to have Dad's midnight black fur color. I had not argued with her because that was what I expected. I looked at my image in the stream and gave a wolfish laugh, dad lifted his head and looked at me questioningly. I shook my head at him signifying that nothing was wrong.

I looked up at the sky, it was still dark but I could actually see everything around me. I looked at my immaculately white fur in the stream and wondered why I didn't ask my sister to bet what the color of my wolf would be. At least I would have won her money and made her pout in envy.

I was so consumed with the thought of my sister that I didn't know that the others were already on the move, my dad nudged me on the side and we moved on.

When we were getting near the house I suddenly felt a pang in my chest and my breathing accelerated. My wolf seemed to take over my thinking completely. It felt strange losing control but it was not something I wasn't prepared for.

Due to the strength of my wolf, it was possible for it to consume the human part of me and submerge it totally but I was trained and I knew how to get the reins back. I tried reasoning with my wolf not to do anything rash but it kept insisting we go inside the house immediately.

'Are you ready to go in son?' My father asked through the mind link.

I turned and faced my father. 'I don't know Dad, my wolf is suddenly getting restless.'

'Maybe your mate is inside the house.'

'I would be glad Dad. I don't want to start looking for my mate all over packs.'

'Your mother invited all the eligible girls in the pack. Besides, Maureen's best friend has an eye for you. She just might be the one.'

'Dad, I hope she isn't,' I said rolling my wolf eyes. I can hear Dad laugh through the mind link.

'Why not her, son?'

'Then I have to wait another three years before I can let her know she is my mate. I don't want to be mated to a baby dad.'

'Let's go in and find out then. Let's hope it is not one of your mum's nosy friends,' Dad laughed in the mind link and I laughed too.

My father and I might not get to spend a lot of time together but we were really close and whenever he got to be around we talked a lot and I can say we were good friends. Although my sister was a different ball game. They both seemed not to have a good relationship with her. It was more like I was her parent and they were just there for us.

Maureen didn't bother with them as far as I was there with her. I once talked about it with my mother but she only said I was the one perceiving it that way. So I had to let the sleeping dog lie.

We walked into the house and I had to control my wolf from bolting to wherever it wanted to go. We had to first pay our respect to the Alpha and the Luna then to Dominus who I will be serving as his Beta. Dominus and I were friends, even best friends just like our fathers. Our mothers too were friends. We both joked about it once that maybe if the Luna had had a girl after Dominus, she would have been my sister's best friend too.

After greeting the Alpha and his family, I had to do all I could to make my wolf stop and acknowledge Mum. She looked at me with so much pride. I could see her eyes mist over. She had never shown so much emotion in my presence before. She rubbed my wolf's head gently and that seemed to calm him down a little.

My wolf suddenly seemed to smell something in the air. Before I could do anything to stop him, he made a beeline for my sister and tackled her to the ground. Maureen must have thought I was playing with her because she laughed and rubbed her hand on the fur on my side.

My wolf put his nose on Maureen's neck and sniffed her, it tickled her and she laughed harder. I took hold of control and bolted straight upstairs. I could sense the deafening silence downstairs.

'What the hell just happened? That is our sister,' I berated my wolf.

'If she is our sister, why then is her scent calling out to us?' My wolf answered nonchalantly.

'You are the only one it is calling out to, not me. I only hope the goddess didn't give me a mad wolf,' I said getting ready to change into my human form.

'I am not mad, I know what I sensed,' my wolf insisted.

'You will stay away from her, she is our sister. We ought to protect and love her. She thought just now that you were playing with her, we would keep it that way,' I shouted in my head and blocked my wolf out.

I quickly changed into my human form before my wolf could do or say anything more stupid.

I entered the bathroom feeling the opposite of what I thought I would be feeling that day. But I knew I had to push through with the ceremony, I had guests downstairs and I couldn't afford to hole up in my room. I only hope I can keep my mad wolf at bay around Maureen.