Chapter 2

‘— Chris’ POV —

Laughing at Mike’s joke, we all entered my house. My friends and I always hang out at mine after school and before. Sometimes they like to tease me about Caroline being my sister. But I always end up using my Beta voice to tell them to be quiet and shut up.

Caroline and I used to be close. But then, I shifted and she still hasn’t, which automatically makes her the lowest of the pack. Which is why she gets bullied: because she’s too weak. And I knew that if I did stand up for her, I would be bullied as well, and I wouldn’t be Beta. I truly do love her (even though I would never admit it to anyone), but I can’t stand up for her publicly, I just have to go along with the crowd. But I always do feel guilty after humiliating her, those words probably hurt me more then her.

I entered the kitchen and found that there was no food anywhere. Normally, Caroline would cook for us as our mom were hardly ever at home. I told her to get food ready for us.

Damn it, why hasn’t she? Does she want to embarrass me in front of my friends?

“Hey guys, hold up. I’m gonna go see Caroline. I’ll be down in a minute,” I said to them as they continued telling jokes and messing around.

Stomping up the stairs, I made my way to her bedroom. I knocked on her bedroom door gently at first, but when she didn’t answer, I knocked louder.

Was she really testing my patience? But my wolf didn’t have a good feeling about this, call it instinct, but he knew there was something most definitely wrong. This time, I pounded on her door.

I waited a few seconds and when she didn’t answer, I flung the door open to an… empty-looking bedroom?

I looked around and noticed that most of her clothes were gone. Most of her things were gone as well- not that she had much anyways. Her room was completely empty, apart from the furniture in the room and her pillow and bed sheets. I gasped as I looked around the room, taking everything in for the hundredth time.

No. Please tell me she left us alone, I prayed silently.

I looked around her room and her bathroom, but she wasn’t anywhere to be found. Sniffing the air, there was still faint scent of her in this room, indicating that she left only a while ago.

I could feel my world crumbling. My young, innocent baby sister has left all because of her brother. Tears started rolling down my cheeks now. I did nothing to stop them. It was all my fault. I didn’t protect her well. I chose my reputation and status over her, and suddenly I realize, it meant nothing to me without her existence.

What if something happens when she’s out there?

I’d never ever be able to forgive myself. I sat down on her bed and rested my elbow on my knees. I buried my face in my palms and cried. The phrase, ‘You don’t know what you have until you lose it’ really struck home right now.42

Sobbing slightly, I mind-linked Howard as he was the Alpha, ‘Ch-Howard, get at my h-house n-now. It’s important.’

‘I’m busy,’ he replied. I knew exactly what he was talking about, but right now that wasn’t important. She could be dying for all I knew. God forbid that happens.

‘This is important Howard, h-hurry up. I’ll be in Caroline’s room,’ I urged him.

‘Fine but if it’s not important, you’re getting your ass kicked.

Few minutes later, he arrived. Since the pack house wasn’t that far way, he could get here within two minutes if he was in werewolf form. But Howard was one the fastest pack members in the pack, being Alpha, so he could get here in less than a minute.

“What happened to you?” he asked, his eyes widen as he took me in, crying. He knew that I hardly ever cried, since he was my best friend and had practically known me for his entire being, he knew lots about me.

“She left… ” I whispered as I felt a load of warm tears fall down my cheeks.

I laid back on the bed, but then I felt a piece of paper underneath me. I sat up again and found a note. It read two simple worlds that nearly killed me, ‘Sorry. Goodbye.’

She was sorry for being a member of the pack, so she was leaving us. She blamed herself all this time and this made me feel even more guiltier, if that was even possible. Although that note just had two words on them, they were the most painful word anyone had ever said to me.

“W-what do you mean she’s left?” Howard stuttered with his eyes wide and mouth open.

“S-she’s l-left,” I sobbed and passed him the note.

He read and a second later, anger, sadness and guilt appeared across his face. “She c-can’t. She can’t leave.”

“Well she has! All because of us!” I cried.

“W-we need to find her. We have to find her,” he said, beginning to collect himself from the shock. He then mind-linked the pack for an emergency pack meeting in his Alpha tone, which meant that everyone had to come. We all ran in human form to the pack house.

Our friends joined us as we went to the pack house for the meeting. Whispers filled the room as we arrived. People looked at us with questioning looks. I probably looked like hell right now, but I couldn’t care less.

Howard went to the stage of the meeting room, which was basically a large room with chairs facing a large stage. I stood next to him as his Beta, with red puffy eyes, as he cleared his throat, which stopped all the murmurs and whispers.

“I have called this emergency today here today because our Beta’s sister Caroline Forest has ran away, as we think. We found a note saying, ‘Sorry. Goodbye.’ on her bed,” he said loud and clear with confidence, although I could hear him wince slightly when he said that she’d ran away.

“Thank God, we don’t need her,” a whiny voice said. I turned my gaze to the voice and found that it was Eva, sitting in the front row with a tight dress, which finished just below her butt and the neckline so low that all her almost all her goodies were on display.

Within seconds, I was in front of her, raging. How dare she say such things about my sister?!

Have you forgotten, you’ve said worst, my wolf taunted.

Shut up, I screamed, hating that he was right.

“SHUT THE HELL UP. THAT IS MY SISTER YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT! MY SISTER. SHE COULD BE IN TROUBLE SOMEWHERE RIGHT NOW!” I screamed, which caused her to flinch and cower under my glare.

“Beta Chris. We don’t have time to waste on her. We need to find Caroline, NOW. I want the entire territory searched and any possible leads as to where she is,” he demanded in this Alpha voice.

Everybody got up and went out looking for her. Then we found out that her pack bond was broken.

We’ve been searching for her for weeks now. We’ve asked other Alphas of the neighbouring territories. We’ve checked hospital, bank, every corner on the streets, but it was as if she had completely disappeared off the face of the planet.

Her faint scent that we found was washed away with the rain, which meant we couldn’t track her down. Even the trackers were having a hard time finding her, and they were the best.

My life was completely changed when she left. I don’t sleep around anymore. I can barely sleep as it is. I hardly eat, only when forced. Most of the time, I spent all my time in her room or looking at her photos after school and before school, and now I even sleep in her room.

When our mom found out, she blamed herself for not being here for her. And finally, she has started to care about her family like most mom would.

Days after she left, I found out that she took one of my favourite hoodies, one of mom’s favourite necklaces.

That made me start crying all over again. I don’t think I could ever forgive myself. Despite what we’d done to her, she still wants to remember us.

If she did come back, I don’t think that I’d deserve her forgiveness. I don’t think anyone of us does. We all humiliated her at every chance we got and bullied her. We made her feel like trash and nobody could forgive us for doing that to her.

Howard has changed as well. Before he actually had standards, but now, he fucks everything classified as ‘female’. He’s out most of the nights, partying, sleeping around, drinking…

But I can see that he doesn’t get any sleep at all. He hardly ever talks anymore. I don’t know why Caroline leaving has had such an impact on him, but it has. I tried to talk to him about it but he would always brush it off and make up a stupid excuse and leave.

I just wish Caroline comes back, because now, I’ve realize how much I actually miss my baby sister. They say you don’t know what you have until you’ve lost it and now I truly know what I have lost, and that it that kindest, most beautiful person at heart in the world, who so happens to be my angel of a little sister.

Wherever you are Caroline, please come back to us, I prayed every night before I fell asleep on her bed.