Chapter 2

Katie's Pov

My heart sank as I read the message. Without a second thought, I dashed out of the Cafe, grabbed my colleague's scooter keys, and rode straight to the hospital, not paying heed to my colleague who was screaming at the top of her lungs that I should return her scooter.

"Where's my mom?" I asked the receptionist at the hospital as soon as I got in.

She glanced at me with disdain and got back to pressing her computer.

"Where's my mom?!" I growled and banged the front desk.

She looked up at me lazily and pointed to the room. "Room 103."

I raced through the hospital corridor with my heart pounding in my chest as different thoughts ran through my mind. My mum has the best healing abilities in the entire region, I'm not just exaggerating. I've seen her heal people who were left for dead, so getting a text that she was in a critical condition scares me out of my wits.

As I reached the room, I took in a deep breath before pushing the door open. Tears welled up in my eyes as I saw my mum lying on the bed, surrounded by beeping machines. Her once gentle face was bruised and battered, and it seemed like she had broken a couple of bones in her body.

"Mom," I choked out in tears, my voice barely above a whisper. "What happened to her? Why isn't she waking up?" I asked the doctor I met in her room, as my brain couldn't process the sight before me.

"Your mum had an accident just outside the grocery store," Doctor Esther explained. "She suffered severe injuries. We did our best, but–" she sighed and didn’t go on.

"No, no, no, this can't be," I mumbled, shaking my head in disbelief, refusing to accept the doctor's words. "This can't be!"I screamed, I felt like my whole world was crumbling right in front of my eyes.

"Wake up mum," I rushed over to my mum on the bed, who lay still. My hands trembled as it came in contact with her cold body. "Please mum, wake up," I pleaded, in between tears as I clung to her lifeless body. "Remember you promised to go see the waterfalls in the capital district with me, wake up mum! You can't break your promises!" I yelled in a trembling voice. "I also promised to get us out of this hellhole, I just need a little more time, please mum, wake up!"

"I'm sorry Katie. We did all we could," Doctor Esther told me, as she tapped my shoulders lightly.

"My mum can't be gone," I said as I shrugged Doctor Esther's hands off me. "She has the best healing abilities in the region. It's not possible!"

"I know this is a hard pill for you to swallow, but your mom is really gone. We need to take her to the morgue." Doctor Esther kept on sprouting rubbish. "She's at peace now."

"Peace? I don't want peace, I want my Mom," I retorted. "I promised to give her a better life, and I don't intend on breaking it. Mom, wake up!" I shook her body vigorously, making the hospital cloth used to cover her body fall off, and then something caught my eye.

Just above her left breast region, there was a crescent moon mark on it, my breath caught in my throat. Not believing my eyes, I cleaned my tears with the back of my hands to get a better view, and indeed I wasn't seeing things, a red crescent moon mark was above her left breast. This only means one thing, her wolf has been taken away, and she didn't die a natural death.

"Wh– Where is her wolf?" I asked Doctor Esther in a quivering voice

"Katie, I understand you're grieving," Doctor Esther said, avoiding eye contact with me. "But one's wolf doesn't just disappear."

"No, you don't understand!" I yelled in between tears that blurred my vision. Many people may not know about someone losing their wolf, but my mum has told me various tales about it, and what to look out for to know if someone's wolf is missing. "My mother's wolf is missing! She's not just dead; her wolf is gone!"

"Katie, you need to leave the room," Doctor Esther tried pulling me away from my mom. "Grieving can make you see things."

"I'm not imagining things!" I retorted. "My Mom's wolf is missing. I want an autopsy!" I demanded.

"Why do you need an autopsy?" Doctor Esther re. "Now's not a good time. The elections–"

"Elections?" I scoffed in disbelief. "I don't fucking care about the elections. If an autopsy is not being conducted, I'll go to the media."

Doctor Esther and my mum used to be friends, according to my mum though. But things went south between them when my mum displayed extraordinary healing abilities, and to crown it all she had a Lusina wolf. Doctor Esther framed my mom for cheating in an exam, and her scholarship was revoked, making her quit healing school.

Doctor Esther sighed. "Fine," she agreed. "But I'll need to speak with the alpha first," she told me. "Don't do anything stupid until I'm done speaking with the Alpha, do you understand?"

I ignored her and held my mum's cold body tighter.

As soon as Doctor Esther left the room, I burst into a fresh round of tears. My heart broke over and over again at the thought of me not being able to see my mum laugh with me again or scold me like she usually does most times, and the worst of it all I won't be able to fulfill the promise I made to her. I feel like I've failed her completely, If I could turn back the hands of time neither of us would step out of the house today.

Sobbing quietly, I drifted off to sleep with my hands wrapped on my mum's body.

"Katie," I heard my name, accompanied by a gentle tap, stirring me awake.

The aura in the room had changed and that was due to the presence of Alpha Mattew, Ryan's father, who stood beside my Dad, and Doctor Esther.

I looked into my Dad's blue eyes which was the only feature of him I have, and I hate it every single time I remember I have his eyes. If only I could just gouge out my eyes, and replace them with my mum's emerald green eyes.

"I asked for an autopsy to be conducted on my mum, not a pity party," I said, glaring at my Father… no he is just a sperm donor.

He has never cared about my welfare for once. There was a time when I needed money for some school projects and also to go on a field trip to the capital. My mum was low on cash and decided to beg my dad since the school trip meant a lot to me then. But instead of helping her, he made a mockery of her. I'll never forget the tears and sadness in my mum's eyes when she got home. That was the day I vowed to get us out of here and get us a better life.

"Katie, we understand that you are grieving, but we need to discuss the situation at hand. Can we talk for a moment?" Alpha Mattew said.

I furrowed my brows as I glanced from Alpha Mattew to my dad, whose blue eyes were emotionless as usual

"What's going on?" I asked. "Is it a state crime for me to ask for answers about my mother's wolf?"

"No one is saying that we just–"

I glared at my dad, shutting him up immediately. If my eyes could spit fire, hell be dead on the spot.

"What your dad is trying–"

"Dad?" I scoffed. "I've never existed to him, so what's with all this pity show?"

"Katie!" My father growled. "Show the Alpha some respect!"

I rolled my eyes. "Is the autopsy going to be conducted or not?" I asked no one in particular. "Or should I just go to the media, or maybe the regions council."

"There'll be no need for that," Alpha Mattew said more calmly. "An autopsy would be conducted, you just need to go home and rest."

"I don't remember telling any of you that I'm tired, or did I?"

"Kati!" My dad growled.

Alpha Mattew held my dad by his arm stopping him from talking.

"No one said you're tired," Alpha Mattew explained. "This thing has protocols, and it would take a lot of time. We just want you to stay calm, the autopsy will be conducted."

I looked into Alpha Matthew's eyes not sure if I should trust him. He was good friends with my Dad, and the chances of him being one to break promises just like my dad was is really high.

"It's an Alpha promise," Alpha Mattew said, as he probably noticed I was finding it hard to believe a word he was saying.

I sighed and chose to believe him. An Alpha's promise is his word, and their words are their bond.

"Alright. But just so you know, I won't let them silence the truth about my mother's death."

"Nothing like that would happen," Alpha Mattew assured. "Just go home, once the results are out it will be sent to you."