13. White Lotus

Sablecrest Pack House

Haylee locked herself in her room as Christine and Liam were outside, trying to convince her to come out. She wouldn't even let Liam enter, so they knew it was serious.

The woman places her face in her palms as Liam places his on her shoulders. He tried to comfort her, but she was nearly about to have a mental breakdown.

Her sister didn't want to talk to her and their father was out of jail. She wanted to avoid him, but knew that if she did then things would never get better. So, she tried to gather confidence and now it all disappeared.

"I can't do this," she whispered, voice cracking as she sniffled in her hands.

Liam rubbed her upper back stiffly, not knowing the right way to comfort a person in distress. He was only ever good at destroying, so doing the opposite of that stumped him. However, he was determined to help his friend.

Christine gave one last look at the door before turning around. Liam furrowed his eyebrows as he watched her walk away.

"Are you giving up?" His deep voice held bitterness to it. He was all about strength and pride, so watching his friend give up hers made him angry.

Christine stopped and turned her head, a solemn look on her face. Liam's eyes softened when he saw the dried tears on her face.

"I can't do anything about it. I'm a useless sister." Then, she left.

Liam didn't stop her, feeling shameful that he couldn't help her. But it was a family matter, and Liam wasn't a part of what they were going through. He could only give advice but do nothing more.

Christine took the main stairs to get to the third floor. When she felt sorrowful, she seeked comfort from her dear friend Kieryn. She was ashamed that she had to lean on a man who couldn't even protect himself, but his awkward hugs and origami animals made her smile.

Maybe she was being selfish for using him, but at this moment, she didn't care. Kieryn always understood her pain and quietly listened to her rants. He didn't laugh at her when she talked about her traumatic events, instead nodding for her to continue with a serious face.

She was a strong woman, but broke down in front of an even weaker man.

She remembered when Haylee was first diagnosed, and that's when her life turned into a spiral of ups and downs.

[Flashback - ? years ago, Sablecrest Pack House]

"Christina Hampton?"

Christine's head lifted and her body followed as well, facing the female doctor who exited the patient's room. She had a sorry expression on her face, which couldn't mean anything good.

Rubbing her sweaty hands together, she took a couple of steps in front of the woman. "How is she?"

"Haylee is fine," she reassured, flipping a page on her clipboard. "I've diagnosed her and I found something..."

She trailed off, making Christine sigh heavily. "What is it? I'm sure it can't be that bad."

The woman shook her head with a solemn expression, looking at the diagnoses written on the page.

"Post traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, separation anxiety," she lists before looking at her. "Does that seem 'not that bad'?"

Christine puts her face in her palms as she feels tears flooding in her eyes. The doctor walks towards her and places a hand on her shoulder.

"What do I do?" She says, her voice starting to crack. "I can't even protect my sister properly. It's my fault."

The doctor rubs her back with a small smile. "Hey... I understand what you are going through. I know it's tough but I believe things can get better. I can offer you something that can help Haylee with PTSD."

"What is it?" Christine asks, looking up as hope lit her eyes.

The woman grins, showing off her pearly whites.

"Age regression therapy. It is the most commonly used therapy nowadays among PTSD patients. I promise you that it can do wonders."

[Present]

Christine is brought back to reality when she arrives at a door that leads to Kieryn's room. She knocks, waiting for the door to swing open. When it doesn't, Christine turns the door knob and peeks inside. Kieryn wasn't on the bed like he usually was, neither was he at the desk.

Confused, her eyes darted all over the room for the man. That's when she hears water running from the bathroom connecting to his room and realizes that he was taking a shower. She walks over to the bed, sitting down at the edge.

Her eyes trail to the sketchpad that laid on the bed and her eyebrows raise in surprise. It was a detailed drawing of Sandra, and if she didn't know any better, she would say that the drawing looked better than the actual person.

It perfectly catched her features, even the tiny freckles that could barely be seen by the naked eye. She realized that Kieryn must have studied Sandra's features and even saw the ones that she tried to hide.

'How observant.' She touched the paper, tempted to flip to the next page to see more of his drawings. 'But that would just be wrong.'

She looked back and forth from the bathroom door to the sketchbook. Her hand twitched, tempted to see the next drawing in the book. She turned away to look at other things in the room, but her eyes would always gravitate to the sketchpad. Frowning, she pinched her wandering hand.

'Stop it and control yourself, Christine. You are his friend so act like it. Where are your morals?'

And she ended up grabbing the sketchbook to turn the page.

Her eyes widened as she saw detailed portraits of not only the maids, but her as well. She suddenly felt a wave of insecurity hit her as she frowned.

'Dammit Kieryn, why did you have to make me look better than I look in real life?'

There were realistic drawings of the landscape outside, even the birds, flowers, and the river that flowed by the outdoor patio. She realized that he always kept his sketchpad with him to draw what his eyes could see. He spent a lot of time outside by the patio to draw, focusing on getting every single detail correct.

'He's tryna be the next Picasso or something?' She laughed at her joke, turning to the next page.

Her eyes widened as they ran over the drawing.

A portrait of a woman with thin eyes stared back at her. She wondered if it was Adella, but it couldn't be. The woman had straight black hair that reached past her shoulders and her face was free of any freckles. The portrait was made by pencil; no colors other than black and lighter gray to shade it. It was more realistic than any other picture she saw.

Each stroke of the pencil was drawn with emotion, the non-existent light in her eyes seemed to shine, and the shading was placed to make the person seem as realistic as possible. This could just be her speculation, but maybe this woman was real. After all, there was no other drawing of a person this detailed in his sketchpad.

As her focus was stuck on the portrait, trying to figure out who it was, an arm suddenly reached for the sketchpad from behind. Christine jumps, snapping her head to see who it was. Her heart drops to her stomach when she sees Kieryn, wearing blue silk pajamas and hair damped from the shower.

Kieryn pulls his arm back, holding the sketchbook and he looks at it with an unknown expression. Christine gripped the sheets, feeling flabbergasted. "I, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to peek into your sketchpad. Well, I mean, I did, but I-"

She paused when Kieryn pulled out a pencil to write something on the page. He turned it around to let her see. Next to the portrait was written 'Mom'.

That single word made all the thoughts Christine had created in her head disappear in a second. She opened her mouth to say something, and closed it, but opened it again to breathe out, "Mom? T-tha, that's your mom?"

Kieryn nodded, looking back at the portrait with an expressionless face. Kieryn couldn't read on his face how he was and she felt too nervous to ask him, so she stayed quiet instead, hoping Kieryn would write what he wanted to when he was ready.

Secretly, Christine was relieved the woman wasn't some past lover Kieryn had. She didn't want Adella to feel disappointed because she wasn't Kieryn's first.

He looked at Christine, making her flinch again. Kieryn approaches Christine and sits next to her, laying the sketchpad on his lap. He reached for the table by his bed, opening the drawer and pulling out a honey gold colored stone connected to a white gold chain. The pendant glimmered under faint light, revealing the unknown symbols carved into it.

Kieryn typed on his phone as Christine observed the stone with a curious gaze. 'I don't know what it is, but it's definitely Mom's.'

"Where is your mother now?" Christine said without thinking, but snapped her head to Kieryn. "I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that. That was insensitive of me."

Kieryn types, 'I don't know. She disappeared when I was a kid.'

"Disappeared?" Christine suddenly felt a wave of anger flowing through her. "How could your own mother leave you when you were just a child?"

The words that came out of her mouth were rhetorical, because she experienced the same thing too.

The boy looks down at his lap, wondering the same exact thing. Christine's face softens at this. She looked back at the pendant, and light shone on the stone, revealing the larger symbol in the middle. Her eyes widened and her mouth parted in shock.

"Kieryn, do you know what this symbol is? The big one in the middle?" She shows the pendant to Kieryn, who shakes his head.

"This... this is the symbol of the White Lotus Coven. A coven that died out thousands of years ago."

Kieryn raised an eyebrow, still confused about what she was saying.

Christine ran her thumb over the symbol. "It's an ancient coven that was really powerful. It produced some of the most powerful witches we know in our history, and it was the first Flower Branch Coven."

Kieryn nods slowly, allowing her to continue.

"If your mother has this, I don't know how it's possible, but I think she might have been a part of that coven."

Later that day,

Christine knocks before slamming open the door, a wide grin on her face. Kieryn, who was drawing another portrait, stopped to look up at her with a confused expression.

She rushes up to his bed, holding his hand and pulling him off the bed.

"Come with me. I found something about the origins of your necklace."

Kieryn perks up at this, interested in knowing what the necklace means. Maybe he could even find out what happened to his mother.

"We need to get there before dinner," she said, pulling him out of the room.

He allows her to lead him down the staircase to the first floor. They proceed to travel to the main library, which Kieryn is familiar with since he's been here multiple times in the past. The librarian, who was young-looking despite his age, greets them with a large smile. Christine walks past him with a small smile of her own, but Kieryn faces the man and gives him a 90 degree bow. The man chuckles, because he meets Kieryn almost everyday and he still hasn't learned it wasn't customary to bow to the less powerful like him.

He jogs up to Christine's side, who stops at the history book section. She runs her index finger across the spines of the books and stops at a book with a thick leather cover. The title read, 'The History of the Flower Branch Covens.' Around the title were pictures, or rather, symbols; each in the shape of different flowers. Kieryn recognized one to be the symbol that is on his necklace.

Sitting on wooden chairs, Christine places the book in front of them. She opens to the last page, which is an index of every chapter in alphabetical order. Finding the page, she flips to it and Kieryn sees the words 'The White Lotus Coven at the top in big letters.'

The text read, "The White Lotus Circle, or more widely known as the White Lotus Coven, is theoretically the second Coven to be formed after the Trinity Circle. The founder of this Coven, Jingyi Hao, a well-known Chinese scholar, was the fourth great witch to exist in history. Back then, witches were known as sorcerers or shamans, but Hao used spells instead of the usual talismans. Some of Hao' greatest achievements was the advancement of the ancient Chinese civilization and the expansion of land."

Christine secretly watched Kieryn as he read with an amazed expression. She held back a chuckle so as not to disturb him.

"Hao was recognized for his power and achievements to the kingdom, and later he would serve the Emperor. Years later, Hao would establish the White Lotus Circle and teach his disciples the way of magic. Hao feared that non-disciples might steal and use his practices for evil, he came up with a way to identify his members. He engraved the symbol of the White Lotus on a part of the early disciple's body using magic so no other could forge it. Those disciples passed that mark to their children, who followed in their parents footsteps and became disciples as well. Those children would pass the mark to their children, and so on and so forth."

Reading this, Kieryn remembered seeing that same mark on the back of his mother's neck. Back then he thought it was just some cool tattoo. He never guessed it would have meaning to it.

"From there, the White Lotus Coven would become the largest Coven with over 10,000 disciples. Although there were not many records of it, some scrolls that were stored away in the Imperial Libraries had been discovered."

Under that text were pictures of what was inside the scrolls. Kieryn saw painted portraits of the early disciples and he scanned through them to see if his mother was one of them. However, since the disciples were dominantly men, he couldn't find one similar to her.

Reading on, "The early practices of the White Lotus Coven were kept hidden from the public and weren't recorded. The families that served as disciples were not recorded either, however, it is believed that there were more than 200. By the time Hao died, the art of magic would be spread from China into other countries. The spread of magic allowed for other forms to be discovered. From there, the Flower Branch Covens were established..."

He frowned before closing the book. There was no information about his mother.

Christine held the book in her hand, waving it to Kieryn. "Do you want to keep this? You might learn something else about the White Lotus Coven or maybe find out about your mother."

Kieryn shook his head, then thought for a moment, and nodded. He took the book out of Christine's hands and ran his thumb over the cover. He hoped that what she said was true.

Christine props her elbow on the table, placing her chin in her palm. She gazes at Kieryn with soft eyes. Kieryn thought that she was tired and pulled out his phone to ask.

Until, "If you met your mom, would you want to go live with her again?"

Not getting an answer, Christine assumes Kieryn wasn't comfortable with the question. She sits up to look at Kieryn's blank face. Kieryn himself also wonders what he would do if his mother came back.

"You don't have to answer that, sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." Kieryn quickly shakes his head, telling her she doesn't need to apologize. Christine gives a short laugh that sounded more like a snort.

"You know," she trails off, looking at the ceiling. "I haven't really told you this, but being around you makes life a lot easier to live."

Kieryn tilts his head, confused on what she meant by that. Christine turns her head and gives him a smile, her eyes seemed almost sorrowful.

"It doesn't matter. Just some things going on, you know, family stuff."

Kieryn frowns, knowing that she was hiding something from him, but he doesn't address it. He only touches her arm and gives her a reassuring look, telling her that she could come to him whenever she wanted to talk.

Christine got the message and her smile grew, nodding at his silent question.

"Thank you, Kieryn. And I will."

And she truly did mean it.

Meanwhile,

June swings at Elmarie, who again easily dodges her weak punches. She was getting annoyed that Elmarie wouldn't fight back, but she was also glad that she had more chances to attack. June was ashamed of her utter defeat in the last battle, but she picked herself back up and would try again.

A long knife made out of ice materializes in her hand and she immediately swings at her, the tip of the knife pointed to her. Her swings were sloppy but they were all calculated to catch her off guard.

'Her ability is so powerful, and yet she doesn't know how to use it,' Elmarie thought, dodging another attack from the knife.

Elmarie's sharp eyes don't leave June for a second, focusing on her movements. As June jumps to the side before swinging the knife to her leg, Elmarie steps away quickly and hits June's arm away.

The girl hisses at the slight pain of her hit but shakes it off. She knows that a moment of distraction will get her sent to the ground, which will result in her loss.

June brings her hand up to swing at Elmarie once more, her knife elongating at cutting through Elmarie's pant leg. The woman furrowed her eyebrows at the petty attempt at trying to catch her off guard.

As June's hand is raised in the air to bring the knife down once more, Elmarie grasps her wrist. Unable to react, June is brought down to the ground as Elmarie keeps a hold on her arm. With a groan, June slams onto the hard floor as Elmarie is right above her.

Her breath was only an inch away from her, making June's senses go wild as she breathed in her scent. Elmarie's body was pressed against her back, and it took everything for June not to sigh at the touch.

Suddenly, a sharp object presses against June's throat. She realizes it was her knife and wonders when and how Elmarie took it from her. She was sure that she kept a tight grip on it the whole time.

"Dead," the woman whispered in her ear.

She pulls away and gets back up into a standing position, June frozen on the floor as heavy breaths leave her mouth.

"You really are bad at fighting," she said, almost in disbelief.

June glares at her. "We've been doing this for two days already and you haven't taught me anything yet."

"I wanted to test your abilities. It's important to know what I'm working with."

"Are you still going to slam me to the ground for another hour or can we actually start?"

Elmarie chuckles at the girl's sassiness before her face becomes serious. She crosses her arms together and looks down at the girl with a gaze that is no longer playful. June asked herself if this was the same woman seconds ago.

"Stand up."

Her tone was demanding, and it compelled June into doing what she wanted. Her legs shook from the impact of hitting the floor so hard, but she tried not to show it. Her arms were stiff by her side as she looked into the dark pools of Elmarie's eyes.

She looked like a leader. The way she carried herself, the way she spoke, the way she didn't falter in anything she did. She was graceful as well as powerful, and June admired her for that.

"First lesson is, I'll keep it short and simple, to get your form right. You want to be unmovable like a boulder so your opponent can't catch you off guard. You also have to be swift to dodge when they attack."

June nods, giving her full attention to the watchful woman. She feared punishment from her if she slipped up. Elmarie was tough and strict, and she definitely wouldn't turn a blind eye to disobedience.

"Arms in front of you, knees bent." She narrows her eyes when she sees June's confused face. "Now."

June scrambles to get into the position Elmarie says. Even though she didn't explain the position, June saw her training other Pack members in the past.

Once in form, Elmarie circles her with an intense gaze. She kicks the back of June's knee, making the girl yelp as she falls to the ground.

"What the hell-"

"Your form isn't strong enough. Your feet don't have a steady foundation on the ground and your arms aren't supporting your torso. Again."

June turns her head from Elmarie, rolling her eyes so she couldn't see. She picks herself up and stands in the same position as before.

Elmarie circles her again before stepping to her side, kicking her torso and making her fall onto the ground. The girl gave a sharp glare, but she couldn't do anything because Elmarie was the trainer.

"Your arms aren't fully supporting your back, which is why a single kick could knock down your whole body. Again."

'What the fuck are you even trying to teach me?' She wanted to scream out, but held her tongue. This time, she had to take the criticism. Elmarie said herself that she wouldn't treat her any differently than she taught the ones she trained.

June stands up again, lifting her arms higher than last time. She straightens her back and bends her knees, looking forward as Elmarie once again walks around her with hands behind her back.

Instead of a kick like June expected, Elmarie's fingers touch the back of her neck. June squeaks, allowing Elmarie to sweep her foot against hers and drop her to the ground.

June groans loudly, her fists shaking in anger. 'What now?'

"Your opponent will try anything to catch you off guard. Expect for them to use dirty methods like kick sand into your eyes or touch a ticklish spot of yours."

June sighs and stands back up again, going back into form.

'This is going to be a long fucking day.'

Afterwards,

June moves her arm in a circular motion, trying to get rid of the soreness from being pushed onto the ground multiple times. She rubs the back of her neck with a soft sigh.

'Damn you, Marie,' she curses in her head. 'When did she get so hot?'

As she walks down the hallways, she hears chattering further down. Frowning, her mood becomes sour at the thought of meeting another person. She would much rather be alone than see another Pack member's face.

She stopped, seeing a man with white hair walking towards her while texting on a phone. She didn't recognize him, but it wasn't like she's met all one hundred thousand Pack members.

The man didn't even look fitting to be one of the Hunters or Scouts. He was tall but more skinnier than the others and his face was bare of any scars compared to the other men. June raised an eyebrow, scanning every part of his features but not seeing anything noteworthy.

That's when he raises his head to see the unfamiliar girl. 'Is she a part of the Pack? I haven't seen her around.'

June's eyes narrow when he's stared at her for too long.

"What?" Her tone sent shivers down his spine.

He only blinks, looking back at his phone and typing something. The girl presumed that he was ignoring her and scoffed.

"None of you guys have a backbone," she said, walking past.

Kieryn frowns at that and turns around, tapping her shoulder. June immediately swivels her head and grabs his shirt, pulling his six-foot height to her five. Kieryn's breath hitches when he sees ice appearing at the place she pulled.

"Don't you ever put your hands on me or I'll freeze them off."

June saw the slight fear in his eyes and rolled hers. As soon as she threatened the cocky members of the Pack, they tucked their tails and ran away. 'Not a single one of them has a backbone. Pathetic.'

Instead of running away when she let him go, Kieryn stood tall and narrowed his eyes at her. His hands were balled into fists as his gaze locked with June's. His previous fear was gone and instead replaced with confidence.

'The fuck?' She was dumbstruck at his sudden bravery. Then she crossed her arms and looked him up and down with a scrutinizing gaze.

"It looks like you haven't been around long enough to know that you mutts shouldn't mess with me."

Kieryn's eyes turned to slits as his fists shake. 'She's insulting Adella,' he thought, anger flashing in his eyes.

Yet, Kieryn didn't have impressive strength or magic, so he could only stand there shaking in rage. He couldn't even do something basic as shift into a wolf, so what could he do?

But he wouldn't back down. Not until she apologized.

And she wouldn't back down until she proved that he was just another scared little puppy.

The two exchanged glares for a while, neither of them doing anything, when a voice breaks the tension.

"Stop it, June!"

Christine comes up behind Kieryn and glares at the girl. She then glances at the man with a nod, telling him that she'll take it from here.

"Wow, you're still here," the girl retorts.

"Leave Kieryn alone."

"He wants to act brave so let him." A sardonic smirk stretches onto her face. "Unless he's shaking in his shoes right now. I mean, that's what all the wolves do."

Kieryn clenched his jaw, but Christine took a step forward.

"Don't you have anything better to do than insult people?" Christine hisses, her eyes narrowed into slits. "Don't even try to talk shit when one of our Shifters can easily take you down."

"Then why do they become all quiet when I show them my ice?" June scoffs. "Bring one here and I'll demonstrate."

"You've done more than enough. Leave," she says with a monotone voice.

"Or what?"

"Or I swear on the God that I serve that I'll respectfully slap you."

"Try it."

The area drops a couple degrees, meaning that June was ready to use her magic. Ice appeared from the bottom of June's feet, and the girl raised her hand towards them.

Christine may not have had magic, but she sure as hell wouldn't let a kid talk down on her and her Pack. She moves in front of June while taking a protective stance.

Kieryn knew that he couldn't do anything to help, and that made him feel

"That's enough, June."

A voice from behind the girl made her turn around. She sees Zachary, holding up a plate of cookies. His face was relaxed but his voice was stern, making the girl's ice dissipate.

"Why the hell are you here?"

"Because I sensed you using your magic and realized it wasn't for training."

The man walks next to her and smiles at Christine. "I apologize for her behavior. I thought magic training would shape her into a calmer person."

"Not you talking as if I'm not here," she whispers. Her mouth closed when Zachary sent a glare at her.

"June, you have practice to get to. Don't think you're let off the hook," he says. "Now go."

June grumbles as she turns around and leaves without another word. Christine blinks, not expecting the girl to be so compliant to any other than the Delta.

Even Kieryn tilted his head in confusion. Zachary walks up to him, lifting up his free hand for him to shake.

"I've heard about the Alpha's mate, but I never met him in person." The man chuckled. "I'm Zachary Morelli, the leader of the Hibiscus Coven."

Kieryn shakes his hand, as it is polite, but furrows his brows. 'Mate?'

Zachary sees the confusion etched on his face and looks at Christine, whose eyes are wide and she shakes her head. Zachary gets the message and his brows raise in shock.

'He doesn't know?' He looks back at Kieryn with the same polite smile as before.

"I hope to make your acquaintance as well as my daughter's." He lifts up the plate towards him with an inviting nod. "Have some. The sweets here are more delicious than any other I've tasted."

Kieryn looks at Christine, who only shrugs. Turning to the plate, he hesitantly takes a cookie. Pleased, Zachary grins and takes one himself.

"Anyway, I have a wild student to get back to. Take care." And just like that, he walked away in the same direction as June.

Christine pulls on Kieryn's free hand as he chews on the cookie, his eyes lighting up at the taste.

"I'm going somewhere in two days, so I just want to let you know so you won't freak out when I'm not here."

Kieryn's eyes widened, turning his head so fast that he thought he got whiplash.

"Don't worry, I'll be back soon," the woman chuckles at his reaction. "It's not like I'll be gone for a month or something. If you want to talk to me, you can always text me."

Kieryn frowns at that, still disappointed that his friend won't be here.

He allows Christine to lead him to his room, hoping that the time left he had with her won't go to waste.