11. A New Life

The last weeks have passed in a blur. I can't believe I left the orphanage. I certainly won't miss Sally's bully gang there, but I do miss England a bit. Ella has been fabulous, though. Whenever I feel lost or anxious, I just look at her and I feel my anxiety calm down.

Apparently, it's the wolf bond or whatever.

I wish I wouldn't have to share her with Dante. Not that he is in any way bad. He is super nice and goes beyond himself to make sure I have everything. But I just wish it could have been Ella and me. I've never had family before.

Pack life is weird and looks a bit like a cult full of hot men and women at first glance, but they are just like a huge family in a way. Everyone seems slightly scared of the alpha, but he is always nice to me, and I've seen him bottle-feed one of his daughters several times already.

Aww, so cute.

Luna Annalise was feeding the second baby that day. They are such a cute family. I wonder if Mom looked at me the way the luna looks at her babies. I wonder if she looked at my dad the way Luna looks at Alpha Liam.

I don't know anything about my dad. Unfortunately, Ella and Dante didn't find anything about him. Mom didn't put him on the birth certificate either.

Shucks.

But who knows, maybe he is just a loser who dropped Mom and had her suffer on her own. Ella told me Mom fell during a political war, but I think she is just trying to tiptoe around the topic that she was murdered in cold blood. Dad was nowhere around to help her. I don't know what type of person Mom was, Ella doesn't either, but I think she must have been strong.

I just wish she would have stayed with me. We could have been on the run together.

Ella is not a doormat either. She is so cool. I've seen her interact with the other pack members, and everyone seems to respect her.

"I see you did your hair," Luna Annalise says as she sits at the breakfast table.

Food is amazing here. There is so much stuff I have never gotten regularly, although food in the orphanage wasn't bad either.

"Yes, I wanted it to be a stronger violet," I say politely. It's almost impossible to be sassy to the luna; she is so nice.

She winks at me. "You got help, didn't you?"

"Aryanna…" I pause. "I mean, Beta Aryanna helped me." She is the alpha's second beta and works together with Dante. They are besties, all three of them, it seems, the most unlikely trio in history.

"No need to be so formal." Aryanna grins while sipping at her coffee. "I told you, you don't need to call me by my title."

Aryanna is cool, almost as cool as Ella. She has the craziest hairstyles and constantly changes her hair color. Her mate is a she-wolf, which is fucking amazing. I thought werewolves were all about breeding and getting heirs and alike, but here are two women sharing a mate bond. Two lesbian queens. They slay!

"I like your hair," Ella says with a smile as she sits down with her food.

"I like yours too," I retort, because it's true. She has a pixie cut and pulls it off like a queen.

"What do you think, D?" Ella asks Dante.

Dante and Alpha Liam exchange a gaze of surprise. "The new hair—" Dante says.

"It looks good," the alpha says.

The luna laughs. "You two didn't notice, did you?"

Ella grins. "I swear I could dye my hair neon-green and get a buzz cut, and Dante wouldn't notice."

"That's because you are always beautiful," Dante says, and he and Ella instantly have that mushy heart-in-their-eyes expression. He kisses her hand, and I admit, it's kind of cute. Dante turns to look at me. "And Charlotte is always beautiful too."

Okay, that was nice! "So, what if I would get green hair?" I say, just to test him.

"Hair color doesn't shock me," he says. "I'm used to Ari. When she was in middle school, she shaved parts of her head, then colored the remainder of her hair pink and sprayed it with glitter every day."

"Right." Alpha Liam chuckles. "I completely forgot that."

"My mother almost had a heart attack, but I looked slamming," Aryanna says with a grin.

Her mate, Jazz, chuckles. "I'm sure you did. But I want photos, or it didn't happen."

Ari grins. "We had a family get-together around that time, so there is a photo. It's hilarious because my mom is still pissed, and you see it, while my uncle, who is as crazy as I am, couldn't care less."

"So, Charlie"—Luna Annalise turns to me—"Ella said you still need some things for school."

"Does the pack organize these?" I ask.

"The pack provides all the necessities for school," she explains. "Everything extra the parents have to organize."

"I thought we could go shopping for the extra stuff," Ella offers. "You might need more clothes and other things."

I've never liked shopping, but then I never had the chance to do it with a relative. So, this could be fun. "Would be awesome." I can see her turning to Dante, probably to ask him to come along. "Can we make this a girls-only thing?" I blurt out.

Ella blinks. I'm not sure if she noticed my reaction. Her eyes gloss over momentarily, but she just nods with a smile. "Yes, let's go together."

"Just the both of us?" I push.

She nods. "Sure! I thought maybe you'd want Annie or Aryanna to join so it wouldn't be too boring."

I'm not sure how to tell her that I don't need the luna or Aryanna with us.

The luna intervenes herself which surprises me. "I would have to decline anyway," she says. "Something came up and I need to attend."

"Me too," Aryanna says.

"Really?" the alpha asks. "Is there a meeting scheduled? I hope I didn't forget."

Luna Annalise looks a bit annoyed for a split second, then she just smiles. "Luna duties, love."

He nods, looking relieved. "Thank Goddess. I was scared I got my schedule mixed up."

"You girls go and have fun," Dante tells us.

Ella looks at him. "Do you need the car today?"

"No, I think I will use the day to get an extra dose of training in."

Charlie and I spend most of the day in the mall, buying everything she needs. She doesn't want to indulge too much, and I can sympathize. She grew up without having any money, just what the state provided her with. I don't push her too much, but encourage her to get the stuff she needs and some extra clothes.

We go for milkshakes and burgers for lunch before driving home.

I'm surprised by how fast Charlie seems to adapt to being in a pack and being with Dante and me, but I assume her upbringing made her able to adapt to changing situations fast. I was the same at her age.

When we drop our things in our apartment, she is ready to set off to explore the pack grounds.

"Just make sure you are back when Dave is coming over."

"Dave's a legend. I won't skip meeting him," she promises.

I chuckle. As usual Dave manages to win anyone over. I contemplate asking Charlie where she is off to, but I don't want to sound too overbearing or too much like a busybody. Shit, this is difficult. So, I just wave her off, waiting for her to run out of the apartment before I turn my attention back to my own shopping bag. I bought some kitchen supplies and some things for dinner.

"Oh, you are back." Annie peeks through the door and smiles at me. I left it open because I had my hands full, and Charlie didn't close it either when she took off.

"Yes, come on in." I drop everything I am holding on the counter, thankful that Annie shuffles in to help me put everything away. Charlie tossed all of her shopping bags into her room. It's on her when and how she puts her stuff away. I'm certainly not THAT overbearing. "Where are my favorite little godchildren?"

"Asteria is with her dad, and Aurora with her nanny. She is going to visit the nursery with her, just for an hour. Aurora loves to be with other children."

"Why won't you let Asteria go?" I ask curiously. Obviously they are both not even a year old yet, and while werewolf children grow differently than humans, they are still too young to spend a lengthy time on their own, but if they already let Aurora test the nursery just for the fun of it, it's a good sign.

"A gut feeling," Annie tells me.

"You think she would hate it?"

"No, Asteria is way more outgoing than Aurora. Aurora is the sensitive one. But I think Asteria might have certain gifts we don't know about yet. Liam and I don't want to take the risk of her hurting anyone by accident as long as we haven't had her tested yet."

"It's probably for the best to have the Council send some elders to do the test a bit earlier on them." Children usually get tested around the age of three to five, but seeing how powerful Liam as a royal lycan is, it's probably smart to have his children tested sooner rather than later.

"Liam and I think the same," Annie says. "But enough about me; how was your day with Charlie?"

"We had fun," I tell her. "She is adapting well, though I think some of it might just be a front, and she is more anxious than she lets on."

"Why do you think that?"

I look at Annie. "A gut feeling," I admit.

She nods. "Fair enough."

"Do you think the interaction during breakfast was weird?" I can't shake it off that something felt off about it. I know Charlie is clingy when it's about me, but I feel it's just natural.

"A bit," Annie admits. "I think she really wants to spend time with you, but it happens a lot that she blocks anyone else from joining you."

"I think she has abandonment issues," I say quietly. "I'm thinking of setting her up with a good therapist. Does that make me a bad aunt?"

"This makes you a fantastic aunt," Annie emphasizes. "You are getting her help, and Goddess, she went through so much and had so many new truths thrown at her; she deserves to get any help she needs." She pauses. "How is she with Dante?"

I look at her in surprise. "You noticed?"

She shrugs.

"Dante is a saint," I admit. "He is just so accepting."

"And Charlie is not?" she pushes.

"I think she doesn't trust him," I say. "I mean not for him to do anything to her, but she—"

"She doubts he wants to be in her life and stay there?" Annie concludes.

"What do you think?"

"I think you need a lot of patience," she says. "She doesn't trust easily, which is to be expected. But you also need boundaries concerning you, but also Dante. It wouldn't be fair to him to be always pushed away and walked over."

"You are right," I admit. "It's just so hard to do."

"Yes." Annie sighs. "For what it matters, I think you and Dante are both amazing, and Charlie is an amazing kid too." She pauses. "Tell me if I'm overstepping, Ella. It's not my position to tell you my opinion on how to raise your niece."

"Are you kidding? I'm dying to talk about this with someone who is not involved," I say. Dante is scared to upset me, which is a usual and unfortunate pattern we have for every conflict. I need an outsider's perspective, especially from my best friend.

"I think," Annie says. "Charlie needs time. But you probably need to consider your role in her life. Are you going to be her aunt? Her sister? Her mom? Her friend? You have a parental responsibility for her. Everything is going well at the moment, but what if she pushes her boundaries and tests you? What are you going to do then?"

"You know what, I've been wondering about this too. But I'm not sure what to do. I didn't even know how to ask her where she is off to now. And school starts next week, and I have a teen with me. I need to help her with schoolwork and make sure she attends her classes. But at the same time, I know she is very independent because she is used to doing things on her own."

"I agree. She needs to be allowed to keep some of this independence, or she will suffocate."

"Oh, Goddess… I'm not prepared for this!"

"I don't think it's possible to figure it out all at once," Annie muses. "I think you and Dante are handling it really well."

I smile. "He is amazing, isn't he? He says he already sees her as his own niece. I will be eternally thankful that the goddess made him my mate." I chuckle. "To imagine I first didn't want a mate at all."

"You were used to being on your own," Annie says. "Yet you didn't run away from the mate bond."

"I was contemplating it though."

"That doesn't matter. You didn't run and instead gave him a chance."

"Can you set us up with a counselor?" I ask. "I would like a therapist for Charlie, but I think an additional family counselor would be great too. You know, for a kid that spent her life in the system up to now, suddenly living with her aunt who grew up as an orphan without stability—Dante and I might need the help of a social worker."

"Of course!" Annie exclaims. "I will talk to Dave. He is a psychology major. Oh, and you know, Liam's brother, Marius, since he became lune has built up shelters for neglected kids. I bet he has plenty of contacts. I will give him a call tomorrow morning."

I drop the stuff I'm holding and hug her. "You are the best!"

"You are even better."

I grin. "Let's settle for we are both awesome."

"Good, now that's settled"—Annie goes through my shopping bag and grabs the bag of ground meat and tomatoes—"what do you want me to do with these?"

"I have no idea," I groan. "You know I can't cook to save my life. And D isn't much better. But now we have a kid living here, so I thought I need to at least try to provide her with home-cooked meals."

Thank Goddess Annie doesn't laugh at me and instead takes my efforts seriously. "Okay, well, let's start with something simple. No need to go all Gordon Ramsay on your first attempt."

"Is this a cooking reference I don't get?"

Annie grins. "Apparently it is. Let's do something simple. How about spaghetti with homemade sauce?"