46. The Twins

Imake sure that Charlie gets a proper checkup in the infirmary immediately. Fortunately, she only strained one of her wrists and got a few bruises from being tossed around, but other than that there was no physical harm.

The wounds we can't see are a different issue. I will need to set her up with a therapist to work through this properly. For now, however, I spend the night with her in the hospital, cuddling with her and just listening to what she wants to tell me.

"Did you hear anything about Felix?" she asks me.

"He is still getting surgery," I say, brushing over her hair.

"You will tell me when you know something, right?" she asks, sounding desperate in her plea. "You won't lie to me? You will tell me, even if it's bad?"

"I promise I will tell you."

"It's my fault, isn't it?"

And we are back at square one, with her guilt being triggered again. The whole night she has asked questions, just to come to the conclusion that everything happened because of her, and it saddens me so much that the guilt is eating at her like that. I try to reassure her that it isn't her fault, that she is not responsible for other people's actions. I don't know if she believes me, but I will repeat it as often as she needs to hear it until it settles in that it isn't her fault.

Charlie dozes off between our talks just to jerk awake and be stressed about her surroundings. I reassure her every time that she is safe, back in the pack, and home.

It's very early in the morning when Dante returns, a look of exhaustion on his face, but he looks content at the same time. Charlie instantly wakes up when she hears the door.

"Uncle Dante?" she says.

"I'm back," he says with a smile, brushing over her hair before kissing me. "Liam and I just returned."

"Will you stay now?" Charlie asks hopefully.

"Yes, we did everything we had to do," he says. "You don't need to be scared anymore, Charlie. The alpha who had you kidnapped won't be an issue for you anymore."

"See?" I say. "Now you can sleep a bit."

"Will you stay here?" she asks me.

"Of course."

"Will Uncle Dante stay too?" she asks.

"Do you want me to stay?" he asks in return.

She nods.

"Well, then, of course, I will stay," Dante says with a gentle smile.

He grabs a blanket, tossing it over me before he settles down on one of the chairs. His eyes gloss over suddenly. It can only mean one thing. I feel my breath catching in my throat while I wait for him to be finished with mind linking.

Once he is done, he looks equal parts relieved and worried. "Liam just linked me," he says into the silence. "And I thought I should tell you."

"Felix?" Charlie asks hopefully.

"They finished surgery. He is stable."

"But?" I ask.

"He will have a long road to recovery," Dante says. I can see Charlie's face fall, but before she can say anything, Dante reassures her. "Felix is sixteen and once he is seventeen, his wolf will heal him fully. That said, it doesn't mean he won't recover completely before that. This isn't the best news, but with the severity of his injury, this isn't the worst outcome either."

Charlie still looks torn.

"He will need his friends," I tell her. "Recovery can be draining and long."

"Oh, I will help him," she says. "Of course I will. I bet Dario will too. And I'm sure Austen, Gisela, and Ty will be there too."

"Well, if Ty's there, I can rest peacefully," Dante mutters.

I can't hide my grin at his words.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Charlie asks.

"Didn't your aunt tell you that you got busted?" Dante teases.

Charlie stares at him briefly before it dawns on her. "Oh," she says. "Right, I think I need some sleep now."

Dante grins, looking proud that his distraction worked, while Charlie snuggles back into her blanket. I wrap my arms around her, turning my head to look at Dante. I'm glad I have both of you back with me, I say.

Me too, he says. I love you.

The next day, Dante plays into his connection to the kitchen, and we get fresh bread delivered to our hospital room. He tells Charlie and me what exactly happened last night. Then, however, I make sure to send him home to get some more sleep. He has to be exhausted.

"Charlie and I will wait for the doctor, then pick you up for lunch."

"Good," Dante says, the relief evident in his eyes. He looks like he needs a good couple of hours of sleep. "I will see my two girls for lunch then."

Charlie smiles happily at his words. To imagine how wary she was of him at the beginning, and now she has accepted him fully as family.

The both of us have to wait quite a bit. Charlie uses the time to draw for her comic. The panels she is working on seem to be darker than the usual tone of her work. She keeps painting an owl, too, but it's always just a spectator, lurking in corners without truly intervening. I want to ask her about it, but then figure this might be her way of working through what happened.

Eventually, Nicole comes to check on Charlie, clearing her to go home. "Be careful, Charlie," Nicole says with a warm smile. "Your wrist is strained. Don't overuse it." She winks at her. "No skateboarding, please."

Charlie looks flustered but nods. "Can Austen come and visit?" she asks quietly.

Nicole stays quiet for a while. "He can," she says. I'm relieved she agreed to it. I know she must be disappointed in him sneaking off pack grounds, but for me, Charlie's mental health means more than anything else.

And Austen is one of her closest friends.

Thank you, I link Nicole.

It's okay, she says. Austen has apologized a lot and has taken responsibility for what he did. His issue is that he constantly tries to please everyone around him, which is what got him into this situation in the first place. We are working on that. I think Charlie is good for him.

I grab mine and Charlie's stuff before leaving the room. "Ella." Charlie grabs my arm. "Can we visit the guys?"

"Let's see," I say. Nefeli can feel Liam's aura in the infirmary, so I take Charlie and look for him. He is currently standing with Alpha Elden and one of our surgeons, probably the one who performed Felix's surgery.

"Alpha Liam, Alpha Elden," I greet them politely.

Charlie seems to be spellbound by having both alphas in front of her, greeting them nervously.

"You must be Dante's and Ella's niece," Alpha Elden says with a smile. "Finally, we meet."

"Thank you," Charlie stutters. "I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to…" She pauses. "Felix and Dario…"

"Them getting hurt is not your fault, Charlie," Liam says.

"But they saved me."

I can see a hint of pride in Elden's eyes, shining through his worry. "Their alpha blood showed," he says.

"We heard about what happened from Dario," Liam says. "But once you are prepared, we hope you will fill us in on the gaps. Due to the shock, Dario can't recall all the guards."

"Of course!" Charlie exclaims, sounding relieved she can be helpful. "I remember them all! I made sure to remember them so that one day I could return and smack their brains out of their heads."

Elden chuckles softly. "Good to know you have so much fighting spirit."

Their kind response to her makes Charlie loosen up and relax. I decide to let her have this conversation instead of butting in. "Are… are the boys okay?"

"That's not so simple to answer," Liam says honestly.

Elden turns towards the surgeon. "The doctor was about to explain the aftermath to us. He just checked on Felix."

Charlie takes my hand, holding onto it while she listens to what the man has to say.

"Felix's spine was injured during the second stabbing. We had to perform surgery on his lumbar spine."

"What does that mean for now?" Elden wants to know.

"He almost got paralyzed," the doctor says. "Fortunately, he is a werewolf. The boy is approaching seventeen, so his wolf will wake up fully and help heal him. However, I would like to suggest mobilizing him already. It means a lengthy rehab, and he will need to learn certain things from step one again, like moving his legs, sitting… let alone walking."

Liam sighs. "So, it's that bad?"

"Unfortunately, yes," the doctor says. "He is young and agile, though, so I have faith the remobilization will be successful. It will take time and patience, though."

Elden nods. "We will certainly try it. Felix is a very active kid, and I don't want him to be forced to bed for months and wait for his wolf to wake up. I think he would rather want to work on walking again, although it might be painful, instead of waiting for his wolf to heal him."

"It will give him a goal too," Liam says.

"He wanted to go surfing next weekend," Charlie says quietly. "He told me about it. He also knew how to move down the waterfall without getting hurt."

Elden's eyes cloud over in sadness and regret. "Yes," he says. "I know."

"Don't underestimate him," Liam tells him. "He is a little fighter. He will not just give up."

"You are right," Elden says. "But we'll need to set him and Dario up with a therapist."

"I wanted to suggest that too," the doctor says, glancing at Charlie. "For all kids involved."

Charlie doesn't look too excited but doesn't argue either.

"Mom talked to me earlier," Liam says to Elden. "Aurelia called her and said she would return ASAP. Also, it seems her mate is coming with her. She says they are ready to help with the pack, so you can focus on the boys."

Elden nods. "That's good. I can hand her over more tasks and—" He pauses. "Wait, what? Her mate is ready to join her? They've progressed that far already!?"

"Yes, didn't you know?"

"No, I did not know!" Elden says with emphasis.

"Oh, I must have forgotten to mention it," Liam says. If I didn't know him, I would have one hundred percent believed him to be sincere. But there is just the hint of a smirk around his lips.

Elden must have noticed it because his brow furrows. "You boys… impertinent brats," he mutters.

Charlie giggles. Having her alpha be called a brat must be hilarious to her.

"She wanted to tell you personally," Liam says with his poker face.

"Oh, I bet," Elden groans. Liam's strategy worked, though, because Elden is a bit more relaxed and less gloomy now.

"Is Dario doing well?" I ask them.

"He is alright," Elden explains. "He has a broken arm, a concussion, and quite some bruises. And some weird superficial stab wounds. He can't remember where he got them from."

"Do you think he's lying?" Liam wants to know. "And he just doesn't want to tell us."

"I think it's a possibility, but I don't want to force him to tell us."

"He is currently asleep," the doctor tells us. "I just checked on him."

"I would like to check on him too," Elden says.

The doctor nods, leading us through the corridor and towards a room. "Dario…" The doctor opens the door. "He is—"

"Not here," Liam finishes the sentence.

When I glance inside the room, I can see an empty bed. Dario is nowhere to be seen. The doctor seems to instantly be on alert, but to my surprise, it's Elden who remains calm this time. "Don't worry, I know where he is."

Elden and Liam lead us towards the secluded segment of the hospital with the intensive care patients. One of the rooms is guarded, a heavy indication that Felix is in it. We don't go inside, but when I glance through the window, I can see Felix's pale frame, sleeping in his hospital bed, and his brother curled up on his other side. Flora is inside, carefully spreading a blanket over them.

I decide to give the family some privacy now. Charlie and I overstayed our welcome anyway, and my goal was only for Charlie to see that her friends were on the path to recovery.