8. Secret Helpers

I'm starting to get increasingly worried. I know Ella doesn't like me to be patronizing, but I just can't get out of my skin. Ever since we heard about the possibility of Ella's nephew being alive and in Europe, Ella hasn't had a minute of rest.

She hasn't had these nightmares for a long while.

We need to trust our mate, Sylvan reasons. This is her family. Remember how we felt when Dad died and Mom left us. We at least had our friends, our pack. She had nothing, and yet she is so strong.

You aren't wrong, I admit, feeling a bit ashamed by my trail of thoughts. I'm just worried.

We are here with her, he reassures me. We will find her nephew and get him back safely, and then we will find these wolves that are hunting us right now.

He is right; we should definitely find out who they are. It's very worrying that they tracked us down, and I wonder how they did it. How did they know we were at the airport and that we would land here? Are they after Ella and me, or are they looking for Charlie as well?

We really need to find the pup before someone else might get to him and hurt him. My heart clenches at the thought of something happening to him. Technically, he is Ella's nephew and not mine, but if he is her family, he is mine too.

"Did my anxiety rub off on you?" Ella pulls me out of my thoughts. We are currently in a taxi that takes us from the hotel to our meeting.

I can't help but chuckle. "You know me well."

"We are quite the pair," she snorts.

"I'm just worried," I admit.

She sighs, clearly understanding that it's her I'm worried about. I'm scared she might be fed up with me, but to my surprise, she nudges me with her elbow. "I love you, despite you constantly worrying about me."

I reach out my hand, letting my fingers glide through her hair. She wears it short, and I love it. She looks like a fairy that way, a tough one. Before I can pull my hand away, she kisses the palm of it and takes it into hers.

"Any hints of someone creeping around?" I ask Ella when we exit our cab.

She furrows her brows, checking her surroundings. "No, I don't think so, but we can never be certain."

"It's very unsettling that someone is following us. And we don't even know who they are or what they want," I point out.

"Do you think they could be after Charlie?" Ella asks.

"But why?" I point out. "Charlie is fifteen now from what we researched. Why would they be after him now of all times?"

"Maybe for the same reason we are," Ella points out. "It took me quite some years to find out I have a living family. I just don't know why else they would be following us. We aren't particularly difficult to track. If someone wanted to find you or me, they would be able to do so easily."

"That's true. Especially for werewolves. It's not like we are living a hidden, secretive life."

Ella looks like she has more to say, but we find ourselves stepping through the doors of the charity organization Prince Eric sent us to, and both decide to shut up. To our surprise a young man at the counter indeed expects us.

"Ella Messina-Hargrove?" he asks tentatively and addresses Ella directly. He peeks at his tablet a few times. "Can you show us your papers?"

"Of course." Ella takes her passport and hands it to him, and he nods in relief.

"And this is—" He looks at me.

"Dante Messina-Hargrove," I introduce myself. "I'm Ella's husband."

When we married, we decided to keep both our names. We both liked the way they sound together.

The man checks our documents and then types something on his tablet. "Please follow me," he says in a low voice. Ella and I nod and trail behind him. He leads us to the garage, where an older man is waiting for us. He is clearly a wolf; I can easily take up his scent, but he doesn't seem to be hostile.

"Thank you, Kurt," he says to the young man before gesturing for him to leave. "I'm Gerard," he says, lowering his tone. "Eric is an old friend and vouched for you."

"You are a member of the Council?" I ask.

He nods. "There is a lycan pack in Cambridge," he explains. "I'm an elder there." He pauses. "But we are not here to exchange pleasantries. I know you have no reason to trust me just like that, but please join me for a drive."

Ella and I exchange a gaze. I don't need to mind link her to know what she is thinking. It's a well-placed risk we have to take. We are both strong, and I doubt anyone noticed yet that I am a lycan. If shit goes down, we'll have that surprise to our advantage.

"We are ready to come with you," Ella says.

Gerard nods in relief before unlocking his car. I let Ella have the front seat, and once inside, Gerard immediately starts his car and takes off. It's the right time to ask another pressing question. Before I can do so, though, Ella beats me to it. "Did you have us watched when we arrived?" she asks, not beating around the bush.

Diplomacy has never been your forte, I snort through the mind link, unable to hide my amusement. I love how straightforward she is.

Ella's lips tug into a smirk.

"You were followed?" Gerard asks.

"By your surprise, we assume it wasn't your men?" I push.

Gerard shakes his head. "I didn't have you followed; I just expected you."

"I doubt Eric had us followed either," Ella says.

I furrow my brows. This is indeed a bit worrying. If it wasn't Gerard or anyone from the Council tailing us, who was it? I check my phone to see if I have already gotten a reply from the Council concerning the pictures we sent them, but there isn't one yet.

We can't help it now, so instead, Ella and I keep the conversation running with Gerard. He talks to us about how he met Eric during a meeting in Rome a few years ago, explaining to us how Eric's extra attitude was controversial at first, but soon he rose through the political ranks due to his cunning and intelligent nature.

Eric's a good guy. He genuinely cares for his family and friends, and he is incredibly smart. He has this juvenile, slightly silly attitude, which makes his opponents underestimate him, something he always uses to his advantage.

There is a lot of traffic at the moment, so our drive takes us over two hours until Gerard reaches Cambridge. We drive through some suburban areas and pass a few parks until he halts in front of a simple-looking building. "That's where the offices are for the SOS Children's Village here," he tells us. "You can get out if you want. I will just park the car."

Ella and I happily take him up on his offer, exiting the car and stretching our tired limbs. "It's a beautiful area," Ella mutters. "Do you think Charlie is here?"

"I'm not sure, but I think Gerard knows a lot more, or he wouldn't have driven us for more than two hours," I say, looking around curiously. A bunch of children are currently playing football, while some teen girls keep playing basketball next to us. I'm not sure if they are orphans or if this is just a club. My heart aches painfully while I watch them. If my baby girl had lived to see the light, she would be a similar age to the football-playing kids now. I wonder if she'd like sports too or maybe have different interests.

I failed her. She wasn't even born yet, and I already failed to save her.

I can feel Ella's hand wrapping around mine, giving me a gentle squeeze. I close my eyes, trying to focus on my breathing and how it feels to hold her hand. The overflowing sadness I felt dulls down a bit and instead I feel frustrated. I'm still carrying these wounds with me. I should do better for Ella instead of being such a mess.

She keeps telling me that she understands and that I should heal at my own pace, but I don't want her to have to deal with my demons constantly.

"Oh no, the ball!"

I blink, noticing how the basketball rolls towards me. Before I can pick it up, one of the girls rushes towards me and accidentally bumps into me. "Sorry, sir," she blurts out.

I pick up the ball for her and smile, handing it back to her. "Don't worry, nothing happened."

She smiles. "Thanks." With the basketball in her hands, she waves at the group of girls, and they disappear around the corner, probably not to disturb us anymore.

"Here is Gerard," Ella points out and gestures down the road.

Gerard indeed hurries towards us, smiling apologetically. "I apologize. I had to search all my pockets for cash to pay for the parking ticket."

"Why didn't you say anything?" I ask, angling for my wallet. "I could have—"

I frown.

Ella looks at me appalled. "What's wrong?"

"Where is my wallet?"

"Maybe you forgot it in my car?" Gerard asks.

That's a possibility. We still seem to have some time before our meeting—whoever it is we're meeting—so Gerard takes us back to his car to let me retrieve my wallet. But it isn't there. I frown in confusion, feeling slight annoyance filling me. I know I had it with me when I got into his car because at one point I handed Ella one of our credit cards to hold on to.

"It has to be somewhere." I frown.

"Lost it on the way?" Gerard offers.

"No," Ella says all of a sudden, her tone fed up with annoyance. "The girls."

"What?" I look at her, surprised. "You mean the ones that were playing basketball?"

Ella groans. "I can't believe it. It was probably a trick." There is more in her tone, though, something she isn't telling me, and I wonder what it is. I look at her curiously, but she seems to be linking with her wolf, a clear sign that she is going through something with her and needs to sort her feelings first.

"Some kids stole it?" Gerard sighs. "Alright, at least we know where to retrieve the wallet from. I will call one of the supervisors here to make sure to get to the girls. Just remember, we are in human territory here."

I can't believe it. You could have told me that someone's stealing our wallet, I point out to my wolf.

I didn't notice, he mutters. It's embarrassing, but damn, this girl was a pro.

Awesome, being robbed by a teen!

Ella chuckles and takes my hand. "At least we know who took it," she says, gesturing towards Gerard, who is currently talking to someone on the phone.

"Don't worry," Gerard reassures us. "One of the supervisors is already talking to the girls. They have retrieved your wallet. Meanwhile, we can go and meet the person I want you to meet."

I nod, feeling a bit relieved that at least my failure in protecting my money wasn't too grave and I will get my money and cards back. Ella and I follow Gerard into the building and to a small meeting room. It's warm and comfortable inside.

When we enter the meeting room, my eyes fall on the face of a man of middle age. Next to me, Ella gapes, and I wonder what got her so shocked.

What's wrong? I ask her.

That's him, she links me. The man from the photo.

My gaze snaps back to the man in question, scanning him from head to toe. Ella is right; he looks like the man in the picture. She has always had a fantastic memory, especially for people and faces. I take a careful sniff, noticing that he is human. My curiosity grows. What does he have to do with Charlie, and who was he to Candy?