9. Charlie

Istare at the man in front of me. He has sun-kissed skin, black hair, and brown eyes, and he is clearly human. "Who are you?" I mutter.

The man tosses a gaze towards Gerard, and when Gerard nods encouragingly, he gets up and carefully stretches his hand out towards me. "I'm Lorenzo," he says. He speaks English well, but he is carrying an accent.

"Ella," I say. "Ella Messina-Hargrove."

"Hargrove?" Lorenzo stares at me. "So, it's true!"

"Who were you to Candy?" I ask.

"Candance… I barely knew her," he says while we sit down. "But I know who she was, and well, I knew your dad. He was a really good friend. I'm mated to a wolf, you know? Your dad saved my life once, and we became really good friends. Then one day he contacted me and said he was in danger and couldn't look out for his oldest pregnant daughter."

"And he asked you to help him?" Dante asks.

Lorenzo nods. "He set me up with the alpha of a pack in Tuscany, and we worked together. He and I both owed a lot to your dad. Besides, no one knew of our friendship. I am just a measly human after all, right?" he says with a smirk curling his lips. "That pack in Tuscany was a small one, perfect to act secretly and fly under the radar, but we both decided that Candance wouldn't be safe there. If someone were to track her, they would find her and her child."

"So, they brought her and Charlie to London," Gerard explains.

"We pretended Charlie was human," Lorenzo admits. "And didn't tell any of the UK packs that there is an underage werewolf here, aside from the alpha of my own pack. A very capable and good man, if I may add. He must be because he accepted me as a human in his pack."

"Charlie is a rogue," I mutter, my heart clenching. Our stories might not be the same, but they have some similarities.

"At the time it was the only thing we could do," Lorenzo says sadly. "We never got to know what happened, just that one day your father stopped calling. Candance got nervous and went back to Tuscany. She never returned."

"She—" I feel my body tensing up, my fingers clenching into the fabric of my pants. "They found her. She didn't make it. I'm so sorry, Lorenzo."

Tears fill his eyes. "Deep down, I knew that. Before she left, she asked us to do everything to keep Charlie safe."

"You never made Charlie part of a pack to ensure the child wouldn't be found."

"The kid's supposed to be safe," Lorenzo explains. "In a pack someone might have caught on and blabbed. It was safer with the humans. But my mate, my alpha, and I were aware that we couldn't keep going for much longer. Once Charlie's wolf spirit would have woken up, we would have needed to handle it somehow. It's not good to be without a pack for so long."

Charlie has been without a pack for many years, I realize. Fuck, I know it was to keep him safe, but still, this has probably put a toll on his mind already. Yet I'm glad Lorenzo did everything to keep him safe.

"Were you in on it?" Dante asks Gerard.

The elder shakes his head. "Had I known, I would have made sure to contact you months ago already."

"News travels slowly sometimes," Lorenzo admits. "And we only recently heard that there were massive changes in some packs in the US, your pack being one of them."

"That's true," Dante reassures him. "The old alpha and his men were killed, and we have a great new leadership. Justice was brought to everyone, including Ella," he explains. I let him do the talking, letting him explain what happened, all the details, while my thoughts run wild.

There is a feeling, and I've had it since we arrived here. It's like something keeps pulling me out of this room. I felt it already when Dante and I waited for Gerard in front of the building and watched the kids, and I feel it again now.

I let my thoughts move back to that moment in front of the building.

They were playing basketball.

My heart skips a beat while Nefeli goes still momentarily. I've blended out everyone around me and find myself getting up and hurrying to the door. Ripping it open, I find a young man standing there and a girl with purple hair next to him.

"I'm sorry," the girl mutters. "It wasn't me who took the wallet, though. It was—"

"Charlie!?" I breathe out.

"Yes," she blinks in confusion. "How do you know my name?"

I clasp my hand over my mouth, tears stinging in my eyes. I can feel it so clearly, the bond to her. Her wolf is still dormant because she is so young, but her wolf is there. I don't have a nephew. I have a niece!

Charlie peeks into the room, eyeing everyone curiously. "Lorenzo?"

"Charlotte," Lorenzo smiles as he gets up. "It's good that you are here. I want you to meet someone."

I knew it was stupid the moment Sally decided to do it. The man looked like good money, and Sally and her gang are pros at stealing from them. I normally stay away from them; they suck and are bullies.

But something drew me to the woman and the man. The woman in particular feels so familiar, and I don't even know why. I've always felt so different; it's like a voice whispers to me sometimes. The voice is here now, silently pushing me to… her.

I'm sure I'll be in trouble when I'm dragged towards the meeting room. As usual, Sally blamed it all on me, and as usual, no one believed me. Now I'll have to face that serious-looking tall man and the mysterious woman.

It's when I'm right in front of the door that she runs outside. She is in a talk with Lorenzo, the one person around here who doesn't suck, but I'm not seeing him a lot as he works somewhere else.

"Charlie," she blurts out, repeating my name over and over again.

Who the fuck is she?

And how does she know me?

"You're a girl," the woman says, smiling at me through her tears.

I grunt in annoyance. "Yeah, isn't it obvious?"

The supervisor glares at me, but the woman just smiles. "I was searching for a boy named Charlie," she admits. "I'm Ella, by the way."

Ella reaches out her hand. Out of a reflex, I take it to return the gesture. It's warm, and something keeps tugging me towards her. I've felt so empty recently, more and more each day, but her presence seems to fill me up. Although this makes me sound like a nutcase.

Damn, I already am a nutcase, so who the fuck cares? I tend to dream shit that feels way too real, and when I told the counselor here about it, they wanted to get me mentally checked.

"Who are you?" I ask once again, curiosity winning over.

"It's a bit difficult to explain," Ella says. "Would you come in and talk to us?"

I nod tentatively while stepping inside the meeting room. My gaze meets the tall, muscular guy who puts his hand on Ella's shoulder. Fuck, right, the dude Sally took the wallet from.

"It was Sally," I blurt out. "I swear it wasn't me."

Ella blinks. "What do you mean, Charlie?"

It's weird; no one calls me Charlie, but it sounds oddly familiar and comforting when she says it.

"The wallet. I'm sorry, I—"

"It doesn't matter," the man reassures me, making me blink. The supervisor hands it back to him, looking annoyed. I bet he will chew my ear off later for not admitting to what I did. Doesn't matter that it wasn't me. To them, Charlotte sucks so much, she is always at fault. "I'm Dante," the man introduces himself. "Ella's m…an."

I stare at the two of them, my curiosity growing bigger and bigger. "You searched for me?" I ask. No one has ever even called or looked for me. Some of the kids here are only staying temporarily; some still get calls from their distant relatives, but no one ever looks at me. No one wanted to foster me either, at least not for long.

"Yes," Ella says, looking genuinely happy. "And we are so happy we found you." She takes a deep breath. "Alright, do you want to be smoothed into it, or do you prefer the brutal truth?"

"Brutal truth!" I exclaim. I hate people beating around the bush.

Ella nods and then begins to tell me about my mom. How they were half-sisters but never knew each other. Ella only found out I existed recently. She seems to be leaving out some parts, but I get the overall image, and oh my fuck… WHAT!?

"You…" I jump up. "Wait, you're my fucking aunt!?"

"Charlotte," Lorenzo groans, looking slightly flustered.

Ella doesn't seem to mind, though. "Yes, I guess I'm your aunt."

My mouth drops open. I have family! Blood-related family and they came to meet me? Wait, what if they are traffickers and want to take me away from here to sell me off to a creepy prince? To become his child bride.

As if she reads my mind, she shows me her birth certificate, and my mom's, plus all the documents she could find about my mom giving birth. Granted they have been altered, it seems, and hid a lot of information like my gender or my whereabouts. I wonder who did it? Lorenzo maybe. "Why did you only come now?" I mutter.

"I'm so sorry," Ella says quietly. "I've only learned about you last week."

"Wait, you pulled this off in a week?" the man next to Lorenzo, an older guy, asks in shock.

"Once I knew I had family out there, I knew I needed to do everything to find you," Ella tells me.

"This is the biggest mindfuck ever," I mutter.

Usually adults tend to get annoyed at my piss-poor language, but Ella doesn't seem to care. Part of me wants to turn around and run, just leave, but there is something so strong pulling me to her, and it makes my fears and doubts dim. "And now?" I ask nervously. "You have seen me. Are you leaving again?"

"No way," Ella blurts out. "Right, D?"

Dante nods, smiling at me. He doesn't seem to talk a lot, and he looks serious as fuck, but also kind. "We are not going anywhere without you."

"If you say anywhere, does this mean we are going somewhere?" I ask.

"Do you want to leave?" Ella asks. "I'm not going to lie, Dante and I would love it if you joined us and came with us. But we want to do it at your pace."

"I can leave this place!?" I blurt out.

"Do you hate it that much?" Lorenzo asks sadly.

"That's not it," I mutter. "I just don't feel like I belong." I turn to look at Ella. "Ella, you seem cool, so before I get my hopes up, I need to tell you I have a medical record."

"A medical record?" Dante asks, sounding surprised. A bit too surprised. Is it that unusual for a kid to have a medical record?

"Mental illness," I say. Let's rip the band-aid off immediately so my cool aunt and her nice husband can say they don't want me and leave me behind like everyone does.

"What do you mean?" Ella asks softly.

"I hallucinate sometimes," I tell her. "They think it might be schizophrenia. I see things."

Dante tosses Lorenzo a gaze, and he looks angry. "I didn't know that," Lorenzo says. "I promise, Bet… Mr. Dante… Messina-Hargrove. It's the first time I heard about it or I would have intervened."

Wow, Lorenzo sounds like he is about to turn into a bag of panic-induced sweat. Seems like the mental issues with me are really going to be a problem. To my surprise, Dante turns to look at me, and he doesn't look angry at all anymore. "Do you dream of wolves?" he asks.

"How the fuck do you know!?" I blurt out. "Did you spy on me? Oh my god, this is all a trick, isn't it? I'm going into the mental ward."

Dante raises his brows, but Ella nudges him, and he doesn't say anymore.

"What do you dream of?" she asks.

"Wolves…" I grumble. "I tend to dream of being chased and running, and then I turn into a huge wolf. It's always the same fucking dream. But it's not the only thing. I once saw a person… a real one… turn into a wolf, and someone whispers in my head."

I expect Ella and Dante to turn on their heels, grab me, and take me to a mental institution; instead they remain completely unfazed.

"When did it start, child?" the old geezer next to Ella and her dude asks. "Your dreams, and you seeing someone shift?"

"I… what…" I blink, not able to grasp that they are taking me seriously. "I have always had these dreams. And the guy who turned into a wolf—that was two years ago."

"That must have been so scary," Ella says sadly. "I'm so sorry you were alone through it all."

"Wait…what… are you saying this really happened? Are you making fun of me?" I stutter. "Because if yes, that's just truly fucked up."

"The brutal truth?" Ella asks.

"Yes! How often do I need to repeat myself, woman?" I huff.

Dante looks something between worried and slightly pissed, but he doesn't say anything. He just shakes his head. "Of course you think this is all crazy," he finally says. "Anyone in your position would."

"The brutal truth," Ella says before she starts taking off her clothes.

Why the fuck is she undressing? To make matters even weirder, none of the other three in the room seem particularly shocked. Lorenzo turns his gaze away, but other than that, there is zero awkwardness. I see some scars on Ella's body, making me wonder where she got them from. She said I'm her only family left… who knows—

I can hear bones cracking.

"What!?" I blurt out, clasping my hand over my mouth before I can scream. Either way, I'm going completely crazy now, or my aunt just turned into a fucking wolf!