Page 144 of A Second Chance for the Beta

“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.