Page 7 of A Second Chance for the Beta

Annie and Emmet exchange a gaze, both looking appalled. “I wasn’t aware of this,” Emmet breathes out.

“You said Candy was killed. We can only guess how old she was in this picture… As for the baby, I’d say it’s not even a couple of weeks old.”

Emmet takes the picture again and frowns. “The scar on her shoulder. She got it during a fight.” He seems to count in his head. “If this is truly her child, then it’s probably around thirteen or fourteen now, maybe a bit older.”

“It could be any child,” I hear myself say.

“But you think it isn’t?” Annie prompts me.

“A feeling,” I admit. “Why would she send a picture to our dad with her and Charlie if it’s just any baby?”

“Then we need to research it,” Annie says.

“What?” My eyes widen. “Do you mean it?”

“Absolutely. This is your family, Ella. Do all you need to do!” Annie’s brilliant mind kicks in again. “Emmet saved the birth certificates of your parents for you; maybe he has Candy’s somewhere too. It should help you to prove that you are related.”

Emmet meanwhile goes further through the box, his expression one of shock as he brings forward a few more pictures. “I didn’t know Candy had a child… Why didn’t Deacon tell me about his grandchild? I would have tried to find the boy.”

“This is just a guess,” Annie says while inspecting the pictures. When I take them, I can see that it’s a few of Candy and Charlie, one of them in a hospital bed, probably after she gave birth. My heart squeezes. He is out there, my nephew. I just know it. “But going by the writing, the pen she used, the size of the pictures…” Annie analyzes. “She could have sent them in the same envelope on the same day. And maybe Ella’s dad didn’t have the time anymore to tell you, Emmet.”

“You are probably right, Luna,” Emmet says quietly. “It didn’t even cross my mind that Candy might have had a child. When I retrieved everything from Deacon’s place, I put everything in the boxes and never opened them again. They were Ella’s belongings, and I didn’t want to inquire further, and I also couldn’t bring myself to face the past.”

“Something we both share,” I mutter. “Is this the reason you never told me about Candy?”

He nods, sadness and guilt flashing in his eyes. “I didn’t mean to lie to you, Ella. Truth is… I pushed it out of my mind, almost like it didn’t exist anymore. I remember when I saw her dead body. I was terrified the same fate would befall you.”

“So, she was on the run,” Annie mutters. “Do you know why?”

“No,” Emmet says. He pauses. “Do you think Charlie is still out there somewhere?”.

“We have no reason not to believe that,” I say. I’m terrified to find out he is dead, but I want to cling to this hope, and I certainly want to try to find him before making assumptions. “But where to start searching?” I frown. “I guess I could try to track where Candy went when she fled from here before Alpha Marcus found her and killed her.”

“That’s a good start. We have a few good trackers. Also, we could ask friends from the Council to help you.” Annie takes the photo from me and looks at it thoughtfully. “This was made in Florence,” she says before looking at another one. “And this… in Vienna maybe… No, it’s Vienna for sure; there is the cathedral in the background. They were on the run.”

My heart skips a beat, and I thank the goddess for Annie having been to the Lycan Council in Europe and learning more about the European werewolf packs. “Maybe she tried to find a safe place for her child.”

“That’s a good thought,” Annie says. “I know if I were on the run, knowing someone was out there to kill me, then I’d make sure that at least my babies were safe.”

I gaze at the pictures of my half-sister and her child, feeling how my breath hitches. It’s just so overwhelming… Fuck… I never really met my parents, and then I find out I had a sister, just to realize she died before I could meet her. And now there might or might not be a child still alive…

Please let Charlie still be alive. Goddess, don’t make me look for my nephew just to realize he was killed too.

It becomes incredibly difficult to breathe as my thoughts spiral downwards. Annie takes my hand, but she is barely able to ground me.

*DANTE*

Our meeting was shorter than expected, which was due to Liam cutting it short, claiming he had another one to attend and couldn’t stay for lunch. Back in the car, our driver, Emerson—a mutual friend of Liam and me—sets off instantly without asking too many questions.

“You look kind of dead, Alpha,” I comment.

“I certainly feel dead,” he grunts. “The girls were up almost the whole night.” He turns to look at Emerson. “How were you able to keep up with yours?”

“Fleur was a bit fussy too,” Emerson explains. “But it helped that it was just one, Alpha; you have two at the same age.” He pauses. “But when we adopted Emily, there were some issues with Emi being a bit jealous.”

“I guess everyone has their own problems,” Liam concludes. He turns to look at me. “Did we cover everything today during the meeting?”

“Yes, we should be fine,” I say, going through our folder once more. “We are not going to benefit from the alliance much now, but at a later point it should be beneficial, just like we discussed beforehand.”