Charlie's POV

"Sam seemed really stress." I told Embry with a smile.

He nodded. "Probably just this afternoon."

We made it to the house easily. I unlocked the door, going upstairs to drop off my bag. He followed me up having a seat on the bed.

I turned, facing him, going between his knees and hugging him. "You seem off too today, you have been like this ever since this morning."

He shook for a second before looking at me. "I noticed you crying this morning when I brought up the letter from your mom."

I let go turning and walking away from him. He had brought everything back this morning mentioning the letter. I shut my eyes and taking some deep breaths. "I don't want to talk about that."

He just nodded. "Okay. So, we both have all of our schoolwork done, you had something in mind that you wanted to do this afternoon?"

I nodded. "I know your hearing is much better than mine. So, I wanted to have a look in Ryan's and Birkoff's offices. When I put the project in Ryan's office the other day, I found something that I recognized I think."

He looked at me for a few seconds. "You want to go snooping in their offices?"

I nodded. "Come on. They know something they have to know. If not about the parents we lost, then maybe about my real ones." I started down the stairs, we still had a good 2 hours before Ryan would be home from work. Though Michael and Nikita were going to be next door though they shouldn't be coming over.

Embry shook his head but followed me down to the office doors as I tested the knobs. Both unlocked, score one for me. "So, you want me just to listen for anything weird?"

I shook my head. "No, I want you to listen for a vehicle pulling into the house." I replied as I started looking through the pages on his desk again. After a few minutes of looking, I finally found the page I was looking for.

Embry glanced at the picture. "That looks like the tattoos we got only different."

I nodded to him. "It looks almost catlike where yours looks more like a dog. I don't know what it means but I am going to take a picture of it and see what we can find out."

He nodded. "Any idea where to look for that?"

I shook my head. "We can think on that later. Right now, I want to go up to my bedroom and enjoy some time with you."

He smiled. "You get the Gym homework done?"

I laughed for a second. "I did that at Sam's. The thing was too easy, I can't believe we are probably going to have people complaining about the homework we got from Michael."

He laughed. "Don't you mean Mr. Mears?"

I just shook my head remembering to close the door when we left the office. Just as we were about to go upstairs Embry stopped me. "Vehicle pulled in next door."

I just shrugged. "It is probably Michael coming home after picking up the friends that are staying with them. Nothing we need to worry about."

He smiled and led the way up to my room. He lay on the bed as I went over and turned on the movie we had been watching. The plan was to sit here and cuddle until it was dinner time. Homework and schoolwork were both done.

Owen's POV

It has been a long flight. Though I hadn't heard much from Ryan when we landed in Seattle I was wondering a bit about this kid that he wanted me to talk to.

"Ryan and Birkoff still at work?"

Michael nodded. "Think so. Though Charlie might be at the house right now. Birkoff said something to me about her having the afternoon off today with everything happening. I gave my class the period off but there was work they had to pick up at the office that I am expecting to be done by tomorrow so she might be at the house with Embry working on it."

Alex looked at me. "And why does he get to talk to her? I mean shouldn't we see the file and decide from there who would be best?"

I glanced over at her; she had been in a funny mood ever since I took the walk outside. Shaking my head at her. I wasn't going to try and argue about this right now. "We can look at the file. But Ryan has already asked me if I would, and I said yes to him."

At the houses everything was quiet.

"I guess they may have gone over to Sam's for the afternoon. That is possible the girl spends a lot of time over there."

Nikita was in the kitchen making dinner. "Sam came over with Leah this morning to discuss a few things that have been happening. John has managed to fail 3 history quizzes, and they have been seeing that his work isn't done. Leah suggested that until he passes it unless it is a big group dinner that until he has texted her that his work is done from the day that she doesn't come over."

Michael nodded. "Sounds good. Do we have to tell him about this or are they going to?"

She smiled. "Leah said she would explain it to him before he came home from school tonight. We also discussed the issues with the phones and him not speaking at dinner. Sam said he would have Emily go over the dinner time rules with him again and that they would be the same over here."

I looked between the two of them. "What is the deal with these two? Can we actually see the file that you have on them?"

Michael nodded gesturing me to follow him. "Why do you want to see it?" he asked when we got to the end of the hallway where his office was.

"Birkoff and Ryan, both asked me to talk to Charlie about what is going on in her life. They think that I can help her work through it."

He gave me a funny look but still handed the file over to me.

When his phone rang, he picked it up. "Yes, I made it home." He said with a laugh, before glancing at me for a second. "Yes, both of them are with me. Owen is just looking over the file right now." He nodded then hung up the phone. "That was Birkoff. He said that Charlie came to him with a request that we have the bar-b-que on Friday night instead of Sunday night."

I looked at him. "What is the difference between the two?"

He shrugged. "He said something about homework and Embry working can change for that night so she can still have Sunday with him."

I nodded. "Embry is the boyfriend?"

He smiled. "I'm not sure. The two of them are close but she is close to most of the guys in that group who are that age. I have all 3 in my gym class and they hang out together, though they are very serious if she is involved in getting homework done."

I laughed. "Birkoff's rules?"

Michael shook his head. "Actually no. From what I have heard she has been like this for just over 2 years now. Not sure what happened but school did say that all of the sudden one day her thing just went, and she started paying more attention and excelling in school."

I glanced at him. "Trauma cases usually aren't like that." I started thinking about different things. "She might be something else." I stood there for a few more seconds glancing over the file. "Birkoff on his way home now?"

He nodded. "Should be there in the next few minutes."

I nodded going back towards the kitchen. "Girls, I am going to go have dinner next door with Birkoff, Ryan and Charlie."

Alex glared at me for a second. Her and Nikita had been talking when I walked into the room, but I could probably guess what they were discussing. I wanted to give at least Ryan a heads up about the fact that Alex wanted to be the one to talk to Charlie.

When I got next door, Birkoff was just getting out of the car. "Hey." I waved to him with a smile.

He smiled back grabbing his bag from the car and walking to the door. "Charlie, lock the door when she got home?"

I shrugged. "Haven't tried it yet. I actually just read the file, but I wanted to let you know that Alex is bent on being the one to talk to Charlie about her situation."

He just shrugged. "I'm not sure who would be the better one. She hasn't said much about things and the pieces we have gotten about things have mostly been from Embry, Sam and Jake. Though she will open up to them and she has opened up to stuff about food which is great for us at least."

We went into the house to find Charlie and a guy who I assume was Embry in the kitchen making dinner for us.

She smiled as she looked up at me. "Oh, Birkoff." She greeted him with a smile. Her face was partially covered in flour and some of it was in the guy's hair. "We decided to make pizza for dinner. Emily had some of the supplies and we had the rest here."

I laughed. "Homemade crust too?"

The guy nodded. "Yep. You have a real chef here. I swear the girl loves to cook almost as much as she likes to eat."

Birkoff laughed for a second before putting his stuff down. "Homework all done?"

She coughed out a laugh of her own before pointing to her open book on the table. "I am working on the essay style question for psychology. I have some ideas written out right now Embry has been helping me with them."

Alex's POV

When Michael and Owen went towards his office I turned to Nikita. "You know I would be the better one to talk to Charlie."

She thought for a second before looking at me. "I haven't really gotten a chance to talk to her about anything really. I have only read the file on her."

"And …" I asked her.

She nodded. "And from what I read you might be the better one!" She held up her hand stopping me from talking though. "However, I am going to say you need to read the file before you do talk to her as well as you need to talk to nerd about it."

I nodded. "You know Owen's past better than I do. You have read the file. And you have at least met this girl. You could talk to nerd and Michael about me being the better chose to talk to her."

Nikita thought for a moment as she continued to cook dinner. Until Owen came out and told us that he was going to go next door to join Birkoff, Ryan and Charlie for dinner.

Michael came into the kitchen with a smile hugging Nikita. I shrunk back missing Sean there had been so much of a reminder of what I had lost.

I decided to pull them apart. "So, Michael, can I see the file on Charlie?"

He glanced at me then at Nikita. "I can go grab it for you, but I don't see why you would want to see it."

Huffing at him I turned a glare to him. "Nikita and I both think that I would be a better option to talk to Charlie about what she is going through."

He looked at me then to Nikita. "You both think that?"

She nodded. "Let her see the file please. Then I will explain why I think she is the better option to do this and see if you agree with my reasoning."

He nodded going towards the office and bringing back a file for me to read.

I opened it walking towards the living room and letting the two of them talk with each other and hopefully Nikita would be able to convince Michael that I was the better choice for this.

Michael's POV

After I handed Alex the file, she walked towards the living room leaving Nikita and I to talk. "You want it to be Alex who talks to Charlie?"

She nodded. "Yes. I think it would be good for both of them. It might help Alex heal a bit from Sean and her parents. She had been through what Charlie has been through and someone who would understand what it feels like."

I shook my head. "I don't exactly think it is a good idea for either of them." I scratched my head for a second. "Also, the bar-b-que is now happening tomorrow night. Birkoff called something about Charlie wanting it on Friday instead of Sunday."

Nikita put the spoon in her hand down turning off the stove. "You know everyone involved in this situation better than anyone one else here. Who do you honestly think is the best one to talk to Charlie about what is going on in her life and what has gone on."

I thought for a second. "Knowing what I do about everyone I don't know if there is a right answer to that question. I don't know if she really is going to talk to anyone about what has gone on in her life. Also, with the raw feelings Alex still has for Sean I don't think opening those again on her is a good idea."

She looked at me. "Sean was two years ago. I am sure she has dealt with those feelings by now."

I looked down at her. "Every time we have hugged around her; she says something to force us to separate from hugging. The wounds haven't healed yet. And I don't think it would be the best option we have. Owen at least has dealt with Emily and the whole Sam thing."

She thought for a second before returning her attention to the stove. She wasn't completely happy that I was not agreeing with her. Though Birkoff and I had decided that we were going to stay neutral on this issue as we both have to keep Charlie on even ground.

"I don't want to fight with you about this, but I also think that this decision should be up to Charlie to make. If she is more comfortable talking with Owen than let her do that. If she is more comfortable talking the Alex than they can. But I have a feeling if she is given the decision she might go more towards Owen."

"So, you have already made up your mind. You are going to push her towards Owen." Nikita accused me, as she started to plate dinner for the three of us. "You aren't planning on actually giving her the chance to get to know Alex."

I huffed. "We are having the bar-b-que tomorrow night. That will give Charlie a chance to get to know both of them. I know she is going to get to meet Owen tonight, but you can introduce her to Alex tomorrow night."

She nodded as she called Alex to the table for dinner.

Narrator's POV

Friday passed easily. Michael informed Jake about the bar-b-que happening that night as Embry was absent from class on patrol. Jake had promised that he would let Embry know and after stopping by Emily's place he would be over to see them.

Charlie was in fairly good spirits for most of the day, spending her afternoon in the library reading a book after gym class was done. Jake had joined her for a bit but when she started to tear up again he decided it was best just to walk away and go let Embry know about the bar-b-que happening that night and that he would come and take over patrol for him after having a bit of dinner.

Charlie's POV

When I got home on Friday night from school 99% of my homework was done. Embry and I were working on a project for English that we had started. The long essay assignment for Psychology was getting there as well, though the research needed time to breath, so I was letting it. It would be the perfect excuse to get me away from the bar-b-que that was happening tonight. I was glad that I would have that excuse. Although I had been told that Embry could come to the bar-b-que, he had swapped shifts at work with someone to get Sunday off and I don't know who he swapped with, though Jake had promised that he would go into work tonight so we could have a bit of time together.

I had gotten a chance to meet one of the friends last nights at dinner, Owen. He seemed to be pretty nice and really easy to talk to. He had spent the entire dinner joking around the same way that Embry and I had done with Birkoff. He even joined in on the gaming fun that we had after dinner teaming up with Birkoff and losing badly.

I pulled out my phone, texting Jake asking him when he was planning on swapping with Embry tonight at work. I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going happen. Owen had gotten a text last night and it was as if the entire mood had changed, even after he had shown Birkoff the text. Though it was at that point when they really began to lose the game.

Jake texted back: 'As soon as done dinner u just seen the guy 1 hour ago. Miss him already?'

I laughed for a second as Birkoff walked in the door.

"How is the homework coming?" he asked with a smile.

I just shrugged before thinking for a second. "English, we have the project started. The work for the week in history and psychology is done. Though I do have an assignment in psychology which I have started though the research needs some time to settle. The gym assignment has been handed in. There was nothing from your class. And Functions I got that done at lunch time. So pretty much done, at least good enough that Embry should be able to come over tonight for a bit to hang out if he can get part of his shift covered at work."

He nodded. "He was going to try and take tonight off. Did that not work?"

I shook my head. "It would seem that whoever originally had the shift doesn't want to take it back. So, Jake is going to swap with him for a bit tonight. Apparently, it is a shift with Quil, so Jake doesn't actually mind. Normally for something like this Sam may have swapped but he has been in a mood for the past day or so, so Embry didn't want to ask him."

I looked at my phone again realizing I hadn't texted Jake back. 'Um … what was that question again ;) text me when you head out to swap with him.' With that I shut my phone looking at Birkoff. He was just working away on his laptop.

"What time is this bar-b-que starting?"

He looked up as Ryan came through the door. "Probably in the next 20 minutes. Ryan is usually the last one home from the group so probably Mikey would be outside in the next few minutes starting the bar-b-que."

I nodded then started thinking. "What did you get me for dinner for tonight?"

He looked at Ryan for a second. "I know I talked to Mikey about you needing chicken or burger for tonight. Though as to what you are having, I'm not too sure, think it was Niki that was going shopping for dinner for tonight."

I smiled taking my school bag upstairs to my room. Up on my bed was something that I wasn't expecting to see. The last time I had been over at Embry's place he had a stuffed wolf on his bed, I had joked around about it being really cute. There was a note attached to it in his handwriting.

C, I seen you eyeing mine. So, I got you one of your own. In case I don't get there soon enough tonight you have this you can snuggle up with. Em

I hugged the wolf, and had it howl at me and start moving vibrating ever so gently almost like what he does in his sleep. This had me smiling and something deep inside me starting to stir almost a primal instinct that I needed to get to him.

I took a deep breath trying very hard to focus on the wolf in my arms. Giving into that instinct would not do me any favours right now. I gently put the wolf back onto my bed petting it between the ears, I would have to think about a name for it maybe I could do that during dinner tonight.

I washed my hands in the bathroom before heading back downstairs to join everyone outside. I wasn't one for social things and for the most part at least John and Leah knew me well enough to know that if I got too awkward, I would probably run for the house.

When I got outside, I looked around to see everyone was gathered towards the grill. Owen turned around to see me just standing there before waving me over. I tentatively walked towards the group of people standing by the grill. When I got there, we did full introductions. The girl Alex kept looking at me funny through dinner. I just chatted and talked to Michael, Owen and Birkoff through dinner then when the adults decided to get coffee out, I took that time to slip into the house explaining to Birkoff that my research should have had enough time to breath which should allow me a chance to work on that. I glanced down at my phone as I walked into the dining room.

Jake had texted saying that Emily was just grabbing him some dessert then he would be going out to find Embry he should be there within the next 2 hours. I just shook my head before having a seat at the table where I had my research sitting for my psychology paper. I figured it would be the easiest place to set it up for me to see everything that I was working on.

I sent a quick text to Embry explaining that I have retreated to the dining room to work on my psychology paper which was due at the end of the month. I knew he would not be able to answer me, usually his phone was at Sam's when he was working, and Emily would hear it go off and tell him when he landed there.

Just as I was starting to get everything back organized on the table Owen came into the kitchen with a smile.

"So, what happened last night with that text, I mean after you got that you started playing horribly in fact so did Birkoff."

He just shrugged. "A situation at the other house between Mikey and Niki. Mikey was just letting me know about it."

I smiled at him. "This is actually an essay that I am working on for psychology. It is due the first class of next month." I continued to focus on the que cards that I had on the table, moving them around as to which one needs to go where. Eventually I would just add a few words to the cards, and they would become my essay structure then it would be the opening and closing. Which should not be that much work once everything is laid out properly. The only issue is that I have found bullet points for both sides of the argument as I wasn't too sure which side I really wanted to go with.

"So, what is the essay about?" Owen asked with a smile looking at the cards on the table.

I laughed for a second. "The age-old argument of nature vs nurture. There really is no right answer to it which is what makes it harder to work on. Most of the arguments for psychology I am able to find one direct way it should go but with this one we have to choose one side or the other and it is just hard. So, I did a bunch of research and now I'm seeing which side I can make the better argument for whether I believe it or not."

He nodded then pulled out my sketch book that was sitting on my bag and started looking through the pictures that were in it. "No one said you were taking art class?"

I shrugged. "I'm not taking art. I just like to draw things and when I have so long in the library for two classes that we only have once a week it gives me way too much time on my hands, so I find it is better to draw than to deal with the thoughts going through my head."

Owen nodded focusing on the cards for more seconds. "Troubling thoughts?" he asked eventually.

This caught me off guard. "If I let my brain sit without focusing on something for too long bad things tend to happen." It wasn't a complete lie, more like a lie of omission. Basically, after one very weird day of me missing a counselling appointment the very thought of random thoughts seemed to spook my brain and forced me to either act on them or try so hard to push them away that it ended up exhausting me. I looked down at my hand for a second remembering the last time I had let my brain sit for too long.

Alex's POV

I had been trying to get to talk to Charlie all night. The girl wasn't that observant if she hadn't noticed that. Even John and Leah had comment about my staring at her in different ways, though Leah had commented that if I continued to do that, she would have to do something. There was something in her eyes when she said that though.

Shortly after that Charlie disappeared and when I noticed it, I went to Birkoff. All he did was laugh and explain that she probably went inside to call Embry to find out when he was going to be there. I nodded and went back to Nikki to continue my conversation with her.

She smiled. "Still trying to catch Charlie?"

I nodded back. "It is like she is completely avoiding me. The only people she is talking to out here is Owen, Birkoff and Michael."

Nikki nodded. "Well do you remember when you were her age?"

I nodded. "Yes, but my life was very different at that age."

She smiled. "Well, what did you like to talk about at that age, like the real girly things?"

I thought back. "Boys, I guess. For me it certainly wasn't school, and I wasn't just with one boy like both of these two are."

"Okay, maybe try to catch her when she is talking to Michael. You know him and she knows him he might be able to bridge the gap for you."

I just shrugged, glancing around again. "She vanished a while ago, Birkoff said she was probably trying to call Embry."

Nikita nodded. "He is a good friend of hers, possibly her boyfriend I am not too sure about that. Just give it a rest for a bit. Michael promised he would give you a chance to talk to her before you have to leave, that doesn't mean that it has to be tonight."

I started to walk for the house. "I'm going to go find the bathroom."

Ryan smiled at me. "Through the door and hang a left it will be the first door on the right." Before going back to his conversation with Leah about different issues going on in society right now.

I go inside but I can hear voices in the kitchen or dining room maybe. It sounded like a girl and Owen talking. Though what they were talking about was a school assignment. He was actually talking to her about things right now. Peaking around the corner he grabs another book off of the table near the cards looking at it. He had been there when Michael had said no talking to Charlie about things tonight, now he was breaking the rules we had set out.

I stayed there listening to her talk about the pictures and continue to work on the cards that were in front of her. They were for an essay that she was working on for class, Owen wouldn't be able to really help her with that, in fact the only two who might be able to would be Michael or Ryan as they were the only two to actually finish high school.

She was talking so easily to Owen about random things, this was not fair. They had been introduced last night to each other. He had a full meal start on me.

That is when the front door opened. I turned to see a guy a little taller than Leah with short black hair look right at. He was putting on a shirt as he walked in the door and yelled towards the kitchen.

"Charlie, I just got here. Sorry I forgot to text you." His eyes met mine as he seen where I was standing glancing into the kitchen before they turned angry.

Embry's POV

When Quil joined me that night on patrol, he was way too full of energy though that was good. I was glad that he hadn't changed even though everything with the love of my life was. We played at the beach for a while before he suggests that the two of us take a run by Charlie's just to see if we could catch a glimpse of her. Leah had said that Michael and Nikita were going to be putting in a pool this summer and that if they were already done it that Charlie might be in a bathing suit.

I had to laugh about this cause Charlie would not wear one, I knew that already. The girl just didn't like the water when it came to swimming, something about it immediately brought back issues with her parents and I had never pushed it.

When we got there, I could smell dinner on the grill, though sadly I could only smell steak. As everyone began eating, I could see her plate only had some veggies on it. 'Well shit.' I thought before I started heading back for Emily's place.

Quil followed but when we got there Jake was already outside on his way to the woods, which means that dinner here was more than likely done. I hoped Emily would have saved something I could take over for Charlie. I explained to Quil I needed a minute to talk to Jake why doesn't he go and see if he can get some dinner for them.

We both phased and I motioned for Jake to walk over towards me and towards the side of the house that didn't have any windows.

"What is going on Embry?"

I punched the side of the house lightly. "We went by the bar-b-que and whoever decided on dinner only cooked steak."

Jake looked at me. "What is wrong with steak?"

I glared at him; he was just as aware of Charlie's dislike for steak and other random things as I was. In a few seconds he just nodded. "She won't eat it, as you very well know. Does Emily have anything left that I might be able to bring for her to eat?"

He shrugged. "She might have a few things. I know there is some leftovers from lunch and breakfast in the fridge and probably a muffin that you could take to her."

I smiled and headed inside. "I'm going to make her a plate and then head over. I had a bit to eat before going out and a caught something before Quil came to join me."

He shivered at the thought. "Why do you have to do that? I know we are wolves, but they are some poor helpless animals out there that I am sure that Charlie would be piss at you for eating."

I laughed. "Nope, she loves her wolves. I snuck into her room at the house before coming and dropped her off a toy wolf as she was eyeing mine the last time she was in my room."

He laughed and followed me inside, he turned to Quil who was busy eating. "I'm going to head out and go for a run. Join me whenever you manage to finish."

He nodded and put another 2 spoonsful into his mouth before he was thanking Emily and running out the door.

I turned to Emily and took a seat beside her. "Any chance there is some stuff left over from lunch that I can take for Charlie to have as a snack tonight? I know she is going to need it for sure after what they made for dinner."

She gave me a puzzled look then made her way into the kitchen and came back out with a container that was compartments keeping everything separated. "That should be enough to cover her dinner."

I nodded grabbing a burger and taking off for her place. I was done eating it by the time I made it to the house. I put my ear to the door and listened. I could hear her talking to someone about the pictures in her sketch book, it made me smile that she was actually chatting about different things.

I glanced down at my phone seeing that she had texted me while I was still on patrol asking me to text her when I was on my way over. I just walked in figuring that she had probably taken over the dining room table again with her psychology research cards.

"Charlie, I just got here. Sorry I forgot to text you." I yelled walking in the door.

There was a girl standing at the door to the dining room just around the corner from view of the table really. Her eyes met mine and pure anger came out. The container of food that was in my hand went to the side table beside the door as my body shook and my wolf threatened to come out.

Charlie looked up seeing Alex standing there. Her eyes turn to an orange yellow shade as her temper is about to explode before she wipes a tear away that is on her cheek.

Michael and Birkoff come in seeing what is happening with Leah and John on their heels. My eyes meet Leah's for a split second, and she knew how close I was. This girl had been spying on Charlie as she was beginning to talk about life.

Charlie's POV

When I heard Embry yell from the front door I checked my phone. Silly guy probably went straight from work to here. I looked up to see Alex standing fully in the doorway for the dining room. I had been just talking to Owen, how long was she standing there.

I very slowly take a few breaths trying to calm myself down, but it wasn't really working. My mind started yelling at me to give into this anger, let it take over, become who I was meant to be. I wiped away the tear that had managed to fall between all of these things. I could feel the wetness on my cheek and for that one second it was enough to pull me back. I couldn't stay here though.

Leah was talking quietly on her phone before I made eye contact with Embry.

He nodded grabbing the container of food that was sitting there before walking out the front door. I went to follow him only to have Michael get in my way.

Leah stepped in placing her hand on Michael's using her pure force to make him let me go. I nodded a thanks to her before taking off out the door.