"Tina, Charlie may not be insulted by your question, but I am on his behalf. You know why your son's birth date was ironic to my mate? Let me tell you. Not only has he lived his life in prison with a large group of others like him, before yesterday, he didn't have a name. They were numbered, whether by birthday or the order they were taken, I couldn't say. I'm guessing it was the latter, but whatever, doesn't matter. The point is Charlie named himself yesterday after his favorite author. An author, might I add, from the limited amount of approved reading material his captors permitted."
Their eyes widened, but I wasn't done yet. "Think about it. A simple blood test will solve this mystery, but there's an easier answer. Shift. Your wolf will know its own pup by scent, just as it does at birth. Understand me, though. Whether or not his original identity can be proven, Charlie has been through enough at the hands of those monsters without being asked to defend himself or provide any kind of answers to anybody."
"Alpha, please accept our apologies. Especially if you felt your mate was offended, whether or not he turns out to be our son. Tina and I are fated mates. I understand the connection you already share and the need to protect him." Dave's sincere tone went a long way toward calming me.
"Thank you, Dave. You'll forgive me if my wolf is a bit on edge. Not only are we newly mated, but we met when I saw what I thought was a stray dog on the side of the road Saturday night. Turned out it was a wolf, and you can see how the story ended. But it was scary, and he nearly died right as I found him. Never having had any blood relations of my own, I can't imagine the pain of losing, or thinking you lost, a child. And having a doppelganger of what your lost child might look like at this age turn up? I know that’s damn shocking. However, it seems to me if you possibly found something you’d thought was lost, maybe it'd be better to spend your day celebrating his return than mourning for another second."
Tina seemed nervously hopeful, while Dave lifted a hand to his collar as if he were ready to strip on the spot and shift. Before he could go any further, I held up a hand.
"Before y'all start sniffing each other, I want to tell you one more thing and ask a question of Ford." Their son glanced up at the sound of his name, eager to help any way he could. "Ford, Charlie was able to escape his captors thanks to the help of a wolf named Alex. His friend told him you were buds, to come here and search for you if they were separated. Do you know who I'm talking about and, if so, where he lives?"
Ford did a double take. "Alex? Yeah, I've been hunting for him all weekend. He was supposed to show up at our pack run and said he was bringing a friend. His dad owns a bunch of property on the east side of 58, in those hills just outside of our mountains as you head toward Bakersfield. I've never actually been there, but I have a pretty good idea where it is. His dad is a control freak and won't let anyone on the property."
Bingo. Now we were getting somewhere. "And how did you meet Alex, if I might ask?"
"Xbox. We'd been playing together for a while before we figured out how close we were to each other. I don't remember how—it was one of those random conversations. Anyway, we met in town and hung out a few times. Not often because his dad keeps him on a short leash, and he's been saving up to get out of there."
"Can you sit down with Raul and find the place on Google Earth, do you think? If we can triangulate the location and get a look at the property, it'll be a big help." Glancing at Dave, I offered him an olive branch. "You want in? My buddies are coming to help me rescue eleven other omegas who were being held along with Charlie. I was already planning to ask the pack for volunteers since our Delta squad isn't ready for solo missions yet. We don't know what we're walking into, so every able-bodied man is welcome. We don't know his name, but I imagine you'll recognize the same man you knew as Dr. J. And if not, I'll be happy to let him live long enough to tell you anything he might know. But after, we're getting the innocents out of there and taking down anyone responsible."
Dave's eyes glittered with a quiet fury. "You can count me in, Alpha. If the man is there who stole my son, I want to help take him out. But even more, I would like to help save those other omegas. Obviously, their existence will need to be kept quiet so we don't have people trying to steal them all over again."
Smiling, I nodded as if deep in thought while I reached out to Charlie. "What do you think? You want to shift and see if they smell like family to you? Or would you rather wait and get to know them better?"
"No, it's okay. I think I'd rather get it over with, but thanks for asking. I'm not mad at Tina for guarding her heart and not immediately jumping to the obvious conclusion. I think we know I'm the one who would've been named Jamison. Probably still could be, but Eli was right. I do look like a Charlie. Is it weird I'm happy to know where I came from and see my family, but I don't feel anything for them yet? I mean, nothing more than any other nice people I would meet. I'm sure my emotions will change, but at the moment, I just want to see my new home and take a nap with you. My head hurts after the emotional roller coaster I've been on the past few days. I'm sorry if I sound like a jerk."
"Not at all, beauty. You sound overwhelmed and in need of a break. So how about we get this sniff-and-show out of the way so we can get you one?"
Charlie kissed my cheek before standing and smiling politely. "I know it's probably weird for a shifter to be shy about nudity, but I was trained to wear a robe up until the moment of shifting and drape it over myself before shifting back. Keeping us chaste was one of our rules and probably why we had private rooms with strict warnings about never having anyone in to visit. Although, since our rooms were basically converted stalls inside an old barn, there really wasn't room to hang out anyway. Sorry, I chatter when I get nervous. My point is, I'm going to slip somewhere private to shift. I'll meet you back here in a few minutes."
Essie stood, opening the door to the house and beckoning for Charlie to join her. "Don't worry, sweetheart. We understand. And never apologize for modesty. I've shifted in front of people my whole life, and I still don't like it."
While they disappeared inside, I had a quick word with Dave and Tina. "I think we all know Charlie is going to be your lost son. I'm excited for your family to be reunited and to put right to such a horrible wrong. But if I can ask a difficult favor—give Charlie time to get to know you. He's had a hard life and an even harder time the past forty-eight hours. It might not be obvious, but he's exhausted, and I'm worried about him getting overcome. Especially when I don’t have a choice about bringing him along tonight. He's determined, and I won't deny he deserves to be there."
"We understand, Alpha. And I appreciate your protectiveness when it comes to my son." Dave smiled, holding a hand out to shake. Right then, I knew things would work out. It might take time, but it would happen.
Seven
Charlie
Meeting my birth family as a wolf had gone so much more smoothly. We probably should've started out shifted. After my mother hugged me about a million times and even my father was crying, Lucian quietly suggested we take a break to rest and process, then meet here for dinner around five, which was a relief. It was probably ruder than anything, but I'd been too worn out. My birth brothers stayed to help Raul search for Alex's home, while Lucian took me to a beautiful bedroom where I'd finally been able to rest my aching head