Kits POV

I jolted awake as my alarm on my phone went off and slowly let my eyes adjust to the sunlight pouring into my room. Reaching over to the nightstand, I hit the stop button and sat up after checking the time.

Three hours of sleep.

Three hours is the most amount of sleep I've gotten since Charlie left. I refused to believe this whole Rouge act because I knew Charlie. He wouldn't do that to everyone. Not with his mom pregnant. I sighed as I thought about his parents. The day they came back and told us that bullshit lie about where my mate went, his mom punched me in the face. And now, she and Noel won't even stand in the same room as me unless it's necessary.

But I could fix this.

I had to fix this.

I'd already banished Eli from the Pack, which was now coming to bite me back in the ass. But I wasn't going to stop there. Everyone was thinking that I was going out and drinking and having sex, but I wasn't. I was out with Hazel trying to find Charlie.

Because that fucking lie Bryce told everyone about him going Rouge was ridiculous and I was going to find my mate, tell him everything and bring him back where he belongs.

CHARLIES POV

Last night was amazing and I was feeling golden as I helped my uncle bake some of his pies. The bakery was running low and he had to replenish the stock, so of course as his apprentice I had to help. Not that I minded at all though, because I actually wanted to talk to him about Kit. My wolf may not want or remember him, but I still do. And it was taking all of my willpower not to say a big Fuck You to the Elders and run back to Emery.

I slid the tray into the oven and turned around to start garnishing the other pies. Glancing over, I could see my uncle making more dough for the pie crust. "Did Mom ever tell you about my mate?" I decided to ask and Uncle Bert looked up at me curiously.

"I don't think she had time to really go into depth about the situation." He said as he continued kneading the dough. I pursed my lip and nodded, trying to think of how to start this conversation. I can't just go right out and tell him everything because that's a lot of information to just throw on someone. Oh fuck this.

"I want your unbiased opinion about this, okay?" I told him and he gave me a nod to continue. "My mate Kit was a player in the past, and when we found out we were mates his wolf rejected me because I was weak. So, he kept messing around with people because when he rejected me, I just kinda left him alone and didn't want anything to do with him. But then we started to connect and I learned that he really loved me and it was his wolf, which was really confusing to me because I have never heard of a wolf having a problem with the mate. But anyway, I guess I did something that made his wolf see I was strong and capable of being his mate. So, we completed the mating ritual and all that, but I was always catching him with this one guy named Eli and then one day I saw them kiss and I lost it and beat the shit out of him. Then I went to the Elders, got my mark removed and now I'm here—still wanting nothing more than to run back to Emery and into Kits arms."

Uncle Bert was silent for a while and I felt like I had said way too much for him to gather, but when he nodded his head and stopped what he was doing, I figured he was just soaking in all the information.

"Charlie, I'm going to tell you something and what you do after I tell you this is one hundred percent up to you. The Goddess never makes mistakes in her pairings. There is always a reasoning behind why she pairs two people together. So for you to think that your mate is wrong for you is the greatest insult you could give to the Goddess. Which makes me wonder why exactly the Elders did help you remove your mark, but that's another topic for another time. You and Kit were together to help each other. With what? Only the two of you know, but you coming here is not helping that. The Elders are a threat though, so whether you return to Emery of stay here is entirely up to you. Just know the consequences that come with it."

"OH shit Bert. You getting all philosophical on me and shit."

"Shut up and help me make these pies before I shove your head in the oven." He snapped and I just smiled at him as I saw a small smirk form on his lips. As we made the rest of the pies and began working on the cupcakes, I started to feel a lot better about my situation. I needed to go back home and make things right. I can't expect anything to be given to me or for things to change if I'm just going to sit around and point the finger at everyone else, cry and get angry.

If I want a change to happen, I need to make it happen.

So the plan is; I'm going to come home, rekindle my relationships with everyone, probably kick Eli's ass one more time, apologize to Kit if he even wants to still talk to me, try to re-mate and then I'm going to therapy so I can fix this constant doubt I have when it comes to any and everything.

Ahhhh, it feels good to have a game plan.

"Okay the last butterscotch cream cupcake has been boxed," I told my uncle and he nodded his head as he put his last pie in a box as well. "Now we take them into town and give them to the shops?" I asked and he shook his head but held up a finger for me to wait.

"Actually, Essie and I are going to deliver them. I think you need to go talk to your mother about your plans." He told me and I looked at him confused. How did he know about my plans? Did I say them out loud? "You looked like you were planning a war in your head the whole time you iced the cupcakes. I don't want your judgment clouded and if my sister is good at anything, it's helping people clear their minds. So go talk to her."

"Ugh, do I have to?" I groaned and winced when Bert grabbed a wooden spoon and hit me upside the head with it. "Fine okay; I get it. I'll go Skype her now." I grumbled walking out of the kitchen and up the stairs to my room. Did I really want to talk to my mom right now? Absolutely not. But I guess asking her one simple question that would be the determining factor in whether or not I went through with my plan would be a good idea. I closed my bedroom door behind me once I reached my room, and plopped down on my bed after grabbing my laptop. I did some quick calculations on the time difference before opening Skype and pressing the video button next to her name. I was becoming anxious as it was taking her longer to answer the call, but when she did I nearly shit myself when I saw the person sitting next to her.

"You motherfucking dick sucking piece of shit!" Allister yelled at me and I stared at him with wide eyes. My mom sighed and gave me a guilty look.

"I'm sorry Charlie. He was in here talking about the baby with me when you called. I couldn't lie to him anymore." I smiled softly at my mom because I wasn't angry that Allister found out. If anything, it was my fault for calling out of nowhere. We normally will text each other if it's safe or not to call—just so we can avoid what just happened.

"Hey Allister buddy," I said to him and he glared at me which made me smile even creepier than I was before. "Has Bryce gotten you pregnant yet?" I said jokingly and he flipped me the bird.

"I'm so kicking your ass when I see you. Matter of fact, where the fuck are you? Because I am going to fly to wherever you are and kick your ass there." My mom and I remained silent at his question, both of us unsure of whether or not we should tell him my location. We've already broken one of the Elders rules by having him find out.

But you know what? I'm breaking all their rules anyway in a few weeks so who gives a fuck anymore. It's time for me to be selfish and get things done my way.

"I'm in France." I told him and my mom started choking in shock after my confession. Allister comforted her but she shooed him away and now it was her turn to glare at me.

"Charlie you know we aren't supposed to tell anyone!" She scolded, but I rolled my eyes at her.

"Mom listen. I am so tired of living by other people's rules and trying to be fit into this mold by our society. What happened between Kit and I should have been handled between just us two. I should have never involved the Elders and I for fucking sure should have kicked Eli's ass the first time instead of becoming some depressed loner. But I make mistakes and I have to learn from them. And I've learned. So now, I get to tell you the main reasoning behind my call." They both stared at me waiting and I was trying to figure out how to tell them without saying every detail.

"Allister—you can't say a word to anyone at all where I am. If there is one thing I will ever beg you to do, it is that you keep where I am a secret until I get home."

"Get home?!" My mom snapped and I nodded my head to her. Geez woman, would you let me finish talking before getting snippy. "Charlie you cannot leave France. The Elder's—"

"Fuck the Elders. They may have a hold and control on everyone else in the Pack, but not me. I am my own person and I can make my own decisions on what's best for me. And what's best is that I come home. But before I do that, I need to ask one final question." I waited for them to both agree before continuing. "How is Kit?"

I could sense something was very wrong because both of them looked away after I asked my question. Allister cleared his throat and looked back to me with a small smile. "Uhm, well he's okay. There was an attack on the Pack two days ago—"

"Excuse me? An attack?! When was I going to be told this?" I snapped at him and he gave me an unamused stare.

"When we could get all our bearings together and figure how the fuck it happened." He snapped back. "We lost a lot of members, but everyone in the family is safe. Drake...uhm....well, he got his throat ripped out, but Bryce saved him by turning him so he's okay now." I frowned at that. Drake always enthused how amazing werewolves were and how the whole mates' thing was really unique, but he always made it very clear that he wanted to remain a human. I was almost positive he wasn't handling the change well at all.

"Is he really okay or are you just saying that so I can calm down?" I asked seriously and Allister frowned again.

"He and Nixon are mates..."

"I'm sorry come again? I don't think I heard you the first time. I thought you said Nixon and Drake are mates." I chuckled and Allister stared at me in silence before answering.

"No...that's what I said. Nixon and Drake are mates. That's how this all started. I was walking down the hallway when I overheard Nixon telling Drake and he didn't accept it and rejected him. Right when Nixon came out of the room is when we were attacked and he rushed off to go find Drake and make sure he got out safe."

"But he didn't." I finished and Allister pursed his lips. I glanced at my mom as she shifted her eyes between the two of us before smiling and laughing nervously.

"Alright, that's all behind us now. Drake is up and moving and is accepting the change very well. Although he's not allowed to be alone without Bryce or Nikolai with him...but that's beside the point. The point is that he is doing better than he was and there's no reason for you to worry. And definitely no reason for you to come home." I sighed heavily at my mom and she gave me the look. You know the one.

That sigh at me again one more time and I'm going to rip your lips off look moms give.

Unless my mom's the only one who gives it....

I shook my head from my thoughts and looked at my mom. "Mom. I'm coming home. Not anytime soon, but it will be within the next month because I need to make things right. I just have to." Nothing felt the same anymore being away from home and I didn't want to miss the birth of my sibling. Or siblings.....

"Hey mom, have you have the gender appointment yet?" I asked, completely changing the subject, but I didn't care because I wanted to know about my brothers and/or sisters. Allister seemed to mind though as he opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water, but my mom just chuckled.

"We need to get you tested for ADD when you get home." She chuckled and I rolled my eyes at her. Yeah, okay I get it. My attention span is short. "But about the babies....it's actually two." She smiled and if my eyes widened anymore they would pop out of my damn head.

"Oh my god you're having twins!?" I yelled and she and Allister just smiled at me. "Okay genders? What are they? Also names? And birth dates? When are you going to be delivering?"

"They are both girls, so you're going to be a big brother to two twin sisters. Your father and I haven't come up with any names yet because we wanted you to be in the process of that. And due date is sometime in May. So in about four months."

"Awesome okay. I'm going to start making arrangements to come home by then. I am NOT missing any of that—Elders be damned." My mom still looked reluctant, but I could see she was actually pretty excited for me to be coming home. She hates being away from her family and with me being miles away, I'm sure it's been equally as hard.

Allister was about to say something when both of them froze with wide eyes and I copied their look as I waited for what was about to happen. "Hello? What's going on?" I asked and Allister cursed under his breath.

"We have to go. Bryce just mind-linked us and said that Kit is coming to talk to me. If he sees you on this screen he's going to lose it." Allister explained and I nodded my head at that.

"Okay well I'll probably just call mom then and let you know when I'm coming—" I never got to finish my sentence when there was a loud knock on the door before it opened and Allister slammed the laptop shut—ending the video chat. But before he did that I actually caught a slight glimpse at Kit.

And it was making my heart do flips.

I stared at the computer screen for what felt like hours as I tried to control the whirlwind of emotions inside of me. I needed to get home and fast because I needed to see Kit. Even with the mating mark gone and a new wolf; I still feel pulled towards Kit like we're still mates. Either the Elders didn't do a good job or they messed something up because the purpose of me going through that pain was so I could move on and feel nothing for him anymore.

And yet here I was—love-struck.