The Ignored Wolf

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Louise

I pace outside the hospital room, my legs long since gone numb, but I can’t stop. I just keep walking in circles, over and over.

Charlie tried to kill himself. The fact sits in my chest like a thousand-pound stone, stealing my breath.

He called me so many times. I only listened to three of those messages before I shut it off. I thought it was just his usual routine—the standard apology, the desperate attempt to reel me back in, the "I’m sorry, please come back" that precedes everything going right back to the way it was. I didn’t know he would…

I close my eyes, rubbing my temples hard.

Is this my fault? If I had listened to just a few more messages, if I had picked up the phone, if I had just told him I was okay but needed space, if—

"Who gave you permission to be here?" a man’s voice demands, sharp with rage.

I snap my head up.

Alpha Zane is standing at the door of the ward, staring at me. His expression is terrifyingly dark. He strides toward me, stopping just inches away, looming over me with suffocating intensity. "What are you doing here?"

"I… I heard about Charlie—"

"You heard." He cuts me off, his lips curling into a mocking sneer. "You heard, so now you show up. But what about before? How many times did my son call you? Did you pick it up even once?"

I open my mouth, but no words come out.

"My son was lying in a bathroom with blood everywhere, still clutching his phone. He was waiting for a reply, and all he got was your silence."

"I’m sorry," I whisper.

"Sorry?" Zane takes a step forward, and I stumble back. He roars, "Is an apology supposed to cut it, Louise? You’re Charlie’s best friend. But when he needed you most, you went ghost. Do you have any idea my son almost died because of you? If his mother hadn't found him in time—"

"That’s enough."

Another voice cuts through the tension. Luna Naomi steps out of the ward, moving to my side and shielding me from Zane’s oppressive aura. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

"Zane, stop," she repeats, her eyes flashing with a reprimand for her husband. "This isn't her fault."

"Not her fault? She—"

"It’s our fault," Naomi interrupts. "It’s Cassandra’s fault. But it isn't Louise’s." She turns to me, taking my hand in hers. "I know Charlie has done terrible things to you. I know he’s ignored you, let you down over and over, and humiliated you in front of Cassandra. I knoidiot of it. But please, forgive him. He’s just… confused. Deep down, he’s a good boy. You know that, don’t you?"

I look at her, and for a moment, I remember why I fell for Charlie in the first place.

After my mother died and my father moved me into the new pack to live with Cassandra and Kelly, my life became a living hell. Cassandra hated me, and Kelly spent every waking moment poisoning my father’s mind against me until he stopped caring. To please Cassandra, everyone in the pack treated me like dirt.

I was their favorite punching bag. One day, a group of them cornered me in the clearing near the training grounds. A Delta boyidioted me, sending me sprawling to the dirt. A Gamma girl snatched my bag, dumping everything out and grinding her heel iidioty notebook. They laughed, chanting "Trash," and "Not fit to be an Alpha's daughter."

I curled into a ball on the ground, arms over my head, just praying for it to end. But they didn't stop. Cassandra stepped forward, yanking my hair and forcing me to look at her.

"You’re so pathetic," she sang. "I wonder why you didn't inherit even a drop of Dad’s strength. Your mother must have really dragged down the average."

They all roared with laughter. I could handle the bullying, but the insult to my mother snapped something inside me. I let out a scream and lunged, clawing at her face. Cassandra shrieked, and the others froze in shock.

"Hold the b***h down!" she screamed.

They tackled me instantly. Cassandra delivered a slap so hard my vision blurred, leaving me slumped on the ground.

"Stop it!" someone shouted.

Everyone, myself included, was stunned. No one had ever stood up for me before. Everyone had just accepted that Louise was fair game.

I looked uTikTokee a boy standing on the edge of the crowd. He was scowling, his face a mix of confusion and disapproval. I didn't know who he was, but it was clear the others did.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked, pushing through the crowd.

He looked furious. No one dared to talk back because he was clearly an Alpha.

"Charlie, stay out of this," Cassandra snapped. "She’s wolf-less—"

"So what?" Charlie interrupted. He walked over, knelt down, and picked up my notebook. He brushed the dirt off and handed it back to me. Then he looked at the crowd. "Does it make you feel big, a whole group of you ganging up on one girl? It’s embarrassing. You should be ashamed. All of you."

The other kids exchanged uneasy glances.

Charlie crouched down so we were eye-to-level. His eyes were soft, and so was his voice. "Are you okay?"

I just stared at him, speechless. His hair seemed to glow in the sunlight. In that moment, he looked like an angel.

"What’s your name?" he asked.

"Louise," I whispered.

"I’m Charlie, Louise. It’s good to meet you." He offered me a small smile and reached out to pull me up. Then he turned back to the others. "She’s my friend. Anyone who messes with her messes with me."

After that day, no one touched me again. At least, not where people could see.

That was the first time I met Charlie. He was gentle, just, and brave. He protected me when I was isolated, invited me to play with his friends, and handed me tissues when I cried for my mother, staying silent just to keep me company.

Luna Naomi is right. Charlie used to be a good person. I just don't know where that boy went. Maybe he changed, or maybe Cassandra finally broke him.