Charles’s world was gone. Everything he’d known, everything he’d worked for, all gone.

He swallowed as he peeked out of his bedroom door. It was weird to live with people he barely knew, but he didn’t have a choice. It was either that or going back to what remained of his life, and he didn’t think he could deal with that.

There wasn’t a lot he felt he could deal with right now. He wasn’t supposed to be here. He was supposed to be home, getting ready for work and answering texts from his best friends. Rex especially had always checked in in the morning, but he wasn’t anymore.

He was dead.

Charles sucked in a breath and leaned back into the bedroom. He stared at the open door, wondering if he could do this.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to. He was grateful to Chance and Theo for welcoming him into their home and their pack. Without them, he’d be completely alone. His clan had been destroyed, and the dragons who were still alive had scattered. Their alpha had abandoned them. Every survivor had to find a new place to call home, and Charles realized how lucky he was that he hadn’t even had to look. It would have been easy for these people to tell him to fuck off. They didn’t owe him anything, and it was a small miracle that they hadn’t hesitated to take him in.

He rubbed his forehead. Sometimes, the knowledge of how unfair all of this was made him want to scream. Why had the mages attacked the clan? What had the dragons done to them?

Nothing. They hadn’t had a reason, yet they had, and they’d killed a lot of people. Charles had lost his family. He only had his sister left because she hadn’t been a clan member in a while. She’d left the clan several years ago to move in with her husband, and Charles would always be grateful for that. It meant she and her family hadn’t been around when the clan was attacked, which in turn meant that he still had someone.

And he had Mark, of course. Mark was the reason he was here.

“You look like you’re freaking out,” a gentle voice said, startling Charles.

He turned to see that Theo, the alpha’s mate, was staring at him from a little further down the hallway. Charles didn’t know how long he’d been there, but knowing Theo had been watching him made him uncomfortable.

He plastered a smile on his face. “I’m fine.”

“It’s all right not to be fine. Considering what happened, no one expects you to be.”

“I promise I’m okay,” Charles insisted.

He needed to behave as if everything was fine. If he allowed grief and pain to take over, he’d burrow under the blankets and not leave his bedroom for days. He couldn’t afford to do that. This wasn’t his home, and while Chance and Theo and everyone else had welcomed him, they weren’t his family. They weren’t his clan.

As of now, they were strangers who had been nice enough to give Charles a home, but how long would that last? Charles needed to be all right and help the pack. If he wasn’t useful, they might kick him out, and he didn’t want that.

“You don’t have to talk to me if you’re uncomfortable,” Theo said. “But I’m sure we could find you someone else to talk to. Maybe Mark?”

Charles wished he could go back into the bedroom. He stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind himself, wishing the alpha’s mate hadn’t found him freaking out first thing in the morning. “Mark has enough to worry about,” he said.

“He’s not a future alpha anymore. He doesn’t have to worry about the clan. He only has to worry about the people he cares about, and you’re one of those people.”

“He also has a new boyfriend. I’m not going to take him away from Lester.”

“I don’t think either of them would see that as taking him away,” Theo murmured.

Charles was grateful for all the help, but he wished people weren’t always trying to get him to talk about how he felt. How was he supposed to feel?

He felt like crap. He’d lost the only home he’d ever known. He’d lost the house he’d worked hard on for years, his friends and family, and everything else. He had to start from the beginning again, and he didn’t know how to do that.

He had to find a job and a home. He had to decide if he wanted to stay with the pack long-term.

When he thought about all these things, his head and heart hurt, so he’d been trying to avoid it. He wouldn’t be able to do so for long, but for now, he was happier acting as if none of that mattered.

He wasn’t looking forward to having breakfast with Chance and Theo, so he was glad when his phone rang in his pocket. He knew it was his sister, and while part of him was torn about talking to her, he was happy to use her as an excuse.

“That’s my sister,” he explained. “I’m going to answer. This is probably the only time available she has to talk to me today.”

“Chance and I will be in the kitchen. I’m sure Mark and Lester will join us soon.”

Charles nodded and stepped back toward his room. He didn’t bother closing the door as he answered. “Hey.”

“I always think you’re not going to answer when I call,” Charles’s sister said. 

There was a slight trembling in her voice, so Charles knew what she was thinking about.

“I’m all right,” he promised.

“I’m glad to hear that, but I’d feel more comfortable if you agreed to move here.”

Charles sighed and sat on his bed. “Allison, you know I can’t do that.”