Charley was born in a barn, far from wild cats and danger. His mother's job was to kill rats before they could steal the ranch animals' food. A couple months after he was born, Charley, already brave enough to go outside, walked further away from home than he would usually, and got lost. So he wandered until he eventually fell from exhaustion. He was found by a patrol of wild cats, who brought him to their camp. It was originally planned to name him Tiger Kit, due to his pelt's color, but he insisted on keeping the name his mother gave him.

The clan's leader, Sage Star, who was old already, took Charley under her wing and raised him like he was her own kit. Sage Star then took Charley as her own apprentice, until he was old enough to become a Warrior. He got his first apprentice at the young age of 14 moons old, and still managed to turn them into a strong adult.

When Charley was 16 moons old, the cougar attacks started. Frequent, and violent. Sage Star's deputy was killed first, and she immediately chose Charley as her deputy, which was not to everyone's taste.

Unfortunately, the next cat to be murdered by the mountain lion was Sage Star, who lost both her last lives in the attack. Terrified at first, Charley then realised the privilege he had to become a leader at such a young age.