I didn't really know what to do. He was kneeling at my feet, his touch on my skin intense, but all I wanted to do was weep. He was there, he was right there. "It's okay though. I'm okay." I was, we had survived and he found us. He had found Maeve and I. She fussed slightly and I sniffled, rubbing her little back as she snuggled close to me. There was a lot of emotions flying around and I knew she was picking up on them.

"I should have been there." The amount of self-loathing I heard in his voice had me instantly reaching out, touching his arm.

"It's okay, you had to protect the pack." I knew there was a lot going on the day. We had both... I swallowed hard. We had sex and he wasn't ready for that. It was okay that he had avoided me.

"I don't care about the fucking pack, Menza. I should have been there for you, for Maeve and I wasn't. That's on me." He pressed his hand tighter against the scars, as if imprinting them to memory, before he pulled his hand away, letting my shirt drop.

I swallowed hard, tears burning my eyes, "But I shouldn't have-"

"I'm not going to hear anymore on it, Menza. This was my failure. Not yours. You did as you needed to get you and Maeve to safety." The words were sharp and I hunched under them as he stood up. I felt horrible. He had missed so much of Maeve's life, her crawling for the first time, her cutting her first tooth. So much time had been missed because I ran to the river instead of to the center of the territory. That little tugging whispered at me that I had tried to get to the center of the territory but the rogues stopped me but I brushed it off.

Maeve let out a shuddering breath and I almost mimicked it. My emotions were all over the place and I hugged her tight to my side. She was all I had for the past few months, the only thing I had left of home. Brochan grasped the side of my head, his fingers curled around the back of my neck before her kissed the top of my head, lingering there, as if breathing me in before he let me go.

"You're safe, both of you are safe and that's all I care about." He mumbled the words against my hair and I sniffled again, my eyes burning as my chin trembled.

"I tried to find you." I croaked the words out. "I... I put in a report to the Hunters. They said they would look for you but they never did." I used my free hand to wipe away the unwanted tears as they burned my cheeks. "They never found you." I looked up at him and his mouth pinched into a line.

"When?" It was said shortly, almost harshly.

"Shortly after I woke up at Fortis." I whispered the words, watching him as I hunched my shoulders forward. Maeve chewed on her fist, leaning her head against my chest. "I think maybe three weeks after the attack. I can't remember." He let out an almost vicious curse as he started to pace. "I'm sorry." It came out tiny. I couldn't help myself, I didn't want him to be mad with me. He could if he felt I deserved it but I wanted him to know I didn't mean it. I didn't mean for any of this.

"You were in Fortis?" He paused and looked at me, his eyes almost red. I nodded and He turned, his back to me, pressing the heels of his hands to his eyes. "You were that close and he refused-" He cut himself off, tilting his head back as he rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. "He wouldn't-" He let out a snarl that made me and Maeve jump and I watched as his hands tightened into fists as he dropped them. "Fuck." It barked out of him and I hunched my shoulders further.

He wasn't happy. I didn't know why he wasn't happy and I didn't know who he was talking about but I wanted to make it better. My eyes darted back and forth as I tried to figure out what to say to him. "They took really good care of me. Even the Alphas were really nice." I whispered it and I watched as he took several deep, almost shaky breaths before he turned around. His eyes were red and his mouth was pinched but he gave me a tight smile.

"They have my thanks." It came out of him rough and he cleared his throat. "I need to know exactly how bad it was."

At his words a sinking feeling filled my stomach. I didn't really want to tell him but I knew I had to. "Doc Howard said he thought they were giving me a comfortable death." It came out of me small, tiny. He cursed and whipped around, his back to me again as a heavy growl rumbled his chest. Panic filled me, "Maeve was okay though! She was! She was dehydrated and had a bit of a bug but she was okay!" I didn't want him to be upset. Maeve was okay, she was good. She did so well even if I had failed in keeping her safe. I watched as he paced a bit before he stopped and seemed to take a deep breath.

"I am so glad that Maeve was okay, but you weren't and that's not okay, Menza." He looked at me, his eyes still red and if I didn't know any better I would have said it looked like he was doing his best not to tear up.

I adjusted my arms around Maeve and lifted her up. "We're okay. It's okay." I nodded at him, jostling Maeve slightly, my smile feeling brittle. I didn't want to think too much about everything that happened. "It's a happy time. You found us and we can go home, yeah?" I kept my eyes on Maeve, unsure of what would happen if I looked at him.

Maeve fussed slightly and I bounced her, shushing her softly. "Yah, we get to go home and everything will be okay."

There was a thick sort of silence before Brochan sighed, a heavy almost sad sound. "Yah, we can go home." He didn't sound to pleased with that but I didn't want to question it. I didn't want him to be more upset, more angry.

I perked up slightly as I realized what could make him feel better. "I have a phone!" I stood up, hurrying over to my dresser where the phone was sitting. I grabbed it and carried it and Maeve back over to Brochan. "The Alphas at Fortis gave it to me so I could have someone to contact because I didn't know where I was from."

"Sublatus." The word came out of him almost gruffly. "The pack is Sublatus, the Alpha is Stenton, the Beta is Getts. The pack is three hours up river from where Fortis is." The words had me looking up at him and his expression was almost... remorseful. "I thought your father would have told you. I should have thought about it."

"It wasn't my place to know." It came out of me small, unsure and he shook his head.

"No. You're a member of the pack, knowing that information is important. It prevents-" He cut himself off, looking away. I watched as his throat bobbed, as if he had swallowed hard. "I should have told you. It's basic information all pack members should know to keep them safe." He gave a heavy breath and there was a moment of tension as I adjusted Maeve on my hip.

He cleared his throat, pointing at my phone. "So what did you want to show me about your new phone?"

"Oh!" I was grateful for the change in topic as I unlocked the phone. I brought up the gallery. "I've been taking photos and videos of Maeve. So you wouldn't miss anything while we were gone." I looked up at him as I held out the phone. "I wanted to make sure I got everything I could. So you could see. Like her crawling for the first time and her first tooth." My voice dropped to a whisper as he took the phone. I hoped he was happy with it. I hoped he wasn't mad, that it reminded him of what he lost.

He stared at the phone, his expression shuttered as he swiped through the photos, his jaw ticking. "See?" I swallowed hard as he stopped on a video. "This is her crawling." I tapped play as I adjusted Maeve higher, kissing the side of her head as the video played.

Maeve was laying on her tummy, working her knees underneath her with little grunts. "She's doing so well, Brochan! Watch her." my voice came through and I hated how it sounded a bit shaky. I had almost cried when she had done it for the first time because Brochan should have been there to see it too. "I didn't get the first time she did it. I turned my back on her and she chose that time to do it. But I thought you would like to see what she learned." I glanced at the video as Maeve grunted and then started to crawl.

"There's our big girl! Look at her go!" My voice nearly cracked in the video and I glanced up at Brochan, he was rubbing his chin, his eyes on the video. "She's growing so fast and misses you so much. I can't wait till we get home. You need to stop growing so much, little miss. Your daddy won't recognize you when we get back." The video stopped and I didn't have any time to react as Brochan turned and pulled my tight to his chest. He held me tight, kissing the top of Maeve's head before doing the same to me.

"Thank you." It came out of him gruff and I felt him press his face to my hair. "It means more than you can know." I wrapped my free arm around his back, giving him a squeeze in return as Maeve let out a stream of babble, reaching up and patting at him. "Yah, my girl." He pulled back, clearing his throat as his arms dropped from around us both and picked Maeve from my arms. "You're crawling and have a tooth. You need to stop growing so fast. I'm gunna miss everything. I swear I'll blink and you'll be wanting to learn how to drive."

He gave her a bit of a sad smile as he nuzzled her cheek. There was a knock on my door and I moved over to answer it. Rosie gave me a soft smile. "Ambris let me know to tell you that dinner has been served." I nodded and she gave me a sad smile in return. "Oh we are going to miss you on Altia, Menza. Be sure to visit if you are able, okay?"

"I will." It sounded like a lie on my tongue but I couldn't explain why. Like I wasn't ever going to step foot on the territory again. If Rosie caught it, she said nothing, just reached out and squeezed my arm with a nod. Once she was gone I turned back around. "I need to pack." I looked at Brochan, wringing my hands together slightly with nervousness. He nodded as he sat down on the bed, holding Maeve close as he kissed her cheek and her sweet little nose.

I started to move around, putting things into the bag given to me by Ambris. I wondered if she had seen what was going to happen, if she had seen Brochan finding me and that was why she wasn't as concerned for me when the Hunters said nothing about the Bounty I had issued. I froze as I shoved a dress into my bag. "Is... is everyone in the pack okay?" It came out of me pitched as I whirled around, anxiety having my hands squeezing into fists as I tucked them close to my chest.

Brochan stared at me, his gaze almost seeing too much before he nodded, "Everyone is okay. Jason, a pack warrior, sustained the most injuries. He fought with the rogue that attacked you but he's okay too." That had me filling with relief and to my horror my bottom lip trembled.

"They're okay? Simon's okay? Lisa and Ellie are all okay? You're okay?" My eyes filed with tears as I asked it, my voice almost managed with my urge to cry. I had been so worried about everyone, wanting to know they were safe, not knowing if they were hurt or injured. I shook, unable to help myself as my vision blurred.

"Fuck, Menza. Don't- Don't cry. Everyone's okay. It's okay." His voice was half broken, half reassuring and I saw him stand up in my blurred vision before he hugged me close with one arm and I burst into scared, worried, relieved, and all together far too emotional tears. I clung to him tightly, trying to muffle the sobs as he rubbed my back, kissing the top of my head as he rubbed my back. "It's okay. They are all fine, they are all okay." He murmured the words and I nodded but the sobs didn't stop and I didn't know if I could get them to.

They were okay. Despite everything, everyone was okay.

I thanked Mene that she kept them that way.