My eyes felt gritty. I had cried far more than I believed I needed to but when Simon hugged me I felt like I simply fell apart, unable to hold myself together anymore. So much had happened and I couldn't process it. I told the Hunters things I knew I never should have told them, the pack was now in trouble, massive trouble. I knew the Alpha and the rest of the ranks would want to kill me for it, even more than they had prior. I knew how the Alpha felt about the Hunters and I brought that down on the pack.

I let out a shuddering breath as I looked down at the baby clothes. I was taking Maeve away from her daddy again and it made my stomach sour and churn unpleasantly. That was what had caused the whole thing to begin with and now I was going to walk out of the pack with Maeve. A part of me detested that, that I was going to do that all over again but deliberately this time and another part, a much bigger part of me, was so fucking excited to see her.

I swallowed hard and Simon made a low sound in his throat as he rubbed my back. "It's going to be okay, Menza." The words were low and comforting and they made me sniffle worse. I was going to be leaving without him, I knew that deep down but I wanted him there. We had made a plan to run away together and I wanted to follow it.

"That won't work, a lot has happened and she's got pregnancy emotions right now." Duffy's voice was even and Simon made a small humming sound in his throat before he pulled out some of the clothes.

"Miss Mayberry is going to be happy to see you." He said it low and that was nearly enough to make me start crying again and I turned, pressing myself into his side as I gulped in air to keep from bursting into tears. Simon wrapped an arm around me and shushed me softly. I hated it. I wanted to feel normal but I couldn't.

I felt torn right in two about the entire thing. I wanted Brochan there because he didn't seem mad at me anymore but he had said no, passing me off to Duffy. I loved Duffy, I did. She was a wonderful female but I felt utterly rejected and a touch humiliated that I had even asked. I should have expected him to say no, I really should have but I hadn't and now I was nursing hurt feelings about it. I never knew why I hoped above my station, it always hurt when I was slapped down but I still did it. He told me it wasn't my fault about things but... I let out a heavy sigh. He didn't want to be with me.

I swallowed hard and blinked away the wetness in my eyes. "Do you think…” O cleared my throat. “What if he won’t want the baby?" It came out of me croaked. He didn't want to be there with me and I wondered, if deep down he wouldn’t like the baby. I knew he said him staying had nothing to do with me, that he wasn't right for me but that wasn't exactly true. I was what was wrong and that mean, deep down, my baby was wrong too. A faint tugging in my chest told me that was nonsense, it crooned to me that I was all that was good in the world and my baby was much loved. I brushed it off, unwilling to listen to it.

Simon stiffened for a moment before he let out a heavy sigh. "Menza..." He pushed me away slightly and crouched down a bit, looking me in the eyes. "I have no clue what is going on in that fucker's head right now. However he looks like fighting demons called reality that are wielding baseball bats. Which is good. He deserves it and I want to do that physically and not stop until he stops twitching." His voice had a hard edge to it, his blue eyes going a bit flinty before he shook it off. "But what he wants or doesn't want does not matter. This is your baby, your precious little girl." He swallowed hard, his eyes going a bit glassy before he reached down and pressed a hand to my slight bump that I had been so disgruntled over this morning.

"This, right here, is my niece, Ellie's niece, your little female. Even if that shit head doesn't want her, wants nothing to do with her, she has her family and we are going to love her so much she’s going to be sick of it." His voice was sincere and his expression was serious, despite the glassy eyes he had. "We're going to help you raise her, help you take care of her, and we're going to take care of you."

"But you can't come with me." It croaked out of me and my eyes blurred even worse with tears. He couldn't come with me and I couldn't see him again, the Council said so.

He let my belly go to cup my face, his gaze intense as it met mine. "That means nothing to me. We will find you and we will see you again." That was almost enough to break me and I sniffled again and then again, swallowing against the lump in my throat.

"But Ellie-"

"Ellie's doing great, she misses you. You know this. She's having fun in Arrogans with her new friends. They're going to movies and hanging out at the mall." He gave me a soft smile and I was glad she was happy and doing fun things and making friends. That's all I wanted for my little sister. "And even though she doesn't know about this baby, I know she's going to absolutely lose it when she sees her for the first time. I know I will." He gave me a crooked smile and I hastily wiped at my eyes.

It still didn't stop the fact about Brochan. He was my baby's father and I couldn't take it if he didn't want her. "But Broch-"

"He doesn't matter. This does." He let me face go before he pressed a hand to my belly again. He rubbed at it slightly before his smile grew a touch warmer. "I can feel your bump." He gave a small chuckle as he moved his hand around, cupping it, as if to see the size for himself and it made me giggle. He kissed my cheek before he grasped my shoulder and looked down at me. "She is the most precious thing you have outside of yourself. You focus on her, loving her, being the best mama this world has ever seen. Don't spare a single ounce of thought for that fuck head. You focus on your little female and Miss Mayberry. Don't think about anything else. It's not your concern."

He kissed my forehead again before turning me back to the dresser. "Now let's finish packing up." I wiped at my eyes and nodded. I had to get everything packed for Maeve so we could leave.

"I knew there was a reason I liked you. The smart male that you are." Duffy's voice was a bit sly Simon just chuckled and winked at the older female.

He nudged me slightly. "That's my future mate right there." That made me giggle as I looked over at her and she cackled, a wide grin on her face.

"Keep trying. You might just get somewhere with all that randy male charm." She shook her finger at him before she moved over to the small pile of stuffed animals.

I inhaled sharply. "Don't touch!" I held out my hands and both her and Simon snapped their gazes to me. My cheeks heated and I swallowed hard. "Chrissie arranged those. She touched them last, before she died." To my relief Duffy nodded and backed away.

She picked up the folded quilt I made for Maeve. "Well isn't this darling." She unfolded it and my cheeks heated more even as my chest ached as I remembered the quilt I made for Brochan and what happened the day I finished. I shook my head slightly, trying to remove the thoughts. I didn't need to think about that.

"Menza made that for Miss Mayberry." Simon grasped my shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze and Duffy looked surprised.

"You're a female of many talents, trouble. It's beautiful and well crafted." Duffy gave a firm nod as she folded it back up.

"I think we have everything we need." Simon placed some more clothes into the bag we had grabbed for Maeve's things and I gave a small nod, my stomach fluttering with nerves. I was going to see Maeve. It had been two months and I wondered if she would have forgotten me, if she wouldn't remember who I was. I suddenly felt really nervous. I didn't want to do anything wrong. I knew Brochan asked for me to take her, he said I was more of a mother to her than anyone else but I... I didn't know.

"What if..." I swallowed hard. "What if Brochan gets mad at me again?" I looked up at Simon and he rolled his eyes with a low groan.

"That's why there's a custody agreement being written, trouble. So he can't be a whiney fucking bitch about it." Duffy sniffed lightly as she made a slight face. "Besides, he's a moron and what he thinks doesn't matter. He asked you, and the Council, he can't be pissed off at you for doing what he asked." She shook her head, disgust radiating out of her. I knew what she thought of what happened, especially in regard to Brochan.

"She has a point, Menza." Simon put his hands on his hips as he looked at me. "Besides him allowing the punishment was completely bullshit. You survived, you made sure Maeve survived. The fact he had his head shoved so far up Stenton's ass that he was using his ass cheeks as earmuffs, is not your fault." At the words Duffy gave a barking laugh and Simon's mouth twitched upwards. I bit my tongue against the denial that rose up in my throat. There was no reason I was going to make it so the two of them felt they had to lecture me. Both of them separate was enough. I didn't even want to think about what they would be like together in their lectures.

"We have the custody agreement written up, Ms. Aristotle. You should sign it and then we should get Mr. O'Neill's signature before we pick up the little female." The older Councillor gave me a soft and friendly smile. His entire presence was soothing and calming but I felt like a bundle of nerves. So many people knew about my baby and I didn't like being on the territory, especially not with my tummy that tiny bit bigger. It was hiding underneath my rather baggy shirt but still.

"She isn't signing shit until we go over it first so we know the exact terms." Duffy set her feet and jutted out her jaw and I glanced between the Councillor and her, worried that he would take offense but he simply smiled.

"You have a great defender in Ms Duffy, Ms. Aristotle. Of course we can go over the agreement with you." He held out his hand, sweeping it through the doorway and I gave him a slightly shaky smile.

As if sensing my hesitation and nervousness Simon grasped my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze even as he picked up the small bag we had packed for Maeve. "It'll be alright, fluff for brains." I glanced up at him as Duffy moved to my other side, resting her hand on my lower back. I took a bolstering breath, feeling a bit more secure with both of them there beside me

We moved to the doorway and the Councillor stepped out into the hallway, gesturing for me to move in front of him and Simon led me to where the rest of the Councillors were standing. They were such a mix of people that it was difficult to get my bearings. I swallowed hard as I glanced between them all. The broad male was the most intimidating of the bunch. He had a severe face with a dark expression, like he was unhappy with everything and everyone.

"Shall we go, Jovan?" The blond haired Councillor glanced towards us and the older Councillor moved around us as he shook his head.

"We are to go over the terms of the custody agreement with Ms. Aristotle, so she understands what she's going to be signing." He moved to the table and I glanced around before I found Elf, she was leaning against the counter next to the other two witches. The one was so pale and white that it left me with a heavy disquiet, like I couldn't exactly trust her because she was dangerous. The other one had been nice to me as she helped me deal with my small breakdown.

"How you doin', sweet pea?" Elf caught my eye and drawled it out and I gave her a shaky smile.

"I'm okay." I was nervous and hesitant but also a little excited but all together a bit of a mess but it was okay.

"Good t' hear. You go over the paperwork with the stuffed shirts now." She waved me off slightly and I nodded again. Simon tugged on my hand slightly and I followed him without question. He pulled me closer to the table where the Council had spread apart, making room for us by the table.

The dark haired female with the slightly darker skin turned several sheets of paper so I could read them. "This is a very standard custody agreement." Her accent was soft and flowing, barely noticeable at all but I could still hear it a bit. "Here we have subsections of the civil codes pertaining to custody and parental rights." She used a pen and gestured to the first two paragraphs. "Next we have the terms for what it's for." She pointed to the next paragraph before glancing up at me. "This states that the primary care giver, Brochan O'Neill, is signing over custody on the child, Maeve O'Neill, on a temporary basis to you, the temporary care giver, for an undetermined period of time."

She moved the pen downwards. "Here we define undetermined period of time. This states you will take over care of her until the Sublatus pack structure is no longer as shaky and has become more stable or until her primary care giver is able to once again take over her care. Normally this means that this time limit is more or less determined by Mr. O'Neill. However, in this case, he has to petition the Council so we can review if it is possible to end the custody agreement. We will determine if the pack has returned to a more stable base line to where the child will be returned or if Mr O'Neill is able to take over her care once more." She slid the pen down a bit further and I stared at the even black lettering but not really reading it.

"If we do determine that she is to be returned to the care of her father, we will then discuss with Mr O'Neill if he will remain in Sublatus or not. If he chooses to remain, we will then come to you and alert you to the fact that he has petitioned us for the return of custody. In which we will then remove the child from your care and return her to her father." The words were said evenly and calmly but it made a heavy ball of nerves grow in my stomach. There was a lot of legal stuff that I wasn't sure about but I knew it was important. "If Mr. O'Neill chooses to leave Sublatus permanently. He will then be placed under a federal, Council signed NDA about you and your location that will be backed by criminal punishment if it is broken. We will bring him to pick up the child himself." She glanced up at me, giving me a small smile.

"If you are at all uncomfortable with seeing him again for the hand off, we will use a neutral third party, more than likely Duffy, to facilitate the return of the child. You do not need to see him if you do not wish to and we will ensure that your wishes will be adhered to above his own." The words made sense but they also made me frown.

"What does that mean?" My wishes would be above his own? That made no sense to me.

"It means that even if he requests to see you and you say no, we will default to your wishes and his request will be denied." The words made me blink rapidly. Brochan owned me, my father gave me to him. I wasn't simply allowed to deny him physical access to me. I blinked again and that tugging in my chest whispered to me that I had full fucking rights to do so and I would be justified in doing so. I brushed it away.

"What about my baby? She's his daughter." I pressed my free hand to my belly. I would never want to withhold the baby from him if he wanted to see her

"Yes but until she is born, you carry her and your wishes will be taken into consideration above his. If, after she is born, you still do not wish to see him and he pushes for custody, he will then have to petition the Council. Besides, he doesn’t know about the baby and we are keeping it that way so a second custody agreement would need to be set up." She tapped the pen against the table lightly and I frowned slightly.

“Why?” I swallowed hard. They didn’t want to tell him? It felt so wrong.

“While he resides in Sublatus, we cannot risk telling him. Keeping you safe is our number one priority. Everything else is secondary to that.” Another Councilor said it gently and Simon rubbed my back.

“It’s just something you need to stay safe, Enza.” He kissed the top of my head and I sniffled, wiping at my cheeks as I nodded.

“Okay, so if after your child is born and he has been notified, he can petition us where we will determine his eligibility. If he is eligible, for the first six months he will only get supervised visitation by a neutral third party. We will then determine your comfort level for if or when you would allow him to have full visitation with your child." The female Councillor smiled at me slightly but my heart lurched.

"I wouldn't keep her away from him." I said it quickly, feeling a bit more nervous and frantic. I would never ever keep her away from him. He was her father, he deserved to be around her.

"We understand that you might not wish that, Ms Aristotle." A rather moderate looking male with slightly greying hair gave me a small smile. "However these rules are in place to help prevent abusers from using their children against their victims. You, as the offended party in this, will be granted full rights to reject any and all contact with your offender." He nodded firmly and I swallowed hard.

"We have found, especially in regards to the old way packs this past year, that offenders will use any and all means to control their victims. Shared children are the biggest tools of control they have. If you feel at all unsafe or that he is using your shared daughter to harass you or to facilitate more trauma. You let us know and all contact will end. He loses his rights as her father." The kind, old Councillor gave me that soft, fatherly smile and I blinked up at him. I was at a loss for words. I couldn't have that much power over him, that wasn't right. I wasn't supposed to have that much control.

"Glad that has changed in the past however long." Duffy said it casually and I blinked again as I stared at the table top, glancing at the papers. I couldn't understand the dynamics they were talking about. I didn't really get any say over anything. My wants or wishes didn't matter, they never did. That tugging underneath my ribs whispered at me that my wants and wishes mattered the most but I shoved it back down.

"We also added in a clause that states that if there is any retaliation towards you in regards to you having custody of the child during this period of time, there will be consequences to Mr. O'Neill. As an assurance for you that you will not be punished in regard to this." At the words from the dark haired female Councillor, that did make me feel a little better. She set the pen down towards me. "If you understand the terms of the custody agreement, go ahead and sign and then we will get it to Mr. O'Neill to sign. After that we can remove you from the territory." At that a sudden bout of nerves cascaded over me.

"Can Simon come?" It came out stressed and nearly panicked as I gripped Simon's hand in mine tightly.

"Enza." Simon breathed out my name and I gulped in air, looking up at him. I had planned to run away with him, I didn't plan for this situation. I wanted him there. I knew Simon would make everything okay.

"We cannot move too many people. Hiding you and Ms Duffy is going to be complicated as it is. It's easier as Ms Duffy is from Vis and there are several degrees of removal between you and her. Her being no relation to your family, being the great aunt of someone else in the pack, being relatively unknown to your family, all these things make it difficult to track you both. Your brother is a different story." The blond Councillor spoke gently and my chin quivered even though I tried very hard to hide it. "I know this is distressing for you." His voice turned softer, gentler and there was a look of sympathy to his face

"It's just not safe, Menza." Simon said it firmly before he let me hand go and turned me so he could bend down to look me in my eyes. "You're going to be fine. You need to worry about nothing but taking care of your little female. Duffy will be with you every step of the way. As my future mate, she knows to take very good care of my fluff for brains." Simon said it very seriously even as his eyes twinkled with amusement and that made me crack a tiny, tiny, smile

"Oh you brat!" Duffy swatted him with a laugh and that made me giggle, wiping at my face again as I sniffled.

"You'll be okay. I promise I'll see you again." He kissed my forehead before pulling me close for a tight hug. "Now sign those damned papers so we can get Miss Mayberry." He gave my back a firm rub before he let me go. I nodded before turning and picking up the pen.

"Sign right here." The female Councillor pointed to the line I needed to sign and I signed my name as neatly as I could before setting the pen down. "Perfect. Thank you. We will get Mr O'Neill to sign and then we should be able to remove them from the territory and take them to an intake facility." She gathered the pen and the papers and the others nodded.

"We should head to pack jail." The big burly male gave a sharp nod as he said it and that had a burst of nerves cascade through my stomach. I didn't want t to go there, the Alpha was there and so was the Delta and I wanted nothing to do with either of them. I wanted to be as far away from them as possible. I knew I didn't have to worry about the Delta for much longer, he had been sentenced to death by the Council but I still didn't want to be around him. Plus I had to keep my daughter safe, Simon was right. She was the absolute most important thing at the moment. I had to make sure my decisions were made to protect her and take care of the little life inside me