When Gary told me what Brent told him that night a few weeks ago, I knew something like that was going to happen. Brent's life was never really his life, people and events made him have a life he had no choice in until he was older and chose to stay in the hunting life, after Riley was killed.

He had a future planned with her, a female, not me, a male. I remember the next day's conversation we had as if it were yesterday. 

I went to visit him after dinner to see how he was and if he needed anything. I also wanted to talk to him about his confession to Gary so I knocked on his door and he invited me in when he answered. He offered me a drink and I took it, knowing I was probably going to need it. We sat in the living room and he was looking at everything but me and biting his lip nervously. 

"Brent, calm down ok? You don't need to be so nervous around me. I'm not going to yell at you." I assured him and he slowly looked at me and that's when he started crying silently. 

"I'm sorry." He sobbed and held his head in his hands. I wrapped my arms around him and held him close, kissing the top of his head and rubbing his back, trying to calm him down. 

"Why are you apologizing?" I asked after a little bit after he calmed down some.

"Because I'm hurting you Altan, you don't deserve to be hurt because of what I want to do." 

"All your life you had your choices made for you, from a young boy until a young adult. You had no freedom and the happiness you did manage to find was ripped from you Brent, in the most cruel way imaginable. You went through a lot in the past two years alone so it's understandable that you want to live your life your way for once. I know being mated to a man was the last thing you ever wanted, let alone the very creature you were trained to hunt but Brent, I'm not going to hold you back. I want you to live your life and find out who you are as a person, without the supernatural world. Before you say anything, yes Ryker is a tiger cub but he is also your son, there is no changing that. We will work it out to when I will visit, I have a necklace that lets me do that so go, live your life Brent and if you decide to give me another chance, I'll welcome you back with open arms. Don't worry about what anyone thinks, no matter who it is. I'll always love you Brent. I want you to be happy and if being away from here, from this life is what it will take, I'll support you no matter what. Amar is even on board with this, so please don't hold yourself back for anyone or anything." It is hard to let him go, he's my mate and I love him with every fiber of my being and I can't imagine my life without him but he needs to do this, for himself, for him to find himself and to be happy with himself. Loving someone means a lot of things and you make sacrifices for those you love, I'll do anything for Brent, even break our bond so he can do what it is he needs to do.

"Why did your moon goddess have us as mate's? I mean I was straight before I met you and if it weren't for the bond, I wouldn't have fallen in love with you. I never found men attractive, only women and the moment I laid eyes on you was like the air left my lungs and I was stunned but when I learned we were mate's, I knew that was the reason. I got to know you and I think if we weren't mate's, we would have gotten along ok even with me being a hunter at the time and didn't come after you. Does she take pleasure in mating straight people with the same sex or something? I'm sure not every mated pair like us was fine with it, especially if they had a life with someone and/or kids. Don't go thinking I will go be with someone else, dating is not going to happen with a baby and me trying to find myself, I was just asking. I wonder what Colson felt because him and Jake had a similar situation. I heard people talk about things while working around the lands and someone mentioned them to me and compared us with them. Also Altan, thank you for understanding and being so kind about this. I know you must be hurting for my decision and I don't want you to resent me or have hateful feelings towards me down the road. I want you to be happy and have a life with Gary and Joseph, they are wonderful kind men. I'm sure they must have some strong feelings for what I'm going to do and I understand if they do, my decision affects all three of you as well as Ryker and myself. I'm so stressed with thinking of how everyone else is feeling, worried that you hate me, scared that I will fall flat on my face and get laughed at by everyone here." He was stressed, I could see it on his face and his fears in his eyes. 

"You will do wonderfully Brent, you will thrive in whatever you want to do, wherever you go you will build a home for you and Ryker, you will have friends and be happy, I believe that. I only ask that you stay safe and keep in contact when I'm not able to visit, please? You will have our son and not knowing how he is, how you are, will worry me like nothing else."

"I promise Altan, we will find a routine that will work for us in no time. Just give me some time to travel and get settled, I plan on going to New Orleans, Louisiana, I have always wanted to go there and I think it will be good for me." 

"Yea I can see you down there with all that jazz and that atmosphere being to your liking. Do you need anything, anything at all?" I asked and he replied by kissing me, deeply and passionately, almost desperately and it was beautiful. 

"I'll always love you Altan, thank you for giving me a chance and for loving me despite my past." He whispered against my lips and kissed me again but not like the last kiss. 

"I'll always love you too Brent, more than you will ever know." I won't tell what the rest of the night included but we eventually ended up in his bed naked and cuddling one another, holding onto the last bit of us before we didn't have this chance again. It wasn't sexual, it was sensual and romantic, it was perfect. 

The next morning I woke up, made him breakfast before I had to leave for work. Each night when he was asleep I would go see him, talk to Ryker, restock his food and drinks, medicine, and clean up anything that needed it. He doesn't know I do this, I want it that way. If he asks, no one would know anyways and I prefer it to stay that way. Being so close to him hurts when I think about him leaving soon.

Uncle Ethan had told me about a hunter friend of Brent's coming to stay with him and move with Brent when he leaves. I was happy but a little shocked that Ethan let him come. He told me he questioned the guy and found him to be decent and so I went to bed, with Gary and Joseph in a restless sleep. Something felt off but I didn't know what so I shut my mind up and closed off everyone and focused on my mate's breathing, both next to me and so peaceful. 

They were so beautiful and calming that I let myself drift to sleep finally. A few hours later a bang on the door jolts me from my sleep as well as Gary and Joseph so we run downstairs to get the door. I open it and see Austin standing there, breathing hard and sweaty.

"Who the hell are you and why are you banging on our door in the middle of the damn night?" Gary asked before I could even say a word to Austin. 

"Oh shut it, Altan Brent went into labor and is at the pack hospital, your son was born an hour ago by the way." Austin spat out and ran back towards the pack hospital. We ran after him and went into the hospital following Brent and Austin's scent. Austin was outside of the room, looking in the window when we got there.

"Why didn't anyone come get me when he went into labor?" I asked and went to open the door but Austin stopped me.

"He had some complications trying to push and Ryker got stuck so they had to do an emergency c-section. He lost a lot of blood and his blood pressure dropped so he's um not waking up, I don't know what's wrong. Jaylen hasn't said anything and the nurse's are with Ryker getting taken care of. I would have come to get you sooner but Brent would have been alone and he didn't need to be alone, especially being scared something was going to happen to Ryker so after he was born, I stayed to make sure Ryker was breathing and crying. It took a little time to find your house in this big place so I apologize for snapping at you whoever you are. I was worried about Brent and him telling me that he couldn't get a hold of you and the doctor even tried but they had no luck. You should give them some time to help Ryker and let Jaylen come out, it's been a long night but both of them will be ok, they both have to be. I won't tell you how big Ryker is, that's Brent's job but he is a beautiful baby boy." 

"What happened to make him go into labor early? He wasn't due for a few more weeks. Now to learn he had complications and isn't waking up is, is hard to hear." I said as I sank down against the wall, praying silently that Brent wakes up soon.

"I don't know, all I remember is going off with Ethan, waking up on the floor, and Brent groaning in pain. I asked what was wrong and all he said was 'pack doctor' so I have no idea. I'm sure Jaylen will tell you as soon as he knows." 

"Speaking of, why is uncle Jaylen even here?" Gary asked out loud to no one. 

"The whole family is here, they arrived last night and wanted to wait till morning to see everyone. Apparently grandpa Liam wanted to speak to Brent and in person so since he was due soon, they decided to come visit for a bit." I explained and they nodded.

About an hour later, loud noises and beeping came from Brent's room and uncle Jaylen along with Dr. Balwin came rushing in with nurses behind them. I looked into the room and saw blood, a lot of it and they unhooked the machines and rushed out of the room with him in his bed. I stopped uncle Jaylen by grabbing his arm. 

"What is going on with Brent?" I was so worried and I felt I was going to cry seeing him bleeding so much and so pale looking.

"He's hemorrhaging and he lost a lot of blood when he gave birth. There was trauma to his stomach causing the placenta to detach and caused internal bleeding. We didn't know until I cut him open to deliver Ryker, he's fine by the way. He was a little blue when he was born but he's pinked up well and has a good set of lungs on him. He's six pounds nine ounces and is twenty-one inches long. We need to focus on his dad so I have to go. Don't worry Altan, he'll be ok." He said and rushed down the hall. Nothing he said sounded ok but I trusted him to take care of Brent, he's a doctor, he took an oath to treat all patients no matter who they were. 

I made my way down the hall to the nursery and looked through the window to see a lot of babies and looked at the cards until I found my son. A male nurse was holding him and calming him down, his little cute face was scrunched up and red, tears on his little chubby cheeks, his skin is the perfect tan color like his daddy and his hair is dirty blonde, I don't know his eye color as his eyes are closed but I assume they are some shade of blue, he's perfect. I opened the door and walked in, washed my hands and went over to them. 

The nurse handed me my baby boy and I felt my heart fill with so much love looking down at him, it was so overwhelming that I felt tears form in my eyes and my heart beating a mile a minute. 

"Hello Ryker Preston, it is so nice to meet you son. I'm sorry I wasn't here when you were born, I'm sorry you had a hard time coming into the world and I'm sorry I didn't get to see you earlier. I hope you can forgive me when you find out in the future. Your daddy, he's the strongest person I know and is fighting to be with you, to give you the best life he can. I know he loves you so much and is happy you are here. We just have to wait for him to get better. You are so beautiful and precious, I love you so much." I whispered as he was gripping my finger and snuggling close to me. 

I sat down in a chair and looked up to the window to see the family standing there, papa with tears running down his face and grandpa Sebastian had his arm around papa's shoulder and grandpa Liam looked upset. I motioned them three in the room and they came in quietly. 

"Meet Ryker Preston Blackstone." I said softly as I looked at my son. Papa sobbed quietly and grandpa Liam came to stand beside me and touched Rykers cheek gently.

"He's perfect. How is Brent?" He asked and I shook my head, not wanting to talk about it right now but with the look he was giving me, I had no choice. 

"He's in surgery, he lost a lot of blood after giving birth and he had internal bleeding and some other complications, also trauma to his stomach is what made him go into labor. I have no idea what happened, only Brent so have to wait for him to wake up so he can tell us what happened. I was sleeping and had my mind closed so I had no idea what was going on till a couple of hours ago. He was here, scared and alone, I should have been here. Austin was here but I'm his mate, I missed my son being born and I have no idea if Brent is even going to wake up." I was crying so grandpa Sebastian took Ryker and papa held me and I held onto him and cried. 

"He'll be ok, he will wake up and hold his son and everything will work out, you'll see." Papa said and that for some reason angered me. I pulled away from him and took a deep breath and wiped my face.

I took Ryker and kissed his forehead and laid him in his bed, whispered I love you, walked to the door and opened it. They walked out and I did also and closed it. I looked at my family, one at a time and got even more pissed off. 

"Why are you all here?" I asked and they seemed shocked by my question and tone of voice.

"To see Ryker and see how Brent…" Papa was saying but I put my hand up to stop him. 

"Don't say his name like you all give a shit about him. He has been trying so hard for months, been through hell, kidnapped, feels so out of place and is not even comfortable here so he wants to leave because of every single person here. I can care less about the pack, I care about how he feels about you all. He is my mate, you are my family. Yes he fucked up and did horrible things in his life but he has been amazing since he's been here. All he ever wanted was a chance, one chance from you all to show him he's not alone and that we are not monsters but with how you all have been treating him, it isn't that far fetched on how he did see our kind as he grew up. I'm not an idiot nor blind when it comes to his past actions and the hurt he caused this family but for goodness sake, can't you just try to forgive him, to try to have a simple conversation with him, to try to get to know him? He's a wonderful sweet man and if he was going to harm us, do you honestly think I would have taken him back as my mate? Why does it take someone being in a hospital for others to wake the hell up and try at that time? Why even bother when yesterday you all didn't even spare a thought about him. Leave, go to the pack house, do whatever you want but do not show up here again." I was so pissed off that I was shaking and they all walked out with their heads down, except grandpa Liam. He waited until they were gone before hugging me.

"You did well. You may not believe me or even know but I have been talking to Brent since he got here, a little here and there, more after he was kidnapped. You know about my situation before so I thought he could use someone to talk to. I know how he feels and I didn't want him to feel like he was alone in this. He is hurting so bad Altan, he is lost and feels its his fault what happened to him, payback for what he's done. I tried telling him no matter what he did, he didn't deserve to be hurt like he was. Being raped Altan, it does something to you, it breaks you even when you seem strong, you aren't. He will never be ok with what happened, no matter how old he gets. He will always feel ashamed and dirty, feel scared and alone no matter who he is with. It's been years for me and I still have nightmares and feel alone and scared. No matter how much I am loved and know my mate's are there for me, it's still how I feel. I know Brent is planning on leaving and I know how much that must hurt, just be there for him, always. He will be overwhelmed and scared so call him, a lot. He will appreciate it and visit as much as you can. Don't pressure him into anything and if he dates, be happy for him even if it kills you. Our situations are different but the acts are the same so I know what I'm talking about. He needs support and he isn't getting it here, obviously. I am so disappointed in this family, that's why I haven't been around much. I miss my kids but my son is being a complete asshole and Kody, I can't even begin to explain him. I am sorry for everything that has happened Altan, I truly am. I hope you two will work things out and be together again. Do what is best for you both, the hell with everyone else. They aren't in your relationship nor do their opinions matter on what you two do. I love you kiddo, I only want what's best for you. Let's go see if we can get an update on Brent." He held my hand and we walked down the hall, my mind on what he said. He made me feel better and to have a better understanding on how Brent is feeling. 

"Any updates yet?" I asked the nurse since I don't see Gary or Joseph. She typed in the computer and looked up at me a couple of minutes later and frowned.

"It says he's experiencing complications, they can't seem to find the source of the bleed and his blood pressure is low, his temperature is a little high and he is starting to loose some feeling in his fingers and toes." She informed me and I almost fell from my knees being so weak.

"Come, let's sit down." Grandpa Liam helped me into a chair and I couldn't think of anything except what the nurse told me.

If my mate doesn't make it, I don't know what the hell I will do. He has a son who needs him, I need him. He has to be ok.