At the bar, after Daryn offered Brantley ginger ale, he said, "Dawn had told me about the conversation you had with her at Ensmoire." 

Brantley became uncomfortable. He looked away. "This is impossible. I won't bear the separation. And I will fight you guys if you will try to separate me from her." He was edgy, as if ready to fight with everyone for the sake of his mate. The way he looked at Dawn, it was as if she was trying to separate his soul from his body. There was misery in his expressions. He took in a deep breath. 

"I understand the mate bond, Brantley. But what she said makes a lot of sense. She just wants her baby to grow in a free environment rather than to be weighed down by the burden of being your mate. And I fully support her, because only then the child will be able to understand and value her freedom and life. If you are going to be there for her at each and every step, her emotional and mental growth is going to be stunted." Daryn explained. 

Brantley rubbed his chest as if he was trying to soothe his pain. His face looked as if he wouldn't see the sunshine again. The rhythm and melody of life whooshed out of him. He seemed as if he had lost the comfort that he was seeking for so long. 

Daryn placed a hand on his shoulder. "Brantley, look here man." 

Brantley's face was flushed. He bit his lip and blinked his eyes a number of times before turning to look at Daryn. His Adam's apple moved up. 

"In my opinion, you must dwell on this thought. Dawn will be finishing the seventh month soon and then you have two more months to think about it. Weigh your options, look at other parents, talk to them and then take a decision. You will be one of the most important people in my family and I will honor your decision. At the same time, I expect you to make a rational decision about this situation."

Brantley nodded. His throat choked with emotions and he didn't know what to say. He gulped the ginger ale in his glass. 

Soon it was announced that the cake was being cut and everybody congregated near it. Amidst fun and music and confetti, the cake was cut. Before Dawn could give Daryn a piece of cake, children became hyper and they rushed to eat the cake. Dawn laughed as the kids twirled around them to make way to the cake. Within a few minutes the cake was damaged and somehow the server managed to take it out from the clutches of the kids. Dawn loved seeing all of them and wondered when her kids would do the same. 

Cole and Cecilia seemed to enjoy the whole fun as they ran around with children and played with them. This was such a lovely moment. The three cousins were together and she hoped that they would bond better over time. 

When the soiree was about to get over, Dawn nudged Neal again, "Where's my gift?" 

"Waiting for you right over there," he said with a grin, pointing towards the table where the gifts were kept. 

Dawn darted her gaze and her mouth fell open. "Brenda!" she shrieked and pressed her mouth with her hands. "Oh my God!" 

Everyone in the hall looked at her when she shouted, and the next moment they saw that she was running towards Brenda. 

"Careful Dawn!" came a protective growl from the back. 

Dawn launched herself on Brenda. "Brendaaaaa!" she shouted in her ears as Brenda took the force with which Dawn had jumped on her to hug her. She laughed. 

"Dawn! How are you?" She hugged her tightly and tears started streaming down her cheeks. "Girl, I missed us!" 

The two girls stood there for a long time hugging like long lost friends. They had gone through so much in Ixoviya that they had formed a special bond. 

Dawn held her hand and brought her to the place where Daryn was standing along with Neal. 

"How did you like my gift?" asked Neal, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Excellent!" Dawn giggled. She couldn't hide her joy. There was so much she wanted to talk to Brenda as a friend and as a doctor that she said, "I will be going to be at Brenda's place tomorrow evening after the office. Daryn, you can join us or maybe not!" 

The rest of the evening was spent having fun and making jokes. The only person who seemed aloof was Brantley. He left early. 

--- 

Dawn was extremely tired by the time Daryn placed her on the bed in the Silver Mansion. He had carried her in his arms after he had taken out her sandals, up to the bedroom. "Why don't you change your dress baby?" he asked as he gave her medicines. 

She threw her hands up and pouted her lips. "You change my dress!" 

Daryn stared at her and said, "If I will do that, perhaps you would end up sleeping naked with me." 

"I don't care!" she shook her head. 

He raised his eyebrow. It was a lovely offer. He opened the zip of her dress and pulled it out. Once she was naked, she looked at her lasciviously. "Gods, woman, you make my fantasy run wild," he said when Dawn tucked herself in the blanket. 

With a sigh, he went to the bathroom and when he returned, he got her lingerie. "I am dying to have sex with you but I think we both need rest." Saying that he made her wear the lingerie and slipped beside her in the bed. She rested her head on his arms and he started to stroke her hair. 

"Thank you," she murmured. 

"For what baby?"

"For helping me out at the prison…"

"You don't have to thank me for that Dawn. I did it for me. Protecting you is what my wolf wants. You can't imagine my misery when I watched you fight the case and I couldn't do anything about it. Those people had spun a web around you in such a perfect way that if it weren't for Geoffrey and Hertz, things would have become very complicated. And after that I just had to make them all pay. It had to be done, especially after I had come to know what Bree was thinking." 

"When did you come to know?" she asked knowing well that Daryn had the ability to get in someone's mind and extract their nightmares. 

"This was during the second date of the trial, when Bree was answering Geoffrey's questions. I just delved into her mind to probe her nightmares, when I came across a few other details…" he stopped stroking her hair and put his arms beneath his head. 

"I didn't know you could read people's memories, Daryn!" said Dawn, totally mesmerized by her husband's latest ability. 

"Even I didn't know that I could, until that day." He took in a deep breath. "Bree was happy that you were bitten, and she knew all along that it was her father who had bitten you." Daryn clenched his teeth. "After that I just had to get to the core of the plan. One thing led to the other. I tapped into her memory of having a conversation with Jason and Niall. The three formulated a crazy plan to trap you."