Page 66 of Broken Chains

I shrugged. "It's a paycheck. I don't have very many other options at the moment."

"I know all about being forced to do things you don't want to do," he said as a darkness crossed his face before he shook it off. I didn't dare ask him about it.

"So how's Opal? Haven't seen her in a while. I'm sure she's getting big," I said and watched as the man transitioned from whatever was tormenting him into one very proud father.

"She's growing too fast. She's already sitting up on her own. She's trying desperately to crawl, and it's adorable when she starts getting frustrated with herself over it. And she has four teeth already."

I smiled, understanding how monumental those moments were. "Eve is almost sitting on her own now. She's got the balance down, just not quite getting into position on her own yet, and it's really pissing her off," I said, and we both laughed. It was nice to be able to talk about my daughter's milestones with someone who got it and wasn't Peyton or my brothers.

"I think Ruby's going to be heading over to your place to stand guard with Peyton tomorrow," he informed me.

I didn't realize how much relief that brought me. "Thanks, man. I've never had any support before, like what everyone is showing us through all this now. I mean, don't get me wrong, Luke and my pack are really stepping up too, but my old Alpha never gave a shit what happened to us."

"Sounds like a really shitty Alpha," Bran said.

I nodded. "Yeah, he really was."

I found Bran easy to talk to, not that I'd ever needed anyone to talk things out with, aside from maybe Peyton. It was nice to shoot the shit with someone going through a similar stage in life.

I had never really been one who needed friends or whatever sort of validation other people give you. Even among my pack I'd always kept to myself.

The morning passed quickly and, true to his word, Bran had managed to cram my entire day’s work into those few hours. I thanked him and we made plans to meet up for beers soon. It was odd and nice at the same time.

I drove home to find everyone still there. They’d been busy while I was gone, and Peyton looked like a woman on a mission. Eve was still attached at her hip, as Peyton had taken to wearing her everywhere again.

There’d been no signs of Melina or any word from her. I knew I needed to find her and address the issue once and for all, but a part of me hoped she’d just disappear again, for good this time.

I was surprised to find Peyton’s sister, Elizabeth, there pouring over a laptop. She seemed to have a whole office set up in the dining room.

“What’s going on?” I asked as I leaned in to kiss my mate hello.

“Lizzy’s going over the documents. While it doesn’t look like Melina has much of a leg to stand on, the documents she signed over to her parents are legit.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“It means that they could return parental rights to Melina if we don’t do something quick,” Elizabeth said.

“Like what?” I asked.

Peyton bit her lip and squeezed Eve a little tighter as she napped against her chest.

“Right now, we have a good case,” Luke jumped in. “We need to move fast, though, to secure your rights while you have custody of Eve with the grandparents’ permission, while they still have guardianship rights.”

“And how do we do that?” I was really trying to keep up, but it was clear they’d already been discussing this for hours.

“How do you feel about Peyton legally adopting Eve? I can pull some strings and we’ll steamroll it before they have a chance to even think about filing,” Thomas said.

“Why would I have a problem with that? Peyton’s the only true mother Eve’s ever known,” I said matter-of-factly.

One look at my mate nearly brought me to my knees. Peyton started crying, but it wasn’t sad tears, as she had a huge smile on her face, and I could feel absolute relief through our bond. I reached out and hugged her as close to me as I could get with the baby between us.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

I didn’t understand why she was getting so emotional. Eve and I were a package deal and there were no doubts in my mind that she’d fully accepted us both into her life.

“Okay, let’s do this,” Thomas said.

Hours later I collapsed onto the couch exhausted. There were still people everywhere. I wasn’t sure I was ever getting my house back. I never did make it out to track down Melina. We were too busy securing our legal rights and getting everything in order.

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