Maeve looked behind her back. The castle she had stayed for half a year was starting to disappear behind the trees.

Was something wrong with her when she decided to left with a man she had known for a few minutes? There is still a chance that he isn't her father after all. But she knew that when she took the step out of the castle.

Few steps anymore and she and her child could start a new life somewhere far, where no one could find them. It was the right thing for her and the baby. Maeve had never belonged inside of those cold walls, she was different than them. Her child would also be in a constant danger inside of those walls.

But that didn't explain the pain she is feeling.

She was finally free, but she felt even more gaged than ever before.

The human turned to look at her father. He finally came for her, after all the nights when she prayed him to find her. Now they could live as Maeve had always wanted, like a father and daughter. But in her dream, there were also her Mother and siblings.

"You okay?" Oliver asked.

Maeve only nodded and kept going forward. Touching her pocket she felt the little figure in her pocket breathing. It was a relief that she managed to find Tommy before fleeing with her father.

"We need to hurry up," the man stated and Maeve knew that. If she kept overthinking she would end up getting caught and the man next to her would end up six-feet-under ground.

"Let's go," she mumbled and lifted the hem of her dress. It was a light pink silky one that hugged her every curve expect her plump stomach. It was a pure miracle that she didn't look like she had eaten the entire table full of food. No one could tell that she was expecting a child if they looked at her in the dress. She knew that someday, sooner or later, she would have to tell her father that she is pregnant. If she decides to keep it to herself the man will see it with his own eyes. But still, it didn't feel like now was the time to share her big news.

Her heart was aching in her chest as she took steps away from the castle, away from him. It was the right thing, she kept telling herself.

She deserves better. She deserves to be loved and Maeve knew that he will not answer to her feelings. Her child deserves to be raised in a house full of love and happiness. If she would have stayed there the baby would have seen death from an early age.

Knowing that soon she would turn around she gave her hand to the man who claims to be her father. She didn't trust him yet. It seemed weird that the man she shares her blood with will appear into her life after eighteen years just when she managed to get her life back on the tracks, at least somehow.

Time went by as they kept moving. Maeve had to stop at every hour to take a deep breath and gather her thoughts. It didn't seem to mind Oliver, or at least his face didn't show it. When they had been on their run for hours he told her that he isn't going to take her where he used to live with his people. He was going to take her to a place where the king would never find her.

The thought of that made her stomach turn. Was she ever going to see him again? Will she ever see his grey eyes again?

The truth was that if she kept running he wouldn't. If she changed the place she lived a few times in a year he would never find her and their child. Her mind was shattered in half. The other half told her to run to the hills, hide and live a happy life with her child and father. They would hug each other every day and do things that Maeve had done in her childhood.

But the other half was telling her to go back. To run to his arms and never let go.

When the night came and they stopped for the night Maeve took the little mouse out of her pocket. Tommy was the only thing that has been for her since she became to the castle. Like her, he looked little different than usual.

It's eyes that were once filled a little spark were gone. They were pitch black and the spark was gone.

"Do you miss the c-castle?" She whispered hoping to not wake up her father sleeping at the bottom of old spruce.

The mouse didn't answer. He just stared straight into her eyes.

"What do you think our life will be now on?" She asked again thinking about the life she once dreamed of. How she would marry a man she loves and Tommy would also find his other half, but when the time went by her dreams also changed. Her dream was only a fairytale and if something the life she has been living ever since her mother died taught her that life isn't a fairytale where everything ends with the words 'happily ever after'.

Tommy blinked his eyes and turned his head towards the sleeping figure.

"I don't know if I trust him, Tommy," she whispered. "He might be my f-father," she shuttered the last word. She was scared. Scared of the fact that her life is going to change again and she didn't know was it a good thing or not.

The mouse turned its head towards the direction where they had come from. Once Maeve had wondered if it really could understand her but day after day it showed her to be wrong. The mouse understood her better than any human or werewolf ever has.

"You want to go back?" Not expecting him to answer Maeve closed her eyes and took deep breaths and tried to ignore the noise her stomach was making. When she opened her eyes she saw the mouse nod.

Trying to make sense in her mind of what just happened. Tommy had never ever answered her before. He has squeezed something but Maeve didn't understand mice language, now he did a sign that she could understand even in her sleep.

"Did you just n-nod? The mouse nodded again.

What was she thinking when she thought that talking to the mouse would have cleared up her mind? If something it made her even more confused about her own feelings.

Lovering herself to lie on the ground she took few deep breaths before closing her eyes and hoping that a little sleep would clear up her mind. There was no time to make the wrong decision.

***

Cato had never seen him like that. They had known each other since they were only two stupid boys who didn't understand anything from the world. They had almost killed each other several times and got drunk like there was no tomorrow. He had seen him on his worst but still, he had never seen him like this.

The look on the king's eyes was so cold that it made even the advisors shit in their pants and run to the hills screaming.

Never had Dominic been known from his warm personality and from his sunny personality but never had he been like this. Even when his father died over ten years ago he wasn't like this.

He turned to look at Elena who was sitting on a chair and staring at nothing. Even she, the werewolf who had told him at the first time she saw the human girl that there was something off about her was shocked on knowing that Maeve had disappeared. It has been almost a week since the carrier of the future king had disappeared.

The first everyone cheered their cups and guessed that she had left only to sniff some flowers or something girly like that. No one ever thought that the human girl left leaving the werewolf population on their toes.

After she left many had started to make up conspiracy theories about how she was killed by the king or kidnapped by the enemy.

"What do you think?" The she-wolf asked breaking her stare.

"About what."

"Where the human is?"

Cato rolled his eyes. If he knew the answer for that he wouldn't be standing in his room but he would be running his ass off to Maeve's whereabouts. "Somewhere," he muttered.

No matter how much he wanted the human gone in her first months in the castle he couldn't deny the fact that he is missing her annoying questions and stubborn act. Not realizing it then was a mistake that not only he has to pay. The beta cursed in his mind and kissed the head of his mate before leaving the room only to go and find the cold-hearted devil.

***

Ethen stared at the strawberry blonde hair in his hands. It has been ages since he took the hair from her head. She probably thinks him of a maniac and he can't deny the fact that because of his actions in the past ruined his chance at happiness. He remembers the words he said then to justify his actions, "You don't need this, but to me, it will be a reminder for your incredible beauty."

Those words made her freak out. They weren't a complete lie. He did think her as a beautiful woman but that everything changed when he looked into the eyes of the maid.

The fucking dead maid that happened to be his other half changed his life when she killed herself with the knife. Ever since the human girl disappeared he has been relieved by the fact that he doesn't have to worry about his own mate's whereabouts. He has seen how it has affected the ruler of the werewolf nation.

Seeing how the sun reflected from the hair made him think about the day when he took the hair. He ripped it out of her head because he knew that something like this was about to happen. She deserved better than any of the bastards inside the castle and by having the hair made it possible to track her down.

By giving it to the king wouldn't end well on Ethen's behalf. He was going to get a broken nose if things ended well because he had touched the king's mate. He rolled his eyes and rubbed his nose. At least it wouldn't stay broken for a long because some of the supernatural species had a fast healing ability. Luckily for him, werewolves were one of them.

If he would give the hair to the human's mate they would find her and bring her back to where she belongs with the unborn child. Making his final decision before walking to the king and prepare his nose for a hit he took the hair and put it back to the box it has been held for months. The human might deserve a life with her kind but her child is the next king and every moment she is away from the castle she is putting the child in a danger where none of them will survive.

He walked to the hallways towards The Great Hall when he met the annoying beta called Cato.

"What do you want," Ethen muttered and knocked on the door.

"I have to talk to him, you?" Cato eyes him from the head to toe. "What's in that box?" He asked as he noticed the dark wooden box in his hands.

Ethen put his hand over the betas shoulder and whispered into his ear, "This, my friend, holds our only chance on finding where our future Queen is." After that, he walked into the room hoping the best ending for his nose.

***