If anyone else could have felt the thrill of terror in Byakuya’s gut that arose with the sight of Kyoraku and Ukitake waiting for him after he finally emerges from Renji’s private quarters, he doubts any of them would have blamed him for it. Considering their last appearance after such a situation, it seems a natural reaction to be concerned over what they have to say.

“Alpha, you look well-rested.” Kyoraku drawls, and Byakuya arches an eyebrow at him, unimpressed. “You’re glowing. You and Abarai must have enjoyed yourselves.”

The comment has his stomach dropping. I never stopped to consider what happens when the rest of the pack finds out. “Naturally. I assume you must be hear to tell me something?”

“Ah, yes, unfortunately.” Ukitake takes a deep breath and exhales slowly, but the uncertainty in his soft brown eyes makes Byakuya distinctly uncomfortable. “It’s about Aizen and his pack. We would prefer to have the conversation with Abarai present, and anyone else necessary.”

Anyone else necessarily means the rest of the older, established members of the pack that Byakuya trusts, which includes Yoruichi and Urahara. “Understood. Start rounding people up. I’ll let Renji know and I’ll go fetch Yoruichi myself. How serious is this information?”

“It’s not time sensitive so if it takes us fifteen minutes to get everyone together, that’s fine.” Kyoraku says, and Byakuya has to commend the man on knowing just how to phrase things to his personal liking. “But it is important that we have this conversation as soon as we have everyone together so we can make decisions and deal with what we need to deal with.”

“Understood. We’ll move quickly.” What have you been doing in my absence, Aizen?

Renji is an easy task. He’s off toward the pack meeting room that Byakuya keeps specifically for his trusted pack members as soon as Byakuya finishes speaking, though he casts a longing glance back over his shoulder before he goes. Being in their place in leadership of the pack means that of course these problems crop up while the afterglow of their last lovemaking is still upon them, but Byakuya is more used to that at this point. Even when Hisana was on her deathbed, there were problems he had to attend to one way or another.

Yoruichi answers the door in nothing more than a sheet, running a hand through her ruffled hair as she narrows her eyes at him. “What is it, Byakuya-bo? You’re interrupting me.”

He can tell. The scent of sex is heavy on the air. “I apologize, but we have business to deal with.”

“Serious?” When Byakuya nods, Yoruichi sighs and tips her head back. “Of course. I can’t do anything about our scents, but we can be there. Just give us about ten minutes.”

“Of course.” Byakuya bows his head, but Yoruichi leans on to press a kiss to the top of his head. “As soon as we have this dealt with, you can return to your personal activities.”

Yoruichi snorts at him. “I can return to knotting my omega. Just say it.”

“I did.” Byakuya rolls his eyes when Yoruichi pokes her tongue out at him. “Ten minutes.”

The meeting room is nothing more than a large and empty conference room with an old wooden table for all of them to sit around. Ukitake and Kyoraku are already in place, Kyoraku’s arm around Ukitake’s shoulders and his face tucked against Ukitake’s neck. The slight flush in the omega’s face tells Byakuya everything he needs to know. Kyoraku is whispering something in Ukitake’s ear, no doubt promising him something to help pass the meeting time faster. Renji is already in his second seat, rising when Byakuya steps into the room, expression pinched.

“Yoruichi and Urahara are on the way.” He says, and he lets Renji lean into him, running his fingers through Renji’s hair. “Relax. We will deal with this and move on with our lives.”

Unohana joins them not longer after, Isane close behind her. “I’ve been told we have serious news about Aizen’s pack to discuss? I hope I wasn’t being misled.”

“No, Retsu.” Ukitake sighs softly, shaking his head. “I wish it wasn’t true, I really do.”

Shiba Kaien, Sui-Feng, and Tsukabishi Tessai file into the room in short order. Yoruichi and Urahara slip into the room and at the very last minute, the youngest member of their group, Hitsugaya Toshiro, joins them. Once everyone is in place, Byakuya lowers himself into his chair and takes a slow, deep breath. He must remain calm. None of them know about the pregnancy yet except for him, Renji, and Unohana, and he needs to keep it that way until he and Renji can decide who to tell and when. It complicates things immeasurably.

He would not change it, though. This decision is one he is firm in.

“Kyoraku, Ukitake, you told me that you’ve learned something new about Aizen’s pack since I’ve been indisposed.” Byakuya says softly, looking between the two of them. “What did you learn?”

Ukitake straightens up, smacking Kyoraku’s hand away from his lap. “Alpha, it was brought to our attention while you were occupied that someone has been on the edge of our territory.”

The thought does not sit well with Byakuya. “And we are sure it is not Shinji’s pack?”

“I made contact with them not long ago.” Renji says, and Byakuya nods. They talked about that. “They’ll be further up north by this point in time because Zaraki’s willing to shelter them during the worst of the weather. So we know it can’t be them. And Aizen’s pack is nearby, as Rukia said, so that really only leaves them as the possible culprits unless it’s a stray or two.”

Ukitake shakes his head. “No. I don’t think so. There were too many sets of prints.”

“We can’t be sure of the boundaries of Aizen’s pack without pushing them.” Kyoraku adds thoughtfully, “So we can only assume. Your little sister said they were close, but we don’t know the specifics. Even if we walked into their territory by accident, Aizen has every right to send someone after us for doing it. It’s possible he’s got patrols running his own perimeter.”

“And it just happens to be that close to ours.” Byakuya sighs heavily. He should have seen something like this coming, and yet it comes as a surprise just the same.

Kaien clears his throat and leans forward, hands landing flat on the table. “There was that open space between us and Zaraki. You think that’s where they set up camp? Because I do.”

“Then where are they staying?” Isane asks, raising her eyebrows at him. “There’s no shelter in that space. They haven’t had a lot of time to erect any because Aizen hasn’t been gone that long. I’ve been through that space. So have you. It’s nothing but forest up there.”

Hitsugaya clears his throat. “Are we sure they haven’t had enough time? It’s Aizen.”

“Ichimaru Gin was identified by Rukia as a kitsune spirit, so his magic is something we haven’t really stopped to consider.” Unohana says evenly. Her eyes are soft but sad as she meets Byakuya’s, as if she remembers their companionship. “We have no idea what his limits are. He was very careful to keep them concealed from us until Rukia first saw him.”

To this, Byakuya shakes his head. “Not quite. Aizen was well-known for somehow being able to be in two places at once, at knowing things he shouldn’t necessarily have known. It was something no one really cared to notice until after he’d defected, but it remains the truth. He knew that. He knew.” Byakuya pauses, clears his throat. “He knew Hisana passed and told other members of the pack before I ever had a chance to leave her bedside.”

Ukitake nods solemnly. “Suggesting he knew the moment it occurred even though he shouldn’t have. But he was so quiet and kept to himself, and his involvement with Shinji—”

“Stop.” Byakuya says, and Ukitake falls quiet. “This stretch of space is most likely where Aizen is keeping his territory. That presses it up against ours and up against Zaraki’s, which I’m sure he won’t entirely be fond of. This changes our hunting territory. We were sharing that space, but if it belongs to Aizen, then we should probably stay far away from it.”

“It’s not exactly plentiful with resources, so they might be hunting outside of their own territory as well.” Tessai adds thoughtfully. “We could run into them entirely by accident.”

When Urahara raises his hand, Byakuya knows what to expect. “Have we considered that having a meeting with Aizen as an equal to discuss this change is in order? The terms of his betraying and leaving our pack are serious, but he’s a pack alpha now. We have the meeting with Zaraki every year to discuss things, sometimes more often if there are any issues. Aizen… Is part of that now, whether we want to view him as such or not.”

Byakuya winces. “You may have a point, but I don’t like the thought of speaking to him.”

“None of us do.” Yoruichi murmurs. “But we can’t go forward too boldly if we don’t know where Aizen is, or what his territory lines are. If we cross into them by accident, then Aizen can respond violently. Just like he did with Rukia, alpha.”

The shot is not appreciated and Byakuya gives her a look so she knows that before he presses his fingers against his temples. It was customary to speak to new pack alphas in the area whether they were just traveling or whether they were settling in, something Byakuya had to organize when he took over the pack and needed to speak to Zaraki for the first time himself. Pretending Aizen’s pack is not hunkered down in the woods and just hoping they never cross into his territory is not going to work if he truly is wedged against them.

But the prospect of seeing Aizen once more makes Byakuya feel vaguely ill.

Their last encounter was the challenge and the following exile when Aizen decided pack law did not appeal to him, shattering it in its entirety when he challenged Byakuya for his place as pack alpha. It happens. Byakuya has dealt with more challengers before and Aizen seemed like nothing of a threat, mild-mannered and soft-spoken. Until he changed shape before the fight could officially begin, until he tried to use his wolf skin to kill Byakuya on the spot.

Aizen tried to rip him apart. He was never going to forgive him for that dirty trick.

“I suppose we don’t have much in the way of another choice.” He finally says, and Renji makes a noise of discontent next to him. “I don’t know how we should go about doing that, though.”

“If Shinji wasn’t bedded down for the winter, we probably could have sent a message through one of his pack.” Urahara muses, but Byakuya only makes a face at that.

“I wouldn’t want Shinji’s pack anywhere near Aizen’s if I could afford to keep them safe from him.” Whether or not Shinji and his nomads were part of Byakuya’s pack anymore means largely nothing to him in the grand scheme of things. They are his and if he can help keep them safe, then he will. “So that’s not an option. We need something different.”

Kaien is quiet, drumming his fingers on the table top. “If we sent in Kira, then—”

Yoruichi shakes her head. “No. Kira has suffered more than enough and he doesn’t deserve to suffer anymore. Hasn’t he gone through enough? He’s still suffering from Gin’s betrayal.”

“And?” Unohana asks softly. “I doubt Gin would be willing to physically harm him.”

“So we send Kira in, let him break his heart over Gin all over again, and hope that Gin is torn up enough over Kira enough that he doesn’t want to hurt him.” Renji snorts hard and Byakuya stretches out a hand, palming the back of his neck to calm him down. “I’m not letting any of you try to talk him into doing that. If we send him in there alone, he could get killed.”

Byakuya makes a soft noise at him. “We aren’t sending Kira in. I draw the line there. He has suffered more than enough, and Gin is not someone I trust any longer.”

“We have limited options.” Hitsugaya breathes, and his voice is exasperated around the edges. Byakuya wonders if he is still planning, still waiting for the opportune moment. “Most of the more harmless members of our pack who would not be viewed as a direct threat were wounded by the betrayal. We have to send someone in to invite Aizen out.”

Isane props her chin on the palm of her hand. “This is only made harder by the fact that we don’t even know where we’re sending them. If Aizen’s pack stays tucked inside somewhere for the winter, he might not realize anyone is in his territory.”

“He will.” Byakuya says quietly. “It is Aizen, and he will always be a shrewd, careful man.”

Renji tilts his head to the side. “What if we send Ichigo? He’s relatively harmless.”

“He’s not harmless.” Kaien argues, and Byakuya wonders distantly if the young omega has been causing trouble the last few days with no one to watch over him and ensure he does as he should. “He’s a terror. But I guess a young omega is safer to send out than anyone else. Probably should send Ishida with him just in case.”

“If this devolves into a pack war, we’ve probably got numbers.” Yoruichi shrugs, a frightening little smile touching her lips. “I bet I can take down anyone Aizen has on his side with one hand tied behind my back. I’m sure I’ve got this.”

Renji’s jaw tightens and Byakuya reaches for him just a moment too late. “We can’t just fight them! There are members of our pack who aren’t able to fight, and we can’t expend bodies to protect them and fight at the same time. And it’s Aizen so if you think he doesn’t have some kind of plan in place just for something like this, then you don’t know him that well. And all of you should, because you knew him longer than I did.”

The passion in his words makes Byakuya flush and duck his head; not everyone in their pack can fight. He knows Renji is speaking of him, of the fact that the pregnancy would make him a liability in any battle he found himself a part of. Even as excellent of a fighter as he is— he has to be to uphold his position as pack alpha— he will have difficulty if he has to guard his body, unable to afford taking too many hits at once. Especially to his midsection, a common place to strike because of the broadness of the space. Wolves tend to protect their stomachs anyway, but that doesn’t mean Aizen would not be able to figure out the truth and seek to exploit it at a moment’s notice.

Yoruichi raises her hands slowly, leaning back in her chair. “Relax, Abarai, it was a joke. But the reality of a pack war is, for the first time, a possibility. Aizen is that kind of man.”

“Aizen would never risk it if he thought he could fail.” Urahara argues, running a hand through his mussed hair— mussed from Yoruichi’s fingers, Byakuya knows. “If he was looking to take us out, he’d pick fighters, or he’d pick numbers. Either he’s got a small amount of truly skilled and bloodthirsty people at his beck and call, or he picked up a large number of expendables he can easily replace in the future.”

Byakuya nods in agreement. “We can have Ishida and Ichigo examine the pack that they see for numbers and go from there. Ishida might be better suited for figuring out what kind of pack Aizen has built since Ichigo has never lived inside of one before now.”

“What are the odds he’s just…” Ukitake sighs softly and tips his head back. “What are the odds Aizen just ended up close to our location? Or that he simply took up a place in the closest open territory, rather than choosing it for its closeness to us?”

“You are asking us to make some very kind judgments of this man and none of us have ever been able to do that.” Kyoraku says, running a hand through the weight of Ukitake’s hair.

“He doesn’t exactly deserve it at this point.” Sui-Feng says softly, and Renji nods in agreement while Byakuya just sits and listens. “He betrayed our pack, attacked our alpha in an unofficial challenge with intent to kill him, and uprooted much of the trust the pack had in him, Ichimaru, and Tosen. I have no desire to be kind in his direction. And if he wanted a different territory, I am certain he would have obtained it easily.”

Ukitake shakes his head, his expression soft and sad. “As I am well aware, but he left with no resources and only two companions. It might have been born of desperation.”

“When we speak to Aizen directly, we can ask him ourselves.” Byakuya is exhausted, and this conversation will go nowhere. They can debate well into the night about Aizen’s true motives without ever coming up with a true conclusion. “If there is no more pressing business to concern ourselves with, I will call this meeting to an end.”

Unohana clears her throat. “I’d like to check your condition before you go back to your own personal business. To see if your illness is clearing up now.”

“Illness?” Kyoraku tilts his head, concern showing plain on his face. “Byakuya?”

“I’ve caught a stomach flu because of the weather.” Byakuya says, the lie coming easily. Right now, he wants to keep the truth of his condition between himself, Renji, and Unohana if he can manage. “It’s just about cleared up now, but you can check just to be safe.”

Sui-Feng frowns at him. “Careful, Taichou. A stomach illness can do more damage than you would first expect possible. Make sure you’re taking care of yourself.”

“Of course.” Byakuya stands and bows his head to his pack. “This meeting is over.”

The others file out slowly, though Ukitake lingers for a moment long ago for Byakuya to know that he has something to say. He steps into Byakuya’s personal space without much thought and Byakuya allows it, a fond smile touching his lips when Ukitake pulls him into a gentle embrace, the soothing scent of galanthus blossoms cocooning him. After Byakuya’s parents passed away, Ukitake had more or less stepped in, and Byakuya lets him because he knows it brings the man some peace. After all, Byakuya hardly needs the coddling.

“Are you sure it’s just a stomach flu?” he asks when the room is empty, pressing the heel of his hand to Byakuya’s forehead. “You don’t feel feverish. You look… Better than you did the last time I saw you, though you were in Renji’s care since then.”

Byakuya tries to roll his eyes at the comment, a flush warming his face. “Of course I was.”

“But…” Ukitake trails off, his voice dropping. “Have you spoken to Retsu about, ah…”

The gentle trailing off has Byakuya tensing slightly. “Spoken with her about what?”

“You and Renji spent a very long heat with one another and it would have been when your fertility was at its peak.” Ukitake’s tone is apologetic and Byakuya hopes the slight concern is not visible in his face. He wants no one to know yet. “Of course, it doesn’t always take, and you had been on suppressants for so long, but—”

Byakuya gently takes the older omega’s hands in his own. “No, Jushiro,” he says, and the omega preens slightly at having his first name used. “It’s not a pregnancy. We’ve gotten a proper diagnosis. I should be feeling better in no time.”

After all, Unohana mixed the medicine for his stomach specifically to ensure his unborn child would not be harmed. The morning sickness which seems to occur at every spare moment of the day will no doubt pass on with no one the wiser.

“I was just concerned.” Ukitake squeezes Byakuya’s hands before letting them go. “Well, I’ll leave you to it, then. I hope you feel better soon.”

When he and Kyoraku leave the room together, Renji releases a sigh that Byakuya had no idea he’d been holding back. “He’s going to be so upset that you didn’t just tell him.”

“I’ll make sure to explain my position to him clearly so he doesn’t take any personal offense.” Byakuya presses a hand to his forehead. This situation is too delicate, and too complicated. “I doubt he will mind too much when he realizes just how much I would be at risk to tell him such information right now. Unohana?”

The healer moves from her place at the table to examine him before giving him another bottle of medicine just to be safe, and then she is on her way. Before Byakuya can move from the table, Renji is at his back, arms wrapping around his waist, folding carefully over his stomach to pull Byakuya back against him. The press of his fingers makes Byakuya smile as much as it annoys him. Alphas and their pride. But then Renji mouths against the side of his neck and he sighs, letting his head fall to the side so Renji can kiss him.

“You’re not sick anymore.” He says, sucking carefully on Byakuya’s skin.

Byakuya hums. “I know that. Why are you telling me what I already know?”

“You promised me that when you were well again, I was going to be able to court you officially.” Renji spins him around, picks him up entirely too easily and sets him on the edge of the table, standing between his spread thighs. “And I obviously still want to do that.”

“Of course. You’ll have to move quickly if you want us mated before we have a child to think about.” Byakuya presses a hand flat to his stomach and Renji leans in to kiss him.

Watching him drop to his knees in one fluid, graceful motion makes Byakuya’s stomach give a little excited kick, but he only pushes Byakuya’s shirt up so he can rub his cheek against the flat expanse of his stomach. The sheer amount of pleasure he’s getting out of the pregnancy is both annoying and amusing, but the latter outweighs the former for now so Byakuya decides to let it go, threading his fingers through Renji’s hair and just enjoying the closeness of him and how happy he smells like this, scent warm and subdued.

“I will. But I’ll still do a proper job of it for you.” Renji looks up at him and Byakuya’s heart skips a beat or two, which is dangerous and no doubt bad for the baby. “I’ve wanted you longer than I can even put into words, and I’m going to make every single second count.”

Byakuya nods, wraps his hand in Renji’s ponytail to draw him back to his feet so he can kiss him. Renji presses him back against the table and Byakuya squeaks against his mouth, not expecting it, the warm weight of Renji’s body on top of his own, fingers creeping farther beneath his shirt until his entire body writhes in response to those gentle touches.

They can cleanse the room of their scents later, he decides. For now, he assists Renji in getting his clothing off as quickly as possible, wrapping his legs around Renji’s waist and whining the moment the alpha tries to get very far from him.

He can blame it on Yoruichi and Urahara if they get caught.