Max slowly opens his eyes, his bedroom coming into focus. He has no idea how he got here. The last thing he remembers is getting in the car with Ryan, and then, nothing. A powerful inner rage comes over him and he’s not sure why. He doesn’t feel like himself at all. He brings his hand to his face and rubs his eyes. He’d give anything for this headache to stop. When he mentally embraces the anger, the throbbing subsides. Each time he tries to ignore the foreign feeling, the pain in his head gets worse. He decides to relent and let the bitterness invade his heart. What harm could it cause anyway?

He sits up and glances across the room; Ryan is watching him like a hawk. Why is he here?

“How are you feeling?” Ryan asks, a slight smirk on his lips.

Max was just about to respond ‘fuck off,’ when the word ‘fine’ comes out instead. What the fuck?  Furrowing his brow in confusion, he tries to say something else. The throbbing comes back, so much throbbing. Max hunches over in pain, the anger calling to him, tempting him to follow. He is powerless to fight, and he just wants the pain to go away.

“It’s better if you don’t fight,” Ryan whispers. Max eyes widen as his head nods involuntarily. “Just embrace it, Max, let go.” His eyes roll into the back of his head as the throbbing and pain dissipate. His eyes come back into focus and Ryan is pleased at what he sees.

His sister bursts into the room startling them both. She hops onto the bed and yanks Max into a huge hug. When Kenzi backs away and catches sight of him, her face pales.

“Max?” she gasps. “Are you okay?”

Throbbing ... pain. “I …” Max attempts to respond kindly to his sister and hug her back even harder, but instead he pushes her away and harshly replies, “Stop babying me and go away. I have things to do.”

Kenzi reaches out to touch his shoulder, but he backs away.

Ignoring her obviously troubled response, he looks Ryan’s way, noticing the satisfied grin on his face.

“We have to meet Marco; he has a surprise for you.”

“Good, let’s go now. There’s nothing going on here anyway,” Max says curtly, glaring at his sister. Ryan and Max rise and both head to exit, Ryan leaving first.

Kenzi runs to the doorway, blocking Max’s path. “But Jeremiah will be here any moment; he wanted you to wait for him.”

“I’ll contact him when I’m ready.” He grabs her shoulder, pushing her to the side. “I go where my Alpha needs me.” Max grumbles as he departs, leaving Kenzi confused and crestfallen.

Throbbing ... pain. Max is mentally panicking. He wonders why he can’t control himself. He is unable to shake the sensation that all of his reason and normal personality are being pushed away and he cannot figure out how to stop it. Embrace it Max, a voice flutters through his head.

Max arrives in the other room where Marco is already waiting.

Smiling, Marco says, “Come here brother.” Max walks over to Marco and is immediately pulled into a brotherly embrace. “So glad you could join our side.”

Throbbing...pain. Max’s body stiffens as he wrenches away from Marco.

“I can see in your eyes that you are trying to fight it, but it’s of no use. I brought something a little extra to help you with this problem. Grab him, Ryan.”

Marco reaches in his pocket and pulls out a syringe filled with a red liquid. Throbbing ... pain. Max temporarily regains control of his body for a second and jerks back, but Ryan seizes his arms holding him still. He manages to utter one word before Marco injects him with the liquid, “NNoo.” But his brother doesn’t stop and empties the entire contents into his veins.

With the throbbing and pain all gone, Max’s current consciousness fades and turns into something twisted and evil, and he can’t help but smile in relief because he finally gets to let himself go and cause a little mayhem.

“Isn’t that better now, Max?” Marco says as he pats him on the shoulder.

Max answers with less resistance than before, “Yes, better.”

“Now let’s go and meet your surprise.”

* * *

Kylie hates this place; it’s been her home for the past five years. She is so glad for Kenzi, Max and Jeremiah because they made it bearable. She has missed Heather terribly and has relied on her memories of her to keep going. What she wouldn’t give to see her again, even just once. Heather would absolutely love her little ones. With their adorable yet mischievous personalities, they win everyone over that they meet.

Half the time Kylie pretends as if she doesn’t want them, but it’s really an act. If Marco knew how much she loved them and their father, then he would suspect something. When Kylie found out about the pregnancy, she knew they weren’t Marco’s. Kylie wanted to tell Jeremiah, but him knowing would put his life in danger. She didn't want anything bad to happen to him because he is such a good man.

Kylie wanders through the house in the direction of the secret room she found the other day. It’s her hiding place of sorts when she wants to escape everything. Before she reaches it, a pair of hands grabs her from behind and turns her around.

“Your mate requests your presence,” Ryan growls. “Come willingly or I will drag you.”

Kylie learned a long time ago not to disobey Marco. She nods and follows Ryan to the pack meeting room, and there, sitting in the front, is the man who ruined her entire life. Every time she gets close to him, Kylie wishes she could kill him. Kylie thought that with these new shifting abilities, she would be able to escape from this hell, but that idea was squashed when Kenzi explained the control of the Alpha. After learning this, she lost all hope that she would ever get away.

Ryan heads to the front to join Marco, and for the first time, Kylie notices Max on the right. He’s always tried to protect her from his brother, as best he could and she thanks her lucky stars for him every day. As Kylie gets closer, her eyes widen when she takes in his appearance. His eyes are no longer the amber she’s used to. They are red like ... Marco’s. She covers her mouth in shock as Max glares at her with no hint of emotion whatsoever.

Marco realizes where she’s looking and smiles. “Hello, wife. Something wrong?”

Her voice trembling, Kylie responds, “What did you do to him?” She points to Max, and he continues to glare at her.

“You’ll find out soon enough, but first, I have a present for you.”

Marco gives a chin lift in the direction of the door and two men drag a struggling woman to the center of the room, but she can’t quite see her face. They toss her to the floor and she falls to her knees.

“Go on, Kylie, say hi,” Marco coaxes.

The woman’s head pops up and her hair falls away from her face. “Heather?” Kylie’s lips tremble, her eyes welling with tears as her body remains frozen. “Is it … is it really you?”

Equally emotional, Heather nods as tears free fall down her face. Heather stands and runs to Kylie, pulling her into a tight embrace. “I’ve really missed you so much, Kylie. I’m so sorry I didn’t go back with you that night. If I did, then this would have never happened.”

Kylie shakes her head, and they embrace again. “It’s not your fault, at all. I’m just glad you’re okay. I missed you so much.’

Their reunion is interrupted when Marco’s guards pull them apart. They try to hold onto each other but the other wolves are just too strong.

“This is all so touching,” Marco mocks. “But you are taking up Max’s time with his mate.”

The guard who is holding a struggling Heather passes her to Max.

Heather is pissed at him for lying, but something tells her that this is not the Max she made love to last night. She doesn’t know who this person is. This person’s eyes look cold and dead.

“Hello, my love,” Max coos, as he caresses her face. “I missed you.” Max leans forward, grabs her chin and plants a rough kiss on her lips. He forces her lips apart and shoves his tongue inside.

Heather forcibly pulls away and struggles more. “Let go of me, you liar,” she shouts, fighting to escape his hold. The smile that he gives her no longer makes her feel warm inside, it actually scares the living shit out of her. And when the hell did his eyes become red?

He studies her for a moment. Grinning he replies, “I don’t think so, love. Those marks I gave you earlier says that you’re mine.”

She stills and stares at him, her mind moving a mile a minute. Flashes of him biting her and then making her forget about it slam into her thoughts.

“You …” The word comes out in a whisper, but he answers, “Yes me.”

Her attention is brought to the man who looks a lot like the guy from her dreams. She eyes him handing Max what looks like a syringe. She goes back to struggling when the man says, “Take care of her, now.”

“Yes, Alpha,” Max responds, turning Heather around so that her back is to his front, wrapping an arm around her waist.

“What is that?” Heather demands.

He gives her a quick kiss on the neck on the spot where he bit her and says, “Something that will let us be together.” Heather jerks forward but Max is faster. He injects her arm with the substance, and she mumbles the word ‘bastard’ before she passes out in his arms.

Max carries her to the couch in the far corner of the room and gently lays her down, grinning at the fact that she now truly belongs to him, and no one will ever be able to take her away. His gaze shoots to his brother who has his own smile. Max crosses his arms in front of him and awaits the next order from his Alpha, hoping that it has something to do with hurting Jeremiah.

“Now your turn, wife.” Kylie’s attention is brought back from the exchange between Heather and Max, to Marco. She has no idea what just happened, but what she does know is that it definitely wasn’t good.

“Your father is expecting both his daughters.”

Daughters?

Confused at this statement, Kylie backs up and hits the wall as the two guards approach her. Their attention from her is diverted when an explosion breaks the door. Marco’s body is thrown against the wall hard, and he then hit the floor, thankfully remaining there unconscious. Max stands up, brushing the dust off his shirt. He locks eyes with the cause of this disturbance ... Jeremiah. Her Jeremiah.

Another figure comes up behind him and fires shot after shot at the other wolves in the room. Kylie barely catches a glimpse of him because he's so fast.

“Jeremiah,” Max snarls as he charges toward him, his eye blazing the color of flames. Another shot rings out, hitting Max in the thigh and he falls to the floor.

“We need to go pronto, J,” the stranger says as he fires at the wolves entering the room. “They’re starting to heal.”

“Okay, leaving now, Evan.”

“Come on, Kylie, let’s go,” Jeremiah says, reaching for her hand. She takes it, following him and Evan into the car. As soon as they get in the car, Jeremiah floors it and they speed off the compound.

“The babies?” Kylie gasps.

“Are fine. Kenzi snuck out earlier with them and is taking them somewhere safe. We are meeting up with her later.”

“Where are we going Jeremiah?”

“Someplace else; so we can regroup.”

“We have to help Heather and Max. Did you see his eyes, what did Marco do to him?”

“I don’t know, but when I find out, there will be hell to pay.”