Pushing the unlocked door open, Max is greeted by an annoyed and out of breath Jeremiah. Max takes in his ruffled appearance and prepares to question him, but his attention is drawn to the man passed out on the floor near the stairs.

“What took you so long?” Jeremiah gripes.

“Traffic,” Max answers curtly.  “What happened here?” He motions to Jim’s unconscious body.

“Well,” Jeremiah explains, “the slippery fucker freaked out and tried to escape when I mentioned the word interrogation.” He shrugs his shoulders. “Didn’t know he would panic. Lesson learned.” Jeremiah smirks.

“Okay,” Max sighs, “but you still didn’t explain how he ended up in this condition, so please continue J.”

Jeremiah runs a hand through his red hair, tinted slightly dark because of the saturation of sweat. “Sorry, man. He tried to run so I had to go all wolf on him to catch up. I accidentally knocked him down the stairs.” Max glares at him. “Don’t worry. He’ll be fine.” Jeremiah walks over to Jim, effortlessly picking him up and throwing him over his shoulder. He places him in a wooden chair and holds his still form against the back.

“Hand me the bungee cord in the closet so I can secure him. I really don’t feel like chasing after this guy again.”

“Fine,” Max sighs, shaking his head. He strides to the other side of the room and grabs the restraints. He swiftly hands them to Jeremiah, but is interrupted when his phone rings. Max checks the caller ID and his jaw hardens when he sees who it is. Jeremiah catches his reaction and mouths the word Marco. Max nods, picks up the call and goes to another room to deal with his brother.

“I expected you to check in sooner,” Marco growls. “Status update?”

Max exhales, needing to keep his cool with his brother. Though he’s not that same scared wolf he was when Marco became Alpha, his brother still has a hold on him that he will one day need to figure out how to break.

“We found the Private Investigator,” he mutters, not wanting to volunteer any more information. “Jeremiah is about to have a physical discussion with him about what was taken.”

“And …” Marco questions.

Play dumb Max. “And what?”

“I think you’re leaving something out, Max, and you know I don’t like to be lied to. Who is she?”  Marco shouts through the phone.

Max’s body stiffens. Did he know? For that matter, how did he know? He needs to spin this some way so that Marco doesn’t read into the fact that he wants her.

“I’m waiting,” he growls, the tone of his voice low and deadly. Shit.

“There was a girl.” Max clenches his teeth before continuing, “The investigator gave her copies of the documents, but I’m getting them back tonight.”

“Who is this girl and how does this relate to my mate?” Max hesitates for a moment, but then it happens. The telltale feeling of pinpricks on his skin and then throbbing pain inside his head. It first starts off dull, but increases exponentially and an involuntary whimper escapes his lips.

“Perhaps …” Marco states, “We can start this conversation over again and this time you will tell me the full truth because I so hate hurting you, brother.”

Max gasps as the pain abruptly stops. He hates that Marco can do this every time he wants something from him. His wolf is strong but not strong enough to go against the Alpha. Seeing Heather, wanting Heather, has made him realize that he must get out from under his brother’s thumb in order to make this work.

Panting he shakily says, “Okay.”

“Who. Is. The. Girl,” Marco demands.

“Her… her name is Heather,” Max replies. “She knows your mate and from what I gather she is the one who hired the investigator.”

“Hmm …” Marco utters. “The name sounds familiar. Describe her to me.”

“Does that matter?” Max barks out.  Get a hold of yourself Max. “I mean sure.”

“Go on,” Marco grinds out.

“She’s petite, with curly light brown hair and hazelish brown eyes.” Max holds back on telling him how beautiful her smile is and that her scent drives him insane with lust and longing.

“Oh yes, I remember her,” Marco replies. Max hears the malicious undertone in his voice and gets an uneasy feeling that this conversation is about to go from bad to worse.

“Interesting. I wonder if she’s been looking all this time,” he mumbles. Max doesn’t respond. He instead bites his lip, fighting the urge to mention her wall of photos to him. Max can still feel the light touch of Marco’s Alpha compulsion powers testing his truthfulness. He tries another tactic to avoid any more questions. “I have a plan on how to get that information back.”

“Please explain, brother.”

Max gives Marco the rundown of what will happen tonight and he is surprisingly agreeable with most of it.

“I do like your idea,” Marco declares, “but I would like you to do something else.” Fuck.

“Since she is so interested in finding my Kylie,” Marco says, “I would like you to bring her to me.”

Max’s eyes widen. Through clenched teeth he responds, “Shouldn’t we interrogate the investigator first to make sure he’s not hiding anything else? He seems more important than her because he caused the initial leak.” Nice deflection.

“Good point. I’ll send Ryan over to have a talk with him,” Marco insists. “Jeremiah’s interrogation tactics are,” he pauses, “less than adequate.”

“Have him dig up some information on the girl instead, and send it to me. I need to check something out.”

“No need to send Ryan; I’m handling it,” Max protests.”

“Don’t question me; just do as I ask,” Marco sneers. “There are more things going on that you are not, nor need to be privy to.” What?

Max stills at this new information. He tries to formulate a response, but is speechless. His heart rate increases at the thought of what his brother would do to Heather.

Marco’s voice interrupts his thoughts. “I expect to meet Heather soon,” he rumbles. “Don’t make me wait, or I promise you won’t like the consequences.”

Marco ends the call, not giving Max a chance to argue any further.

Nervousness surges through his being as he contemplates what Marco could possibly want with Heather. She’s only a human after all.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t have much time to figure that out now because the plan has to be put in motion before the proverbial shit hits the fan.

Max runs upstairs to Jim’s bedroom and searches his closet. It’s a stroke of luck that Jim and Max are the same size, because he needs to get cleaned up and arrive at the location before Heather does, or else the plan is fucked.

* * *

“Yo, Jeremiah,” Max blurts out as he enters the living room. Jeremiah is seated on the couch drinking a beer while the still unconscious Jim remains tied up and slumped over in the chair.

Jeremiah scrunches his face as he removes the beer from his lips.

“Uh…Yo?” He chuckles. “Do people still use that today?” He raises an eyebrow and then smirks. “You must have an uncomfortable question because you only use random slang when you want to talk about something personal.”

“Shut up,” Max grunts, taking a seat in the opposite armchair.

Jeremiah goes into a full-on laugh. He tries to silence it by taking another swig of his beer, but some of the beverage sprays out of the corner of his mouth. Setting down his drink, he wipes his lips with his arm.

Jeremiah’s face lights up. “Remember the time you asked if it was normal for our kind to have a hairy chest in our human form. I believe your exact statement was, brah, is this hairy thing for reals.” He chuckles again.

“I said, shut up,” Max growls. Truthfully, Max is only half angry.  Jeremiah is not only one of his good friends, but more of a brother. He can never stay mad at him for too long.

“Sorry dude,” Jeremiah states, holding both his hands up in defeat. “I just needed to lighten the conversation a little since we’re all on edge. I’m not much of an enforcer, but will do anything to protect our people, even if it means hurting that human over there.”

“No worries, J, but I did have a personal question.” Jeremiah smiles, but doesn’t make another joke.

“Shoot, man.”

Max relaxes his shoulders and leans back in the chair.

“Have you ever met a woman that immediately caused your body to react in a way it doesn’t normally do? Like umm ... get excited over.”

“You mean like a stripper? That’s happened to me plenty of times.”

Max leans his forehead on his hand and rubs his temples.

“No dick, I mean like her scent attracts you so much that you can’t think straight. It makes you want to get to know her as a person, but also own her body as well.”

Jeremiah’s expression morphs from happiness to sadness. He takes another sip of his beer. “Maybe once,” he sighs, “but I got over it quickly.” He never lets that side of himself out, not even to Max. “It does happen on occasion,” he continues, “but only between our kind.”  Jeremiah narrows his eyes at Max. “Why do you want to know anyway?”

“No reason,” Max answers hurriedly. “I was just wondering.”

A flash of realization comes over Jeremiah’s face. He leans forward in his chair and glares at Max. “You better not be referring to who I think you are.”

“And who might that be?” Max rises from the chair.

“Don’t act stupid,” Jeremiah says, getting up from the couch. He walks over to face his friend. “You know she’s off limits since she is the target. Marco will hurt you if he finds out.”

“Marco isn’t going to know,” Max growls.

Jeremiah puts his hands on Max’s shoulders. “I’m not going to tell him, but you’re terrible at hiding your feelings, and he has that whole, I’m an Alpha and can control my pack thing, so this won’t stay hidden long.”

“Fuck,” Max shouts, startling Jeremiah. He stalks to the other side of the room. “I have to have her. I’m going to have her.”

“Listen to yourself man,” Jeremiah pleads. “You have to get a grip.”

Max closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “I’m trying, but Marco … he wants you to not only send any information you find on her, but also asked that I bring her to the compound.”

Jeremiah narrows his eyes. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” Max exhales, clenching his fists at his sides. “And that’s what worries me.”

“Figure out a way not to do it, dude. Your brother is a monster.”

Max runs his hands through his hair, pacing the room. “I know that, but I can’t just up and take her right now.  I have other family to think about. I need to carefully plan this before taking action.”

“Okay,” Jeremiah responds. “I’ll keep my mouth shut, but remember he can force me to tell him shit too.”

“Thanks, I appreciate anything you can do.”

“Welcome dude.”

“I need to head out and take care of this situation,” Max states, walking toward the front door.

“Gotcha.”

“By the way, he’s sending Ryan to help with Jim. Try your hardest not to piss him off because He’s as much an asshole as Marco is.”

“Wonderful,” Jeremiah groans, “I hate that guy.”

“Me too,” Max yells as he approaches the exit. “I’ll call you if I need any help.”

Jeremiah nods as the door closes behind him.

* * *

Max gets to the bar before Heather and breathes a sigh of relief. Scanning the room, he notices a man in the corner holding a rose. He appears nervous and constantly checks his watch. This must be him, Max thinks to himself as he cautiously approaches the man. Max casually strikes up a conversation in an effort to lure him away.

“Nice flower,” he remarks, a hint of sarcasm laced in his tone.

“Thanks,” the man grins. “I feel like a total douche carrying this around right now. I’ve actually had two men come up to me separately and ask if they are worthy of my final rose.” He shakes his head.

“Yeah, us guys can be assholes,” Max responds. “Sorry to intrude, but can I ask who that’s for?”

The man gives Max a confused look that says who are you and why are you asking me personal questions. He eventually shrugs his shoulders and to Max’s surprise, responds, “Sure thing, I have a blind date with a friend of a friend.”

“That’s cool man. Well, nice chatting with you...?” Max extends his hand.

“Steve,” he replies, shaking Max’s hand. “Steve Carter.”

Max turns to walk away, but pauses. “Hey um, Steve I actually forgot the reason I came in here. Some asshole poked a hole in my tire.”

“That sucks,” Steve says.

“I have a spare but lent my jack to a buddy. You wouldn't happen to have one, would you?”

Steve checks his watch. “Um yeah, my date isn't due for another twenty or so.”

“Thank you. You’re a lifesaver.”

Max follows behind Steve to the rear of his car. He watches as Steve gets distracted with searching for the part. Max silently steps away picking up a board he saw leaning against the fence earlier. He approaches Steve again and mutters, “I'm sorry about this man, you seem like a cool guy.”

“What did you just–”

He hits Steve over the head hard enough to knock him out but hopefully not kill him. Steve drops the rose on the ground and slumps forward, falling face first in his trunk. Max picks up the flower and then grabs Steve’s phone from his pocket. He pushes the rest of his body in the enclosed space and shuts the trunk. Pulling the keys from the lock, he jogs to the driver’s side, gets in and starts the car. Being extra careful not to damage the rose, he places it on the passenger seat and takes the vehicle to a deserted parking lot four blocks away from the bar. Max pops the trunk open, allowing Steve to get some air and tosses the car keys on the other side of the lot.

Max didn’t expect that to take as long as it did, and by the time he reaches the bar, a considerable amount of time has passed. He has a deep feeling of excitement as soon as he reaches the front door of the bar. He knows the moment he goes through the archway that his life would be changed forever and he is ready for it, ready for her.

With rose in hand, Max pushes through the door and a soft figure slams into him, her feminine form causing a sensual chill to run through him. 

Tilting his head low, he peers down and sees the hottest woman he’s ever laid eyes on staring back at him. He originally saw her from a distance, but close up is a whole new experience. Max is enamored by the way her hazelish brown eyes sparkle in the light and loves the smell of her intoxicating scent. The fragrance of cinnamon and apples that she radiates makes him inadvertently lick his lips. Max is fighting the urge to grab and kiss her just to get a small taste of what he knows will be divine. When he first saw her earlier, he thought she looked innocent, maybe vulnerable, but a barely visible mischievous glint flashes in her eyes and he knows for certain that he has a feisty one.

Max needs to break the silence so he says the only two words his mind can muster after being caught off guard with how beautiful she is up close.

“Hi there,” he grins with an extra layer of smolder to keep her attention. She blushes, remaining silent at his greeting. Max continues to speak, trying to erase the awkwardness that she is probably feeling, but he can tell that she’s attracted to him as much as he is to her.

“By your hasty exit I assume you must be Heather," Max says, reaching out to hand her the rose. She mechanically takes it, all the while staring at Max like she wants to devour his entire body, and damn if he doesn’t feel the same way. 

Max notices that she’s still flustered, so he waits few moments before throwing her one more lifeline.

“Uh, are you okay?"  he asks.

“I um, Steve?” she sheepishly replies, snapping out of whatever trance she’s in.

“Of course, who else would I be?” Max gives her another one of his classic smiles that drives women to drop their panties. 

“I'm Heather,” she says breathlessly, reaching out to shake his hand.  

This won’t do for Max. He has other ideas in mind. 

Going in for the kill, he, takes her hand, lifts it to his lips and places a soft kiss on her knuckles. Fireworks go off in his mind as he wonders how her lips taste. His cock starts to harden at the thought of tasting other parts of her body. Stay calm, Max.

Releasing her hand, he stares into her eyes and asks, “Want to get out of here Heather? It's kind of loud and I'd actually like to hear our conversation.” In reality, Max wants to leave before her actual date comes to, and calls the cops. 

Biting her bottom lip she pauses, her prolonged silence making him nervous. What if she decides to stay? What then? Should he take her against her will? No, there are too many people and someone might stop him. Besides, he doesn’t want to hurt her, but better him than his brother doing the kidnapping. Marco is a monster and could possibly kill her.

As he continues to contemplate the pros and cons of committing another felony, this time in public, she suddenly says in a cute yet nervous tone, “Sure.”

Nodding at her, his shoulders that he didn’t realize were tense relaxes and he grasps her warm hand a second time, leading her out the bar to the next destination.