Max lies in the bed next to Heather for what seems like hours, watching her sleep. Seeing her relaxed face and listening to her even breaths not only soothes the man, but also the wolf.  He inhales her scent as she burrows her body into his and only the singular thought of home runs through his mind.

The buzzing from his jeans on the floor interrupts his musings and, unfortunately, this is the fourth time it’s rang since he put Heather to sleep, so he can no longer ignore it. He just wanted a little more time with her before facing reality, but he needs to check in with Jeremiah to see where he’s at with Jim.

After the phone goes off a fifth time, Max decides it's time to face the music. He eases himself away from Heather’s sleeping form, being cautious not to wake her. He then quietly pads his bare feet toward his pile of clothes, silently sliding on his jeans. Max reaches in the pocket removing his cell and taps the bottom button. Along with the five missed calls, he sees several text messages from Jeremiah. He lets out a harsh exhale as he unlocks the phone, his thumb hovering over the call back button. Right before he presses down, the phone rings again, so he answers the call.

“Where have you been?” Jeremiah shouts through the phone, causing Max wince at his brash tone. “I have been calling and texting you for over an hour.”

“Hold on a sec,” Max whispers, his eyes drifting over to Heather’s sleeping form.  He steps out of the room, softly shutting the door in order to finish the conversation.

“Yeah,” Max grumbles, frantically pacing the living room.

“Is that all you have to say?” Jeremiah pauses, taking in a deep breath. “Seriously, man, where the fuck have you been? I’ve been waiting for you to get back to me for over an hour.”

“I’m at her place,” he immediately answers. “I’ll send you the address.”

Max ends the call, texts Jeremiah the information and sits on the couch to wait for his arrival.

Running his fingers through his hair, he tries to come up with a plan to keep Heather safe and the only thing he can think of is to … leave the pack. The mere idea scares the shit out of him because he would have to leave the rest of his family behind and they’d be at the mercy of his brother. But deep down he knows she’s more important, and though it will kill him making Kenzi and the others vulnerable, his heart won’t be able to handle it if his brother did something to Heather.

Twenty minutes later, Jeremiah announces his arrival via text and Max jogs to the front of the house to open the door.

“Final–.” Jeremiah pauses in the doorway, eyeing Max up and down.

“Dude, why are you not wearing a shirt?” Jeremiah bends forward sniffing the air surrounding Max. “And why in the hell do you smell like sex and blood? What the fuck happened here, man?”

Dropping his gaze to the floor, Max shrugs his shoulders, not really wanting to answer the question, but he’s always been honest with Jeremiah. They’ve had a really close relationship since they were children and more so since Marco became Alpha. He needed someone to lean on when his brother became what he is, and J was that person for him.

“Come in and keep your voice down, J, because she’s sleeping.” Turning his back to Jeremiah, Max heads to the couch and takes a seat, Jeremiah following close behind but remaining standing.

“You slept with her.” Max knows this is not a question but a statement, however the look on his face most likely gave Jeremiah his answer.

“Just fucking great,” Jeremiah mutters to himself as he rubs his face. Jeremiah is totally pissed at him, but Max doesn’t care so he remains silent and allows his friend to continue his rant. “I fucking told you to keep that shit in check, and you didn’t. Fuck, Max, being with her this way adds a whole other layer of complications.”

“It just happened.” Max knew this was a lie. From the moment he saw her, he just had to have her, be in her life somehow, and deep down he knew that them being together was eventually going to go down.

“Yeah, sure,” Jeremiah’s eyes look to the ceiling. “I call bullshit.” Jeremiah continues, taking a seat opposite him.

“There’s more,” Max declares to his friend who he can tell is seething and barely holding onto his anger. “I uh ... sorta marked her.” Max winces as he says it, not because he’s not happy about what he did, but because he doesn't want Jeremiah to flip out on him. Too late.

Jeremiah abruptly shoots up and stares down at him, shouting, “You what!”

Max motions for Jeremiah to lower his voice, his eyes drifting toward the back of the house. Jeremiah clenches his fist, reluctantly takes a seat and says, “I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist screwing her. I should have been the one to go on that stupid date with her because I saw the glint in your eyes at the mere mention of her name, and I should have put a stop to it.” Jeremiah sighs. “I’ve been in that position before, and I know how hard it is to fight the urge to take a woman that you know in your heart belongs you, to have her right within your reach but unable to claim her, so I get it, but you and Heather can’t happen. Not right now.”

Max studies his friend, and for the first time he notices so much pain and sorrow behind his eyes. How has he kept this hidden? Max has always had suspicions about who the object of Jeremiah’s attraction was, but he never brought it up, figuring that it was something small and fleeting. However now, he’s not so sure.

“Well,” Jeremiah goes on, taking his seat again, seeming calmer, the pain in his eyes already gone. “We can’t take her to Marco now because he’ll scent what you did and maybe kill you both.”

Max’s vision goes red at the thought of anyone hurting his mate, but he reins in the anger declaring, “I don’t think he wants to hurt Heather at all, but whatever it is he needs her for can’t be good.”

“Agreed, though she can't be allowed to hold onto any of this info or it will endanger the pack.”

Max rubs his temples. “I know. I was going to grab it before she woke.”

“For that matter, she can't be allowed to remember anything about you or your night together.”

“Taken care of already.”  Another lie. He couldn't allow her to forget about him completely and Jeremiah doesn't need to know about him sharing his blood either.

Max senses Jeremiah’s skeptical gaze boring into his skin, but he gives nothing away and allows his friend to continue.

“Also, you can never see her again; it’s too much of a risk for you both." A rage starts to rise in Max at his friend’s words because he realizes that he’s right, but at this point it doesn’t matter what Jeremiah says. The moment he gets a chance, he is taking Heather away from everything.

Max runs his fingers through his hair. “How the hell do we keep her away from Marco?  He expects her there soon.” Anger and panic begin to seep through his being. He can’t let Marco get near her.

“Not sure, yet, but someone owes me a favor. They can protect her while remaining invisible until we figure out the next steps,” Jeremiah discloses.

"Fine." His response comes out harsh, more of a growl than words, the beast fighting to escape and stop this nonsense. It knows this is wrong and that he shouldn't be separated from her. She is his.

“Relax, man. You look like you're ready to attack me, and I'm only telling you what you already know to be true.  You have to keep your distance in order to keep her safe.”

“Okay.” Max attempts to keep his expression even as Jeremiah continues to observe his reactions.

“We good now?”

“Yeah, J, anything else?”

“Well … umm we have a slight problem.” Max’s body stills as he waits for what is most likely bad news.

“The PI is dead. Ryan got a little carried away with his methods and there was nothing I could do.”  

“Fuck.”

“Yeah, and we need to move the body and clean up.”

Shit. This is not what Max needs right now. He just wants to forget about all of this and get back to Heather, but that doesn’t seem like a possibility at the moment.

“Where is Ryan now?”

"Said he was headed back to the compound. I am really glad to see his ass go because he gives me the fucking creeps."

“Thank God,” Max mutters as he prepares to stand.

Jeremiah rises from the couch first and says, “I’m going to go and grab the files, which room are they in?”

"Down the hall and to the left, I’ll go to Heather’s room and check for any more.”

“Max ...” Jeremiah says in a warning tone.

“I’ll only be a second, I have to get the rest of my clothes anyways.”

“Don’t take too long, we have a body to move,” Jeremiah says gruffly as he heads down the hall.

Max walks to Heather’s bedroom and sees that she is still sleeping soundly. She looks so beautiful.  He wishes that he could go back to hours ago when they made love. It was the best moment of his life. Instead, he searches her drawers and closets for any remaining files and finds nothing.

His attention is brought back to Heather as she rustles under the covers.

“Max …” he hears her say faintly. “Love you.”

 His heart stops at those words. He walks over to the bed, kisses her on the cheek and whispers in her ear, “Love you too, baby.”

Max has never felt this way about anyone in his life before and there is no way that Marco is coming anywhere close to his mate. After what he’s done to Kylie, there’s no way he’s touching what belongs to him.

Max jots down a quick note and places it on the nightstand. After placing a final kiss on her soft lips, he walks away, his heart breaking the entire time.

* * *

Ryan stares inside the cottage at Max and Jeremiah, noting their deep conversation. He followed Jeremiah and saw and heard everything. Neither of them were alerted to his presence because he was smarter, he’s always been smarter than Max and Jeremiah. Marco chose him over any of the others to be his right-hand man since the beginning of all of this, and he is glad to serve his Alpha. If not for Max he would be Beta, but his time will come. Marco promised him that once things are settled, he will have his own pack to command and hopefully it happens soon. Ryan takes a deep breath and lets out an irritated sigh. He’d rather be at the pack house, so that he could spend some time with her. Ryan grins at the thought. She won’t always hate him. In fact, if things go the way his Alpha promised, she will be head over heels in love with him soon.

Ryan reaches into his pocket, and pulls out his cell. After pushing some buttons, the phone rings. A gruff and slightly pissed voice answers. Great.

“What,” Marco says harshly, through clenched teeth.  

“Your predictions were right, my Alpha,” Ryan responds immediately. “Max has marked her and I suspect a possible blood exchange.”

“Good.” Marco’s tone changes from annoyance to mirth causing Ryan’s brows to draw together in confusion. Marco never explained this newfound interest in this human. There’s really nothing special about her at all.

“Would you like me to get closer, in order to be sure?” Ryan eagerly offers. He eyes Jeremiah and Max leaving the house and thinks this would be the perfect opportunity.

“No need,” Marco replies. “It’s time to start the next phase of the plan. Come back to the compound immediately to pick up the item and deliver it to the drop off point.”

“Yes, Alpha.” Ryan hesitates for a moment. “May I ask a question?”

A low growl comes through the phone causing a slight tremble in Ryan’s hand. Just as he is about to take back his question, Marco clips, “Make it quick.”

“How did you know what your brother would do?” Ryan asks weakly, his palms starting to sweat.

“I have my sources.” Marco pauses. “But no need for you to worry about that. Was the thief taken care of?”

Ryan grins at the question, his eyes dilating at the memory. He so loves to torture, especially humans. Every one of them is different. Some can take more pain than others, but in the end, they all die. This one especially was exciting. It took him forever to beg for his life, but he eventually broke, as all humans do.

“Yes, I left the body at his house and ordered Jeremiah to dispose of it.”

“Good.” There is a beat of silence on the line before Marco continues, “I need you to collect Heather after Max is handled.”

Ryan pushes his luck. He really wants to know why this human is pertinent to Marco’s plans. “Where does the girl fall into this?” he asks.

“You are full of lots of questions today, aren’t you, Ryan?” he growls in a venomous tone.

Ryan shivers. “I ... I’m sorry, Alpha.”

“I don’t like repeating myself. Do as I ask.”  

“Yes, Al–” The line goes dead.

Ryan releases a breath, not even realizing that he was holding one the entire time. His Alpha is extremely powerful and he’s lucky that he wasn’t hurt for his insolence. No matter what, he would continue to bide his time and follow orders. The reward will be so worth it. He flashes a toothy grin at the thought, If only Max knew what awaited him.