Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

WAKING UP NEXT to Maximilian is the luxury that Dolly wants to afford in her life from now on. That is why when she woke up from her deep sleep, her initial thought wasn't to brush her teeth or prepare breakfast but to hurry on her own apartment to have a sincere talk with Fin.

Max had keep his word and did not crawl the bed while she slept. The man chose the small chair at the bedside and sat there 'til he was able to nap.

Dolly was happy with his principles though a little part of her wants him to make an initial move to her. She didn't know what to say to him. Imploring her needs to be pampered seems a little immature and insecure. Especially when Maximilian was a man of old age.

His long, wavy hair curled at the back of his ears. His face gleamed with sunlight. A wayward lock of hair brushed his temple. Even in his light sleep, Maximilian still has his unearthly glamour. As though he wouldn't want anyone having a picture of him with his tie askew.

Dolly would like to mess his perfectly ordered appearance.

"Good morning!" She cleared her unruly thoughts and beamed. "Did you sleep well?"

"I did…" Max opened one eye and sigh. "Yes. It was one of those quiet sleep that I rarely had."

"Why is that?" Dolly moved out of the bed. "Are you insomniac?" she asked worriedly.

The man snickered. "Asking a vampire if he's insomniac… only you, Dolly. Only you."

Her cheeks reddened in shame. She was giddy at the same time. "Is there something wrong, Max?"

"Nothing. The truth is, I seldom sleep. I'm half dead, darling. No need sleep for the dead."

Dolly instantly hated his words. "Please don't refer to yourself as 'dead' when I'm still alive. I don't know why but it irks me." She bended to fix the sheets.

Max' lips twitches in curiosity. He stood from the chair to help her. "Then, darling, think of it this way. You sleep while I lay beside you to guard you from harm. Isn't that romantic?"

Dolly scrunched her nose in protest. She said deliberately, "I'd rather have the both of us tangled beneath the sheets."

It was too late to reconsider her words. Max was already wooden on the other side of the bed. Pale pink tongue went past the thin lips to wet the dry skin. He mumbled, "Can you… not go today? We talk then… have that nice rolling under these after?"

She nearly squealed in excitement. It was great to know that she's not the only one hoping for a physical interaction. She had never tried being intimate with anyone before and with her stellar impression of Max, along with the fact that they are true mated, then warming up for something advance for the both of them is no problem for her.

She had expected it nothing less.

"Why don't we eat breakfast?" Max' avoided her gleaming eyes and walked to the door. "I know how to make pancakes!"

Dolly doesn't know why she liked his hopeful face. It was as though he was hoping for a compliment from her. She nodded. "That's great. I'd like to have one."

"Coming right up."

It's a pity that Dolly has to go somewhere else after this.

MAX REFUSED TO say goodbye to Dolly. He hoped to see her soon. Sooner than an hour or two. After watching the woman's back, walking away clad in his white shirt and shorts, with eyes tinged of worry. Max cleaned the plates with heavy shoulders. He made sure that the house was sparkly clean before taking a bath.

There was a restlessness buried deep in Max' gut. He cannot ignore it even if he already promised to Dolly that he won't follow suit.

“He's okay now. He should be okay by now. He won't hurt me.”

'How can you be so sure, darling?' Max rubbed his chest with forceful fingers. The area didn't blush but it bloomed in blue and violet colored bruise. 'You forgot what happened last night? He almost claw your heart out.'

Was the bond between the two that strong that a logical reasoning can't explain?

It soured his mouth. He hated this feeling. He felt left out by someone who was supposed to make him happy.

Max disliked the deafening sound of a hair blower. It's one of the things that he can't understand.

He padded the empty living room without a single piece of cloth covering his manly bits. He was dauntless against the wide panel of glass overlooking a narrow, barren road. He pressed the numbers on the telephone while waiting to let his hair dry.

"Hello! This is Jeffrey Duvas of the—"

Max' face filled with wonder when he heard his nephew's strange voice. It was hoarse and tired. "Dumb kid, are you sleeping inside the office?"

"Uncle?" Jeffrey stirred. He coughed. "Uncle, I'm sorting the details now. I'm on my way of sending this to you by a crow with a cartridge tied on its feet—"

"Or my laptop accepts electronic mails. What is your problem, Jeffrey?"

"Certainly, certainly I can tell you the intel now since the available information are too scarce to fill in a page, Sir." The kid grumbled, "Seriously, I can't follow the template you sent last night."

Max became indignant. "You unsalvageable beast—" He sighed with annoyance. "Fine, fine. Tell me."

"Fin is the pack second of the Sarthis pack. The territory was known for its unconventional and eccentric ways. Up to date, they treat women and male omegas with disrespect and unimportance. According to Fin's record, he got a quite temper and the lad was arrogant. The pack was never blessed with 'fated mate' pairings, you can guess why, Sir."

A connection with the odds is something that the vampires took great pains to protect. They have faith that the coven's longevity depends if the Heavens decided that they are obedient enough. That is why oftentimes the vampire shifters are associated with occultists.

Still, inequality perceived through generation of misinformation. The coven can't have a female member in the ruling class. Although women are treated as the queen of a household, they hold no power with the government.

"It revealed that Fin had once a fated mate. The pack saw it as a curse rather than Heaven's blessing. He got a male mate. Sarthis pack persevered in breaking the mating pull. Fin know that killing his own mate will accumulate great karma in his life. The alpha wouldn't want his own pack plagued because of Fin's misfortune. They ordered a woman for him to bond with."

Max grimaced at the situation. He would not befriend any wolf if it's possible as long as he lived. 'Fine, Cedric Mallory is indeed a hybrid. Wether he's half an alpha wolf, he's still got a vampire blood in him. So I'm not 'entirely' friends with one wolf. Only half.'

"So he's bonded with someone already?"

"No. No one wants to be with him. The elders wouldn't risk their daughter's life in the Sarthis pack. That's why they chose to go to the nearest neighborhood to buy a lowly shifter for Fin."

Max' breath paused. It was a long while before he successfully contain half of his anger. "So my guess was right. Dolly was never saved from the start. She was sold."

"They tried to establish a mutual state for the both of them but Fin's abnormality progressed too fast. That's why the alpha of the Sarthis pack resorted to a direct approach and bought the rabbit shifter from her family."

His chest was full of suffocating bubbles. Max wanted to hit something— or someone.

He was pampered despite all his boring life. Max had never personally experienced shifter trafficking. He always solved the problems about vampires abducting humans for blood with an iron heart. He never spare one criminal once proven guilty. This was the first time that a person close to him was a victim of trafficking.

Max wanted to wipe the Sarthis pack from the council's records.

"You've been acquainted with Cedric by now, right, kid?" His voice went unbelievably soft. "Call him and order a hunt under my name. Tell him this is the only time I'll blackmail him."

"Actually, Sir..." Jeffrey tattled, "He's the—"

"What?" Max huffed. "No more talk, Jeffrey. Get used to the work or go back home and hide under Janette's heavy skirt."

The kid went silent for a great while. Max dropped the call and crossed his arms. Warmth seethed in his bones but he still felt cold.

He never stopped feeling cold for a few months now. He needed to feed.

Max closed his eyes. 'Feeding was never a good idea for me.'

He had a sudden need clawing on his throat. He desired to see Dolly's smiling face right at the moment.

Only his small, white and fluffy bunny can make him feel grounded amidst this ringing in his ears.

'Darling, are you safe?'