MAX WAS A scion of his father's legacy ever since he was born. He didn't have time to ask for 'whens' and 'whys'. He is a kid prided by his parents only because he know how to follow orders. He started studying the moment he was able to speak gibberish. It was the requirement so he could be considered as a unique and worthy kid for the elders' eyes.

Janette had always hated this.

She had hoped Maximilian would live a normal life for a kid. And while her intention was noble, it was too late for him. Max had grown up with a mindset that calls to work and work only. He saw no wrong with dying in the line of serving the coven. To spend all his days caged in the four cornered wall of his office at the highest tower, overlooking the vast city he protected as his territory. Janette clashed with him so he would consider himself too.

Max had given in to her orders last month. The sole reason why he's going for a vacation. Janette hated him but that's only because they grew up on different principles.

Max knew now that working and only working is not the purpose of life. He could die with a lot of money in hand but he couldn't drag anyone with him to willingly lay by his side and pray resurrection with god.

No one.

"You never dated?" Dolly asked with an anxious expression. "I won't believe you even if you'll say no."

"On the note of a 'proper' relationship? No." Max held the delicate wine glass in hand and swirled the red liquor. "My family had always made sure I had enough supply of human blood in my house. They sent women— darling, please don't make that face. They were not abducted. They're being paid and they knew the drill. If not, the shifter council would be at my tails for misconduct."

"Then…" Dolly suddenly felt that the wine taste sour and bitter at the same time. She looked down on her plate. "You must have a wife or a girlfriend already?"

"I said I never had a 'proper' relationship, Dolly." Max wiped his mouth with a napkin. "I needed them to be alive. I needed them so I could feed. As for the rest, I needed them for fun. Five hundred years, sweetheart. Five hundred years of my life and I wasn't even aware when are you going to be born or where I could find you "

"I know, I know." Dolly winced. "I don't get why am I asking this. It's unbecoming of me, right? I mean—"

"You're uncomfortable?"

"Yes."

Max leaned on his chair. "Then don't be anymore. I'll stop feeding from them. I'll order them to be sent away. Is that okay for you?"

"I… I can't live with you for now." Dolly thought she must commit reciprocity and successfully end her ties first with Fin before running away with Max. "I need to talk to him and clear things up before I start anything with you, Max."

Max was woodened on the chair. "You're not going to stay here tonight?"

"I'm going to stay for the night but I have to go out in the morning. Allow me?" Dolly said hopefully.

Max blinked. "Don't ask me for those things. Just let me know your plans and I'll see if I can assist you or help."

"Oh…" Dolly became elated. She hugged the robe closer to her skin. "You're really great, Max!"

Max welcomed the sight with a thoughtful expression. He needs to call the council for some background checking.

IT WAS MIDNIGHT when Jeffrey accepted his call. The kid sounds jubilant and honored despite Max calling him on ungodly hours. But then, Max had appointed him a work that requires no sleep. It should be nothing for Jeffrey.

"Uncle!" the kid greeted, "How was your first day?"

"Now that I had met my fated mate? It's fortuitous at best. Let's get that over. Don't talk loudly because she's sleeping, okay?" Max side-eyed the bedroom before sitting on the couch. "She had a rough day."

"You've met your…" Jeffrey shouted but he caught up in a second. He whispered, "… your fated mate?"

‘’There’s no need to whisper though because we’re talking through the phone?’

"The one and only, kid. The one and only." Max rolled his eyes. His neck warmed with a rare bright pink glow. "Think about it. Am I not blessed? She decided to stay for the night too— she wants to be with me. I can feel it!"

"Wow, uncle, I—" Jeffrey laughed with unease. "You're not like your usual self."

"Not like my usual self?" Max' smile faltered. "And how am I usually? Seems like you know me so well."

"Uh, first… you initiated talking to me. And when you do, you only talk about the work related stuff. You're basically boring!"

"Kid," Max mumbled, "are you willing to bet with me? I could transport at your side for five minutes."

"No-oh!" Jeffrey boo-ed him. "If that's true then why would you agree on riding my van yesterday? Just accept it, uncle. You've changed."

Max raised his brow. "No one can change overnight. That is called pretention. That's not change because it takes a long time to bend a certain habit. However, I am indeed willing to change."

"Tsk!" The guy whistled. "Oh, great esteemed sir, I agree. I agree."

"I'm surprised your mother hasn't told you about this yet, kid."

"Apart when she told me you're a dick? There's no more, sir."

Max guffawed. "Silly Janette. Of course she's bitter. She hates when I'm proven right."

"That's my mother, uncle," Jeffrey reminded him.

He snorted. "And what?"

"And you're right about her."

Max enjoyed his fake obeisance. He approved. "Mikael raised you well, Jeffrey."

"My dad and you were best buddies. Anyways, sir, is there anything I can do?"

'Good kid.' Max eyed his pale hand. His mate's caramel complexion looks so much healthy and just perfect. "I want you to check someone, Jeffrey."

"Who is it?"

"Fin Hardaway." 'The thorn in my throat.' Max unbuttoned his vest. "He's a rascal a few hundred meters away from me. Anything about him, record it and send it to me. Have Cedric Mallory investigate a place called Sta. Mesa. Further details about it, I'm going to send right away after I fill in a document."

"Uh…" Jeffrey coughed. "Uncle, you can just text it, you know?"

Max stared at the telephone with unwelcoming expressions. "It doesn't look formal, you idiot."

"Sir, your mood swings are getting frequent. When was the last time you fed?"

"I hate feeding from humans," Max curt reply came cold. "That's all."

"Sir, what happened with Milani is not a fault on your side—"

Maximilian dropped the call. He hates being reminded over things he wanted to forget.

WAKING UP NEXT to Maximilian is the luxury that Dolly wants to afford in her life from now on. That's 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's 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 leg—"

"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 in the government.

"It revealed that Fin had once a fated mate. The pack saw it as a curse rather than Heaven's blessing because... 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. Whether 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?'

THE LATCH wasn't closed when Dolly attempted to open the door. It creaked loudly in the empty hallway. Dolly didn't like the foreboding fear in her guts. Max was still waiting for her, and it was her decision to talk to Fin alone.

His aggressive mode can last the whole night but after it, he miraculously calms for the day. Dolly can only hope that this time is one of those fortunate days she had.

Fin's crouching body greeted Dolly when she took a step inside. The man was silently massaging his own temples while seated on their threadbare two person sofa.

Dolly felt weird. There were days when she considers this place a home. Those times she had utterly accepted her fate as his nanny. Although she doesn't want to sound ungrateful after he saved her, Dolly doesn't really like to be kept in this small space forever.

Dolly gathered her courage and opened her mouth. "Fin, can we talk?"

Fin's shoulders tensed. A large bulging vein pulsed distinctly on his forehead. He smiled, but his face only pulled a nasty expression. "So you remember coming home to me?"

"You're not yet claimed, I see." He laughed. "What? Did you change your mind and you decided to pick me?"

"I'm not choosing anyone!" Dolly shouted, "You were never really an option for me right from the start, Fin."

"… what?"

Her teeth rattled. Rage started to pour from her heart. She unleashed on him the pain of being burdened all these months that they had been together. "You made it hard for me to live! Everyday! It was not the life that I wanted! I don't care if you don't work— I don't care if you have no family left! But Fin, I wanted you to respect me."

"… to not shout at me at every little problems and ask me whenever I feel uncomfortable or not. I'm just like you— I want mutual understanding. Something you won't be able to give."

Dolly was never allowed to voice out her opinions. She was supposed to listen in everything he wanted just because he saved her life once.

She realized it's stupid. He saved her but he continues to abuse her every minute that they were together. It was messing up her brain.

And now it's messing with her possible mated life. 'Why do I allow this?'

Dolly doesn't even like Fin. Not one bit.

Before, she can picture forcing herself to accept him but now with Max... she can't stomach imagining herself with him. It was like depriving herself with something that can change her life for good.

"Dolly, do I look okay to you?" Fin stood and walked to the other side of the room. "I'm sick. I can't control it myself. It's not something I can get ahold of. I... don't want to hurt you but it's tearing me mad."

"I need someone to help me. Only you can do that. Let me claim you. Only a bite, Dolly. I saved you once, why can't you do this for me? After just one bite, I won't bother you and that vampire ever again. I just wanted to be normal."

Dolly stepped back. "I'm not a fool, Fin. A bite from you means I won't be able to see him again! I'll be stuck with you forever! See, I can help you with another way. We'll find your mate! Your fated mate!"

Red light flashed from Fin's eyes. A dark mist covered his silhouette. It was a bright morning but the apartment was dark and cold. "Fated mate?"

His voice became unrecognisable. It's brute and harsh. Dolly wondered what happened with this throat.

"Fated mate? Oh, I don't have one. I will never have one."

Dolly turned her back to run. Fin didn't move but his eyes followed her. "Dolly, if I ever meet that person, I will kill them myself."

'He had gone mad.' Dolly was scared and horrified with Fin. There's no cure for his sickness. She had no idea what plagued him but Dolly wished that it was a terminal disease.

It's not out of her selfishness, but Dolly sincerely wishing to free himself.

A loud howl made Dolly jump. She breathed heavily. 'Max!'

She will need his help. They need to get Fin out of this town soon or their existence will be shown to public.

"WELL, JEFFERSON told me. There's no other people involved but your favourite nephew— which is a wimp, by the way." Laura Miller closed the distance between them and kissed his cheek. "This is the first time I've seen you naked. And I see nothing good."

"Next time, learn to fucking knock, okay?" Max patted his cheeks. He winced at the sticky feeling on his face. "Didn't I tell you not to randomly kiss a man?"

"But you're not 'anyone', yeah? You're my future husband!"

Max snorted. He sat on the counter table and picked a grape out of the fruit stand. "Quit pushing it. We're now both at our prime, searching for the right man shouldn't be that hard for you."

"If you are as elegant and gorgeous like me, it sure is hard to find someone on my level." Laura sniffed the air and raise a mocking brow. "A rabbit, really?"

"What?" Max didn't pay her any attention and thought about Dolly and Fin. He reached for a new set of clothes to change himself into.

"The reason why you're naked this early."

"I've just taken a bath. That's the explanation." Max blinked. "Anyway, I should go now. I have something important to do—"

"Max, I've not even reached five minutes sitting here and you already had somewhere else to go? Being your fiancee sucks."

"Then stop. Cut the engagement off." Max sighed. "I found myself a mate already. A fated mate. So you can now resign."

Laura became silent. Max raised his eyes in her direction. It was like she wasn't even breathing. He grinned. "Surprised, cousin?"

"Should I not be?" Laura nodded. "Still, you're not claimed yet. What's with the stupid 'waiting' all about? Technically, I'm still your fiancee. Your girlfriend. When can I meet your fated mate?"

The door opened. Maximilian readied his smile. He was excited to see Dolly again. "Hi, sweetheart!"

Dolly didn't look at him and stared deeply instead at Laura. The latter raised a brow slightly before smirking. "Ah, so this is your 'Dolly?'"

"Who are—"

"Not in any way interesting nor exceptionally gorgeous."

Laura picked up her bag and squinted. "Should've remove that lip print on your cheeks, hubby. Or do you like it that much?"

Maximilian can hear violent waves clashing with rocks. He can almost vividly hear his first impression on Dolly cracking apart.

"Laura!" Max tried to explain but Laura cut off his words with a smug grin.

"You signed the papers. Our engagement is valid, Max. There's no point in arguing with me."

Max couldn't do anything as she walked herself out. Dolly stood unmoving in front of Max. He fixed himself up and walked to her side. "Dolly, let me explain."

Tears started to pour out of Dolly's eyes. Max didn't want to see pain in her face. She looked distraught and emotionally unstable. Her tears held more pain than Laura's word.

"What happened?"

"Fin has gone mad. You need to throw him out of this place." Dolly wiped her tears and let Max face her back. "I thought you said, you have no girlfriend? Was that a lie? So you can get me to do what you want?"

Max swallowed his irritation for Laura. "She's my cousin. I won't ever consider marrying her. I signed the papers to show my sincerity."

His family had a feud with Laura's father. When Max's parents died, along with Laura's mother, he made a promise to take care of their daughter, Laura. And the only thing to do that is by marriage. Laura's mom ripped her name off the family registrar. So technically, she's erased from the Adenhart clan. That's why Laura's father thought of the engagement as a way to welcome her back in the coven. Her father's a mortal— but a powerful mortal at that. He's a politician and a known businessman. At that time, Maximillian had no mate or a girlfriend with him... that's why he agreed. It was all for show.

Janette said that someday, that decision will come back and bite him on the ass. It looks like this was the day of his judgement.