:China:

My bags we all neatly packed and in the car of Gemma's. I was ecstatic at the thought of staying at Max's until everything blows over. It meant spending time with Max which was something that I had been wanting to do.

'Except now we get to spend time with Max 24/7 due to those pesky rogues. I wonder if they got answers from that rogue.' They had no doubt gotten some form of answer if I was staying with Max to keep him protected. The thought of having to protect Max had me on edge.

It meant someone was after Max. That irritated me beyond belief. In my life no one ever stayed it was the life of a foster kid. No one ever stayed. But Max would stay, I just knew it. And these rogues were messing with it making me aggressive.

The thought of Max being taken away from me was like poking at a bear. Poking at Pandora. 'No rogue is going to get Max nor Artemis. I'll tear them apart before they even get close to them. Even before they attempt to try anything. They'll be gone before they know what hit them.'

Max got the more protective and aggressive side of us. A side that didn't want something that could stay forever taken away. Pandora wouldn't let that happen and neither would I. I watched the trees fly by as Gemma drove me to Max's. Massive trees that reached up the sky.

Gnarled and leaves sprouting everywhere and turning red, orange, and yellow. 'As autumn takes summer over and lets the leaves fall as winter waits in it's grasp ready to snatch everything away.' I nodded at that as Gemma kept her foot on the pedal as I smiled at the thought of seeing Max.

Very few things made me happy. Yet Max was something that made me happy. A dominant asshole wolf would never be for me. Yet some submissive wolf wouldn't be for me either. Pandora would destroy that wolf. We didn't do submission well. It was just instinct.

Yet Max wasn't submissive nor overly dominant. 'He's is caught in the middle. Something that is pleasurable.' I nodded at that. The trees extended before the Ashford's house with the fountain came into view. Gemma slowed down before pulling into the gravel driveway next to the garage full of cars.

Well not full of them. There were four cars in it, but could fit way more than that. There was Noah's thunderbird, an SUV, a Ferrari and then a four door six seat pick-up. Gemma pulled in before stopping the car as the AC was cut off before we got out and I grabbed my bags before waiting for Gemma.

Gemma had her hair in a braid. She wore a blouse and a pair of skinny jeans with some flats. Away from Cole she didn't seem that bad. 'It's like Cole influences douchebag onto her. I don't like Cole. Never have, never will. Gemma isn't that bad though.'

We walked up to the door before I hit the doorbell. Barks echoed from the house before the two large shepherds followed by a pit mix. One that looked quite husky. Danielle came up before opening the door and letting us in. Hades sniffed me as the pit mix trotted away.

"Sorry about the dogs. Aries our pit-husky mix came into eat. He lives in a kennel outside with a nice sized dog house and a small fence for him to roam in." Danielle said and I nodded. "That's fine." Gemma said as she shut the door as the two shepherds trotted away.

'It smells good in here. Danielle must be making something in here. It smells very good. I wonder what she's making.' "We're having lasagna if you want to stay Gemma." Danielle said. "Cole wouldn't like that. . . screw Cole. I'll stay if you have some left for me." Gemma said.

Danielle smiled before going into the kitchen. "Max baby, China is here." Danielle called out and Max came down with a small blush on his face. "Dinner is done, so you guys can join us. It's just my boys and my mate." Danielle said and Gemma nodded.

We went into the kitchen. And Moon. 'She seems to be wherever Noah is. The two are quite attached to each other mates which is nice. I wonder if that will be Max, Artemis and us.' I didn't know. Only the future would tell us. Max and I sat next to each other.

I smiled as lasagna with cheesy garlic bread was brought in. "Moon I put the lasagna and garlic bread for your father in the container." Danielle said. "Thank you Danielle, he appreciates it." Moon said with a smile on her face. Noah smiled at her before kissing her cheek.

"You know if he wants to eat with us he can. We don't mind. And we'd love to meet him, Jackson and I both." Danielle said. I looked at Max. He had a bit of sauce on his chin. 'You should wipe it off it's bothering me a lot. Do it or I will.'

"You have sauce." I told him in a quiet voice and Max blushed before wiping it off. "Well you have met him, he's the silver haired Unseelie Knight, and he doesn't want to intrude." Moon said. "Well he won't be intruding, so tell him he's welcome whenever." Danielle said with a smile.

Jackson smiled at his wife. I looked around. 'And all of Max's brothers are here, including the two that we don't know all that much.' 'Well on would be a bit to get to know you know.' I looked at Max's toddler brother. Isaac I believe his name is.

Isaac had multicolored hair. From light brown, black, white, and gray. Then nearly black eyes with only a distinctive ring of silver around his pupils. He was eating his lasagna by tearing it apart. Then there was the younger brother Alex who was cutting up his food.

He had charcoal hair with underlays of black tones and light blue eyes. Just light blue. 'He's that cute little brother, that smiles at us when Noah has picked him up a few of those times.' He was also the quiet one. I continued eating my lasagna before we finished our food.

"Mom, I'm going to go help China get her things settled in. Thank you for bringing her over Gemma." Max said and Gemma nodded. Max smiled at me before taking one of my bags before we headed to his room and put the bags in. Max had a mint in his mouth.

"I cleaned off the couch if you want to sleep on it, or my bed. Or I can bring in the memory foam air mattress. Whatever makes you comfortable." Max said. 'Well his bed does look quite comfortable. We could take that.' 'I'm not that concerned about beds right now.'

I looked at Max before setting down my bags. Max was a bit red and I knew he was about to be a bit more redder when I was done. But standing here all awkwardly wasn't my style and never really would be my style. I smirked at Max.

Then I kissed him. Max wasn't short, but I wasn't short either. He was about on my level so neither of us were leaning down or leaning up. Max had to be around 5'11 or 5'10 to my 5'8. 'Just around our height which is absolutely perfect for this.'

I didn't give him a small kiss. I put my arms around his shoulders. Max was absolutely struck unsure of what to do. I backed him up to the bed and Max nervously got on as I continued kissing him. Max was surprised before his hand touched my hair before he lightly kissed me back making me grin.

I kissed his cheek and then his jawline and his neck. Pandora was coming close to influencing my actions. Max's eyes flashed gold a few times showing his wolf bordering out. 'He really should just let his wolf out at this point.' Pandora took that moment of surprise to seize control.

My blue eyes no doubt burned gold by now. Max glanced up and turned even more red realizing I wasn't the one in control. He shut his eyes as if fighting control before his sea green eyes were gold as Pandora kissed his neck. I felt the canines coming out.

And then Pandora bit right down into his neck making Artemis gasp. "You. . ." Artemis started as Pandora smirked as she bit down a bit harder. Artemis was a bit shocked before he angled himself to not be tearing his shoulder up before biting Pandora's collarbone. My collar bone.

It took me a moment to realize what these two were doing to each other before it clicked in. They were marking each other. Making sealing off the bond with only one step left. Connecting each other. Connecting the two of us for the rest of our lives.

1490. Now they're both marked so I can get those story going then end it. It should end in about 6-7 chapters. I don't want it in the high 20s. It's a novella after. So I'll have to word count it to make sure it reaches it's mark or make longer chapters. Yeah. Until next time romantic marshmallows.