The shock of hearing a new voice causes me to bonk heads with Max in a state of panic.

"Shit," he mutters, but I don't have time to worry if he's okay. I'm already buttoning my shorts and crossing the room to grab my bra. I can hear people moving around downstairs, and the anxiety of being caught shirtless in a boys room by his parents is enough to make me want to puke. And it's not just any boy; it's my mate. I don't want my first impression on my future in-laws to be of me scrambling to get clothed in their son's bedroom.

Max, thank the moon goddess, seems to just know what's going through my mind right now. He hops off the bed and slips into his clothes faster than I did. "Max?" a voice calls, and I meet his eyes in a state of panic. The voice sounds close, like it's coming up the stairs. Max offers me a guilty look as if to say "I'm so sorry", but I shake my head, hoping he understands that I'm not mad about this.

"Oh!" the voice gasps, and we both turn at the sound. His step mom is standing in the doorway of his room, a look of surprise on her face. The first thing I notice is how pale her skin is. I've never even seen someone so pale before, but I've also only ever been around werewolves, who are naturally tan. Even with the pale skin, though, she's beautiful. She has bright blue eyes and dark, shoulder length hair. Her skin looks smoother than a baby's bottom, and trust me, I know how smooth those are.

"Um, mom, this is my mate, Brynn," Max says. I turn to him as he runs a hand through his hair, and seeing him nervous seems to almost calm my nerves. I don't know why he's nervous about me meeting his family, but knowing we're in the same boat is a relief. He offers me a supportive smile when he notices my staring, and that's all it takes to wash away all the nerves. I turn back to his mom.

"Hi, I'm Brynn," I smile, holding out my hand. She reaches out to shake it, replacing the look of surprise with a warm smile that lights up her eyes.

"I'm Julie. It's so nice to meet you. I wish I could say I've heard a lot about you, but," she turns her eyes to Max and gives him a pointed glare, but her light brown eyes totally give away that she's joking around, "this is the first I'm hearing."

"Oops," Max grins, coming up and grasping my hand in his.

"Come on, your father's downstairs with the twins," Julie laughs. "And you have someone he'll definitely want to meet." She winks at me before turning away and heading towards the stairs.

"That didn't go bad at all," I mutter to him under my breath as we follow her out. "I definitely wasn't expecting that."

"My mom's pretty chill," Max shrugs. "My dad is most of the time. If he's pissed at someone or something, everyone will feel the wrath."

"I heard that!" a deep voice calls, and a laugh escapes Max. We get to the bottom and reach the kitchen. Julie's pulling containers of food out from a plastic bag, her husband is filling two cups with milk, and the twins, Molly and Mason, are sitting at the island, anxiously waiting for their dinner with coloring books in front of them. Their dad and the twins are just as pale as Julie. I haven't seen a family picture yet, but I know that Max is the one that doesn't belong.

Molly is the first one to see me, and she swats at Mason and points to me. He hits her back before looking in my direction. Molly smacks him across the head, though, so there's barely enough time for him to register that I'm here.

Mason goes to smack Molly again, but they're sad turns around at the precise moment Mason's hand is raised. "Hey," he says sharply, and the two of them freeze. I even find myself holding my breath as I wait for him to continue. I feel Max place his hand on my lower back, and his chin finds its way to my head. I relax into his touch.

Mason slowly lowers his hand and looks at his dad with wide eyes. Molly, on the other hand, stares at him with a blank expression. "Cut it out, both of you." They both nod vigorously, and it seems like they understand the message because they go back to coloring.

Their dad finally turns and notices me. He smiles when he sees me and Max, and I know he knows that Max and I are mates without either of us having to say anything. "I'm Rick," he says, crossing the kitchen in two leisure steps and holding a hand out for me.

I grab it and say, "I'm Brynn. It's so nice to finally meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too. I'm sorry that was your first impression of me," Rick says, gesturing to the twins. "Those two are a handful."

"Don't worry about it," I smile. "I'm the oldest of ten, so I completely understand." Everyone's eyes widen when I say ten, and I can't help but laugh.

"Ten?" Julie gasps, snapping her head up to meet my eyes. "I can barely handle three!"

"It's crazy, but my parents manage," I shrug, but I can't help but laugh again. I can feel Max laughing behind me, his chest gently shaking against my spine. The feeling reignites the fire inside me that hasn't actually gone out since I met him. I lean back silently, pushing myself against him so my back is completely pressed against his chest. It's not sexual at all; I just want to be closer to him. Max wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me even closer to him.

"I would hope so," Julie laughs. She's starts dishing dinner onto plates. It looks likes Chinese or Thai food judging by the rice and egg rolls. "Are you hungry? We have extras. I got shrimp, chicken, and pork fried rice."

"I'll have some shrimp fried rice, please," I say, letting Max lead me over to the island. I sit between him and Mason. Mason's finishing up coloring in a green Optimus Prime. "Is he your favorite?" I ask him.

He looks up at me and shakes his head. "No, Bumblebee is my favorite." He points to his picture and says, "He's my second favorite though."

"Have you seen the movies?"

He nods again. "Max took me to see he last on in theaters."

"Woah," I grin, turning to Max. "That must have you earned you some major big brother points.

"That and a little weasel in my bed for the next month," he says, raising his eyebrows at me.

"It was bonding time," I tease.

"He let me watch Paw Patrol on his TV every night and stay up until midnight!" Mason says. He's grinning when I turn back to him, Molly's leaning forward against the counter, peering around Mason to stare at me. Her eyes are darker than Max's, practically black. Her hair isn't quite black, but a shade or two darker and it would be. It hangs just below her shoulders.

"Hey Molly," I say. I have no idea why I feel so intimidated by her. Maybe it's the way she's staring at me, or maybe it's the fact that she hasn't said a word to me yet. Whatever the reason is, though, has got my nerves acting a little out of the ordinary.

"Hi," she says. She's hasn't even blinked yet, and that could definitely play a factor in her intimidation.

Julia sets two plates of food out in front of the twins and exchanges them for the coloring books. At exactly the same time, they grab their forks and dig in. That's also intimidating. She sets a plate in front of both me and Max, and we dig in too.

"Brynn, do you want to watch Transformers with us after dinner?" Mason asks me.

"Bath first, Mase," Julia says. He nods.

"Of course I will," I say. The rice is amazing, and I want to know where the restaurant is so I can order some myself. Or Max and I can go together.

After dinner, I help Julia do the dishes. I wash, she dries, and Max puts them away. Mason and Molly color while we're doing this, and Rick puts the leftovers away.

"Bath time," Julia announces.

Mason looks me dead in the eye, says, "Don't move! I'll be right back," and runs upstairs. Molly looks at me before following him up. Julia and Rick take the rear, and then it's just Max and I.

"Come on, B," he says, grinning. He grabs my hand and pulls me in the same direction as the rest of them, except he makes a small move to the left so we can go downstairs instead of up. I follow him down, and neither of us bothers with the light. We both have night vision built into us, so we can easily see.

The basement is a mess of toys, but it's divided in half by a wall with sliding doors in the center. The doors are open, and Max pulls me through them, the same grin still on his face. This time, he does flick on the light although it doesn't do much. It's dim, but I'm able to see that it's a home cinema.

"What the fuck!" I gasp. There's a huge flat screen on the back wall, and twelve comfy looking reclining chairs lined up in rows. There's a built in bar in the corner to my right, and a popcorn and snack counter to my left. The two side walls are both lined with shelves full of movies. "This place is amazing. How come you didn't show me this the first time?"

His arms snake around my waist from behind, and he whispers in my ear, "In case you don't remember, we were very preoccupied with other activities." He plants a kiss on the skin right behind my ear, and slowly leaves a trail down my neck and to my collarbone. I close my eyes, letting the feeling take over me. His hands are roaming over my body, not even shying away from the goods. A moan escapes my lips as he slips a finger inside my shorts.

"Max," I moan quietly.

"Would you like me to stop?" he whispers huskily, his voice ten times lower than it was a few seconds ago. I shake my head, whimpering a little as his fingers slips farther down. He teases me, and I swear if he wasn't holding me up with his other arm I would have collapsed by now. My knees are weak and definitely can't support my body without help.

"Max please," I beg softly, hearing the desperation in my voice.

"Please what," he says, nipping at my ear. His arms tighten around me, pulling me as close to him as we're going to get. I can feel the bulge in his pants against my backside, and I would do something about it if I wasn't so out of it right now.

I whimper at his comment, which only seems to further encourage his teasing. "What, B? You have to tell me exactly what you want."

"Max," I moan softly, closing my eyes. The pleasure I was feeling from his fingers was making me dizzy, and the need to feel them inside of me was aching now. "Please go inside of me." He keeps teasing, though, and I whimper again. "Max," I say again, my voice slightly hoarse.

"Later, B," he whispers in my ear, and he removes his hand from my shorts. He moves to go and sit down, pulling me along with him. I follow, still slightly dazed as he sits down and pulls me on top of him. The chair is comfortable enough for two, and I nuzzle my face into the crook of his neck.

"Later, I'm going to fuck you right here in this chair," he whispers in my ear, and shiver wracks through my spine.

"I can't wait," I say back, right before Molly and Mason come running into the room.