Author's note:

Daniel Sharman is who I picture Max Tanglewood to be.

He is rather good looking and he is a really good actor so I think he fits the role perfectly.

Hope you enjoy chapter 9 and tell me what ya think.

Love ya bunches!!!

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Before I can even say anything, Mason has Max pinned up against the wall with his hand wrapped around his throat.

"Mason don't!" I yell and rush over to separate the two.

When did my life become such a daytime soap opera?

I wrap my arms around Mason's firm bicep and lean up to whisper in his ear.

"Please. Not here. Not now." I exclaim softly and to my surprise he listens. He slowly removes his hand from Max's throat and takes a step back. His arms wrap around my waist and he leads us a safe distance from Max and from my father.

"What the hell Riddle?" Max says in a deep British accent.

"That's Alpha Riddle to you. And you might as well walk out the door you just came in through because there is no way in hell you are even going near my mate." Mason growls venomously.

I can tell he is trying to restrain himself for my sake but I can also tell it's not working.

"Your mate? You mean Paisley?" Max questions.

"Yes."

Instead of answering, Max breaks out into a fit of laughter.

"Why the hell are you laughing?" I sneer at him which ceases his laughter.

"Oooh. Feisty! I like it." Max says with an ugly grin that sends chill down my spine and not the good kind.

Mason lunges towards him but this time his beta Dawson holds him back and whispers something to him that makes him look back at me.

He shrugs out of Dawson's grip and walks back over to me but before he can touch me, my dad pulls me away.

"Daddy? What the hell?" I bark.

"You are to be with Max as a way to unite our packs." He says and points at Max.

"What? Why? We have one of the strongest packs in Virginia, why do we need to unite with another pack?"

I'm so confused right now. There's clearly something going on that I don't know about.

"Shows what you know doll face. Your pack isn't as strong as you think. It's going under." Max snaps at me.

Mason growls at him and I laugh when I see the fear running through Max's eyes.

"Is this true daddy?" I turn to face him.

His face falls and I know it's true.

"H-how?" I stutter.

"Don't worry about that. I will explain everything later, but right now you and Max have things you need to discuss." He says and Mason takes a step towards us.

"She isn't going anywhere with him. She's mine." Mason yells.

I don't liked being talked about like I am a piece of property, but at the same time I like the possessive words coming out of Mason's mouth.

"Actually mate, she's mine!" Max says and grabs me by the waist and pulls me towards him. I push against his chest and struggle against his hold but he refuses to let go.

"Get your hands off of her or so help me I'll rip them off myself!" Mason yells loudly. He takes a menacing step forwards and Max immediately lets go.

Wimp.

"Stop!" I scream.

Everyone stops what their doing and turns their attention to me.

"Daddy how could you? Mom would have never sold me out to another pack!" I say with tears threatening to spill from my eyes.

"Honey it's not like that. I-I just...", my dad begins to say but trails off not knowing what to say.

Without another glance at anyone, I run up the stairs and lock myself in Jamie's bedroom. I sigh in relief when I see he's still sleeping. How he managed to do that with all the yelling I have no idea.

I walk over to his bed and gently slide in beside him. I play with his hair and sigh in content when he cuddles up to my side.

Tears flow freely down my cheeks when I think about what our father has done.

How could he? He's my dad! He is suppose to protect me, not sell me out to some pervert!

I lift my head up when I hear a quiet knock at the door.

Before I can ask who it is, Mason walks inside and shuts it behind him.

I thought I locked that?

He starts to say something but I quietly hush him and point to Jamie who's still sleeping.

Damn this kid is like a rock.

I point to the hallway and slowly detach myself from Jamie to get up. I follow Mason outside the door and quietly shut it behind me.

Once he catches a glimpse of my tear stained cheeks in the light, he pulls me into his chest.

"Shhhh. It's okay. I'm not gonna let anything bad happen to you." He says in my ear and wraps his arms tighter around me as if to reassure himself I'm still here and in his arms.

We stand there for a couple minutes in silence as Mason rubs my arms and back, trying to soothe me.

"I-I can't believe him. He was supposed to protect me and instead he practically sold me off to Max." I say through my sobs.

"Don't worry Paisley. I'm not going to let anyone take you. I'll protect you." He says while staring deep into my eyes. It seems to immediately calm me down.

Before I can respond, five men barge up the staircase and into the hallway. They rip Mason and I apart.

"What are you doing? Get off of me!" Mason screams.

"Owww!" I yell when one of the men holding onto me twist my arm behind my back.

"Let her go before I rip every single one of your heads off!" Mason yells and head bunts the men holding onto him.

They both fall to the floor unconscious and Mason rushes over to help me.

One of the guys holding me lets go to fight Mason while the other two keep their tight grips on my arms. I better not have bruises there tomorrow.

Mason easily takes down the man in front of him before snapping the necks of the men holding me.

Damn my mate is strong.

He grabs my hand and pulls me back into Jamie's room before pulling me over to the window.

"What are we doing?" I ask frantically while Mason gently picks up Jamie from his bed and places him into my arms.

"Leaving." Is all he says before throwing the window open.

"You want us to jump?" I ask with wide eyes. I'm a wolf not a cat! I'm not going to land gracefully on my feet.

"Hold on tight to Jamie and I'll hold on tight to you. Trust me." He says and I can't help but nod. I do trust him.

He wraps his arms around me while I tighten my hold on Jamie.

Thank God the kid's still asleep.

I feel my heart leap into my throat when Mason jumps us out of the window. I keep my eyes tightly clamped together.

"Did we die?" I ask and he lets out a chuckle.

"No baby we didn't die." He says and my eyes fly open to stare at him.

Baby? That's a new one.

"Come on we gotta get going before they send more men after us." Mason says and pulls me by my hand through the woods.

He leads us to a black SUV in the middle of no where on a dirt road.

"This isn't sketchy at all." I mumble sarcastically and Mason shoots me a small grin.

"It's just Dawson. My beta." He assures me and I nod my head. He pulls the door open for us and helps me in before climbing in beside me and shutting the door.

"Home and step on it." He orders Dawson who nods his head and takes off driving into the night.

That really just happened. I just ran away from my pack, my home, and everything I've ever known.

"Hey come here." Mason says when he sees the distraught expression on my face. He pulls me into his arms where I snuggle into his warm chest while keeping Jamie comfortably sitting on my lap.

"It's all going to be okay." He whispers into my hair before placing a kiss on the top of my head.

Is it though? I can't help but ask myself.

——

Author's note:

What'd ya think?

Dramatic right?

Comment and vote please!

I love all of you bunches!!!

Good night!