Merry Christmas folks!!

Chapter 6

-------------

The two men paid for their coffee and finally walked out of the diner and as they walked out, they were suddenly dragged in to an ally in one surprising motion. These men had been in the navy, had done some pretty heavy duty stuff so catching then unaware needed some considerable skill.

Before they could react they were held in iron grip. Both of them were in their top form, it was needed in their job as soldiers for hire. But people who were holding them were better, they could not release themselves from the grip that they were being held in.

A man walked in to the ally over to them and their eyes widened. This old man smoking the cigarette had been their primary target, they had been combing this area for a month for him.

Damn! This guy was good.

He came over and threw the cigarette butt to the ground and stepped on it, extinguishing it with his shoe.

"Right" he said looking at them "It is very unfortunate, but I need to send a message to your employers and both of you are the perfect medium." He said with a grim smile.

Before they could react or understand what he meant, the old man looked behind them and nodded to the men holding them and in one quick moment their necks were snapped like twigs. Both of them collapsed on to the ground dead.

"Put the bodies in the dumpster, where they will be discovered" Charles commented "This should be a sufficient enough message to send" He added and turned back and walked away, leaving men behind to do cleanup work.

He got in to the back seat of the car that was waiting for him and as the car started his phone rang.

"Yes?" he said.

He listened to the conversation from the other side.

"Is it? I shall look in to it" he answered and hung up.

"Apparently the little prince is back in Colorado, need to figure out what he is doing back there and if possible arrange a little welcome party for him...you know to make him feel at home."

A man from the passenger side of the front seat turned back "Sure boss, want us to put something together?"

"Yes" he smiled and added "I want to make a nice impression, make our distinguished guest feel welcomed." He said as the car drove away in to the night.

***

Evelyn sat in stunned silence as denial took over her. Denial of what she just heard. Maxwell Roma!

Maxwell immediately regretted it. He could not have done this more bluntly.

"Evelyn?" He asked gently leaning forward over the table.

"Roma!" she whispered in disbelief.

"You are Maxwell Roma?" She asked still in denial, as he nodded.

"The Maxwell Roma?" she inquired further with sinking hope. Before she sank in to despair, she wanted to be absolutely sure.

"The one and only, the original one. Please don't be fooled by cheap imitations" He quipped trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work.

"Oh God!" panic swelled in her "My God!" she repeated, her shoulders sagging in the mental weight that crashed in to her.

She was mated to Maxwell Roma, the heir to the Roma family, the most powerful werewolf family in the world. Panic set in to her in waves. She was not cut out for this life, she was not prepared for this life. She just had got her head around being mated to a werewolf. Had resigned to the fact that she would have to leave everyone and everything she knew and start a new life. But, she was not prepared for this. The very shackles she wanted to be free from were now firmly closing in to confine her for good. For the rest of her life.

"Hey!" Maxwell whispered and gently got up and came towards her, he bent on his knee so he could be in level to her. He thanked god that Nick had arranged a private alcove for them to dine in this restaurant. They had complete privacy and they were given a buzzer to press when they wanted a waiter, so he was sure they were alone and just to double-check he sniffed the air and did not find any scent close by, he focused back on his mate who was shell-shocked and cursed himself of his stupidity.

"Shhhhh" he said gently wiping her tears away that has appeared on the edges of her eyes, she was looking down, "it's going to be ok."

She looked at him panic flaring in her eyes "No Max! It will not be ok! I don't belong to that world!" She would suffocate and die.

He got up and in one swoop pulled her off her chair and he sat down and planted her in his lap. She promptly curled in to a ball and buried herself in to him, drawing comfort from the proximity only a mate could provide. He put his arms around her.

He gently ran his hands through her hair "There is no that world Evy" he started gently in soothing tone "there is our world. Yours. Mine and our families. You will not be alone, I will be there, my mom, Alex, Adrian, Sebastian all of us will be there every step of the way. You don't have to do anything overnight. You don't have to change, just be who you are and you will fit right in." He assured.

"How do you know I will fit in?" She asked looking up at him, doubt lacing her voice. Was he mad? She was a nobody, they would never accept her.

"Because you are Evelyn, because you are my mate." He said with confidence.

"I wish I have the same faith as you. I can't Max... I cannot imagine...." She started voicing her fears but he cut her out.

"What is your biggest worry? Tell me?" he pried gently.

"The expectations! The scrutiny! I am not cut out for that life.... I...They...I will not be accepted Max, I am a nobody" She voiced out her fears.

"The only expectations you need to fulfil are yours." He said.

"Max it's easy for you to say, you were born for this and I" she paused "I am, nobody." She repeated. He was a prince, the bloodline of a legendary werewolf family and she was the daughter of a drunkard father, who had died as he lived, a wastrel. She never felt such shame, she had finally found some happiness and security with Nicks pack and had identified a father in Jeff, but now it was all blown apart. She would be scrutinized, ridiculed at, she did not know if she could live through it.

He pulled her tighter in to him and gently put his hand under her chin, she had looked away from him while talking and he forced her back to look at him "look at me Evy!" he said gently. Forcing her head up.

Her eyes slowly focused back on to him.

"You are Evelyn. Not nobody" he started "You are right, I was born in to this world, so me and my family, now your family will guide you through every step of the way." She still wasn't buying it.

"Do you know my mother?" he asked.

"Roma?" she whispered confused.

"Yes" he said.

"What about her?" she asked, not sure how his mother suddenly got in to the picture.

"Her name was not always Roma, you know." He said.

It dawned on her, he was telling that his mother had gone through something similar when she found out she was the mate of Maxwell's father.

"Who was she before?" she asked, now curious. It was hard to imagine Roma to be anything but the powerful woman in control she saw and encountered.

"Her name was Catherine Wagner" he started "before she met my dad. She was almost same age as you, when she met him, I think she had just celebrated her twentieth birthday and then their paths crossed." He explained "She was the daughter of a baker, simple but happy family. She too came from humble beginnings to become who she is today." He paused for the information to sink in "She became Catherine Roma when she married my father and when he died..." he paused re-living a painful memory "She inherited the title of Roma" He explained.

Roma was a country founded by the Roma werewolf family and also the title of the ruling monarch, in current case Maxwell's mother would always be referred to as Roma. When Maxwell eventually would ascent the throne he would be referred to "Roma" as well. Evelyn, who would be Maxwell's mate, would be a queen or rather a queen consort. Equal in rank but not in power. Where in, Maxwell's mother was a queen regnant. An absolute monarch.

Catherine Roma had been a queen consort when Maxim Roma, Maxwell's father was alive but ascended the throne when he was assassinated and Maxwell could not ascend the throne due to his unmated status. The law of the old, which the Roma wolf's followed did not allow unmated wolves to ascend the throne, as it was believed unmated wolves were not as stable as ones with mates to tether them.

Since Roma ascended the throne and became a Queen regnant, Maxwell would only get the title of Roma when she passed away the only way to get for the title to pass from one person to another was death. So Maxwell would only get the title when Roma, his mother died.

Maxwell looked at Evelyn and decided not to overwhelm her with too much information and technical details, but at the same time wanted to ease her worries.

"One day, far away I will become Roma and you my queen, this is when the title passes from my mother to me. Till then, she will be Roma and I a prince and as my mate all you have to do is look cute, smile and wave" he ended with a teasing tone trying to lighten the mood.

"Since all this is far, far away. Right now let's focus on one thing at a time. For now let's focus on getting to know each other and the rest will follow. What do you say?" he asked trying to gently coerce an agreement.

She looked at him in deep thought. Yes, there were a thousand things in her mind and her insecurities overwhelming her but just looking in to his eyes, she felt the truth behind his words and she felt courage with the belief that he would be every step of the way. How could not she believe someone who displayed so much faith in her?

"Thank you!" she whispered in gratitude, his support meant the world to her.

"You are welcome, my little mate!" he said smiling gently at her "Now all this talk has made me hungry, shall we order food and get to know each other?" he offered.

"Yes" she agreed.

He gently pulled her out of his lap and got up, like a gentleman pulled the chair back so she could sit in it properly and then walked around to take his seat.

She immediately felt the loss of his body warmth and comfort it provided, a girl could get used to that, she thought.

He pressed the buzzer and a moment later a waiter appeared to take their order.

***

The SUV stopped in front of her house and Maxwell stepped out to open the door for her. The rest of the dinner they did what they agreed to do and got to know each other a little better, shared childhood stories, shared like and dislikes. Both felt they knew each other a little better.

"Do you have school tomorrow?" he asked as she stepped out of the vehicle.

"Yes, weekday you know" she said

"I will pick you up after school" he declared.

"Oh! Why?" she asked. But butterfly's fluttered in her stomach.

"Do you think I will be satisfied with just one date?" he asked with a grin and twinkle in his eye.

"No..but, I usually have practice with Jeff and will have school work to do, I am actually catching up on a lot of work" she explained, not that she didn't want to spend time with him, but she was hardly free with her exams fast approaching.

"When are your exams?" he asked as if reading her mind.

"Three weeks from now" she said worried. She still felt she was not ready.

"Ok" he nodded, she felt disappointed.

"But" he started before her disappointment could set in "that does not mean we can't spend time together. Post school come over to the hotel, the same one we stayed the last time. We can be in a room together and you can still do your school work and I can sit and admire you. That way we can still spend time together and you can still do your school work. I promise I will not disturb you" he proposed.

She was tempted, very tempted. She did not know how much she could focus around him, but it was worth a shot "ok" she said shyly. She wanted to spend some time with him as well.

His smile widened "Great!" he said and added "And from tomorrow, someone will pick you up and drop you to school every day."

She frowned and started to protest but he cut her shot "It will reassure me Evy" he gently said "I don't want to worry you or suspect something that is not there but the American council is not very happy with us or Nick right now and Colorado is an island surround by the council territories. I just want you to have enough security just in case. Merely a precaution" he gently stated trying not to worry her.

Her eyes widened with his revelation, the SUV's following her made sense now. She was after all the mate of the prince of Roma, that itself would attract all kinds of unwanted attention. One more thing to get used to.

"Your people were following me all this while?" she asked wanting a conformation.

"Yes" he offered.

"But now" he started "Since you know, how valuable you can be to our enemies, I want to make the security very visible to act as a deterrent to anyone who might have any ideas" he said "please Evy" he added gently.

"Sure" she nodded giving in without a fight, she did not want him to worry about her unnecessarily, she was sure he had enough on her plate. She never was one who kept abreast with politics of werewolf world. Now, she believed she needed a crash course.

"Thank you!" he said with relief.

"Also, I will speak to Jeff tomorrow and reassign your training to Adrian" he said.

"Adrian?" she asked "Is he here too?"

"Yes and before you ask Alex is here as well." He offered knowing what her next question would be.

Her smile grew, she missed him. "If he had his way, he would have crashed our date" Maxwell deadpanned "I suspect you will see him very soon" he offered.

She just smiled, she realized she had missed him and then realized guiltily that she had avoided him too in the last couple of months. He had tried to reach her a couple of time on mail and on phone and then stopped, respecting her wishes.

"Do I have to?" she asked, remembering about the training part.

"What?" he asked.

"Training" she said in disdain.

He looked at her sternly "Evy, it is very important for a newly turned wolf to learn control. So yes, training is not optional" he added with a gentle warning. "And Adrian is one of our best" he offered and she groaned in response.

He gently took her hand and walked her to the door.

"So, see you tomorrow?" he asked.

"Tomorrow" she confirmed.

"Good night, Evy" He said, leaned in and gently kissed her cheek.

"Good night" she responded shyly as he stepped back. She was disappointed. Disappointed?!

As he stepped back and turned around to walk back to the waiting car.

"Max" she called him on impulse.

"Yes?" he turned around searching her face.

Before she could overthink it, she leaned forward, got on her toes, closing her eyes kissed him on his lips. He was stunned momentarily, but responded in fiery passion. She put her arms around him and poured all her trust, hopes and her faith in to it. Hoping for him to see that she was ready, to move forward with her mate, with her life, with whatever lay ahead for them.

On the porch of Jeff's hours. Maxwell and Evelyn stood kissing each other. A kiss filled with endless possibilities.

A kiss to signal a new beginning.