completely unedited folks, If i started to sit and edit it would have taken forever, I will come back and fix it later. Also to add, expect the next update around the 22nd.

Chapter 20

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"Any update on the attack?" Roma asked Sebastian from her chair as he sat across her and the table.

He shook his head negative "No, Alex is following all leads" and it was too soon for any concrete intel.

"What do you think happened?" Roma asked looking at him.

"I think they saw a change is talking out some high level Roma wolves and they took the chance" Sebastian voiced his opinion.

"So you think it was not about her?" Roma asked.

"Unlikely but we are living on grace time, it's a matter of days before they know" He cautioned. It would have been best if Max would get his mate in to Roma before it even became public that he had a mate, now it seemed unlikely.

She sighed and asked "Where are we on Charles?" He was the cause of their misery she was sure.

"At a stalemate" He said in frustration. Weeks and weeks of manhunt accounted to nothing "We still have private contractors combing through Montana, he is safely tucked in Patrick Lockbourne's pack lands. We have no direct proof of that except the cell transcript CIA shared with us."

"Can we pin this incident on him" She asked, something she could take to the world council.

"Highly doubtful. He would be stupid if he left a trail behind that would pin this to him. I know how it would turn out, all the assailants would turn out to be rogues, recorded with violent pasts, mostly banished or escaped persecution from their Alphas. Nope, it would be written down as a rogue activity and without solid proof it would be difficult to convince otherwise." He added.

She was lost in her thought for a moment and then added after careful after thought "I want you to create a taskforce of your best trackers, who can evade scrutiny and can stay invisible" she looked at him "and then I want them to infiltrate the Montana pack."

"If they catch them it will be seen as an act of war Roma" Sebastian warned her of the consequences that was one reason they did not send any of their men in to Montana but hired human guards instead.

"We are already at war Sebastian" She said in a flat firm tone "We now know that the American packs are directly or indirectly responsible for my mate's assassination and now they try to target our top tier. It's time we stop pretending and realize that we are already at war."

"Ok, I will assemble a team" Sebastian told her, she was right they could not sit and do nothing when their family was being attacked.

"Make it quick. Make it quite" She advised "And till further notice I want all our forces at high alert ready to deploy at a moment's notice"

"Will be done Roma" he added.

"Anything else?" she asked him trying to dismiss him.

"Our friends in Africa are making some noise" He stated.

She started rubbing her temple in response "I thought Maxwell took care of it."

"He was in the middle of it when he hurried over to the US." Chasing down his errant mother he thought.

She sighed in frustration "Let's send him back there once things with his mate are settled." She needed Maxwell back, he was the power broker of their family, the one who made peace and with him tied up in Colorado lot of their business was piling up both the normal kind of business and the werewolf one.

"By the way Maxwell wants me there. Adrian called me a while ago, he wants me there to protect his mate and he is sending Adrian back here" He added.

"All right. I agree, when do you leave?" This was good, Sebastian could nudge Maxwell to get moving and she had given him enough time to set things right with his mate but time was running out. There were business deals stuck in limbo costing the family a small fortune and now the African wolves were up to no good.

"With your permission as soon as possible" He added.

"Take the jet" She told him. The Roma family had a couple of airplanes in their stable from short range Learjet's to long range Boeing's.

"Yes Roma" he said as he got up and walked towards the door. As he opened the door and was about to close it behind him he heard her voice.

"Keep them safe" it wasn't a request.

He paused and looked back at her and gave her a nod. He didn't even have to tell her that he would put his life on the line to protect them.

With that he walked out of her office, he had a flight to catch.

***

"You can put the bag in my room." Maxwell said gently leading her in to his room.

"There are two bedroom's in this suite you know" She hinted.

"Where is the fun in that" he smiled and added "Besides, I like you in my bedroom, you look like you belong" He winked at her.

She blushed slightly at his flirting. They had come in directly from her house and now this hotel would serve as her home for a while.

She put the bag on the bed and unzipped it and pulled out...some books?

Maxwell looked at her confused.

"I have exams coming up you know and I would like to pass them and for that I need to do a lot of reading" She said looking at his confused face and walked out of the room with him training behind her.

She walked in to the other bedroom and he followed her inside. She put the books on the reading table.

"What is this?" he demanded. What was she doing?

"I want to be able to read without being distracted. So, I am taking this over as my study room."

"Why cant you do this in our room?" he whined. Whined? Seriously! What was this female doing to him?

She looked at him pointedly "Can you honestly say that there would be no distractions in our room?"

Our room. He like that. He liked that a lot, he liked it so much that he would demand her to say it again and again....before he got distracted he came back to the point at hand. A point he was not liking, not one bit.

"So, what are you saying?" he asked her.

"I study here, this is my sanctuary, when I am in here I don't expect to be disturbed or distracted" She demanded.

He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Do we have a deal?" she glared back at him.

"Yep. Deal" He signed.

"Good" she smiled at him he was still looking a little petulant.

"Don't be like that" she told him "come here and I will give you a kiss."

He couldn't move fast enough.

He leaned in to her and swooped in for a kiss and she reached up to him eagerly, closing her eyes and enjoying the feeling of his lips on him.

A shrill ring of his phone interrupted his kiss as he broke it and stepped back, taking deep breathes trying to get his body under control.

He pulled out his phone and looked at it. It was Sebastian. Fuck! He needed to take this call.

He looked at her "I need to take this call. It can be a while"

She nodded in understanding "its ok, I need to catch up with on my studies anyway."

"So I will see you later in a few hours" he added taking a step back to leave her to study.

"I will be waiting" she whispered back, her eyes holding promise of things to follow.

Shit! His pants suddenly felt very tight. Without a word he turned around and walked out of the room.

***

She had settled in to study and before she realized the hours passed by and she stretched her hands, legs and neck to clear out the kinks from her long study, she looked at the watch and it was six in the evening. God! Where had the afternoon gone off to? She closed the book noisily and got up and walked in to the other bedroom.

The best part about this room was his scent, lingering around strongly, she took a deep breath of the air in the room, breathing in his scent and walked in to the room to her back.

She planned to take a bath, she pulled out some clothes and then she paused looking in to her bag. A few days ago she had bought some lingerie, it was red, he had told her he liked red. She had not got a chance to wear it till now. She grabbed the lacy underwear and a towel and her toiletries kit and walked in to the bathroom.

She was just done shaving herself when there was a short knock on the door.

"Evy?" Max's voice called out. He was back "You in there?" he asked

"Yep. Will be here a while, in middle of a bath" She responded.

"You need any help?" his voice teased from the other side of the door.

"I think I can manage for now" She rolled her eyes at him even though he could not see her.

"Well if you need help, I can volunteer my services" His voice came back.

"I shall surely keep that in mind, kind sir" she teased back.

"Ok, you hungry? Want me to order something" he asked all teasing gone.

"No. I am good" She told him. She was too nervous to eat.

"Ok, I will be in the living room"

"Will see you in a while" she said as she heard his retreating footsteps.

She took a leisure bath and then when she finally stepped out of the tub and dried herself she eyed the underwear for a moment before wearing it and looked at them mirror. Damn! It was sure worth the money, she looked good!

She initially had got a pajama and a t-shirt to wear but now she eyed the fresh hotel robe neatly hung on the bathroom door. She ditched her pajamas and quickly got in to the robe and tied it around her firmly. She again checked herself in the mirror. She looked very decent in the robe without a hint of what she was wearing inside. She took a deep breath and stepped out of the bathroom.

Time to get her man.

***

The phone was picked up after three rings.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end said.

"It is confirmed" Charles said in to the phone "The prince has got himself a mate."

There was a deep breath on the other end.

"Fuck!" Gordon Lockbourne, the head of the world council of wolves muttered "Do you know who she is?"

"Nobody we know, looks like a she wolf from Nick's pack" Charles added.

"Fuck!" Gordon cursed again, why he had to get a mate now.

"Can we use her?" Gordon asked, would she have any loyalty to the American wolves?

"Highly doubt it" Charles declared. She would be a fool to betray her mate and for what? Some misplaced sense of loyalty to the American wolves, that bridge was probably burnt when they stood by watching the rogues slaughter the Colorado packs. They had tried winning some of the Colorado survivors back to their side and the few who did talk to them spat on their face. No, they would not win a popularity contest in Colorado right now.

"So if she is not with us, she is with them. We take them all out, including her" Gordon suggested.

"I have a better Idea" Charles proposed.

"I am all ears" Gordon said.

"Before I let you know, I need you do something" Charles said.

"Ok" Gordon said curious.

"One. Leave her alone for now and two arrange a ball in her honor"

"A Ball?" Gordon was now confused.

"Yes a Ball. You know dressing up and dancing and food...."

"I know what a ball is" Gordon cut him off "But why?" He wasn't in a part mood especially with Roma wolves pissing all over his backyard.

"Show that you want peace and harmony and all such things. A ball in honor of the new princess of Roma, she should be invited. It would give us an opportunity to study her." Charles offered.

"But you said she can't be used" Gordon remained him.

"For now. We never know what opportunity we might have in the future. It's never a bad idea to study your potential adversary, such knowledge can come in handy" Charles suggested.

"All right. I will have it arranged" Gordon conceded and the line went dead.

Charles put his phone in his pocket and picked up the picture, picture of the young girl. She could a critical element in his plan.

***

As she walked out of the bedroom she saw Max's head, he was seated in the sofa his legs on the table surfing channels casually on the TV.

She walked up to him and plopped down on his side.

He looked at her and smiled "Somebody is fresh...and smelling good" He said leaning in to her neck and taking a deep whiff. "I like it, what is it?" he asked.

"Does it have to be something, can't it be my amazing self?" She asked cockily.

He gave a playful nip at her neck and she yelped.

"How was your day?" She asked tilting her neck giving him access.

He paused his ministrations and pulled back "Busy. Had some stuff to close. Sebastian is coming over."

"Is he" She added, she had never interacted with him what little she knew about him she heard from Alex, he was a wolf to be reckoned with.

"Yes, he will act as your bodyguard till we leave" He added, he expected her protest.

"Ok" she conceded willingly.

"Ah..." He did not expect her ready agreement.

"What?" She asked.

"I never expected you to agree so willingly" He confessed.

"I value my life as much as anybody else Max and if Sebastian can keep me safe I am all for it" She said honestly.

"Besides, recent events certainly opened my eyes" She said truthfully. She realized something earlier today. That is how her life was going to be, Roma had enemies and now she made it to their list. She would have guards protecting her for the rest of her life. She resigned to that fact.

"I am sorry" He said playing with her hair.

"Not your fault Max" She said, the last thing she wanted his to feel was guild. It truly was not his fault, he had not asked for this either.

"How was your day?" he asked changing the topic.

"Studying. My head is spinning from all the studying" She said as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"I think what my mate needs is something to relax" He suggested.

"Yeah? And what would that be?" She asked teasing.

He scooted back to the corner of the sofa and pulled her along with him and her head was now in his lap.

"Why don't you close your eyes and let your mate take care of you" He said as he started massaging her scalp through her hair.

She moaned in pleasure as his fingers gently caressed her scalp, head and shoulders and closed her eyes. She was in heaven.

They stayed like this for five minutes she giving out occasional moans of pleasure at his ministrations when suddenly she opened her eyes and saw him looking down at her.

"What?" she asked softly.

"Admiring my beautiful mate" He said with a small smile.

"Beautiful is it?" she asked teasingly "You are not just telling that to get lucky are you?"

He raised his eyebrow at that "Will I get lucky?" he asked.

"Maybe, maybe not" she teased.

He pinched her cheek hard at that.

"Ow!" she yelped.

"Not nice to tease you know." He admonished playfully.

She sat up gently and scooted closer to him, and just when he thought she would kiss him and he involuntarily closed his eyes her lips moved to his ear and she whispered gently "Who said I was teasing?"

He opened his eyes at that and looked in to her dark ones, pooling with desire. She was not kidding! Holy shit! Jolts of pleasure ran through his body, a strange anticipation bubbling inside him. Was she saying what he thought she was saying?

She put her arms around him and tugged him to her.

"Kiss me Max" she whispered huskily.

He needed no further invitation, he complied.

It started off as a gentle kiss teasing her lips but she impatiently tugged him closer deepening it.

A moan escaped him as her hands roamed over his sensitive neck. His hands cascaded through her dark silky tress and to her back. He held her sides and pulled her close to him, unable to bear the distance between their bodies.

She sighed as she felt his body head enveloping her as he pulled her closer and he started trailing kisses on to her neck and stopped where he marked her, she moaned as he sucked on the mark hard, he would be leaving a hickey there.

Her roaming hands cupped the back of his had putting gentle pressure to encourage him in what he was doing, she liked it. His mouth trailed down further as his caressing hands climbed slowly up to from her sides to her breasts and he gently cupped her with his hands over her robe.

She shivered in delight as bolts of pleasure shot through her. She took a deep breath and put her hand on top of his making his still his moments.

"Take me to the bedroom Max" she whispered huskily, breathing heavily.

His eyes roamed her face for any doubt "Are you sure?" It would kill him to stop now but he had to ask.

Instead of answering she got up and took his hand in hers and pulled him to stand. He stood up and she led him to the bedroom and he followed her in daze like a lamb.

She walked him to the bed. Turned around and pulled him to a deep kiss, she poured all her desires in to her kiss, letting him know what she felt, it was a kiss of a woman who was sure what she wanted. The mate bond was flaring brightly between them, pushing them for what nature intended, cementing it. Soon it would take over completely.

She broke her kiss and Max was still recoiling from its intensity. She pushed him on to the bed on which he collapsed without any resistance.

She stood at the edge of the bed and looking in to his eyes, tugged her robe open, letting it fall off her body and pool at her feed.

His eyes widened as blood rushed to his groin.

She stood in front of him in red lingerie, the flimsiest, sexiest lingerie he had ever seen.

His heart was pounding away supplying him with adrenal, his erection was painfully hard.

"You still think, I am not sure?" she asked in that husky voice filled with need.

He surrendered to the lust, to the need...to the mate bond. There was no going back.

In a flash he got up tugged at her hand so she fell on the bed and in one quick moment he rolled them over so that he was on the top.

He held her body beneath him in a vice like grip and looked at her face "You are so beautiful Evy and all mine" he whispered with reverence.

She basked in his admiration and whispered back "Yours" she was his and he was hers.

He met her lips in violent fury and she responded in kind. He felt hot, like something was burning him from the inside. He never, ever felt this way.

His hands held her sides and roamed over her naked flesh, her sides and stomach, she gasped at the touch on her naked skin and trembled, his hands leaving trails of heat everywhere.

Her petite hands slid under his shirt exploring his abdomen and he groaned at the soft contact. His heart was beating so fast that it would explode. She would surely be the death of him but what a way to die!

She fanatically tore the shirt over him breaking the kiss.

They looked in to each other's eyes. He on top, she on the bottom, her legs spread, his hardness pressing in between her legs even through their clothing she could feel him hard and ready and he could feel her heat, beckoning him a sirens call that he could not ignore.

The mate bond was pulsing strong now, taking control of two mates urging them to do what they both wanted to do.

His hands gently roamed her ribs and she shivered.

"You are trembling" he whispered pulling one of his hands free and cupped her cheek.