A massive building stands in front of us. We don't stay long out of fear of being detected, but now we know where the hybrids are. That's something.

We go back to my house, and the three of us jump onto the roof and sneak through my bedroom window. "What are you guys going to do now that you know where their base is?" Mara asks.

"I don't know. It's not like we can. . ." I trail off when I notice someone sitting on the armchair in the corner of my room. I didn't notice her when we first snuck back into my room. She's looking up at us with wide eyes, a book laying forgotten in her lap.

I walk over to Ellie and lean over, grabbing her sides tot tickle. "What are you doing in here, you little stinker?" I ask as she laughs.

"Brynn, stop!" she screams happily, trying to shove my hands away.

"Tell me what you were doing in my room," I say. I stop tickling her, and her laughter dies away. The smile still remains on her face though, her eyes sparkling with joy.

"I needed a new book to read. Mommy said you had a lot I could choose from." She holds up the forgotten in her lap. It's The Book Jumper Mechthild Gläser. "Where were you?"

"Doing something really important," I tell her.

Her eyes skip over Mara, who is of no interest to her, and land on Max. He spikes her interest. She stares at him for a few seconds, turns back to me, and asks, "Who is he?" She points at him, just to clarify.

"That's Max," I say, not elaborating on it. I'm not mad that she's in my room, but I don't think I'm ready to tell my family about him just yet. If I can get Ellie to keep him a secret for now, everything will be just peachy.

"You must be Ellie," he smiles.

I can't put it into words how much it warms my heart and sets my body on fire that he knows who she is. He's never met any of my family members before. He's only seen pictures and knows whatever I've told him about them. He remembered her name despite how confusing it is to keep all my siblings straight.

He's perfect.

Max is completely, utterly, perfectly perfect.

How did I get so lucky to be mated with someone as amazing as him?

I watch Ellie's eyes light up when he says her name. He just earned major brownie points with her.

"Yeah, I am!" she smiles. "Are you Brynn's boyfriend?"

So much for trying to keep it a secret.

"Um," Max says, and he looks at me with questioning eyes.

I take a deep breath, turn back to Ellie, and say, "Max is my mate."

Ellie gasps. "You met your mate?" she says loudly, and I shush her even louder.

"El, no one else knows. It's a secret for now," I tell her quietly.

"Why is it a secret?"

"Because. . . there's a lot of stuff we have to figure out before we tell anyone," I say, hoping it's a good enough explanation for her. She's only eight, but she's also smarter than me sometimes. She's seems satisfied with the answer, thank the moon goddess. "Can you promise me you won't tell anyone?"

"Pinky promise," she says, her tone dead serious. She holds up her pinky, and I hook mine around it.

"If you break this promise, you owe me big time," I tease, wrapping her in a huge.

"I won't break it," Ellie says, her little arms hooked around my neck. It's in this moment that I'm once again reminded that Ellie is my half sister. I close me eyes, and I realize that I don't care how we're related. Ellie and every other member of my family is still my family. I can't be mad at my parents anymore for not telling me the truth, and I don't want to hide something this big from them anymore.

"Actually," I say, releasing Ellie, "You're going to help me tell everyone that I met my mate."

"So it's not a secret anymore?" she asks slowly.

"No, I want everyone else to meet Max." I turn back to look at him, smiling to hide how nervous I am. He can see right through my bullshit, though.

I'll be right here the entire time, B, he mind links, offering a supportive and happy smile. I can tell he's excited that I'm finally ready for him to meet my family, and that's what gives me a little boost of confidence.

"You ready to do this?" Mara asks me as I stand up and let Ellie crawl onto my back.

"I have to do it at some point," I shrug. I walk over to my bedroom door and open it.

Are you sure you're ready for this? I tease Max.

I was born ready, baby, he responds, his tone lighthearted even in my mind.

We head downstairs and into the kitchen, and I suddenly realize how random this entire situation is going to be. My parents are both in the kitchen doing the dinner dishes, and here I come rolling in with my best friend and my mate who I've been keeping a secret for the last three weeks.

Aside from my parents, Violet, Carter, and the twins are also in the kitchen. The twins have their heads bent together, most likely planning some evil prank, Carter's scarfing down a bowl of ice cream, and Violet's putting dishes away.

I let Ellie down, and she runs to the pantry. She disappears inside it for a moment, and comes out with a container of homemade cookies. My parents turn at the sound of entering the kitchen, and their eyes linger on Max. "Mom, dad, this is my mate, Max," I blurt out. Everyone else in the kitchen looks up when I say this.

There. The hard part is over.

My dad doesn't hesitate. He grabs a towel, dries his hands, and introduces himself. "Nice to meet you, Max. I'm Brynn's dad, Ethan."

"It's nice to meet you too, sir," Max says, shaking his hand. I can see the approval in my dad's eyes, especially when Max says, "Brynn's told me so much about you guys."

"No need to call me sir. Ethan will do just fine," my dad grins. He looks at me and nods, like I couldn't already tell that he liked him.

My mom turns the sink off and walks around the counter, extending her hand towards Max as well. "I'm Lacey, Brynn's mom."

I open my mouth to say "adoptive mom", but I realize what I'm about to say before I say it. I quickly shut my mouth. A pit forms in my stomach, because the hard part is not over. Introducing Max was just the beginning. I still have so much to talk to them about.

"Brynn's told me so much about all of you," Max says, looking around at my siblings that are here. He points at each of them and says, "Carter, Levi, Lexi, and Violet. Right?" He looks at my for confirmation, and I nod as my heart explodes in my chest.

My parent's eyes are shining, and my siblings all looks a little taken aback that he knows their name's. It's a happy kind of taken aback, though. "Wow, Brynn really has told you all about us. Sometimes I can't even keep my kids straight," my mom laughs.

"Where's everyone else?" I ask.

"Somewhere," my dad shrugs, taking a seat at the island and stealing a cookie from Ellie.

Violet finishes drying the dishes and leans against the island, reaching across the counter to take a cookie. Carter, chocolate ice cream smeared across his face, reaches over and grabs two. "Max, do you like ice cream?" he asks, crumbling the cookies in his hand and dumping it on his ice cream.

"Dude, I love ice cream," Max grins.

"Good. I like you."

Glad to know you only need to like ice cream for Carter's approval.

I mind link Hayden to come down and let everyone else know so they can meet Max.

"So, how did the two of you meet?" my mom asks.

"He snuck into my room," I say, grabbing a cookie for myself. I hear Max make a noise behind me, and I burst out laughing. We don't have to finish explaining, because I hear a stampede of siblings coming down the stairs.

Xavier runs in first and asks, "Why did we need to come down here?" Ben runs in and bumps into him, and they go crashing to the ground. I hear laughter but can't see them; they're on the other side of the island. Ben grabs the edge of the counter and pulls himself up. Xavier stands up too, his hair disheveled. It doesn't take long for them to notice Max.

Hayden comes in after them and looks at me. "What's up?"

"Where's Ryder?" I ask.

"He left after dinner," Lexi says.

Levi snickers and says, "Yeah, Jessica's waiting for him."

My mom gives Levi a warning glare. There's little ears in the room that don't need to know what Ryder's hobbies include.

"Well, guys, this is mate, Max," I introduce.

"Hi Max, I'm Xavier," Xavier introduces. I smile, because even at eleven years old, his manners are through the roof.

"So that leaves Ben and Hayden," Max says, and he doesn't need to look at me for confirmation.

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you man," Hayden nods.

Max fits right in with my family. He makes a point to talk to all of them, and everyone loves him. We sit around in the kitchen and talk for awhile, and then I know that I have to stop delaying the inevitable.

Once my siblings start trickling out of the kitchen to go do their own thing and it's just my parents, Max, Mara and I, I know it's time.