Alpha Maximus：The last lycan novel Chapter 13

　　We waltz up the road and all the men’s eyes are on me. Some of their girlfriends slap them to stop them staring at me and pay attention to them. Max has his arm over my shoulder to show I’m taken. It’s really cute. We want to order food but I don't want to sit inside the restaurant.

　　‘Do you think we can eat our food over there?’ I ask Max, pointing to a lush garden.

　　‘Sure, if that's what you want to do,’ he says; I nod and smile.

　　We eat from cute little rice boxes. Max tries to show me how to use chopsticks, but I’m not very good at it, so he feeds me with the chopsticks.

　　‘Oh, this is too cute, Alpha! Watching you feed our Luna,’ Nathan says with a grin. We laugh and keep eating. When we are finished, Max lies on the grass, and I straddle him and cuddle him. Nathan wanders off to give us some alone time. Max puts his arms around my back and we stay like this for a while.

　　He sits up and we kiss, unable to keep our hands off each other. Cars beep at us, and people whistle at us.

　　Nathan returns.

　　‘Come on lovebirds. We should get back to the hotel. It's getting dark. And it wouldn't surprise me if Alpha Liam has people keeping tabs on us,’ he says.

　　‘Why would they follow us?’ I ask.

　　‘We will talk about it at the hotel,’ Max says. Standing, I hold Max's hand, and we walk back to the hotel, constantly staring and smiling at each other.

　　In our hotel room, Max grabs me around the waist, sits on the couch, and pulls me onto his lap.

　　‘I have some not so good news to tell you,’ Nathan says, nervously.

　　‘When I wandered off, I contacted Alpha Mark of Wolf Mire pack, the next pack we will go past. Alpha Tate has told all of the packs the same story he told Alpha Liam. Alpha Liam has told the other packs about our altercation with Silent Howl pack. All alphas, except for Alpha Dan, of Moon Fall pack, have agreed it’s in their best interests to eradicate you.’

　　I look at Max in shock, my eyes well up, and he rubs my back.

　　‘There's more...’ Nathan says.

　　‘They claim Hope is a witch and must also be eradicated.’ I gasp and Max growls.

　　‘They can hunt me down all they want. But if any harm comes to Hope, I will kill every single one of them with my bare hands!’ He growls.

　　‘What are we going to do?’ I ask.

　　‘We will focus on getting home safely. We will go around the territories to avoid the packs, and figure out what to do after that. Let’s sleep and get out of here before sunrise.

　　Nathan, contact Alex and update him on everything. Tell him to put extra warriors on guard throughout our territory,’ he says. Nathan nods and goes to his room.

　　‘Max,’ I say, looking at him, saddened. ‘I don't want anything bad to happen to you. You were only protecting yourself when you saved me. Maybe I could talk to some of the alphas and explain the situation. If I tell them Alpha Tate rejected me and tried to kill you, perhaps they’ll let us be,’ I suggest, and Max cups my face.

　　‘My sweet, kind, gentle Hope. I don't think this is going to be something we can talk ourselves out of. I don't trust any other alpha near you. I will figure something out. Let's get some sleep,’ he says. I put on my nighty and brush my hair. I put the brush down, and Max scoops me up in his arms and climbs into bed. I rest my head and hand on his chest, and fall asleep.

　　In the morning, Max gently wakes me, caressing my cheek.

　　‘Time to get up, sleepy head,’ he says, smiling. I pull the blanket up and snuggle into him as closely as I can.

　　‘Just a bit longer.’ I moan.

　　‘We have to go, Hope,’ he says, softly. I make puppy dog eyes at him.

　　‘Just a few more minutes,’ I say, and he grins.

　　‘Okay, just a few more minutes.’ I nuzzle my face into his neck, close my eyes and caress his stubbled face.

　　A few minutes later there’s a knock on the door.

　　‘Alpha, Luna. Are you ready to go?’ Nathan asks. I moan, annoyed, and Max laughs.

　　‘Nathan!’ I scream again. Max takes my hand and runs towards the field, away from the explosion.

　　I still can't hear what he is saying. Why is he running? Why isn't he running back for Nathan?

　　He stops briefly and points at the men from the white car armed with guns who are chasing us.

　　Max shifts into his lycan, lifts me onto his back and starts running, at incredible speed, for at least two hours.

　　Far from any civilisation, I can see only fields, mountains and trees. The ringing in my ears has settled and I can hear better.

　　Chaos looks around, then helps me down from his back, before shifting into human from. Max falls to his knees and slams his fists into the ground.

　　‘They killed him. They killed him. He was like a brother to me!’ He cries, and I kneel in front of him, and let him cry into my chest. I caress his back, and cry with him for hours, until it’s very dark.

　　We hold each other's hand tightly as we walk through the field, under the stars. We haven't spoken since the explosion. It’s really cold and Max is shirtless, since he shifted into Chaos earlier.

　　‘We should find shelter for the night,’ I whisper.

　　Max nods. We find trees and Max collects several thick branches off the ground, to make us a little shelter, just big enough for us to crawl into.

　　‘You go in first,’ I say. He crawls inside, and I squeeze in beside him, and lie, tightly pressed against his chest.

　　Looking into his sad eyes, I put my hand on his cheek, and he nuzzles his face into my hand; the contact soothes and comforts him.

　　‘I'm so sorry, my love,’ I whisper.

　　‘Me too,’ he sadly whispers back.