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Hell. She was in pure God forsaken hell. Victor looked on impatiently as Max practically pressed her nose against the window, making fog on the glass as she watched people mill about and around each other to and fro the large shopping center. She was in another one of his long sleeve tee-shirts and her own pair of jeans that were still wearable.

So many people. She could smell them from here, couldn't they just forget the whole thing and go home? Wasn't she supposed to be in hiding anyway?

'Home,' she inwardly scoffed. She could feel Victor's irritation mounting behind her and his knuckles were almost white on the steering wheel. He'd been in a foul mood ever since they'd started their 2 hour journey down the mountain where his house was. Max had taken to ignoring his brooding presence since the incident that morning and instead steadied the landscape as they passed. If she had to make a run for it it'd help to have some idea of where she was going.

"You gonna' get out or are we gonna sit here all fuckin' day?" Her animal bristled at his tone when she turned to look at him and tugged her toboggan further down her forehead. All traces of early bravado gone replaced with uncertainty and foreboding. She guessed she should be great full he'd relinquished his hold on it for their little outing.

"Sorry," she muttered. Victor snorted at lack of temper and shouldered open his door leaving her to scramble out and met him at the tailgate of his truck. She followed him to the door of the mall watching as people shuffled quickly out of his way and gave him a wide berth.

Max was at his heels, almost on top of his impending form, content to have him lead through the swarm of humans. She was anxious and uncomfortable, but she was kind of glad he was here. The smells and noise played havoc with her senses threatening to crush her. God how could he stand it? He acted like nothing was going on around him!

Victor glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Frail looked like she was ready to bolt any second. Her slight panic was amusing and he could see her ears twitching about in distress under their cover trying to keep track of what was going on around her. He vaguely felt the brush of one of her boots on his heel and rolled his eyes upwards.

Max started when Victor seized her elbow and wrapped it around his forearm. He was still aggravated but now slightly amused.

"Relax, frail. Focus on blockin' it out," he said. She caught their reflection as they passed a store window. They could almost pass for a normal couple.

She closed her eyes as they walked and tried to turn the volume down in her head. God she felt like she was going to be sick. All the information swarming into her brain was nauseating. She unconsciously leaned her head against his arm. Winter green and earth, now she was glad he was here. The man was sinfully terrifying and an asshole but he was the only semblance of balance in this chaos.

"Why is this so miserable?" she griped. Victor chuckled.

"Yer just not used to it. It shouldn't be so hard for you, seeing as you were surrounded by by hordes of stinkning, screamin' brats not too long ago."

Max inhaled more deeply, determined to focus on the smell of him and deepness of his voice. It was better, everything else was slowly fading to the back of her mind.

"I tried to only be around when I had to go to class. Rogue and I stayed in the teacher's wing, so it was relatively quiet," she answered. She opened her eyes when he steered her into a store and lead her over to an armchair situated in front of the dressing rooms and released her.

"Go find what you want," he said as he sat down. She just stood there and glanced around nervously. The store wasn't that large, he'd be able to see her as she browsed. He wasn't about to follow her around while she picked out clothes.

She hadn't moved.

"Get," he growled. Max shuffled away to a rack and absently filed through the clothes, constantly turning her head over her shoulder to make sure he didn't move off when she wasn't aware. She caught a group of people leave the store and wondered how soon it would take for him to swoop in on her if she tried to leave. She sighed and walked over to a rack of jeans and picked out four pairs in her size and then over to some yoga pants and workout tops. He hadn't said anything about her training… but she knew regular clothes would make it even more unpleasant then it was surely going to be.

She hurried along the shelf of clothing, sticking mostly to the sale signs and comfortable-wear. In 20 minutes she was beside him again with her arms full. She just wanted to get this done and get out of here.

Victor was glad she was at least being practical about what she picked out. The clothes were casual and he could give fuck all about today's styles but, weren't women supposed to fall over themselves in efforts to look good? He cocked his head.

"I like to be comfortable," she explained. "You don't strike me as the type to strike into town unless there's a reason, and I don't want to draw attention to myself."

'From anyone else or anymore from you,' she added silently. She also kept mum about the part where her southern manners wouldn't allow him to take advantage of his money although she didn't know why.

He nodded once and stood up, padding with her over to the counter and giving the lady his credit card who moved quickly to ring them up without a word. He caught Max looking forlornly over at a bunch of knitted hats.

"Don't even think about it," he said. She sighed.

He took her elbow again when they were done and led her to a store with a sign labeled New Lingerie. He was thoroughly amused when she dug in her heels, nearly jerking him to a stop, her eyes wide and her face red.

"Why are we going in there?" she asked. She knew, of course, but was afraid of the answer all the same. Victor grinned nastily.

"As much as I like the thought of you struttin' around my place in nothing but yer skin under those clothes… there's more anticipation in unwrappin somethin' with more paper." He let her ponder that a moment before dragging her along and chuckling at her outraged stutters. This was the kind of shopping he didn't mind standing over her shoulder for.

Max clutched her bags as Victor wondered along isles of colored lace, picking out things here and there that struck his fancy. She tried not to watch him as she did it. How did he even know her size? She stopped absently to look around, and her gaze wondered to a section of the wall housing all manners of… leather?

'Good lord,' she said to herself, face flaming. Victor stopped and followed her sight line.

"That the kinda stuff yer into pup? Didn't take ya for a kink," he quipped. Max gulped and her eyes shot to the ground.

'Please do not go over there,' she silently begged. Her heart stopped when Victor drew nearer to the wall before sagging in relief when his path turned toward a stand of nighties instead, and a rack of bras.

He browsed and selected before turning to her and shoving the fabrics into her arms and snatching the shopping bags out of her hands.

"Go try these on, I won't have you wastin' my hard earned money," he told her.

'Ah shit.' He hadn't said anything about her trying on the other clothes. And he was worried these wouldn't fit? Max turned on her heel and hurried into the dressing room. She ripped her clothes off and quickly set about doing as she was told. All that protected her modesty was a dark curtain, and she kept constant surveillance on his boots under the fabric.

"Lemme see the white one," she heard. Max froze, and stared at the white teddy hanging innocently on a hanger with matching lace panties. She was sure her face would catch fire at any moment. Could this be any more humiliating?

'Don't just stand there like a ninny and wait to find out,' her inner animal warned. Did he want everyone and their brother to see her half naked? She wondered. She gulped and set about outing it on.

"Pup, either you come out, or I come in," Victor warned as she was stepping into the panties and tugged at them to cover more of her generous derriere. Hell her whole ass was hanging out!

Max looked at herself in the mirror with something akin to horror. Her breasts were pushed up, and her skin looked darker next to the white cloth. Her toboggan had fallen off while she was trying in bras leaving her hair in a wavy, sex-headed mess. She'd always been curvy, too curvy in her opinion. Her stomach and legs were toned due to X-men training and her waist was slim and curved becomingly into her hips. She looked… hot.

'Damn we look good.'

'That's what I'm afraid of,' she replied. If her mother could see her she'd have a heart attack. She couldn't go out there! The curtain moved and she panicked.

"I'm not comin' out!" she declared. Let him come on if he wanted, she'd rather him be the one to see her than the entire mall population. She squeaked when the curtain was ripped open and Victor's mass filled the doorway before he snapped the curtain back into place.

God she could die from the humiliation, which she might, she decided. He just stared. Somehow his not saying anything was worse than him tossing crude remarks at her. The silence stretched and Max wanted more than anything for the floor to swallow her up and she nervously crossed her arms over her stomach.

"Say something," she whispered. The gleam in his eye was scaring the shit out of her. If they continued to stare at each other she'd faint.

Victor stepped closer, causing Max to bump into the wall. His scent turned spicy and charged with something else. Was that what lust smelled like? She started to sweat.

Victor crowded her with his bulk just pressing up against her curves as her arms lowered to the wall and he could hear her little claws scratch the plaster. The sight of her just innocently standing there like some little virgin ripe for the taking set him on fire.

"What do you want me to say baby girl?" he asked against her lips and wrapping his arms around her waist pulling her to him.

"How fuckin' delicious you look?" he pressed his groin against and pinned her with his weight just holding her there and she inhaled sharply. He noted with satisfaction that her irises were rimmed with gold again and her scent sweetened, distorting the tangy edge of fear.

Max parted her lips softly. The dressing room was cast in a dim, soft light that made their surrounding strangely intimate. She was responding to his nearness and his possessive touch and she couldn't help herself. Something was happening, and she was scared to try and process it. It was to new, too intense and she was torn between fleeing and running her hands over him.

He was all muscle, and his hardness against the places where she was soft was alluring and maddening. Not to mention he smelled so fucking fantastic.

She wondered what he tasted like.

'Find out,' her feral whispered bravely, eager to know the answer as much as she was. Max tilted her head back and looked at him through half-lidded eyes.

Victor growled and slammed his lips against hers. Tongue and fangs pushed past her lips utterly ravishing her mouth. The fear was back but with it came something even darker, her hands curled in his jacket and she pressed back just as hard trying to keep up with the pace he was setting. As inexperienced as she was, his lead was easy enough to follow.

One of his hands uncurled from his waist to run down hip to her thigh around squeeze her butt. She felt like she was drowning with the taste of him, but it was such sweet torture she couldn't bring herself to pull away. Everything became hazy and Max found herself floating away to the calm recesses of her mind. Uh oh.

Victor pulled back when he sensed the shift and found himself staring into Max's eyes. Gold eyes. They glowed in the dim lighting, alight with hunger and untouched wildness that he couldn't remember seeing in the eyes of another person.

She retook his mouth and brought an arm around his neck groaning softly as he caught her more firmly under her buttocks and ground his pelvis against hers as she took advantage of his distraction to do her own plundering.

He kneaded her flesh and thrust against her through their clothing, leaving her gasping and jerking her head back into the wall with a thud. Victor grunted when a leg came around his waist and tilted her hips against him. They had to get out of here before he lost control and took her now in the dressing room.

The image of her bent over and showing everyone how much he pleasured her was not an unwelcomed thought. But he didn't share. He drew back and looked into her wild eyes and her flushed face. He grinned. Seducing her animal first had just moved higher up on his list. He could enjoy the fruits of his labor so much easier when she was running on instinct and feeling more than rational thought.

He watched in mild fascination as she came out of her daze and gold mixed back in with silver.

"Let's go," he rumbled before stalking out of the dressing room.

Max distractingly put her clothes back on. What just happened? They had just practically rutted in the dressing room. She was mortified!

'You'd better get over it. It could have been worse,' her feral stated calmly.

'You certainly didn't help any!' she inwardly retorted. But she had to agree, the experience hadn't been entirely unpleasant. If that was the worst she could expect, she figured this whole "being his thing" was going to be a breeze.

'Don't be stupid.' Max ignored her while gathering up her items and running her tongue over her tingling lips.

The drive back was made in silence, and Max through open her door, grabbing her bags and as many grocery bags as she could before retreating into the house to out things away. Victor followed more slowly, extending his senses as he walked to make sure no one had been near while they were gone.

He watched her fuss around the kitchen and get dinner ready while he took a beer from the fridge and set one on the counter next to her. She offered a small smile in thanks before twisting off the lid and gulping down nearly half of it. The bitter liquid floated over her tongue, mmm, tasted like heaven.

She saw Victor lean against the counter and remembered with amusement how he'd blinked at her when she'd shyly asked for an 18 pack of bottles. He'd gotten three and stored two in a room down the hall that he kept locked.

His mind wandered to the exchange in the store, and he pondered how often she lost control like that. His ego inflated with the thought that all it took was for him to touch her before she unraveled and was reduced to rely on her baser instincts to navigate her. It also made him feel powerful in a way he hadn't experienced before that he could wreak havoc on her senses just by running his hands over her.

On the other hand, it posed a bit of a problem. If she had separated herself from her animal to meticulously than she was twice as likely to develop a split personality where if her animal surfaced then she would lose complete control and be stuck inside her own mind until her animal decided to retreat. Which could take years, as he knew.

"Pup," he said. One ear swiveled towards him before Max turned her head from stirring the ground beef in the pan.

"Hmm?"

"How often does that happen?" Max's eyebrows furrowed. Was he talking about the display she made of herself in the dressing room?

"What?" she asked blushing.

"How often do you lose control like that? You nearly had yer way with me in that dressin' room," he said seriously. Her blush deepened and she fiddled with the dials on the stove to lower the heat. She turned around and leaned against the opposite counter holding her beer and crossing her legs.

"Well you saw the one time…" she said looking at him sheepishly through her lashes. He nodded. She was referring to the rage he'd witnessed.

"It's happened a few other times… well more than a few… mostly before I lived at the school," she continued no longer looking at him. It was embarrassing having to admit she couldn't control herself.

"What about at the school?" he pressed. She picked at the wrapper on the beer bottle.

"Only a couple when I got really pissed. Once because of some bitch and her friends were bad mouthing me and Rogue when I first got there and the Professor mind raped me to out me under," she recalled that experience with malice. She'd warned those fuckers not to push her. Victor growled softy but allowed her to continue.

"Another time was when I got into it with the badger." His own ears perked at that.

"Badger?"

"Logan." Victor barked out a laugh. A showdown between her and the Runt? He would have paid money to see that.

"What'd the Runt do to you?" he asked in humor. Max gave the slightest smile.

"Just ran his mouth about something he didn't know anything about. I hate that." She'd called Logan out on being as asshole when she stumbled upon Marie upset in their room. Being faced with something uncomfortable that he didn't want to talk about Logan dropped into his normal mine of offense. He taunted her about snapping at the kids that heckled her and said something about her family. That alone had made her see red.

When she'd finally calmed down and been banished to her room, she opened to door to find a six pack and a pizza waiting for her in the hallway. Logan's form of an apology and she forgave him. Since then they'd kept a friendly distance with the occasional humorous dispute that didn't hold any heat behind the words and he stopped by from time to time to check on her outside of his self-defense class.

Marie said they were mean. The truth was they just happened to share the same raunchy humor and understanding for space. Logan was a good man, and she'd lay her life down for him if the situation called for it, but he was just irritatingly clueless sometimes.

Victor growled why he spied the fondness in her eyes at the thought of his younger brother and he clenched his fist laying on the counter.

"Two of you were close then?" he asked bitingly. Max frowned and looked at him. Was he jealous?

"Ew no! Not like that. We mostly kept our distance and bickered more than anything, but we got along well. He's a pack mate nothing more. Besides Rogue is more fire then he can handle on her own."

"Sure hold those two in high regard," he stated blandly.

"Rogue's the first real friend I've ever had, I'll always love her. I'm not overly fond of Logan but we have a mutual understanding and he's defended in his own way and neither of them have ever judged me." He knew she was referring to more than her breakdowns.

"It's in a dog's nature to be loyal to those that are good to it, and a dog can love anyone. Despite our differences I'd give my life for Logan if I had too. He hasn't been overly generous towards me, and I don't need that… he was just there in ways other couldn't be. I'd irrefutably give myself up for Rogue and rip apart anyone that so much as looked at her wrong. I guess it's just in my nature," she said solemnly.

Victor studied her for a long time. She was loyal and honorable in her own way, an old way that he hadn't seen in nearly 50 years.

An old soul.

"A dog can love anyone."

"Yer not a dog," he heard himself say absently. She was young and reckless, aggravating and didn't have a clue what she was doing, but she was no dog. Deep blue met sterling silver and he was surprised to see she was smiling at him.

"Hurry up and get ready for bed. Training starts in the morning and I ain't taking it easy on ya because we had a little heart to heart. Feels like we should be skippin through a field of fuckin flowers' next," he growled and left for the den.

Max turned back to her food, a smile still on her face.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.