DISClaimer: I'm not Stephanie Meyer. I make no profit from this.

I am, however, quite in love with werewolves.

It's not love. it's a fixation. I want a personal radiator.

Hope you enjoy this.

-x-

Was she mad? Had I said something wrong? Was it the growl?

-x-

Seth's POV

We spent the rest of the journey in relative silence; she curled up against me and sighed as we turned into my driveway.

"This is my house."

"Nice." She didn't move from the passenger doorway for about half a minute.

"… I don't know if mom'll be in, but… she won't mind, I'm sure." She looked up at me, a dark blush forming on her face. "Don't worry, she'll like you, I'm sure." She definitely went pink then.

I pressed the door open and waited for mom to shout out. Nothing. It didn't sound like there was anyone in at all, to be honest, so I pushed onwards, upstairs, to show her where she would be staying. I'd looked at the time; it was almost half past ten.

"Mackenzie…" I went back down when I realised she was standing, looking terrified. "You can come in, you know." She blushed pink and looked at the floor; I offered her my hand and she took it, squeezing as she felt the warmth that rested there, waiting to be felt.

"I feel fifteen again," she blurted as I let her sit down in the kitchen.

"It's mutual, believe me," she laughed as I spoke, "We still playing 9 million questions, or what?" She smiled again.

"Nineteen," she repeated, "'S far less than nine million."

"True. Well… what question were we on?" I looked at her, having lost the thread of the conversation in the car. "Two, or three?"

"I don't really care." She blurted, then blushed and looked away. "I just want to know one more thing."

"What?"

"Do… do you like me?"

"I…" I looked away, out to the back yard. "I…"

"It's alright if you don't." She whispered, though I reckoned she was disappointed.

"I'm trying to figure out how to say I do." I blurted. Oh, crap.

"Cool." Her smile was back, and I liked it. "Was it one of those weird love-at-first-sight-moments?"

"Kind of was, yeah."

"Like the sun was rising in your chest?" I swallowed.

"Was it like that for you?"

"Kind of was, yeah." She echoed me, a little mocking tone in there somewhere. "Is that something to do with… it?"

"I still… can't really say." I could, but I was

"Oh…"

"Though I think you're pretty close." She paused as she went to reach for the glass of water on the table. "Because you're asking the right questions."

"Oh… I thought it was-" She stopped herself. "Don't worry."

"Take a guess." I offered, "I think you're gonna be right." I stopped and looked down at the work surface, then threw myself on top of it. "Well?"

"You're…" She stopped and looked at her feet, her eyes almost burning a hole through the table. "You're… a creature from the horror stories…" She laughed, disbelieving herself, "a werewolf, shape-shifter…" She laughed harder, trying to pretend she was kidding herself. "And you don't have a dog. You were sleeping on top of me earlier…" she snorted then, half choking as she tried to stop herself, humiliated.

"You're not wrong. The, uh, dog, has the same colour fur as my hair for a reason." She snickered for a second, and then remembered herself.

And she stared at me, taking deep breaths, long, slow and nervous.

"You're taking the piss." She smirked, relaxing.

"You think I'm joking?"

"Clearly." She laughed, honestly this time.

"Then I'll show you." I went to pull my jeans off, and her eyes widened.

"What're you doing?" She yelped. I tensed and froze.

"What does it look like?"

"I know that… but Why?" She rocked back in the chair, it scraped across the floor and I winced. "Shit, sorry," she half-rose and looked at me again, before dropping to her seat again.

"Don't worry about it." I looked at her, my belt buckle in my hands, "Listen, you'll be perfectly safe."

"What?" She was having trouble taking her eyes off my hands. They moved along the notches to rest just above my pockets and I waited for her full attention. "Sorry."

"I said, you'll be perfectly safe." She stared at me, "Don't worry about anything."

"You swear?" She blushed as I nodded and shifted my hands again. "You'll know who I am?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "Close your eyes for a second." she frowned and looked away instead.

I pulled my jeans off and let the residual fury within me bubble up to the surface. Within seconds, I was in my furry form, and I growled at her, perfectly aware she would be scared.

"S-Seth?" She turned and saw me, jumped to her feet. I inclined my head slightly, took a step forward. She stepped back slightly and I frowned. "It is kind of frightening, you know." She said airily, trying to push an aura of calm into the room, and not doing so well. There was a crack in her voice that stopped her succeeding.

Damn… where's Jasper Hale when you need him? I chuckled nervously and she squeaked.

I tried the upfront approach and leapt the table in one bound, knocking over her drink as I did so. I would have gently licked her hand, as an apology, of sorts, for both the glass and the terror, had a voice not interrupted.

"Why do you need Jasper?" Aww. Crap, it was Jake. "Don't be rude."

"She's a bit… freaked. And I'm sorry. The mood rubs off, you know?"

"Oh. Right." A small pause where Jake got over his laughter. "Well… she didn't faint. That's good, I suppose."

"Just gotta work out my apology. She's terrified."

"Lick her. She'll come round quick."

"She likes me, Jake. She likes me back." I realised, suddenly elated. "Well, my human form, at least."

"Don't panic, Seth. She'll hate you just as quick." Leah butted in.

"Aww. Fuc-"

"Seth. No swearing for now, please. And apologise, please, too." It wasn't an injunction, but I guess I shouldn't have been rude. She's my sister, after all.

"Alright. Sorry, sis." I looked up at Max again; she was staring at me, leaning against the wall. "Can I have ten minutes privacy?" There was a second where Leah grumbled and Jake sighed, "Just until I get her to come round. Five or ten minutes… please?"

"Oh, go on then. I've gotta eat, anyway." Leah growled again and her voice disappeared.

"Take as long as you want."

"Thanks, man." Jake sent a smile my way and disappeared too.

I looked up at Max again. She was pink-faced, blushing.

"Seth?" I nodded, taking a slow step forward and inclining my head towards her hand. She tentatively reached forward, going to stroke my ears. Very slowly, I raised my head and nudged her hand with my muzzle. She raised an eyebrow and half smiled.

"Don't get you." I raised my head and poked my tongue out. "You want to… lick my hand?" I nodded again. She half smiled, half laughed. "Alright…" she held it out, and crouched down. I sniffed gently as I got closer, taking in her scent. Her gorgeous scent.

It was like strawberries and cream. Strange, because I had never had them together before. I'd seen it on the sports channels a couple times, Wimbledon, I think. Definitely Tennis. Hated it, but that was the stupid game, not the whole idea of it. Just hated knocking a ball back and forth. So aimless. On the plus side, though, it seemed to rain a lot where they played, too… I liked it, I guess. It was cool.

She offered me an open hand as she dropped to her knees.

"OK… this is weird," She said softly as I let myself do it. "Nice, but weird." I raised an eyebrow at her and she elaborated slightly. "I had a dog at home, but for some reason… there's intimacy in this that you never think about when you're with a… normal dog." She paused then, her expression changed, afraid she had insulted me. "Not for a second do I mean you're a dog… you're a wolf," She paused and looked at me, a smile lighting her face, "A big, strong, lovely wolf."

She took a seat on the floor and I padded closer. She didn't move as I nudged her shoulder, then her cheek.

"Acclimatising myself to you," She smiled as I sat in front of her. I was about six inches from her face by the time she flinched. "You smell like forest," She grinned, "Fresh and green." I poked my tongue out at her and she smirked. "Go on." A pause, "If you must." And I bowled her over, jumping onto her and licking her face.

She laughed uncontrollably for about thirty seconds, and then composed herself.

"You're very sweet, but I don't snog on the first date." She laughed as she tried to get away from me. I had her pinned down beneath me, still licking her face every so often. I raise an eyebrow again and she laughs. "No, this is not our first date," She grins, second-guessing me. "Can you go back to being human now? I like having two people in a conversation."

Reluctantly, I stepped back and let her get to her feet. She consented to close her eyes, and I returned to my human form, scrambling to pull my jeans on.

"Are you decent?" She asked as the belt buckle clinked, when I refastened it.

"Yeah." She turned to look at me, I was still pulling on the black T-shirt that Bella had provided a couple of hours before. "W-well?"

She watched me, biting her lip.

"Well what?" She said softly, throwing herself down at the table and uprighting the glass of water I'd spilled on my over-excited leap.

"What did you think?"

"You make a very cute wolf, Seth," She grinned, resuming her staring contest with the table. I waited until she lost and looked at me again. "But I like you better as a man."

"You don't mind?"

"I think you swayed me, with all your licking." She laughed and I looked at her, remembering a question she'd asked me earlier.

"Good." I paused and closed my eyes, taking the seat opposite her and laying my hand on the table. She mirrored me, our hands touching. "Mackenzie," I started.

"Max." she grinned, "Calm down. Don't panic. Take a breath and start again." She winked and I went weak at the knees. Take a breath, Seth, think.

"Max… that-sunrise-in-the-stomach-thing…" I was done with messing around. "It's called imprinting."

-x-

A/N: Please review and let me know how I did... :P

Because, Lol. Licking on the first date is rude.

I'm really glad you all like it... so i'd appreciate more feedback...

And i'm really, really happy that you keep reading :)

Love you guys

xxx