Chapter 8：Too calm

When Vale wakes up after the sun is down he carefully gets up so he doesn't wake Marie. He is feeling drained so he writes Marie a note that he is running errands and will be back soon, in case she wakes up. He grabs his keys to the motorcycle and takes Maries house key so he can get back in. As he walks down the hall he makes a call. "Hey man. You working tonight?"

"Yea, what's up?" Is the reply.

"I'll be there in twenty." Vale hangs up and puts his helmet on as he leaves the building.

Twenty minutes later Vale pulls up to the back of the blood bank. He sends a message to the person he spoke to and stands by the back door. A man opens the door and passes Vale a bag. Vale takes the bag, goes back to his bike, puts it in his back pack and rides away. Thirty minutes later he pulls up to a jewelry store and waits by the front door. An older man opens the door and shakes Vale's hand. Vale enters and walks around as he chats with the man. He looks at the rings and picks one out, he gives the man a ring that he saw Marie wearing for size, the man gives him a little box with a beautiful ruby ring, he gives the man a wad of cash and puts the ring in his inside pocket of his jacket. They shake hands as Vale goes out the front and rides away on his bike. Vale gets back to the apartment and puts his bag in the fridge, puts Maries key back and cracks the door to the room to check on her. When he sees she is sound asleep he goes to the fridge and pulls a blood bag from it. He drinks it quickly and puts it in the trash. He gets his work, spreads it out on the table, and gets busy.

Marie wakes up to her alarm and gets in the shower. When she walks into the living room and sees Vale buried in his work, she goes to the kitchen and starts a pot of coffee. When she looks in the fridge to grab some eggs, she spots a black bag. "Vale what's in this bag?" She asks as she opens it to look inside.

"No don't look in there!" He comes around the corner to see Marie looking in the bag.

"Oh" she closes the bag and puts it back, grabs the eggs and closes the fridge.

"Are you ok?" He asks as he stands in the doorway.

"Well, I mean, I expected you would have to get blood somehow. I half expected you would want mine." She scrambles six eggs and warms the oil in the pan.

"Your taking this very well." He seems hesitant to accept that Marie is ok with this development.

She puts salt and pepper into the eggs, scrambles them again and pours them into the pan. "Will you pour the coffee?"

Vale gets two cups and watches her as he pours the coffee and adds the creamer for her. "Marie it's ok to be upset. I wont be offended."

Marie splits the eggs on two plates and grabs forks before carrying them to the couch. Vale puts the coffee down on the table and takes his plate from her. "Marie?"

"I'm not upset. I know what you are and I'm fine with it." She sounds a bit annoyed. "I'm not sure what has happened in your past, but I'm not going to freak out. Please just relax."

"Ok." Vale eats his eggs. "You know I'm glad we found each other." He smiles.

"Me too." She smiles back.

When Marie and Vale are done eating, vale takes the dishes and Marie goes to the bathroom to brush her teeth and hair. She goes to the kitchen and hugs Vale from behind. "I'll see you tonight."

Vale takes her hands so he can turn and hugs her back. "I love you."

"Love you too." Marie gives him a kiss and heads out for work with a wave.

When Marie leaves Vale stands in the kitchen and thinks over what happened and what she said about wanting it from her. Sits back at the table and thinks it over and over. He wonders what she meant and decides to shower and go to sleep.

Marie arrives to work and George is the only one in. She sits at her desk and wonders why she feels a bit disappointed at the fact that vale didn't come to her, she knew he probably had a source for it. She decides to get straight into work and not worry about it, opens her email and sends out all the approved proposals. She has 3 she needs to make adjustments to and gets to work on them. By lunch she has finished two and sent them to George. Marie decided to go to the cafe down the street for lunch. As she grabs her purse to go she hears her phone ding. On the side walk Marie checks the message.

Max: Can we grab lunch?

Marie: Yes. There is a cafe down the street from my job.

Max: Be there soon. Wait for me outside.

Marie: Ok

Marie walks down the street and waits on the bench outside. She is curious why Max might want to be meeting with her while she plays a game on her phone.

Max pulls up and watches Marie for a few minutes before exiting the car. "Marie" he says as he walks up to her.

"Hi" Marie stands and greets Max.

"Lets go eat" Max opens the door for her and she goes in. They find a table in the back and sit. "Thanks for meeting me."

"No problem, is everything ok?" Marie asks.

"Yes. I just wanted to check in with you. Most people don't take this as well as you are." Max looks over the menu.

"Oh. Well I'm fine." Marie smiles. The waitress comes and takes their orders.

"Good. Has he eaten yet?" Max watches her carefully.

"Vale eats all the time." The question has gone completely over her head as she looks a bit confused.

"Not what I meant." Max chuckles.

"Oh!" She finally realizes what he is asking. "He had some in the fridge this morning." She says quietly.

Max nods as the food arrives and thanks the waitress. "You realize he may need it from you sometimes?" He questions Marie carefully.

"Yes, that did cross my mind." In fact it had been on her mind all morning. She blushes.

"You need to eat." Max nods to her plate. Marie eats her lunch quietly as Max seems like he has more to say. "You seem to have a sixth sense about certain things. Like how you can sense I'm the alpha." Marie just looks at him as she continues to eat. "I'm wondering about your lineage." He states.

"My parents both died in a car crash. I was very young and barley remember them. I was lucky enough to be adopted by my foster parents and live a happy life." Marie responds respectfully.

"I see. Do you remember anything?"

"Not very much. A song here, sometimes I smell something and I remember my mother cooking in the kitchen or my fathers cologne. Little things like that. I don't remember their faces or where we used to live. Why?"

"No reason. You wouldn't mind if I do a DNA test would you?" Max asks her as he leans in.

"Something tells me I don't really have a choice." Marie responds quietly.

"I do it for everyone who joins my pack, so don't worry." He smiles and sits back. "We'll worry about it tomorrow."

"Ok." Marie finishes her food quietly. "What else is involved in the pack?" Marie asks.

"We are a family Marie. When someone needs help, we help."

"I'm in for a lot of new things, aren't I?" Marie asks earnestly.

"Probably." Max doesn't sugar coat much. "Regretting your decision?"

"No, just preparing myself."

Max can't help but wonder how she is able to take all of this. He smiles to himself and waves for the check. When the waitress brings it Marie reaches into her purse to pay her part but Max refuses it. He holds his hand out to help her from the booth, holds the door open and waves goodbye as she begins walking back to work. Max watches her until she is around the corner and drives away.

Marie is slightly confused by Max's actions, but decides it's probably just pack business and moves on with her day. When she sits back at her desk she sees two emails from George with approvals so she sends them to the clients. She finishes her last edits and sends it to George. When Marie looks at the time she decides to start calling her clients she has already emailed to get their approval. She doesn't want to leave a pile of work for someone to finish for her. She gets through half of her list when George emails her the last approval and sends it out. When she sees the time she packs up her bag and goes home for the day.

When Vale wakes up Marie isn't home yet so he drinks another bag, sits at the table and gets to work. He wants to take Marie somewhere nice tonight and finds a nice park with a fountain at the center. He feels so nervous by the time he hears the keys in the door he runs for the bathroom to put cool water on his face.

On the way home Marie stops at the local Chinese restaurant and buys a couple of dishes and some rice. When it is ready she takes the bag and heads home. She nearly trips as she goes up the stairs but manages to catch herself. When she gets inside she hears the sink in the bathroom running so she sets the food up on the coffee table and gets some plates and utensils. Vale comes out as she puts the pitcher of lemonade on the table with some glasses.

"I wasn't really sure what you liked so I grabbed a couple different things." She smiles at him.

"Did you get Kung pao chicken?"

"Yes, that's one of my favorites." She blushes a bit.

"Me too." He gives her a hug. "How was work?"

"Fine. I had lunch with Max."

"Oh really?" He looks up. "Is everything ok?"

"Funny I asked the same thing!" Marie laughs. "He said he wants to run some blood work and asked me about my birth parents."

"Oh. He runs bloodwork on everyone, why was he asking about your parents?"

"Sorry about that. He didn't ask me a whole lot of questions, my family has been gone for quite some time. I'm not really sure about his normal line of questioning."

"It's fine. I guess I was expecting some questions."

Marie eats quietly as Vale watches her. "You want to go for a walk? There is a park nearby right?"

"Sure. There is a lovely fountain there, the water looks like it is dancing." She smiles.

After they ate their fill Marie and Vale clean up and head for the park. Vale taps his pocket to make sure he has the little box before he locks the door.