Chapter 10

She couldn't believe that she was in a relationship with the man that hypnotized her.

"So, you are going back to your home?" Max asked with disappointment. He didn't want her to leave him. She was his girl.

"Yeah, I have to. My dad is expecting me to come back home," she said with a sad smile.

"You sure you don't want to stay here for dinner?" His mother asked from the living room, holding a book in her hand.

"I don't want to bother you anymore. Besides, I have homework for tomorrow," she said. She didn't exactly lie. She did have homework, but she also wanted to go home and giggle like a girl. She finally had someone to fantasize about.

"Alright then. Max, could you drive her home?" Aphelia asked.

"Of course, I wouldn't let her go alone at this hour." He chuckled and wrapped an arm around Jayla's shoulder.

"Great, then have a good night, Jayla," she said kindly.

"You too, ma'am," she replied.

After dropping her off at home and making out with her, Max sighed and thought about his mate's face being happy and lively.

He smiled softly as he recalled her laugh. He couldn't believe that she actually belonged to him. Now that they were together, he needed to find a way to get her friend out of his way. Max wouldn't kill him since he wasn't a werewolf. Plus, if you killed someone, you needed a good reason and to tell the council.

"Bro, I can see your face all lit up from over here," Cole grunted and patted his friend's shoulder.

"You know what happened between Jayla and me?" Max smirked proudly.

"What happened?" he asked curiously.

"We are together. She belongs to me," he replied with a smile.

"What the fuck? Man, finally!" Cole shouted and shoved him playfully.

Max almost stumbled across the floor.

"Dude!" he screamed, holding the table to stay on his feet.

"Sorry, I got excited." He smiled sheepishly.

Cole was Max's best friend, almost like a brother. And Cole was Max's guardian, which meant Cole must help Max and could tell others what to do just like a beta. But a beta was more like a second leader. Giovanni wasn't fully a beta yet since he was only 16, so Cole was acting as a beta until Giovanni was old enough.

At 18, Max would finally be the Alpha of the werewolves and the council's head because his wolf has certain dominant characteristics and a special power.

At the age of 15, he was able to control all the power he received from the Goddess. He was psychokinetic, telepathic with werewolves other than his pack members, and lastly and most importantly, he could heal people in a few seconds.

Because of that, he was pressured by the council to find a way to release his stress. Max's answer was partying and sleeping with girls. But then, his mother forced him to take a couple of lessons because she couldn't stand to see her son going crazy. He agreed to go to the classes and learned a lot of things about mates and what they meant.

Mates were the best thing for a werewolf. His wolf, Vince, was yearning for his mate. He was scared of telling his mother the truth, but then he trusted his gut and the Goddess's choice.

"Please, don't tell anyone. I want to keep this a secret!" Max shushed him.

"Of course, Alpha." He grinned with amusement.

"Alpha Max!" One of Max's messengers slammed the door open.

"What is it?" Max said seriously.

"There is a pack that wants to speak with you."

"Alright, thank you for notifying me." He thanked him.

"No problem, Alpha. It's my job," he said, standing up straight.

"Before you go, do you know who wants to see us?" Cole asked with narrowed eyes.

"I think they're called the Red Moon Pack," he replied. Max sighed with exasperation. The Red Moon Pack was known to make mistakes.

"Again! Cain is so stupid. I swear to God that I will kill him once I see him," Max growled.

"Well, if you excuse me, I have to go patrol the surroundings," the messenger said.

"Yes, you can do that. Good job," Cole answered.

"Alright then, Alpha Max and Guardian Cole." He saluted them and walked out of Max's office.

"I wonder what Cain did?" Max rolled his eyes as he picked up the phone.

"I can't believe you have to deal with such an immature Alpha," Cole chuckled.

"Shut the fuck up!" he hissed harshly and then called the Alpha of the Red Moon Pack.

"Hello—"

"What did you do, you asshole?" Max snarled through the phone.

"I don't think this is the appropriate way to address another Alpha," the man chuckled.

"Don't make me ask the question again." He rolled his eyes.

"Take a chill pill, bro. I just killed a rogue." Cain whistled.

"Do you think this is funny? How are you going to explain this to the council?"

"Well, you are close to the king of the werewolves, so you will help me," he said. Max hated when people used him for their own needs. He wasn't going to let it go.

"Stand down, pup! My beta will go to your pack, and he will punish you," he growled, then hung up the phone.

"Who the fuck does he think he is?" Cole asked angrily.

"He thought that I was an easy man. That makes me laugh," Max chuckled. Apart from his closest friends and the king's family, no one knew that he was going to be crowned the Alpha of the werewolves. It would be better to keep this a secret. If it got out, Max would feel threatened and have to be in quarantine.

He didn't want to be quarantined just because of someone dumb threatening him. He wouldn't let anyone do this. If he were quarantined, he wouldn't be able to meet up with Jayla anymore.

"I wonder how he'll feel when he finds out you're the future king," his guardian snorted.

"I wonder that too," the Alpha smirked.

"Boys! It's time for dinner!" Aphelia shouted from downstairs. They went downstairs and sat down beside the pack members. There was Huxley and his mate; Marco; Peyton; Giovanni; Max's father, Mathis; Aphelia; and his grandfather, Micah.

"Finally, as a family," Giovanni gasped dramatically. Mathis rolled his eyes and forced Giovanni to sit next to him.

"Let's tease our little Gio here," he chuckled, making them laugh. Gio glared at his father.

"So, I heard some shouting upstairs," Micah said to his grandson, Max, who was about to shovel some food in his mouth.

"Just a stupid alpha who couldn't take care of his pack." He shrugged off.

"Max, I heard that you are in a relationship with Jayla!" Huxley exclaimed. Max glared at Cole, who was shaking his head with a mouth full of pasta.

Giovanni choked on his pasta, and his father helped him. Aphelia smirked, and Micah looked confused.

"Who is Jayla?" Micah asked.

"Jayla is your grandson's mate, Dad," Aphelia said, smiling at Max, who glared at her.

"You found your mate?" he asked, shocked.

"Papa, you are the last person to know about this," Giovanni chuckled after drinking some water.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he said, glaring at Max.

"You're too busy playing bingo with your friends. When was I supposed to tell you?" he retorted.

"Give me a break! I'm old!" Micah scoffed.

"Dude, you're like 56 years old," Cole said with a deadpan expression.

"Don't call your elders dude!" Aphelia slapped the back of his head, making Cole whine.

"This family is crazy," Marco muttered.

"Exactly," Eleanor sighed.

"Man, I need to shit," Huxley grunted, and everyone turned toward him with a disgusted face.

"I didn't expect everyone to hear that," he said as if we caught him.

"Go to the toilet," Eleanor groaned, pushing him out of his seat.

"Alright, apple bum." He winked.

"I told you not to call me apple bum!" she snarled.

"Why is he calling her apple bum?" Mathis asked.

"Because she has a mark that looks like an apple on her butt."

Peyton rolled his eyes.

"Can we please stop talking about this?" she said with embarrassment.

"Alright, apple bum," Giovanni mocked, and she growled.

"Please, no growling at the table," Aphelia scolded them.

"Yeah, you shouldn't growl. That's nothing," Peyton laughed.

"Anyway, do you guys want to listen to one of my amazing stories about bingo?" Micah suggested. Everyone growled and groaned, except Aphelia, who shook her head in exasperation.

"I said, no growling at the table," Aphelia sighed. Fortunately, the table was private. All the other members ate in their pack room, or sometimes in private with their family. The packhouse was 5 km away from their house, so it would be easy for the Alpha to go there. There were other houses that were further away from their house, so Max assigned deltas to those houses, and each delta had to report to him every Friday.

Max finished his plate silently so that he could go back to his room and call his mate just to hear her voice.

"So, Max?" Micah started. Max sighed but listened to his grandfather.

"Yes?"

"Are you ready to be a king?" he asked.

"Am I? If my mate is ready to be a queen, then I am ready," he answered truthfully. Without his mate, he couldn't control the world of werewolves. If he was about to do that, he needed his mate to be prepared. He needed to tell her quickly about their species because his birthday was coming up soon. But on the other hand, he didn't want to tell her because he was afraid of her reaction.

"I will tell her soon," Max said curtly.

"Good luck," Mathis encouraged him. Max smiled and thanked him.

Suddenly, his phone went off, and he looked at his phone.

"Max, no phones here," Aphelia warned.

"I know, but it could be serious," he said and glanced at the caller ID. His face went soft and happy.

"I bet that Jayla's calling him," Huxley whispered.

"We already know that. Let's bet on why she's calling him," Cole said.

"I bet that she's calling him to come home with her," Giovanni chuckled.

"Well, I bet that she wants to smash him," Huxley whispered.

"The winner gets ten bucks," Marco stated.

"Alright, deal." Huxley and Cole shook their hands in agreement and listened carefully to Max's conversation.

Max heard their conversation and glared at them. He huffed and went to another room to talk in peace.

"I think he caught us," Huxley said.

"We already know that, Huxley," Cole sighed.

Meanwhile, in the other room, Max sat on the bed.

"Hey, baby," he said happily through the phone.

"Max," she said in a shaky voice.

"Jayla? What's wrong?" he said, alarmed.

"Max, I'm scared," she stuttered. He heard noises through the phone. He opened the window of the room and jumped outside. He started to walk to the forest that surrounded his house.

"Who's there?" he asked while walking towards her house.

"I don't—Oh, no!" she gasped and yelled in pain.

"Jayla!" he yelled while running.

"Max, please help me!" she shouted.

"Don't worry. I will be there in two minutes. Stay on the line!" he warned.

"There is a burglar! I don't want to burden you with this, so I'm going to hang up," she whispered and hung up the phone.

"Fuck!" he growled and ran in his wolf form to her house.

Why did she say that she was a burden on him? She wasn't a burden.

She was his everything.