CHAPTER 21

"You found your mate?" asked an Alpha with a shocked face. Everyone gasped, except Max, who groaned.

"Yes, I found my mate. Now, we can get ready for the process." He sighed.

"Is she a strong warrior woman? We'd love a woman like that." Another Alpha chuckled.

"She's a human, and a strong one." The whole room was silent.

"A human? Holy shit, this is so funny." Richard, a racist and misogynistic Alpha, said, which made Max growl.

"I agree with Richard. How can a human lead a werewolf world?" another Alpha named Gilbert said.

"Well, his mate may have the best mental fortitude; it could be an advantage for our world," Mia proposed gently. She wasn't going to let this misogynistic man win.

"We only accept strong females, so you should exchange your mate for another one," Richard mocked Max with his friends. Max snarled as he gripped the table tightly.

"Shut up, Alpha Richard! You don't know who she is anyway," Ach said, rolling his eyes.

"Beta Ach, please don't talk to me. I only talk to Alphas." He laughed mischievously.

"Fucking bitch! Who the fuck are you insulting our future queen and the beta of my pack! Do you want me to get rid of you? Huh?" Mia shouted, standing up abruptly.

"Baby girl, calm down." Blaze cooed, as he pushed her shoulders down on the throne.

"Queen Mia! What am I saying is right! How can a poor girl lead the whole werewolf world?" Richard said in his speech.

"We can't just let anyone lead us! We need a woman who is a Gifted werewolf or Princess Aileen to be his mate. It doesn't make any sense!" He tried to reason with other members who seemed to agree with him.

It only fueled Max's fits of anger. He'd been calling him derogatory names in his private mind link with Blaze, Mia, Ach, Clay, and Cole.

Clay laughed as he heard the young Alpha spitting mean words at him. On the outside, he was calm and stern.

But on the inside, he only felt one thing—hatred toward him.

"Are you serious?" Max asked coldly to Richard who was laughing.

"What do you mean?"

"You think that I will let you talk shit about my Luna in front of me?" he spat, narrowing his eyes toward him.

Richard gulped nervously. "I was just suggesting some solutions."

"Well, I don't need your rubbish solutions. Besides, you should take care of your own business. I heard that your wife has been cheating on you," he said, rubbing his jaw softly.

The members gasped in shock while Blaze looked unfazed. Mia snapped her eyes toward him with a fake shocked face.

"Seriously?" Ach commented, doing a fake gasp.

"Yeah, I remember she hit on my dad, a man who was mated, married, and had kids," he said.

"I don't want to embarrass you anymore, but I know for sure that my mate isn't going to act like that." Max smiled smugly.

"So, my King, any ideas which punishment are you going to give her?" He smirked, turning to Blaze, who smirked as well.

"I need proof before giving her the exact punishment," he said.

"Of course," Max said, standing up and taking the files from Cole.

"Mr. Winston, could you turn on the projector, please?" he said nicely to Clay, who nodded happily.

He turned on the projector and put the USB in the computer, showing many pieces of evidence for the crime.

"Members who are present in this room, this is Luna Isabelle. As you can see, Mrs. Green has been a Luna for ten years and has been mated with Alpha Richard Green for 12 years." He briefly introduced her history with Richard.

"The next slide will probably shock some of you," he warned them with a tone of amusement as he nodded to Clay to continue. He put on the next slide, and everyone gasped.

"This is horrible!"

"No freaking way!"

"Richard, how can you let your disgusting mate act like that?" Gilbert exclaimed.

"I-l—"

"You have nothing to say?" Max smirked as he slammed his hands on the table.

"That will teach you not to talk shit about my mate," he growled at him softly. He stood and walked back to his seat.

"Max Black showed me the truth about your mate. I have no choice but to strip her title of Luna. She will be still your mate—I'm not that cruel—but she doesn't deserve that title," Blaze ordered Richard, who paled.

"Then who will be my Luna?" he asked fearfully.

"I will choose your Luna from your pack who is more qualified to do this job," he threatened, glaring at him.

"The meeting is done. You can all go, except for Max," he said coldly and watched as the other Alphas bowed at him then left the meeting court.

"I'm surprised by the show you put on for us." Blaze chuckled as soon as they left the room and turned to Max, who was glaring at the table.

"He didn't have the right to bad-mouth my mate. If only I could show him how better she is than him..." He gritted his teeth, and he clenched his fist, banging on the table.

"You already ruined his reputation; he won't bother you anymore," Mia said gently to him, placing a hand on his fist. She treated him like her son.

"Remember that I can't give you my support because it will be your weakness, but I do treat you like my son," Blaze said as he smiled softly at Max, who nodded and calmed himself down.

"Even though your real son is a womanizer," Clay commented, making everyone glare at him except Max, who chuckled, and also Cole.

"Clay." Mia groaned out of annoyance.

"I'm not lying, though," he said, holding up his hands in surrender.

"Max, come eat with us. You can bring your brother, parents, and your mate," Blaze proposed to Max, who nodded.

"Alright, I will tell them," he said curtly.

He left the meeting with Cole, and Clay offered to accompany him out of the castle.

"I hope my son is protecting her. You don't know how happy he was when he was going to protect your mate and not Aileen," Clay joked as he playfully shoved Max.

"Tell your son to stop hitting on her," he said, narrowing his eyes at Clay, who was confused.

"He would never hit on her... unless he found her beautiful... alright, I will tell him," he whispered to himself.

"Finally, let's go back home." Max sighed in relief as Cole chuckled.

"Alpha Max, ready to go home?" Marco asked with a smirk as he stood next to the limo with his gloves.

***

"Fucking dumb ass!" Peyton yelled as he hit Huxley's cheek.

"The fuck? I didn't do anything!" He punched Peyton.

"Calm down!" Eleanor growled, trying to get their attention but they didn't listen to her.

"Oh gosh! What's wrong?" Jayla shouted as she watched them fight. Peyton shrugged and ate his strawberry quietly until he got a wooden spoon in his face.

Jayla tried to keep her laugh in, but she couldn't when he scowled. He stood up, slowly walked toward them, and grabbed their collars.

"Fucking brats! How dare you!" he said and shoved them harshly to the ground.

"Poor Huxley and Peyton." Giovanni pitied them.

"My mate deserves it; he wasn't supposed to act like an immature kid." Eleanor rolled her eyes as she sat next to Jayla.

"Stop laughing." Keaton sighed while Jayla laughed quietly.

"Is it always like that?" She chuckled, and everyone glared at her.

"It's annoying."

"Anyway, why are they taking so long?" Keaton said lazily as he looked at his watch.

"Did you actually miss us?" a voice said behind them. They turned their head to the voice and looked at Max, Cole, Marco and Clayton.

"Dad?" Keaton asked, standing up with a puzzled face.

"I can't believe you actually pushed Huxley and Peyton." He chuckled and walked toward Jayla, getting down on one knee.

"What the fuck?" she muttered, and Max rolled at his old-fashioned greeting.

"My name is Clayton Liston. It's an honor to meet you finally," he said, kissing her hand.

She frowned and looked at Max for an explanation, but he just shrugged.

"Uh, same here," she said nervously as she quickly took her hand away from his grasp. He chuckled and stood up.

"You found a beautiful woman, Max. Congratulations." Clay smirked at Max, who grinned.

"Well, yeah, that's true," he said, putting his hands in his pockets.

"What are you guys eating?" Cole asked as he sat next to Huxley, who held his bruised cheek.

"Jayla made roast chicken with salad," Eleanor chirped.

"I helped her!" Peyton stepped in.

"Shame that I can't eat what Jayla made." Max shook his head.

"Why?"

"Because Giovanni and Jayla are invited to the Royal Castle. Get ready," Max said, sitting on the couch.

"When?" Jayla asked.

"Right now," he said, making Giovanni and Jayla drop their silverware.

"Are you serious?" Giovanni yelled.

"Alpha Max! What the fuck?" Eleanor screamed as she looked at her Alpha in shock.

"Well, you have only 20 minutes to get ready," he said.

"Tick tock, time is ticking," he added, and Clayton chuckled. Eleanor growled as she grabbed Jayla's hand while Giovanni sprinted toward his room.

"And that's a good way to make do some exercise," Clayton said while Max laughed.

"Dad, do I have to go?" Keaton asked his dad.

"Of course, your mom has been waiting impatiently." He smiled.

"I wonder if she dyed her hair?" Cole asked.

"Yeah, pink," he replied casually.

"Ew."

"Pink doesn't good look on her." Peyton cringed.

"Orange isn't a good color on you, to be honest." Marco replied to Peyton in a snarky tone.

"Shut the fuck up, Marco."

***

Meanwhile, in Jayla's Room:

"Bitch, you are beautiful," Eleanor said as she curled the last section of her hair.

"Thank you!" Jayla grinned and flipped her hair back. She grabbed her purse and high heels that she was obligated to wear.

"Last touch!" Eleanor yelled and put on red lipstick.

"Amazing!" she said in an Italian accent.

"Thank you for helping me."

"No problem, sweetheart. Let's go. We are already late," she said and dragged her downstairs.

"She's ready, fuckers!" Eleanor shouted as she got downstairs with Jayla behind.

Everyone gasped in shock when they saw her, especially Max, whose face was priceless—eyes wide with an open mouth.

"Damn," he growled and ran toward her, hugging her tightly.

"Fucking hell, why are you teasing me?" He whispered in her ear.

"That's your fault," she said, patting his chest. She was wearing a dark red dress with spaghetti straps and a necklace that complemented her complexion.

"Let's go. We're late." Giovanni came in, wearing the same outfit as his brother, except in a different color and with a shorter cape.

"Here is a cape!" Keaton came in with a white cape. Max snatched the cape away from him and put it on Jayla's shoulders.

"It is important to wear the cape?" she asked Ma.

"Yeah, it's important in our world," he said. He sighed softly and took her hand.

"Have fun!" Cole yelled.

"We will! I can wait to eat at the buffet!" Giovanni squealed as he was drooling, remembering those steaks he ate.

"You are drooling, Giovanni," Max stated casually as they walked.

"Fuck," he said, quickly wiping his mouth.

Jayla laughed.