CHAPTER 3

The ride was quiet, and cold air filled the car. No one talked, not even Giovanni, who was usually talkative. He tried to put on music, but unfortunately, Max swatted his hand away. Max glared at him. Jayla was panicking since Max was driving and didn't seem to be paying much attention to the roads. Surprisingly, Max was an excellent driver and even turned correctly without looking, as if he knew the roads already.

"Brother, you should look at the road. You don't want to scare our guest," Giovanni said with amusement. Max rolled his eyes and finally looked at the road. Jayla sighed with relief and played with her fingers since she had nothing to do.

"So, Jay…" Gio started.

"Yes?" she replied.

"Do you think that I'm hot?" As soon as she heard his question, she lifted her head toward him and looked at him with wide eyes.

Max clenched his fist around the wheel and narrowed his eyes. He was pissed that his brother had asked such a dumb question. Max hoped that she would answer him truthfully by saying no.

"I don't know," she stuttered. Max frowned as he drove. He was content that she didn't say he was hot but didn't know how to feel about her answer.

"Well, people tell me I'm hot. You know a bunch of photographers called me to model for them," Giovanni smirked.

"Keep lying, Gio," Max said sarcastically, speaking for the first time since they got in the car. Gio already knew that his brother cared for Jayla even though he didn't show it.

"We have arrived!" Gio ignored his comment and yelled happily as an immense mansion appeared in front of them. Jayla gasped in awe and looked at the beautiful mansion.

"That's your house?" she asked, bewildered.

"Yep, it's amazing!" He opened the door when Max parked the car next to a row of other expensive vehicles.

"Get out of the car," Max said coldly. He was watching her as she took in the view surrounding them. She nodded and opened the door quickly, not wanting to anger him any more. She stepped out of the car and closed her eyes as she breathed in the fresh air. A lot of trees surrounded them.

She happened to know this house. It was the most expensive house in Raven. She wondered how they bought the house. She walked quickly to Gio, who was going inside, and totally forgot about Max as she stared.

"Beta Giovanni, how are you?" a man asked as he bowed. Gio glared at him and motioned to Jay. The man's eyes widened with shock, and he put his head down.

What the fuck? What happened? And what the hell did this man just call Gio? Jayla thought.

"I'm so sorry. Please, forgive me." The man excused himself and bowed again. He lifted his head and straightened his back.

"Al—"

"Jason, get out of here before I do something to you," Max warned him. Jason nodded and ran off.

"What was that?" Jayla asked the brothers.

"It was nothing," Giovanni said and grinned softly.

"He called him beta and then apologized, but what for? I don't understand," she whispered to herself softly and tried to think of an explanation. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her back. She flinched and looked up to see that it was Max.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm escorting you to my house. Come on," he said and showed her into his house. It was the first time that a boy touched her back in such a gentle way. She was afraid and also surprised that Max could do this to her. He was cold and always looked grumpy. She didn't know this kind and soft side of him.

"Why did that guy call Gio' beta'?" she asked Max as they walked into the living room with his hand still on her back. He wasn't ready to move his hand. He felt like this was appropriate and was right.

"It's actually a dare that Gio lost. The dare was that everyone must call him beta, which means idiot," he said. Now was not the time to reveal who he really was.

"Oh, well, that sucks," she said.

"Exactly. Anyway, sit down. I will bring you a glass of juice. Don't move from the sofa, and don't talk to anyone, alright?" he said. Before she could answer him, he ran away from her, going upstairs.

"Great," she sighed softly and looked at the living room. It was not a living room but more like a hall. There were stairs in the middle of the hall and modern lights in the ceiling.

"Having fun?"

Jayla jumped off the sofa, holding her poor heart. She breathed heavily as she looked at the handsome man. His eyes were full of amusement, and he was grinning.

"Hello?" she said hesitantly.

"Hey, I'm Mathis, and you?"

"I'm Jayla," she said, shaking his hand. He jumped on the sofa, leaving a space between them, and opened a can of beer.

"Want some?" He pointed to the beer. Jayla cringed and shook her head.

"Okay." He shrugged and brought the can to his lips, drinking.

"So, what are you doing here?" he asked after gulping the beer down.

"Well, Eleanor invited me here, and now I'm waiting for her."

"Oh, little Eleanor invited you here, so you are basically her friend," he said, looking at her.

"Yes, I'm her friend," she said those foreign words. She didn't know what their relationship was.

"I thought you were Max's mate. You have this strong air around you."

"Mathis," a warning voice called out. They turned toward the voice. It was Max, who was holding a glass of mango juice. He walked toward them and held the glass out to Jayla, who grabbed the glass and sipped the juice.

"Friend, how are you doing?" Mathis said as he playfully shoved Max, but Max's face was stern.

"Mathis, what are you doing here?" Max said, crossing his arms. Jayla choked on her juice as she stared at his bulging muscles.

"Are you okay, Jayla?" Mathis asked after she tapped her chest.

"I'm alright," she said, looking at the ground. Max smirked proudly as he knew she felt something toward him. It wasn't love. It was more like an attraction.

"I came here because your dad called me for business," Mathis said and straightened the suit that he was wearing.

"Then you can go now. I have a guest, as you can see," he said and pointed at Jayla. She flinched when he caught her staring at him. She blushed and looked away.

"Calm down, buddy. I'm going now," Mathis said sarcastically and stood up to pat his shoulder. But Max grabbed his hand and pulled it back. Mathis winced.

"Don't you ever call me buddy, alright?" Max said in a stern voice. Jayla gulped nervously as she felt the cold air surrounding him. He was giving off a dark vibe that nobody should approach him.

"Max, let me go, for god's sake. I got it!" he said, and Max dropped Mathis's hand. Mathis rubbed his wrist and looked at Jayla with a grin.

"See you next time." He walked out of the mansion. Now the mansion was empty except for them. Jayla rubbed her arms uncomfortably as she realized that she was alone with Max.

"Giovanni left because he had business, and Eleanor told me that she's coming home with Huxley and Marco right now," Max said to her and sat down. He turned on the TV, and they watched a crime series that happened to be on.

"Who is Mathis?" she asked, interrupting the moment.

"Mathis is my dad's friend. I think you know who Dr. Basilisks is," he said, making her gasp. Dr. Basilisks was a young, popular, and impressive doctor, even though he was only 36. He and his wife Mia, who was also a doctor, were the best couple with two beautiful kids.

"He's a fucking dork," he swore, making Jayla gasp.

"You shouldn't say things like that about your friends!"

"He's not my fucking friend!" he scowled.

"Alright." She held up her hands and gave up. It was impossible to tell him something he didn't want to listen to.

"Hey, guys! I'm sorry I was upstairs taking care of some things." Giovanni came in and jumped on the couch, sitting next to Jayla.

"Well, you missed nothing, except Mathis's presence," Max grumbled as he rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Oh, Mathis was here? Well, that means Aileen was here too!" he yelped, and Max turned toward him with a glare.

"Who is Aileen?" she asked curiously.

"Aileen is Mathis's annoying sister, also known as his fiancée," Giovanni explained as he pointed to Max, who gave him a death glare. Jayla frowned as she heard him say fiancée.

"She's not my fiancée," Max growled.

"Yeah, right, keep lying to yourself."

"Well, I have to go. Can you tell Eleanor that I'm sorry I missed her?" Jayla asked Giovanni, who furrowed his eyebrows.

"Well, I can drive you to your house," Max suggested abruptly, but she just shook her head.

"No need. I will call Darby to pick me up. See you guys tomorrow," she said, standing up from the couch to leave the beautiful mansion.

Meanwhile, Max continued to glare at his annoying brother. He was pissed at his brother's behavior.

"What the fuck, Gio?" he snapped.

"What? I was helping you!"

"What do you mean by helping me? You just made it worse!" He threw the remote control at the wall. He was furious and couldn't help but think of her face again.

"I'm sorry!" Gio apologized in distress. He didn't want his brother to get angry. When he was angry, no one could control him.

"You will not interfere again. I will do this on my own," he stated in a powerful voice.

"But how can you do that? She's human!"

"I'm an alpha of the most powerful and strongest pack in America, the future king of the werewolves. So do me a favor and shut up," he snarled and picked up the remote control that he threw after checking that it was not broken. He went upstairs and slammed the door closed after he entered his office. He picked up a file from his table.

He looked at the file closely, staring at it. Then, he opened the file and grabbed the picture inside it.

"When are we going to get her?" his wolf, Vince, said.

"Soon. Patience," Max replied calmly as he clenched his jaw, looking at the picture of a woman who was happy and carefree.

"Don't worry, mate; you will be mine."

He put the picture back in the file and finally sat down in his chair, sighing deeply.

"Fuck," he said as he heard the phone on his table ring. He picked it up and put it to his ear. "Hello, Alpha Max here," he said lazily with his eyes closed.

"Do you think it's normal to speak like that to your king?" the voice said through the phone.

"No, it's not, but we are family."

"I don't care. Give some respect to your old uncle."

"Uncle Blaze, please tell your son to leave my territory. He's always annoying me."

"My son is always like that. I heard from him that you found your mate. That's amazing!"

"Fucking asshole," Max thought.

"Yeah, I found her."