Chapter 7

After two bottles of alcohol, Darby and Giovanni were wasted while Jayla and Max were just a little bit drunk.

"Where are they?" she asked, referring to her parents.

Max cleared his throat. "They left. Darby said that they could go home. He promised them to get you home."

"Oh, alright."

They all left the restaurant and went to a club where Darby and Giovanni—the two idiots—danced together. Darby put an arm around Giovanni's waist, and they slow danced together.

Jayla giggled as she recorded the slow dance with her phone. It was funny how her brother and her friend moved. Max grinned at her. As long she was happy, he was happy too. He couldn't help but smile at her when she giggled.

"She looks so cute," he thought.

He chuckled when she sneezed quietly and continued recording the dance. She didn't hear him chuckling because she was distracted.

The song changed to the trendiest song on TikTok, "WAP" by Cardi B.

"Dude! You thinking what I'm thinking?" Giovanni smirked, glancing at Darby, who smirked as well.

"I'm with you, bro," he said, patting his chest.

"What are they going to do?" Jayla asked, confused.

"I'm not going to miss this," Max chuckled as he took his phone, ready to record.

As the song went on, Darby and Giovanni did the choreography for the song. Well, they were trying. They caught some unwanted attention, mostly women, who were ogling them. Just the thought of them eating her brother alive made Jayla want to puke.

"Ew, woman hitting on my brother is disgusting," Jayla mumbled as she tripped on the table in front of her.

"Are they?" Max asked without looking at her.

"Yes, they always want my brother for no reason. When he was at our school, girls used to be my friend because I was Darby Jacobs's sister. Nobody knew me by my name." She glared at the ground.

She didn't know why she was telling Max all this stuff. He was rude to her but then wanted to be her friend for no reason. Maybe he wanted to be friends with her because she was Darby Jacobs's sister? Or perhaps he was playing with her?

Many questions rattled in her brain. She was overthinking.

"Jayla," he called out. She snapped her head toward him, and unexpectedly, he kissed her on the cheek like a little boy with a crush.

He grinned sheepishly. He didn't want to steal her first kiss. He wanted to kiss her with passion and pleasure when she wasn't drunk.

"W-what?" she stuttered.

"You seemed confused and lost in thought, and I wanted to help you." He smiled softly.

"That is wrong! You don't twerk like that!" Darby scolded Giovanni, which caught their attention.

"Alright, we should go. I don't want those idiots to ruin other people's fun," Max said, putting his phone in his pocket and standing up. Jayla was still dazed. She was blushing hard, but fortunately, he couldn't see her blushing because of the colorful lights.

"Are you coming?" he asked, holding a hand out to her.

She nodded and grabbed his hand. They walked to the dance floor, where he immediately grabbed Giovanni and Darby by their collars and dragged them off the dance floor.

"We were having fun!" Giovanni complained and crossed his arms against his chest.

"Well, you were ruining their fun, obviously." Max rolled his eyes.

"You are such a party pooper," Darby complained.

"Don't blame me tomorrow when you see your face on Facebook twerking like a horny bitch," he growled.

"You saw my dancing, dude. I could be a stripper right now," Darby said right before he banged his head on the car.

"Be careful—" Jayla started to warn him, but he already had a purple bruise on his forehead. She cringed.

"Why did Mom ruin my whole life? I could be a stripper and earn a lot of money," he whined and almost started crying.

"Alright, baby boys, let's get in my car," Max declared, clapping his hands as if he were babysitting. Darby and Giovanni got into the back of the car.

"Are you going to drive?" Jayla asked Max as she stepped into the passenger seat.

"Well, duh, of course," he said.

"B-but you are d-drunk," she stammered.

"Honey, I'm a professional driver," he responded, winking at her.

***

"The adrenaline I'm feeling…amazing!" he sighed. Jayla kept breathing heavily. The drive was fast and furious, just like the movie. He skipped every red light. She warned him about the lights, but he didn't bother.

"He is definitely not a professional driver," Jayla thought.

Max dropped them off at their house, and Mr. Jacobs helped Max lift Darby's heavy body out of the car. He was unconscious and nearly fell on the ground when Max tried to get him out alone. Thank god Mr. Jacobs was there.

Jayla smiled as she recalled the kiss she had with Max. It was like something out of a romance story. She was in bed now, and she rolled over, squealing like a little girl.

She sighed and tried to calm down. She couldn't wait to see him at school tomorrow.

***

"Yesterday was amazing. I loved drinking and dancing," Giovanni said to Eleanor, who smiled.

"That is so cool. I wish we could have joined you," she said, pouting.

"But we had fun alone," Huxley said, sneaking behind Eleanor and hugging her. She giggled and hugged him closer.

"Ew, it's too early for that!" Peyton cringed in disgust.

"What did you guys do when they were twerking?" Cole said to Max, who was smoking outside of the school. He wasn't one to do bad things. He wasn't a bad boy. Well, he was before, but after learning about mates and the benefits of having them, he stopped his bad boy ways, except for smoking.

"Well, while they were twerking, I had a chance to hang out with Jayla," he said, inhaling the nicotine.

"Oh, then what did you do?" Marco said, interested in the conversation since they were talking about their future Luna.

"I kissed her cheek, no big deal," he said proudly, smiling shyly.

"Bro! That's our Alpha!" Cole exclaimed and hugged him. Marco did the same.

"Thanks, guys. I told you that I could handle it, Cole," he smirked. He was happy that their relationship was finally starting. It still needed more effort, of course, but in one month, she would be his. Nothing and no one would get in their way, he promised himself.

"You are right, human," his wolf said.

"Exactly, Vince," he agreed.

"Hey, guys!" Jayla came over and smiled at them. She waved at Eleanor, who stepped out of her mate's embrace and hugged her tightly, taking Jayla by surprise.

"Jay!" she shouted and spun her.

"How come you get to call her a nickname?" Giovanni yelled with jealousy.

"Because she's my bestie," she retorted and snapped her fingers.

"Anyway, kids, don't argue at 8 a.m., please!" Huxley said patiently as he grabbed Eleanor's arms and hugged her. Jayla smiled at the couple. Then, she looked at Max, who smiled at her with his cigarette in between his lips.

Her smile dropped, and she looked down in disappointment. Max frowned at her attitude.

"What the fuck did I do?" he thought.

She shook her head and lifted her head, smiling at them. Suddenly, someone covered her eyes, and she couldn't see anything.

"Guess who, Princess?" a familiar voice whispered in her ear. She laughed and pushed his hands away.

"Nolan," she said, smiling. She turned her head to her annoying, clingy friend.

"Exactly, your best friend," he said arrogantly.

While they were having a moment together, Max was glaring at Nolan.

The people around Max stepped away from him except for Cole, who tried to calm him down. They were scared of their Alpha. He was capable of killing someone who seemed threatening. And right now, Nolan was a threat.

Nolan was the person stopping Max's relationship with Jayla. Nolan was in his way, and Max swore to himself that he would kill anyone or anything that got in his way.

"Jayla," Max said after a moment of silence. She turned toward him while biting her lip.

"Yeah?"

"Come here."

"We are going to be late, so we have to—"

Nolan stopped talking after Max glared at him angrily.

"Um, I'll see you later, Nolan," she said, stepping in between them. Even though the situation was pretty tense, she still smiled.

"Alright, then, I'll see you later," he said, pecking her on the cheek. It was enough for Max to let go of his wolf.

He let out a menacing growl, dropped his cigarette, and stamped it out before blocking Nolan's way.

Max was taller than Nolan. Nolan tried to match his glare, but it was impossible. He was no match for Max's cold stare.

Meanwhile, Jayla was looking at them, scared that Max would crush her annoying friend.

"Max, don't," she said calmly, grabbing his arms.

"Max, listen to Jayla. We should get going," Cole warned, and they walked away from them, taking Nolan with them.

"Are you okay?" Jayla asked Max.

"Am I?" he said, ashamed of himself. He had almost exposed his true identity, which could cost his life. Werewolves had to keep their species a secret. They could only tell their identity to a human if they were mates, and that's all. No one could know about their species.

"Max, tell me, what's wrong?" she said, stepping in front of him confidently.

"He kissed you."

"Only on the cheek," she added.

"The same spot where I kissed you. He wiped my mark off you," he said with jealousy and frowning lightly.

"It was only a kiss." She shrugged.

"I can't let this go," he said, pulling her body against him.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm going to put my mark on you," he said.

***

Meanwhile, at the Jacobs's House:

"Bitch, it's food time for me," Darby sang as he poured milk on his bowl of cereal. He was watching his favorite series while munching his cereal. His phone rang.

"Fuck off, Dexter," he said after glancing at his phone.

He waited for the ringtone to finish and then watched his show in peace until his phone rang again.

"Oh, my fucking god!" he cursed and put down his bowl.

"What the fuck do you want, dick shrimp?" he snarled into the phone.

"What a nice way to say hi to your friend?" Dexter, his friend, said sarcastically.

"I don't have time. What is it?"

"Did you look at your Facebook page? Bro, you're famous."

Darby rolled his eyes. Of course, he was famous. He had 10k followers.

"I'm already famous."

"No, seriously, look at your Facebook page," Derek said.

Darby swiped to Facebook on his phone. He looked at the icon and the 99+ new followers. When he saw the reason why, he couldn't believe it. It was the video of him and Giovanni twerking and then him whining about ruining his life and wanting to be a stripper.

"THE FUCK?" he shouted at his friend, who said nothing. It sounded like the whole neighborhood could hear him.

"Alright, I'm out, dude." Dexter abandoned him.

"I'm going to die," Darby whispered and fell to the ground as he passed out. Darby's father came in, whistling. He tripped on something heavy, and when he looked at the ground, he screamed.