CHAPTER 16

Jayla was sleeping peacefully when she heard loud squealing from the office. She sighed and opened her eyes tiredly. She patted her chest to check on Max, but she felt nothing except her boobs.

She frowned and yawned, opening her eyes slowly and gasping in fear when she saw Keaton in front of her, staring at her.

"Good afternoon, my queen!" he yelled happily.

"Hey, Keaton," she said sourly.

"Leave her alone, you fucking asshole!" Max said from behind him, folding his arms against his chest.

"Why do you always keep calling me an asshole? I did a favor for you!"

"That wasn't enough." He rolled his eyes.

"Stop bickering! You are giving me a headache," she grumbled.

"You can say that to your dear mate." Keaton sneered at Max, who shrugged and played with his pen.

"How are you doing, Jayla?" She heard another voice. She lifted her head and saw someone else's head.

"Ah, fuck!" she screamed and punched his face, right in his nose.

"Oh, damn." Jake whistled beside Keaton, who cringed in pain.

"Shit! Why do I always get hurt?" Mathis hissed in pain, holding his bloody nose.

"Go to the infirmary!" Max groaned, cringing in disgust at his nose.

"Yes, Alpha," he mocked and walked out of his office.

"I didn't have the time to apologize," Jayla said with guilt as she bit her lip.

"It's alright. We, the werewolves, can heal quickly." Jake said with a smirk.

"That's a great thing." She nodded with a smile.

"Fucking dork. I have powers," Max said smugly. He hated the fact that his mate's attention was on other people. She should only worry about him.

"You have powers?" She gasped in shock.

"I do," he said, huffing proudly.

"Narcissist." Jake and Keaton rolled their eyes simultaneously, muttering the same word.

Jayla's eyes showed fascination as she walked toward his office and sat in front of him. He didn't like where she sat. He shook his head and patted the spot she must sit, his lap.

"Really? I'm fat," she muttered.

"Nonsense. Come here, or I won't show you my powers," he said, giving her an ultimatum. She nodded and sat on his lap. He gripped her hips tightly, earning a gasp from her.

He pushed her soft wavy hair on the other side of her shoulder so that he could put his face next to her neck.

"Are you ready to be surprised?" he whispered, and she answered with a nod of approval.

"Alright," he said. First, he wanted to show his power of psychokinesis. He moved Jake's chair with his mind, making Jake fall on the ground on his butt.

Keaton burst out in laughter, screaming as well. Jayla gasped in fascination.

"That's so amazing. Did you do that?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Smart," he grumbled and got up to sit on the couch next to Keaton, pouting.

"And you have other powers?"

"Of course. Hey. Keaton?" He called out to Keaton, who was going to be Max's next victim.

"Yeah?" He gulped nervously.

"Yesterday, did you mistake your underwear with Mattie's?" he asked with a devilish smile.

"No, I didn't." He rolled his eyes.

"Look at this, baby," Max whispered in her ears and held his arm out. While he was rotating his hand, a red and green glow came out. He pointed to Keaton, showing a red cross on his chest.

"Red cross means that he's lying, and a green tick means that he's telling the truth," he said. His other power allowed him to detect lies, which was useful for interrogating criminals.

"Son, it would be better if you stop bullying your friends." A man's voice chuckled in the office. Jayla looked at the man who was a copy of Max but much older, like an older twin. It must be his father.

"Thank God you're here! I cannot keep this child anymore," Jake whined and tugged the man's arms. He looked at Max, who stuck out his tongue, showing off his amusement.

"Shut the fuck up! You are only two years older than me," Max snapped harshly.

"Max," Jayla warned, still sitting in his lap since he wouldn't let her go.

"What? I seriously think that you want Jake more than me," he stated out of jealousy.

"You should calm down, Max. She doesn't seem interested. I'm Matte, the little shit's father," his father said, shaking her hand. She got off his lap as soon as he loosened his grip.

"I'm the over-possessive Alpha's mate. Nice to meet you." She smiled and shook her hands with his father.

"Jayla, seriously?" he said, glaring at his mate. In return, she only gave him a mischievous smile.

"Nice, I think we will get along." He smiled mischievously.

"Dad, don't steal my mate, and you don't even think about hanging out with him," he said, warning Jayla, who frowned. His dad was the prankster in this pack. The old alpha who used to be his dad was a kind person in front of members and also a funny person. One time, his dad thought that it would be a good idea to scare off his grandfather, Micah.

So he went to his house on Halloween at 3 AM, wearing an outfit from Money Heist since his grandfather hated the series. He knocked on his door. Micah knocked him out with a lamp and called the police. The police took off his mask and revealed his son-in-law. His mom had to bail him out of prison.

An Alpha doing this was spectacular. He still had a mind of a child even though he was cold toward everyone outside of his pack.

"Why not? Scared that I can make her laugh more than you?" he said, challenging his son.

"Fuck off. You know well that I'm better than you." Max scoffed.

"Bitch, let's see if that's true." He snapped his fingers and walked out of the office. Max growled and ran out without forgetting to peck her cheek.

"I'll see you later, baby," he said and left.

"The fuck? I can't believe that old man is still acting like a child." Jake sighed with exasperation.

"Well, I better go. It was nice to see you, Jayla. It's time to protect the spoiled princess," he sneered and walked out of the office, leaving Jayla and Keaton alone.

"Do you want me to give you a tour of the packhouse?" Kenyon asked after a moment of silence.

"I would love to."

***

"And this is the living room, where everyone meets and talks. Sometimes, the strong and powerful Alpha comes here," Keaton finished with a tone of amusement.

"Who is the strong and powerful Alpha?" she asked.

"Max, duh," he said.

"A lot of packs voted him for the strongest and powerful Alpha. If only they knew that this man was more than that." He chuckled, and Jayla frowned but shook her head as she heard a commotion in the garden.

"What is happening now?" she asked Keaton while hearing screams and yells.

"No idea. Let's check," he said, and they walked toward the garden. As they reached the garden, they saw Max arguing with a woman.

"Shut the fuck up! We are nothing!" he snapped harshly at the woman. Jayla gasped at the woman's beauty.

She was beautiful with long black hair and blue eyes. She remembered her. It was Aileen.

"You're my mate, Max. We were supposed to rule this world," she shouted at Max, who was barely controlling his wolf.

"You are not ruling this world; my mate is!"

"You're my mate. She's using you. For fuck's sake, she's a witch!" she yelled.

"Jayla, we should leave them alone," Keaton said, realizing how serious this situation was. He couldn't let Jayla hear those things.

"Why do I have to leave when they're talking about me?" she asked quietly, still watching them arguing.

Keaton kept quiet. He didn't want this to happen; he didn't even know she was coming here. Maybe Jake brought her here.

"Bro, Aileen is being insufferable. Apparently, she wanted to meet Max's 'fake mate.'" Jake walked toward Keaton, rolling his eyes while pantomiming quote marks.

"Shut up." Keaton gritted his teeth, pointing to Jayla beside him.

"Oh shit," he grumbled.

"She wants to meet me? Well, okay," Jayla replied while walking toward them.

"No, Jayla, don't do that," Keaton warned, following her.

The crowd parted to let her through, and she stood between Max and Aileen.

"Jayla." Max breathed out with widened eyes.

"So, I heard you wanted to meet me?" Jayla asked while tilting her head.

"You're the fake mate," she said, looking at her.

"His true mate, so what's up?" Jayla said, rolling her eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes at me. It's disrespectful," she snapped.

"Well, you are also wasting people's time. They don't have time to take care of an immature princess," Jayla retorted.

"I didn't ask you to talk back." Aileen glared at her.

"Whatever. Now that you met me, can you go?" She sighed deeply.

"What? You think you can order me around?" She sneered.

"Unfortunately, you are standing in my territory, and since I'm going to be the Luna of this pack, I have the right to kick you out of my territory," she said, giving her a fake smile.

Max snorted as Keaton and Jake laughed. The pack members were surprised that they found their Luna.

"You bitch, how dare you?" she shouted.

"Yeah, avoid yelling derogatory names. There are kids here, and you don't want to show them your true personality. That would be bad for your image of a princess," she whispered loudly.

"You whore! I will kill you!" she yelled and held a hand high to slap her, but her brother came and stopped her.

"What is wrong with you, Aileen? Mother didn't teach you to behave like this!" Mathis yelled, throwing her hand away.

"Brother! She stole my mate!" she whined and leaned close to him.

"Aileen, fucking get this in your head! Max is not your mate!" Mathis said, grabbing her arms and shaking her.

"No, I know that this bitch used something to make him feel like she's his mate. I will find out," she threatened Jayla, throwing her a nasty glare.

"Aileen," Max called her.

"What?" she yelled out of desperation.

"Come into my office. Let's talk," he proposed, and she nodded frantically. He walked toward her, and she grabbed his arm.

They walked toward his office, leaving a surprised Jayla. He didn't even glance at her.

"What the fuck?" Keaton gasped in shock.

"I will go to his office and see if they do anything wrong," Mathis said and followed them.

Jayla watched Aileen and Max walking together. She felt heartbroken and jealous, two nasty and wrong feelings.

She had never felt them in her whole life.

"Can you drop me off home?" she asked Keaton, who nodded and guided her to his car.

Jayla never thought that she would be a jealous person. She was never jealous and was always selfless because her grandma said that selfishness was a dangerous feeling.

But as she recalled the moment where Aileen and Max walked into the office together with Aileen grabbing him tightly…they looked like a couple.

A beautiful woman deserved to be with Max, and Aileen was beautiful and smart.

Of course, it would be her.

"Why did the Goddess choose me to be his mate?" she thought.

"I don't deserve to be with Max," she whispered.