CHAPTER 23

Jayla's POV:

"Oh fuck, what are they doing here?" I groaned, annoyed, as I rested my head against the headrest.

"What do you mean?" Max glared at me angrily through the rear-view mirror. Suddenly, I was anxious because of his stare.

"Bro, calm down. You can punch them," Giovanni said, trying to calm him down.

Max had three sides: one that was cocky and arrogant that he showed everyone; one that was sweet, soft, and clingy, and was my favorite; and the cold side that was angry and furious and could kill anyone with his bare hands.

Well, he was showing his cold side right now. He was glaring at the road and clenching his fists tightly around the wheel. Any dumb person could sense that he was angry, and it was better not to anger him more.

"You can't use violence," I whispered. No human could hear, but they were supernatural, and Max growled even louder after hearing my comment.

"Shut up, Jayla," he seethed.

"But—"

"I said shut up!" he yelled, turning his red eyes to me. His wolf was in control.

I gasped and gulped nervously. I nodded and looked out the window.

"Alpha Vince, don't," Giovanni sighed.

So, his wolf's name was Vince.

"Both of you get out. We have reached the pack," he said coldly, parking the car. I breathed heavily and got out of his car before slamming the door.

That will teach him.

"Jayla!" he shouted angrily from the car, but I didn't care. I walked to the house, not caring about people watching me with concern and pity. I guess they heard their Alpha shouting at me.

I went to the guest room and started to pack my things in a bag. Why should I stay with a man that is using violence for no reason?

Violence didn't solve anything.

He was too stupid to know that.

I pulled out my phone and called Nolan.

"Hello?" I said.

"Hey, princess," he said lazily. I wanted to chuckle, but right now, I was pissed.

"Can I crash at your home?" Nolan was alone since his parents were in Jamaica. He was living with his brother, but his brother was barely home, which was why he always threw parties.

"Sure, you can. Do you want me to pick you up? Where are you?" he asked. I loved that he was a gentleman even though he was a big fat player.

"Yeah, can you come to Sheerness Cafe?" I said while packing my stuff.

"Alright, see you in ten," he said, and I hung up.

I couldn't go to my parent's house because they were away. They went to Paris. So, they took the key, and the other key belonged to Darby, and he had gone to Toronto without me.

As I finished packing my bag, I realized that I couldn't go out like this, wearing a red dress with a cape.

I groaned and took off the cape, threw it on the ground, and pulled the dress off carefully. I took out a jumper Nolan gave me and shorts since it was warm outside.

I opened the window and checked that no one was around. The garden was clear. I grinned as I jumped out of the window with my bag, landing on the ground with a flip.

Thank you, Mom, for putting me into those gymnastics classes when I was five.

I ran slowly, checking for people. I remembered that the guards changed positions. It was weird, but I'd memorized how they changed positions. Each guard changed positions in a minute, which gave me 30 seconds to get out of the gate.

I hid behind a wall and watched the guards changing. When the gate was clear, I ran for it. I climbed up the gate and left.

I ran toward the main street that led me to the city. As I slowed down, I saw Nolan's familiar black car parked in front of Sheerness Cafe.

I quickly walked to the car and knocked on the window, so he could unlock the door for me. He was startled at first but then opened the door with a smile.

"Hey, Jay," he said, and I smiled while putting my bags in the back.

"What happened?" he asked, frowning slightly as he saw the bags. I sighed deeply. I understood his confusion, but right now, I was exhausted from running.

"I'll explain to you later. Can we go?" I said.

"Sure, but you better tell me what's happening," he said firmly as he started the car.

***

MEANWHILE, AT THE PACK:

"You sure that Jayla won't get mad? She's pretty pissed right now," Cole repeated.

"I will apologize to her. It's her fault for slamming my car door so hard," he grunted.

"Yeah, but it was your fault, though. You used your wolf side." Cole frowned.

"Whatever. He was just pissed because his mate was concerned about those assholes." He sneered and walked quickly to the pack prison. He needed to release all of his anger on the two rogues who came to his territory without permission.

They were dead.

"I can't believe I have rogues in my territory!" he said dramatically to Eglantine and Piper. They were cuffed to a chair. The handcuffs were silver because it made werewolves weak. He chuckled when he heard Piper groan.

"Now, I expect you two to tell me why you hurt one of my members?" he ordered, dragging a chair over to sit in front of them.

"Nothing to say?" he asked. He nodded to his warrior to inject them with a small amount of poison.

He injected them, and Max waited impatiently for their reactions. Both of them started to yell.

"Make it stop!"

"Please!" the other one yelled. He growled and tossed his head back. His red eyes were gleaming.

"Alright then. Will you tell me?" he asked, faking innocence in front of them.

"Yes, for fuck's sake!" he yelled. Max beckoned the warrior to inject them with a tranquilizer.

"Good?" Max asked with a smirk on his face. "Well then, let's continue," he said, putting a spell on them.

"This spell will tell me if you are lying or not," he explained. He had enough of secrets, so he used his power even though the king forbade him.

"Speak," he ordered.

"Sorry, Piper. I have to do this for the sake of our queen!" the guy said painfully. His friend nodded. Max knew that they were talking about his mate again.

"What is your business with my mate?" he snarled.

"Your mate is our queen!" Piper yelled, glaring at him.

Cole took that as a disrespectful move. He punched him in the face.

"Don't fucking glare at my Alpha," he threatened him.

"Why is she your queen? She doesn't belong in your filthy territory," Piper spat in anger and then growled at him. Cole punched him in return.

"She's our queen because we can feel it," Eglantine said quietly.

"How?"

"Every queen has an aura. Well, her aura automatically makes her the queen," Eglantine continued. "She's Fin's niece." Max was shocked. Even the warriors and Cole were shocked.

"What the fuck?" Cole gasped.

"Torture them but don't kill them," he commanded. His warrior nodded frantically.

He left the pack prison, followed by Cole. They went upstairs using their secret passage. Max growled and threw a book at the wall, leaving a hole.

"How the fuck is she Fin's niece?" he shouted and paced around the office.

"Well, it makes sense, to be honest," Cole said, remembering the head of the warriors stating a fact.

"They do look exactly the same," Max snapped and kicked the wall.

"You can't reject her, Max," Cole said firmly. He was scared that his Alpha was going to reject her just because she was Fin's niece.

"Of course not! I'm not going to reject her. That would be death!" He growled and sat in his chair.

"What I'm scared of is those assholes brainwashing her and making her our enemy." He sighed.

"That's right."

"I don't care if she's our enemy. She's my mate, and that's all that matters. She's mine," he snarled and slammed his hands aggressively.

"We should keep this a secret from her," Cole suggested.

"Yeah, find those warriors who were with us in the prison and Artaxerxes. They need to keep this a secret," he ordered. Cole nodded and mind linked the warriors.

After a couple of seconds, the warriors and Artaxerxes came into his office. They saluted Max, and he gave them a light nod.

"I summoned you here because I need you to keep the information that your future Luna is the queen of the rogues a secret. I don't want her to be brainwashed," he said coldly. The warriors nodded in submission.

"You can go. Except for Artaxerxes."

"Yes, Alpha Max," they said altogether and left the office. Max put a spell on the door.

"You were right about your presumption," Max started.

"Then what should we do, Alpha?" Artaxerxes asked.

"You are still going to send your warriors to spy on them. We don't know when they are going to attack our pack to kidnap their rightful queen, and I will be damned to let her go like that." He gripped the end of the table when he saw a vision of her being tortured by the rogues.

"But Alpha, we can use that to our advantage," Artaxerxes stated.

"What are you talking about?" Cole said with confusion.

"Well, if she's their queen, they may obey her, and we can use that to stop the war and live a peaceful life. You can rule two kingdoms: the rogues and the werewolves," he said.

"That's not bad, but what if they don't want to obey me?" he asked with curiosity.

"They will not obey you, but they will surely obey Luna Jayla," he replied.

"That's actually a great idea, Max!" Cole exclaimed.

"But it will be hard," Max warned him.

"We just need the Luna not to be brainwashed." He shrugged.

"It will be possible. The war can finally stop. It seems that the Goddess has given us a chance," Cole said with hope in his eyes.

Max still thought about his mate being the queen. If she was his queen, was she really human? Maybe she was a werewolf, but how come she's didn't seem like a werewolf? She didn't smell like them or act like them. It was weird, unless…

"Fucking witches," he snapped, gripping the table harshly, and almost breaking it.

"What?"

"Why are you talking about witches?" Cole said, confused.

"Nothing." He waved them off. He needed to prove this fact by visiting a witch he knew would be trustworthy.

There was a knock on the door. Max took off the spell and let the person come in.

"What's up, Eleanor?" he asked calmly.

"Hey, Alpha Max. Jayla hasn't come out of the guest room. I was wondering if she was in your room," she said.

"Oh, let's see," he said, standing up to go to his room. He was determined to talk it out with his mate. He wanted to apologize for his behavior and cuddle with her.

When he opened his room, he looked around and saw no one. She wasn't there.

"I will check the guest room," Artaxerxes said quickly and ran toward the guest room.

Max's eyes widened with panic, and he looked in the bathroom quickly to see if she was bathing, but she wasn't. No one was there.

"What the fuck?" he said slowly. He saw his head warrior come in with a dress.

"She wasn't in her room either. There was only a dress," he said, giving the dress to Max, who grabbed it and sniffed it frantically.

"Where is she?" he growled darkly. His eyes were flickering, and his wolf nearly took control of his body.

"She escaped. Her bag and everything is gone," Artaxerxes said.

Max closed his eyes for a moment, clenching his fists tightly.

"Fucking find her!" he screamed.

He was pissed.

His mate was gone.

He only wanted one thing: To kill everyone right now.