CHAPTER 4

"The Alpha got mad at you because you helped him?" Eleanor asked Giovanni as they sat in the living room. Max and Coke had gone to a meeting with the elders about the rogue attacks.

"No, Alpha Max was mad at him because he mentioned Princess Aileen in front of his mate." Huxley chuckled as he wrapped an arm around his mate, hearing the pack members laughing about Giovanni's mistake.

"It's not funny, you fuckers!" He snarled and left the living room in anger, leaving them. Marco, the Warrior Captain's son, frowned with his apple in his hands.

"Why are you frowning?" Peyton, the son of the pack lawyer, smiled and noticed his friend's behavior.

"Who is our Luna?"

"It's a human girl. She's my new friend." Eleanor squealed and grinned. Marco nodded with narrowed eyes. He was feeling doubtful about her. Marco only trusted his Alpha. His Alpha was the reason for his life; his dad had even told him to protect his Alpha with his life.

"Guys, where is my mom?" Max's voice was heard.

"Luna went shopping with her friends!" Peyton yelled.

"No need to yell. I'm right here," Max said behind Peyton. Peyton turned around and screamed, surprised, as he saw his Alpha, who had just used his speed power to get here. He breathed heavily as he held his poor heart.

"Alpha Max, please don't scare our little Peyton here," Huxley cooed and pinched Peyton's cheek.

"Fuck off!" he yelled and swatted Huxley's hands away from his face.

"I'm not joking. Where the fuck is my dad, then?" Max said with frustration.

"I heard from the elders that he went away with his friends in Bali," Huxley stated.

"The fuck? Bali? They fucking left me to have fun." Max growled in anger.

"That's life, brother," Cole said as he patted his friend's shoulders.

"Fuck you, dude." Max gave Cole the middle finger and pushed his hand off his shoulder.

"That's what I get for being helpful," Cole pouted sadly.

"So, what are you going to do about your mate?" Marco stepped in, changing the subject.

"I will ask her to be my girlfriend, and then it's done."

When Peyton heard his Alpha's suggestion, he spat the water out of his mouth, which landed on Marco's face.

"Excuse me, what did you say?" he asked while Marco glared at him. Huxley and Eleanor tried not to laugh. Cole was…just watching the scene like a spectator.

"Well, Cole said it would be easy to ask her to be my girlfriend. If she doesn't accept my proposal, then I will kidnap her." Max shrugged.

"What the fuck? I never said that!" Cole shouted. He turned toward Peyton, who gave him a death stare.

"Listen, Peyton. I never said that. Max is always the person who blames people. You have to listen to me," Cole pleaded, since one thing that you should never do is force a woman into something.

"You should run before he does something horrible to you." Huxley snorted, and Cole listened to his advice. Peyton ran after him while Max sighed in annoyance.

"Fucking morons," he muttered.

***

It was time for Jayla to go back to school. After a normal weekend where her parents were obsessed with their work while Darby went out with his friends, she was again left alone.

She took her time to think about Max, the guy who consumed most of her thoughts. She couldn't stop thinking about him and the way he grabbed her. There were sparks when he touched her. She frowned as she struggled to put her book in her bag, as she was deep in thought about those sparks. She sighed as she finally got her books in her bag.

"Sis, you need a ride?" her brother yelled.

"I would love one," she answered as she rushed to the kitchen and took a banana and almonds. She grabbed the lunch bag that her brother had made.

"Where are Mom and Dad?" she asked while munching on her almonds.

"The usual." She knew what he meant; they were away for work. It was starting to get frustrating and annoying for her.

"Oh, right. Let's go. I don't want to be late," she said and walked fast toward her brother's car. She waited for a moment for him to get out of the house and lock the door. As soon as he did that, he got in the car, and they drove off.

"What do you have today?" Darby started after a moment of silence.

"Boring subjects."

"What kind of subjects?"

"None of your business."

"Jayla," he said, turning toward her as soon there was a red light.

"I know you're angry about Mom and Dad."

"I'm not only angry; I'm also pissed and annoyed. It's been years, Darby. They don't spend any time with us, and I haven't been on a holiday with them. They didn't even say goodnight or leave any kisses on my forehead when I was a kid! I was jealous of other kids going somewhere with their parents and spending time with their families. We never had that, Darby! I never spent a day with our parents because they are workaholics!"

"They are doing this for our future," Darby said calmly.

"Well, I only want them to spend a day with us, like a family," she said and then got out of the car since they had arrived at the school. Darby sighed deeply as he got out of his car and followed his sister.

"Jayla, listen to me!" he said, trying to catch up. Everyone was watching them; most of them looked shocked to see Darby, the old popular guy coming into their school. Jayla didn't pay any attention to them. She walked toward the hall, her eyes on the ground, walking fast until she bumped into a wall.

She was about to fall when someone caught her. Again, she felt the sparks. She knew who was holding her thanks to the sparks and his strong mint cologne.

"Max," she whispered, lifting her head to see the beautiful face of this handsome man.

Max always had a cold, stony face. But when his eyes met his mate's eyes, they softened.

"Jayla! I'm talking to you—Max." Darby was about to call for her again when he saw Max holding her, not breaking his stare at Jayla, who looked flushed. Behind Max were Marco and Cole.

"What happened?" Max said sternly, expecting an explanation. Since he didn't want to let go of Jayla, he turned her toward her brother, his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"None of your business, Max." Darby rolled his eyes.

Max narrowed his eyes toward him, clenching his fist and trying his hardest to control his anger.

"What the fuck? Are you telling me that it's not my fucking business?" He growled, capturing everyone's attention.

Of course, they wouldn't miss a fight between two popular hot boys about an ordinary girl right in between them.

"Max, calm—"

"Don't fucking tell me to calm down!" Max said harshly, earning a flinch from Jayla. She sighed and looked at Darby while removing the arm that bothered her.

"Please, Max. Don't make a scene," she said sternly, looking straight at him. He widened his eyes with adoration at the way she said his name.

"She's right. We're late. Let's go." Marco stepped in and grabbed his Alpha's arm. With Cole beside him, they walked down the hall, scaring off the students that were expecting a show thanks to Max's deathly glare.

"Darby, you can't be here," Jayla said to her brother.

"Why can't I be here? I mean, I was a student here last year."

"Darby, please, can we talk about this later at home?" she begged. She was late and didn't want to ruin her perfect attendance.

"I'll see you at home. Have a good day," he said and left. Jayla walked quickly toward her class. She knocked on the door and saw her teacher had already started the lesson.

"Who do we have here? Ms. Jacobs, what a pleasure to have you in my class!" the teacher exclaimed sarcastically. Jayla rolled her eyes and entered the classroom.

"The reason for your lateness?" the old, blond woman asked Jayla.

"My brother was here. He needed to talk to me urgently." If she used her brother as an excuse, it would not get her in trouble. Last year, Darby Jacobs was the king of the school. He was the President of the Student Council with perfect attendance and the captain of the basketball team. He was the golden boy, not the bad boy.

Unfortunately for his sister, teachers expected her to be the same as her brother. They never expected a quiet freak who was only good at math.

"Darby was here? Oh, well, you can sit down," the teacher said with a blush. Jayla felt disgusted and weirded out that her English teacher had a crush on her brother. He was 20 while she was like 65.

"Karen the bitch," she muttered. As she walked between the desks, someone heard her muttering. He tried not to laugh—well, tried.

"I'm sorry. What did you say?" Jayla heard her teacher say.

She turned toward her and gave her a fake smile. "Nothing."

"That was sick," Giovanni said as she sat down next to him. Jayla grinned and took out her stuff.

"What happened back there?" he whispered while looking at the board.

"What do you mean?" Jayla replied with a frown.

"Well, apparently, there was a fight between the old golden boy and the new bad boy." He chuckled.

"You talking about my brother and Max? They didn't fight," she whispered, frowning even harder at the thought of them fighting in the hall. She quickly shook her thoughts away and focused on the class even though she didn't care about the lesson.

"Anyway, wanna eat ice cream after school?" he leaned in and proposed. Jayla widened her eyes, feeling embarrassed and shy because his face was so close to hers.

"I'll think about it."

"Nope, you will not think. You will come with me," he said with a grin as he held his finger up. Suddenly, a pencil flew toward Giovanni and landed on his forehead.

"Fuck!" he yelled in pain as he held his forehead. The kids were looking at Giovanni curiously except for one person who was laughing.

"Excuse me! Mr. Black, I don't think you should yell inappropriate words in my class!" the teacher shouted at Gio, who was too busy glaring at Huxley.

"Fuck you," Huxley mouthed to Giovanni behind the teacher's back.

"This piece of shit," he grumbled and rolled his eyes, annoyed.

Jayla laughed, biting her lip to stop the noise coming out of her mouth. It was the first time she laughed in the class she hated, which made her feel happy.