Maddy cleared her throat awkwardly. "I am Madison."
"She might as well be my daughter," Tristan said, the threat clear in his voice. Maddy didn't know what was up with Bruce and Tristan but Tristan didn't seem to like him.
Bruce smiled at Maddy, seemingly unconcerned about the threat. "So, you are the human I have heard so much about? I must say, I am impressed by the feats you have accomplished."
"Thanks," Maddy said, smiling.
Once Bruce finished greeting everyone, he walked back to his jeep and opened the backdoor. Like the movies, you could see girl coming out of the car in slow motion. First, the feet of a girl wearing the highest heels Maddy had ever seen was seen—that's a lot considering the fact that Leia had a thing for heels—then slowly, the rest of the girl stepped out. Like all the others werewolves, the girl was gorgeous. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail, with the end of the ponytail, forming perfect curls. Her skin was flawless just like her smile. But it was he eyes that were the most unique. They were a piercing shade of bluish gray.
At first, Maddy thought she was one of the overconfident girls from the way she held herself, but Maddy's opinion changed in the next instant. When the girl took her first step, her ankle twisted because of the heels and she had to hold on to Bruce to stop herself from falling. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment and she squeaked out a small 'sorry.'
Maddy related to that on a spiritual level. Had Sophia not been Xander's mate, Maddy would have taken an instant liking to the girl. Now, a part of her liked while the other part of her hated the girl, who had literally done nothing. Sophia managed to walk without any other incidents. Upon reaching Xander and his family she, just like Bruce, greeted everyone.
By the time she finished, Maddy started getting bored. If everyone was going to come one by one and greet everybody, it was going to take a lot of time. Maddy kept herself distracted by watching Alexa. Alexa, who had an attention span that was way shorter than Maddy's, was busy not-so-subtly counting the number of people who were gathered. Maddy could see that Justin was trying to make Alexa stand still, but of course, Alexa was lost in her own world.
Soon, the greetings were finished and everyone went back to their day-to day activities. It was noon by then and Maddy was extremely sleepy because of the jetlag. She excused herself to go to sleep. While walking to her house, Leia rushed to walk with her.
"Say the word and we will take a trip to New York to meet your mom. That way you won't have to talk to Sophia immediately."
"Why wouldn't I want to talk to her?" Maddy asked playing the oblivious card.
"Deny it all you want but I know you. It is completely fine for you to like Xander. It is not a criminal offense, you know?"
"I am too sleepy for this kind of a conversation," Maddy grumbled as she entered her room.
Leia laughed. "Fine then. I'll let you go now. I also need to catch up on my sleep but this conversation isn't over."
Maddy hurried to her house and fell asleep the moment her head hit the bed.
***
Maddy was woken up by a someone shaking her. "Go away," she mumbled as she buried her face deeper into the pillow. She wasn't in any sort of imminent danger so whoever was waking her up could wait.
When the person who was waking her up still didn't stop shaking her, Maddy grumbled and sat up. "What do you want?" she asked grouchily as she blew a strand of hair that was tickling her nose.
"If you don't get up now then you'll miss your dinner," Xander said as he laughed at Maddy's bedhead.
Food or sleep. Now that was a hard choice. Deciding that she would just go back to sleep once she finished her dinner. She got up and grabbed the first pair of t-shirt and pants and was about to change out of her pajamas when she realized that Xander was still in the room.
"What are you doing here? Shoo."
"Enjoying the show," Xander said as he winked at Maddy.
Maddy frowned. "You have a mate now. You can't go around using pick-up lines on me. Instead, go use your pick-up lines on her. I am sure she would love it."
"Nah. She won't have the same reactions as you and your reactions are what keep me entertained," Xander said and then he paused as though he was thinking about something. "Maybe I should ask Sophia's permission first. Wouldn't want her to think that I am cheating on her or anything."
With, that Xander left out of the door, leaving a gaping Maddy. Was he seriously going to ask his mate whether he could flirt with another girl in front of her? Maddy wouldn't dream of flirting back, but still.
Maddy immediately ran out and stopped Xander.
"Are you mad? How can you ask Sophia permission to flirt with another girl? That is so disrespectful."
"How is that disrespectful?" Xander asked, clearly confused as to what Maddy meant. "It isn't like you are going to flirt back."
Maddy sighed. Xander might flirt a lot but he was painfully oblivious to girls' feelings. If Maddy was Xander's mate and he asked whether he could use pick-up lines on another girl, Maddy would get pissed as shit no matter what Xander's reasoning was.
"Still," Maddy said firmly. "Sophia will think that you think that she isn't good enough for you and that is not how you want to start your relationship with your mate."
Maddy couldn't believe that she was giving relationship advice to the very person who she liked, but here she was, teaching Xander on how to get Sophia. She should be given an Oscar for hiding her feelings so well, Maddy thought bitterly.
The next day, Xander would probably be finishing the second stage of his mating bond and Maddy would be busy locked in her room. And after that, Xander would spend most of his time with Sophia. Hell, Sophia might even forbid Xander from speaking with Maddy because of their kiss. Maddy had to clench her fists to stop herself from punching something. This reaction to her thoughts surprised Maddy. She wasn't the type of person who would punch people just because she couldn't end up with the person she liked, even though she knew that he was destined with someone else. Maddy pushed her jealousy and fury away and turned to Xander. She could deal with those feelings later.
After making sure that Xander wasn't going to mess things up with Sophia, Maddy went back to change her pajamas and go to the cafeteria to finish her dinner.