Outside the mansion, Cogman, who had just finished tending the garden, heard a car park in front of the iron gate. He went to investigate and found Stiles and Scott waiting by the Jeep.
Cogman nodded at Scott, then looked at Stiles. "What do you want, Pillow Humper?"
"Hey, don't call me that!" Stiles protested. "I was sleeping, okay? I thought the pillow was a girl! We're here to see Jacob."
Cogman's eyes narrowed. "Do you have an appointment?"
"An appointment?" Stiles frowned. "I didn't know we needed an appointment to see him."
"I see." Cogman replied smoothly. "Then you are uninvited guests. Should I dispose of you before you ruin the sir's morning?"
"Dispose of us?!" Stiles stepped back. "Scott, hurry up and howl or something to make Jacob come out before this psychopathic robot kills us!"
"Can you just let me in, Cogman?" Scott asked. "Then you and Stiles can continue... whatever this is."
"No, don't leave me alone with him!" Stiles pleaded. "He might actually kill me!"
Cogman opened the gate and walked toward Stiles with a smirk. "Don't worry. I won't kill you. I'll just break a few of your bones."
Stiles opened his mouth to argue, but Jacob's voice came from inside the mansion. "Cogman, stop messing around and let them in."
"As you wish, sir." Cogman said, stepping aside with an exaggerated gesture. "Welcome."
Scott walked toward the mansion while Stiles got back in his Jeep, drove through the gate, and parked in front of the entrance.
They walked inside and found Lydia and Allison sitting together on a couch, while Malia lay lazily on Jacob's lap in a recliner. She lifted her head, watching the newcomers with curiosity.
Stiles froze mid-step. "Uh… Jacob? Did you catch a coyote and force it to be your pet?"
He walked over and reached out to pet her. Jacob raised a brow but didn't stop him.
The next second, Malia bit Stiles's hand and shook it like a chew toy before letting go.
"AAAAH! It bit me!" Stiles yelled, clutching his hand as blood dripped onto the floor—though the wound was already starting to heal.
Allison, Lydia, and Jacob burst out laughing.
"She's not my pet, you idiot." Jacob said. "She's a werecoyote. Her name is Malia."
Stiles blinked, his face shifting from pain to shock, then to realization. An evil smirk appeared. "Oh. She's Malia. Your third wife, right?"
Jacob's laughter cut short. "Wait, what?"
Lydia frowned. "What do you mean, third wife?"
Allison turned to Jacob, arms crossed, eyes narrowing. "Since when is Malia your wife?"
Even Malia tilted her furry head, giving Jacob a confused look.
Jacob glared at Stiles. "He's lying."
"No, I'm not!" Stiles smiled. "You literally told us—you said you had three wives when you and Melissa came back from your little date!"
Allison's expression froze. She walked over to Jacob, grabbed him by the ear, and yanked hard. "Forget about Malia—who is this Melissa he's talking about?!"
Jacob winced. "Ouch! Ow! He's lying, Allison, there was no date!"
Scott smiled, seeing a chance to get Jacob in trouble for taking his mom out. "No, Stiles isn't lying… and Melissa's my mom."
Lydia blinked in disbelief. "I knew you were a scumbag, Jay—but your friend's mother? That's low, even for a pervert like you."
Allison let go of his ear, but not before giving it one last painful twist. "You better start explaining."
Jacob rubbed his ear. "There's nothing to explain! I had dinner with her—once. She was sad, and I took her out to make her feel better. As a friend, nothing more."
Stiles smirked. "But I remember you wiped the tears from her face and called her beautiful and..."
Jacob glared daggers at him. "Cogman, you can kill Stiles now."
Cogman smiled and rubbed his hands together. "As you wish, sir."
Stiles immediately dove behind the couch where Allison and Lydia were sitting. Peering out from his hiding spot, he pleaded. "Girls, save me from your psychotic butler, please!"
Allison smiled. "He's just joking, Cogman. You can't kill Stiles."
"I know, my lady." Cogman said. "But can I break a few of his bones? He'll heal."
Allison shook her head. "No."
Cogman groaned. "At least let me cut off his tongue."
"You can't do that either." Allison said.
Stiles shuddered. "That's even worse than breaking my bones, you psycho!"
Cogman glared at Stiles. "Stop hiding behind my ladies and come face me like a man, you cowardly Pillow Humper."
Jacob laughed. "Pillow Humper—what a nice nickname for Stiles."
"No, it's not nice!" Stiles glared at Cogman. "And you, I told you to stop calling me that!"
Cogman smirked. "And what are you going to do about it?"
"Alright, Cogman, that's enough." Allison said. "Stop arguing with Stiles."
"My lady, can I at least punch him in the face? Just once?"
"Nope."
Cogman groaned in frustration, then turned to an empty armchair and began hitting it with a series of karate chops, kicks, and punches until it fell over. He calmly put it back in place, fixed his suit, and smiled. "Anyone fancy a drink?"
Allison shook her head with an amused smile. "Yeah, go make us some tea and bring some snacks."
"Right away, my lady." Cogman said, then headed to the kitchen.
Stiles cursed under his breath. "Crazy bastard..."
Lydia smirked. "Stiles, we can protect you from Cogman, but only if you promise to tell us everything Jay does when we're not around from now on."
Jacob smirked and looked at Stiles. "You can promise her, but she won't always be there to protect you from Cogman. And since you're a traitor, I'll go after Erica."
Stiles panicked. "Nooo! You can kill me, but please don't go after Erica. I really like her."
Jacob then turned to Scott, who was still smiling. "And you. You seem so pleased with yourself. Even after I helped protect your mom from Peter, you came here and helped Stiles get me in trouble with my girls. So, you will pay for that."
Scott stopped smiling. "What are you going to do?"
Jacob said. "I never thought about going after Melissa, but now I'm not so sure."
Scott's eyes widened. "What, nooo! You can't do that!" He looked pleadingly at Allison and Lydia. "Help me, please! Tell him not to go after my mom!"
Allison shrugged. "Sorry, if he's decided to go after her, we can't help you. He's a pervert, and we can't change that even if we wanted to."
Seeing both Stiles and Scott looking depressed, Jacob felt better and smiled in satisfaction. But a sharp glare from Lydia and Allison made him cough awkwardly.
"Alright, guys." he said, changing the subject. "Tell me why you're here."
Lydia interjected. "Wait, first, Stiles, wipe your blood from the floor where you bled when Malia bit you."
Stiles took a paper napkin from the table, wiped the drops of blood from the floor, and pocketed the napkin.
Allison said. "You can throw that in the trash. It's in the kitchen."
"Nope." Stiles replied. "That psycho is in there. I'm not going anywhere near him."
Jacob looked at Scott. "So, do you want to talk about something?"
Scott sighed. "We came to talk about what happened in Vegas."
Jacob raised a brow. "Vegas? What about it?"
Scott frowned. "The explosion. The news. The bull-like monster and the Joker." He glanced between Jacob and the girls. "You guys didn't see it?"
Jacob said. "Oh, you're talking about that. We saw it on TV. Crazy stuff."
Stiles sat next to Scott. "Yeah, crazy. And somehow, while all that was happening, you four were out of town. Where were you guys? And that Joker looks a little like you, Jacob."
Lydia met his gaze evenly. "We went to Monterey."
Stiles squinted. "Monterey? You expect me to believe that?"
Jacob smirked. "Believe whatever you want, Stiles."
Scott asked. "Do you guys think the supernatural will be exposed, and the government and normal humans will start hunting supernatural creatures?"
Jacob said. "The government is already trying its best to cover things up because, unlike you, they know that hunting all supernatural creatures is an impossible, bad idea."
Stiles nodded. "Yeah, first of all, supernatural creatures have superpowers. And no one knows how many humans are actually supernatural. It could be a quarter, or maybe even half of the world's population. Trying to hunt them all is a stupid idea that will result in a war between supernatural creatures and normal humans. You can imagine how that will end."
Scott asked. "Are you guys saying the government is aware of the supernatural side of the world?"
Lydia nodded. "Of course. And I think most of the higher-ups are witches, wizards, vampires, or other creatures who can control people mentally. Or they're normal humans who have a creature like that working for them—or they work for one."
Jacob said. "Scott, you should stop thinking that the only people who know about supernatural creatures are us and a few others. I'm sure billions of people are either supernatural themselves or know about the supernatural."
They kept talking about what happened in Vegas and checking the news. Cogman brought tea and some snacks, and they continued their conversation until 2 p.m., when he called them for lunch.
After lunch, Cogman drove Allison and Lydia back to their parents' houses, leaving Scott and Stiles in the mansion with Jacob and Malia.
Jacob asked. "By the way, Scott, did you talk to your boss about what you are and what he is?"
Scott said. "Yeah, I had a good talk with him. Like you said, he's a druid. He already helped me put a barrier of mountain ash around my house and taught me and my mom how to activate it."
Stiles added. "He put one around my house, too."
Jacob smirked. "Did he ask you if you know what I am?"
Scott nodded. "He did. I told him you're a shapeshifter, but I have no idea what you are."
Jacob smirked. "I see. Anyway, let's go play some video games. We haven't played in a while."
With that, they went to the gaming room and started playing. After two hours, Stiles and Scott left. Jacob went to the bathroom and poured Esdeath's bath water directly from his pocket dimension into the toilet. Then he took Malia for a walk in the woods.
She led the way to a crashed car and sat there, staring at it.
Jacob sat next to her, stroking her fur, and didn't say a word. When the sky began to darken, they returned to the mansion.
To be continued... 😊