Mine to Protect Chapter 21: JEALOUSY

*Derek POV*

I can’t think of a reason why she could be angry with me. Maybe one of her colleagues just pissed her off, or she got scolded again by her boss and she is sulking. Still, I can’t shake the feeling in the pit of my stomach that the cause of her anger is indeed me.

“Pal, why are you looking so grim?” Damon asks mockingly through the link.

“You know why. I was hoping in a kiss, while I’ll probably get a good slap instead, and I don’t even know why.”

“Alpha, are you scared of a young she-wolf now?” he says laughing, still through the mind-link.

I don’t bother replying.

“Don’t worry. I have your back. Together we can take her,” he keeps mocking me.

Finally, we are in the meeting room, Mr. Jones and Carol come in immediately after us and welcome us ceremoniously. Carol comes to sit next to me, and from my point of few I can see a great deal of her frontal assets; it is probably just a scheme to attract my attention, and to make me agree to her proposal. I can’t deny that she is a beautiful woman, but my heart is already taken, and I have eyes only for my little scary kitten.

Here she comes, cradling her laptop in her arms, swaying her hips sexily while walking our way, every sway makes her breasts bounce a little. I feel like I am hypnotized, I can’t take my eyes off her. When she gets near, I am smashed with her sweet scent of mango and coconut, and I struggle to keep in a growl of approval. My mate is damn sexy.

The excitement vanishes pretty quickly after she greets me with a cold and forced smile.

“Alpha O’Brien, Mr. Caufield, happy to see you again.”

She does not even look me in the eyes, she just stares somewhere on my left.

“Didn’t we agree on Derek?” I attempt to break through her ice shield.

“I think I prefer Alpha O’Brien better,” she replies through her teeth.

I can’t wrap my head around it. Where did I go wrong? Why is she angry with me? When the only thing I want is to wrap my arms around her and meet her lips in a hot kiss.

We sit down at the table. Carol is sitting on my left, Damon’s on my right, while Mr. Jones is sitting opposite me, and Hazel opposite Damon. She’s sitting farthest away from me.

*Hazel POV*

I could see the hungry look in his eyes when I walked into the meeting room, swaying my hips sexily just for his benefit. I like his hot gaze on me, it makes me feel sexy and precious. Although today is the day of my revenge, I can’t let his fake niceness and good looks steer me from my goal. Today, Alpha, you are going to fall hard.

I greet Derek and Damon with the coldest smile I can manage. Derek seems uneasy, like he was not expecting this coldness from me. Well, hello, this is what happens when you let your mate steam for days.

I sit as far as possible from him; now that I’ve got my werewolf senses, his scent is so powerful and mouthwatering, that I want to sit in his lap and lick his scent right off his skin.

I keep my eyes on the presentation that Carol is enthusiastically giving, using the renderings I made and the PPT I made, while she is taking all the credit. Typical Carol.

Today we are going to show both our designs, and if they are both approved, they will compete in the oncoming promotional event, to see which one attracts more buyers. The winning design will be then employed for the decoration of the whole compound.

Carol started her presentation first, but I am not worried, I know my design is better, and anyone with eyes will be able to see that. Her behavior is bothering me, though, she keeps smiling sweetly at the Alpha and using this fake cute voice I completely loathe.

“Could you zoom in the bar area? I’d like to see it more clearly?” Derek asks Carol, who saunters his way, from where she was standing near the display screen.

“Sure, Derek, I have it on my laptop. Wait a minute, I’ll show you,” she says, while sitting on her chair, and typing onto her laptop.

Back to calling him “Derek” again, huh? Slimy Carol.

When she’s opened the drawing and zoomed it on the right location, she slides the laptop in front of Derek and starts pointing out the details with her finger on the screen.

I can see what she is really doing. She just wanted a reason to be close to him and press her big breasts on his arm. What a fox! She could have just projected the drawing on the big screen like the rest of the presentation.

I feel my blood boiling at their closeness, at the thought that maybe Derek is enjoying it. A low growl echoes in the room. Damn, was that me? It can’t be, Derek said I won’t start growling until I shift. Maybe he was wrong, it came definitely from me.

Derek looks up at me alarmed, while Carol and my boss seem perplexed. Damon raises his eyebrows in surprise, then coughs a little. “Sorry, I felt like coughing, and a growl came out instead. Hope I haven’t startled you.”

Carol and Mr. Jones don’t seem completely convinced by his explanation, but they let it slide; after all, they have no reason to doubt the Beta.

Derek keeps his concerned gaze on me, and I look away, I don’t need his stupid concern. I shift my gaze on Damon, giving him a thankful smile, he smiles back and winks at me.

Carol stands up again and keeps going with her presentation. I hope this meeting is over soon, it is wreaking my nerves. Gone is the desire for revenge. I just want to go back to my hole and wallow in despair.

Carol moves near Derek, and places a hand on his arm, while still presenting the project.

“All main bedrooms will feature double king-sized beds, because people like us need to have space to maneuver, right Derek?” she says with a wink and a small laugh. And the idiot laughs too. What a jerk! What did she even mean with “people like us”?

“I’ll show you the elevations and renderings of the living room, it is absolutely my favorite design,” she says coquettishly, standing behind Derek. Then she dives down, and presses her breasts on his back, while she taps the keys on the laptop in front of him.

If I were a cartoon character, black smoke would be flowing out of my ears; instead, I just glare at them, hoping that my gaze will incinerate them. I feel the blood pump faster into my veins, a strong pull from within me that is nearly painful, like a crossbow being cocked, ready to shoot.

Carol retrieves one hand from the laptop’s keyboard and strokes it lightly on Derek’s cheek. “Someone forgot to shave this morning. I like this rough style. It’s sexy.”

I feel like something explodes within me, the crossbow firing its arrow. All at once, the lights on the ceiling start to flicker, even the screen flashes, then all lights go out, like they’ve been switched off.