Mine to Protect Chapter 23: ACTING NORMAL

*Hazel*

He grabs me by my shoulders and turns me toward the mirror.

“I think you need to tidy up a little before you go back out there,” he says raising his brows.

I look at my reflection in the mirror, I am a complete mess! My hair is all disheveled, the lipstick is smeared, and my eyes are still glowing a bright green. What the hell!

“Why are my eyes glowing? Shouldn’t it be happening after I get my wolf?” panicked, I ask Derek, while I try to remove the smudged lipstick with a tissue.

Derek is pretty much doing the same, as half of my lipstick is now on his lips.

“I am not sure. I think your wolf is very powerful, and the magic binding it, is not strong enough to contain it. Especially now that you are not taking the suppressants anymore. Just now, you used your white wolf powers to cut the power off. It was a very dangerous move. What if someone gets suspicious, and they find out what you are?” He reprimands me, like he is scolding a child.

“I obviously did not do it on purpose!” I say defensively. “It’s all your fault for being such a playboy. I lost control of my emotions,” I declare resentfully, crossing my arms over my chest.

He gazes at me for a while, then states dead serious, “You women always do that when you are angry, making your boobs pop out like this. Is it a strategy to win every argument?”

How can he be such a jerk!? What a misogynist thing to say! I can’t believe he had the courage to say that my face!

I turn to the mirror and will my eyes to stop glowing, surprisingly, it works, they turn back to normal.

Then, I walk swiftly to the door and peer outside. No one in sight.

*Derek*

She leans forward to peer out the door. She’s bent over right in front of me, giving me a full view of her perky ass, hugged perfectly by that tight black dress. Images of me grabbing her hips and ramming hard into that sweet pussy of hers cloud my mind. I need to calm myself down, that make out session we just had is still making me feel horny.

Maybe I could settle for spanking her round ass a little, it looks so inviting. I better not push my luck, she is already pretty annoyed at me, I would like to keep my hand attached to my arm.

How can someone be so cute, scary and sexy all in one mix?

I feel happy though; she missed me, and she wants me, if I hadn’t stopped us just now, she would have let me take her right here. I am satisfied that she trusts me enough to let me see this vulnerable side of her.

She shuts the door and turns around; I can see she has a plan in mind.

“No one in view. You go first. I will wait a couple of minutes before going myself. If anyone asks, you were in the men’s.” I nod in agreement.

She notices something on my face, then gets on her tiptoes and brushes her thumb slowly over my bottom lip, making me shiver slightly. The things this woman does to me… She then pulls her gaze up to my eyes, and in a breathy voice tells me, “You missed a spot.”

Her sexiness pushes against every control I have; I want to pull her close and start where we left earlier. Instead, I squeeze her ass and move past her saying, “Thank you, kitten,” and swiftly go out the door, closing it behind me. I chuckle internally at the thought of her reaction. She’s cute when she gets all riled up.

I go back to the meeting room, which is still dark. The perfect excuse to end this meeting before time.

Hazel enters the meeting room too, she’s good at acting normal, like this wasn’t her doing, and we didn’t nearly fuck in the restroom. I can’t help smirk at the memory. Damon raises his eyebrows at me, I give him a smile, and he wiggles his eyebrows. Hazel seems to notice our exchange, because she rolls her eyes and scoffs.

Carol and Mr. Jones seem to be discussing something, I honestly don’t have the patience to wait for their exchange to be over, so I approach them and declare:

“As there seems to be a lack of power, I think we should reschedule this meeting to another time. From what I was able to see, the classic concept concepts looks great, and I am completely on board with it. Please, send the drawings and renderings to Damon’s assistant, so that we can review them in detail in the next few days.”

At my words of dismissal, Carol immediately hooks my arm in hers, pressing her body tightly to mine.

“Derek, there is so much I haven’t shown you yet,” she complains with a pout. “Why don’t we go to the café downstairs? So, I can show you the rest of the drawings,” she asks expectantly.

I dare a glance at Hazel, she is already fuming, I better do something, immediately.

I gently disentangled my arm from her tight grip and took a step back, to put some distance between us. I smile gently at her, while I come up with an excuse.

“Unfortunately, I have just received a call from my Gamma, there is an important matter I need to deal with at my pack, I can’t delay it, I need to leave right now.”

Her face falls, and she mutters defeated, “Oh, I see.” Then she cheers up again and exclaims, “Maybe next time you can bring me along to your pack. I have never been at a werewolf pack, I would love to see how you live, how you lead your people.”

I could nearly see her eyes sparkling at the thought.

I swallow, seeing the murderous glare in Hazel’s eyes. She sure is a jealous fierce little thing.

“Maybe,” I answer, not sure what else to say.

Carol looks satisfied enough though.

“Hazel, I still wasn’t able to see your renderings. If you don’t mind, you can ride with us, so that you can show me your project on the way. I don’t want to delay the promotion any further, so we must get both projects reviewed today.”

She stares at me wide eyed, like a deer caught in headlights. I didn’t have a chance to tell her about my plan, probably I should have. Well, too late now.

Mr. Jones and Carol seem dissatisfied by this turn of events, but they don’t dare voice their disapproval to me. Sometimes being an Alpha has its perks.

Hazel, in the meantime, sends me a mystified look, inquiring with her eyes: what are you up to?

I respond with a “Shall we?”, and a pointed look, hoping that she gets the hint, and for once in a while listens to me.

She hesitates, undecided on what to do, then starts walking this way thanking me through gritted teeth.

“Thank you, Alpha Derek, for giving me this opportunity.”

I let her lead the way, watching her as she collects her belongings at her station. I walk towards the exit, with Damon in tail. Not long after, Hazel joins us, and we all leave together.