Mine to Protect Chapter 24: SECRET PLAN

*Derek*

As soon as we get out of the building, Hazel turns right, in the direction of the subway station, and tries to leave without even saying goodbye.

I catch her by her arm and make her turn to face me.

“Hey, where are you going? You haven’t shown me your drawings yet,” I say, trying to keep my tone calm.

“I can email them to you. I know you are up to something, and I don’t want to be a part of it,” she says coldly.

“You are unwell. Your emotions are all over the place. What if you have another episode and make the subway train derail? You will put yourself and other people in danger. For your safety and the safety of others, come with me.”

She looks frustrated, but I know my reasoning and my puppy eyes have won her over. It’s nice to know I can have this effect on her.

“Ok!” she agrees irritated.

She stomps in the direction of the car that is waiting for us. Damon opens the back door for her, and motions for her to get in, like he’s some kind of butler. Hazel just sends a glare his way and gets in the car. I hurry behind her, before she can change her mind, while Damon gets in the front.

The car starts and I feel relieved; the first part of my plan has been accomplished. Now it’s time for the second part, which is also the most difficult part.

We all stay quiet for a while. Hazel is sitting leaning on the car’s door, like she wants to put as much distance as possible between us. It saddens me a little. I’d rather have her sit in my lap. She was so hot just half an hour ago, and now she’s as cold as an iceberg. This woman is unpredictable.

“Where are we going?” she asks suddenly, like she’s just woke up from a nap.

“We are going to my pack.”

She stares at me wide eyed, unable to utter a word.

“What did you just say?” she asks in a small voice, like she is trying to comprehend my words.

“We are going to my pack.”

She keeps staring, muted.

This is not the reaction I was expecting. I thought she would be angry, or maybe curious, but this? I don’t even know if she is astonished or scared.

Then, she snaps out of her trance and starts pulling the door handle, yelling to let her get off immediately. Luckily, the doors are all locked.

“Hazel, calm down!” I tell her gently, but firmly, hoping that she listens.

She turns around, her eyes glowing green again.

“How dare you kidnap me like this? I never agreed to go to your stupid pack. Let me out of this car NOW!” she yells at me.

With her emotions on overdrive, I fear that she might lose control of her abilities again and cause an accident. I need to find a way to calm her down.

“It was your parents’ idea.” I say, throwing her parents shamelessly under the bus.

My words astonish her momentarily, though she recovers quickly and narrows her eyes at me full of suspicion.

“My parents?” she scoffs. “And how would you know? When have you been in contact with them?”

“As a matter of fact, I have been in contact with them every day, multiple times a day, since the last time we met,” I reply truthfully.

She seems to get even angrier, and maybe a little sad too.

“So, you called my parents every day, multiple times a day, and you could not spare one call for your supposedly beloved mate. Is that right?”

I squirm in my seat at her intense stare; even if she is not yelling anymore, her tone of voice is so icy that is making me uncomfortable.

“We didn’t call, it was just emails. I just wanted to know how you were doing.” I blurt out.

“And you couldn’t have emailed me directly?” she asks, with resentment and accusation written all over her face.

“I was worried you would ask me to come back, and I wouldn’t been able to say no to you.”

“That’s the stupidest excuse I’ve ever heard! How do you think I felt not hearing from you for two weeks straight, when it was supposed to be one week top! I feared you would not come back, that you left me! I spent every day waiting for you…” as soon as she registers what has just come out of her mouth, she turns the other way, hiding her features from me.

“It’s all this stupid mate bond’s fault!” she cries sulkily while kicking the seat in front. Luckily the driver pretends he hasn’t noticed.

Now that she’s turned the other way, I take the opportunity to inch closer to her.

“It’s ok to admit that you have missed me, I’ve missed you too, so badly. There’s nothing to be ashamed of,” I soothe her while getting so close our bodies are now touching, I can feel the tingles crawling lightly on my skin.

She looks up startled, noticing my closeness.

“I haven’t missed you one bit,” she claims defiantly.

It’s my time to scoff now. “You are a stubborn little kitten, you know? But I have proof that you missed me!”

I take out my phone and start scrolling through the emails her parents have sent me, until I find the picture I was looking for, of her sitting on her bed hugging my blazer tightly.

“See, isn’t this you cuddling my blazer? I bet you were imagining cuddling with its owner,” I show her proudly, unable to refrain from teasing her a little.

She gapes at the picture, then recovers herself and puts on a face of disdain.

“You got it wrong, Alpha, that is me strangling your blazer to death, imagining it is the owner.”

Damon starts laughing out loud, making me frown. Useless Beta, whose side is he on?

I answer in a calm tone, “We both know that’s not true. You are smitten with me, and sooner or later you will admit it.”

“Yeah, keep dreaming, Alpha,” she replies scornfully. She says the word Alpha like it is something that leaves a bad taste in her mouth.

“What did I say about you calling me Alpha?” I ask her dead serious.

“But you are an Alpha,” she replies dodging the question.

“Yes, and you are my mate, we are equals, so you don’t call me Alpha, you call me Derek. I will punish you if you continue calling me Alpha on purpose.”

“Excuse me?” she glares at me indignantly. “Am I a kid you think you can punish me? One more reason for not going to your pack. God knows what you’ll do to me there. I am calling my parents right now. What were they thinking when they suggested this farce?”

She takes her phone out, scrolls through her contacts to her mother’s and taps to call. The phone rings until it rings out, no one answered. She tries again, same result. She then tries contacting her dad, but still gets no answer.

“Those traitorous cowards! They sell me out and then they don’t want to deal with the consequences. I’ll show them as soon as I get home! Playing with their daughter’s life. What kind of parents are they?” she complains outraged.

“Let’s not be melodramatic. You are with your mate. I will make sure nothing bad happens to you,” I say encouragingly.

She glares sideways at me.

“This so called “mate” just threatened to punish me!”

I roll my eyes at her. “A good spanking never hurt anyone,” I counter calmly shrugging my shoulders.

Hazel looks appalled, while Damon, being the jerk he is, whistles and then exclaims wiggling his eyebrows, “Our Alpha likes kinky!”

Hazel turns her murderous glare on him, saying through gritted teeth, “Do you mind?”

Damons looks completely unfazed. “What? Kinky sex? No, I don’t mind it, on the contrary, I enjoy it. What about you?”

She screeches in irritation, then starts yelling again, “I don’t want to go anywhere with you tow perverts, let me of this car!”

“We’ll let you out as soon as we pass this gate. We have arrived at the pack entrance,” I say calmly, hoping that some of my calm infuses into her through our bond. It won’t look good to my pack members if the first time I bring their Luna to meet them she’s kicking and screaming that I am a pervert. I can only imagine the gossip.