Mine to Protect Chapter 81: THREAT

*Hazel*

The time of the meeting comes in a flash, and I am happy to see that Derek is being true to his word, and he’s letting me participate. I am still upset that he has decided to punish me, but I am quite positive that I will be able to sway him, after all he doesn’t have much of a resistance to my charms. I am going to make him capitulate tonight.

I am also nervous about meeting Emma, I haven’t seen her again after our fight, although Alice told me that she is fine, and that her wolf has healed her completely, which in a way is a good thing.

Today I really need to control my temper, I can’t lose control of my powers under any circumstance, even if that means taking a couple of mean words from that crazy bitch.

I strut my way to the meeting room wearing a short black adherent dress with a low cut; my hair is left free and my make up is much heavier than what I am used to. My stiletto heels are vertiginously high and make an unnerving ticking sound with every step I take. If they all think I am a whore, I don’t see why I shouldn’t play my part well and make a good impression.

Damon, who’s standing at the meeting room’s door with the security guards, sees me coming from a distance, and he freezes in his tracks, his eyes wide as saucers. I don’t even take another two steps, that Derek storms out of the room with a wild look on his face. He charges towards me, and corners me against the corridor’s wall.

“What do you think you are doing?” he asks menacingly.

I decided to play dumb.

“I am going to the meeting, you said I could,” I say pouting a little, putting on my most innocent expression.

“Drop the innocent act, foxie. Why are you going to the meeting dressed like this?”

“Foxie…does it mean I have been upgraded? Plus, I don’t know what you mean, I am wearing clothes,” I reply, still feigning innocence.

“These”, he says while gesturing at my attire, “can’t be called clothes, they don’t even cover your tits and ass properly, and they are definitely not suitable for a meeting. I don’t know what you are up to, but you better go change now, because you are not getting in there like this, unless it is on my dead body.”

He is dead serious, and I know I have no way to get my way around him this time. Unless…an idea pops into my mind.

“Ok,” I say unwillingly, letting him think that he has won this battle. He watches me go back to my room, while exhaling a sigh of relief.

But I don’t go back to my room, instead I use my powers to create an illusion on myself, now everyone who’ll see me, will think I am wearing a white shirt and navy-blue smart pants, when in reality, I am still wearing my short dress.

I know that Derek has my best interests at heart, and I feel bad for deceiving him, but I need to prove my point; I just hope he won’t get too angry.

I make my way again through the doors, this time no one stops me, and Damon gives me a nod of his head, greeting me, “Luna.” I smile at him, when in fact I am smiling more to myself, feeling proud of having fooled them all.

The meeting room is huge, I have never been here before. The seats are arranged like in a theatre, higher at the back and sloping down to the same height of the stage in the front row; it can accommodate at least 150 people, and the seats are nearly all occupied already.

On the right, the stage, it’s at least one meter high, and has enough room to perform a ballet on it. I am amazed at the thought of having such a place in the packhouse. I will make sure we arrange some good performance here, instead of using it only for boring meetings. I think we could even project movies here, we could arrange a series of movie nights!

Someone grabs my hand, bringing me back to the present. Derek leads me to our seats in the front row, or at least I thought he was going to seat with me, but apparently, he isn’t because after he made sure I was seated, he left to get on the stage, where a number of seats are placed in a neat row.

I am seated between two empty seats, and I can’t help wondering if those seats are reserved for someone in particular, or if Derek just wanted to isolate me from the rest of the crowd. Considering he is set to protecting me from anything, it is probably the second.

“Why the frown?” Derek voice resonates in my mind.

I look up, and I see him staring right at me from his seat on the stage, his eyes tender and curious.

“I thought you were going to sit with me?” I mind-link him, pouting a little.

“Sorry, kitten, I can’t. Being the person who called the meeting, I must be up here, and I didn’t want to bring you in the spotlight too, so I got you a seat first row.”

“I see, and you thought also of reserving the seats nearby, so I could look like I am quarantined.”

He smirks at my stupid joke, looking even more handsome in his black tailored suit and crisp white shirt. He is not wearing a tie, and has left the top button unbuttoned, giving him a more casual look.

I hear some female giggles from the back rows, and I have an idea of what they’re giggling for. I don’t like the thought of other women perving on my man, he’s already taken, he’s mine!

I am ready to jump on stage and state my claim, when someone takes the seat on my right, drawing my complete attention.

A head of short red hair, porcelain white skin covered by a blue sexy smart dress, and two smoldering amber eyes staring right at me, with a powerful mix of emotions in them, that I can’t completely decipher.

Emma.

Just great, the last person I wanted to see is now sitting right beside me.

She looks good even with short hair; I guess her wolf was able to cure her, but apparently not to regrow her burnt hair.

“Hello, Hazel. Long time no see,” she says with a tight smile and a fake sweet voice.

I have no intention of playing along with this farce of fake pleasantries, I am done with being weak Hazel and taking bullshit from everyone.

“I honestly hoped it would have been longer. It’s not like I was looking forward to seeing you again,” I reply coldly, letting her know exactly how pissed I still am at the stunt she pulled on me. Derek and I even had a bad fight because of her, I am not going to let it slide just because she is one of Derek’s friends.

Her fake smile turns into a smirk, and her eyes flash a brighter shade, becoming nearly orange.

“I was actually going to apologize to you, since Derek asked me to, but I think we are even already, don’t you agree? After all, you nearly burnt me to death.”

I don’t say anything about this, I don’t need her apologies, and I am most definitely not going to apologize to her or try to patch things up between us. I just want her to get her ass up from that chair and move somewhere else where I can’t see her.

“A kindly reminder, Luna Hazel; you might be blessed with mighty powers, but these don’t make you one of us, you are still the outsider, now more than ever, and sooner or later you will be sent back from where you came from, and I will be waiting for that day.”

After she delivers her message, she gracefully gets up and moves to the second row, on the other side of the room, where her seat has been reserved.

Was that a threat? So much for apologizing! But deep down she has struck a chord, I do feel like the outsider, the human that has accidentally stepped on a coven of werewolves, the Luna that doesn’t know how to fight, or how to run a pack. But I am working on it, I want to be better for the pack, for Derek, like Lukas said, maybe I am not the right person for this position now, but with hard work I can change myself, become the person they need.

“Thinking about me?” Lukas voice comes from my left, startling me.