CHAPTER 5 – AN EXCUSE
Hazel
“Carol should come with you.” Mr. Jones adds immediately but freezes up when the Alpha gives him one of his glacial looks.
“I said Hazel, and I meant only Hazel. Carol can start working on the project in the meantime.”
That said, he grabs my hand and motions for me to stand up and follow him.
It appears I don’t have a say in the matter. Typical Alpha male behavior.
If I want to get started on the project though, I need to visit the site sooner than later, and being the site quite far from here, a lift wouldn’t be the worst. Although, I would rather it wasn’t offered by a werewolf who thinks I am his mate, and who will most probably try to bite me to death on the way there.
I walk to my desk to grab my things, and he follows me silently, this time leaving me at least enough personal space.
“Alpha O’Brien!” Carol’s voice reaches my ears from behind the tall Alpha. “I would very much like to join you and Hazel in your visit of the site. It would be beneficial to our work as a team. Plus, Hazel’s inexperience could cause the visit to be ineffective, she is not accustomed to this part of the job.”
I can’t believe what I am hearing; is she seriously trying to discredit me in front of our client? It doesn’t matter if he is a werewolf I don’t want anything to do with, still, she really has a nerve.
I can imagine her batting her long lashes, curling her barbie blonde hair with her index finger and pushing up her big boobs, while throwing mud on my practically non-existent career. She’s so mean.
Alpha O’Brien turns around to face her fully, giving me his back, and even if I can’t see his expression, I can feel the heat waves of annoyance and anger rolling off of him.
“Ms. Lacroix, as I’ve already said before, you are not invited to come. Moreover, I’d rather you stopped talking ill of my mate’s working skills. I am a good judge of character and capabilities, so I will judge for myself. Please, get started with your work, it is quite urgent. Have a nice day.”
From the corner of my eye, I see her nod her head and retreat quickly toward her office. Never thought I’ll see the day where Carol would walk the walk of shame; I guess there’s a first for everything.
“Ready?” the Alpha asks me. I can’t help noticing how different is the tone he reserves for me, compared to the tone he uses with everyone else; it makes me feel special, in a good way. Maybe I am just too starved for appreciation and concern, even if it is coming from a werewolf.
We make our way outside the building and toward his car parked on the side of the road, just before our building’s entrance. A driver and another person are already inside, I suppose the other person being his personal bodyguard. This means that we will have to sit together in the back. Dread immediately sinks her claws in my light frame. We’ll be so close, it’s going to be a piece of cake for him to grab me and bite me, and I would have nowhere to flee.
“Hey, is everything alright?” the Alpha asks me, coming to stand in front of me, just a few feet from the car. His voice is sweet and full of concern, and for a moment I nearly forget what he is.
“Alpha O’Brien, I am sorry, but I can’t get in this car with you.”
It takes all of my courage to say out the words, and I don’t have enough left to look him in the face.
“Why is that? And, please, just call me Derek.”
Derek, he has a nice name, connected to a nice face, a nice body, and a not so nice temper. Although today he looks much calmer than yesterday. But that’s the thing with werewolves, they are unpredictable; one minute they are calm, and the next they go into a rage and start destroying everything they can put their hands on. They are completely dominated by their emotions and their wolves’ primal instincts. One more reason not to be in a closed space, such as a car, with them, when they lose it.
“Are you afraid I am going to hurt you? Or bite you?”
Bingo! How has he figured it out? Can Alphas read minds too?
I nod my head yes, while still looking at my feet.
Derek exhales a long-frustrated sigh, before he opens his mouth again, “Look, I know yesterday I haven’t been on my best behavior, and I’ve scared you. I apologize for that. I swear I won’t try to bite you again against your will; I just want a chance to show you that you are in fact my mate, and that we are made for each other.”
And how is he planning on showing me all of that? A bad feeling starts creeping under my skin at the thought of what he intends to do to me. I bet it is not something as innocent as talking and holding hands; he kissed me yesterday when he just met me, will he try to go further today?
I am going to try to make a desperate run for it, when the passenger door of his car opens up, and a tall blonde muscled up guy joins us on the pavement. He’s barely suppressing a huge smirk, and when he talks the humor is clear in his words.
“Don’t even think about it,” he whispers to me, while placing his hands on my shoulders.