Chapter 20 MOMENTS TOGETHER

Chapter 20 MOMENTS TOGETHER
POV - Hazel

Could it be the amulet that I’m wearing? 
Last time I didn’t have it around my neck they blocked my powers effectively, and in the dream in which they blow the house up I had the necklace and could use all my powers. It must be it. I wonder if the amulet can give me full protection from their magic, well, I guess we’ll know soon.
At least I’ve done well in hiding it under my shirt, what they can’t see, they can’t destroy, or at least I hope so.
Absorbed in my thoughts, I missed Derek going on the offensive against the woman who tried to hurt him; he slams her into the ground with his wind power, gauging by her astonished look, she was probably not expecting him to have powers too. Derek then jumps on her brutally slashing her torso from her shoulder down to her breasts with his claws, before he’s thrown back by her wind. She cries in pain, while crimson blood gushes from her wound staining the grass red.
“Aradia!” the young woman shouts, running by the other woman’s side, and putting pressure with her hands on the wound. Her hands start to glow green, and I’m sure she’s using some healing spell, because the blood stops flowing from the deep gushes, and starts clotting under my own eyes.
I need to take Derek away before they are all back full force. I render Derek and myself invisible, my invisibility wore off when I used my light power earlier; not much use being invisible if you are glowing like a beacon.
Then I start running towards the forest, hoping that Derek is going to follow, his compulsion making me his main target.
As expected, he takes the bait and starts chasing me, we run away just under their noses, they can hear our footsteps but can’t know exactly our position.
“They are escaping!” Raspy roars with urgency. I turn back to see Raspy with his hands raised high in the air, collecting droplets of water from all the trees and plants of the forest, in not time, they amass into a huge wave of water which Raspy sends splashing in our direction, trying to drown us. Pity we have the wind on our side, and with it I send the gigantic wave back to its creator, making him yell in rage. He reaped what he sowed.
I let myself and Derek back on the forest ground, and we weave rapidly through the trees; in his chase, Derek has gained ground and is nearly on me, which makes me panic, because I don’t really know how to take care of both enemies at the same time, trying not to hurt Derek and not to get hurt by him in the process.
While running, I spot a big tree branch on the ground, and out of other ideas, I use the wind power to haul it up behind Derek’s back, then I bring it down hard on his head, knocking him out cold. 
Sorry, my Hot Pup.
Derek shifts back to his human form, unable to keep his wolf form while unconscious, and I sit beside him on the forest ground, cradling his head in my lap, while I inspect the bruise, I have just caused him. Pure Hot Pup, this is going to hurt for a while. 
I gently push back his hair which have fallen on his eyes and silently admire his stunning god-like features. 
My mate is so handsome.
It’s hard to keep my eyes off him, especially now that he is stark naked, with all his good stuff on display. I try to focus on his face instead of his other sexy bits, and run my index finger along the curve of his eyebrows, down the straight bridge of his nose, over the outline of his sinfully soft lips; isn’t he gorgeous? Made in the image of a Greek God.
I hear the witches pass us on foot a few meters off our position, they are going deep into the forest, trying desperately to find us. Aradia is flying high, trying to spot us from a better point of view, while Diana sends blasts of fire left and right, in the hope of hitting us; but even if her flames managed to reach us, my shield would protect us.
So, we’ll just stay put here, until I’m sure they are far away from us, unable to hurt Derek. Hopefully he won’t regain consciousness too soon.
Afraid that he would get cold on the chilly ground, I took out a sweater from my backpack and covered part of his torso with it, it’s not my fault that he’s so big and my clothes don’t fit him. On the plus side, his best parts are left on display for me to visually enjoy, and I ogle my fill. 
“Kitten,” Derek whispers, and for a second, I blush, thinking he’s caught me staring him down there, but then I notice his eyes are still closed and I know he must be dreaming, and he’s dreaming of me! My heart swells with love and longing for my sweet mate, even in this state, he still conjures me in his dreams. 
I kiss his luscious lips softly, wanting to reward him for his cuteness, when I hear piercing howls coming from the villa. So, he did call for reinforcement.
I must go, before they sniff me out, at least now I’m sure that Derek will be in good hands. 
Reluctantly, I lift his head off my lap and dissolve the invisibility I placed on his body, seriously hoping that it won’t be a she-wolf to find him first. Just in case, I move my sweater to cover his pubic area, as I’m the only one allowed to stare at and play with those jewels hidden there. 
Unwillingly, I caress his silky black hair one last time, before I turned around swiftly, not giving myself time to hesitate, and with my heart aching, I ran into the night, in the direction of the nearest main street, hoping I could catch a bus or hitch-hiking a ride.
I will have to find a place to hide, possibly far enough that no one knows me, and where Derek can’t find me, but not too far, so that I can still keep an eye on things.
Although I’m still alone, now I have hope, I know that Derek is still hanging in there, his conscience hasn’t been erased completely, and this means that no matter what it’ll take, I’ll get him back. And I had proof that he still cares for me: the way he protected me from himself, and the tender tone he used when he said my name in his sleep. The compulsion might own his mind, but his heart is still fully mine, and this makes me so foolishly happy, that even while running into the unknown, I can’t erase the smile stamped on my face.
…
One Month Later
“Ella, table 6,” Madeline shouts over the chaos that rages in the diner at rush hour.
I make my way to the table, noticing that the customers are two bulky werewolves, acting all high and mighty. The diner is located in a human area, so of course they feel superior to anyone around them.
My scent reaches them before my feet do, by now they’ll know that I’m a werewolf too, and they would also know that I’m mated, since Derek mark ensures that his scent always lingers with me, mixed with my own.
It should keep them at bay, although sometimes they try flirting anyway, having werewolves a very high sex drive, especially unmated ones, and by the way these two are ogling me, I’m pretty sure they will try their luck with me. They are in for a bad surprise, then.
“Hi, are you ready to order?” I ask the guys in a polite tone.
“Hey, beautiful. I’ve never seen you around here; where have you been hiding?” the blond one inquires with a dazzling smile, which would make any unmated she-wolf swoon; but not me, because I have a mate, and he’s the most gorgeous of them all.
“I’ve started two weeks ago.” Yes, when I nearly ran out of cash, and decided to take on this crappy job instead of living on the streets. I could have chosen to live in the forest in my wolf form, but I needed internet connection to carry on my research on Lacroix Pharmaceuticals, as I’m sure they are the ones behind my pack’s water supply poisoning. 
It was Lukas who found out about it, he went with a team to the Crescent Moon Pack to find out how everyone had been poisoned, and to make sure it was not some kind of virus or disease which could be spread among other werewolves. They checked the air, the food and the water, and they found traces of poison in the water pipes, thus they deduced that the poison had been administered through the tap water.
If I have to guess, I’ll say that Damon was the one to put the poison in the water, he was probably compelled when he went missing that late afternoon; it’s just strange that at the time we could not find any trace of poison in his system. Another mystery we’ll have to solve.  
“I see, well they chose well, your beauty lights up the whole place,” Blondy says with a wink, making me want to gag.
“Erm, thank you; so, can I take your order?” I reply awkwardly.
“Why in such a hurry, babe?” Browny, as he has brown short hair, says trying to sound appealing and failing miserably. He even has the nerve to sneak his arm around my waist and pulls me closer to his side, shamefully eying my boobs which are level with his face.
 “You are new, we should get to know each other first,” he continues.
I want to scoff, and break his arm in two, but instead I keep my cool, and get ready to unleash on them the full force of my meany kitten attack.