Chapter 19 STRUGGLING

Chapter 19 STRUGGLING
POV - Hazel

I turn around towards the French window of the living room, hoping he would expect me to make a run for the main door instead. 
I’m not even halfway there, when two strong arms intercept me and grab me from behind, restraining my torso and arms. The scent of white musk and vanilla invades my nostrils, making my heart skip a beat, longing springs from deep inside me, spreading through all my being. I’m in his arms, yet I’m not, cause the muscular arms that would usually snuggle me into a soft safe embrace now are squeezing me too tight, making it difficult to breathe. I must remind myself that this is not my Derek, he’s only a killing machine, hell bent on killing me.
But it’s difficult to do when his hot breath fans my neck, sending shivers of pleasure down my spine. God, I’m sick in the head if I can have this kind of body reactions in this dire situation.
I try to turn my head around, to look at him, maybe if I get a glimpse of his red eyes, I can put everything back into perspective; but I stop dead when I feel his canine scrap the skin of my tender neck.
“Derek!” I plead with him, while I stay as still as a statue, worried that if I move too much, he will go directly for the kill. It’s actually strange he hasn’t gone for my jugular yet.
Derek stills too, his position unnaturally stiff, while his heart is beating like a drum, in unison with mine.
I dare turn slowly my head to the side, to take a glimpse of him, and my heart leaps when I look into his bright cerulean eyes, which are staring right back at me.
My Derek! He’s back! It’s a miracle!
We stare into each other’s eyes for a few moments, our hearts which were already beating fast, now are beating wildly in our chests, making it impossible to hear anything else over their loud festive drumming.
But the happiness that was just starting to surge in my heart is immediately ripped from me when Derek’s eyes flicker red again, and his strangling hold increases, making my elbows painfully dig into my ribcage.
“Derek!” I call again in a panic, trying to loosen his hold, without any success.
His teeth sink into my neck’s soft skin, making me cry out in pain, but before he can puncture any important vein or artery, he pulls back, releasing me from his hold. I immediately turned around, putting some space between us, while I presse my hand to my neck, trying to stem the bleeding.
Derek is bent over, with his hands on his knees and his head lowered, making it impossible to see his expression.
“Derek,” I call him softly, uncertain of what is happening to him.
He abruptly raises his head, dazzling me with his gorgeous blue eyes, which are clouded by fear and concern.
I take a step towards him, wanting to caress his face, to smooth out those deep lines which have drawn a frown on his forehead. He whispers something, but his voice is too low for me to catch it. I take another step towards him, and that’s when he shouts “Run!”, before his eyes turn blood red again, and the soulless monster surges again within him.
I can’t bring myself to use my powers on him, not after what happened last time; Derek is in there and he’s trying to fight it with everything he has, he’s protecting me even when he shouldn’t be able to.
So, I do what he said, I turn around and run, using my powers to throw the furniture in his path, trying to slow him down, but of course, he has that power too, and instead of throwing the furniture out of the way, he throws it at me! The brute!
I put my shield on, before anything can reach me, and smash through the French window, not bothering to open it prior, it’s not like I had the time anyway, but it still sucks, I loved that door.
Derek is close on my heels, but my invisibility here in the open is going to throw him off, because he won’t be able to scent me that precisely, especially when I’m running downwind.
I’ve never outrun Derek in a running match, so I’ll have to be smart about it, I need to find a way to shake him off, to trick him. 
I hear him shift to his wolf form, which is bad, because he’s going to be faster than my human self, and although I could shift too, I don’t want to discard my backpack and necklace, I’ll have to find a way to…
I haven’t even finished the thought that I’m thrown to the ground with extreme force, and I end up rolling on the ground a few times until my back smashes into the bark of a tall tree, making the air desert my lungs completely.
It takes me a few painful seconds to inhale enough oxygen back, and that is as long as it takes for the majestic back wolf who is my mate, to reach me and press his huge right paw over my chest, making sure I don’t run from him again.
I’m in so much pain that I’m not sure I would be able to run from him anyway, and I wonder if this is it, the end of me, by his hands. Will he be able to forgive himself, if he ever awakens from the compulsion? I believe the guilt will eat him alive, and I can’t have him suffer like that. So, for mine and his own good, I will have to fight him off one more time, even if it means hurting him a little, even if it’s really the last thing I want to do. 
Forgive me, Derek.
I lash out a blast of light, blinding him and scalding him, forcing him to release me and take a few steps back. His whines of pain pull at my heart, and I feel so bad for hurting him, but it couldn’t be helped. 
I slowly sit up, bracing myself on the tree trunk, all the while keeping the light glowing around me, like a giant light bulb.
When I’m on my feet, I increase the heat towards Derek, wanting him to retreat farther, to give me a good enough head start, but to my astonishment and horror, he keeps his ground, even when his fur burns off in a few places. 
Why can’t he just let me go? Because he’s compelled, I know, and it sucks!
“Look at that, that’s a first! A quarrel between our golden couple; and the mighty Alpha appears to be on the losing side!” the last voice I wanted to hear announces mockingly from somewhere on our left. The obnoxious male witch, I don’t know what his name is, so I’ll just call him Raspy, like his annoying voice.
Wasn’t Derek enough? Now I have to deal with these three too. I hope Derek hasn’t called for backup, otherwise it is going to become a real circus here.
“We don’t have time for this; we need to end them now that they are together. It’s our best chance,” the woman called Aradia interjects, flying towards Derek and landing only a few steps away from him. Terror engulfs me; it’s one thing for them to go after me, but to target Derek too, when he’s not lucid enough to protect himself, that’s just the worst thing that could happen. 
With a flip of her wrist, she makes Derek’s wolf fly into the night sky, and with another flip she makes it drop at top speed towards the ground, but before he can crash, I block it with my own power, then send a powerful blast of wind towards her, which sends her flying. 
No one hurts my mate, unless it’s me. It’s ridiculous that I’ve been trying not to harm him even when my life is at stake, while she goes and tries to pound him to a meat patty. Not on my watch! 
I was hoping the woman would crash into some tree, but she managed to stop her course, and steady herself midair.
“Diana, haven’t you blocked her powers?” she yells to the other woman, who’s standing on my left, behind Raspy.
“I’m trying, but there’s something blocking me,” she replies with her soft voice. She sounds young, and she looks young too, much younger than her companions, barely an adult. She would look cute, with her pale skin, her slender physique and her big black almond shaped eyes, that innocent look, like she’s not here ready to kill two people in cold blood. Oh, how looks can be deceiving.
“She must have put some protective spell on herself, the little bitch!” Raspy rasps out.
Could it be the amulet that I’m wearing?