Chapter 48

Elizabeth Summers’ POV
There was something off about Michael even though I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was. He seemed to be nice enough as he spoke to me in the back of Jasper’s car but there was something in his voice that sounded put on and fake. Even the questions he was asking about my life didn’t seem natural to him. He was acting like someone who was learning how to have a conversation for the first time.
“What food do you like to eat?”
Jasper sighed. I could feel his anger through our bond even though he was trying his best to hide it from Michael and I as he drove. He wasn’t trying hard enough though, we both saw him roll his eyes in the rearview mirror. Michael smirked before turning his attention back towards me.
“I personally like ice cream and cake the most.” He continued. Jasper sniggered.
“What are you, ten years old?” Jasper replied.
“That was mean. There is no need to be mean to me, I just have a sweet tooth.” Michael replied.
Now I was fighting the urge to roll my own eyes. I couldn’t believe that he thought the cute innocent alpha routine was going to fool anyone. He either thought that we were really dumb or he was messing with us, so that he could make it seem as though we were the bad guys when we lost our temper with him later. I wasn’t going to let him get away with doing that to us. There had to be some way to get him to show his true colours.
The journey back home felt as though it was lasting a lifetime. I had to play along with Michael’s act so that he didn’t realise that I was onto him but that only seemed to anger Jasper more. He was so angry that I was surprised there wasn’t literally steam coming out of his ears. I tried a number of times to open a mindlink with him so I could get him to calm down but his wolf was so angry that I couldn’t get through to him.
Michael was enjoying Jasper’s pain, which told me everything I needed to know about him. The Graves pack had a reputation for playing mind games with their enemies. I had heard Jasper’s father talk about it often although I had never taken much interest in it until now. I had never really expected to need to know anything about werewolf politics because I never expected to be anything other than an omega.
From what I remember Jasper’s father saying during our family meals I did have a basic understanding of how he dealt with situations like this. He often said that when dealing with the Graves pack it was better to try playing them at their own game rather than coming straight at them. That was exactly what I was going to try to do. I just needed to somehow make sure that Jasper was on the same page.
Jasper parked his car in the garage then came around to my side of the car. He wrapped his arms around me and buried his face against my skin. I felt his tension starting to melt away as he held me close, but I wasn’t the only one who noticed it. Michael scowled before taking hold of my hand.
“I can’t wait to meet everyone, will you show me around?” He asked, giving me the fakest smile I had ever seen.
Hazel wanted to continue comforting our mate, she tried to push her way forward so that she could tell him where to go. It took so much effort just to push her back that I was only able to smile at Michael and nod in agreement. Michael made a noise that I think was meant to convey excitement but sounded more like a wounded animal to me. He pulled me away from Jasper, making his way towards the house, dragging me along behind him.
We didn’t make it very far, Jasper’s parents were waiting for us in the kitchen. They didn’t seem at all surprised to see Michael holding my hand but their smiles faded when they saw how upset Jasper was.
“Thank-you so much for having me here.” Michael said, dragging me over to where Jasper’s parents were standing as though I was a ragdoll.
“You knew about this? Why didn’t you tell me?” Jasper growled, causing Michael to smirk.
“We were going to tell you tonight, we thought he would be joining us for dinner.” Jasper’s mom replied.
“That was what I had planned originally but I just couldn’t wait any longer to meet her.” He replied.
He was smiling at me and trying to pull me closer to his body, it made me want to throw up. I didn’t understand him. His father was forcing him into this, just like Jasper and I were being forced into this. So why did he seem to be enjoying this so much? It couldn’t just be because he enjoyed seeing others in pain, I couldn’t see how anyone would feel that way.
“You know that she isn’t your mate and she isn’t going to actually sleep with you.” Jasper growled.
He took a few steps towards Michael. The anger coming off him in waves was enough to send the few omegas in the kitchen running out of the room in terror. Michael however was unaffected by Jasper’s words, why would he be when he was so much stronger than Jasper.
“It will be better for the pups for mommy and daddy to be together. I am hoping that before this is over Elizabeth will agree to be my mate.”
To my horror Jasper’s parents were nodding their heads in agreement with Michael’s words. As though this is what they had in mind all along. This made more sense. They hadn’t agreed to alpha Graves’ demands, they had made a deal with him. Alpha Graves wanted an alpha mate for his son and Jasper’s parents wanted Jasper and I out of the pack quietly before we caused trouble.
They thought this plan would keep everyone happy. Everyone except for Jasper and I, but our feelings clearly didn’t matter to them that much. All they cared about was the pack and keeping the omegas in their place.
Anger flooded its way through my system. I wasn’t going to let them get away with this. I wasn’t normally an angry or a vengeful person but in that moment I wanted nothing more than to rip this whole pack to pieces and set fire to wherever remained. Hazel was in the back of my mind, snarling in agreement. She wanted to hurt them even more than I did.
“You can’t break our bond, not now that we have marked each other.” Jasper growled. Michael’s smile flattered for a second. He turned to face Jasper then very slowly started walking towards him. He stopped just a few inches away from Jasper’s face.
“Once she’s had me she will never want you again so what does it matter?” He whispered, keeping his voice low enough so that only Jasper and I could hear him speak.
Even though Jasper’s parents wouldn’t have been able to hear what Michael was saying to us, it must have been obvious that it wasn’t polite. Even so they seemed to be ignoring it and pretending that everything was fine. That irritated me and my wolf even more.
Hazel had been fighting me for control for a while but my own anger made me weaker. She took advantage of the momentary lack of control to push her way forward in my mind. I was no longer in control of my own body and I had no choice other than to watch as she put her hands on Michael’s chest and pushed him against the wall.
“You will never have any part of me.” Hazel growled. Michael smirked at me but he didn’t make any move to push me away or remove my hands from his chest.
“You look so beautiful when you are angry.” Michael purred. He started leaning in towards me as though he was about to kiss me. I growled in frustration before pushing away from him with more force than was necessary.
“I’m going to my room.” I turned around and started making my way out of the room.
“Wait up a moment, I’m coming with you.” Michael replied, falling into step behind me. I stopped abruptly and turned to face him. He was so close that I wanted to push him away from me again, the only thing that stopped me was the repulsion at the idea of actually touching him.
“Like heck you will. I might not be able to kick you out of this house but I sure as heck can stop you from coming into my room.”
With that I took hold of Jasper’s hand and dragged him out of the room with me. I had to find some way of getting rid of this man. Either that or I was going to end up physically hurting him because there was no way I was going to let him get away with touching me again.