Chapter 53

Jasper Hartford’s POV
I had been suspicious of the black vehicle following us ever since I first noticed it, shortly after leaving the forest. It looked like one of the cars that my father would give to people who worked for him so I was sure it would be one of the pack’s warriors. That was until it continued to follow us for the next half an hour without trying to stop us or being joined by vehicles. If it was one of the pack’s warriors then they wouldn’t have let us get this far from the pack.
“Someone is following us.” I said. Lizzy glanced in the mirror, I had no doubt that she recognised the vehicle just as I did because concern crept over her face.
“What are we going to do? Can we lose them?” She asked.
“I don’t think so,” I replied.
I could try speeding but they would only increase their speed too. If they had been instructed to follow us then they wouldn’t let us out of their sight. Trying to outrun them was only going to endanger Lizzy’s life, I couldn’t do that when we were so close to obtaining our freedom.
“Oh goddess, no.” Sasha shouted, pulling my attention back towards her horrified face.
Taking a closer look in the rearview mirror I realised what had disturbed her so much. Even though the car was hanging back quite a distance behind us, there was no mistaking the person in the driver's seat, it was alpha Michael.
“Floor it, we have to lose him.” Sasha shouted, the panic clear in her voice.
“I can’t. He’s an alpha.”
This was worse than all of the warriors in the pack following us. We had his mate in our car, there was no force on this planet that would make him stop and I wasn’t capable of outdriving him. His reflexes would be much better than mine and Lizzy can’t drive, we were screwed.
“We can’t keep going, he will find out where the new pack is.” Lizzy said, taking hold of my arm.
I nodded my head in agreement and started to slow down, pulling over to the side of the road. Sasha moved awkwardly in her seat but she didn’t say anything. She might not like the idea of seeing him again but she knew we were right when we said we had to do this.
Alpha Michal stopped his car directly behind mine and ran over to us. He opened the back door and pulled Sasha out of the seat, into his arms. He buried his face into her neck and spun her around as though he hadn’t seen her in weeks. I think he might have even been crying.
“I was so worried about you. I didn’t know what had happened, I was worried someone had abducted you or hurt you.” He told her neck.
“I’m fine, I’m just leaving you.” She whispered.
“That’s never going to happen,” he replied.
Sasha growled and tried to pry his hands off of her body. He was having none of it, he held on to her tighter until she stopped fighting against him and let out a frustrated sigh.
“You can’t force me to be with you.” She screamed.
“I know, but even if you don’t want me it is my job to keep you safe. I can’t let you out of my sight, even for a few hours.” He was holding onto her so tightly that he couldn’t see her rolling her eyes at his words. That was probably for the best.
“I can take care of myself, you know. I have been doing it for most of my life.” She mumbled. She had the look of someone who knew that she was losing the fight but didn’t quite want to give up yet.
“I know but I am coming with you.” He replied, taking every one of us by surprise. We all stood in shocked silence for a few moments before Lizzy stepped forward shaking her head. It was the first time I had seen her taking charge in this way, I could already feel myself getting turned on by her dominance.
“I can’t let you do that, you might just be using this as a way to destroy our new pack.” She told him. She was using her alpha tone as she spoke. It was strong enough to make Michael shudder slightly and that sent a thrill of desire down my spine.
‘She can use that tone on me anytime.’ Garnet purred in my head so loud that it was difficult for me to concentrate on anything else going on around me.
‘Shut up, you love it as much as I do. I am in your head so you can’t pretend not to be thinking about asking her to order you around in bed tonight.’ My wolf added.
I must have missed something while I was arguing with my wolf because Michal was now getting on his knees in front of Lizzy and Sasha. He was looking up at the two of them as though his left depended on their forgiveness. It was a sight that I never thought I would witness, it was so different from anything we had seen from him so far.
“Please let me come with you, I will do whatever it takes to prove myself to you.” He said, his voice filled with sadness.
Lizzy turned to look at Sasha, who looked as though she was severely conflicted. She wanted to be angry at him but there was no denying the difference in Michael’s behaviour. After what felt like the longest few seconds of my life, Sasha shook her head and turned away from Michael with tears in her eyes.
“I’m sorry but we can’t take the chance. If Sasha wants to accept you, she knows where you live.” Lizzy spoke with an air of finality in her voice.
I still expected Michael to try to fight her decision but he didn’t. He just took hold of Sasha’s legs while Lizzy went over to the car Michael had been driving and slashed all the tires with her claws. Once she was done she came back to the car and got into the passenger’s seat. Michael let out a long sigh, then pulled himself to his feet.
“I will do whatever it takes to prove myself to you. If you want me to humiliate myself in front of your new pack then I will do it but I am never giving up on us.”
He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly for a few seconds before letting her go. He watched with sorrowful eyes as she got back into the car and we all drove away, leaving him alone at the side of the road without a working car. It would be a while before anyone from our pack or his would be able to get here to pick him up. Long enough for us to confuse any trackers they mights send after us.
“That was close, I didn’t think he was going to let us go.” Sasha mumbled under her breath.
She wanted to look strong in front of Lizzy and I but there was turmoil deep in her eyes as she kept them glued to the rearview mirror. She was probably feeling as though she had left part of herself behind as we drove away from him. However, it would do her some good to have some time away from him. It would help her to clear her head and work out what she really wanted.
I was fully aware of how powerful the bond could be, when I started having feelings for Lizzy it terrified me. I was brought up to think of her as my sister and yet I was having all these urges. It took me a long time to stop thinking of myself as disgusting for wanting her.
Sasha was probably feeling something of that conflict now. Wanting to be with her mate and yet not knowing if she was able to trust or forgive him. Once she had spent a few days alone she would know what she really wanted.
“I don’t think he wanted to make you hate him even more by dragging you away by force.” Lizzy suggested. Sasha whimpered then quickly crossed her arms in defiance.
“It doesn’t matter anyway. I have a feeling that isn’t going to be the last time we hear from him.”
I know if I was in his position there wouldn’t have been a damn thing anyone could do to keep me out of her life. Even if Lizzy hadn’t accepted me then I would have spent my life keeping her safe and making sure she was happy. As it turns out I didn’t need to worry about that and I couldn’t wait to start our new life together.