Page 29 of Rejected Plus-Size Mate

I am one with nature. This is where I belong.

I am keenly aware of the delicate balance that exists between all things, living and not. Every sound, scent, andfeeling sings of this harmony, all creatures of the earth and its elements woven together in a web older than time.

We are the caretakers of this world. It is up to us to keep this balance, and nature will keep our souls free and content.

I’m standing on a low bluff with my nose to the wind, scenting a herd of deer on the move miles away, when I hear a soft noise in the woods below. As tuned in to the surrounding forest as I am, I know it’s not just a random animal.

It was a purposeful sound. Something is watching me.

Even though I can’t stop the brief chill that snapped through me at the realization I wasn’t alone, I give no other sign that I’m aware of their presence. I keep my nose up, wondering how to reveal the other without endangering myself.

Silence stretches around me, so deep that I have to wonder if I imagined the sound. When I turn to move away, though, I hear it again and start to lope towards the trees.

The sounds behind me intensify. Whoever it is, they don’t care if I can hear them. This puts some decent fear into me, and I start to run through the forest, taking the winding paths as quickly as I can.

My wolf takes over again, adrenaline awakening the ancient predator within. I feel fierce and strong now, not like a woman alone in the woods, but a piece of living darkness and eternal threat.

We are the apex. There is nothing that stands above the wolf.

As the ground rises above me, I pick up my pace, charging out of the trees and onto a snow-covered plain. The glittering field reflects the net of stars above as they sparkletheir light down on me. With a loud bark, I spin and turn, paws braced, ready to face my pursuer.

The first thing I see is a pair of stunning blue-green eyes shining out of a face of dark fur. It takes a few seconds for the scent to catch up to me, but I don’t even need it. Only one creature on the planet has eyes like that.

Kyle!

The shock makes me shift. Hands on my hips, I glare at him as he bounds towards me.

“What are you doing here?” I cry, feeling practically violated.

What do I have to do to get some time alone?

Kyle shifts in front of me, his muscular body rippling in the reflected light. The tattoos on his arms look like shadows wrapped around him, bonds of darkness he can never break.

“Watching out for you,” he says. “You can’t go off by yourself like this.”

“Kyle, I am not a child!” I snap. “And even if I was, this is beyond obsessive! What could possibly happen?”

“You’re so fucking naive!” he explodes. “Anything could happen to you! I might have let you go out if you had just told me where you were going, and how long you’d be away.”

“‘Let me’?” I echo. “You would ‘let me’ go? Are you fucking kidding me right now?”

“Leslie, you don’t understand—”

“Damn fucking right, I don’t understand! You break up with me, leave me, tear my heart in half, and disappear! Then you mysteriously return and end up as my husband, and sincethen, I’m not even allowed to go and pee by myself! What the fuck is going on with you?”

I may have taken it too far there, but it is true that more than once when we were out in town, I found him hovering not far from the bathroom when I came out, as if he was worried I’d crawl out a window.

Kyle’s face has gone dark. His mouth twists in the way it does when he’s upset. Usually, I’d apologize, but right now, I don’t care.

“Answer me!” I yell, shoving him in the chest. “I can’t take this anymore! You’re having horrible nightmares that you won’t talk about, you act sweet and loving to me, but at the same time, you push me away, keep secrets, make me feel completely undesirable—”

“What?” he exclaims. “When did I do that?”

I cross my arms, glaring at him. It’s pretty hard to be standing naked in front of him, even if I wasn’t talking about his attraction to me. I couldn’t feel more vulnerable right now.

“You pull back every time we start to get close,” I mutter. “I always thought my body excited you. I didn’t have any confidence issues at all. But since we got married, it’s like you can’t stand to touch me.”

“Oh, fuck, no,” he moans, covering his face with his hands. “No, this isn’t what I wanted at all.”

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