Page 71 of Rejected Plus-Size Mate

Suddenly, Jethro shoves me, knocking me off my feet. He shifts, grabbing a handful of dirt and flinging it straight into my eyes. Blinded, I stagger away from him, blinking fiercely to clear my vision.

Jethro looms over me, a watery shadow. He seems to be holding something in his hand—maybe a big rock.

Honorless bastard. He’s breaking the rules, but Bae can’t attack because so will Sawpit, and this meadow will turn into a bloodbath.

Jethro brings the rock down, screeching as he aims it at my skull. I twist to the side, shifting as I do, then leap at Jethro, knocking him over.

We wrestle fiercely for a few seconds until I feel my hands wrap around his throat. Relief floods through me, as well as the satisfaction of my wolf.

The thrill of killing. May I only ever use it as I do right now—to protect my family.

“You’re done, Jethro,” I whisper. “Go back to hell where you belong.”

He whimpers as if he wants to say something, but I take a firm hold of his jaw and the back of his head. With one sharp jerk, I break his neck.

I lean back, breathing hard. Looking up at the sky, all I can see is clear blue.

I did it. I’m free.

From behind me, I hear a low growl. When I look around, I see that the Sawpit wolves are closing in on us, surrounding us. Even with Jethro dead, I guess they still want our resources, and some of them worshipped Jethro like a god.

Just as I’m getting up, preparing myself to fight on, I hear the baying of wolves all around us. I look around in surprise to see strange wolves appearing along the tree line. Sasha shifts and walks out of the trees, a big smile on her face.

“It was a good try, Sawpit!” she calls. “But it turns out the wolves you tried to buy won’t be so easily led. We managed to make an alliance, and now they want revenge on you for dealing dirty with them!”

I see Rider falter as he looks around the clearing. Behind him, the other wolves have stopped advancing and are watching as the new arrivals surround them.

“I’m the new alpha of the Sawpit Pack!” Rider declares. He waits a few seconds to see if anyone contests him, but there is only silence. “You rogues that were pulled into this by Jethro, you know I had nothing to do with hiring you. It was Jethro who convinced you to fight for him. I’m the new alpha here, and I promise you, I mean you no ill will.”

The others hesitate, slowing down their advance. Rider turns to me, a beseeching look on his face.

“You have to let us go, Kyle.”

“What?” I cry in surprise. “How the fuck do you figure that?”

“I helped you,” he says stubbornly. He sticks his chin out and glares. “I told you where Jethro was going to attack.”

“You didn’t tell us about the decoy attack!”

“I didn’t know about it,” Rider says firmly. “I’d been tailing you for a while, and Jethro made those plans while I was tracking you in Montrose. I knew you’d figure it out, and that you’d leave a decent force right here to greet us.”

I glare at him, my mind working furiously. I don’t want to believe this—it sounds like the argument of a guilty man. But so long as there is doubt, I can’t just kill him, or allow their entire pack to be slaughtered.

“Please,” Rider says, and his face softens. “Just let us go. I’m glad there wasn’t an all-out battle here. I was hoping to get Jethro out of the way so I can take over the pack and do better for our brothers.”

That one cuts me right through the heart, and I groan, turning away. I honestly don’t know if he’s manipulating me or not.

If I do the right thing, they could turn on us. If we kill them all, right here and now, I’ll never forgive myself.

“Kyle,” Bailey says, suddenly right beside me. I hadn’t even heard him approach. Bailey sweeps his eyes across the valley, taking in the enemy pack, ours, as well as our new allies.

“I will be influenced by whatever you decide,” Bailey says softly. “You know them, I don’t. Tell me what you think.”

“I think we should let them live,” I answer. “This isn’t a fair fight—we outnumber them too much. Also, they aren’t bad, some of them. They are just lost, confused. We should give them a chance to get through this, if they can.”

Bae nods, walking past me to go to Rider. He stands in front of him and commands the entire valley with his voice.

“I will allow you to leave,” Bailey calls. His words echo through the forest, ringing through the peaks. “But know this.If you ever attack us again, there will be a reckoning. We will come to Sawpit and all the surrounding towns. We will burn them to the ground and kill every living thing we can find. Then we will hunt the forests, tracking down every last one of you and slaughtering you until not a single wolf is left—and by that, I also mean your women and children.”

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