Page 14 of Plus-Size Pregnant Mate

"I beg to differ," she said, stopping at the other side of the counter.

I looked up, and I could see the look in her eyes. She wanted me to talk. She wanted a reason why she found me the way she did, but I couldn't give her one. I couldn't go back then, and I refuse to go now.

I needed air and time to think.

"I'm going out," I said, moving away from the counter towards the front door.

"What do you mean you’re going out?" she asked. Suddenly, there was a desperation in her voice. "Where are you going?"

"For a fly," I said calmly. "You are more than welcome to go on your own as well."

She stiffened and looked away. Ashley didn't like going out for runs by herself. She got to anxious.

"Or don't," I said. "I will be back. I won't be gone long."

I turned before she could argue with me. I pushed the door open and stepped outside. I headed down the small trail that led into the woods. I walked for a while, trying to relax my shoulders and calm myself, but it was hard.

I was angry at myself. I was the reason everything happened the way it did. If I had just made a different decision all those years ago, none of this would have happened.

I stopped walking and allowed myself to shift. It was only a moment before I was in my dragon form, pushing up into the air, taking flight.

The wind felt great, and I tried going higher and higher, hoping it would distract me from everything. It didn't.

It was like I was back in that bed, watching her entire world shatter all over again. Ashley's eyes widened with betrayal, and tears formed. She went so white that I was sure she was going to pass out.

"Don't move," Nat whispered to me, her thighs tightened around my hips, trying to keep me pinned onto the bed.

I wanted to throw her off, but when I looked at her, I could see the look in her eyes. She promised to keep me there no matter what. It was our agreement. One that I still felt sick thinking about.

It all started about a week before that night when Ashley's father came to my house. I was on my way out when he arrived.

"I know you're still seeing her," he growled.

I didn't know what to say because he wasn't wrong. I was. Ashley and I had started seeing each other in secret. But it seemed they found that out.

"I told you to end things with her," he snapped. "I told you before that you are not worthy of her!"

"Why would I end it with her? I love her."

"I don't care," he growled. "You are not going to amount to anything, and my daughter deserves the world."

"You don't know what I will do," I growled at him. "I plan to give your daughter everything she could ever want."

"Everything my daughter could want is impossible without money!" he yelled. "And you do not have that! I'm not going to allow my daughter to be with someone because she thinks she is in love. I know your type. You think everything is a joke, and you’re going to end up hurting her."

"She is in love," I said, my hands curling into fists. "And if you don't get out of my way, I will use force."

Her father didn't move, though. He grew closer, his eyes narrowing. "You either end things with her, and you end it for real, or I will be sure that you never see her again."

I glared at him when I noticed concern in his eyes. I’d been over their house to know that look. I’d seen him look at his wife with those eyes and I frowned. “She’s sick again, isn’t she?”

Her jaw clenched. “Yes.”

I ground my teeth together. “If her mother is sick, why in the hell would I end things with her? She would need me more now than ever.”

“Because, how do you think she would feel if her mother died and she was with you? I’m not going to allow her to waste more time on some relationship that doesn’t matter when she could be spending it with her family.”

It was like cold water was poured down my back, and I froze. I didn’t know what to say.

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