Page 61 of Plus-Size Mate

“Winter, stop!”

Eddie was about to follow her when he felt fingers wrap around his wrist.

“Let her go, Eddie. She doesn't understand you like I do,” Carly insisted, pulling him back to her. “She'll never understand the loyalty a werewolf feels to their pack. I understand you better than anyone.”

Eddie felt as if he might actually be sick when she reached up and cupped his cheek.

“The spell has been cast. The town is safe. You can forget about her now.”

Lashing out, Eddie slapped Carly's hand away from his face. The look of surprise on hers might have amused him if he wasn’t so damn angry.

“I should never have even laid eyes on you,” he growled, looming over Carly in a way that made her shrink back from him. “You're nothing but a manipulative, conniving, arrogant little bitch, and Winter is twice the woman you will ever be.”

Carly's eyes widened further, and Eddie actually thought he saw tears glinting at the corners. If they were there, they were crocodile tears. Carly had a heart of cold stone. There was no way she would actually feel anything close to bringing her to tears for him.

“You…you don't mean that,” Carly stammered, inching back just a little more. “You can't mean that. We had so much fun together.”

“Yeah, and that's all it was for you, fun. Because you are a heartless bitch, Carly, and you'll never be able to have anything meaningful, because all you do is throw yourself at any guy who takes your fancy.”

Carly’s face grew pale. “That's not true.”

“Me, Hanson, Will? Need I go on?” Eddie demanded. He was sure he had seen her sniffing around several other men in the pack even before all of them. “I have no doubt you'd have tried it with Jack, Zander and Kane too, if you'd gotten the chance.”

His rage was upon him now. There was no stopping the torrent of it that was about to fall on Carly.

“Don't think we don't all see you for what you are, Carly,” Eddie insisted, crossing his arms over his chest. “And if your aim was to somehow get between me and Winter, you've failed, because the truth is, sheismy mate.”

The truth of his own words stunned even him, but Carly looked absolutely horrified.

“You can't actually believe your fated mate is a witch!”

“That's just it,” Eddie snapped back at her. Straightening further, looming over her like a giant, he declared, “She is. And besides that, she isn't just witch. She is part wolf. And that part of her, along with all her other parts, belongs to me as much as I belong to her, for the rest of our lives.”

Eddie strained his ears, wishing he heard Winter returning to the door. Wishing she had overheard the words he had just said.

“You don't mean that. Surely you can't mean that.”

But he did, and to illustrate his point, Eddie grabbed Carly's upper arm and yanked her close. His nose barely an inch from hers, he glowered into her eyes and snarled, “Stay away from me and stay away from Winter, or I will not be held responsible for my actions.”

With that, he shoved her away and growled, “Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and find my mate.”

He turned swiftly and strode through the door, ignoring whatever Carly called after him. Whatever it was, he didn't want to hear it.

His senses were entirely focused on Winter now. Picking up her scent easily, he headed down the hall in the direction of the patio doors that led out to the back garden.

All he could do was hope she had gone out for some fresh air instead of running away entirely.

After all that had happened, after finally wiping Carly from his heart, was he really going to lose his mate because she wouldn't take her claws out of him?

Chapter 22 - Winter

This can't be happening. This can't be happening….Winter's mind reeled, her chest tightening with panic as she raced for a private spot in the gardens, holding back tears.

After all that had happened, after everything seemed to have been falling into place, was Eddie really only doing all of this for the sake of the pack?

The thought of all they had done suddenly made her feel sick. She had given herself to him, all of her, and this was the thanks she got.

When she closed her eyes all she could see was the way that damn she-wolf had been pressing herself against him, rubbing against him like a bitch in heat. It made her nauseous.

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