Page 23 of Forced Plus-Size Mate

He didn’t humiliate her in front of all our friends and family… reject her so brutally that it would create a wound that could never heal!

I fiercely shove my anger down, clenching my fists and closing my eyes to stop myself from yelling. As I struggle to keep my emotions in check, the little vase holding the flowers explodes, shattering into tiny shards.

“Whoa!” Body cries. “Did you do that?”

“I’m not sure,” I mutter, looking at the little pile of glass. “I’ve never done anything like that before.”

“But that’s a good sign, right?” he asks. “If your magic is coming back, that means we did the right thing.”

“Body,” I say, sighing, “I will never believe that this is the ‘right thing.’ I need a lot more evidence before I decide if our marriage saved magic or not. I’ll also need to talk to the other witches. I’m not going to just suddenly decide this is a great idea and I’m excited to be here—no matter how many breakfasts you make or flowers you pick.”

“Oh,” he says, looking down at his plate. “I didn’t realize. I thought… well. I was hoping we could—”

“What?” I demand, my voice hard. I’m close to losing my cool and yelling at him, asking every single question that has plagued me for the last ten or so years.

But I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing I was pining for him all that time.

Body looks up at me, his dark brown eyes wide and soft. “I’m sorry, Amanda,” he says. “I was presumptuous, thinking we could just get along the way we used to, with so much past between us. I know there is a lot we should probably talk about.”

Shock makes my guts lurch. My chest closes with the icy grip of fear.

All I’ve wanted for so long is to talk to him, but now it terrifies me.

I just stare at him, trying to think of a response that won’t make me look completely unhinged. I’m stuck between wanting to shake him and demand he tell me the truth, or fleeing from the room because I’m sure I already know the truth.

That he doesn’t want me, never has, never will, and this is all just playing nice because he has to. He has to do anything his alpha tells him to do.

“We probably don’t have time for a big talk right now,” Body says, glancing at his phone. “There’s a meeting scheduled for the wolf hierarchy today.”

“Good,” I answer, breathing a sigh of relief. “I have to see the other witches, too, and ask them if they’ve had any change to their magic since the wedding.”

“It will really work like that? You marry me, andbam, every witch gets her powers back?”

“I don’t think it will be that simple,” I acknowledge. “But the spell said joining with wolves would bring back our connection to nature, and it looks like that is working for me already.”

“Good,” he says, smiling. “I really do want to see you happy, Amanda.”

He reaches for me, trying to touch my hand. I slide away from him, putting my hand in my lap and glaring at him.

I have no idea what his game is, but I’m not playing it. Both of us are only here because we have to be, and if this works, if it brings back the magic, then I have to learn to live with him… even if I can never trust him.

Chapter 8 - Body

Breakfast is worse than awkward, and honestly, I don’t know what I expected. I certainly didn’t want her to immediately forgive me just because I made waffles, but I was hoping to make her happy.

When I walked out onto the deck and saw her standing in the backyard, I was completely enchanted all over again. With the early morning light picking out glints of ruby in her hair, her skin glowing, and her eyes bright blue, she looked like a supernatural creature. So impossibly beautiful, it’s hard to believe she’s even real.

I don’t think she noticed, but a cloud of butterflies appeared directly above her head while she was meditating. With birds flitting out of the nearby bushes to swoop around her, it only enhanced the feeling that she was not of this world, something truly precious and rare.

And I hurt her. I let her go. I’m the worst fool in all existence.

When I reach for her hand and she pulls away, I don’t blame her, but it still stings. I don’t know how long it will take for her to be able to trust me, but I’m in this for the long haul. I won’t give up until she knows how sorry I am.

“I have to go into town,” I remind her, but I’m also trying to break the silence and banish the awkwardness of the moment. It doesn’t work. She looks up at me with such a baleful expression, I feel ridiculous, as if I’ve just announced an incredibly obvious fact.

“So you said. I have to as well,” she says, blinking slowly.

“So if we both have to go to town,” I go on, stumbling over my words, “did you want to come with me?”

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