Page 48 of Forced Plus-Size Mate

Some shifters stay in their wolf shapes and pace out towards the woods, barking to each other and putting their noses to the ground as they track the Decker pack. Others around me shift back to their human shapes, everybody bloodied and bruised. It’s impossible to tell at this point if anyone is seriously injured.

“Amanda,” Body gasps, shifting into his human shape to stagger towards me.

“Oh my God, Body!” I exclaim. I run to him, going down on my knees to take his face in my hands. He’s covered in blood, and a deep cut over his forehead drips rivers of red into his eyes.

“Are you okay?” he asks, grabbing my shoulders. “Are you hurt?”

“Body, fuck, you were almost blinded! Don’t worry about me. We have to get that cut looked at.”

“The only thing I ever worry about is you,” he says, and I can see the sorrow on his face.

He means it. He’s never been more sincere.

I shove my revelations aside and support him so he can stand up. He’s taken a terrible beating. It looks like he’s got cracked ribs as well as a fractured ankle.

“Body, this is bad. You should go to the hospital.”

“I’m fine,” he mutters. “You should see the other guy.”

“Don’t go making jokes now,” I say, shaking my head. “You’ve lost a lot of blood.”

As if to illustrate my point, he sways on his feet, holding on to me tightly so he doesn’t fall.

“Okay,” he says. “I will concede that maybe I need to rest. But I’m not going to the hospital. I’ll heal quickly.”

I’m about to fight him over it when Bae comes over to us. “He will recover quickly, Amanda. Just clean some of the deeper cuts and make him take it easy with the broken bones. He should be feeling better in a couple of hours and be completely healed by morning.”

“Okay,” I say. “Thank you, Bailey. I’ll take him home now.”

“The hell you will!” Body protests. “I need to go after those assholes from Decker pack. We can’t let them get away with this!”

“Nobody is going anywhere right now,” Bailey says firmly. “I doubt there is any way of patching this up, but I’ll still talk to Decker.”

“Should have slaughtered them all,” Body mutters.

I wrap my arm around him and squeeze, using a little magic to remind him I can force him to come with me if I want to.

“Move it,” I order him. “Don’t make me carry you.”

“Okay, okay,” he answers, grinning. “I kind of like this look on you, though. Maybe you should tell me what to do more often.”

“Don’t tempt me,” I reply, giggling in spite of myself.

I get Body out to his truck, and by the time we get there, his ankle is healed enough that he can jump in without my assistance. The cut on his head is still bleeding, though, and he winces and grabs his ribs as he settles into the seat.

I start up the car and turn toward home, conflicting emotions rioting inside me. Seeing him hurt has upset me a lot more than I thought it would, and knowing that he got injured because of me adds guilt to my anxiety.

And I’m angry. He didn’t need to jump in like that. I was handling it… and now the packs are at war.

“Are you okay, Amanda?” Body asks.

“Not hurt,” I say.

“I know that, but… are you alright?”

“Body,” I sigh. “You didn’t have to do this.”

“What, protect you? Of course I did.”

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