Page 82 of Forced Plus-Size Mate

“You promised Decker you’d kill them all,” he says.

“Yeah, I did,” Kelta says, turning and laying a hard kick into my ribs. “But I never said I’d do it quickly.”

She gets down on her knees, grabbing the front of my shirt and forcing my face up to hers. “This is your last chance. Take the curse off Body, and I’ll spare you some pain.”

“But you’ll still kill me?” I answer.

She grins. “The difference is me slitting your throat or giving you to Bredu as a chew toy.”

Bredu growls in answer, licking his chops. Panic floods through me. My muscles start to tremble, and I can’t draw in a decent breath.

The only thing stronger than fear is love.

I close my eyes and think of Body. Of all the wonderful moments we’ve shared since we got married. I can feel his love in my heart, and the only sorrow I feel is that I left him again, and now I could die without ever telling him how much I love him.

I was so stupid! I can’t believe I ran away from him and left him alone. This time, it’s my turn to apologize… if I can live through the next few minutes.

“Well?” Kelta demands, shaking me.

I smile at her. “You need to get a hold of yourself, Kelta. You’re bordering on delusional. Why would Body like a pathetic little scruff like you?”

She stands up, flinging me backwards. I rock back and forth, but stay on my knees as she glares at me with pure, unadulterated rage.

“Bredu!” she screams. “Eat that fucking bitch!”

I close my eyes, feeling the power of the Earth around me, beneath me, and within me. I take a deep breath, and I can see the lines of light linking all living things into one great web. They are so real, I can almost taste them.

With a flick of my hand, a nest of vines whips off the trunk of a nearby tree and snags Kelta’s arms and legs. She screams as the vines tighten on her, but she can’t twist free. I stand up slowly, throwing magic at the other wolves to stop them in their tracks.

I have to use a small bit of energy to heal myself, and my defenses slip. Bredu barks and snaps at me, pushing through my psychic forcefield with every leap.

He’s strong, and not just physically. He has magic… old, deep, and primal.

I hold him back with one hand and turn to face the others. I’m going to need all my strength to deal with Bredu, and if I don’t stop these guys, they’ll attack me from behind, and it’ll all be over.

The four wolves from Decker and two wild wolves are stalking around me now, trying to find the edges of my forcefield. All of them are pushing against it, looking for a weakness.

This timing is going to be absolute hell.

I pull my power from one section of the web to hurl a few fallen branches at the wild ones. There’s a loud yelp as one of them is knocked out, and the other crashes to the ground with a sharp spike right through its ribcage.

I’ve taken out two of my enemies, but in the brief moment the shield was down, the others got closer. I push back against them, feeling my magic slipping.

Bredu is too strong.

I spin around to face him, holding up the forcefield with extreme difficulty. Blood and sweat are pouring down my face, soaking my clothes. My body is trying desperately to heal itself, and I keep channeling my power straight back into the shield.

Body.

I keep his image in my mind, the desperate need to tell him how I feel driving me on. I watch Bredu forcing his way through the shield, getting closer to me by the second.

What if I stopped fighting him?

An idea dawns. I know if it doesn’t work, I’m dead for sure, but there’s nothing else to try. I hold up the shield against Bredu, deliberately letting it slip inch by inch, letting him get closer.

Not yet… not yet.

Rabid with the thirst for blood, Bredu charges, snapping fiercely. He’s so close now, I can feel his hot, sour breath and see the strips of flesh hanging from his sharp white fangs.

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