Page 16 of Plus-Size Bullied Mate

I stare at her as it sinks in, allowing me to see every telltale sign her body gives me.

Tessa glances away like she already regrets saying it, but through the silence between us, we both know it was a bit too honest.

Too many things click into place at once, painting a bigger picture for me now. From the isolation and resignation to the way she looked at Hayes like she already knew nobody was coming…

Rage curls low in my stomach again, but not at her. At the pack and me, and every goddamn thing that led us here.

“Tessa.”

“No.” Her voice cracks slightly this time from exhaustion more than emotion, and she shakes her head subtly like she can’t take any more. “I’m tired, Hunter.”

The sound of my name from her mouth does something strange to my chest, and I ignore it immediately.

“You still haven’t told me why Hayes targeted you specifically.”

“He didn’t.”

“He dragged you into the woods in the middle of the night. I’m not assuming that was a coincidence.”

“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He wanted leverage against you and your friends. That’s it.”

“Against me… I haven’t done anything to him directly.”

Her eyes flick toward mine briefly. “You’re the alpha now. That’s why.”

The title still feels strange sometimes, almost like it’s too large, regardless of how long I’ve been preparing for it.

Yet hearing it from her does something completely different to me, as if the word suddenly means carrying responsibility differently after tonight.

I look at the subtle bruises on her skin again, noticing them slowly fade as her body heals. While it’s somewhat of a relief, the fact that he touched her at all makes me feel murderous.

Hayes is lucky I let him leave breathing.

“You’re not going back to that cabin.”

“Tough.”

“Tessa,” I repeat, looking her square in the eyes with every serious bone I have in my body.

“No,” she fires back while squaring her shoulders despite how it clearly weighs down on her. “I’ve spent years taking care of myself, and I don’t need you suddenly deciding to play savior.”

“That isn’t what this is.”

“Then what is it?”

The question lands directly where I don’t want it to be, since I don’t have the answers. Because I don’t know, and I don’t understand why seeing Hayes touch her sent me into a fury so violent I nearly killed him. Every instinct I have is demanding I keep her close enough to protect her anyway, and I definitely don’t understand why I can’t stop looking at her.

I tell myself it’s just a physical thing. I’m not blind to how Tessa grew into a woman any wolf would notice immediately. She’s beautiful in a way that sneaks up on you instead of demanding attention, all soft edges and exuding the kind of fertile pheromones that anyone would want, most of all an alpha.

But that’s not all this is… I know that. I’ve known since I was young, before it had anything to do with lust or desire.

Attraction alone doesn’t explain the possessiveness clawing through my chest right now, or why my wolf went feral at the sight of her in danger.

A deeper, quieter truth is surfacing beneath all of it, even if it terrifies me to let it after so long of trying to conceal it.

I noticed her far sooner than tonight. I just buried it under resentment, distance, and old wounds I never dealt with properly.

It hit me too young, when I didn’t know what to do with it, and when I was too immature to realize how my actions might affect her. The real wound beneath it all exists because of her parents and what they did. My father’s blood was on their hands by proxy, despite them being gone too. Even years later, that scar aches when I touch it directly.