Forced Plus-Size Mate (Silver Meadows Wolves #6)

Chapter 10 - Body

Amanda gets home much later than I expected. She didn’t answer any of my texts or calls, and I was starting to get truly worried by the time I saw Lucy’s car in the drive.

I already have bad news to give her. I didn’t need to add worrying about her safety to that burden.

I’m waiting in the hall when she comes through the door. She actually jumps a little when she sees me.

“Hi,” I say, a bit too suddenly.

“Jeez, Body, do you have to be waiting right at the door? You gave me a fright.”

“Sorry, but I have to tell you something. Didn’t you check your phone?”

“No,” she answers, staring at me. “What’s so important?”

“I have to leave early in the morning,” I say defeatedly. “It’s a trip with the young wolves that got organized months ago. I just forgot about it with everything that’s going on.”

“Oh. Okay, then. See you when you get back.”

“No, Amanda,” I sigh. Sorry, but you have to come with me.”

“What?” She frowns. “Why?”

“It’s tradition. We have to live together after the wedding. Like, a night or two here and there wouldn’t hurt, especially if there was a good reason, but I’m going right up into the mountains. You have to come.”

“And what if I refuse?”

“Then you have to go before the alphas to be judged. Considering the meeting I went to today, some of the higher- ranking wolves are just itching for any excuse to fuck over a witch.”

Her expression changes immediately, the usual warm blue of her eyes turning steely and cold. “What do you mean by that?”

“Not all the elders are happy about this arrangement,” I say. “Let’s leave it at that for now. But I have to go—I promised the youngsters. And if you don’t come, any judgment they put on you also applies to me.”

“Fuck!” Amanda cries. “Are you serious?”

“Completely.”

“When do we leave?”

“Four in the morning, I’m afraid.”

“Jesus, Body!”

“I know. There’s really nothing I can do about it.”

She glares at me, and I wish I could shrink into the floor to get away from her icy gaze. I’d forgotten that her warm, tropical blue eyes could change to slate gray when she’s pissed off.

Used to scare the fuck out of me. Still does.

“Well, I’d better shower and go to bed,” she says. “I’m only going to get a few hours’ sleep as it is.”

“Yeah. Like I said, I’m sorry. Can I make you something to eat?”

“No, it’s fine. I just want to rest. I can’t believe you’re making me do this, Body.”

“I can’t let my charges down,” I say firmly. “I'd like you to meet them, anyway. It’s kind of what I do now.”

“You’re a role model?”

“And a teacher.”

Her face softens a bit, but she doesn’t say anything. When she takes off down the hallway, I move out of her way and head back to my end of the house.

I find it almost impossible to sleep. My bones feel electrified, and my blood runs hot. When I do sleep, I fall into short, vivid dreams full of violence and screaming.

One of them is so real, I claw my way free of it, gasping and sweating as I shake myself awake. Once my eyes are open and I’m sitting on the edge of the bed, I realize I can still hear the screams.

I bolt for Amanda’s room, expecting the worst. Fear collides with fury in my chest, leaving my mind crystal-clear as my body throbs with adrenaline.

What if Decker’s pack has come for her?

I’ll kill anyone who touches my mate!

When I get there, she’s lying in bed, but she’s not peacefully asleep. The blankets and sheets are twisted around her body, and she’s thrashing around, moaning and crying out.

She’s having a nightmare, too.

“Hey, Amanda. Wake up.”

I try gently tapping her shoulder, but she’s in too deep. I end up shaking her until her eyes fly open, so wide that they are white, her pupils tiny spots amongst the sea of blue-green.

“Body!” she exclaims. “I saw, I saw—”

“It’s okay, you’re safe now. It was just a dream.”

“It wasn’t a dream,” she counters. “It was history. I saw wolves… wolves fighting witches.”

Her words bring my dream back to me in detail. The confusing, violent images fall into a pattern, and a cold shiver runs through me as I realize we had the same dream.

“Come on,” I say gently. “We should get ready to go, anyway.”

“Okay,” she agrees, nodding. “I’ll get dressed and pack a bag.”

I meet her out the front a few minutes later. On our way to the camping ground, I get breakfast for us as well as a giant box of donuts for the kids. When we pull into the parking lot, I can see the small group already waiting for us.

Grace and Marty are from New Hope, and Nick and Dawn are from Silverton. I’m surprised to see they still came after the issues between the packs. Their parents seem friendly enough, but I notice that they leave before they have to interact with Amanda.

She greets the kids, handing out donuts. All of them are around eleven years old and pretty confident in their abilities.

This is their first test, though. Survival 101.

“Okay, guys, listen up!” I say. “I want every single one of you at the first crest of the mountain by the time the sun comes up, got it?”

“It’s too far!” Grace protests. “We’ll never make it.”

“Not with that attitude,” I chide her, laughing. “Don’t worry, Amanda is going to take your stuff and set up a nice camp for us.”

“I am?” Amanda asks, then chuckles. “I mean, yeah. I am.”

“Okay,” I say. “Let’s go!”

While the others strip and shift, I pile up their gear on a little snowmobile I have in the truck and lower it to the ground.

“You remember how to ride one of these?” I ask Amanda.

“I sure do,” she says, “but it’s been a while.”

“You’ll do fine. I’ll come back to check on you soon. Choose a good place for a camp. I don’t really mind where, so long as it’s in the first tree break.”

“You got it,” she says, getting onto the snowmobile. I turn and run after the kids, shifting in one smooth leap as I chase them down and overtake them with ease.

Wow, I feel stronger than before… faster, bigger, more powerful.

It’s so significant that I have to slow myself down a lot so the kids can keep up. My goal is to show them how to use the environment to their advantage instead of taking on the mountain as an obstacle.

Soon, all of them catch on, even Grace. They use slopes, water courses, and fallen trees to cover more ground using less energy, and as they run, they start to display ingenuity that is completely unique to each of them.

When Marty passes me by diving under a low hedge that I decided to jump, I bark and yip excitedly as I follow right on his heels. Dawn leaps from a nearby outcrop of rock and almost shoulders me out of the way in her haste to reach the peak. Nick is pounding along behind us, running for all he’s worth.

Where’s Grace?

With a triumphant howl, Grace comes sliding down the slope above us, riding a small avalanche that takes her right to the peak in one swift jump. She leaps around as the first light of dawn caresses the mountain behind her.

“I won!” she cheers after shifting back so she can punch her fist into the air. “That was awesome!”

“You barely beat me,” Marty gasps, trying to get his breath back. “It was almost a tie.”

“Almost, but not quite,” Grace laughs.

“I’m just happy to see all of us getting into the competitive spirit,” I say. “You all displayed a lot of intelligence and courage in that run.”

“So, what next?” Nick asks. “I hear that you make us jump in frozen lakes naked and take down full-grown elk with our bare hands.”

I laugh loudly, shaking my head. “Who told you that?”

“It’s what the older kids told us,” Dawn says nervously. “We don’t have to do that, do we?”

“No,” I answer, chuckling. “Well, at least not on this trip. Let’s head back and see if Amanda has set up camp yet. Can you track her?”

All the kids shift and head back into the woods. They alternate between having their noses high and dropping down low, and I’m impressed by their instincts and how easily they follow them.

Amanda’s scent isn’t difficult for me to track at all. I know exactly how far away she is and which direction to take. I feel like she could be on the other side of the earth, and I'd still know exactly where to find her.

Maybe it’s just my determination to never let her go again, not a magical bond.

I follow the youngsters, letting them get lost and argue with each other for a bit. We track in the wrong direction for a mile or two before Marty realizes it’s a false trail, and everyone groans as they have to try and pick up the scent again.

Finally, we make it to the edge of the clearing where Amanda is setting up camp. She’s got a decent fire going, and is putting up the tents.

All of us watch in silence as she puts one of the tents on the ground and waves her hand. To our astonishment, the tent puts itself up.

“What the…” Marty whispers. “I heard they had powers, but I didn’t know they were this awesome.”

“Yeah,” Grace says wistfully. “I wish I could do that!”

In that moment, I realize that if we want Decker to accept witches, the answer could lie in the younger generation.

If they are raised with witches, then they’ll know that they aren’t evil, and we can all live in peace.

“Let’s go,” I say, urging them forward. “I’ll let you have a rest before I dunk you in a frozen lake.”

The kids giggle as we shift and cross the clearing. Amanda is ready with blankets and cups of hot chocolate. The kids gather around the fire, and I’m surprised when Amanda hurries over to me with a blanket and wraps it around my shoulders.

“Hi,” she whispers.

“Hi,” I answer, chuckling. “You seem to be in a better mood.”

“It’s really nice up here,” she says, holding the edges of the blanket and wrapping it tightly around me. “I just feel… at peace, I guess.”

“I’m not complaining,” I reply, amazed that she’s still standing so close to me.

Amanda grins, ruffling my hair. “You might, once you start to get sick of me.”

“I never will!” I protest, my voice hushed. “Amanda, for fuck’s sake… don’t you know how much I’ve missed you?”

Her eyes darken, and she pulls away.

Dammit, I’ve fucked up again.

“I don’t want to hear it, Body,” she snarls. “You dumped me, remember?”

“Yeah, I do,” I say miserably.

Amanda shakes her head, turning her back on me to go back to the fire.

I watch her chatting with the kids, handing out snacks and laughing and joking with them.

I’d give anything to have her be so comfortable with me.

The thought is a painful one. I had her love and trust once—and I was the one who destroyed it.

I have no one to blame but myself.