Page 69 of Plus-Size Bullied Mate

“But that’s just it. No matter how many times you and your friends think you can keep me down, I get back up. I fight, because that’s what I was made to do. I won’t submit,” he says, trying to conceal his buried frustration with a huffed laugh. He grits his teeth, arms out while he postures. “Let’s go then… alpha against alpha.”

Hayes drops into the shift first, allowing it to take over in a ripple of fur.

A beat later, my wolf reacts directly, and I do the same. Loud and immediate, it consumes me, and the wet ground moves subtly under my paws.

In this state, the storm’s residue is everywhere, both refreshing and potentially hazardous.

Hayes comes in low and fast from the right with the first impact, hitting my shoulder before I’ve fully oriented to the change in vision.

He’s fast, but I store that away and focus on him right in front of me.

Some of the other men shift in response to the fight, and right now, he has the numbers. He has them to bolster him and to offer the kind of backup any alpha would want in a time like this.

But aside from wolves, the ground is the problem.

The storm has turned the cliffside into a mess with saturated topsoil and slick grass that I struggle to find traction in. Every step requires an adjustment that wouldn’t otherwise be necessary in normal circumstances.

All in all, preventing it from tripping me up takes more of my attention than I like, but I’m not the only one.

Hayes has to adapt, too, but he’s lighter than I am, and he’s using the terrain as best as he can. He cuts sharp angles across the drier patches near the trees and forces me into the slick central ground where I have less of an advantage.

It’s a smart play, but I catch on soon enough to adjust.

When I pull back to avoid him, I catch a thick root with my front right paw, and he’s on my flank before I’ve recovered. His teeth find the muscle along my shoulder with enough force to catch my attention, and I turn into it rather than away despite the pain.

Using the contact to change the angle, I leverage my own weight against him, throwing him off his feet. It gives me time to recover, but not enough to give me a significant advantage.

In my periphery, I catch Dominic breaking through the trees at top speed, already shifted, and he hits the nearest Wraith Peak wolf with full commitment. As they both feel the impact, the arc of the wolves surrounding Tessa has a gap.

More of mine come into play now, forcing the others back when they emerge through the trees and snarl to catch their attention. Some break into smaller fights, while others push their way in to disrupt their attempt to isolate Tessa.

But Hayes doesn’t even look. Instead, he keeps his full attention on me.

That’s what I keep noticing as we go. He hits with an anger that has no tactical purpose or learned skill. Instead, it’s brutal, relentless, and more like he’s racing to land the most impact before I can get the chance to truly retaliate.

Every impact from him carries something personal and uncontrolled, and I know immediately that it’s the wounded pride of a man who understands on some level that he might lose something he can’t get back. To save face, he’s channeling that understanding into pure forward pressure.

He has nothing left to lose but the title, and he fights like it.

Taking a hit to the ribcage that I’ll surely feel for a while, I turn it into the slightest advantage and come over his back with my full weight. I drive him down into the saturated earth, feeling as the ground gives under us both. The mud and roots make the grapple complicated, and neither of us has a secure footing.

Still, he twists with desperate strength, back legs driving against the roots, and the playing field becomes frustratingly even.

But all the while I push, I think about Tessa standing at the cliff edge with her spine straight; I think about what he said about my father, along with the image it invokes.

I think about families like Brooke’s who depend on me to win and keep our territory secure. Even about the quieter wolves who might’ve been thinking all along that I’m just the son who’s weaker than his father because I haven’t been tested in the right ways.

Regardless of what anyone thinks, or of the pressures pushing down on me, I have a mate waiting for me to end this, and one who just wants to go home.

Chapter 27 - Tessa

Not only do I watch him bleed, but I also feel it in my own chest.

While the bond has let me feel and see glimpses of his emotions before, it has never felt this intense. At least, I’ve never been given this direct access before.

When Hayes lands a solid hit across Hunter’s flank, I feel the impact like I was the one hit. It isn’t the full range of pain necessarily, but more like the ghost of it. It instills a new kind of urgency in me, making me move anxiously on my paws.

I know Hunter can handle it. I’m watching him handle it with the calculated precision that comes from years of experience and having far too much to lose. He’s not winning cleanly, but he’s winning the important parts.