Page 67 of Plus-Size Sold Mate
“I can handle myself.”
“I know you can,” I tell her.
“Then why do you act like I can’t?” she returns, quieter and more reserved, despite how every word hits me. “You snapped at them. They were afraid of you.”
“They were disrespecting you.”
She forces a breath through her nose, but it comes out more shaky than grounded. “I’m used to it.”
That only makes my chest hurt more. “And you shouldn’t be. That’s why I’m trying to correct them.”
“None of this is new for me,” she says, unable to hide the signs of defeat from her eyes. “I’ve survived my old pack and Wraith Peak. I’ve survived worse.”
“I don’t want you to just survive here. I want you to be safe and not feel so alienated.”
With a slow breath, Sera shakes her head. “You can’t force belief, Luke. It doesn’t matter how hard you try.”
The fact that her pessimism comes from such a real, lived place only deepens my frustration. None of this should be her reality.
“I can enforce respect.”
“You can, but that doesn’t mean they’ll change their minds,” she murmurs, pulling away with slumped shoulders.
I know that, but it still doesn’t make the anger go away.
Standing there a moment longer, I watch as she begins for the house while the truth of it all threatens to pull me under.
The pack is divided by those who see Sera’s magic as an asset and those who wish she had never set foot in our territory. The doubters question my leadership quietly, far too similar to my father’s silence.
Even when he doesn’t speak during gatherings, I can already anticipate what he’s thinking. And I can only imagine the thoughts crossing his mind now.
He’ll see this as nothing short of failure. He’ll take this as proof that he’s right about everything.
Still, regardless of his negativity or those who can’t look past their preconceived notions of magic use, I know that I chose Sera. The Salt Mother witnessed us, and she allowed for this pregnancy to happen.
It doesn’t matter how difficult the path ahead is. I will make them see her the way I do.
Chapter 23 - Sera
It’s not a secret how they look at me.
Sometimes it’s a subtle tone shift in conversation when I pass, or the occasional glance thrown in my direction without uttering a word to me. It’s in the hesitation before someone greets me, or the stiffness in their posture, like they’re afraid I’ll detonate if they get too close.
I feel it like a film over my skin that I can’t wash off, but in many ways, it’s familiar to me.
I’m used to being ostracized, regardless of how painful it is to acknowledge.
Luke has been firm, especially with the others who have outwardly expressed concern over me being around. Ever since the announcement, he’s doubling down in every way, in every interaction. He keeps me close, dominating the space when anyone so much as looks at me wrong.
He’s trying, and I know that, but it doesn’t completely shake the blame either.
In their eyes, I’m the reason Wraith Peak has been circling. It’s my magic that has divided them, and they think the baby growing inside me is some kind of demon sent to punish them.
Pressing a hand to my stomach, I can’t feel anything yet, but I’m hyper-aware of every small change in my body. The nausea reminds me each morning of the situation I’ve found myself in, and the sudden exhaustion that creeps in later on reminds me again. In every way, I feel stretched so thin, and knowing I’m the most controversial person here, all because of something I can’t help, only makes it worse.
I’m supposed to be happy, and while part of me is, the bigger part is just so tired.
It’s the early evening when I move through the trees near the house, accompanied by the gentle breeze and the smell of damp earth around me.
