Page 77 of Plus-Size Sold Mate
Without warning, they both crash into it. One recovers quickly, standing on somewhat shaky legs before regrouping and lunging low. I pivot, pulling roots from the earth to ensnare his body and yank him down with a yelp.
The smell of blood fills the air, but I can’t tell whose it is. Not with so much happening at once.
It’s all a blur of bodies and my magic signatures in the air around us, and I don’t dare allow myself to look at Luke yet. If I do, I know I’ll falter.
So I focus on the wolves in front and behind me, doing everything I can to force them back without running out of steam. The last thing I need is to come up short.
Just as I send another wolf tumbling back against a tree, I catch the hitched breath behind me, followed by a ripple of fear, and I stop when I see her.
Naia.
For half a second, I’m back in Wraith Peak, caught in a conversation with her that seems innocent at first, only to unravel into another humiliation ritual. I see that cruel smile in the back of my mind, the same one that always reminded me of how little I mattered on a personal level.
Regardless of how she was never physically aggressive to me, the way she looked at me was enough.
Still, something in me always wanted to believe she wasn’t as bad as the others. At least, I wanted to think she had it in her to change if she really wanted to. Above all else, she’s loyal to her father, and in many ways, blinded by it.
While Hayes follows in Dawson’s venomous ways completely, she always seemed to want to do right in his eyes, but didn’t follow through as if her heart wasn’t fully in it. Though her blind faith has pushed her to be nasty when it counts, and I won’t deny that.
And now, Naia’s expression looks even colder than I remember, and more importantly, her arms are wrapped tightly around Eve’s shoulders while holding a knife against her chest.
The blade gleams in the light like a silent warning, and even if it looks normal, I can smell it from here. It’s laced with wolfsbane.
If enough gets into her system, her healing will slow, and she may not be able to flush it out in time.
Stiff in her grasp, Eve’s eyes are wide and frantic as a strangled sound escapes her. She looks at me, and I nearly stumble.
From behind me, I sense one of the wolves behind me—Zane, I think. While he doesn’t move, I sense something strangely like recognition moving through him, and I catch the low noise that escapes him.
Naia’s gaze hardens as it slides to him, and she tightens her grip on Eve in response. Then, with a subtle look of disgust, she scoffs bitterly and pulls her attention away from him.
Whether they know each other or not, I don’t care. I can’t. Not while Luke’s sister, and one of the only friends I’ve ever had, is being threatened right in front of me.
“Don’t,” Naia says sharply the moment I step forward.
Reluctantly, I stay where I am, magic still humming around me to keep the others back. I hold her gaze, seeing the calculation unfolding within it.
“Take another step, and she dies,” she utters, scowling at me.
Part of me wants to throw caution to the wind and put myself between them, but with the blade so close, I can’t risk it. It would only take one push to ruin this all.
So I don’t. Even as the chaos around us unfolds, and even while Luke fights Dawson, it dulls to a distant roar.
Like she’s using Eve as a shield, Naia shifts her grip, but she doesn’t look away from me. “My father warned us you weren’t to be trusted…he told us your magic was unpredictable, but all we had to do was harness it. Now I see the unpredictable part isn’t your powers at all.”
“What, because I managed to stay gone?” I ask, tone strained.
Her jaw tightens. “It was all supposed to be simple. You weren’t supposed to run, but since you did, this ambush was meant to be clean, in and out. And now you’re surprising me all over again.”
Something in me wants to laugh, but I don’t. “You really thought I’d go quietly after everything.”
She doesn’t say anything at first, and I know it’s because she really did, and now, she looks like the foolish one.
They all thought I’d still be the quiet one. The one who endured in silence and went along with everything to keep from being a target. But I don’t have that luxury anymore.
Instead, Naia’s eyes flick briefly to where Luke and Dawson are clashing and snapping at each other with such ferocity, I can feel it in my bones. “Call him off.”
My brows furrow. “What?”
