Page 21 of Plus-Size Sold Mate
“We should go to the cabin before it gets late,” I tell her, trying to keep my reactions to her at bay. “It’s a walk.”
Her brows pinch together. “Staying in your house isn’t enough?”
“It’s tradition. Every couple stays there after the ceremony.”
“We’re not a couple,” she says firmly, tone biting.
That digs in deeper than I care to admit, but I can’t let her see that it’s getting to me. It shouldn’t, even if part of me hasbeen looking forward to this stage of my life for years, and yet, it looks nothing like I hoped it would.
“According to the pack and our customs, we are,” I murmur, gesturing for her to follow.
With great reluctance and obvious anger coiling inside her, Sera walks with me as we trek through the uneven ground before reaching soft sand. It becomes more compact the farther out we go, making it easier to move across.
Once I’m close enough for our shoulders to almost brush, she veers away just enough to be noticeable, and the rejection stings.
Finding her that night in the clearing, I never set out to care about her.
When I purchased her freedom from those Wraith Peak vultures, it was meant to be strategic and protective, and that’s it.
With more context now about who she is, I imagine she could’ve protected and provided for herself just fine if I had let her go after she rested. I claimed to be keeping her out of worse hands and under my protection.
While that isn’t untrue, the attraction I felt became an inconvenient complication, and that’s especially the case now.
I’ve always prided myself on being able to stay composed under pressure and being able to get a job done regardless of what’s being asked of me. But after enduring that ceremony and seeing how effortlessly perfect she looked throughout, I feel like I’m hanging on by a thread.
Before long, the retreat comes into view once we round another bend in the cliff path. The cabin is built on a sturdy, tiered deck above the water that leads out to a fairly long dock.It’s owned and maintained by the pack, all for this kind of occasion, or any other approved event.
Calling it a cabin might be underselling it a bit, given how it’s two stories with an A-frame and enough bay windows to give a nearly uninterrupted view of the sea from every angle. Even if it’s meant for couples, there’s enough space for a few extra rooms, two separate sitting areas, and a generous kitchen.
Sera stops just as we get inside, shoulders stiffening like she just stepped into a trap as she takes her place.
It smells like cedar and salt like usual, and when I close the door behind us, it echoes almost too loudly in the otherwise quiet space.
Now, it’s just us. The two of us, in a romantic cabin, meant to give in to our new bond and take full advantage of just how charged it can be.
While that connection pulls even now, like a thread running from me to her that wants only contact and reassurance, I already know she’s in no place to accept it. And I know she feels it too, given how her jaw tightens.
I feel her eyes on me. “Tell me there’s more than one bed.”
“Yes, there is.”
“Then I’m sleeping in one of them,” she says firmly, taking a few steps to put more distance between us.
My wolf stirs under my skin at that, feeling restless at her tone and refusal to even give me a chance. Though I force myself to stay where I am. “Sera, the tradition—”
“I don’t care about tradition,” she throws back at me, eyes full of fury. “You talk about it like it’s something sacred, expecting me to follow it just because you do. It matters more to you than my autonomy.”
Every word feels like a slap to the face, but there is truth to it. I am pushing all of this onto her, but something in me just wants it to work.
I step closer before I can stop myself, and she retreats back several more.
“I didn’t buy you to own you. I did it to keep you safe. I don’t know how many times I have to say it for you to get that, but I’ll keep going if you need me to.”
She bristles. “If you claim all of this is coming from a good place, then why haven’t you asked me what I want? So far, nobody has.”
New and volatile, the bond trembles slightly between us as I try to keep every emotion under wraps.
I did this to protect her from Dawson and anyone else who might want to get their hands on her. I forced us both into this bond for everyone’s sake, but standing here now, I can’t help but wonder if I miscalculated something important.
