Page 16 of Plus-Size Sold Mate
On one hand, having her here could be incredibly dangerous, given how she’s likely volatile to some degree. On the other hand, this could be a good thing. She could be the proof I’ve been needing all along.
A living, breathing testament to the fact that magic can be contained and guided, even weaponized if needed. It can be helpful, rather than destructive.
And if she’s bound to me, then no one can claim her without facing me directly. No one can isolate or experiment on her, like Dawson was surely planning to.
The plan forms in my head before I’ve meticulously built it, and before I’ve had the chance to revise it, but this doesn’t feel like something I can sleep on.
“You’re not going back there.”
Sera just looks at me with her brows slightly knit together, visibly enduring whiplash from me. “Then what?”
“We’re getting married.”
The words leave me before I can fully bear the weight of them, well aware of how insane it sounds, but I can’t bring myself to care right now.
Her eyes widen before her expression drops. “What?”
“We’ll get it done quickly. It will be public, recognized, and nobody will question you,” I tell her, as if that will make it better. “Dawson won’t contest a mated female without challenging me directly, and he can’t afford that.”
She doesn’t say anything for a long moment, but the subtle changes in her features speak for her. Finally, she shakes her head and narrows her gaze. “You’re using me.”
The accusation stings, but I know she isn’t entirely wrong.
“To some degree. But I’m also trying to protect you.”
“Protect me?” Sera asks with complete disbelief. “You just threatened to send me back if I didn’t cooperate.”
Pulling in a breath, I try to hide how the reminder bothers me. “I needed the truth, and I won’t apologize for protecting my pack. Or you.”
She scoffs. “I don’t need you to protect me.”
“On this island, in this current state, you do,” I murmur, annoyed that it’s the truth. “You don’t have to trust me, but this is for your own good.”
Sera’s stare carries the weight of personal betrayal, and I don’t doubt that is exactly how she’s feeling.
“I won’t marry you,” she utters.
“You will if the alternative is Wraith Peak.”
Her face goes as cold as stone, well aware of the quiet threat woven in. And there it is…the hatred.
“You’re just like them,” Sera says, loud enough for me to hear clearly, but quiet enough to be cutting. “I hate you.”
The kitchen goes painfully still then, and even with her spitting those words at me, I can still feel a subtle pull to her. It’s almost magnetic and insistent, and it scares the shit out of me, unlike most things.
This weird instinct driving me to keep her as mine shouldn’t be the thing guiding me right now, but it’s too big for me to ignore.
She could be the bridge. The leverage and catalyst. She could be more than a runaway if she ever finds it within herself to look past the insanity of my plan.
Before I can say anything, Sera turns and leaves the kitchen with force behind her steps. I don’t bother chasing after her as she goes, finding myself in the silent room all alone now.
I know all of this is sudden and reckless, and half-baked at best, but I can’t shake the certainty clinging inside my chest.
With Dawson circling, the elders resisting my bid for change, and the pressure of knowing my dad is always watching, I need a miracle.
Even if Sera doesn’t see it, that miracle might just be her.
Chapter 5 - Sera
