Page 30 of Plus-Size Sold Mate
Luke sighs and pokes at the fire with a stick stripped of bark. “I delayed the operation long enough to get them out.”
Dominic snorts. “You disobeyed a direct order. One that could’ve had our asses kicked out of there with one word.”
“You risked your position,” I murmur, feeling something new moving through me. “Why?”
Luke holds my gaze now, both serious and surprisingly more reserved, almost like he doesn’t want to take credit for doing something selfless. “Because they were defenseless, and I wasn’t going to watch them die because of us.”
The answer is so simple, yet undermining just how big a deal it was.
“We were all prepared to take the heat for it, but the higher-ups backed down when the press caught wind of civilian lives being saved,” Hunter adds, taking a swig from his drink.
“Heroism plays well in headlines,” Dominic says, but it lacks any real bravado. If anything, he sounds annoyed by it.
Luke huffs his quiet agreement, apparently sharing the same sentiment.
For a long moment, I try to envision Luke doing exactly that and disobeying orders out there. It’s hard to picture him being rebellious, given how closely he seems to abide by traditions and customs here. More so, it makes me feel like I’m seeing someone else right now, since that doesn’t fit the narrative I built of him in my mind.
I want to see him as a controlling Alpha who puts the pack before my autonomy and a man who prioritizes strategy over people. Seeing him relaxed around his friends, lacking sharp edges, isn’t the same version of him who negotiated my sale, or the one who forced me into becoming his mate.
Now, I have to consolidate that image of Luke with the one who pulls civilians out of war zones and goes against orders to do what’s right.
Confronting my own assumptions unsettles me, but I force them down so they don’t get to me.
Eventually, the conversation drifts into other stories about training mishaps, inside jokes, and Dominic returns his teasing to Eve, apparently over a failed hunting attempt.
“You screamed louder than the elk,” he says, as if it should be an obvious thing.
“I did not,” she argues, though her lips twitch at the corners while she tries to stifle a laugh.
“You absolutely did. You scared them off.”
“How was I supposed to know they’d be that close to the campsite? Usually, the game doesn’t come to you.”
The others laugh as Isaac struggles to breathe, and the sound washes everything in warmth. It’s chaotic and unfamiliar to me, and I’m missing some inside knowledge, but for a moment, I stop bracing myself.
Even if for just a short while, I forget I’m supposed to be angry, and I watch.
It’s all so unfamiliar to me, but in a way, the easy conversation is appealing too.
Then it all freezes the moment I feel it. The bond stirs again, but more than just a reflexive flutter, it’s like a gentle brush against my consciousness.
Sera.
I jerk slightly as my heart lurches, but I force myself to go still.
The voice wasn’t audible, yet it registered inside me like a voice next to mine, and it doesn’t take much for me to realize exactly who it was.
Looking up, I find Luke watching me from across the fire. He keeps his expression neutral, like he’s trying to keep this between us, but the smallest shift in his features gives away a quiet kind of concern.
Are you doing okay?
Somehow, the question comes out quieter than I expect, but the worry in it startles me just as much as the intrusion.
I went so long without feeling like a true wolf that I forgot all about mate mind links. It didn’t even register for me until now.
With the slightest hesitation, I reach back.You can’t just do that.
A small flicker of surprise crosses his face, followed by a note of sheepishness.Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.
