Page 9 of Plus-Size Bullied Mate

My wolf rises to the surface instantly, gnawing at the edges of my restraint.

Kill him.

The thought isn’t rational. Instead, it’s pure animal fury coursing through my bloodstream hard enough to provoke my shift, but I keep it down just long enough for him to see me directly.

Hayes notices me first, and his eyes widen slightly.

I hit him before he even opens his mouth, cracking my fist against his jaw. The impact sends him flying sideways into a tree hard enough to crack the bark, and he hits the ground with a groan.

Tessa gasps sharply behind me as I put myself between them, but I don’t look at her yet.

Hayes snarls when he regains his bearings and lunges up immediately, alpha blood surging aggressively through his scent.

Normally, I’d calculate and assess to control the fight as well as I can, but that isn’t an option tonight. Even if I should be restrained, I want blood.

Hayes barely manages to block my first punch before the second caves into his ribs with enough force to stagger him backward. He shifts partially, claws slicing toward my throat, but I catch his wrist and slam him into the ground.

Hayes twists instinctively, managing to throw me off long enough to get back to his feet. Blood drips from his mouth while hatred burns in his eyes, but his lips curl into an amused grin as he laughs breathlessly.

“So aggressive over this one, huh?” He taunts, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. “She’s nobody.”

Something savage tears loose inside me, and it doesn’t make much sense to me.

I haven’t thought about Tessa in years. At least, I forced myself to keep her out of my mind, which she made easy enough most days.

She kept to herself after her parents’ disgrace, the pack mostly avoided her, and I left for the military not long after.

But now, all I can think about is the urge to maul Hayes for even looking in her direction.

I slam into him again with enough force to drive him through a fallen log, and as expected, he snarls before initiating his shift.

My wolf responds in kind, allowing my body to change just like it’s been begging to.

Kill him, kill him, kill him—

I barely feel Hayes’s claws rake across my shoulder as we trade blows while those same words repeat in my mind again and again. The pain disappears beneath adrenaline instantly, and I focus on the instincts driving me forward.

Even if Tessa isn’t supposed to mean anything to me.

Chapter 3 - Tessa

I can’t stop staring at the blood on Hunter’s hands while he stands in front of me.

It drips slowly from his knuckles onto the wet forest floor while Hayes struggles to breathe several feet away, and the scent of violence saturates the air so thickly it sticks to the back of my throat.

Everything happened too fast.

One second, Hayes had me pinned, and the next, Hunter exploded out of the trees like something completely feral.

I’ve seen wolves fight before, whether due to pack disputes, training matches, or challenges for dominance. But this is different.

He fought Hayes like he wanted to destroy him, and that realization sends a chill through me.

Hayes coughs harshly from where he’s half-crumpled against a shattered log, beaten down from the impact of their fight. Blood streaks down his chin while one eye begins to swell. Even now, with Hunter towering over him and radiating pure alpha dominance, resentment still burns in his expression.

“You’re making a mistake,” Hayes growls.

Hunter looks terrifying. Genuinely, bone-chillingly terrifying as he stares down at him. “You made the mistake the moment you crossed into my territory.”