Page 6 of The Alpha’s Forced Plus-Size Mate (Silverfang Creek Wolves #3)

The first thing I noticed when I burst out of the front door was that it was hot as hell. The second was that I wished I was wearing more than an oversized sleep shirt and a pair of loose fabric shorts. The heat clung to my skin almost instantly, and the porch creaked under my weight as I sprinted barefoot out of the safehouse and into the yard. Beneath my feet, the grass was cool and still covered in the morning dew, but I barely noticed. All I cared about was that each step brought me closer to the shaded green woods in the near distance.

I didn’t think about where I was going or the fact that I’d never even set foot in this town before, let alone the woods around it—I just went. Escape was the only thing on my mind.

Danny had to be behind me somewhere, but I hadn’t heard him yet, and I felt a shot of victory as soon as I crossed from the manicured lawn and into the forest. The cool soil turned to rough patches of pine needles and jagged roots, biting into my feet as I darted between the trees. My breath came fast, ragged, and my wolf stirred restlessly, her need rising in my mind.

The temptation clawed at me. It had been so long since I let her free, since I felt the earth under her paws, the wind slicing through her fur. Even if I was running to escape, it was still nice in a way. Cathartic, after the day I had yesterday. The excitement of it throbbed beneath my fear, cleansing and distracting.

But I wasn’t running for fun. I was running because Danny wanted to marry me ‘for my own good’, and he wanted to do so as soon as possible. The prospect made my stomach sink. My life was spiraling out of control so fast, and I couldn’t figure out how to stop it.

He thought he could own me. Well, I’ll show him.

Focus, Naomi. Focus.

The woods grew darker the deeper I went, the air heavy with the scent of moss and damp earth. Sweat dripped down my back, sticking the thin fabric of my t-shirt to my skin. The humidity felt like a second layer, clinging and suffocating, but I didn’t stop.

Then I heard it—the low, haunting sound of a howl in the distance. It sounded so familiar to me, and something in my soul stirred at the sound. It was a warning but also a call home.

I moved forward again, slower this time, careful not to trip over the underbrush. My breaths came shallow and fast, and my legs burned from the strain. I didn’t know where I was anymore. The trees all looked the same, their thick trunks and gnarled branches stretching endlessly in every direction. I was dying to just sit for a moment, catch my breath, and let some of the sweat evaporate from my skin. But there was no time. He was close. I could feel it.

Feel it and hear it, apparently. There it was, the snap of a twig. I spun, my heartbeat pounding in my ears. Someone—or something—was coming, feet crunching in the underbrush.

My wolf surged again, but I held her back. If I gave in to the change, I don’t know what I would do. I’m sure the Red Canines wouldn’t be thrilled if I mauled one of their wolves to escape, let alone the Alpha. I was afraid that was what it would come to. I felt backed into a corner.

Then I saw it.

A black shape against the green of the trees stalked forward—a massive wolf, his coat the color of midnight, markings like a snow-white scarf around his neck. He moved with a cool confidence and didn’t even look winded from the chase. An Alpha, no doubt about it.

It was Danny. He had caught me.

“Just let me go,” I begged. “Please let me go. I don’t belong here.”

Danny huffed once, and then he charged.

I tried to run, but my legs betrayed me, stumbling over a root. I hit the ground hard, the air rushing out of my lungs in a startled gasp. Before I could scramble to my feet, the wolf was on me, its massive paws pinning me down by the shoulders.

Hot breath fanned against my neck, the scent of earth and musk overwhelming my senses. Then, underneath it, the addicting scent of sandalwood. Wolf and man, all mixed into one. My wolf perked up in interest, but the human part of me was terrified.

He leaned closer, a growl building in his chest. It was so deep that I could feel it through his paws. I couldn’t tell if the shiver running down my spine was from fear or something else entirely.

Slowly, he lowered himself down till he was almost entirely lying on me. The warmth of his fur was against my bare legs and arms, and the strong, steady beat of his heart was against my chest. This was the power of the Alpha, calming me even when I wanted to scream, even when I should be panicking—because the wolf on top of me was also that man who wanted to force me into a marriage.

“Danny,” I whispered, barely more than a breath.

The wolf’s growl softened, but he didn’t move. He nudged his nose against my neck, and before my brain could even catch up, I was reaching to run my fingers through his fur. It was nice, soft and clean. The adrenaline was starting to drain out, and a warm, inevitable helplessness was taking its place. He had me. What was the point in fighting it?

My body and the wolf within were desperate to submit. And it terrified me.

No , I told myself, forcing the warmth away. Don’t be excited. Be afraid!

But my body betrayed me, trembling not from terror but from something far more dangerous. The thrill of the chase, the heat of his gaze, the way he’d hunted me down like I was the only thing that mattered in the world—it stirred something in me I hadn’t felt in years.

I didn’t feel normal. I felt wanted.

My wolf stirred, too, not with defiance but with quiet curiosity. She liked this. Liked him. The traitor.

Stop it! I snapped at her, but the only answer I got was a silent growl of amusement from the most primal part of me.

“Fine. Well done,” I relented. “You managed to catch a barefoot woman running in strange territory. What a big victory for you.”

I couldn’t tell exactly, but it seemed to me like the small yip he gave was amused. I heard his tail swish in the leaves behind us.

“Let me go.” I pleaded again, but this time even I could hear the weariness in my own voice. “You’ve caught me twice, but that doesn’t mean I’m yours.”

For a moment, Danny didn’t move, simply looking down at me with storm-gray eyes. Then, with surprising grace, he raised up and moved off of me. But even though his body was gone, his gaze and the warmth that it was raising in me remained.

I sat up and brushed the dirt from my legs, trying and failing to look away. “You don’t get to decide for me, you know.”

Danny didn’t respond right away. Instead, he took a few steps away and shifted back to his human form in a blur of motion, and there he was—Danny, the man, standing tall and unapologetic, his eyes still burning with that same intensity.

Naked, of course. But I wasn’t going to look down below his collarbone. I wasn’t. Damn, though, even everything from the collarbone up was gorgeous.

“You can keep running, Naomi,” he said, his voice sure. Like he knew the future, and all of my protesting was just a waste of time. “But trust me, I’m fast as hell, and I’ve got stamina for days.

Then he was reaching out his arm, offering to help me up from the forest floor. Despite my better judgment, I took it, and he’s hoisting me up as though I weighed nothing. He moved too fast, and a sharp pain lanced through my shoulder.

“Ow!” I hissed, wincing.

Danny froze, his grip loosening instantly. “Shit. Sorry. Did I hurt you?”

His voice was soft, with worry driving away some of the normally present intimidation. He pulled me closer, his strong arms wrapping around me as though he could hold me together. Danny was rock solid, much taller than I am, and my head naturally slotted into his neck. Oh, he smelled so wonderful, almost mouthwatering. My eyes fluttered shut, and for a heartbeat, I let myself pretend that this thing with him was something I could really have. We stood stock still as the warmth of his body seeped into mine, any twinge of discomfort in my shoulder long forgotten. There was comfort in it, but also something much more dangerous. Danny made me feel, made me burn with—

Desire.

Danny held me like something precious to him, his Alpha energy radiating. I’d been around the Silverfang Creek Alpha, of course, but being the center of an Alpha’s attention was something else entirely. I wanted to nuzzle his neck and put my lips on the place where I could feel his heart beating. All of a sudden, it mattered so much less that he chased me down or that he had me kidnapped. Belonging to him would be oh so easy.

What little bit of my logical mind that was still working railed against these desires, and I opened my mouth to once again tell Danny to let me go. But when I glanced up at him, the words caught in my throat, unable to escape.

His face was so close, the intensity in his dark eyes enough to drown me. His jaw was tight, but his expression shuttered as he looked at me, his gaze flicking between my eyes and my lips.

“Naomi,” he said, putting worlds into that single word.

And then he kissed me.

It wasn't cautious or hesitant; it was overwhelming and urgent, as if he had been holding back for far too long and could no longer contain himself. His lips were pressing against mine with a consuming need that left me breathless.

For a moment, I let him. I don't think there was enough willpower on the planet to make me pull away immediately. For a moment, everything narrowed down to the pinpoint of Danny’s lips, the way he tasted like coffee, and the sharp pine-needle scent of the forest around us.

It made me weak, but I let it happen, a glutton for punishment. I imagined him pulling me to the ground, peeling my pajamas off—

But I couldn’t have it. I was being a stupendous sort of idiot.

I managed to grasp onto a single thread of logic and pulled. It caused reality to pour over me like ice water, and before I could fall back down into the haze of desire once more, I put my hands on his bare chest and pushed. “No!”

Danny stumbled back, letting himself be moved by me, even though I knew he could have held his place if he really wanted to. He stood there, his chest heaving, his eyes searching mine with a mix of frustration and hurt.

“I can’t,” I explained, speaking not just to Danny but to myself. “This is crazy. We don’t even know each other. I can’t!”

Danny’s jaw worked, an argument forming, but I watched as he swallowed it down and shook his head. He crossed his arms, the muscles there bunching.

“You can fight it all you want, Naomi,” he said quietly. “But you’re mine. You’re just trying to delay the inevitable.” Then he waved his hand back toward the way we came. “Go on. Back to the boarding house. I’ll let you have this victory, but don’t mistake me. We’re mates. We belong together.”

I turned away, my cheeks heated and my lips still tingling from his kiss. It was easier now that I didn’t have to see him standing there, naked and strong, vibrating with how much he wanted me. No one has ever wanted me. Danny seemed so sure that we’d be mated sooner rather than later, and as I set off back toward the house, there was a maddening voice inside me that whispered he was right.