Page 60 of Fat Forced Mate

It strikes first, lunging with supernatural speed. I sidestep, but not quite fast enough. Claws rake my shoulder, opening fresh tracks beside an earlier wound. The pain barely registers through the haze of protective fury.

I feint right, then dart left, teeth finding purchase in its foreleg. The taste of corruption floods my mouth again, worse this time, like drinking liquid decay. I tear away flesh but don'tlet it slow me, ducking under a retaliatory snap that would have taken my ear.

The Alpha is strong but predictable. Its corrupted movements, unnerving and jerky, unintentionally telegraph its attacks. I use this, anticipating each lunge, each bite. We slam together again, rolling across the clearing in a tangle of teeth and claws and furious growls.

I feel ribs crack under a powerful blow from its paw. Pain lances through me, white-hot and sharp, but I push through it, finding an opening as the Alpha overextends. My jaws lock around its throat, fangs piercing deep into the corruption-tainted flesh.

It thrashes, trying to dislodge me. I hold on, teeth sinking deeper, blood filling my mouth. The corrupted magic in its blood burns like acid, but I don't let go. I can't. Luna is watching, Luna is depending on me, Luna needs me to end this.

With a final, savage twist, I tear out the Alpha's throat.

The massive body convulses once, twice, then goes still. I stand over it, panting, blood—both mine and its—dripping from my muzzle. For a moment, battle-haze clouds my vision. Then I remember why I'm here.

Luna.

I turn toward where she lies near the ward marker, relief washing through me as I see her pushing herself to her knees. She's alive. She's safe now.

Except she isn't.

A figure steps from the shadows behind her—a Cheslem wolf in human form, though "human" seems a generous description. His face is gaunt, features twisted by the samecorruption that affected the shifted wolves. His eyes glow that unnatural red, and his smile reveals teeth filed to points.

I lunge forward, but I'm too far away, too slow after the brutal fight with the Alpha.

The human-form wolf's boot connects with Luna's back, driving her face-first into the ground.

Her scream of pain slices through me like a blade. She throws her head back, hands scrabbling in the dirt, calling for me.

"Nic! The baby!"

Time seems to stop. The baby?

The baby?

Understanding crashes over me in a single, perfect moment of clarity that seems to halt the world from its endless spinning. The change in her scent. The subtle differences in her behavior. The way she's been protecting her abdomen. Luna is pregnant.

With my child.

The revelation detonates something primal inside me. My wolf takes complete control, consciousness submerged beneath pure, animal rage. There's no strategy, no thought—just the overwhelming need to destroy the threat to my mate and unborn child.

I don't remember crossing the distance between us. Don't remember the killing blow. There's only red haze and the feeling of flesh yielding beneath my jaws, the sound of screaming cut abruptly short, the hot spray of blood.

When awareness returns, I'm standing over the mangled remains of what was once a man, my muzzle and chest soaked incrimson. The coppery taste of blood mingles with the chemical burn of corruption. The wrongness of it brings me back to myself, to the moment, to what matters.

Luna.

She's curled on her side near the ward marker, arms wrapped protectively around her midsection, tears streaking her dirt-smudged face. I shift back to human form, the change coming slower now, hampered by injury and exhaustion. Pain floods my awareness as bones realign, wounds stretching across changing skin, but I ignore it.

I stumble to her side, dropping to my knees beside her.

"Luna," I rasp, voice rough from the shift. "Luna, look at me."

Her eyes open, glazed with pain and fear. "Nic," she whispers. "The baby—"

"I know." My hands hover over her, afraid to touch, afraid of causing more pain. "How long have you known?"

"Three weeks." Her voice breaks. "Since Shadow Creek. I was going to tell you after the mating ceremony. I was afraid—"

"Shh." I finally reach for her, gathering her gently into my arms. She comes willingly, burying her face against my chest. I can feel her trembling. "You're safe now. Both of you."

---