All Chapters of Bound by Fate: The Plus-Sized Fated Mate: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Chapter 22: AneiraThe cold air ripped through my lungs as I ran, snow breaking sharply beneath my boots while branches clawed at my sleeves and tangled in my hair. Every breath burned, every step jarred the crest hidden inside my coat, and somewhere behind me Lyra was still yelling loudly enough to convince half of Ashfang she’d broken herself in two.It had been completely ridiculous. It had also worked. She had stayed behind so I could escape, and now every step away from the Full Moon Grounds felt heavier than the last.The crest sat cold inside my coat pocket, pressing against my ribs with every stride. It felt far heavier than a piece of iron had any right to. Darius had been telling the truth after all. Sacred ground. Ancient stones. Patrols everywhere. The entire thing had been a disaster, and if I survived long enough to throw the crest back at him, I intended to make my opinion of his planning abundantly clear.By the time I reached the border ridge, my chest burned and the

Chapter 24: Kale The moment I stepped into the corridor, the Alpha Estate came alive. The messenger’s report had already outrun me, sending servants hurrying through the halls while runners broke into sprints toward the barracks.Somewhere beyond the stone walls, the first warning horn rolled across the mountain, its low, mournful note echoing through the valleys before another answered farther east.Then another.Ashfang was waking for war.The sound carried through every corridor of the estate as I strode toward the main courtyard, my pace steady despite the urgency pressing against every instinct beneath my skin. Wolves moved with practiced precision around me. No one panicked. Every wolf in the estate knew exactly where they belonged. They had trained for moments like this since they were old enough to stand.Snow drifted through the open gates, swirling between torchlight as another signal answered from somewhere along the eastern cliffs. Watchfires ignited one after another ac

Chapter 26: AneiraThe first thing I heard was glass clinking together.The second was the unmistakable scrape of claws against wood.I didn’t bother opening my eyes.“Hex,” I mumbled into my pillow, “if you’re about to knock over my rosemary again, I want you to know I’m choosing violence today.”Silence.For one glorious, suspicious heartbeat, there was only the soft crackle of dying embers in the hearth.Then came the crash.I sighed so deeply my lungs protested.“I gave you a chance.”Throwing back the blankets took considerably more effort than I liked to admit. Winter had settled comfortably over the mountain during the night, and the cold rushed beneath my nightdress the moment I sat upright, raising goosebumps across my skin. My joints objected immediately, as they always did before they remembered I expected them to function regardless.Across the room, Hex froze atop the kitchen shelf with all the innocence of a saint.The shattered clay pot beneath him suggested otherwise.

Chapter 28: AneiraHex was already halfway down the path.“You know,” I called after him, “one day I’d like to be the one deciding where we’re going.”He glanced over one shoulder.Then continued walking.“Rude.”Fresh snow had already begun covering the tracks we’d made that morning.The mountain was quieter now.The wind still whispered through the pines and snow still drifted lazily between their branches.Yet the forest somehow felt as though it were listening.I frowned.Somewhere there should have been the chatter of squirrels, the sharp cry of a hawk, the distant crack of branches beneath deer.Instead, there was nothing. Even Hex seemed to notice.His pace slowed.The carefree confidence with which he’d moved ahead all morning disappeared. His ears twitched toward the trees before swiveling forward again.“Hex?”He didn’t look back.I quickened my pace until I drew level with him.“What is it?”His tail had puffed slightly.The little furball who had spent the morning terrori

Chapter 30: Aneira By the time I reached the cottage, I could barely feel my hands.Every muscle in my body protested as I hauled the sled across the final stretch of snow toward the front door. My shoulders burned. My back ached. My legs had long since stopped asking whether I intended to keep going and had simply resigned themselves to the fact that I was apparently determined to drag a mountain of a man through half the mountain.The door refused to cooperate.I should have expected as much. I leaned the saplings against the wall with considerably less care than they deserved and fumbled with the key until my numb fingers finally managed to fit it into the lock.The moment the door swung open, the familiar warmth of the cottage washed over me. It barely reached beyond the doorway, and the mountain’s cold still clung stubbornly to my clothes, but compared to the bitter wind outside, it might as well have been midsummer.“I know,” I puffed, dragging the sled inside. “I was hoping h