Page 1 of The Alpha's Bullied Mate

Chapter 1 - Mica

Mica’s heart was in her throat as she helped her mother into the town hall. She often did her best to avoid large gatherings of the pack. It had been ages since she attended any of the celebrations unless she was recruited to be part of the serving team. Pack meetings were still mandatory, though, which meant braving the wolves of the Bluebell Valley pack.

“Slow down, we’re not in a hurry,” her mother, Echo, panted.

“Sorry, Mom.” Mica brushed a lock of flame-red hair behind her ear and slowed down, letting Echo set the pace.

When Echo adopted a human girl as her daughter, the pack told her she was crazy. In the years since Mica became part of the pack, they had let her know what a mistake Echo had made time and time again. It was terrible in elementary school, but once Mica’s classmates started to hit puberty, the bullying only intensified.

Mica scanned the gathered crowd, quickly spotting the sleek black ponytail of her best friend, Tess. She already had a spot at the very back of the hall. Grateful, Mica helped Echo hobble toward her. They took their seats, and Mica sighed in relief.

“You look like you’re chewing glass,” Tess whispered to her.

“I might as well be.” Mica wrapped her arms around her waist.

It didn’t help that she was trying yet another new diet. She had always been bigger, but over the years, she’d found food to be the only thing that made her feel better. Add to it the factthat she couldn’t set foot in a gym without someone ‘offering advice,’ and her weight had gotten out of control.

She’d been doing her best to research how to be healthy regardless of what her body looked like. But sometimes the pressure was just too much, and she went on these crash diets that she knew would only make it worse in the end.

Which was why she was dealing with low blood sugar as well as the normal nerves right now.

“Nobody’s going to pay attention to us,” Tess assured Mica, patting her hand. “We’ll get out of here soon enough.”

Echo craned her neck. “I can’t see anything from back here.”

Mica winced. “Do you want to get closer to the front?”

“Yes, that will be best.”

Fighting back a groan, Mica helped her mother get to her feet again. Echo was having a particularly bad day today and couldn’t walk without leaning on her. Their packmates glanced up at them as Mica helped her along the pathway to the chairs near the front.

“There looks like there’s a seat open there,” Mica said, pointing. If she could just get Echo seated, she could go back to Tess and melt into the background again.

Someone sidestepped into their path. Elin, Mica’s former best friend, gave them both a toothy grin. Her doe-like brown eyes skimmed over Mica briefly before focusing on Echo.

“Do you want to sit with me, Echo? I have a seat open,” Elin offered, already looping her arm through Echo’s other arm. “You look like you could use the company.”

“That would be wonderful, dear.” Echo patted her hand. “It’s always good to see you.”

Mica hesitated as Elin helped Echo to the seat. While this was what she wanted, the chance to escape to the back of the room, she wasn’t thrilled with Elin being so close to Echo. Even though her mother knew exactly what Elin had done to her, she never could understand why Mica didn’t just forgive her and move on.

Once Echo was settled, Elin stepped closer to Mica. “There. I’ve got your mother, and you can run back to hide with your friend.”

She said it quietly, but not quietly enough. Echo reached out and grabbed Elin’s wrist. Her eyes grew fiery. “My daughter has no need to hide. She’s a proper member of this pack. She’s my daughter.”

Elin was all sweet smiles as she turned back to Echo. “Of course not! You misunderstood me.”

Mica turned on her heel and hurried back to Tess. She had no stomach for whatever Elin was going to go on about today. And Echo would eat it up. Her mother was never a hugely respected member of the pack, but she’d commanded enough attention to defend her adopted daughter from the bullies. It was never fully effective, but she tried.

Since she had gotten sick, those efforts had grown less.

In the back once more, Mica took her spot next to Tess and sagged into the chair. Nobody was looking at her. Good. There was a commotion at the other entrance, but she didn’t bother paying attention. Instead, she wiped her hands over her eyes, trying to erase the beads of moisture that clung to her eyelids.

“You okay?” Tess whispered to her.

Mica shook her head. “Mom’s getting worse. It’s been two weeks since she was last able to shift into her wolf form.”

Tess gasped. “That long?”

---