Page 16 of The Alpha's Bullied Mate

Mica took a deep breath and dipped her fingers into the water. She held her hand toward him. Hayden caught her fingers in his mouth, and an unexpected spark shot through her. “The first of my vows. To return back your sustenance.”

“The second of my vows, to protect you by my body,” Hayden said, drawing her nearer.

“The second my vows, to give from my body,” Mica whispered.

Hayden took the ribbon and tied it around her wrist. “To you, I bind myself.”

Mica tied the other end. “To you, I bind myself.”

Was this really happening?

She still remembered the cold look in his eyes. She remembered everything vividly about that day.

Echo had bought her a new outfit earlier in the week, and it was the first time Mica wore it. A pink blouse with ruffles down the front and a dark blue skirt that hit just above her knee. She felt pretty and girly, something she could never remember feeling like before.

Alpha Monroe had called a pack meeting, and she accompanied Ryder and Echo to the meeting. When she spied Elin and Hayden, she broke from her mother and brother to join them. Excitement swirled through her. Today was the day that mated pairs were announced to the pack. It happened every year.

She slid into a chair next to Hayden and grinned to him. He gave her a half-smile in return and stared straight ahead. On his other side, Elin more or less ignored her. Elin had been going through some hard times lately, though, so Mica wasn’t so bothered by it.

As Monroe stood and started to announce this year's mated pairs, Mica twisted her hands in her lap. She wanted so badly to reach for his hand. There was a reason she’d worn this outfit, a reason she’d been so excited to get it in the first place. Her nerves churned in her belly.

Just yesterday, Elin had told her that Hayden confided that he was in love with her. And that all she had to do was tell him how she felt, and he’d ask Monroe for permission to take a mate early. Normally, they would have to wait until they were eighteen to have the mating ceremony. Mica’s mouth went dry as she worked up the courage she needed.

Looking back, the fact that Hayden had never talked to her about being mated should have been a warning sign. She should have realized that he wasn’t just being a gentleman when he never kissed her or touched her in anything but a friend-appropriate matter.

She leaned closer to Hayden. It was now or never. “Hayden?”

“Mmm?” he answered, not seeming to be listening.

That was okay. He’d listen when she told him. She took a deep breath. “I… I wanted to tell you that I…”

Hayden turned to her, his eyebrows furrowed. “You what?”

“I love you,” she blurted.

It just so happened that Elin held up her hand at the same time, and Monroe had paused in his announcements. Though Mica had whispered, her voice carried. Several people turned toward them.

“What was that?” Monroe called.

Elin lowered her hand. “Sorry, Alpha, I was only stretching.”

Monroe ignored her as he focused on Mica. “What did you just say, human girl?”

Mica shrank into her seat.

One of the adults nearby laughed. “She says she’s in love with Hayden.”

Laughter erupted all around them. Mica’s face turned hot as she pressed herself into her chair, wishing she could just disappear. When she turned to Hayden, silently pleading to be rescued.

“Hayden?” Monroe called, sounding amused. “Do you have something to tell Mica?”

Hayden’s jaw clenched. He jumped to his feet and glared at me. “I don’t know why you’d say that. You can never be my mate, Mica. I want a proper mate-bond, and you can’t give that to me. So go be in love with something else.

The air left Mica’s lungs. Tears blurred her vision as Elin burst into peals of laughter. When Mica jumped to her feet and raced from the meeting hall, the rest of the pack laughed as well.

After that, he never even looked at her without rolling his eyes. He laughed when people made pig noises behind her back. If he had just been dismissive of her, it would have been one thing. But he flipped a switch and joined in with her tormentors.

Now, as she stared at the red ribbon binding her to him, panic started to rise in her chest. Why did she agree to do this with him?

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