Page 56 of The Alpha's Bullied Mate

Elin and Tess glanced at each other. Why did they look so smug? Since when were they friends, anyway?

“Let me pass,” Mica snapped. “As your Luna, I command it.”

Tess winced. “Mica, we would. But…”

“But our Alpha also gave us a command,” Elin pipped in.

Tess glared at her.

Oh, but that explained everything. Nearly everyone else in the pack was at the challenge grounds to watch the fight. So Tess and Elin had been left behind on purpose. They were her babysitters. Did Hayden really think she’d run away?

I gave him every reason to believe I would.Mica let out a shuddering breath. Her heart ached as she thought of their fight.Why had she done that? “I have to go to the challenge grounds. Can’t you see? He’s playing right into the archdemon’s plans.”

“You can’t possibly know that,” Elin said. Her voice was low, and her tone soothing. The same way you spoke to a child in the middle of a meltdown.

Mica glared at her. “Don’t fucking talk to me like that. I know what I know. Hayden doesn’t understand what he’s facing, and I have to save him! He’s my mate!”

She shoved through them. How much time did she have? When did Hayden leave?

Tess followed after her. She looked like she wanted to grab Mica and pull her back but knew better. So she kept stride, edging forward slightly as though waiting for the right moment to block her again. “Hayden doesn’t need saving.Youdo.”

Mica’s steps faltered. “What?”

“Why do you think he ordered us to keep you here?” Tess asked, her voice low. “It wasn’t because he thought you were going to flee. That was Elin and me, and we’re sorry for doubting you.”

She shot a significant look at the other she-wolf, who nodded emphatically.

“Hayden ordered us to keep you here because he was afraid that you would try to go to the challenge grounds. He was worried you’d get yourself hurt by trying to help him,” Tess said gently. “It’s only natural for a mate to be worried for her love. But Hayden? He doesn’t need saving. He’s the strongest wolf any of us have ever known.”

“Even if there’s an archdemon involved, he’ll defeat the fucker,” Elin added.

Something inside of Mica’s chest pulled tighter. “When did he give you this order?”

“Last week,” Tess said.

A pang hit her stomach. So even before the fight, he’d had no intention of letting her be at the challenge fight. That was well before he knew she was pregnant. Which meant… which meant he’d made that decision purely because he didn’t want to risk that she would be harmed.

“Hayden is going to be fine,” Tess continued. She gave Mica a reassuring smile. “He’s an Alpha. A true Alpha. Besides, he has the special ops team with him. They all have experience against demons. I’m sure they already know about the archdemon. They’re tough and completely loyal. Even Ryder, as much as I detest him.”

“Yeah, and he’s also upstairs with his throat nearly torn out,” Mica snapped. “So don’t act as though they’re invulnerable! If Ryder can be injured like that, any of them can!”

That was proof enough that things could go wrong. And the team hadn’t known how to pull the demon out of Echo, which meant they didn’t know everything about demons.

“That doesn’t change the fact that Hayden has more strength than anyone else. Think about it, Mica. Can you think of anyone more powerful than he is?” Tess gave her a wry smile.

Mica opened her mouth and closed it again. No, she couldn’t think of anyone more powerful than Hayden. But what if she was underestimating the power of the demons? Everything was so confusing; she was so far out of her depth that she wasn’t sure what to do. She was human, the lowest of the pack, and she was always pushed to self-doubt.

That doubt was rearing its ugly head once more. After all, she didn’t understand just how strong someone like Hayden was. She’d seen for herself how amazing he was. He was strong, kind, and had such a steely determination it took her breath away. Who was she to protect someone like him? She was nobody—just a human who ate too much and moved too little.

And she was pregnant. Could she really risk the life of her baby because of her own lack of understanding?

Elin and Tess watched her struggle, their expression once more identical. Sympathy this time. It made her feel even more conflicted. They were probably right about this. It was probably one of these things that she just couldn’t know. They were probably right. She needed to stay here and wait for Hayden to return.

She couldn’t do anything but distract him. She had already made a mistake by fighting with him before he left. This meant that right now, the best thing she could do was get her ass back upstairs and put on her sexiest lingerie to be ready for him when he got home.

Yeah. Sexy lingerie. She needed to invest in that.

Stay here,she told herself.Stay and wait, because that’s what I’m supposed to do. If I interfere now, I’ll only make things more difficult for him. What will the pack think of a human female rushing in like that? They’ll think that I think Hayden is weak.

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