Page 8 of The Alpha's Bullied Mate

Besides, if she was feeling particularly vengeful he didn’t want the crown jewels swinging in the wind.

“Mica,” he called, striding forward.

Her head jerked up. The moonlight highlighted the delicate blush in her pale cheeks. Her eyes trailed over his exposed torso, and she craned her neck to get a look lower. Then her gaze snapped back up to his face. She gave another tug on her pack.

“What are you doing out here?” he demanded. “Your friend is worried for you.”

Mica’s eyes narrowed. “Tess ratted me out, did she?”

“And a good thing, too. You’re on your way to tripping over a root and breaking your neck.” Hayden chuckled.

Mica gave up on freeing her pack. Instead, she opened it and grabbed out a few items. She stuffed them into her pockets, then turned on her heel and started to make her way through the forest again. Hayden watched her, then detangled her pack and went after her.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked.

“Away,” she spat. “Far from this pack and all their bullshit.”

Hayden reached for her arm. She snatched it back as though his skin was made of coals. Her perfect breasts heaved as she glared at him. When she noticed he had her pack, she tried to grab it. Hayden pulled it out of reach.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m taking you back home. You can’t traverse this forest in the dark.” He cocked his head to the side, studying her. “Unless you were hoping to get yourself into a sticky situation so I could rescue you.”

Mica lunged for her pack again, tripped, and nearly went sprawling. Hayden caught her arm and steadied her.

“I don’t need to be rescued,” she howled. “I can rescue myself!”

What was she acting like this for? Was it all because she wanted to get at him for rejecting her all those years ago?

“This is getting ridiculous,” he said sternly, emitting his Alpha aura. “You’re going to come back home with me and—”

“I’m not going anywhere with you.” Mica finally got hold of her pack and ripped it from his hands.

She shoved her arms through the straps and started walking again. “Stop following me. Go pick someone else to be your mate. Although, who will take you when you’ve decided to doom yourself by going against Monroe, I don’t know.”

“Mica, this is getting tiresome.”

“Yes, it is. Because you need to stop following me.” She stopped abruptly and whirled on him, her fists shaking. “I willneverbe your mate, Hayden. So you can just gofuck yourself!”

She shouted the last words, her voice echoing in the trees.

Hayden fell back a step. His normal inclination to this much aggression thrown at him would be to match it with his own. Mica was a special case. The hostility rolled off her like a tangible taste. Was she actually serious about this? Did she really want him to beg for her to take him?

He was fast losing patience with this game. “Mica, it’s not safe out here. It’s not just your lack of survival skills that puts you in danger.”

“Alpha Monroe has spent the last year systematically wiping out all the wildlife in the area,” Mica answered. “So you don’t have to worry about anything.”

On the contrary, that was far more worrisome. It meant that the situation here was far worse than they realized.

“Mica—”

The wind shifted, bringing with it the scent of brimstone. Instantly, all of his senses were on alert. The sounds of the forest had gone mute, and that dark presence he’d come to recognize prickled the hairs along the back of his neck.

They had to get out of here—now.

He lunged, grabbed Mica around the waist, and threw her over his shoulder.

Chapter 5 - Mica

He picked her up as easily as lifting a feather. She wasn’t even sure he’d grunted. The air disappeared around Mica as he dangled over Hayden’s shoulder, her hands clutching her pack reflexively. Her eyes were wide in shock as the vague shadows sped by her.

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