Page 11 of The Alpha's Bullied Mate

Her skin was soft but too pale. When he eased one of her eyes open, her pupil was dilated so much that only a sliver of her sea-green iris could be seen.

“It’s alright,” he told her, though she was unlikely to hear him. He carefully lifted her into his arms, cradling her into his chest. “We’ll be home quickly, Mica. And youaregoing to recover from this.”

The streets were deserted as he made his way through them. Mica groaned a few times, as though she was hovering on the brink of consciousness. Hayden’s stomach churned as she kept bleeding. How much blood could humans lose before it was too much? He hadn’t had much interaction with many of them. Was there something he should do for her?

When he got to the big house, Ryder was waiting for him. He rushed forward at the sight of Mica limp in Hayden’s arms.

“What did you do?” he snarled.

Hayden’s lip peeled back, revealing a canine. Usually, that would be enough to make Ryder back down, but this time he only snarled. He tried to take Mica from Hayden, but Hayden stepped around him and snarled back. His wolf paced, growling deep in his chest.

“We were attacked by beast-demons,” Hayden said through lengthening fangs. “She hit her head.”

Ryder paused, startled. He exposed his neck in submission, then followed Hayden into the house. Once Hayden had put Mica into the bed of one of the unclaimed rooms, Ryder started to clean out the head injury.

“I can take care of her,” he said, not looking at Hayden. “I did it often enough when we were kids.”

Hayden nodded. His wolf growled as he left the room, but he ignored it. Mica was a means to an end; besides that, she was in her brother’s hands now. If anyone was going to take care of her, it was Ryder.

With beast-demons in the area, they were going to have to be more proactive. Hayden called Kai, Maverick, and Blayke to him, then sent them to comb through the forest and kill any of the other demons they might fall. The demons clearly already knew why they were here; otherwise, no one would have attacked Mica.

So they would simply show the demons they wouldn’t be removed so easily.

His wolf howled, longing to join the others on the hunt. Hayden would have loved to go with them. There was nothing he liked better than tearing demons to shreds. Well… almost nothing. There was one particular activity that remained even more pleasurable.

He found Finn and Derek.

“Derek, I need you to gather everything I need for my mating with Mica,” he ordered. “Finn, you keep watch. I don’t want any demons sneaking up on us.”

Finn gave a jaunty salute and shifted to his wolf form. Unlike the others, his clothes didn’t tear off with his transformation. Instead, it simply seemed as though his fur replaced the clothing. He leaped onto the low porch roof of the house, and, from there, bounded up a balcony and finally settled on the rooftop, where he prowled in the darkness like some living gargoyle.

“Are you sure you want that girl?” Derek asked, frowning at Hayden. “She didn’t seem very interested in being your mate.”

Hayden rolled his eyes. “She’s only playing hard to get because she’s petty. Years ago, her friend told me that Mica wanted to be my mate, and I said it wasn’t happening. So clearly, she’s trying to punish me for it.”

Derek nodded, though he seemed unconvinced. “There’s just one thing that’s required for the mating ceremony I can’t get, though.”

“And that is?”

“Parental consent.”

Hayden waved a hand, scoffing. “Echo always loved me. Her greatest fear was that her human daughter would never have a worthy mate. Now that I’ve decided to take her as a mate, I’m sure Echo will be thrilled.”

Derek nodded, lowering his head as he did so. “Then I’m sure it won’t be an issue.”

“Just get what we need.”

Hayden went back to Mica’s room. By this time, Ryder had cleaned her up, and the bleeding had stopped. He had also given her an IV line with some sort of foul-smelling medicine. Hayden frowned at it and sent Ryder a questioning look. Medication wasn’t used often among shifters.

“She regained consciousness and immediately started trying to leave,” Ryder said. “I had to sedate her. Saline fluids, painkillers, and a tranquilizer. The one thing I’m worried about is brain swelling. There’s no sign yet, but it was a pretty hard knock she took.”

“Does she need someone to be with her?” Hayden asked, folding his arms. He didn’t look at Mica with her burning red hair knotted around her face. It seemed wrong to see her so fragile-looking.

Ryder ran a hand through his hair. “She seems stable.”

“Good. Because we’re going to get your mother.”

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