Page 21 of The Alpha's Bullied Mate

Once they were off, Mica checked on Echo, relieved she was sleeping. Then, she sought out Tess. She’d told her best friend everything last night after Monroe left and before the first group of pack wolves arrived.

Judging by the dark circles under her eyes, Tess hadn’t gotten any sleep last night.

“Hayden has photographed pages of some books he needs us to transcribe,” Mica told her.

Tess winced. “About the demons?”

“Yeah. There might be something in there to help protect my mother.” Mica’s heart clenched as she spoke. How long did they have? Was she wasting time sending Hayden and the others to save Elin when they could be helping Echo?

But if Hayden knew how to take care of Echo and stop this demon influence, Ryder would have insisted they do it already. In their previous missions, Hayden had never encountered a situation like this, where they wanted to save the person in danger of being possessed.

Tess, clearing her throat, brought her attention back to her. “Before we start looking at that stuff, I did a bunch of research online last night and talked to Maverick. Demons apparently can’t cross salt boundaries. So I figured we could get all the salt we have in the house and make a barrier around the edge of the property.”

Mica was impressed. “That’s a great idea. Do you know if it needs to be pure salt or can we use, like, pickle juice?”

“I don’t. But you can still call the people going to the city and have them pick up as much salt as they can,” Tess suggested.

“Good idea.” Mica made her way to the landline phone and called Renee’s cell phone. Few of the wolves in the Bluebell Valley pack used cell phones, but since Renee worked with people in other packs and the city selling goods produced here, she had to have a number where they could reach her.

Mica briefly explained that they were going to need all the salt that the team could pick up, though she didn’t tell Renee about the demons. Not yet; she wasn’t sure how much Hayden wanted the pack to know. In the meantime, she and Tess used all the salt they could gather to line the property edges. The most important thing was to keep the demons out and prevent any of their allies from being possessed.

Several of the newcomers gave the two of them strange looks, but anything they might say to each other was tempered by the sudden shift of power within their dynamics. Once that was done, Mica got Tess set up on the computer to start transcribing the information, and then she went to check on Echo again.

She was awake this time, and Mica smiled at her mother. “How are you feeling?”

Echo gave her a confused look. “Mica?”

“Yes, it’s me. Are you okay?” Mica rushed to her side.

“Yes, yes. I’m fine.” Echo patted her hand, her gaze unfocused and on the far wall. “I was having the most awful dream. I was running through the forest, and something was chasing me. I knew it would catch me; my legs wouldn’t move properly. Then it was on me, and I could feel my wolf dragged out of me.”

Mica winced but took a deep breath. “You’ve been having a lot of nightmares these last few months. Do you remember when it started?”

Maybe if they could pinpoint when the demon influence started, it would help them figure out how to stop it. She took her mother’s hands in her own. Echo closed her eyes. She groaned, and Mica’s heart jumped to her throat.

“Mom?”

Echo started to slump, only to jerk straight again. She opened her eyes, and they were clear once more. Mica stared uncertainly. She gasped when Echo’s eyes flashed red, so quickly she almost didn’t catch it.

“Oh, Mica.” Echo’s voice was cool and strong. “My disappointment of a daughter. I had such plans for you when I adopted you. I never should have bothered with ahuman.”

Mica tried to pull away, but Echo’s hands tightened on hers. They dug into her, hurting her. Mica’s blood rushed in her ears as she sat there, frozen.

“It would have been kinder to you to drown you as a baby,” Echo continued.

No, not Echo. Mica knew her mother. She’d never say anything like this. Goosebumps broke out over her arms. Goddess protect her! The demon had control.

Chapter 12 - Hayden

Hayden prided himself on his patience. So, he was patient as he waited for Monroe to leave his house. They had tracked Elin down here and watched from a distance to assess the situation. The town was set up in a circular pattern with the Alpha’s house at the center of it. The houses closest were reserved for the higher-up wolves; the further you got from the center of down, the more run-down things got. Several blocks away from the Alpha’s house was an apartment building for the single wolves who no longer wanted to live with their families. It was on the roof of this building that Hayden and his team camped out.

Elin was locked in the attic. Hayden had seen her face several times against the iron bars as she tried to yank them free. Elin’s father had left the house shortly after Hayden and the team arrived, and so far, Monroe had spent that time in his study.

“We need to get him out of there,” Hayden told Maverick and Derek. “Go give him a reason to leave. But don’t engage. The last thing we need is for my challenge to be declared invalid.”

Maverick and Derek grinned. They slipped away; shortly after, a plume of smoke rose in the distance. Hayden’s mouth quirked in annoyance. Perhaps he should have been clearer that destruction of property wasn’t the best way to go about this, either.

It had the desired effect. A wolf came running to the Alpha’s home and shifted into someone Hayden didn’t recognize. He yelled and Monroe started out of his chair.

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