Page 24 of The Alpha's Bullied Mate

She let out a ragged sigh. Right now, that was all she needed. There was still so much to do, and no doubt Monroe would be furious that Hayden had saved Elin. At least he, being possessed, wouldn’t be able to get onto the ground.

“It might be a good thing for us, that Echo is possessed,” Hayden told her.

“How can you say that?”

“Because we need to know exactly what’s going on here,” he said. “And now we have a demon that might give us answers.”

Mica shuddered. “You’re not going to torture the information out of her, are you?”

Hayden shook his head, guiding her toward the door once more. “That never works. We will handle the demons, Mica. For now, I need you to keep working to get the pack taken care of. The salt is a good idea, but more must be done.”

“Alright.” Mica pulled herself together as they stepped away from the living room. She had work to do—there wasn’t time to fall apart. Not yet, at least.

***

Monroe sent a messenger to Hayden, demanding Elin’s return. Mica wasn’t part of the discussion, but the messenger left empty-handed. When Mica tried to get a moment alone with Hayden to hear what happened, he only told her that he had a lot to take care of.

The rest of the day went by in a blur. Though Mica’s fingers ached for a physical task to keep herself occupied with, she reminded herself that finding out more about the demons was of the utmost importance. So she spent the rest of the day in front of the computer when the pack wasn’t looking for her to take care of one thing or another.

Her vision was blurring, and she was mentally and emotionally exhausted by the time Hayden came to her. His black hair stood on end like he’d been running his hands through it.

“Bedtime,” he said simply.

Mica’s mind flashed to an image of the two of them tangled together in satin sheets. Her skin heated at the thought, though she tried to shove it from her mind. Hayden had kissed her back before he left for Elin but hadn’t shown any indication when they were alone together that he actually wanted to consummate their mating.

She wasn’t sure if she could take being rejected by him again.

“Does Ryder know about Mom?” she asked as they headed upstairs.

“Yes.” Hayden glanced at her. “He thinks you’ll blame him. Do you?”

“Right now, the only one I blame are the demons,” Mica answered. Though anger at her adoptive brother beat at her ribs, she fought against the idea that this was his fault. What could he have done?

The door to Finn’s room was open; Mica caught sight of Elin inside, her leg propped up on a stool as Finn wrapped it with a tensor bandage. Elin glanced up, but Mica turned away. She didn’t want to speak with her former best friend; it was good enough that she was here, and not in Monroe’s clutches—she just hoped that Monroe wouldn’t look for another woman to be his mate in her place.

“Hayden,” Finn called.

Mica tensed.

“I need to talk to you,” Finn said as he padded out of his room.

Hayden nodded. He gave Mica an apologetic look as they went to the other end of the hallway.

Elin started to stand but yelped and sank back down. “Mica, can I…?”

Reluctantly, Mica stepped into the doorway.

“I… they said they came for me because of you,” Elin said, flinching as she spoke.

Mica nodded once.

“Thank you,” Elin murmured. “And… and I’m sorry.”

“I wasn’t going to let anyone stay in Monroe’s clutches,” Mica answered stiffly. She ignored the apology. It wasn’t good enough, not by a long shot. “Heal quickly. We’re going to need everyone we can.”

Finn and Hayden were finished speaking at this time and Mica hurried back to Hayden’s side. He gave her a questioning look, but she only shook her head. She let out a sigh of relief when they were finally alone in Hayden’s room.

“Thank you,” she blurted before she could lose her nerve.

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