Page 45 of The Alpha's Bullied Mate

She could have married a human man. She could have had a happy life, where learning she was pregnant would only be met with joy. What had she done to deserve this life, when she felt like a helpless pawn in her own body?

The sun burned overhead as she stepped outside. The wolves were all in their wolf form, sparring with each other. Mica’s eyes were drawn to the massive form of Hayden’s wolf. His coat was jet black except for his front paws, which were a dusty grey. Even without that distinction, she would have been able to pick him out. He was the biggest wolf on the property.

He glanced over at her but quickly looked away. Would he come if she called out to him?

Mica wrapped her arms around herself. He was busy. He was teaching the pack how to survive against the demons. She couldn’t call him away—besides, he was probably still mad at her. Which meant she was in this on her own.

Chapter 24 - Hayden

Hayden shook out his muscles, grimacing at the pull of his most recent injuries. Not only had Echo gotten him pretty good, but Kai had reported back that he and the team Hayden had sent into the forest had found a beast-demon nest. The last few hours had been destroying the eggs and hunting down the hatchlings.

The team entered the mudroom at the back of the house and shifted to their human forms. Everyone had received some sort of injury, though fortunately, it wouldn’t take long for any of them to heal. They pulled on the boxer shorts that were kept in the mudroom, all except Finn.

Blayke brushed back his hair and gave Finn an envious look. “Wish I could shift back and forth with my clothes on. Maybe it’s a type of magic that can be taught?”

Finn gave him a dirty look. “You can’t teach being half—well. Half wolf.”

“All of you, take care of your injuries and then get some rest,” Hayden interrupted. The last thing he wanted was for the pack to know that Finn was half-demon. They were keeping it a secret for a reason. Not only was it to stop the pack from freaking the fuck out, but if the demons knew that Finn was their ‘inside man,’ so to say, they’d target him.

The team streamed into the house. Hayden, ignoring his own instructions, went to the sick room. Echo was still catatonic. Her eyes were open, but they had no flicker of understanding or life. Ryder had been strapped down at some point since the last time Hayden had seen him.

Elin was their nurse tonight. She sat in a hard chair, a book in hand. She’d been reading in a low voice, but when Hayden entered, she stood. Her head bowed.

“Alpha.”

Hayden ignored her, coming to stand next to Ryder. He was awake and opened his mouth.

“No,” Hayden told him. “You need to stay still and avoid talking if you’re going to heal.”

“Word came from Alpha Monroe while you were gone,” Elin said, shifting uncomfortably on the spot. “He suggests pushing the challenge back a week, in condolences for your beta’s situation.”

Ryder growled.

Hayden squeezed his shoulder. “Ah, that’s why they had to strap you down, right? You were going to go take on Monroe on your own? Lucky for him that you’ve been taking out of commission.”

Ryder rolled his eyes but relaxed.

“We were quite successful in our hunt tonight,” Hayden told him. “But don’t worry, we’re saving some of them for you. So you stay quiet and heal. Otherwise, I might take it as insubordination and replace you.”

He winked so Ryder knew he wasn’t serious. Ryder rolled his eyes again but stayed quiet.

Hayden patted his shoulder. “I’ll be back in the morning.”

He glanced at Echo, then left the room. As he headed toward his room, his wolf let out a huff and flopped to its side. He understood the exhaustion. With his current injuries, itmight be wise for him to push the challenge back another week at that.

But he also knew it was a ploy on the demon’s side. Monroe was deliberately stringing out the challenge. Hayden was convinced it had something to do with the ritual that Mica found. Perhaps there was a certain length of time that they had before they could draw the demon out of Monroe?

Not that Ryder planned to do that. No. His intention was still to kill the old Alpha and the demon with it. At this point, the binding between the aura-demon and its physical host was so strong that killing the host would also kill the demon.

He paused just outside of his bedroom door, drawing himself back up. There were pieces to this puzzle he was missing, including the reasons for why there was so much demon activity here specifically. But that wasn’t something that he was going to resolve tonight.

No. Now, he had to put on a brave face for his mate.

Her words from earlier in the day still stung. Even after everything he’d told her, and how much they had been through already, she didn’t trust him. Had he made a bad choice, picking her for his mate? Should he have taken a she-wolf, someone who understood these things better?

Even the thought made his wolf snarl in disgust. He didn’t want a different mate. Only Mica.

Releasing a slow breath, Hayden centered himself once more. He opened the door and strode in. Mica’s clothes were strewn over the floor, piles here and there and everywhere. A smile tugged on his lips as he picked them up, tossing them all into the hamper at the side of the room. The sound of water running came from the bathroom.

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