Page 49 of The Alpha's Bullied Mate

“Run away with me,” she blurted.

Hayden grabbed a shirt out from his dresser. “What?”

“Run away with me. Leave Bluebell Valley. Leave the pack. Let’s go. Let’s leave this place, and these people and just be you and me and our baby,” Mica begged. “Just let the demons have the territory. What difference is it to us if we can raise our child somewhere else, somewhere safe?”

Hayden stepped back from her. Disappointment flooded his expression. “Run away? Like a coward?”

“Yes!”

He grabbed out a shirt and yanked it over his head. The hard planes of his muscles disappeared beneath the fabric. But his voice was stern as he spoke. “I don’t know why you’d suggest something so ridiculous.”

“You told me that if it looked like you were going to lose the challenge, I should jump in a car and run,” Mica reminded him.

He pulled on his pants and zipped them. “I was only saying that to make sure you wouldn’t do something stupid, like try to jump into the fight. You aren’t a coward, Mica, and neither am I. We can’t leave, either of us.”

Tears burned her eyes. “You’re wrong about that. I am a coward. I’ve always been a coward, and I’m even more so now than I’ve ever been.”

“Mica—”

“No!” she jumped out of the bed and shook her head. Her tangled hair, knotted from going to bed with it wet, flew about her. “You can’t say I’m not a coward. I am! Otherwise, I’d never be your mate!”

Chapter 26 - Hayden

Being his mate proved her cowardice?

Hayden tensed. His hands curled into fists as he stared at Mica. Her chin was lifted, her eyes bright with tears. Even though her lip trembled, she held his gaze, every inch of her exuding truth. Mica wasn’t just saying something to hurt him; she truly believed this. Which meant the only reason she agreed to be his mate was through fear.

Fear of what exactly? Hayden ground his teeth together, not wanting to hear the answer. He stepped back from her. His wolf whimpered and whined. It wanted him to go to his mate, to pull her into his arms and reassure her of their bond. But Hayden couldn’t make himself do it.

If she only agreed to be his mate from fear, everything he thought they had together was a lie. Her strength in solving problems for the pack was just her playing a role. It wasn’t genuine care and concern. And worse, their connection, the moments of passion and tenderness they had shared…

Their baby.

None of it meant the same to her as it did to him.

“Does that mean when you ask me to run away with you, you’re only asking me to join you out of fear? Because you’re afraid of how you will face the world as a single mother?” he asked coldly.

“That’s not what I meant,” she protested.

Hayden sighed. Maybe he had overestimated what they meant to each other. What it meant to Mica to be his mate, the mate of the Alpha. He thought that since the pack had startedto call her Luna, she had grown to understand more and fully embrace the role and responsibility.

“I would have struggled with the refugees here if it weren’t for you,” Hayden told her, his voice cold as ice. “And I will struggle should you leave. But leave if you must. If you have no faith in me if, that’s what you think you need to do. But Mica, if you leave, just know you will still be my mate. Your child will still be my child.”

Mica’s expression faltered. “Hayden, that’s not… it’s not that I doubt you, it’s—”

“You must if you are asking me to abandon the pack,” he interrupted.

Mica opened her mouth, but only a sad, strangled sound escaped her.

Hayden shook his head slowly, never breaking eye contact. “I have a duty to the people here. I can’t run away just because I can.”

“You aren’t even trying to see this from my perspective, are you?” Mica whispered. “Yes, I’m afraid. I’m afraid of what will happen to you. I’m afraid of what will happen to me. I’m afraid what will happen to our baby. You’ve been trained for this, Hayden. I’ve had all of a few months. And now, I’m being asked to risk everything I love for the sake of a pack that treated me like shit for most of my life. How can you not see that?”

Hayden shook his head again. Maybe not, but he was too disappointed in her to listen anymore. “I’m not leaving your brother and mother to be murdered by demons. You’re not coming to the challenge fight. You’ll stay here. And when I return, victorious, we can discuss our future.”

He spun on his heel and marched toward the door. His wolf growled, angered at his harsh words. Mica made another strangled noise but didn’t speak. Hayden wished she would. His footsteps against the thick carpet sounded far louder than they ought to have. When he opened the door, he was tempted to look back at her and give her one last chance.

He didn’t look back.

---