Page 65 of The Alpha's Bullied Mate

“And I’ll be working on that personally,” Hayden answered. “An archdemon is working in the area somehow, and we have to be careful, but that doesn’t we can just ignore the pack. I’ll speak with Echo about what she can remember from the demon possessing her. But she is still weak; I’m worried for her.”

Maverick folded his arms. “Maybe we should move her to the hospital.”

Hayden nodded. “That will be a good idea.”

Mica frowned. She hadn’t told Hayden about the stele. First, there was just so much happening that it had slipped her mind. But Echo wasn’t weak anymore. She was already up and helping the rest of the pack.

Wait… a rush of cold made goosebumps rise on her arms.

Monroe was digging up the stele. He needed to destroy it so that the archdemon could be free. Now, Hayden was ordering that the excavations at the Alpha’s house kept going, despite so much else to do. They had records of Monroe’s work. If therewere any instances of him randomly digging in the area, they’d investigate that.

So the stele had to be near the Alpha’s house. The construction project was just a cover. Which meant now Hayden was digging it up.

All the air seemed to evaporate from around her.

No, it couldn’t be possible.

The archdemon couldn’t be possessing Hayden now. It took time, didn’t it? It… but as she sat there, her eyes locked on the grainy image, everything clicked to place. Monroe yielding. The beast-demons attacking at that moment. The pack had been divided, and work had stalled because Hayden came in and challenged Monroe.

Now, no challenge would be accepted, and Hayden had every reason to keep the pack working. Was that why he had been so cold and cruel to her? Was it the demon speaking? Or was Hayden, trying to get her out of here before the demon took full possession of him?

The team kept talking, but Mica rolled to a sitting position, her mind whirling. Their voices seemed to come from far away. Hayden was possessed. Part of her rebelled against the idea that someone so strong could be possessed like that, but she couldn’t deny it. It was the only thing that made sense.

And framing Echo as weak… that way she could be killed, and her knowledge of the archdemon would die with her.

In a sudden rush, she was glad that Hayden hadn’t let her tell him about the stele and everything Echo had told her. If the archdemon knew that Echo had told her, he’d kill her. For that matter, Tess and Elin were both in danger, too. Not because theyknew anything about the archdemon, but because they knew the ritual they’d used to bind the demon in Echo to the artifact.

The demon would kill them all to prevent them from fighting against him. Her heart slammed into her ribs. They needed to find a new artifact, something new to bind the archdemon to. Something that would keep him bound even tighter for another few thousand years.

Nausea started to well up in her, but she breathed through it. Stress or baby hormones? She didn’t know. It didn’t pass; it only grew stronger until she had to lie down. For the life of her, she couldn’t think of anything that would last longer than a giant stele.

A knock came at the door, and she scrambled to turn off the phone. “Come in!”

Tess entered, carrying with her a tray of food. She gave Mica a smile. “I noticed you didn’t come for dinner and thought you must have forgotten.”

Mica’s heart pounded as she stared at Tess. Food was the last thing she wanted. Not when Hayden was trapped in his own body, controlled by a demon.

Memories swept through her. The first time she’d met him, when he’d pulled her to the swings and spent the day making her feel more comfortable and at ease. The times over the years when he stood up for her. The times when they would go out in the forest, camping, and he skipped out on pack events to keep her company instead.

The thought of losing that smile, that gentle soul, was too much to bear. There had to be something she could do! She loved his soul. She loved the way he smiled, the way he smelled. She loved how he watched out for everyone and helpedthe weakest of them to become stronger. She loved the way he touched her, the way he looked at her.

Giving up was not an option.

She couldn’t take on an archdemon on her own. The ritual required three people. And there just happened to be three people in the pack who had already performed the ritual once. Mica took a deep breath as she jumped to her feet. Her body rebelled, threatening to make her vomit.

Tess rushed over. “Are you okay?”

Mica shook her head. “I need you and Elin. We’ve got another exorcism to perform.”

“No. No, it’s over.”

“It’s not over. Go get Elin. Don’t talk to anyone else,” Mica said sharply. The protective salt was still in place around the big house, which meant everyone inside was still safe… for now. Mica grabbed a soft roll off the food tray and shoved it into her mouth, hoping the food would settle her stomach. “Meet me in Mom’s room.”

Soon, they were assembled. Mica laid everything out bluntly. Echo closed her eyes, shoulders slumping. Tess hid her face in her hands. Elin, on the other hand, would not stop wincing.

“We can’t,” Elin blurted. “Look what happened when we cast the demon out of Echo. We nearly got Ryder killed. This is men’s work. We need to tell the special ops team and let them handle it.”

Would that be better? Mica fought against the doubt, gnawing at her stomach. There wasn’t time. If the archdemon saw the four of them whispering to the team, then he’d know something was up.

---