The Alpha’s Bullied Mate (Bluebell Valley Wolves #1)

Chapter 4 - Hayden

Hayden walked along the well-lit road, his eyes skimming over the rows of houses. They were shabbier than he remembered. The yards were a bit more overgrown, the vehicles more rusted. Otherwise, it was all exactly as he remembered from before he and the others left.

The big house at the edge of town still belonged to Hayden, and there was enough space for all of them there, so it was their base of operations until the demons could be rooted out.

Ryder trotted up beside Hayden. His eyes were pinched, indicating that he was upset about something.

“The plan or your sister?” Hayden asked.

“My sister. You should have told me you planned to take her as your mate.”

Hayden shrugged carelessly. “I had to make a spur-of-the-moment decision. Do you disprove of my choice?”

Ryder didn’t answer.

Hayden studied his friend. Out of all the special ops team, Ryder was the one that was closest with what family he had left. His concern for Echo and Mica made him want to come back to preserve this pack. So, were these objections due to Hayden’s choice being unpopular with the pack, or concern for his sister?

He was about to ask when a black-haired woman stepped out of an alley ahead of them. She walked with her eyes on the ground as she headed toward them. It was the woman who had been sitting with Mica.

“Tess?” Ryder said, quickening his pace.

Tess’s head jerked up. Her eyes widened, and she stopped dead. Tears glimmered on her cheeks.

Hayden gestured for the others to stop, giving the woman her space. He swaggered closer. Mica had left with this woman; that meant she knew where Mica was now. Hayden needed to claim his mate quickly, before Monroe caused more problems for her.

“What’s wrong?” Ryder asked, frowning at her.

“None of your damn business,” Tess shrieked back. Her wide eyes narrowed to slits, and she balled her hands. “Get out of my way, or I’ll kick you in the balls.”

A couple of the men chuckled. Ryder sent them death glares.

Hayden ignored Tess’s hostility as he stepped up to her. He reached out with the authority born to him with his Alpha blood. “Where is Mica?”

Tess bowed in on herself. Her arms wrapped around her waist as she fought the compulsion to answer. It was unnatural for lower-ranked wolves to disobey an Alpha, any Alpha. She was tough, though, and clenched her jaw shut.

“Where is she?” Hayden asked, this time letting the growl of his wolf into his voice.

“She ran away,” Tess burst out.

Hayden frowned. “Ran away?”

Tess’s hands dropped to her sides, loosening out of their fists. “She told me she was leaving the pack. She thinks she’ll be free to roam through other packlands without being accosted because she's human. But she’ll be all by herself. I tried to convince her to stay, but she won’t. What will happen to her if…?”

She let the question trail off, shuddering.

Running away.

Hayden wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or snarl. That was just so much like Mica! Of course, she’d be dramatic and decide to run away from the pack just to spite him. He had to admire her tenacity, he had to admit. She was quite the spitfire. It would serve her well against the demons once they were mated.

“Go home,” he told Tess. “And tell nobody of Mica leaving.”

She nodded stiffly and scurried off.

Once she was out of earshot, Hayden turned to the team. “We will proceed according to plan. You get the base set up while I go get my errant mate.”

“I should go with you,” Ryder quickly said.

Hayden understood. He might not have ever had a sister himself, but he remembered the protectiveness of his mother quite well. Add to it that Mica was human, and of course, Ryder would want to look after her.

“You have your own mission,” Hayden reminded him. He put a hand on Ryder’s shoulder. “Don’t forget our purpose here. I’ll bring her back to home base.”

Ryder bowed his head, though he was clearly unhappy about the order. He gestured to the others, and they headed away. Finn paused near Hayden. He lowered his voice as he spoke.

“Monroe isn’t the only one with a demon’s influence on him. I counted at least five people in the crowd who were possessed. Others have auras about them but were too weak to know one way or another.”

Hayden nodded. “Then we will have to move quickly. Don’t tell the others yet. I want us to make a plan to combat these possessions all at once.”

“Of course.” Finn nodded, then jogged to catch up with the others.

Hayden turned on his heel, striding toward Echo’s house. He passed by several others on their way home but ignored them. They either stared or bowed their heads and hurried on by. Once at Echo’s house, he stripped down and tucked his clothes into a ball. Ready, he took his wolf form, a huge dusty grey monster.

He stretched out his spine and shook his ruff, enjoying the feeling of being in this skin. His nostrils flared, and he caught Mica’s scent quickly. She’d always had a unique scent. While others in the pack thought she smelled sickly, Hayden was always reminded of fresh-baked bread drizzled with honey.

Her trail led him into the forest. Hayden trotted along it. He’d bring Mica back even if he had to drag her. Her pride wasn’t going to get in the way.

He heard her before he saw her. Her back had gotten caught in a bramble bush and she yanked on it, trying to free it, as other brambles closed in around her. Her face got redder with every pull and Hayden chuckled to himself. No doubt she’d gotten caught up in the thorns because her weak human eyes couldn’t see anything in this darkness.

He took his human form again and pulled his boxers out of the clothing bundle he’d brought with him. Not that it mattered so much, seeing as they would be mates. But women could be strange about nudity.

Besides, if she was feeling particularly vengeful he didn’t want the crown jewels swinging in the wind.

“Mica,” he called, striding forward.

Her head jerked up. The moonlight highlighted the delicate blush in her pale cheeks. Her eyes trailed over his exposed torso, and she craned her neck to get a look lower. Then her gaze snapped back up to his face. She gave another tug on her pack.

“What are you doing out here?” he demanded. “Your friend is worried for you.”

Mica’s eyes narrowed. “Tess ratted me out, did she?”

“And a good thing, too. You’re on your way to tripping over a root and breaking your neck.” Hayden chuckled.

Mica gave up on freeing her pack. Instead, she opened it and grabbed out a few items. She stuffed them into her pockets, then turned on her heel and started to make her way through the forest again. Hayden watched her, then detangled her pack and went after her.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked.

“Away,” she spat. “Far from this pack and all their bullshit.”

Hayden reached for her arm. She snatched it back as though his skin was made of coals. Her perfect breasts heaved as she glared at him. When she noticed he had her pack, she tried to grab it. Hayden pulled it out of reach.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m taking you back home. You can’t traverse this forest in the dark.” He cocked his head to the side, studying her. “Unless you were hoping to get yourself into a sticky situation so I could rescue you.”

Mica lunged for her pack again, tripped, and nearly went sprawling. Hayden caught her arm and steadied her.

“I don’t need to be rescued,” she howled. “I can rescue myself!”

What was she acting like this for? Was it all because she wanted to get at him for rejecting her all those years ago?

“This is getting ridiculous,” he said sternly, emitting his Alpha aura. “You’re going to come back home with me and—”

“I’m not going anywhere with you.” Mica finally got hold of her pack and ripped it from his hands.

She shoved her arms through the straps and started walking again. “Stop following me. Go pick someone else to be your mate. Although, who will take you when you’ve decided to doom yourself by going against Monroe, I don’t know.”

“Mica, this is getting tiresome.”

“Yes, it is. Because you need to stop following me.” She stopped abruptly and whirled on him, her fists shaking. “I will never be your mate, Hayden. So you can just go fuck yourself !”

She shouted the last words, her voice echoing in the trees.

Hayden fell back a step. His normal inclination to this much aggression thrown at him would be to match it with his own. Mica was a special case. The hostility rolled off her like a tangible taste. Was she actually serious about this? Did she really want him to beg for her to take him?

He was fast losing patience with this game. “Mica, it’s not safe out here. It’s not just your lack of survival skills that puts you in danger.”

“Alpha Monroe has spent the last year systematically wiping out all the wildlife in the area,” Mica answered. “So you don’t have to worry about anything.”

On the contrary, that was far more worrisome. It meant that the situation here was far worse than they realized.

“Mica—”

The wind shifted, bringing with it the scent of brimstone. Instantly, all of his senses were on alert. The sounds of the forest had gone mute, and that dark presence he’d come to recognize prickled the hairs along the back of his neck.

They had to get out of here— now .

He lunged, grabbed Mica around the waist, and threw her over his shoulder.