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

Chapter 19 - Mica

The beast-demon stalked along the boundary's edge, snorting as it tested the protections. With Hayden and the rest of the special ops in the forest, Mica had ordered that they let the demon wander and not engage. Hayden had taken all the best fighters with him, meaning her order was gladly obeyed. Nobody wanted to tangle with the beast.

Unfortunately, such a sight was getting more common. Even the children who used to scream and hide now ignored it, snuffling around the edges of the property. Its twisted horns glowed in the rapidly oncoming darkness. Clouds shrouded the sky, making it even darker.

“Hayden will be back soon,” Mica told Tess as she nervously looked at the beast.

“I know.” She shook her head. “Let’s go back into the house. I don’t trust the sources that say the beast-demons are dumb. I don’t want it to report back to Monroe about what we talk about.”

Mica nodded. That was the smarter idea. The two headed into the house and went up to Mica and Hayden’s room. With all of the new wolves showing up regularly, they were quickly running out of room. Every room in the house was occupied, except for this one.

And even now, Mica wondered if maybe she and Hayden should move to a smaller room and give up the big one for more of the people.

“We’re running out of food,” Tess told her once they were alone. “And the room. It’s been three months since Hayden issued his first challenge to Monroe. Something has to change. With the demons, the pack is willing to accept that he has other things he needs to deal with as well, but even then. You need to tell him something has to change.”

Mica groaned as she dropped onto the edge of the bed. The couch had been moved out and offered as a bed to one of the more elderly in the pack.

“I know. It’s getting more difficult. But what am I supposed to say? Hayden knows the stakes better than I do. It’s all getting stretched out.” Mica ran her hands through her red hair and tugged through some of the knots. “Our relationship is part of it.”

Tess winced. “What do you mean?”

Mica chewed her lower lip. “I mean that… well, it’s getting harder for me to pretend. I want him too badly to want me. I want him to care. But I know that he doesn’t. It’s not ever going to be there. Not the way I want, at least.”

She rubbed her hands over her eyes. She couldn’t stop these feelings she had.

“At least we have a good sex life. He’s very generous in that regard.”

Tess frowned at her. “But you don’t believe he’ll listen to your advice?”

“I don’t think he’ll listen to me in matters of pack politics. I’m human. I lived with the pack my whole life, but I’m not part of the pack. Even now.” Mica groaned. It wasn’t entirely true, but it still felt as though she was a fraud. “I just wish I knew why Monroe is dragging this out.”

“But isn’t that a reason for Hayden to push the challenge? Take it to the next step?” Tess pressed. “Because we don’t know what Monroe is up to, and waiting could be playing into his hands?”

“Hayden knows this. Whatever his reasons for waiting are, he knows better than us how to deal with demons,” Mica snapped.

Tess dropped her gaze. “I didn’t mean to sound like I was questioning him.”

Mica didn’t answer. The truth was, she was just as tense as everyone else. She wanted to know as much as everyone else about the reasons for Hayden’s delay. But he kept it a secret from her. He kept so many secrets. Not that she asked him a lot of questions—but it was an added strain.

“Have we learned anything more about the aura-demons and how they possess people?” Mica asked, wanting to change the subject.

The look on Tess’s face was answer enough.

Mica pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes until spots of colorful lights danced over her vision. The more time went by, the more she was convinced that this was a waste of time. Ryder refused to talk to her about Echo anymore. He had started referring to ‘the demon’ and acted as though their mother was dead.

Maybe she was.

“Rachel has been speed-reading throughout it all,” Tess offered. “She told me she may have found a new book about the aura-demons.”

“Thanks. I—” Mica jumped to her feet when a bellow rang out from outside. She raced to the window but saw nothing.

With Tess on her heels, Mica rushed downstairs. She peered through the parlor window to see Hayden’s massive wolf standing just outside the salt barrier, the special ops flanking him. The wolves he’d taken into the forest with him surrounded the beast-demon. They were tearing into it, a hunting lesson.

Mica went to the kitchen and grabbed a box of salt, but by the time she got back outside, it was over. The demon was dead. A quick glance over the wolves showed none of them suffered major injuries.

Hayden trotted over to her and licked her cheek. He then nodded toward the house. Mica sighed as she followed him. Her heart pounded in her chest, but relief at seeing him was just as strong. Her mind raced over what she had Tess had just been talking about.

At the entrance, Hayden turned to his human form and pulled on a pair of boxers. “How is everything here?”

“Tense,” Mica answered honestly. She felt ridiculous as she gazed at the box of salt in her hands. Just what did she think she was going to do with this? But as she looked at it, an idea came to her. “I want to get more salt and pipes. We should build out the barrier to surround the next few houses. We’re running out of space as it is.”

Hayden nodded slowly. “We’ll have to be careful. If a demon is already in those buildings, they’ll be inside our barrier with us.”

He rubbed his eyes, exhaustion peeking through. Mica was vividly reminded of a time when they were in middle school and she was struggling with her physical education grade. The pack was fairly strict on fitness tests, and if she failed she would be sent to boot camp over the summer. Ironically, she was faster than several of her classmates if they were in human form. But since they were able to take their wolf form, she was always last in the class.

She was terrified of being sent away and worked hard to improve her mile-run. She ran every day, pushing herself to the point of injuring herself. Hayden had stepped up to help her. He convinced their teacher to give her extra time to recover from her injury, then taught her other ways to improve her fitness. It wasn’t just about running; if she could improve other areas, then she could pull her overall grades high enough that the running didn’t matter.

They trained relentlessly, on top of everything else Hayden had going on. He was in several extracurriculars, but even though she knew he was exhausted, he never once made her feel like a burden.

It was the same thing here. Warmth flooded through Mica’s body. Despite her own stress, just being close to Hayden reassured her that everyone would make it through this. He was pushing himself hard to make sure everyone was being taken care of. But who was taking care of him?

Mica took hold of his arm. “Why don’t you go take a shower? I’ll look after the warriors and bring a full report to you when I come up.”

Hayden cupped her face, a sly smirk crossing his face. “Ahh, that sounds like a good idea. You can give me a full report while I give you a full—”

“Brother coming through,” Ryder called from outside, then he stepped into the entrance. He grabbed a pair of shorts and yanked them on, carefully not watching Mica and Hayden.

Mica kissed Hayden’s cheek. “I’ll be up in a bit.”

He nodded, and Mica slipped back outside. It was utterly dark now, and she had to use a flashlight to navigate the camp. Everyone else could simply see in the dark but with her weak human eyes… But nobody brought it up, not like they would have in other circumstances. She headed upstairs once she was satisfied everyone was set for the night.

Hayden waited for her in bed, scrolling through the most recent demon research on the laptop. He closed it and set the laptop on the nightstand as he grinned at her.

His hair was damp from the shower, the smell of soap mingling with his manly scent. Mica grabbed a nightgown from her dresser and changed.

“I don’t like that nightgown,” Hayden told her. “It’s old and worn.”

“And comfortable,” Mica snarked.

“Yes. Which means you’re tired and need to just sleep.” He winked at her.

Mica’s responding smile was short-lived. She slid into the bed, sighing out her tension as Hayden wrapped his arms around her. She snuggled closer to him, her eyes closing. But… “This can’t keep going. The pack is getting restless.”

“I know,” Hayden murmured into her hair. He pressed a kiss to her temple and threw off the blankets. “And you haven’t showered in two days.”

Mica groaned. “I stink, don’t I?”

“You smell like a beautiful, sweaty woman.” Hayden laughed as he picked her up and carried her toward the ensuite bathroom. “One who is under too much pressure. But you don’t have to fear, my little mate. Everything will come to a peak soon.”

He set her down and turned on the shower. Mica undressed, wrinkling her nose. The idea of the shower itself wasn’t so bad, but the thought of getting wet sounded exhausting. Although… Hayden removed his shorts. A different sort of wet made the whole shower thing more appealing.

“You and the pack will be safe soon,” Hayden told her. “We’re narrowing down on how the demons are getting here.”

Mica nodded slowly. But as she pushed her naked body against Hayden to kiss him—a knock came on the bedroom door.

“Alpha,” Finn shouted through the room. “Monroe is at the gate. He wants to see you and your mate.”