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

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, it might 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.

He stripped off his boxers and threw them into the hamper as well, then headed into the bathroom. The glass door was shut, and Mica stood, concealed by steam and fogged glass, under a stream of water.

Hayden knocked on the door, making her jump. He tugged the shower open. “Mind if I join you?”

Mica’s hair was hidden under one of those silly-looking shower caps. But her body… oh, her body! Now, this was a sight he would never get tired of seeing. Her heavy breasts were soft with their pink velvet peaks. Her round, soft belly and flared hips. The drab, baggy clothes she always wore hid so much of her. Not just her body but her vibrant personality as well.

There was nobody better suited to be his mate. Nobody else in the pack would stand up to him like she did. Nobody would give him dirty looks or tell him that he was a jackass.

Tearing his eyes from her sexy body, Hayden looked at her beautiful sea-green eyes. Exhaustion smudged dark circles beneath her eyes, but a small smile tugged at her lips.

“Are you going to actually come in or just stand there gawking at me?” she asked.

“You didn’t say I could come in.”

Mica took his hand and pulled him into the shower. Though it was fairly large, between the two of them, it was rather crowded. The heat of the water billowed steam through the air. Without a word, Mica maneuvered him beneath the stream of water and began to clean the blood from his skin.

“Are you alright?” he asked, his voice low.

“As alright as I guess I can be.” She chewed her lip as she watched the blood circle the drain. “I’m glad you’re back.”

Hayden relaxed slightly. Things had been strained between them ever since she had performed to ritual to free Echo. Both her actions and his reaction was like chasm between them. One that he didn’t like. He also didn’t like the fact that his mate didn’t fully trust him.

“I was going to tell you,” he said softly.

Her hands paused. “Tell me what?”

“What Ryder and I had decided for Echo. We had seen this before. In our experience, it’s just torment to the possessed person to leave them in that state. Eventually, their soul is so destroyed that even when we kill the demon, they aren’t there to say goodbye,” Hayden explained. His voice was a low murmur, the same pitch as the water sprinkling on them.

“Then you should have told me that, rather than acting as though you were giving me the chance to save her, when you had no intention of trying anything I found,” Mica answered. Her voice, too, was soft. “It’s an awful feeling, to have hope and then to realize that your brother and mate never believed in you.”

Hayden winced. “I didn’t think of it that way.”

“If I’m going to be your mate, Hayden, you have to let me in. I can’t just stand on the outside, being nothing more than a bedmate and nurse,” Mica continued. “I want to trust you. I want to stand with you. For that, I need you to trust me.”

Hayden turned and clasped both of her hands in his. “I know that this isn’t a normal situation, but I do trust you. There’s nobody else I trust to watch after the pack or call me out on my bullshit.”

Mica searched his gaze. A soft smile started to spread over her face. “I guess this whole thing is a learning curve, huh?”

“It really is. I hope that one day, I prove to you that you can trust me.”

“I… I trust that you want what’s best for the pack. I trust that you are a good man, Hayden. Right now, that’s enough for me to want more,” Mica said.

They lingered, each searching the other’s eyes. Hayden saw the spark of a promise in Mica’s gaze. The tension that had been making his wolf on edge eased. His shoulders relaxed. It would take time, yes, but so long as Mica was willing to give him a chance, he would prove himself worthy.

“How have things been while I was gone?” he asked.

Mica shook her head. “We’re going to run out of supplies. Our food is low, and as for everything else… I don’t know what happened, but we’ve lost a quarter of our blankets. Not to mention medical supplies.”

Hayden leaned into her touch as she resumed washing his body. “I stopped in to see Ryder. We got a message from Monroe, and I had to order Ryder to be strapped into place to keep him from leaving the medical room.”

Mica winced as she glanced up at Hayden’s face. “He’s not happy with me. But it looks like an infection might be setting in. There’s still no guarantee that he’s going to survive.”

Infection. Hayden nodded grimly. It wasn’t common for wolves to deal with infections. Usually, their healing process and immune systems were too strong for an infection to take hold. For Ryder to be showing any signs at all meant that he was far more compromised than they first realized.

“He needs to go to a hospital,” Hayden murmured. The weight of it pushed down on him. His team, his pack, was his responsibility. What was the best course of action? Was it a mistake for him to have joined in on the hunt today? Should he have saved his strength?

“Monroe has the roads blockaded. The last team sent to the city can’t get back through,” Mica continued. “They’re not being attacked—yet—but we have no relief coming through.”

Hayden sighed. “Then it’s a good thing that this is going to be over soon.”

Mica froze. “Monroe said he’d push the challenge back a week.”

“We can’t wait that long. My course of action is clear.” He pressed Mica’s palm to his lips. The exhaustion of the day pressed even more heavily on him.

Mica stared at the long, scabbed claw marks on his side from Echo’s attack. “You’re injured. You’ll be weakened. You aren’t ready. You need time to heal. Monroe is strong and clever; he’s doing this on purpose. He’s saying he’ll push back the fight, so you think he wants more time, but—”

“Mica.” Hayden cupped her face in his hands. “This is how it has to be. We can’t keep going without food. And there will always be another fight. I’m not so badly injured right now.”

Mica chewed her lip, searching his gaze. “This is my fault.”

He kissed her, slow and deep. The patter of water on his back was soothing. “It’s not your fault. This is far bigger than you or I. I’m sorry that it’s causing you distress.”

“Hayden…”

He kissed her again. “I need to confront Monroe now, on the original deadline. Before our circumstances get even worse.”