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

Chapter 33 - Mica

Something to fuck?

Mica stared at Hayden, unable to believe what she was hearing. Though the words came from his mouth, she couldn’t believe he’d say such a thing. His expression was closed off, hard. There was no trace of the Hayden she knew. Her belly cramped as she processed his words. Part of her said it was true. Of course, it was. She was just some overweight, human woman. What could she offer someone like Hayden except warmth on cold nights?

But this wasn’t Hayden. He was patient with her. Kind. He’d insisted on her consent before he touched her the first time. Someone looking for a ‘thing’ to fuck wouldn’t have done that.

“What’s going on?” she asked, stepping forward. “Hayden? What happened?”

Hayden rolled his eyes. “What happened is that I’m Alpha now. I have the position I want. And I don’t want you anymore.”

“Then why did you declare me as your mate in front of the whole pack?” she challenged.

Hayden shrugged. “Because those who take the mating ceremony seriously would be shocked if I did not. I didn’t mean it. You served your purpose. And now that I have a child growing in your womb, I don’t need anything else from you. I’ll have my child, and then you’ll leave.”

“Leave?”

“You’re human. I was foolish for choosing a human as my mate. You left me as a single father. It will be such a heartbreaking time for me, but I’ll find comfort in the arms of other women.” Hayden laughed. “And you will never have to deal with the pack again. Win-win, don’t you think?”

Mica shook her head slowly, trying to make sense of what he was saying. He planned to use her to give birth, then kick her out and never let her see her own child? “I don’t believe you.”

“Because you love me?” he mocked. His eyes were cold.

Mica fell back a step. A bitter taste filled her mouth, and her lungs struggled to bring in air. If being rejected when they were teens hurt, this was too painful for words. He would have done less damage if he had slapped her across the face. He turned his back on her as she stood there, struggling to make sense of it all.

“Leave me. I have work to do,” he said.

I don’t believe you.

She didn’t say it out loud. But it was still true. Despite the feeling that Hayden had just reached into her chest and torn out her heart, she didn’t believe a word he said. How could she? That wasn’t like Hayden! She couldn’t believe that everything they’d shared these past few months was bullshit.

No. There was something else going on. But what?

“Fine,” she breathed. If something was wrong, it was clear Hayden wasn’t going to share. “Fine. If that’s how you feel, you won’t have to deal with me anymore. But I’m not letting you take my baby.”

“My baby,” Hayden interrupted.

Mica shook her head. “Until you’re the one growing this baby, it’s mine. Not yours. I’ll tell everyone I slept with random men in the city if I need to. You’re not taking this baby away from me. But I am leaving. I’m getting away from this pack once and for all.”

Hayden stared back at her coldly. Part of her still thought he’d say something to stop her. But there was no emotion on his face. It was as though her words meant nothing. Her heart sank. Her traitorous, unfaithful heart. She steeled herself; she wasn’t going to let go so easily. His words had been calculated to hurt, and hers to prove he had hurt her.

If he was telling the truth, he’d demand she stay until the baby was born. Right? So… did this mean he was being deliberately cruel to make her want to leave him?

“I’ll tell the pack that I’m going to the city to look out for the wolves at the hospital,” she said. “But as soon as I can get a vehicle, I’m out of here.”

And with that, she turned on her heel and walked away. Her mind churned over everything that they had just said to each other. What the hell was happening?

***

Mica knew she was no brilliant spy. But she had to admit she was pleased with the spy camera she had rigged up. Though there weren’t many cell phones in Bluebell Valley, she got her hands on two of them and installed apps that allowed her to set up one in the Alpha’s house, keep the other with her, and spy on what Hayden was up to.

She expected a secret meeting with the special ops team to explain everything. That the ground was unstable or that more beast-demons were converging on the town and preparing to slaughter everyone. Mica could understand why Hayden wanted her to leave.

Now she lay on her bed, a packed suitcase hidden beneath the bed. She needed to prove to Hayden she was leaving if he demanded it. Even though she had no intention of leaving. She stared through the phone, her eyebrows knitting together.

“We’ll continue this building project,” Hayden said, leaning over the desk that showed the blueprints Monroe was working on. “But rather than keep this as the Alpha’s house, we’ll turn it into a hospital for injured wolves. Having this addition on will allow for a more comfortable space. Kai, you’ll finish the excavations while the rest of us hunt down the last of the demons.”

“What?” Kai’s forehead wrinkled. “But we still need to find what is anchoring the aura-demons.”

“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 there were 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 they knew 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 helped the 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.

“The only chance we have at this is a surprise. We have to lure the demon into a trap and have something ready to shove it into. Does anyone have an idea? We don’t have the time to get another giant rock!”

“The mountain?” Tess suggested.

Echo shook her head. “Mountains face erosion every day. We don’t know how much it needs to degrade to release the demon. For all we know, a single landslide might make the mountain unsuitable.”

Elin chewed her lip. “What about a stainless steel water bottle?”

“That won’t last,” Tess said.

“But it will last long enough,” Mica said. “Years. We can use that time to figure something else out. The first priority is to get that fucking demon out of my mate.”

Three pairs of uncertain eyes met hers.

Mica got to her feet. “If I can do this as a human, then you can as wolf shifters. Let’s do this. Before it’s too late.”