Page 43 of The Alpha's Forced Bullied Mate

The weird carnival music proceeded into a slowly timed march. Her lower lip ballooned as her pupils turned to points. “I…can’t…”

“It’s demon magic.” I yanked on her hand and put myself between her and the television. “Your alpha commands you tolook away, Faye Lynne.”

Her gaze snapped to me, but I could tell she was already halfway lost to the home she once knew in her mind.

I felt infuriated by the reminder of Beaufort Creek. That place was dead and gone to her. She would never go back. Hell, those alphas of her probably wouldn’t dare to take her back. Breaking a mate bond was risky for everyone involved—even the people surrounding the situation.

My heart lurched.That’s what they are doing, I thought.The demons are trying to break the mate bond.

I shook Faye’s hand. “Don’t pay attention to them, okay?”

“My home—”

“—is withmenow.” I stood up and pulled her to her feet with me. “You belong to me now, understand? You’re not leaving.”

Her eyes hardened. “I missmyhome, Hector.”

I shook my head. “Then you can miss them from the privacy of our home. Do you understand?”

She peeked over my shoulder. I firmly grasped her chin and forced her to look into my eyes. “Do youunderstand, Faye Lynne?”

Ferocious heat burned right through me, turning what were once glossy marbles into deadly lasers. “I understand,” she said through clenched teeth. “Now, let me go.”

She belonged to me. Now, I was her alpha. Now, I was her mate.

Couldn't she see that?

Chapter 14 - Faye

Even after I got to see the Mothman statue, I couldn't shake my creepy encounter with that advertisement for Beaufort Creek, South Carolina, back at the café. Haunted faces followed me everywhere I looked. Nothing cheered me up after that, not even Hector cracking his usual jokes. The wall that formed between us went up as easily as it had dropped.

Was it going to be like this all the time? Was I always going to miss my family even though my biological family was starting to accept me? What other torment would I face with these demons? I felt such a torrent of emotions that I wasn't sure which one to pay attention to. In the end, I ended up ignoring them all.

Just as I got into the passenger seat of the car, the rainclouds overhead broke open. Rain cascaded down in heavy waves. The sky bellowed gutturally as Hector carefully drove along the highway that would lead back to the pack. Lightning cracked the sky, flashing white against the windshield. Thunder burst out over the car and rattled the wheels, shook the windows, and forced the entire mechanical structure to quiver.

I crossed my arms over my chest as Hector shot me an accusatory look. “You need to cut it out, you know.”

I shook my head viciously. “I'm notdoinganything.” A shadowy face materialized in the windshield and then disappeared.

I cringed.

He scoffed. “Yes, you are! When you get mad, you always make it storm like this.”

Fear laced through me as I searched the road for demons. I held out my hands, trying to find where it went. “It's not just when I'm mad.”

“Well, you're doing it now, and you're kind of acting like a huge brat about the whole thing.”

I gaped at him, shouting to be heard over the torrential downpour. “You're the one who yanked me out of my pack and brought me here. If you didn't want me to act like this, then maybe you shouldn't have done these things to me. Have you considered that?Have you?”

Rain beat harder against the roof, flooding the car windows with the unearthly rush of water. The shadowy face reappeared with hollow eyes and a wide crater for a mouth. It lashed at the window where I focused my palms, yelping when a zap erupted from my fingertips.

Hector shouted, “You’re doing it now!”

I kept my eyes on the slithering shadow as rain went right through its oblong body. “I’mprotectingus!”

“From what? That demon is gone, Faye.”

“It’s right there!” I glared at the windshield while trying to draw on that zapping ability again. “Come on, just get it right, already…”

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