Page 112 of The Alpha's Bullied Rejected Mate

How the hell did a demon get inside the camp?

Marcus charged forward to reach the entrance, but a sudden burst of invisible power threw him backward, causing him to sprawl against the muddy ground.

That was when he saw it. The shed had been surrounded by a magical barrier.

Fuck. He cussed.

“Athena!” Marcus screamed against the barrier.

He bolted forward again, only to be stopped mid-run by a powerful shove of magic.

Marcus groaned, banging his fists frustratingly against the barrier as the magic jolted through him, but he didn’t care.

He could not lose her.

Not like this.

Marcus raged in helplessness. His fists were turning red from hitting the barrier in front of him as his chest raced with fear.

The other witches had started to gather around now, alarmed by the flaring magic, and the hunters and guards had received his alarm.

“Stop, it will only hurt you!” someone screamed.

Marcus turned, eyes wild. “I don’t care!” he growled, staggering forward again.

“She’s in there alone, and there is a fucking demon clawing at her!”

A deeper voice cut through the panic. “It could hurt her, too.”

He froze and narrowed his eyes in confusion. “What?”

One witch stepped forward, her face grave. “The barrier—it’s her magic.”

“She wouldn’t trap herself inside,” Marcus countered.

“It’s called reverse-magic.” Another witch explained.

“She didn’t create it. But it’s her own magic being used against her. Whichever creature she is fighting in there is powerful. So, if anyone tries to break in, the force doesn’t just hurt them, it drains the vessel—her.”

Before Marcus could respond, a loud crash tore through the air. The shed exploded backward, with wood splinters flying into the grass as the entire back wall blasted off its frame.

From the wreckage, both Athena and the demon tumbled out onto the ground together.

She tried to push herself up, but her arms shook as the demon rose unnaturally fast.

Marcus’s wolf growled in rage.

“She is weakening!” another witch cried out from the crowd.

He snapped his head up to Athena. It was true. She would not hold out for much longer.

Think, Marcus, think. There must be something we can do.

A solution dropped into his head.

Marcus’s voice cut through the gathering of witches, loudly, desperately, and commanding.

“There’s a way. You can help her. All of you.”