Page 21 of The Enforcer’s Rejected Mate (Red River Rejected Mates #1)

“It’s going to rain on us.” It’s obvious she won’t take no for an answer on giving me a ride when she waves me over to her. As I get close, I see there’s a woman in a truck idling beside her with the door open.

Jenny flicks her magazine at me impatiently. “Let’s go, Cordy!”

My heart swells when she calls me that. Cordy.

I’ve never heard that name come from anyone else’s lips but Keiran’s. Without asking, Jenny is calling me that like we’ve been friends forever. Rain starts to patter down around us and Gus clears his throat.

“You ought to get indoors, Cordy. You’ll catch a cold.”

I smile at him. I was right about having friends and them calling me by my favorite nickname. Turns out I like hearing them say my nickname more than I ever liked it from Keiran. Figures.

“You too, Gus. I’ll see you around.” I hesitate, rock back a step and pause.

It’s time to go. I know that but Gus has been good to me.

He’s my friend even if he doesn’t quite know how to talk to a wolf.

I rush forward and throw my arms around him and give him a hug.

My shifter strength makes itself known when I hear Gus let out a wheezing breath so I loosen my grip some.

“I’m glad we met,” I tell him.

Gus chuckles and hugs me back. “So am I. You’re a good one. Promise if you ever need anything you find me in town. If I’m not at the bus depot ask for me at Barista Witch.” I remember the coffee shop I saw earlier and grin. Gus hangs with witches. Neat.

We break apart and I give him a smile. “I will. I promise.” Then I take off at a jog towards Jenny and the waiting truck.

“See ya ‘round. Stay dry!” Gus calls out to me.

I wave as I reach Jenny. “Bye Gus!”

“Inside now.” Jenny ushers me into the warm and dry cab of the truck and clucks at me about getting wet.

“You’re going to get sick like that.”

“I have a strong immune system,” I tell her.

It’s true, all shifters do. I don’t say that though because telling Gus I was a shifter left me weak-kneed. I’ll have to take a breather to rally before I tell Jenny what I really am.

The truck is nice and clean. The truck has a big bench seat that I settle onto between Jenny and her friend.

“I’m Carla,” the other woman says and sticks her hand out for me to shake.

“I’m Cordy,” I say, deciding that I want to test out the name some more. I can be anyone I want now so why not? A thrill runs through me when Carla nods at me, accepting the name I’ve given her.

“Nice to meet you, Cordy. Where we heading?”

“Um, east. Not too far though. I’m going to Red River but I’ve got a hike I want to start on.”

“Right now?” Jenny asks. She’s buckling herself in and stops to give me a frown. “It’ll be nightfall in just a few hours and that storm isn’t anything to play with. When a storm rolls down off the mountain it’s best to be indoors. You don’t want to be out in these woods after sundown.”

“Especially not with the ferals prowling,” Carla adds. “There was another attack on hikers this weekend. Seems like every week there’s another one.”

Jenny makes a face at that. “Those ferals are going to run off the tourists. Bunch of good for nothings.”

I fidget in my seat. The plan to tell Jenny that I’m a wolf suddenly doesn’t seem so smart.

“You can come stay with us tonight,” Jenny declares. “We can take you to Red River in the morning. The woods?” She shudders and waves her hands. “Too dangerous with those monsters roaming.”

“I can’t,” I blurt out to stop Jenny’s planning. A woman like Jenny is like a rising tide. There’s no stopping her once she puts her mind to something. I’ve seen it enough with Maud. If I don’t stop her now there’s no telling what the plan will be before I’m able to make it to Bloodstone Pack.

“I mean,” I clear my throat and try again, “I can’t, even though I’d really love to stay,” I tell her honestly. “You’ve been so kind to me from the minute we met but I’ve got to see this hike through. It’s something I’ve been putting off for a long while now.”

Jenny looks like she’s about to start arguing with me but Carla pipes up. “She’s got business to attend to. From the sounds of it, very important business,” she tells Jenny. “Don’t you, Cordy?”

I nod and give Carla a grateful smile. “That’s right, I do.

Mau-” I start but correct myself. There’s no easy way to explain what Maud is to me, “My grandma sent me out this way to do this. The sooner I get it started then the sooner I can come back to town and see you both.” It’s not a lie.

The sooner I get to Bloodstone Pack and get a feel for how it’ll go the faster I will be able to return to Oak Fast. In Frostclaw, I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere on my own, but I won’t live like that again.

After my little taste of freedom on the bus over the past few days, I want more.

I’ll never go back to living under someone else’s thumb. If I’m not free to come and go as I please then Bloodstone Pack isn’t the place for me. If that happens, I’ll give Oak Fast a shot.

Jenny makes a face like she’s sucking on something sour. “Oh, all right. I want to go on record that I don’t like it. Look at her, she’s not even wearing a raincoat. She’s going to get swept right off the mountain.”

Carla gives my arm a pat and pulls out of the bus station parking lot. “She likes to fuss. If we let her, it'll pass quickly. You want me to take the main road off town or is there another way you’d like to go?”

I’m grateful for Carla’s easy nature. Driving a girl out into the middle of nowhere for a hike in a storm probably isn’t a request she gets every day. “Main road would be perfect. Thank you so much.”

The ride out of Oak Fast is quick and easy, and Carla’s right.

Jenny does tire herself out pretty quickly.

We drive for about five or so minutes when I see the road marker that Gus circled.

It’s a trail head sign for Samson Peak. The arrow says it’s two miles out.

That’s where I’m going to start my trek to Bloodstone Territory proper.

I squint and see another sign a hundred yards past the sign for Samson Peak.

Red River 15 miles.

Good. It’s not too far off.

“There, that’s where I need to get off,” I say, pointing at the trailhead sign. “Just up there.”

Carla starts to slow to pull off to the side while Jenny leans forward and squints out of the windshield. “How did you see that? I can’t see anything with the rain coming down.” She’s right, the rain is pouring now. The only way I was able to see the trail head sign is because of my shifter senses.

I shrug and give her a smile. “I’ve always had good eyesight.”

“Ate lots of carrots, huh?” Carla muses. I don’t understand the reference but I nod at her all the same.

“Yeah, I love carrots.”

“I can see that far too,” she tells me. “Must be on account of all the carrots.” There’s something in the way she says ‘too’, the humor that I hear when she talks about the carrots that makes me pause and really look the woman over.

She’s middle-aged and pretty with auburn hair cut into a blunt bob.

She’s wearing standard fare for a mountain town with boots and work pants and a heavy coat which, when I look at her, is completely at odds with her delicate features.

There’s a restless energy to her with the way she taps her fingers on the steering wheel that I didn’t pick up on before, with Jenny’s energy filling the cab.

She seemed calm before and she is but there’s a little something extra to the way she moves as she drives.

Alert and wide-eyed. Her profile shows a pert button nose and a delicate curve of her chin.

All it takes is a quick glance between us for me to understand what it is I’m seeing.

“You’re a bunny shifter,” I say and take a quick sniff to confirm. Yup, that’s one hundred percent bunny.

She chuckles and pulls off the road in front of the sign. “You got me.”

“I’ve never met a bunny shifter.”

“We prefer rabbit on a first meet and greet but since Jenny likes you so much I’ll allow bunny.”

I blush hot at her words. “Sorry,” I tell her and duck my head. “I-well, I’ve never been anywhere,” I tell her and gesture around with my hands. “And now I’m here and I’m meeting all kinds of wonderful people and now a bunn-I mean, rabbit shifter to boot? You don’t know how excited I am.”

Carla smiles at me. “I’m awfully glad that you’re here, Cordy. It’s nice to meet another shifter.”

I beam at her. I’ve never met another shifter outside of Frostclaw, let alone one that wasn’t a wolf. “Pleased to meet you too, Carla.” I have so many questions for her. I wonder if she knows Jazzy. I open my mouth to ask her but stop when Jenny speaks.

“Wait, you’re a shifter?”

Carla and I both freeze at Jenny’s question. We lock eyes and I wince a second later while Carla sucks her teeth and gives me a knowing look.

“Wolfs outta the bag,” she whispers to me and Jenny lets out a gasp.

“You’re a wolf?!”

I want to run, or at least I think I do. My fight or flight has never been one hundred percent on point and everything feels off since my wolf arrived. Still, I manage to turn to look at Jenny with an apologetic smile.

“I-well, surprise?”

Jenny’s mouth opens and closes a few times like a fish out of water and then she shakes her head and slaps a hand over her mouth with a groan. “I cannot believe this!”

My heart falls at her words. It’s just like I feared it would be when she found out that I was a wolf, just like the ferals she talked about in the woods, but I push on.

I’ve dealt with worse in Frostclaw and I know I can win Jenny back over to being my friend.

She’s friends with Carla. Even if I’m not the right kind, Jenny is still open to shifters.

I hold up my hands like I’m soothing a scared animal. “I know that it’s a shock but I promise I-I’m not bad and-”

“I cannot believe that I ran my mouth the entire trip about wolves and ferals and I’ve been talking to one. Oh, I am so embarrassed.” Jenny gives me a pained look. “I swear I’m not close-minded or so judgemental. I, well I’ve known good wolves.”

“The one that’s married to the gal that works at the coffee shop is a good one,” Carla says. “And he’s Alpha of his pack.”

That catches my interest.

“Alpha? Is he with Bloodstone?”

“No, they’re different. A bit south of here. Smaller pack but good folk. They’ve been helping Bloodstone try to track down those ferals.”

Jenny moans like she’s been shot. “I’m so embarrassed. Mortified. Can you forgive me?” She slumps against the door and gives me a pitiful look that makes me laugh.

“You’re really not mad I’m a wolf?”

“Mad? Why would I be mad? That’s how you were meant to be, isn’t it?”

“Well…I don’t know how else to be so yes. Even if I did, I wouldn’t change it.” My wolf lets out a howl of agreement and we all jump. Carla more so than either of us. She drops low against the steering wheel. I give my wolf a smack and quickly apologize.

“I’m sorry about that. I-well, I’ve just got my wolf. I don’t know how to control her yet.”

Carla waves me off. “I get it. The animal side can have a mind of its own sometimes. My advice is don’t try to control it.”

My wolf practically purrs in agreement at her words. It likes the idea of running wild and free, taking our skin when the mood strikes but I squash that. There’s no way that would work.

“Okay, I’ll, um, I’ll try,” I say. I don’t understand what she means. All my life, Frostclaw stressed the importance of ‘controlling your beast’ and making sure that ‘your beast serves you, not the other way around’. Maybe it’s different for Carla because she’s a bun-er, rabbit?

“Can you forgive me for running off at the mouth like that? I’m so sorry, Cordy.”

I smile at Jenny. “Of course, I can forgive you. I should have told you sooner.”

When I forgive Jenny it’s not a moment too soon.

She throws both arms around me and hugs me hard enough to crack my back and only lets go when Carla tells her she’s cutting off my air.

When we part, I hop out. Now is as good a time as any for me to be on my way, especially when I can see Jenny is gearing up to demand I sleep over so she can keep making it up to me.

“I’m good. I promise,” I tell her and hug her again. “The pack I’m going to, well it’s my pack. It’ll be a homecoming of sorts.”

“It’s still true about the ferals,” Carla tells me and points to the woods.

“There is a pack of them in the woods. We don’t know where they came from but they’re dangerous.

You’ll need to watch your back until you’re in the pack territory.

They have patrols that run the forests, and you should hit it a few miles out from the trailhead here.

You’ll know it when you get to a big meadow. That’s the start of Bloodstone proper.”

I make a mental note about the meadow. “Right, run till I hit the meadow. I promise I’ll be careful.”

“You better come into town soon or I’ll send a search party out for you. I mean it, Cordy. I’ll come up here looking for you myself. Oh, and stay away from beautiful, dangerous shifters. We both know how that worked out the first time.”

I blush but promise to heed her words. “I won’t go near them and I’ll do my best to be back once I’ve settled in.

I swear.” It feels weird to talk about Bloodstone like I won’t have a problem settling in but it does help calm my nerves some.

A welcome development knowing there’s a band of dangerous ferals roaming the area.

We all hug again before the women get back into their truck.

I watch as Carla makes a U-Turn to head back into town and wave to them as they drive by.

I stay there for another minute or so watching them until their truck rounds the bend before I pull my hood up and start walking.