Page 22 of The Enforcer’s Rejected Mate (Red River Rejected Mates #1)

Chapter

Fourteen

CORDELIA

I make good time getting to the trailhead and onto the path to Samson Peak.

When I get a mile or so in the forest well and truly rises up around me and closes in.

For the first time since I left Maud’s hut, I feel at home.

I close my eyes and stand still while the rain falls in sheets on the trees overhead.

The steady shush shush shush sound of wind, rain, and trees dancing together calms me.

The trees are old enough to keep me nice and dry here in the forest. I bend down and grab a fistful of dirt.

I let it sift through my fingers and smile.

“I’m free,” I whisper, even though there’s no one to hear me but the forest. “I’m free,” I say, this time louder.

A laugh bubbles up in me and I rise from my crouch and take off in a run.

My wolf prances. Freedom calls to her just the same as it does me.

She wants to run and for a second I think about it.

“You’ll need to watch your back until you’re in 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.”

Carla’s warning about the ferals reminds me of why I can’t let my wolf out. She might be strong, at least, she feels that way. Even if she’s not, I know one thing for certain. My wolf is delusional enough to challenge Alpha Ashford.

She wanted to rip him limb from limb. She wanted to tear his eyes out and…

and…I don’t know what else but it wasn’t good.

Even a strong wolf is vulnerable during their first shift.

Clumsy like a newborn foal getting their legs under them.

I remember how Keiran wobbled and tripped on his first moon run.

I’d been hanging back like I always did when I saw him fall.

He’d been twelve which was young but Keiran was strong.

He was destined to be strong as the Alpha’s son and heir to the pack.

If Keiran fell on his face what chance did my wolf have in a fight against ferals her first shift?

Zero.

“Not yet. It’s not safe. We’ll shift when we get to the meadow,” I tell her.

She goes quiet and I know she’s giving me the silent treatment.

I roll my eyes and keep walking. My wolf will get over it.

I walk for another minute before I realize how dumb I am for walking.

Just because I can’t shift doesn’t mean I can’t run.

I tighten my backpack straps and a second later I’m moving.

I let myself well and truly run . My runs were short in Frostclaw.

There were always chores to do or a job that needed completing but now my time is mine.

I put on a burst of speed just for the fun of it and laugh as I rocket forward.

I’ve never run this fast before but my shifter stamina is well and truly clocked in with my wolf now.

I feel like I’m flying. I run for as long as I can, the miles vanishing.

I only stop when the trees open up and I see the meadow Carla mentioned.

It’s nearly nightfall, but it might as well be with how dark the rainstorm has made it.

I pause and look around the meadow. It’s big alright.

Reminds me of the fields I saw outside of the human schools in Winthrop.

The trees bend and break here, forming a perfect oval in the middle of the forest. Carla was right, there’s no missing this perfect meadow.

Wildflowers and tall grass sway in the storm like a summer lake.

A quick scan of the meadow doesn’t show me any signs of where to go next and I’m about to reach for my map in my bag when my wolf yips.

I know what that sound means.

You promised.

She’s right. I did promise her.

“Oh all right,” I mutter like I’m annoyed but I’m not.

I’m smiling. The moment of my shift is here and it feels surreal to actually be doing it.

For so long I’ve dreamed of this that at first I don’t know what to do.

That’s when my wolf jumps and starts to push at the barrier between us.

I feel it as surely as if someone hit me in the chest. It’s a dull thump and I realize there’s nothing really for me to do but let her come.

I drop my bag on the ground and peel off my boots and clothes.

I take the time to fold them, even though it doesn’t matter much since they’re soaked from the rain.

When I’m bare I take in a deep breath and for the first time I let go.

That’s the only way to describe the feeling of my wolf surging to the surface.

I’m there and I’m not. Like I’m on the edge of a cliff and from one second to the next I’m not.

I’m falling, my body loose and relaxed. There’s no fear or anger, there’s no anxiety or worry that I’m doing it wrong. No sadness or loneliness. It’s just me.

Everything around me blurs and goes quiet while my wolf forms. My body moves in a way that only a shifter’s can when they lose their skin.

Limbs and nails changing, moving and lengthening.

I fall forward onto my hands and knees but no, now they’re paws.

Strong, sure, paws that press firm into the dirt while my back snaps and breaks.

There’s a flare of pain but it’s gone in the blink of an eye and when I raise my head to breathe it’s a snout that I lift.

I breathe in and the smell of rain and damp earth, grass and cool mountain air fills my nose.

I stand there. We stand there. The wind blows through my shiny dark brown fur, so dark that it turns black near my paws.

I shake my head and move. The power I feel makes me dizzy.

I turn in a circle to try and get a look at myself.

The grass beneath me bends under my weight and I know it wasn’t just a delusion.

I’m as big as the Alpha of Frostclaw. I laugh, the sound a bark.

We could beat him. We would beat him if he showed himself to us again.

The thought is enough to send me running.

I race the length of the meadow and back again.

The ground is soft underfoot, the sweet scent of the grass rises up around us, clings to our fur.

My muscles coil and bunch as I leap and I hit the ground with a barely there thud before I turn to run again when a scent catches my attention.

A rabbit.

I can smell it out there. My stomach rumbles and I drop low to hunt.

I’m too big to hide from it in the grass but that doesn't matter. I’m fast. Faster than anything in these woods and I’ll catch the rabbit.

I’m patient waiting for the slightest movement of the rabbit to show me my prey.

I don’t have to wait long. A boom of thunder must scare it because it leaps with the flash of lightning and runs straight for the center of the meadow.

Dumb bunny, it should be running for the trees.

My wolf gives chase. I’m quick enough to close the distance before the rabbit realizes it’s being chased. I snap my teeth when I’m a few feet away and leap. I fly through the air, ready to catch my prey the second I land but that never happens.

Another wolf comes out of nowhere and slams into the side of me.

Our limbs tangle and a maw snaps at me. I only barely manage to avoid it by twisting to the side.

We hit the ground so hard that we bounce and I go flying.

My body tumbles head over paws until I come to a skidding stop.

I lift my head and growl. I’m not scared. I’m glad. I did want a fight after all.