Page 24 of The Enforcer’s Rejected Mate (Red River Rejected Mates #1)

Chapter

Sixteen

THORNE

I cannot believe the fucking shit I put up with to keep my pack safe.

First there’s the half-starved hiker lost and losing their shit in the middle of the town square that somehow ends up being my problem to handle and I lose an hour of my day driving them into Oak Fast. Then I end up having to lead a twenty mile run and a workout for the new recruits on my day off.

There’s been more reports about ferals and the hiker wouldn’t stop saying she was chased by monsters through the woods.

No doubt about it, the ferals were the ones that drove them towards Red River. Had to be.

We’re a quiet community, accessible to humans but not overly so. Everyone knows we’re like Oak Fast, a shifter town, but where they have a pretty even split of humans they’ve also opened themselves up to fey and witches.

Red River doesn’t operate that way. Magic and shifters do not go together. We never have and we never will. Though, with the way this last part of my day has gone I wouldn’t be opposed to a healing spell.

I groan and open my eyes. Overhead, the storm still thunders away.

It was just a drizzle when I left on my solo patrol after dropping the hiker off at the Oak Fast bus depot.

I’d made my rounds quick, looking for the ferals but their tracks were too faint to follow.

I did pick up on the stench of humans. A decent sized group of six out in the woods drinking and shooting.

I didn’t think much of it. Any hunter with half a coherent thought knows better than to cross the meadow into Red River.

I forgot all about the hunters the second I caught sight of the wolf.

A beautiful, brown shaggy-haired thing with dainty paws painted the color midnight.

At first sight the female was a threat. She was big, strong, and headed right for Red River.

I didn’t think when I went after her. I went on instinct to protect mine.

My pack. Never again are we going to be taken by surprise.

I’ll see that my home and my pack are safe for all of their days.

Running a perimeter check alone worked to settle my nerves.

For the past few days something has had my wolf pacing, no matter how many runs I let him take there’s no getting rid of his energy.

Today’s solo patrol might have done the trick but then I saw her.

The she-wolf had my wolf sitting up at attention.

He wanted her. I pushed the urge down to go after her but it all fell apart the second I touched her.

Tall and lithe and strong. The kind of woman that I could touch without being afraid of breaking her.

Her skin was like silk, breasts full and hips curving into a full ass that felt like heaven in my hands.

Every thought of Red River and patrols disappeared the second my mouth hit hers.

In short, I was well and properly fucked.

I didn’t want to dwell on the thought that she had me hard and fucking between her thighs like I was an untried pup in my first rut.

Hells. No, definitely not breathing a word about that embarrassment but I’ll definitely be thinking about it for a long while.

I would have given this unknown female anything for just one more touch, and I was right in the middle of it too when the fucking hunters and nature conspired to fuck me over.

The storm I could not fault but the hunters should have never been here. They usually wander to the river that curves below our settlement before they reroute and keep it pushing.

Apparently that didn’t happen today, seeing as the fuckers shot me.

Fiery pain that can only be a gunshot wound explodes in my chest. It’s not my heart but it’s close.

I sniff the air and sigh. I wasn’t just shot, I was struck by lightning.

Yes, a fucking lightning bolt just lit my ass up.

There’s a hoot across the meadow. It sounds like they’re in the trees, not out in the open just yet but they will be soon. Gods fucking damn it.

“I knew I shouldn’t have gotten out of bed today,” I mutter.

A whimper brings me back to reality. Those assdicks didn’t just shoot me.

They shot her too. My eyes fly open. The woman is still partially in my arms. I didn’t realize it with the pain of the gunshot.

Dark hair splays out and across her face, hiding her features from me.

The rain has released the natural curl in her thick hair and even with a pack of idiot hunters bearing down on us, I can’t resist. I touch her hair, stroke it back from her face to see the full lips and high slant of her cheekbones.

Her eyes are closed but I remember them.

They’re brown, warm like amber and ocher.

Long dark lashes that kiss the tops of her cheeks flutter and her perfect mouth parts.

I hold my breath while I wait for her to speak.

“It hurts,” she whispers, voice hoarse. She stirs like she’s trying to get her hands under her to push herself up but she doesn’t quite make it from where she’s half laying on my chest.

“What does?” I ask, even though an idiot would know.

“Everything. Everything hurts.” She sniffles and when she opens her eyes there’s tears in them.

I see fucking red as a tear slides down her cheek and onto my chest. It doesn’t matter that I tried to rip her head off.

All that matters is that she feels like mine and no fucking human is going to hurt her while I draw breath.

Right on cue, one of the hunters fires a shot up into the air and hollers.

“I saw a wolf. Gonna fuck that mutt up!”

I bare my teeth in a snarl. “I’m going to kill them.

” I jackknife up and the she-wolf laying on me shrinks back with a wince.

I want to stop and comfort her but there’s no time.

The hunters are closer than I thought. They’re to the right of us and no more than forty feet off.

I can see the first hunter breaking the treeline.

They stumble and nearly drop their rifle.

Another hunter joins them and fires off a shot. I can see a bottle in their hand.

Great. Fucking drunk hunters.

“Of all the fucking degenerates to hunt today, it’s these pieces of shit.” I stand and turn to face them. They stumble to a stop and one of them drops the bottle of liquor they’ve been drinking.

“Holy fuck he’s naked.”

I flip them off and gesture to my dick with my free hand. “It’s just a dick, if any of you had one you’d recognize one when you saw it.”

One of the hunters levels his gun on me.

“Put the gun down,” I order them just as a howl goes up behind me.

The others would have heard that rifle shot so close to Red River.

No doubt the pack Defenders are on the move.

I give them another thirty seconds before they come down the path.

Problem is, with these fuckwads I don’t know if I have another thirty seconds before they fire off another shot.

The only thing that will take me down completely is a headshot and from the smell of the hunters there isn’t one of them that will be able to land the shot.

But getting shot still hurts like a bitch and I’ve got no mind to go through it again. I hear the she-wolf stir behind me. Even if I was up for catching another stray bullet, she’s not going to.

I hear the gun cock. “You fire that gun and my pack is going to rip you to shreds.”

The hunter holding the gun visibly shakes. He’s young, stupid and blond. Funny how those things go together so often. I scowl at him.

Another one of the hunters, an older man with a graying beard rushes forward to grab the boy’s arm. “Put it down, son.”

“He’s a feral. They hurt Clara.”

That catches my attention. I cross my arms. “Did Clara get dropped off by the depot today?” I ask. My money’s on the fact that the hysterical hiker I helped is this Clara.

The older hunter who seems the most sober looks back at me. “She’s auburn haired. Pretty thing with blue eyes? You saw her today, friend?”

Friend.

His fucking buddies just shot me and he’s calling me friend? Typical uncivilized human behavior.

“Didn’t notice what she looked like. Just got her where she needed to go.” It’s a lie but I know how dumb humans can be and how easily they miss the point even when it's looking them in the face.

A rustle in the grass tells me the she-wolf stood up, but even if I was deaf I’d know it from the way every man’s eyes lock on to her.

There’s a few shocked looks and then I see a greasy little smile on one of them.

I can tell exactly what he’s thinking when he looks at the she-wolf.

I hear her step back. She sees the look, same as me.

“Who’s she? Maybe she’s seen Clara.” He makes the mistake of stepping towards us. I mirror the move, making sure I stand in front of the she-wolf and block his view of her. He wants an eyeful, he can stare at me.

“I don’t look at your women and you don’t look at mine, friend .” I spit the last word at them and another semi sober one hits the leering one in the back of the head.

“Eyes on the ground,” he snaps at him. “These aren’t ferals These are shifters. You keep fucking around and he’ll snap your neck and I’ll let him.”

The drunk fuck grumbles but does what he’s told.

“Who fucking shot me?” I snap. My wolf is pissed.

I get it. So am I but I grab hold of him and pull him back.

I don’t want to scare the female. We both want her but I need her calm.

After our tussle and getting shot, plus the lightning, she’s got to be on edge even if I can’t scent it.

I take another quick inhale, thinking maybe it’s me but there’s nothing in the air but the stench of liquor and human aggression.

Her scent isn’t anywhere. No fear, no anxiety, no arousal. What the hells is going on with her?