Page 27 of The Enforcer’s Rejected Mate (Red River Rejected Mates #1)

Adrenaline hits me, the force of it lets me keep running.

My lungs feel like they’re about to give out, each breath hurts more the last and the fire in my legs makes me see stars from how hard I’m pushing myself but I don’t stop.

The path ahead of me is straight so there’s only one way to run.

The path slants up just like it has for the past few miles.

I keep pace and charge up the incline in front of me.

I don’t know where the grace to not fall face first comes from when I catch sight of the mountain?

Hill? Whatever land formation from hell that we’ve been running up comes into sight, but the end is finally coming. Praise Luna.

I keep running. I’m flying, feet moving on autopilot and when I make it to the top I laugh and turn to see tall, dark, and brooding five steps behind me.

Eat that, asshole.

The thought is quick and sharp. My laugh dies on my lips because where did that come from?

I never think those things about anyone.

Ever. I don’t have any time to think about it because the big shifter slows and comes to a stop beside me.

He looks me up and down. The slow drag of his gaze has my body igniting like a tinderbox.

I fidget under his attention while he gives me an appraising look.

“Well done.” His voice is low and gravely in the best way.

He might not want me here but at least he respects me a little bit now.

I can hear it in his voice. Pleasure warms me up like the shot of whiskey Maud used to hand to me from her flask during the winter when we shoveled the path from her hut to the village.

I’ve been in the storm so long that I’m cold now, even running and my shifter fortitude isn’t enough to keep me warm.

I shiver and nod at him with a tight smile. “Thank you.”

He hesitates and I think he’s going to reach for me like he did in the meadow, or at the very least say something that consists of more than a grunt and two words together but alas, he does not.

“Follow me.”

I nod and let him take the lead but not before looking back at the others. They’re still lagging behind but not so much. The humans have mustered enough energy to speed up. They have to know the run is almost over too.

“Is there an easier way to get here?” I ask before I can stop myself. “Or is it always that long of a run in?”

Thorne raises an eyebrow at me. “Get where?”

I gesture around us and then pause. “Well, Red River…I mean, that’s where we are, right?”

I’m not sure because it’s still just trees all around us.

Tall pines that bend and sway in the rain.

They make a wall but there’s a break in them and as I look closer I see a path made of river stones leading away from the break and forward towards Red River.

I want to ask if he’s taking me to the Alpha now or later but I keep my mouth shut because we walk through the trees and I catch my first glimpse of Red River.

It’s nothing like Frostclaw.

The settlement below us is set in a valley.

My eyes almost pop out of my head when I realize there’s a large building in front of a collection of cottages that reminds me of a fairytale castle.

It’s as big as the castles in the stories Maud read to me when I was a wet behind the ears pup who sat at her feet until I dozed off.

The castle looks like it’s made out of moonstone.

The pale stone reflects the moonlight and shines despite the storm.

I should be impressed, since it looks like it should have a moat and drawbridge attached to it but it doesn’t and I’m not.

Not when I see the massive tree behind it that makes the moonstone castle look downright humble.

The tree is bigger than any other tree that I’ve ever seen.

It’s so wide that it almost wraps around the castle.

Its roots are raised and form a semi-circle barrier around the castle while the rest of the settlement perches above it on a hill I’m sure is only there because of how big the roots have grown.

They push the land up, forming a network of rises and falls the settlement dots like a patchwork quilt.

The tree has to be centuries and centuries old, maybe more.

My breath catches in my throat while I stare up at it.

What’s older than a century? Maybe it’s as old as the mountain.

It has to be. Broad and leafy branches stretch out and over the settlement below it.

Like a protective mother’s embrace shielding its children from the world.

With the tree standing guard over the settlement I can’t imagine a single thing that could ever get through to Bloodstone Pack.

Strength and safety live here. It practically sings to me through the air.

I take a deep breath in and the whisper of a memory comes to me.

A woman holding my hand and pointing at the tree.

“That’s Thorne’s Embrace. All that rests in its shadow knows its blessing.”

I know this tree. Tears prick my eyes.

“Thorne will keep us safe.”

The memory unfurls in front of me like a scene from a movie.

I can see myself holding her hand, the tree in front of me looks like it’s holding up the sky.

She looks up at the sky and smiles. The fall of her dark hair smells like roses and when she kneels down beside me I bury my face in it.

I feel so safe with her. She’s the strongest wolf I know.

She smooths a hand over the top of my head. “I love you, Cordy.”

“Mama,” I whisper. It was my mother that brought me here on that bright summer day.

I’ve never thought of her, not like this because I couldn’t conjure up images of her or what she sounded like.

When I thought about her before, it was like she was gone.

The memories I had cut right out of me until there was nothing left but an ache so I stopped trying to remember.

It hurt too much. The only thing I had was that single old photograph.

My hands tighten on my backpack. It’s there tucked in my clothes for safekeeping. My magazine rests on top of it.

How many times did I look at the photo and wish I could remember even just one moment with her and now here she is, the second I set foot in Bloodstone Pack territory. I know then that no matter what happens, I’m staying here.

I have to.

Nothing will force me from this place. Behind Thorne’s Embrace I can make out the curve of a lake and the mountain rises up behind it and vanishes into the dark sky. After all these years it's just like I remember it. Still impossibly massive and holding up the world while time crawls by.

“Keep moving.”

Ah, yes, my escort’s requisite two words. The spell my memories weave around me shatters into the present. I look away from the tree to a handsome shifter glaring at me. I try not to remember how good his mouth feels on me. How good the hard length of his-

“She beat you!” Lucian’s whoop breaks through the thought I should not be having and I breathe out a sigh of relief. What the hells was I thinking?

“She did. She’s fast…that’s good.” I look up in surprise at Thorne’s unexpected praise. I never thought an alpha would say that after being beaten by anyone, much less an Omega. “It’s very good.”

Lucian laughs. “Very good,” he mimics back in a robot voice before he comes up and claps a hand on my shoulder. “Congratulations. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone beat him in a foot race. You smoked him.”

“Thank you, ah, it wasn’t easy. My wolf mostly did it,” I say carefully.

The alphas that I’ve known would never take losing to an omega well.

They’d make the omega pay and as much as the Defenders seem different, I don’t know what I’m dealing with entirely.

Better to play it safe in the name of making a good impression so the Bloodstone Alpha lets me stay.

“She likes to win,” I say quickly when Lucian gives me a questioning look. That satisfies him because he nods knowingly.

“So does mine but he was pretty pissed about the whole rain situation,” he says, nodding up at the storm. “Plus this? Talk about dead weight,” he says, giving the man he’s got slung over a shoulder a shake. The man doesn’t stir and when I take a closer look I see that he looks a little…gray.

“Um…he’s not dead is he?”

“Like literally?” Lucian leans back to look at the man. “Shit. What if he is?” He gives the man a shake. The effect is less than encouraging with the man’s head bouncing around.

I hold up my hands and step forward. “Maybe don’t do that.” Was the man a part of the group of hunters that shot me? Yes. But my healer’s instincts are hard to suppress. I have to help this man.

“Give him to me,” I say and hold out my arms to take the man from Lucian. Lucian moves to do as I ask but that’s when I hear a growl.

Thorne plants a hand in the man’s chest and shoves him back against Lucian. “He doesn’t touch you.”

“He needs help. How can I help him if I can’t touch him?” I ask, hands going to my hips.

“Why would you help him?” I can hear the disdain in Thorne’s voice. He’s right to feel that way, all things considered.

“Because that’s what I do,” I say and look up at him. “I’m a healer. That’s why I’ve come here.”

A murmur goes up from the Defenders and instantly I’m on edge.

Every one of them is looking at me. The humans look too, even though they don’t understand why the Defenders are looking at me.

I’ve never been great with attention but now there’s over a dozen pairs of eyes on me.

The confidence I felt over the past few days is gone, dried up under the brunt of the attention and I wilt.

I lower my eyes to the ground. “I-I came here to see if I could serve as healer. I’m ready to earn my place. I know plants too.” I grab my bag and hold it up. “I brought enough herbs and salves to start working right away. I wouldn’t even need supplies. I swear I don’t need much.”

Thorne makes a sound that I don’t understand. It sounds like a cross between a cough and groan. When I look at him I see that he’s wearing a pinched expression. Oh no. I’m losing them. I’m never going to get to the Alpha at this rate.

“Like I said, I don’t need much and I’m willing to work hard. I can sew, cook and clean. I’m handy with some things too if that’s needed. All I need is a bed, somewhere to stay that’s dry and a meal a day.”

Thorne looks like he’s swallowed his tongue when I say that.

I look around the group and see the rest of the Defenders look the same.

There isn't a friendly expression in the group. As expected, the humans are confused and the Defenders look horrified. I look to Lucian hoping to get some signal that I’m not making a complete ass out of myself but I’m out of luck.

Lucian’s face is the closest to normal and it’s a pitying look that he sends my way.

Oh hells. This is bad. I’m going to get thrown out on my ass. I shouldn’t have been so adamant about helping the man, or telling them about my plans to join their pack. Too eager as usual. I wince and slowly lower my bag.

“You’re pathetic and weak, a used up orphan begging for love. You’ve always disgusted me.”

It doesn’t matter where I go or who I’m with. I’m never going to be free of being the unwanted orphan, am I? I hear a few whispers from the Defenders and my heart sinks. I can’t make out their words but my mind runs with what they could be saying about me.

“Whore. Slut. She’s no good. Cursed.”

They saw me with Thorne in the meadow, didn’t they?

They had to have realized something wasn’t quite right about us being there together.

It isn’t that it’s like the moon run all over again, but that it feels like my time in Frostclaw is slowly catching up with me.

All the miles I’ve put between us are eaten up in the blink of an eye until it’s arrived here, bearing down on me until I can hardly hold my head up. I’m never going to be good enough.

I look away from Lucian and back to Thorne. He looks like he wants to be anywhere but here. I get it. I’d rather be back in Oak Fast with Jenny and Clara, or sitting with Gus at a diner while we eat hamburgers. Luna. I’d kill to be back with Maud.

“I don’t need the meal,” I say, my voice cracks but I force myself to keep speaking. “I can hunt. I-if you get me an audience with the Alpha, I’ll plead my case and I swear I won’t be a drain on the pack. I’ll contribute my fair share.”

A dark look passes over Thorne's face. He jerks back like I’ve slapped him and I don’t understand it. Is he ashamed of me? Embarrassed that the others ran up on us in the meadow? I will him to speak but he stays silent. I open my mouth to ask what’s wrong but before I can, he speaks.

“If you think Bloodstone is such a poor pack that we would have you hunt your own meals then you know nothing of who we are.”

I want to tell him that’s the whole point. That I don’t know anything but I desperately want to. I look around the space. The Defenders and the humans fade away the second I see the great tree I once believed held the skies from falling.

There’s secrets here, memories that I’ve lost that I can win back and I’m not going to let this moment break me. I was the punching bag of Frostclaw my entire life, I can take this.

“I didn’t mean to offend you.” I look around at the others. “If I did, I’m sorry.” I’ve said sorry a thousand times before for things I was never in the wrong for. This sorry means nothing, just like all the other times. Just like all those other times I turn off my emotions and put my pride aside.

“I might not know Bloodstone customs but I want to learn. I can learn. And I’ve come here to be useful in any way I can.

” I meet Thorne’s eyes. The shifter looks angry but that isn’t different from any other time I’ve looked at him.

He didn’t look angry in the meadow my body whispers to me.

I clear my throat and will my libido into another dimension to keep my cool.

“All I ask is an audience with the Alpha to plead my case.”

No one speaks, not even the hunters who up until this point have been looking sick or collapsing on the ground with quiet moans.

The moans are gone now. One of them watches me from the ground with wide eyes.

Thorne shifts and everyone looks his way.

Lucian may be the leader of the Defenders but it’s clear Thorne outranks him.

What role does he have in Bloodstone Pack that everyone defers to him?

I hold my breath while we watch Thorne decide what to do next.

I expect him to say something when he looks at me but he doesn’t.

Just rubs the bridge of his nose with a weary sigh before he turns and starts towards the path leading us towards Red River.

Just like before he doesn’t walk, he sets off at a run.

The rest of us fall in line behind the big shifter and that is how I enter Red River.