Page 30 of The Enforcer’s Rejected Mate (Red River Rejected Mates #1)

“What’s the password? It’s protocol. You know that, Enforcer.”

Enforcer.

My eyes go wide, so wide that I think they’re going to pop out of my head. What the hells? He’s an Enforcer? My mind races and I think of all the Enforcer’s that I knew in Frostclaw. Mean and scary, bullies, nothing but alphas on the prowl to abuse their power.

But that’s not Thorne.

Or is it?

You don’t even know him, the rational side of my brain reminds me.

“Clover-”

“You’re the one that mandated the password and by not saying it you’re just wasting time in front of your pretty friend.”

Pretty.

That stops my spiral and I smile at the door slot. “You think I’m pretty?”

“I’ve got eyes, don’t I?” Clover asks me.

“That’s really nice of you to say.”

“Anytime, doll face.”

“Stop hitting on-” Thorne stops and then truly looks at me for what feels like the first time since the meadow. He opens his mouth and then looks towards the door with a frown. “Listen, Omega, what’s your-”

“Oh my gods, don’t tell me you don’t know her name! She reeks of you. Got your scent all over her and you don’t know her name? I thought you were raised better, Enforcer.”

I want to hide. Not because Clover just pointed out I’m covered in his scent but because she’s right. He doesn’t know my name. That’s when I realize no one does. No one asked my name in the meadows before we took off for Red River.

Thorne doesn’t look away from me. “Clover, I’m warning you. Tone it down.”

There’s a long-suffering sigh from the door slot. “Sheesh. All right, boss.”

I take a step back and pull my hoodie tight around me.

Thorne isn’t an idiot. He tracks the movement.

He doesn’t like what he sees if the jaw clench I see is anything to go by.

I take another quick step away from him until I bump into the wall.

Hard. I bounce forward and stumble, which is just the kind of reality check I need.

And the fact that Thorne doesn’t know my name.

It’s as much my fault as it is his though so I square my shoulders and do what I can to fix it.

“My name is Cordelia.”

Thorne’s jaw unclenches but he doesn’t look happy. Considering the range of emotions I’ve seen him display which have ranged from angry to furious, I’ll take the almost neutral look I’m now seeing.

“Cordelia?” he asks.

“Yes, that’s me.”

“You got a last name?” Clover pipes up from the door slot.

I shake my head even though she can’t see me. “No.”

“That’s so cool. Really chic,” Clover chirps.

Thorne sighs and looks heavenward. “Persimmons,” he says.

I tilt my head to the side and give him a confused look. Is he trying to give me a new last name? What in the seven hells is-

“Hurray! You’ve said the magic password.

Wonderful, come on in,” Clover crows from the door slot before she slaps it shut and unlocks the door.

The door swings open with a heavy groan.

I’m not sure what to expect when the door opens so I stay put.

It’s the right move. A second later a willowy blonde with long hair pops her head out with a wide smile.

“Hi, Cordelia! I’m Clover.” She shoulders past Thorne and holds a hand out for me to take.

I give Thorne a look. He looks…neutral still. So that’s good. I take Clover’s hand and shake it. “Nice to meet you.”

“Same here but Luna! You’re soaked.” She gives me a pitying look and then motions for me to follow her. “Let’s get you warmed up, yeah? I can’t believe he’s brought you here like this. Soaked through like you ran the whole way through the storm.”

“That’s because I did,” I tell her. “Well, we did.”

Clover’s mouth falls open before she gives Thorne a withering look. “I’m telling your Ma.”

For the first time Thorne looks something other than pissed or impassive. He raises his hands and gives Clover a look that can only be described as pleading. “Now Clover there’s no reason to overreact.”

Clover wags a finger at him. I have to dodge said finger when she whirls to scold Thorne. “Overreact? You think she raised you to bring us a female in this state? I can’t even believe you Thorne Frostbane. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”

I’m in awe of Clover. She’s a total badass. She’s a Beta from the smell of her and doesn’t look any older than me. She’s half the size of the Defenders that deferred to Thorne but she’s not one bit scared of the Enforcer. When I look at Thorne I see that he’s sufficiently scolded.

“You don’t understand the circumstances.”

Clover rolls her eyes and puts her arm around me.

“I’ll tell you what I don’t understand, you big alphas that can’t even see to an omega’s needs.

Not knowing her name, Thorne? Not cool.” She gives me a comforting squeeze.

“Come on, Cordelia. I’ve got a pot of stew we can share and a warm bed waiting for you. ”

“Where are we going?” I look over my shoulder at Thorne to see he’s following albeit a few steps behind us.

“The guest quarters,” she says. “Where we know how to treat visitors and newcomers right. I do apologize for my cousin Thorne. He’s always been this way.”

“Your cousin?” That kind of explains how she’s able to talk to him the way she is but still, I’ve never seen an Alpha sassed like this by a Beta.

Family or not, the Frostclaw alphas would have lost their heads if a Beta mouthed off to them like Clover is.

The Beta at my side turns and glares at Thorne over her shoulder.

“Yeah, that sorry stoic alpha is my cousin and he’s in for it when the family hears about how you turned up here.”

Clover is everything I want to be when I grow up. I’ve never met a cooler woman.

My wolf likes her and so do I. “It’s all right,” I tell her. “I, ah, I came into the woods unannounced. I didn’t know there was a different way into Red River. I got told in Oak Fast to come in through the trailhead.”

She tsks . “That’s because a lot of the Oak Fast shifters do things the hard way. No sense in running that whole thing if you can just drive in, you know?”

I nod. “Yeah. Totally.”

She stops walking. We’re in front of a wooden door with a shiny brass bird on it. Warm light bounces off it and makes the bird gleam, but when I turn to look around me I don’t see a fireplace to light the way. It’s then that I realize we’re in a hallway lit by floating orbs.

“Is that magic?” I whisper. Other than Maud, I’ve never seen magic, and the only magic she did was to reveal me as Keiran’s unwanted mate and scare the shit out of Alpha Ashford.

“It is. You like?” Clover asks before she leans in close to whisper. “I did it. I’ve been dabbling in some old books that I found and you would not believe the stuff I’m able to do now. The bathroom? It’s a freaking spa now,” she says, jerking her thumb over her shoulder at the door.

“You’re a witch?”

“Gods, no,” Clover lets out a disappointed sigh. “But maybe one day. I’ve been trying to learn from some of the gals in town though.”

Excitement buzzes through me when Clover says that. She knows witches. Real ones. And in Oak Fast. If she knows witches then she has to know Maud’s sister.

“Do you know Jazzy?” I blurt out.

Clover gives me a curious look. “I do, but how do you know them? You run with witches then?”

I don’t know how to explain what Maud is to me. Not quickly anyhow, and certainly not before I’ve met with the Bloodstone Alpha. “Well, I-I wouldn’t say that I run with them. I mean, do they even run? I thought they you know…” I make a whooshing motion with my hands and Clover giggles.

“Fly? You really believe in-”

“What business do you have with witches?”

We both turn to look at Thorne. A stormy expression on his handsome face clues me in that asking after Jazzy was not the brightest move I’ve made but even if I was blind, I’d know that I’d made a misstep from the smell.

Annoyance. Frustration. Anger.

It all comes rushing around me, floods my senses until I wince and look away. “No business, just an acquaintance.”

“Gods, Thorne. You stink to hell!” Clover yells. “Damn alphas. They like to pretend to be stoic but then bam, scent bomb you out of nowhere. Gross.” She opens the door for me with an apologetic smile. “I’m really sorry about…you know, him ,” she tells me in a loud whisper.

I freeze. Thorne is my connection to meeting with the Alpha. I can’t piss him off any more than I keep doing, so I duck my head and hurry into the bathroom with a quick. “Thank you.”

“There’s fresh towels beside the tub. If you need anything at all just open the green cabinet. Holler if you need anything else.”

Clover shuts the door before I can answer but not before I turn and catch sight of Thorne.

He’s beautiful, even if he’s annoyed or angry or any of those things I just caught a noseful of.

He’s gorgeous. Warm light from Clover’s enchanted orbs warms him, softens him in a way that almost has me taking a half step towards him.

I almost think I see him smile at me the second before Clover closes the door, but that can’t be right.

“I’m just tired,” I tell myself before I drop my backpack onto the floor. Why would Thorne smile at me like that after everything? “Delusionally tired. That’s all.”