Page 34 of The Enforcer’s Rejected Mate (Red River Rejected Mates #1)

Chapter

Twenty-Three

CORDELIA

S omeone took Clover’s door. Who does something like that? Real weird behavior. I helped her drag it out into the hallway this morning from where it was propped so she had more room to “search for clues and conduct a thorough investigation.”

Whoever took that door off its hinges truly has their days numbered.

While Clover looked into the matter of the door, I had a nice breakfast. Simple stuff but more decadent than I had eaten most mornings before.

Oatmeal and honey, sliced strawberries and blueberries and a side of ham.

Clover had a pot of coffee on too. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a nice breakfast. When I was done, I cleaned up, got dressed for the day and snagged one of my beaten up paperbacks before I brought Clover a cup of Coffee.

“I don’t know who it is yet but I’m close to cracking this one.”

“I can tell,” I told her. It’s true, I could. She had paper out and names written on nearly every line with arrows to the word MOTIVE in big block letters. I gave the door an appreciative look. “Whoever moved it had to be real strong. Took the two of us to drag it out here.”

Thorne comes to mind immediately but only because my wolf thinks he’s the strongest and most capable alpha she’s ever laid eyes on.

I try to remind her that she hasn’t seen too many and that the ones she’s seen include Keiran and his father, so not the best quality.

She won’t listen to reason and so Thorne remains a prime suspect. I don’t mention it to Clover, though.

“Yeah, really strong, ” she says and steps back from the door with a thoughtful look and starts scribbling on a paper with Thorne’s name at the top.

It looks like she’s tallying points up on the paper.

Yikes. I do not want to be here if Clover has the same idea as my wolf.

I haven’t seen the alpha all morning and I’d like to keep it that way.

Luna willing, I’ll be able to go to my meeting with Ronan, the Bloodstone Alpha without running into Thorne.

It’s not that I want to avoid him but…well, yes, I do want to avoid him.

Big time.

The alpha throws me off center. Nothing makes sense when he’s near me.

I might like a good daydream as the next girl, but last night?

Last night was bad. Gods, last night I was so delusional that I woke up in the middle of the night positive that I saw Thorne outside my door.

It was a dream, of course. Thorne wouldn’t come to my door.

Someone did, though.

Yes, but it wasn’t Thorne

I grip my coffee cup tighter. It’s true someone was there, but it wasn’t him.

My exhausted brain tried to make sense of the day, that's all.

I had my run in with Thorne in the meadow to thank for my fevered delusions about him guarding my room.

Or my imaginings that it was him who took the door off the hinge.

“I swear to Luna if it’s him…” Clover mutters and squints at her paper. Right. I have to get out of here before she brings Thorne this way.

“I’m going to go in the courtyard to read,” I tell her.

Clover gives me a distracted smile and nods. “It’s a perfect day for being outside. Save me a seat and I’ll be out there in a while.”

“I’ll get us the best spot,” I promise.

I manage to navigate the Keep fairly well.

As in I only get lost twice before I find the courtyard.

The morning sunshine is warm on my skin.

The second it touches me I feel myself relax.

Shifters do best outside. The more time outside the better.

Being cooped up on the bus for a few days on the way here was tough to handle and even with my time outside yesterday I’m in need of a reset.

I take in a deep breath and then another as I survey the green space.

It’s not empty like it was yesterday. Shifters walk here and there and I see a family sitting out on a blanket together at the opposite end of the grassy courtyard while a few others work on what looks like braiding rope.

A laugh floats from the open windows facing me and a wave of deja vu washes over me.

Just like the tree.

I take in a deep breath and look around again but this time I try to find something that looks familiar.

Somewhere that I’ve been with my mother.

Nothing comes but the feeling stays. It settles against me, pushes right up into my space until there’s no getting away from it.

Everywhere I look, I’ve been. I know I have.

I leave the paved path and walk out into the grass a few feet before I sit down.

Any place here feels as good as the next and I want to sink into this feeling.

I didn’t get to hold on to it with Thorne's Embrace.

There was too much going on to do that but this time is just for me.

No one to rush me along. I can sit for as long as I like this time.

I open my book up and savor the moment. Wind ruffles my hair, cool and crisp from yesterday’s storm, and I close my eyes with a smile.

It’s impossible not to feel content. For the first time, everything is working out for me.

Last night’s pain and loneliness blows right off me in the morning sun. I’m not there anymore. I’m safe.

“I’m safe,” I say out loud. It feels real when I say it. I take in another breath and let it out slowly. There’s nothing for me to do and nowhere for me to go. I’m meeting with Ronan today but not until later.

“He’ll have dinner for you. It’ll be so fun,” Clover told me that morning.

Fun was never the word I’d use to describe any time spent with Alpha Ashford.

I’d been scared for dinner but I’m not anymore.

At least, not so much anymore. I’m safe.

Bloodstone Pack is different already and maybe here fun is what a dinner with the Alpha would be like.

I open my eyes to go back to my paperback but that’s when I see him. Thorne. He’s standing by the Keep’s door like he just came out but he’s not walking, he’s standing there and looking right back at me.

I swallow hard. There’s a tug I feel towards him.

I ignore it. It’s my wolf and she’s not in her right mind about Thorne.

I frown and force myself to look away from Thorne.

He’s not mine, even if my wolf is confused about the way she feels towards him.

Maybe it’s left over from Keiran. Maud didn’t tell me much about the rejection and the only things I know are what I’ve read or heard in hushed whispers.

No one in Frostclaw has been rejected. It’s always someone they knew or heard of a pack over, or someone’s gran that’s no longer around.

I look down at my book and page through it.

The words swim in front of me. I don’t know what I’m reading anymore.

Not with Thorne here. I track him through my periphery.

He hasn’t moved yet. I read the same paragraph three times before I see Thorne start to walk.

When he leaves the courtyard I let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding.

I look up from my book the second Thorne disappears through the massive double doors. Where is he going?

My wolf wants me to get up and follow him. I push her back and turn my attention back to my book.

“Relax, he’ll be back,” I tell her. It’s true. He will be and if we intend to stay in Bloodstone Pack we're going to have to adapt to being around him. We can’t hold our breath every time he’s around. I’ll pass out. I feel my wolf shut me out which suits me fine. I've got a book to read.

I spend the rest of the morning outside reading and soaking up the sun. By the time Clover comes to get me for lunch I’ve almost finished my book. I stand sheepishly. I hadn’t realized that I’d been out here that long.

“I can help with lunch. I’m sorry,” I tell her, tucking my book under my arm and dusting off my pants.

I’m wearing my spare pair of jeans that I dried out in front of the fire last night.

I thought about getting more clothes from the wardrobe but didn’t feel right about it without talking to Clover first. If I get the okay from Alpha Ronan, I’ll bring it up for sure.

“Sorry for what?” Clover asks.

“Well, you know,” I say and gesture towards the grass with my book. “I’ve been out here reading. Not doing anything to help.”

Clover makes a face. “You’re a guest,” she says and then adds, “but even if you weren’t, you deserve to rest. Life’s way too short to spend it working.”

“You work a lot,” I remind her.

She rolls her eyes. “I like keeping house and visiting. That’s what I do mostly.

Plus, don’t think I’m not off taking my own little getaways when I need to relax.

It’s good to get away and recharge. You’ll see that once you’re our healer.

Don’t let the Defenders run you ragged over every little papercut they get. ”

I smile at Clover’s words. She thinks I’m going to stay. Well and truly means it. I turn over Clover’s words about relaxing and not working my life away while we make lunch together. It’s a simple affair but good. Lasagna, a salad and more homemade bread.

We sit together and eat. It’s nice to have someone to talk to and just…

be. I’m not rushed and neither is Clover.

Even when I had a meal with Maud there was always something to get to, a pack meeting or a chore to finish off.

There never seemed to be enough hours in the day to get everything done in Frostclaw.

It was chaos. Not just for me but for everyone.

Keiran was always rushing to and from things with the other enforcers.

The only time he wasn’t was when he was with me in the woods. Then it was just us, and instead of rushing I was willing time to stand still. Sadness washes over me like a tidal wave.

“You okay?” Clover asks me.

Shoot, she noticed. “Yeah, I-I just,” my voice breaks and it’s impossible to talk through the tears. Luna. I have to stop falling to pieces every time I think about him.

“Cordelia? Are you okay?”

I give her a watery smile. “I am. I promise, I mean, I will be okay.” I dab at my eyes with the edge of my napkin and take in a deep breath. If I want a friend, I have to tell her the truth. It was something that I learned from Keiran back when we were younger.

“Friends tell each other when they’re hurting. You can tell me anything, Cordy.”

I shut my eyes. Where did that boy go?

“We’re friends, right?” I ask her.

“Of course, we are.”

I open my eyes and nod. “Right. Then I should tell you why I’m really here. What pushed me to, you know, come here.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Clover reaches over and squeezes my hand. “But I’m here to listen if you need.”

I squeeze her hand back. “I, ah, I’m one of the orphans,” I say. “I mean, the Bloodstone Orphans.”

Her eyes go wide. “Oh honey, I knew what you meant when you said orphans the first time.” She grips my hand like she’s double-checking that I’m real. “You-I, I never thought I’d meet one of you.”

“I’m probably the only one you’ll ever meet.”

“Why?”

“The others assimilated. The pack accepted them.”

“But not you? Why?”

“I didn’t have a wolf, but even if I did have one it would have never worked there. ” I tell her and then because there’s no easy way to do it, I rip off the bandaid that’s Keiran. “My mate is-was the Alpha’s son, the heir to the pack. He rejected me for someone stronger.”

Clover’s mouth drops open. “ That rat bastard ,” she hisses.

I huff out a laugh. “Yeah, he’s definitely that.

I left the pack when they announced their engagement but it wasn’t because of him.

I left because it wasn’t safe for me there anymore.

It was bad before, being the lowest in rank but after the rejection?

” I shake my head. “I went into heat that night and was given two choices: leave or spend my first heat with the Alpha. I wasn’t about to let the Alpha use me.

He had plans after, and said he was going to pass me around the other alphas if I wanted to earn my place in the back.

” I look away the second the words leave my mouth. I didn’t mean to say that.

Clover’s chair scrapes back as she stands and a second later she wraps her arms around me. “Oh, Cordelia. I’m so sorry. That must have been awful.”

I hug her back. It’s nice to hug someone like this. “It wasn’t a party, I’ll tell you but the Elder that raised me got me out and safe. She sent me here. She said I would be safe.”

“And you will be. Nothing like that will ever happen to you ever again. Not here,” Clover hugs me tighter, so tight that I have to tap her arm to get enough room to breathe.

“Sorry, sorry, I can be protective but it runs in the family.” She reaches over and grabs her chair to drag it next to mine.

“I promise you have nothing to worry about with meeting Ronan today. We’ve had others join, even had a whole family of bear shifters move in this spring. Isn’t that so cool?”

“Very cool,” I tell her. I’ve never met a bear shifter but I want to.

“You tell him that you’re one of the ones that got taken from us and he’s going to be over the moon.

We never gave up hope. We never forgot about any of you.

Every month at the moon run we called for you to return, made offerings to the moon goddess to bring you home and here you are. The pack will be thrilled you’re home.”

Clover’s words stun me. Never in a million years did I think the pack waited for us, missed us, hoped that we would come home.

Alpha Ashford never breathed a word of it to us.

He made it sound like Bloodstone was wiped off the face of the Earth and yet, here Red River stands.

I’m not in it yet but I saw it shining bright from my window last night.

Red River has been here all along waiting for me to come home.