Page 43 of The Enforcer’s Rejected Mate (Red River Rejected Mates #1)

Chapter

Thirty

COREDELIA

W hen I wake up the first thing I notice is the silence.

For the past three days I woke up on the bus and while that was peaceful enough the steady rumbling of the bus wasn’t truly quiet.

After that, I was in the Visitor’s Quarters and that night feels like a blur really.

I was exhausted from the day and I don’t remember much after I climbed in my bed.

But before all of that, it was the dorms. Mornings there were anything but quiet and peaceful.

There was always the random crying or shouting from the other unmated females sharing the space with me.

Sometimes the females with rank would come into our space to throw their weight around for fun—those were the worst mornings of all.

There’s nothing like being woken up by an irate She-wolf throwing a freezing bucket of water on you, or being tossed out of your bed and onto the floor.

Busted my lip one morning when a few of the female Betas were bored.

They had two of the other orphans with them that day— Lena and Marie.

Both of them had been given to families straight away and assimilated the fastest out of any of us.

They’d done such a good job at fitting in that unless it was a moon run, I don’t even think the pack remembered that Lena and Marie weren’t Frostclaw, not really. Not truly.

I remember rolling onto my back and looking up at them. They were laughing along with the Betas.

“Cursed bitch,” Marie spat at me.

Sometimes it was like I was the only one that remembered they weren’t really Frostclaw. I had no problem reminding them exactly what they were.

“If I am then so are you, ” I told her. The effect was immediate. Like I slapped her. The Betas stopped laughing and looked at her and Lena like they were seeing them for the first time.

“Shut up, shut up!” Lena had been quick to slap me but the damage had been done.

The Betas they were with remembered the truth.

The Betas left and without Marie and Lena too.

The pair had been running after their “friends” begging them to talk to them and on the verge of tears. Totally made the bloody lip worth it.

That’s not my reality this morning. Just like it wasn’t yesterday morning.

“A girl could get used to this treatment,” I whisper and stretch in my bed.

What can I say? I’m easy to please. I roll onto my side to look out the window.

The sun is shining in the perfectly blue sky.

I smile and watch a bird fly by the window.

It’s so pretty, perfectly serene and I almost don’t want to get up but Thorne’s words flit through my memory and shatter the golden sunshine pouring into my room.

“Breakfast tomorrow is at eight am sharp. Do not be late.”

I sigh and sit up in bed with a grumble.

I don’t want to do what Thorne said, because who is he to order me around like that?

But I am hungry, plus there’s the fact that I can’t look lazy.

I know what that does in a pack. If you’re not useful you’re low in rank, you’re a burden.

Lazy wolves are at the bottom of the pile.

I won’t ever be a burden again.

My muscles are stiff and I slip out of my warm bed with a wince.

It’s chilly and the hardwood floor is cold under my feet.

I make a mental note to get slippers as soon as I can.

I head into the living room where I laid out my clothes in front of the fireplace.

Clover was sweet enough to bring all my things here.

When I unpacked last night I noticed a few extra things in my bag, courtesy of her magic wardrobe no doubt.

I’ll have to ask her if she can magic me up a few pairs of thick socks to go with the slippers.

“Stupid Enforcer,” I mutter, stomping along to pull on the clothes I picked.

It's simple. Just a pair of jeans and one of my t-shirts. I’m lucky Clover put a few extra things in my bag, including a cardigan that’s nicer than anything else I have.

It will help me in my quest to make a good first impression on the pack-I’m not keen on showing up to breakfast in a sundress.

Plus, I wouldn’t want to show up wearing what I wore to dinner last night. He’d know.

Thorne .

“Stop thinking about him,” I order myself.

I go to the bathroom and brush my teeth and wash my face.

It’s a nice enough bathroom, small and sparse like the rest of the cottage but I like it.

I study myself in the mirror after I wash my face and wrinkle my nose.

I definitely look like I ran for miles up a mountain with a grumpy asshole after I spent three days on a bus.

My cheeks are pale and my eyes are puffy.

First chance I get, I’m going to spend time making rosehip oil and a face butter like Maud taught me.

But in the meantime…

“You need coffee. That will fix everything,” I tell myself with a nod.

I’m definitely going to breakfast even if Thorne will be there brooding and glaring like he seems to do by default.

I’m not even sure why he wants me there if he’s going to be stormy about it.

Wouldn’t he be happier if I didn’t show up for breakfast?

I ignore the fact that I only went five minutes without thinking about the dark-eyed alpha and pull my boots and socks on in record time but I do hesitate at the door.

I stand there with one hand hovering above the doorknob and swallow hard.

I don’t hesitate from not knowing where to go.

Clyde made sure to give me directions last night, “Head right through the township and you’ll see the mess hall past the fountain in the town center.

It’ll be the one with the red double doors. You can’t miss it.”

I hesitate because once I step out of my cottage there will be no stopping my journey to fit in.

Once I open my front door all of this will be real.

All of it will be set in motion. Anxiety hums through me.

My hands shake. I can’t stop the tremor.

My cheeks heat with the memories of all my failed attempts in Frostclaw Pack.

It didn’t matter how friendly I was, how useful I worked to be, or how hard I tried. It was never enough.

I was never enough.

I put my hand on the door and take a deep breath.

“You’re home. It will be different now,” I whisper in the quiet of my cottage.

With a trembling hand I turn the doorknob and open the door.

I step outside and shield my eyes from the bright sunlight.

The air is crisp and sweet with the early stirrings of autumn and damp earth.

Somewhere down the hill someone laughs, the sound of it floats up to me and I shut my door and start down the path to the township.

Adrenaline hits me hard with each step I take until I’m practically vibrating.

I jam my hands into my pockets when the first pack member spies me and nudges their friend to look my way.

“Good morning,” I call to them with a smile.

I sound bright and happy, welcoming. Good job, Cordelia!

Except…neither woman smile back. They stare at me in silence until I pass by and my heart sinks.

Oh Luna. I’m messing this up. Run run run!

My brain screams at me. That I’m not safe and that I have to hide, to flee right back up to my cottage and feign sickness to get out of breakfast but I keep walking.

It’s just like Frostclaw, my brain screams when a couple passes me and yet again my good morning goes unanswered.

What is going on?

The couple stares at me and for some reason the girl looks shocked, her mouth is open and her eyes are wide.

I look down at my shirt and then the fly of my jeans to make sure I’m not having a wardrobe malfunction.

When I see everything is normal, I swipe at my face.

What if I have toothpaste all down the side of my face?

Do I stink?

Oh shit. What if I stink? I sniff at my shirt and then my pits but there’s nothing notable there to be causing this reaction.

What is going on? I bite my lip and think about running but that’s when I see the fountain up ahead and just like Clyde said, the mess hall is just behind.

It’s a rustic looking stone and timber building with ivy creeping up the sides of it.

The double red doors are thrown open to the morning air, the scent of frying bacon and baking biscuits floats on the wind.

But for as hungry as I am, I don’t go to the mess hall.

I go to the fountain.

It’s a pretty silver fountain depicting a family of wolves in mid run.

I slow down to look at the fountain and smile when I see the small pup trying to keep up with its parents.

The pup is jumping, limbs splayed and paws swiping at the air as its mother looks back at it to make sure the pup sticks close.

It’s the father that stops me in my tracks.

The bigger wolf in the front is leaping, front paws reaching towards me with a look of determination in his eyes.

I know those eyes. That look. This wolf.

Water shoots up from the middle of the pack from a silver tree and cascades down around them like rain.

Why is this so familiar to me? I take a step towards the fountain but stop when I see a woman poke her head out of the bakery across the square to gawk at me.

She raises her hand and points in my direction before she motions for me to come towards her.

I look around and behind me to make sure she’s waving at me which just has her opening the bakery door wider and stepping out with her hands on her hips.

The bakery door is painted a soothing blue and cheery yellow shutters frame the big windows full of treats.

A yellow wooden painted sign proclaiming Luna’s Loaves sways in the morning breeze above the door.

“Oi!” She calls and waves with both hands.

I point to myself. “Me?” I ask.