Page 45 of The Enforcer’s Rejected Mate (Red River Rejected Mates #1)

Chapter

Thirty-One

THORNE

I t’s five past eight in the morning and there’s no sign of Cordelia. I glance from the grandfather clock in the corner to the front doors of the mess hall and back again like that second would make any difference to the fact that Cordelia is fucking late.

Where is she?

I drum my fingers on the table and shift forward, both movements set my teeth on edge. I’m fucking fidgeting. I don’t fidget. I don’t squirm or shift from foot to foot, I don’t have nervous energy.

That’s not my way. It never has been.

That’s not true.

Quick as a rattlesnake I beat the thought down and look towards the doors again.

This time though, Cordelia is there. A blessed distraction from the shit going on in my head.

She looks beautiful. Her face is scrubbed clean, cheeks still pink from the morning air and hair loose around her shoulders.

Sun plays over it, the light catching in the strands and showing blue against the black.

She’s dressed plainly in a cardigan, tee, and jeans.

Sensible boots are on her feet but it could be a ball gown.

She’s stunning in the morning light.

“Who is that?” A male at the table next to mine whispers. He leans close to his friend and I hate the way their eyes lock onto Cordelia.

His friend lets out a low whistle. “She’s a beauty, isn’t she? The stray come home, Annie saw her last night and-”

Stray.

I see red and rise from my seat with a growl. Both males fall silent and duck their heads, showing me their neck. I lean forward and put a hand down between them so I’m able to be on their level.

“She’s pack,” I say and look between them, “call her a stray again and I’ll cut your dicks off and feed them to your kin.”

“S-sorry, Enforcer,” one of them stammers while the other can’t even get his words out.

I roll my eyes when I recognize him. He tried out for the patrol group last spring and didn’t make it.

I turn away from them and make up my mind on what to do next.

No one is going to say that about Cordelia.

If Annie and her Ceelie are spreading that kind of rumor then I’m going to pay them a visit—a calmer one than I just gave the two idiots but a visit all the same.

When I walk up to Cordelia she’s only taken a step inside the mess hall.

She’s looking around the space and munching on a moon pie from Luna’s Loaves.

“You met Esme then, I take it?” I ask her when I’m in front of her.

Cordelia jerks back in surprise. “You scared me!”

“I wasn’t exactly trying to,” I say, gesturing at my big frame.

When I want to I’m stealthy, it’s a necessity for keeping the pack safe and patrolling the borders efficiently but here in the township I don’t do that.

I’m far too big to ever get the jump on anyone that’s paying half a bit of attention to their surroundings.

I don’t like that Cordelia is that easily surprised.

“You need to observe your surroundings better. I’m too damn big for you to not notice me. ”

I put an extra emphasis on the not notice me without even meaning to and I fucking hate it.

I sound like a petulant child. An idiot ticked that his crush didn’t notice him.

But from the looks of it I’m glad Cordelia isn’t going to be taking any of my shit.

She rolls her eyes and pops the last bit of her moon pie into her mouth with a hum.

“If ifs and buts were candy and nuts,” she mutters.

I half mean to ask her what the hell she’s going on about but there’s a bit of blueberry filling that’s stuck to her bottom lip and when she swipes her pink tongue out to lick it away, I forget what is that she even said.

This time it’s me that’s surprised when she steps close and waves a hand in front of my face.

“Thorne? Earth to Thorne. Are you there?”

“What? What were you saying?”

“I asked if there was something you wanted to ask me? Something from Alpha Ronan?”

I shake my head slowly and blink, coming out of the daze. “No, nothing like that. I…I wanted to say good morning. See how you slept.”

I already know the answer. She slept like a log.

I could hear her snoring from where I was sitting on her porch.

I slept some last night which was a blessing, but only drifted off for a few hours after I had figured out how to keep a hold of the Soul Tie.

The longer that we’re bonded the more I’m able to use it.

It’s not just a gateway for her emotions to hit me full force, moving over me like a rockslide meant to pulverize me.

The soul tie can be useful, something I can tangibly feel in my hands and use to locate her.

Last night the only way I was able to relax enough was after I tied the cord around my wrist tight enough that if she left the house or anything happened, I would know in an instant.

I didn’t know if the effects of the Soul Tie would lessen but I prayed to all that was holy that it did. I wasn’t going to last if this was my new reality with Cordelia.

Surprise registers across Cordelia’s pretty face. Her mouth falls open at my words and I almost step up and touch her lips. She has such soft, sensuous lips. It fucking tears me up that I know they’re sweet. “You want to know…how I slept?”

“I do.”

She blinks and licks her bottom lip. “Oh, well, I slept good. Really good, in fact.”

“Glad to hear it.” I nod gruffly and then turn and jerk my head towards the buffet set up.

“Come on, you need food.” My words come out harsher than I mean but I don’t pay it any mind.

It’s better than thinking about how sweet her mouth would be right now.

What it would be like to claim her as my own in front of the entire pack.

A fucking riot would break out that’s for sure.

I’ve never taken up with anyone—not really.

There were a few flings here and there. Shifters and human alike but nothing serious.

I didn’t let it get that far. I needed my focus to be on the pack’s safety, and that’s still the plan, I remind myself.

Just because you’re bonded to her and things are…

messy doesn’t mean our objective has changed.

If anything, it’s more important now than ever before.

Cordelia deserves a safe world. A protected pack.

That’s exactly what I’m going to give her but I’ve got no business thinking about claiming her. Tasting her. No right to it.

Not until I give her the world she deserves.

I don’t wait to see if Cordelia is following me before I start walking. Thankfully, she hurries along behind me and when I grab a plate for her she’s at my side. When she reaches to pick up a plate I hold the one up that I’m carrying.

“This is for you.”

“Where’s yours?” she asks.

I pick up another plate. “This one’s for me,” I say, holding up the second plate.

Cordelia blinks. She looks between the two plates like she can’t believe what she’s seeing. “Oh, um, well can I help? You really don’t need to, um, serve me? I can carry one, really.”

I ignore her and start through the buffet line. “You like eggs?” I will her to not fight me on this. I can’t have her the way I want, but I can do this. I can feed her. Make sure she isn’t skimping on food like she might think to do coming from Frostclaw.

I can make sure she’s not alone for her first breakfast, and if those idiots were anything to go by this morning, I can make sure she’s not bothered by more assholes. She hesitates but gives in to me with a slight dip of her chin.

Gods, I’d fucking kiss that chin if I could for putting me out of my misery.

“Yeah, scrambled please.”

I heap scrambled eggs on both of our plates in equal measure before I’m onto the bacon and sausage. I don’t even ask her which one she wants. I just put both on her plate. She’s a shifter. She eats meat. When we come to the pancakes, waffles and biscuits, I do stop and ask her.

“Which one?”

She hesitates and looks around, not at the food in front of us. “Why is everyone staring at us?” she whispers to me. She steps closer to me and I like that so I draw out the moment before I answer her.

“Not staring at us.”

“What? Yes, they are. Look at them,” she whispers and presses closer to me.

I chuckle. “They’re not staring at me. They’re staring at you.

Now, which one do you want?” I ask, bringing her attention back to the important matter at hand.

I don’t need her food getting cold because she’s wondering why the pack is eyeballing her.

They’re gossips. Not the bad kind but they’re curious.

Not a lot of news hits Red River. Aside from the ferals and the new cafe that we put in across town, Cordelia is the most exciting thing that has happened since we got that shipment of books.

“Biscuits,” she answers. I grab a biscuit and split it but when I reach for the butter and jam she says, “But only with the white gravy there.” I grunt that I hear her and plate up the biscuit and gravy for her.

I add a second biscuit to her plate and reach for the silverware at the end of the buffet line but Cordelia beats me to it.

“I got this,” she says and grabs us each a set along with a napkin. “Where do you want to sit?” she sounds shy, like she’s not used to someone serving her and doesn’t know what to do with it.

Interesting.