Page 49 of The Enforcer’s Rejected Mate (Red River Rejected Mates #1)

Chapter

Thirty-Three

CORDELIA

I don’t get to work until the next day which starts a lot like the day before except for the fact that the few pack members I pass on my way to the mess hall greet me.

They’re tentative in their hellos and good mornings but I’ll take it.

Thorne waits for me by the front door and my stomach gives a flip-flop of excitement when I see him.

As hard as it is to explain, the Enforcer has become a part of my life.

If Thorne wasn’t there I’d worry. He brought me dinner yesterday after I got caught up in cleaning and decorating my cottage.

I didn’t even notice the time until I heard him knocking at the front door.

He wasn’t there when I opened it but I knew it was him.

I could smell him, his scent still hanging in the air on my front porch.

Even if it hadn’t, his mark was all over the tray of food he brought me.

Steak, potatoes, and a salad. No one but Thorne would have put three steaks on my plate.

Today, breakfast followed the same routine as yesterday, Thorne served us both and then acted as a guard between me and the rest of the pack.

I wonder how long he’s going to keep that up so I bring it up on our walk to the Keep. He’s showing me the Healer’s Rooms today.

“You know you’ll have to let me meet them soon.”

“Meet who?” Thorne asks. He scans the horizon like he’s expecting an attack. I wonder if he is. I’ve heard a lot about the ferals loose in the woods but I didn’t think they were making their way this far in Bloodstone Territory. I look with him. Should I be worried about running into one on my own?

I take a step closer to Thorne. “The rest of the pack. I’ll have to meet them sometime, Thorne. Are you worried about me meeting them?”

He waves me off. “I’m not worried about that.”

“Then what are you worried about?”

“Them meeting you,” he says.

What the hells is he going on about? “What do you mean-”

“I mean that you aren’t the problem in this equation. I love my pack. Would lay my life down for them a thousand times over to keep any of them from harm but there are times when I want to crack more than a few of their skulls.”

“Whose skulls?”

“The alphas’ skulls.”

“But why?” Thorne’s answer doesn’t make sense. I haven’t spoken to any of them but the alphas seem fine here. They’re polite and calm. I haven’t seen any of the usual cruelties that I normally associate with alphas. I don’t think that happens here. Not with Ronan in charge.

I put a hand on Thorne’s arm. “Is it the ferals? Should I keep an eye out for them?”

Thorne stops walking. “It’s not the ferals, Cordelia. You’re safe here.”

“But you just said that the pack meeting me would be a problem, so what is it then?”

Thorne doesn’t answer me for a second. His eyes are on my hand on his arm. Shit. I jerk my hand away from him and tuck it behind me. “Sorry.”

Thorne sighs and starts walking again. “You’re a pretty omega, Cordelia. I don’t think it takes much imagination for you to understand why I’m cautious about the alphas meeting you.”

“You think I’m pretty?” I blurt out, because my brain is, as usual, always my enemy.

Thorne doesn’t answer me and I contemplate the logistics of throwing myself off the mountain from where I’m currently standing.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem physically possible without me sprouting wings which, given my current embarrassment level, would be a godsend.

I start to stutter my way through a cover up but the words dry up on my tongue.

“I’m an alpha with eyes, Cordelia.”

He’s an alpha.

He’s got functional eyes.

Of course he’d think an omega was attractive. I duck my head. “Right.”

“Some of the other alphas are untried. They’re overeager and I don’t think they’d know how to handle themselves around a pretty omega.”

A pretty omega.

I’m embarrassed but I smile as we walk. “I’m sure they would be fine, right? I mean, after a while?”

“After a while, yes. Ronan will introduce you during a pack meeting. We’re having one at the end of the week. He’ll set them straight and then I won’t have to stick as close.”

A pang of disappointment washes over me but I shove it down. In what world did I expect the pack’s Enforcer to be my shadow? He has more to deal with than worrying about where I am or what I’m doing. Our time together was always going to come to an end.

“You okay?” Thorne asks me.

“Yeah. I’m good.” I keep my eyes on the ground as we walk up the hill towards the Keep. Thorne doesn’t say anything else and we continue on in silence.

It’s only when we enter the Keep that Thorne speaks again.

“The rooms are going to be a floor up.” Thorne guides us through the halls.

We’re in a new part of the Keep that I haven’t been to before and I do my best to memorize the route.

We exit the hall and end up in a large solarium.

Stairs lead up from here to the next floor and when I look up, I see there are at least 3 floors above us.

I remember the faces I saw looking out into the courtyard and wonder if pack members live here.

They must if it’s so big. A ceiling of glass lets in golden sunlight, giving everything a dreamy feel.

We walk up a staircase to the second floor, it’s wide and made of stone like the rest of the Keep. There’s a portrait on the second floor landing that makes me freeze.

“I know her,” I whisper as I stare into the eyes of the dark-haired woman staring back at me.

A second later I realize why.

It’s my mother.