Page 69 of The Enforcer’s Rejected Mate (Red River Rejected Mates #1)

Chapter

Forty-Eight

CORDELIA

W hen I wake up in the morning I’m alone.

I open my eyes and the bed feels as big as a football field without Thorne in it.

I roll onto my side and listen just to be sure he’s not in the other room but there’s nothing.

I sigh and sit up. The house feels cold and quiet now without him which sucks.

Before last night it felt cozy and all mine, a little refuge where I was safe but now with blankets that smell like Thorne and the memory of his chest against my check even my small cottage feels too big.

I wrap the blanket I’m under around my shoulders and stand.

Thorne’s scent wraps around me and it’s not so bad to leave the bed so long as I’m carrying his scent with me.

I go about my business getting ready because I did promise Clover and Piper that I would have breakfast with them today.

The entire time I get ready I’m replaying my night with Thorne in my head.

Every word, every look, the fact that I threw myself in his arms for the second time and gods, if it hadn’t been for the fact that Keiran was skulking around I would have been happy to let him take me right there in front of my cottage.

I blush when I open the door and see the aforementioned front yard.

What a time this place would have had last night under better circumstances.

I set off towards the mess hall with a head full of Thorne fantasies.

I’m so lost in my thoughts that I don’t even see Cassidy or the girls standing with her by the fountain.

I might have walked right into breakfast without ever realizing they were there except for the fact that Cassidy says, “Morning, Stray.”

Stray.

I stop dead in my tracks and look at her. She’s pissed, which suits me because I’m no longer verging on horny, I’m pissed too.

“What did I tell you about talking to me like that?” I snap.

The girls behind her fall back a step and look at Cassidy for reassurance.

The beta doesn’t look at them and I’ll give her credit, she doesn’t look bothered at all.

She looks cool as a cucumber. I’m sure she would be intimidating to another omega but I was raised in Frostclaw.

Not much scares me, especially not a beta with stick skinny arms. She wouldn’t last a day in Frostclaw.

“You know what? I just can’t remember. It must not have been very important. Why don’t you refresh my memory?”

I open my mouth to do just that but my wolf does the talking. A growl comes out of me so loud and deep that everyone in the square hears it and goes silent. I’m pretty sure everyone in the mess hall hears it too.

That does the trick in getting Cassidy’s attention. “What the fuck?” She points at me. “What the fuck are you? You’re a freak.”

“I’ve heard that one before. Be more creative. Remember what I said about basic because I hate to tell you that it’s happening again.”

Cassidy comes forward a step. “You bitch. You think I’m going to let a mutt like you get her claws in Thorne? That alpha is mine.”

“Didn’t see your name written on him anywhere,” I tell her.

“Look harder.”

We’re nose to nose now, each of us advanced while we traded verbal jabs.

If I wanted to I could punch Cassidy. My hand itches to do it but the thought scares me.

I’m not a violent person, don’t have a violent wolf…

.at least, I thought I didn’t. I’m not so sure now with the way she’s snarling and wanting to handle this.

If I let her out she’s going to rip Cassidy’s head off.

I don’t even have to see her shift to know that Cassidy’s wolf isn’t anything special.

The confirmation is there in the slight tinge of fear I get off her.

“I might be a freak but you’re the one who’s scared,” I tell her.

She swallows hard and looks me up and down. “That’s because you’re a bad omen. Bad luck. Cursed. You should have never come back here. The only thing you’re going to bring down on this pack is ruin and war. You think I didn’t see your mate last night?”

Her words hit me harder than the punch I just wanted to throw. I stumble back from her. Cassidy’s words echo the parade of accusations I had hurled at me in Frostclaw. Bad omen. Bad luck. Cursed. Not even here can I escape it. And Keiran? How did she know he was here last night?

“Everyone knows Thorne just feels sorry for you,” one of Cassidy’s friends tells me. She’s dark-haired and I’ve seen her before. On the first morning when I was walking into town standing with her mother.

Another one of her friends steps up and points at me. “Thorne belongs with Cassidy. He’s her mate.”

“You don’t belong here,” another voice chimes in.

Time shifts and it’s hard to remember where I am with Cassidy’s friends saying these things. I feel dizzy.

“You’re going to understand what I have with Thorne is real. We’re mates. It was always going to be me with him. You’ll see. Everyone is going to see that when he gets back from patrol.”

I take another step back. The here and now is too blurry for me to feel steady. Cassidy crosses her arms with a smug smile. She knows she’s won this round. I hate it. I hate feeling like I’m back in Frostclaw.

“You’re lying.” She has to be. There’s no way what she’s saying is true.

“About what? Thorne or seeing your mate?”

Bile rises in my throat about both prospects. “You didn’t see anyone,” I insist. She couldn’t have. There’s no way.

“He’s handsome. Prettier than I thought you might get. Big and blond, yummy. ”

Hells. She really did see Keiran. How did she see him? Where was she last night that she was able to?

“What I can’t figure out is what he’s doing here looking for you. He should be glad you’re gone. I know I would be if I was him.”

“What the fuck are you going on about?” Piper asks as she stomps up to us. She gives Cassidy a withering look. “It’s a fine day, Cassidy. Don’t ruin it by being a bitch this early.”

“Fuck you, Piper. Freak alpha.”

Piper scoffs. “Please. You wish you were an alpha so bad.”

Cassidy rolls her eyes.“This is between me and her,” she tells Piper, “but seeing as you’re here now I’m out of here.

And don’t you forget what I said, stray.

You go near Thorne again and I’m going to tell him who was here last night.

I’ll go straight to Ronan too. He’ll throw you out on your ass and don’t think I won’t do it.

” She throws her hair over her shoulder and stalks off towards her friends.

They go into the mess hall and it’s only when they’ve vanished inside that I realize I’m shaking.

I wrap my arms around myself to chase the weak feeling away.

“What the hells was that?” Piper asks me

“Nothing.”

“Don’t lie. Besties don’t lie.”

I smile at her. “I-she, I don’t know. She threatened me about Thorne. Said he was her mate and that I should stay away.”

She rolls her eyes. “She’s delusional. He can’t stand her.” Piper loops her arm through me and pulls me towards the bakery. “Come on.”

I point towards the mess hall. “But what about breakfast?” I don’t relish the thought of having to go into the mess hall for breakfast when Cassidy and her entourage are waiting inside but it’s not like I’m going to miss a meal just because she hates me. Going hungry because of hate? Never.

“Clover and I decided to spice it up. We’re getting breakfast from the bakery. Talked to Esme and everything. She made us breakfast sandwiches and cinnamon rolls, which hey, if you’ve never had them you’re in for a treat.”

I hug her arm tightly. “You’re a goddess. A true savior.” A cinnamon roll after last night and this morning sounds like just the thing to bring me back to life.

“Don’t I know it. Now come on. Let’s forget that beta bitch and enjoy ourselves. You’re going to be super busy before the Autumn Festival.”

That surprises me. “Why? Is there a bug going around?” It could happen, we are on the cusp of true autumn days and Maud was always a little busier when the seasons changed due to some shifters not acclimating to the weather change without falling ill.

She shakes her head. “No, I swear it’s like clockwork.

The Autumn Festival happens and everyone just starts taking care of everything they’ve been putting off.

I think it’s because they realize the year is almost over or something?

” She shrugs. “Whatever it is, they’ll definitely be running to make appointments with you to get themselves looked at. ”

“Well….all right.” It doesn’t sound logical but Piper would know better than me.

“Trust me. You’re about to be slammed, so let's eat and be merry before it's all work and no play for all of us.” She pushes open the bakery door and the bell above it jingles. Esme and Clover are busy plating sandwiches. They greet us when we enter with excited good mornings.

Esme puts the plates down on a little cafe table she’s set up in the corner and motions for us to come closer. “There you are, girls! Come on and grab some breakfast!”

“Do you want coffee?” Clover asks. “Esme just made some.”

Piper makes grabby hands towards the coffee cup Clover holds out to us. “Yes. A thousand times, yes!”

I smile while I watch the three women chatter and bustle through the bakery.

Clover puts a mug of coffee in my hand and hugs me while the scent of bacon and sweets mixes with the fresh coffee Esme made and wraps around me like an old worn sweater.

This is exactly the morning I needed to forget about Keiran and Cassidy.