Page 75 of The Enforcer's Rejected Mate
“In a way,” I tell her. She’s right. I do keep bringing her food. The alpha in me is fully in the driver’s seat when it comes to that.I have to do it and I know why, even if I can’t scent it on her. I sniff and frown. I’d give anything to know what she smells like. Chamomile, something sweet maybe? Just the way she tasted but for now there’s nothing but the scent of breakfast foods and the pack around us. Even if I don’t tell her and can hardly admit it, we’re Soul Tied.
Feeding Cordelia the most basic of urges and I’m thankful it’s one I can actually do without too much fuss.
“So what? Do you find someone you think isn’t eating enough and make sure they do?”
I shake my head. “No, only you.”
She stops eating. “Only me?” She’s looking up at me with those big brown eyes that pull me under without fail. “Why me?”
“Why you?” I ask her. Cordelia nods. She’s genuinely curious and a thousand thoughts start to run rampant in my mind aboutwhy her?
Because I can’t stop thinking about you, tasting you. I can’t stop looking at you, because I notice things like how thick your eyelashes are and how perfect your neck would look with a mating bite next to it. I can’t smell her but it doesn’t matter. I want her and so does my wolf. The soul tie pulls me right where I know I should be because it doesn’t give two shits about the state of the world or what’s safe and what’s not. It calls up my urge to protect her, make sure she’s warm and safe, that she’s taken care of all the way down to the food she’s eating. Even if I can’t claim her as mine, I’m compelled to see to her needs.
Any alpha worth their salt wouldn’t be able to let an omega go without.
And how long are you going to leave her on her own?
I grit my teeth and spear a sausage link with more force than necessary. Cordelia doesn’t notice but I do. I feel like putting my fork through the plate with how pissed I am at myself. I fucked up in the Meadows. I never should have started it with her. IfI hadn’t, that lightning bolt would have missed us. We wouldn’t be in this damn mess. I look at Cordelia. She’s eating a strip of bacon with a smile on her face. All of my frustration drains at the sight of her enjoying herself. I can feel it too. I take in a deep breath and then let it out. I’ll make up for acting like an ass. I had a hand in putting that smile there and I know I can damn well do better than that.
“My wolf likes you,” I tell her. It’s not a lie. He does like her. Adores her. If the fucker could, he’d force me to shift and curl up next to her, head in her lap while she ate. I can see the image now in his mind. She’d have a good breakfast and scratch him behind the ears in between bites. He’s certain she’d share her bacon with him too.
“He does?” She sits up straighter and looks me over like she’ll be able to spot him.
“Yeah. He’s particular. Thinks you need help settling in.”
She bites her lip and gives me a shy smile. “Tell him thank you for me?”
“He already knows.”
That mollifies her and we both fall silent then and hell if I don’t welcome the silence. I don’t talk to folks much, not with the patrols and training I do, especially lately with the ferals. I’ve been out in the forest more often than not these days. The most socializing I get is with the recruits and the Defenders Lucian leads. Talking when it’s Cordelia is…fine, though. More than fine. Her voice is soothing. It’s more than that I know, but whatever. It’s peaceful while we sit and eat together. No one gets too close to us, and when the braver pack members try, all it takes is a glare from me to send them on their way.
Cordelia doesn’t speak until she gets through half her coffee and just as much of the food I put on her plate.
“Will you take me to the Healer’s Rooms in the Keep?”
Her question surprises me. I didn’t think she’d ask me to take her, even though I’d already planned to do it. I hesitate but only for a second. Cordelia reads my hesitation plain as day and in that moment I see her shrink into herself.
She’s used to being let down. Someone hurt her. Made her scared and small with the way she’s looking right now. Whatever her life was like in Frostclaw I know it was filled with enough disappointment that she’s sure I’m going to tell her no when it comes to such a simple request. Even if I don’t claim her, I’m going to fix that look on her face if it’s the last thing I do.
I smile and the look vanishes from Cordelia’s face instantly. “Of course,” I tell her and those two words are all it takes for Cordelia to smile back at me.
Her smile continues to be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
Chapter
Thirty-Two
Ialways thought I was a Beta. It made the most sense for how Keiran treated me, even though I felt…well, felt the way I did about him. I never did have the temperament to be an alpha. Not getting my wolf until I did kind of cemented the fact that I wasn’t an alpha. If I hadn’t gone into heat I would have never guessed I was an omega. An omega was too rare.
Too precious.
I’d never been either of those things in Frostclaw. I think if I was still there, in that pack that saw me as nothing, that my being an omega wouldn’t change my fate. They would find a way to ruin it to keep me in my place but in Bloodstone Pack?
Being an omega can be different. It can be good. At least it can be if I don’t freak out about it. I’m not used to what Thorne is doing for me. Bringing me food, like a mate would, is what I always dreamed Keiran would do for me. So why is Thorne doing it?
His wolf, I remind myself. Right, his wolf. Even if he did attack me when we first crossed paths in the meadow, his wolf does feel different than him. I can feel him rattling around in Thorne, pushing right up against the barrier between man andbeast. He’s sweet. And apparently he’s taken it on himself to make sure I’m cared for as an omega.
What does Thorne think about his new role in this?
