Page 63 of The Enforcer's Rejected Mate
I find out that Thorne’s family is big. One of the biggest in the pack and oldest too. “You won’t be able to throw a stone without hitting one of his kin,” Clyde tells me with a wink.
We talk and eat until I can’t hide my yawns. I’m beat. So tired that it’s hard to keep my eyes from drooping but it’s nice. I feel the way I did when I used to on the nights I snuck out to Maud’s and fell asleep in front of the fire while she read or worked. There’s a calmness, a sense of belonging that wraps around me like a blanket and makes me want to snuggle deeper into it.
“I think it’s time we get her to the cottage,” Ronan says when I cover my mouth with another yawn.
“I’m sorry. I wish I wasn’t so tired. Your stories are wonderful.”
“There’s plenty of time for stories. You’ll have plenty more nights to hear them all,” Ronan says.
Clyde snorts. “Ronan tells the same three jokes so you’ll be looking for a way to get him to stop telling stories soon.” That earns the Gamma a roll chucked at his head but he just catches it and puts it in his pocket. “Snack for later, thank ya, thank ya. Now come along, Cordelia. I’ll show you to the cottage.”
I rise to follow him but hesitate. Thorne is still sitting. I look his way and that’s when he rises. The second that he stands I wish he was sitting again. He’s so much taller than me, towers right over me like the trees I climbed as a kid and he even smellslike them too. Pine and fresh rainwater, cedar, all of my favorite scents come rushing in when I linger too long near him. I fought the entire dinner to not pay too much mind to how good the Alpha smells but now that I’m exhausted it’s useless fighting it.
I take in a deep breath and then another before I jerk back with a hasty step. I probably look like a freak right now. Huffing in as much air I can around Thorne, like I can’t get enough. I turn to face Clyde with a tight smile.
“Lead the way, I’m ready to go.” I pause to tell Ronan goodnight. “Goodnight, Ronan and thank you for dinner. It was amazing. One of the best nights I’ve ever had.”
The Alpha inclines his head and gives me a slight bow. “The pleasure was all mine. Goodnight, Cordelia Fireheart.”
My stomach clenches and then does a flip flop of happiness.Fireheart.I have a name. Finally. Something that’s all mine no matter where I am. No one and nothing will ever take that name from me. I’m practically floating on air from happiness behind Clyde when Thorne speaks.
“Sleep well, Cordelia,”
I realize then I didn’t tell him goodbye before I tried to make my hasty escape. I pause in the door behind Clyde to look back at him.
“You too, Thorne. Goodnight.”
I jerk back around to get out of the room so fast that I almost bang my head on the doorframe but I don’t let that stop me. I keep walking and so does Clyde. I don’t pay attention to the route we take out of the Keep. I’m too scattered by the way Thorne smelled, the sound of his voice when he told me to sleep well. Honestly, I’m in a daze from him. It’s only when the cool night air hits my face that I snap out of it and realize we’ve left the Keep and are on our way down a new path I’ve never seen before. We’ve properly left the Keep and the courtyard that I spent my day in.
I can see Red River spread out down the hill from us. Its lights twinkle in the night and it looks even more beautiful than it did from my window last night. A picture perfect town just waiting for me.
I hesitate before I follow Clyde down the path. “What about Clover? I shouldn’t just go without telling her first.”
Clyde gives me an understanding look but waves me forward. “She already knows.”
“Really?”
“Of course. I sent word before the dinner was over that you would be relocating to the Healer’s Cottage. She’s already had your things brought over as well, there’s no need to return to the Visitor’s Quarters now.”
I consider pushing to go see Clover anyhow, but Clyde must sense my hesitation because he reminds me of the time next.
“It’s past midnight. She’ll be asleep by now but she knows exactly where to find you. I promise. I bet she’ll come visit the very next time she’s free.”
That does the trick. I don’t want to wake Clover but I feel a lot better that she knows where I am. The journey to the cottage is longer than I expected but that’s because the Keep is further than I realized from Red River. It’s hard to tell the distance when you’re perched so high up on a hill. The route we take brings us close to Thorne’s Embrace. I can’t help but stop when I see the tree soaring up above us. Funny how I forgot it was there holding up the world all on its own while I was in the Keep. It’s even more impressive now that I’m lower, right at its base. There’s no escaping its power here. The roots rise up from the ground as big as cars, some bigger than that, as big as the bus that I rode here. I feel so small and insignificant next to the ancient tree that I almost fall to my knees. I have to put out a hand to steady myself against a tree root to gain my bearings.
Luna. What’s happening? I’ve never felt this way before.
Clyde notices my staggering step first and slows to look back at me. “So you feel it then?”
I nod, my words come out a choked sound. “Yes.” I don’t know what theitis but it’s this tree. Thorne’s Embrace. There’s no escaping the way I feel pulled towards it or the way my world narrows down to its branches and roots as they pull the world together for me.
I steady myself and walk forward to place my hand on one of the exposed roots. It’s waist high and curves into a C before it vanishes back into the earth. “I feel like this is the only place I’ve ever been meant to be.”
“It’s that way for all of you,” Clyde says and tips his head to look up at Thorne’s Embrace. Above us the sky darkens and the curve of the limbs vanishes into the low hanging clouds. “I don’t feel the way you do about it. Curse of being a human,” he says with a chuckle and puts a hand on one of the roots near him. “But even I know it’s magical. Old stuff. More powerful than anything around today. Could feel it calling all the way from Oak Fast.”
“Calling? Calling you?” I ask and he nods. “So the tree…it’s magic?”
He pats the root. “Yeah, it called me. Not real loud with it but it was always there. Kind of like the feeling you have when you’re sure something is absolutely going to happen. That the decision you make is the right one. A bone deep knowing. That’s what it feels like to humans, but to your kind, it’s more intense. That’s what you’re feeling now.”
