The Characters of Clayton, Rya, Kennedy, Dallas, and the Valentines belong to Rachelle. The character of Cora is expanded on with Permission from Rachelle, and is written for the pleasure of the International Wildflower Pack, the WhiskeyQueenn fandom. #WildflowersUnited #iwp

::Thank you Rachelle Whiskeyqueenn for your wonderful narrative and 

for allowing us this little side journey in your world::

No More Compromises

"Mark, I'm not going with you, and that's final."

"You don't have a choice, Cora. You are my mate and where I go, you go, and that's final."

"I can't and I won't! I have one more semester of classes and student teaching before I go back to Adams," I yelled at my mate.

He towered over me but I didn't back down, power rolled off of us like the winds blowing out of a tornadic thunderstorm. There would be no compromise between us. This was hour four of our most recent fight, well not really recent, it was technically the same fight we had been having since our honeymoon ended almost a week ago. We were just having it over and over and over again.

Western custom was marked by dawn, mated by sundown, not much time to get to know each other and in the whirlwind of emotion of finding my mate, I had not told Mark about Rya and my promise to return to Adams pack. His answer each time I tried to bring it up was to dismiss it because I was his mate and I went where he did. Period. End of discussion. As if his dreams and promises were worth more than mine. My mark throbbed and burned as the bond thrashed us. I resisted the urge to rub it. His wolf had shown his power and mine had just smirked and laid her head down on her paws, unimpressed.

"I have competitions, I am ranked second nationally. I need you with me." Mark insisted again, the veins in his arms bulging out.

"Well, I am not leaving school and my students to ride around the country in a horse trailer to watch you and Shotgun chase cows," I glared. "Why should I have to give up my..."

"Steers," he interrupted.

"What?"

"They're steers," he corrected me.

"I don't care if they're steak tar-tar, I'm... not... go-ing," I hissed.

"Look, Cora. I need you to come with me, so I don't have to worry about you being unprotected," He tried to use this calm tone, but his words only infuriated me more.

"I don't need you to protect me, I can protect myself and..."

His derisive snort cut me off. My wolf's head came up so fast, I almost got whiplash.

"You don't believe me?" I asked. He actually rolled his eyes at me.

Oh it's on... my wolf growled.  I snarled at him, "Meet me down stairs in 10 minutes, Gamma. Wear something you don't mind getting bloody."

"Cora, I ain't gonna fight ya," Mark said exasperated.

"Females in your pack are trained to fight, aren't they?" I challenged.

"Yeah but..." He started.

"Fine, you beat me and I'll go," I know I am hedging my bets but I won't lose. I never lose. Leong and Ares taught me too well.

"I won't do it, Cora," he growls.

"Why because I'm a weak, little female?" I snark in a high whiny voice. I slammed the door so hard the hinge splintered. Charlie and Miles are sitting across the hall from my bedroom, they look up in surprise. My teeth flashed at Miles, "Have your brother downstairs in 9 minutes, Beta, or find him another mate."

Charlie chased after me, "Cora? Cora wait. Come on sis, you're not seriously going to give up your mate."

"Charlie, I made a promise, I vowed to go back to Adams after my training. I can't break it," I reminded him.

He grabbed my arm. "Yeah and for what, Cora? For Rya? She doesn't even know any of the crap you've been through for her, she has no idea what you've had to suffer. She is withdraw, reclusive, emotionally stunted. The rejection destroyed her. Heck, she didn't even remember who Tim was and he's been in classes with her since primary school. She didn't know who I was, Cora. Rya's a lost cause. It is time for you to live your own life. Screw the Alphas, screw mom and dad. Just let it go, Cora. You have a mate now, it's time to move on."

I stared at Charlie like I didn't know who he was. "Charlie, you can't be serious?" 

But the look in his eyes said he was. He wanted me to abandoned all I had struggled against all these years, to give up, to let them win. I just shook my head and stormed into the gym. Several lesser wolves who were training backed away, necks bared. My wolf snarled and snapped at them. A minute later, Mark followed Alpha Dave into the gym, flanked by his father and Miles. My wolf reared back at the power they carried, power directed at her. But we had spent years fighting Alpha Adams' command and power so we shook it off with an angry growl. 

Mark was a Gamma only because he was third born, he should be an Alpha. We were born to a strong Gamma bloodline and a stronger Beta one, AND we had spent years training. We would not submit, and we would not break our vow. If they were counting on my wolf and I to bow, they were mistaken.

Mark hadn't even changed out of his Wranglers or good shirt, demanding, "Enough of this."

'Disrespectful... Mate does not respect us.' My wolf glared, she was livid as I looked him up and down.

"You know, I really thought the western packs were different, that they valued a wolf's heart and strength, they valued a wolf's word and duty to another wolf. I guess I was wrong, again" I said softly, looking at my feet, my wolf whined.

 We were about to fight our mate to win or lose our freedom, to keep or break our vow, and either way we would lose because we were going to have to shatter our own heart to do it. Something determined and unbreakable rose up in us. A year's worth of continuous training came back like signal smoke from a fire curling into clear sky. Lessons from many packs. The songs of the Spartan she-wolves drummed in our veins. Leong's deep voice echoed in our minds, we were a strong wolf, stout-hearted like a dragon.

Mark reached out to touch my face, "Cora, don't do this, just pack so we can go." His touch was so gentle, it made us want to cry, but instead we snarled and he ended up on his back, wheezing and bleeding.

"That all ya got, cowboy? 'Cause I still got cakes to bake for tomorrow's Red Hatters brunch," I mocked him.

His eyes narrowed as he wiped the blood the lips that I had spent most of last night kissing. He threw his shirt to his brother and an hour later we were both bloody and bruised, but neither had yielded and he was far more injured that I. I had let him hit me a few times, I didn't want to completely humiliate him, and it had been the hardest work out that I had had in years.  Charlie just shook his head in disgust. The warriors and Alphas of two packs had watched and were amazed and horrified by our battle, a battle between mates.

Mark was snarling in rage. His wolf was ready to come out and finish this, only Alpha Matthias' command had kept skin over fur.

"Enough, Mark. Cora, what is this about?" Alpha Matthias demanded. His keen amber eyes peered through my soul. 

"Charlie, tell them," I started. 

Charlie shook his head sadly. 

My wolf snarled, Traitor! His wolf whimpered back unhappily.

"No, you will tell us," Matthias demanded, my wolf snarled but when his snarled back, she whimpered.

"I was commanded by Alpha Adams not to speak of any of it." I said.

Matthias raises his eyebrow at me and I know I have no choice. We were not strong enough to even dream of defying this wolf. His power left no room for discussion or defiance. I bowed my bruised body and told of Rya's rejection and whipping, of my attempts to protect her and my punishments. I told them how I wasn't allowed to be her friend anymore, how I was made to tell her there was no place for her at our table or in our lives, how I was sent away for learning to fight to protect her while she withered. How I had my grandmama and friends to help me be strong while she had no one. I told them how I had discovered that Beta Killian planned to use Kennedy to put his family back in control of our pack and his threats to murder Rya if I defied him, of how he was abusing the lesser wolves. I told of Clayton and Kennedy and my confrontations with both of them over the years, of how I hated them. Of how I hated the Alpha and Luna but how I hated my parents more. By the end, I was a trembling, sweating, nose-bleeding mess. Speaking of the last 6 years was more painful than the beating I had let Mark give me, than the warriors had given me when I was 17. I was too emotional from fighting with Mark to resist the pain that fighting the Alpha command caused, I couldn't even stand as I finished, so I just knelt in my own tears and blood.

On my knees, I whispered my shame, "I failed to break the Alpha's command or stop the Beta, and the only way I had left to protect her was to trade my future for hers, to give her the chance to escape from them. I pledged to be Luna Catherine's omega. It was all I could do to save her life. I gave her my word I would protect her when we were children, it is my duty, and now that she was moon blessed, I would do it all again."

The blood was rushing in my ears so loud I could barely hear anything, my wolf was whimpering. I waited, waited for Mark to say he rejected me. I had left defied the ranking wolves of my pack, all because my best friend, an unranked wolf, had gotten rejected. I chose her over my family, I chose her over him, I chose my vow of protection over the mate bond. How could any wolf want a mate as stubborn and foolish as me?

Alpha Matthias lifted my chin, gently wiping the blood from my face. "You have proven your point, daughter, and shown how strong your heart, and true your word. I am proud that you are my son's mate. But you both need to consider that it may be time you moved beyond your childhood dreams, you need to consider that the Goddess may have another purpose for one or both of you. Since neither of you will yield, you will both spend the next three moons considering your mate's perspective and your place in the Moon Goddess's plans."

"Dad, she's my ma..." Mark started.

"You will obey, you will consider things for three moons." Alpha Matthias growled.

"I won't..."

"Markus... Mark!"

I heard his stomping footsteps thunder away and a door slam, I didn't have the strength left in me to chase him, not that he'd have me, not any more. He had made that clear. Charlie held himself back from us, angry at the choice we made.  Alpha Matthias gently picked me up and my wolf whimpered as his wolf shushed us, in moments we were asleep. 

~

When I woke up three days later, Luna Loui's eyes held such pity as she told me Mark had left and not come back, his brother and father had left the next day. She told me she didn't understand my choice but after hearing what Rya and I had been through, she thought I was a very brave and loyal she-wolf.

"I'm not, I just am trying to do what is right, for my friend after I hurt her. I have had so much more than her," I always felt guilty about how blessed I was to have my grandmama and all the opportunity her support had offered when Rya had no one.

"You're too hard on yourself, Cora, you were child and they made you do a terrible thing to another child. It is not your fault that they sent you away, you shouldn't feel guilty that you got to live life, that you still have the chance for a wonderful life." Her voice was so gentle.

I knew Luna Loui was trying to be helpful but she didn't understand. I couldn't be that selfish, I couldn't even let myself think of being that selfish. In a year or two Rya would be forced to return to Adams and I had to be there to protect her, even if Alpha Adams never lifted the command.

~

Before I woke, Charlie had left too, his note said "I love you, but you need to let it go. She isn't worth it, none of them are. You have a mate now, time for your own life." 

I don't think he realized that Mark had rejected me or maybe he did and he didn't want to face me. He really liked Mark's family.

~

For the next two months, I studied under Chef Gerard, he crammed every thing he knew into my brain. He had been rejected by his mate and knew my pain, he knew only redirection of purpose could help me. So I studied and taught my pups, and cried myself to sleep every night.

Alpha Matthias asked that I leave a voice mail for Mark every night, so I did. The usual how's your day, today I learned this or taught my students to make that. Miles said you rode well... I never got anything back.

I wondered if this was how Rya felt, I remembered everything Gretchen had told me to do for her and tried to do them for myself. I had to find my strength again before I went home, but I was failing miserably. Then I got a phone call from that changed everything. It wasn't dawn yet, Luna Catherine's voice sounded strange, I had not spoken to her since Kennedy's last birthday party.

"Cora, I need to tell you some very disturbing news."

My heart leapt in my throat, my first thought was of Rya and the concern that some other pack may try to kidnap her or that she may have been hurt. "Cora, are you there?"

"Uhm, yes Luna Catherine, I'm sorry. Is R... R..." I struggled to get her name out. Tired and frustrated, I forced my words, "Is Ry-a okay? Nothing h-happened to her?"

Luna Catherine made an odd noise as if she knew what I was talking about, but she answered patiently, patronizingly, "Yes Rya in fine, her training is going well. Nothing will happen to her, she is in no danger. But we need you to come home as soon as you can, your father had a car accident. I am sorry Cora, he did not survive. You and Charles need to return home for good. It is time to do your duty to the pack."

"I.. uh... I'm still..." I couldn't find words to say anything, I just felt empty.

"Cora, I know you are only take frivolous extra classes so you can continue to teach. Chef Gerard says you are gifted at it. You may teach here. I also know you were rejected by your mate from a western pack. It is time to come home, you gave me your word, no more compromises."

I swallowed, I was trapped. "Yes, Luna Catherine."

"You know, Cora, I am sorry your mate chose to reject you over coming here to live but I am proud of you for keeping your oath to your pack. He was a third-born, a gamma I believe, and I am sure you can do better," She said smoothly. "You have great potential, much more than your father ever suspected."

She knew I was a second-born and a gamma, how was I any more special than Mark. I needed to scream I didn't want to do better, I wanted Mark. Instead, I responded in a numb tone, "Thank you, Luna Catherine. I will start home today." I heard her smile as she wished me goodbye.

I sat on the edge of my bed for a long time after she hung up, watching the sun-glow paint the morning mountains golden and rose. I would miss this view. My mate was far away. My father was dead. My mother was living with some human. Charlie would be taking over our father's duties, he needed my support. Now I would be Luna Catherine's personal chef and doing she whatever she decided I should do while I waited for Rya to return. Alone. Suddenly, my stomach heaved and I barely made it to the bathroom before its content presented themselves. My freedom was at an end. I showered and packed. Then I left messages for Chef Gerard and Luna Loui.

Finally, I called Mark's voicemail, a laughing female voice answered his phone instead, "Hello... hellooooOOOoooo?"

I could hear the sound of horses and cattle, as I tried to make myself say anything, nothing came. I couldn't find anything in my entire rejection-numbed brain that I could make come out of my mouth. Looking at my phone,  had I miscalled? Nope, this was Mark's number. What I heard next shattered me.

"Hey Markie-pooh, some floozy on your phone again. I told you I won't share you with floozies." Followed by a girlish giggle.

I heard his voice laughing back, "And I told you, I'm yours alone, darlin'."

I hung up on their laughter, tears stung my eyes. 

Yours. Alone. Darling? 

I sobbed as my soul hemorrhaged worse than my nose ever had. I had tried, I had done everything Alpha Mathias had asked, talked with his brothers, made every effort. And he had never called me back, NOT ONCE. Now, I knew why... He had a choice mate waiting.

My wolf growled, and for the first time in 2 months, she stood up and shook out her fur. If Mark had wanted us, he should have listened to me, and maybe even taken a moment to call me back. He didn't. Let him have his little laughing slut, we didn't need him or any male. My wolf and I are strong enough together. No more compromises, not anymore, we're going home.

The End, Part 2                          

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

9.2018 - CLAYTON is published!!!

Clayton (The Wildflower Series) by Rachelle Mills https://www.amazon.com/dp/164034487X/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_S8sbDbB084P46 via @amazon

2.2019- DALLAS is published!!!

Dallas (The Wildflower Series Book 2) by Rachelle Mills https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MXRVB7M/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_o9sbDbPFY61NH via @amazon
Find them on Amazon

::Thank you to Rachelle for allowing this CLAYTON Fanfiction to be published.:: 

If you are reading this on a site that is not Wattpad, it has been taken

and published without my permission.