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

:: Clayton for Wattys 2016 -  We did, it won! :::

Congrats Rachelle !

CLAYTON time frame chapters Sunday and Somebody

From Sunday into Monday

Mark's POV

It's Sunday afternoon and I didn't want to leave Cora and Corina alone, she was still weak from the Alpha Command being removed, but she begged me to watch over Rya today. I went, but I didn't see the point. I knew the female was damaged goods, maybe even delusional. Like everything else here, none of it made sense to me. Rya was rejected, but Moon blessed. Still, I couldn't get over her eyes, the color of the blue moon, but so filled with emptiness and pain she failed to hide. It was grievin' to look in them, the more I thought about it the more it was like she was Moon cursed, but I owed her. She had delivered our pup and Cora had survived, no thanks to that doctor. He knew Cora was suffering double and did nothing, but play on his laptop the whole night. Finally after Corina was born, he gave Cora a shot for the pain. For Cora's sake, I played nice. 

Before he left, Matt had begged me to help her, but more, to be patient with her. They were just alike, willing to give their last drop of blood to the pack, whether it was appreciated or not. So here I was, talking to Charlie and Beau about pack training while watching for her friend. He and Charlie had both found their mates with Vanguard and wanted to leave. And the three of us had decided Alpha Clayton was crazy to give up his mate, but then there were so many rumors going around as to something being wrong with Rya and that is why she was rejected. It made us all wonder. She was beautiful but there was just something off about her. Like the way she answered simple questions, as if her whole demeanor was a carefully practiced lie and just when I thought things could get any stranger, they did.

"There she is," Charlie said as he tipped his beer in her direction.

She was carrying a box of vegetables from the garden Cora had helped Gretchen plant. Dr Dallas was carrying one too. They were smiling. She seemed shy, even as she set the box down. Timid like deer stepping into a meadow. Suddenly, she stiffened.

"Clayton just saw her," Beau pointed out quietly.

Suddenly, Dr Dallas practically dragged her over to the Alpha. There was a small discussion. Luna Catherine's face flushed with anger. We could barely hear what was being said. I shook my head as Alpha Adams lied about Rya's punishment only supposed to last the week. Rya startled, her eyes and voice accusing, then the Alpha bent on a knee and ask her forgiveness and like some martyr from a movie. 

She placed her hand on his head, saying, "I forgive you."

She bowed her head and turned away, only to come face to face with Clayton for the first time. Then things got even weirder. He said her name, only it sounded more like a plea and she collapsed to the ground. We all stood frozen like deer scenting a wolf, silent. Even the birds and wind stilled. The whole world watched the horror of this broken, sobbing she-wolf pawing at the ground at the feet of the mate who rejected her. I was glad Cora wasn't here to see this. She would have killed Clayton or tried. 

Rya stood up shaking so hard she fell down again, making Clayton reach for her. The whole while, Kennedy, his choice mate, clawed at his arm, trying to pull him away from her, pleading for him to stop, to not go to her. In him, everyone could see the war going on between the man and wolf.

Rya stood up again, and they stared at each other for a moment, he murmured her name again but she just turned and staggered away on shake legs. It's like watching a newborn fawn walk. A few minutes later the only sound is her car starting and driving away. Kennedy, pulling on Clayton, she began pleading again for him to come home with her, but he yanked his arm away and shifted. His large wolf wolf snarled at his parents and snapped at his chosen mate before it disappeared into the forest in the opposite direction Rya left.

Kennedy's group of friends surrounded her, murmuring things about that b!tch, and how she shouldn't be allowed here. None of them seemed to realize the whole situation was Kennedy's fault for taking Rya's mate. The Alpha couple left unnoticed. I couldn't understand how they could allow the rejection in the first place. Slowly, the wolves of the pack come out of their shock and start leaving. Rya's parents silently take the boxes of vegetables and leave with her sister. No one said anything in defense of that poor she-wolf, even polite conversation was impossible after witnessing such a fiasco. 

I just can't believe the level of animosity focused on the rejected wolf and not the one who did the rejecting or his choice mate. I was raised believin' rejection was a violation of the Moon Goddess' gifts, but they accepted it as if the Goddess was wrong, not their Alphas. If I didn't believe this worthless pack was crazy before today, I wouldn't be able to deny it now. Charlie and I say good-bye to Beau and head home. I had to get my family away from these wolves. I do not want my daughter raised here.

~

Cora was on the phone with someone when I got home, she shoved Corina's baby monitor into my hand and ran out of the house. I knew she was heading to Rya's. Charlie just shook his head.

"Ya gotta help me Charlie, ya gotta help me talk her into leaving," I begged.

"She won't leave. I'll tell you the same thing I told Clayton when this whole mess started. She won't let it go," Charlie pulled a couple of beers from the fridge and hands me one, "Sis blames herself for not being able to help Rya then, for not being able to stop herself from telling Rya there was no place for her, for being forced by the Alpha Command to abandon her. Cora won't forgive herself until she believes Rya is happy again. But after today, I don't think that will ever happen."

"I don't want my daughter raised here," I growled.

"She gave her word, she won't break it. And she will kill you before she lets you take Corina away without her." Charlie sounded so certain.

"She won't kill me..." I started but Charlie's laugh interrupted me.

"You met Leong, I mean the real Leong and not the one he walks around pretending to be?"

I grunted in acknowledgment. I had never been more terrified of any wolf in my life.

He continued, "Cora learned from him in less than two months what it takes years to teach. He said he only ever had to show her twice and she could do it. Any fighting skill, wolf or human skin. She could kill Alpha Adams or the Beta or any of us if she set her mind to it, and not even break a nail or a sweat. When she fights, it is more to teach other wolves a lesson or give them a chance to yield. That day in Flatirons, you should have died. She must really love you because she let you hit her more than once, she won't even let me hit her." 

Corina started making noise in her cradle. He pushed himself off the bar stool, sliding it under the edge of the kitchen island, "I'll get her. Listen to me Mark, you need to get comfortable here. Neither of us are going anywhere for a while."

~

Cora came in looking distressed, tossing a set of keys on the counter. "She wouldn't open the door and the locks have been changed." She is almost vibrating in frustration, she looked exhausted.

"You need to rest, Cora. Matt said it will take up to a month to get your strength back," I reminded her.

"I should have gone today..."

"Cora, you needed to rest and there's nothing you could've done. It all happened so dang fast, one moment she was forgiving Alpha Adams for not removing her punishment and the next she was on the ground, sobbing at Clayton's feet. They were both were having some sort of crazy breakdown. Then she got up and left," I snapped.

She looked down guiltily, like somehow the whole thing was her fault. I watched her go out to her garden and begin gathering vegetables; corn, onions, tomatoes, squash, lima beans. I know what she's making, it is one of Rya's favorite dishes. In half an hour, she was filling Rya's Tupperware with Summer Squash Succotash and Venison Sausage. She asked me to deliver it when the doctor knocked. I growled at him but let him in.

"Cora, I need to talk to you about Rya, please" His tone was pleading.

"Why?" Her tone left no doubt that that she would hurt him if he didn't tell her the truth.

"Because I think... I hope..." he rubbed his shaved head then blurted out, "I feel like Rya's my second chance. When I am around her, I feel things I haven't felt since my mate died. I feel like... I want to do more than just live. Please Cora, you know her better than anyone."

"Have you eaten?" She asked, he shakes his head no. She eyed him cautiously, then nodded. I was not happy, she didn't even ask me if he could stay. 

Looks like the doctor is staying for dinner. I don't trust this wolf and I don't want him at our table. I eat in silence while Cora starts interrogating him, she has the same tone my father uses with rogue wolves. "What do you think you can do for her? She's dying inside from rejection syndrome, her mate isn't dead, the bond is always going to pull on her until you mark her."

Dallas looked down at his hands and swallowed, "I can try, if she'll accept me as a choice mate, I can take her away from here, from him."

Cora's eyes darken to the color of sapphires, "Luna Catherine will never let both of you leave. Doctors and midwives are too valuable."

Dallas shook his head, "It is in my contract that if I find a choice mate, I can take her with me when my contract ends."

"The Luna will void or buy out your contract before she lets Rya leave, Clayton needs an heir. An heir Kennedy can't give him." Cora stated, she knew the Luna very well.

"It isn't common knowledge yet, but Kimberly is pregnant," he smiled, "She can give them an heir."

"Kimberly is barely 16, who's her mate?" Cora demanded surprised.

"Some college student named Jake," Dallas answered, and both Cora and Charlie groaned. Dallas demanded in worry, "What? What's wrong with him?"

"Jake's dad left them, his mom is a cook at the school, she works part time at a bistro in town. They are Omegas," Charlie answered. 

Cora scowled, "The Luna will never allow their pup to be the alpha heir." 

Dallas looks defeated.

She reached across the table and grabbed his face, her eyes intense, "Would you fight for her, Dallas? Would you fight Clayton and the Alphas for Rya? Is she worth the pain?"

Dallas swallowed again, meeting her gaze. "Yes," He answered.

Cora sat back, watching him. Under the table I felt her fingers tapping her thigh near where our legs are touching. She doesn't realized she leaned toward me. She looked up at me and I saw the flicker of something dangerous in her eyes... hope. The doctor and the midwife. One mate-lost and the other rejected. 

This is a bad idea, I can feel it.

~

A Monday morning storm has blown up, as I come home from training with Charlie. Together we discover Becky is there. I really, really dislike Cora's mother. I wonder if the witch brought the bad weather with her. We can hear them almost arguing when we walk in. Becky's unsatisfied the hand-painted butterflies all over the nursery walls of her formerly contemporary office.

"I can't say I love what you've done with my house, Cora, but you never did have much style sense, so I understand. But really you should have called me." Becky's tone drips with false niceness.

"Mom, I love it, Corina loves. Everything in here was a gift from Mark's pack." Cora's voice has an edge.

Becky sighs, her voice condescending, "Well no wonder it's all handy crafts and second hand. Of course they'd think it was good enough for my granddaughter."

"Everything in here was made just for Corina. Mark's family made the furniture. His sister spent a week hand painting the walls. All you did was set up for some online service to send Corina a BOY'S gift basket once a month from Macy's." Cora's voice goes up another level.

Charlie is pinching the bridge of his nose.

I take a deep breath and call out, "Cora, we're home." And I walk straight for the nursery. "Ms. Becky, nice to see you." I give Cora a hug and a peck on the forehead, before taking Corina.

"Oh Mark, I was just telling Cora how much I like the home-style butterflies... it's so... county," She practically purrs and I am reminded of why I hate cats.

"Why thank you ma'am, my sister and grandma figured they needed to do something to make up for the sorry excuse for a baby shower Cora had here," I respond just as nicely.

I hear Charlie cough."Mom, are you staying for dinner?" Charlie asks, changing the subject.

"Oh no, no, dear boy. Ricardo and I are going to try the french restaurant in town, maybe another day. Oh look at the time, I must rush off. " She takes Corina from my arms and my wolf growls, her faces twitches in a weird way as she scolds, "Put a leash your wolf, I'm not going to hurt my granddaughter." She holds Corina up a like a doll. "Nana loves her little butterfly, oh yes she does," And she makes smooching noises, Corina makes a grumpy face before letting out an ear-piercing screech, that has all of us cringing.

Cora quickly takes her from her mother, "She's hungry."

"Oh my, well you need to teach her not to do that," Becky says in a waspish tone, "A properly behaved child does not make a display of themselves."

"She's a week old, Becky!" Cora snarls. I can't help that I step between my mate and her mother.

Charlie grabs Becky's arm, leading her to the front door. "Well, it was nice you stopped by, mom. We know how busy you are, tell Rick I said hi." Becky says something I don't hear as the door closes.

"What is wrong with her face?" I asks.

"Botox," is all Cora says. I think I've heard of it, something the humans use for wrinkles or something. Cora is holding Corina on her shoulder, smelling the dark silk that covers top of her head. I can feel her rage that her mother would dare insult her child.

"She said I deserved it," Cora says hurt.

"Deserved what?" I am almost afraid to know.

"The suffering the Alpha Command caused, the pain of having it removed. She said I was too disrespectful to be made Beta Female, that Luna Catherine must be desperate to have asked me. She said she was surprised you came back... that I... I didn't d..deserve a mate." Her voice cracks and she starts to cry.

She's done it a lot since Corina was born, Rya said it would be normal till her hormones settled. I sit in the rocking recliner and pull my mate and my child into my lap. After a while, she calms down. She gets up to change Corina's diaper.

"Cora, I know you made some sort of deal to stay here, but I do not want my child raised in this pack. They have no respect for each other or the Moon. I want to go home." I say it as plain as I can.

"I can't leave yet. I won't, not until things change. I gave my word and Matt witnessed it," She says quietly, putting Corina in her cradle. She walks out without saying anything else.

I watch Corina sleep for a long time, I would give up everything for her. I do not want her to grow up in this messed up pack, I just don't believe that it will ever change. Not after what I saw yesterday. I hear the phone ring, then the door close. Charlie walks in, and looks down at Corina.

"Where's she go?" I ask.

"To check on Rya," he answers.

I nod once, less than an hour later she's back. I can't tell if she is happy or angry.

"What happened?" Charlie ask as she starts dinner.

"Luna Catherine then Clayton happened, but Dallas actually stepped up twice. She drove him to his place and it appears is staying for dinner." I don't ask how she knows all this. She is pounding those steaks with a mallet like they're the enemy and I don't want to be next. She dips the flattened meat into seasoned flour, some kind of egg mixture and flour again before putting them into hot oil. I enjoy watching her cook.

"Mmmmm, Chicken fried steak," Charlie says happily. "Who pissed you off in a medieval way, sis?"

"The Alphas, as usual," she answers and he laughs, I just look at them confused.

Charlie explains, pointing at the steaks, "The three medieval Bs; Beaten, Battered, and Boiled in oil. If you want my favorite dinner, just piss her off."

Cora just glares at him and starts the gravy, "Shut up and set the table."

After dinner, I dry the dishes as she washes, we never seem to use our dishwasher. Charlie has left to go back to Vanguard for a while.

"Cora. I meant what I said." The bond twist between us, punishing us as neither of us will give ground.

"So did I," is all she answers.

She goes to Corina's nursery and I go for a run. I've always hated Mondays.

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

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

Cassius is Published! 

The Sanctuary is coming! Follow the continuing story of Clayton, Rya, and Dallas.

::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.