Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 43373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 217(@200wpm)___ 173(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 217(@200wpm)___ 173(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
“No, it’s not that,” Rocco said. “I guess it’s a little too much to ask for us to start over?”
“It’s complicated,” Rose said. “This is all confusing.”
Rocco sighed. “I said a lot of things I didn’t mean. I … you, me, and this … I panicked.”
“You do realize that as a member of the Poison Wolves MC, you’re not exactly known for panicking?”
“Yeah, well, being a member doesn’t mean that when I’m dealing with experimental mutants exploding and screaming, and then find my mate in all of it.”
Rose opened her mouth and closed it.
Rocco winced. “Yeah, I might also want to point out that when it comes to talking and communication, I’m not good at it.”
And for some odd reason, she found that to be utterly charming.
Rose had a horrible feeling she was going to regret what she was about to do, but she couldn’t see any reason not to.
“So, how about you enjoy this beer, since I don’t like beer, and you get me a plain orange juice and we start over? No bringing up the past rejection, and we try to be friends?”
“Friends?” Rocco asked.
“Yeah, it’s a start, right? You seem like you could do with a friend, and in case you didn’t notice, I don’t have a lot of them.”
“I’d like that.” He slapped his hand on the table. “I’ll go and grab you that orange juice.”
Chapter Six
“You’re in a good mood,” Draco said.
Rocco glanced over at the club brother he’d been partnered up with to do a perimeter check. Boyan and Wolfe were on Graham duty, and the rest of the guys were dealing with the beta team. Alpha was reaching out to Elizabeth in the hope of finding out more information, but if he was honest, he didn’t know how reliable that would be.
“It’s a good day.”
Draco nodded. “And Graham seems to be settling, which is good news.”
Rocco knew it was only a matter of time before it went south with Graham. After his date last night with Rose, where they finally broke the ice and made their agreement, he’d taken her to Graham with the care package.
He didn’t allow her in the cage, so he had to be the one to give everything to the other man. Much to his surprise, Graham had seemed quite touched by the gesture and even offered his thanks. Out of all the infected, Graham was showing the most promise. Rocco didn’t even want to think about what it could mean. Each time he got his hopes up, they were quickly dashed.
Graham hadn’t made any chance to escape either. He seemed quite content to just … be. He’d never known a wolf to be content when chained up in a cage. It was one of the worst punishments a wolf could endure.
“How are you doing?” Rocco asked.
It had been a long time since Draco had gone off the deep end. With his mate gone, taken from him, Draco would randomly have anger fits that were quite uncontrollable. The MC had to help him work through his pain.
“Fine.”
“You’re making progress,” Rocco said.
Draco stopped and turned toward him. “There is a lot going on. I do not have time to think about everything.”
He nodded and Draco started walking about. Rocco kept up with him. There were so many questions he wanted to ask Draco, but he also didn’t want to ruin the longevity of his control. His thoughts drifted to Rose and their situation. He truly had fucked everything up between them.
Last night, he’d gone to hold her hand, but then froze, thinking about what holding her hand had meant. There had been a lot of people at the bar. He’d not been embarrassed, but he also knew he and Rose had been seen together. People would start to connect the dots, and he didn’t want her to be embarrassed or have gossip directed at her.
“Do you want to talk about you and Rose?” Draco asked.
This time, Rocco stopped but Draco kept moving. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“No?”
Rocco frowned. “What is there to talk about?”
“How about you two are mated and yet you act like you cannot stand each other’s company?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rocco said.
“You can play dumb, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who has seen it, but then, everyone is consumed with what is going on. I’ve been mated, I know what I’m looking for, and I’ve seen the way you two dance around each other.”
“We don’t dance around each other,” he said, when he knew they did. It started after he rejected her and then had to ask for her help.
Draco snorted. This was strange.
Rocco couldn’t recall the time before Draco lost his mate. This man had been lost for so long, going through each day, trying to survive, and now they were talking.