Page 12 of You're Not My Mate

Rocco saw he was getting upset. He couldn’t help but wonder if Buster was some kind of regular dog name, as one of Amelia’s dogs was called Buster as well.

“The day he died … I will never forget that day … the feel of his fur, the hopelessness I felt, because I wanted more time with him. I wanted everything with him, and I didn’t get it. I didn’t get a damn thing with him.” He took a deep breath. “It’s in their eyes, that moment, when it’s like they tell you it’s their time. At least maybe we comfort ourselves when that happens.”

Graham sounded … normal. He didn’t have time to ask more questions as Alpha, Boyan, Draco, Enzo, and Ryker all arrived at the cages.

Rocco gave him a rundown of what happened after Boyan had left to go and get him.

“So, this is what a pack looks like?” Graham asked, and he still hadn’t gotten to his feet.

“Graham?” Alpha asked.

“That’s my name and I’m guessing you’re the one in charge.”

Rocco looked at the other man, and he wasn’t like some of the other humans that had come to them. None of this made sense to him. Some of them had lasted a couple of months, a few hadn’t even made it past one full moon. There was no consistency. According to Elizabeth, it would make sense as Milton didn’t waste time on one track. The moment it looked like his ideas were failing, he changed it up, moving to something and someone else. A different concoction of whatever potion he was brewing. The man, apparently, didn’t have a patient bone in his body, and he didn’t waste time. He discarded people asquickly as he experimented on them. Some of them had been desperate to make quick money, allowing Milton to experiment on them.

Rocco didn’t like this, but as Alpha took over the questioning, his thoughts drifted to his mate. Rose shouldn’t have been here, and he shouldn’t have spoken to her that way. She didn’t know how many people he had seen go through this change, not able to make it, seeing the fear in their eyes. He wasn’t being cruel in saying they needed to die. He was trying to be kind, and stop them going through that pain.

They’d not killed a single person, but they had been cleaning up the mess, or at least Rose had been cleaning it up. Alpha hadn’t wanted to bring her in, but they started to wonder if they were not thorough enough in cleaning away the blood, it might be infected, and they didn’t know the ramifications of that.

He stepped outside the cages, needing some air as his wolf was getting impatient. Fighting these urges was next to impossible, with Rose so close. Even now, although she had left, he smelled her, and he wanted her. That feeling wasn’t going away anytime soon.

He gripped the back of his neck and tried to focus. He tried to do anything but think about the blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty that had filled his world.

“Are you okay?” Draco asked, surprising him.

Spinning around, he looked at the other man. He was used to the overgrown beard, hair pulled back into a ponytail, and his clothes seeming to be several days old.

“Yeah, man, I’m fine.”

“Look, I know you want to kill them to show a kindness, but this could be something else. There might be hope.”

“How can you talk about hope when the humans did what they did to your mate?”

Draco shrugged. “My mate was hunted down by humans. Not all humans are hunters, Rocco. Not everyone is the same, and I’d hate for someone to view us all as such, wouldn’t you?”

Rocco shook his head. “I think this is a mistake.”

“Do you want to turn your back on all of this? Is that it?”

“I don’t want to turn my back, but I don’t want to keep seeing the look in their eyes when they know it’s not going well.”

“Then do what I do,” Draco said.

“And what is that?”

“Look away. Then, you don’t see their fear, and they don’t see that you know it’s the end for them.”

With that, Draco walked back into the cages, but Rocco felt that was some morbid kind of shit. He let out a puff of air, and then made his way back toward the cages, waiting for whatever would happen next.

All the time, he couldn’t get Rose out of his mind.

****

Rose curled up in the armchair, and the small glow from the lamp cast enough light for her to read. It was dark outside, and she knew it was about time she went to bed. She was exhausted and couldn’t help but wonder if she was going to get a call to come and clean up messes.

Graham was not an unusual case, at least not to her. The guys had been happy with the progress with other humans, and she’d left for the day, only to be called back hours later when it had taken a sudden turn. It was one of the reasons she tried not to get close to anyone. Graham was the first one she had spoken to. He’d looked so calm in that cage, and yet she had known he was trying to keep it together so he wouldn’t lose his shit.

She couldn’t help but feel for him, for all of them.

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