Page 23 of You're Not My Mate

“Ah, you might not be interested, but trust me, I do think it is important and worth talking about.”

Rocco was starting to get a headache, which was a miracle, as wolves rarely got them. Graham was starting to irritate him.

“You see, you broke Rose’s heart.”

Now this did make him tense up, and he looked at Graham.

“Aha, I have your attention.”

“I will kill you,” Rocco said.

“Nah, you’re not going to do that, because I have a feeling I have defied the odds of every infected person you’ve met, so I’m not going anywhere. Anyway, back to the main problem. Why did you reject Rose?”

“That is none of your business.”

“I know, but you have not spoken to anyone else about it, so why not talk to me?”

He thought about Draco and shook his head. “If I need to talk to anyone, I’ll talk to someone I know.”

“You know, she had this idea of what being with her mate would actually mean, and you failed big time.”

Rocco had gotten to his feet, not interested in listening to anything this guy had to say, but he had to go and pique his interest. He stepped toward the bars and wrapped his hands around each one.

They had all insisted on keeping their distance, in case their wolves triggered the human’s mutation, and it ended in disaster. In that moment, Rocco was more than happy to take his chances, because he didn’t want to listen to this shit for another second.

“What?”

“Ah, so you are interested in what your mate likes and is, well, you know, interested in.”

“What did Rose tell you?” he asked.

He would beat it out of the bastard if he didn’t speak.

Graham tutted. “I don’t like you being so close to my cage. I can feel a tingle.”

Rocco knew the man was messing with him, which is why he stayed perfectly still and glared at him.

“Tell me.”

Graham sighed and laid down on the floor, staring up atthe ceiling.

He had no idea what he was doing, but he wasn’t budging. “Fine, fine, I happen to like Rose, and it would be nice for someone to see what a doll she is. I mean, she is super cute, with all that blonde hair and those blue eyes, they make a man want to melt right into them.”

Rocco drew back his hand and growled. “Enough.” He didn’t want anyone else seeing how beautiful her blonde hair was, or the fact her eyes were bright blue, even better than the ocean. No one else got to see that kind of stuff. He wanted to lash out, to kill that fucker for even looking at her. The anger was unlike anything he’d ever felt before. It was so acute and terrifying at the same time.

Graham turned his head and sighed. “She wanted the dream, Rocco. For her mate to find her, and in that moment see her for the gift she is, pull her into his arms, and then kiss her. That is what she wanted. Instead, she got you, and what did you go and do? Ah, yes, that’s right, you decided to treat her like crap and reject her.”

He didn’t need to be told what he’d done. Rocco had been there, and he wore that fucking label.

There had been so much going on. Shit was happening, and rejecting Rose, rather than delve into that rabbit hole, he’d reacted and regretted it.

****

Rose enjoyed a glass of lemonade with a blanket wrapped around her body. It was cold outside. Not too cold, but she felt the change heading their way. It wouldn’t be long before they were all freezing their asses off, and the first snowfall coated the land. She loved the snow. It always calmed her.

Also, the garden, that always seemed a little barren after a full summer, would once again look beautiful.

The only problem was, with the first snowfall, those cages were not going to be quite so welcoming.

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