Page 7 of You're Not My Mate

“Rocco?”

“I know you don’t need it, and I get that, but I am doing this for me.”

He held the back of her head, and she knew in that moment he wasn’t doing this for himself. Rocco had come to comfort her.

She hated him. But at that moment, she didn’t quite hate him enough to push him away. Even though her wolf wantedto gouge his eyes out, she also just wanted to be held. It was a strange feeling.

Rose rarely felt this way, but when she did, it felt like her whole world was crashing down around her and there was no way she could stop it. There was only fear and pain, and that terrified her.

Breathing in Rocco, she knew she hated feeling this … need.

Chapter Three

“Why do you keep staring at me, dude? It’s kind of creepy, and trust me, I can handle a whole level of creep,” Boyan said.

Rocco hadn’t realized he was staring.

“Sorry.”

They were out patrolling the perimeter. Usually, they left this to the beta team, but with the threat of Milton’s experiments, neither Alpha nor any of the club wanted them to have to deal with feral humans.

“Okay, now I am freaked out. Since when does Rocco say sorry?”

“It’s nothing. I was just curious is all.”

“About what? I’m not a mind reader, Rocco. Just spit it out.”

Rocco didn’t want to ask the question because he knew it would open a whole bunch of questions that quite frankly he didn’t want to answer, and it would be a lot easier for him if he didn’t have to.

“Dude, out with it!”

He glared at his friend. “What’s it like … you know, having a mate? Being mated? Do you like having Agatha around?”

Boyan laughed. “Wow, I hope you don’t ever get a mate.”

“Why?”

“You’d be bad at it.”

“Fuck you.” Although, he couldn’t exactly argue seeing as Rose didn’t want to be around him. They did share a moment a few weeks ago. Rocco couldn’t even describe what came over him. It was like one moment he was so focused, and then the next he had to see Rose. He just needed to hold her. When she opened the door, he saw how broken she looked, how the last few weeks had drained her, but he also knew she was stubborn. Everything she was going through was his fault. He’d deniedtheir bond, rejected her, and he had fucked up. All for a good reason.

With all the bad shit going on, being a member of the Poison Wolves MC, and the fact Rose was who she was, he didn’t see a future for them. She was a recluse, and he was the opposite.

His rejection made sense in his fucked-up head, but now it didn’t seem to make any sense to him, which sucked big time. He didn’t know if it was because he was spending more time with her, or whatever the fuck it was. Either way, Rose dominated his every waking thought, also his sleeping ones.

“It’s like you don’t realize you haven’t been living, and I know that sounds poetic and stuff, but it is. When I finally allowed myself to commit to Agatha, and see we had this bond, this connection, that she was supposed to be my mate, there was nothing else I wanted. She is and always will be everything. There are no words. I know when I get back home, she’s going to be waiting for me, and just having her in my arms is going to make all the bad shit disappear.”

The picture he painted was surreal. Rocco hated to be jealous of him, because he had no right to be. He’d done this to him and Rose.

“Do you ever believe you and Agatha shouldn’t be together?” Rocco asked.

“Nah, man, she makes me a better man and a much better wolf. She is my life, and I won’t be without her. She makes everything better and more worthwhile. She makes me happy, and that is what I need.”

He looked toward Boyan and nodded, just as they heard shuffling. They both tensed up and Rocco scented the air, but the last few infected humans hadn’t smelled like anything. Milton had been experimenting with bleaches or some shit to hide the scent of his little pets.

Rocco waited, and together, he and Boyan advancedtoward the edge of the forest, but it was a rabbit that bounced out, looking so cute and innocent. They both relaxed, chuckling to themselves.

“Shit, man, all of this bullshit is messing with my head.”

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