Page 42 of Rex's Release

Clearing his throat, he replied, “Fair point, but that doesn’t make me feel better about her dating.”

“Better get over it, Uncle Rex. It’s going to happen, eventually.” She took another sip. “What did you want with Top? And does it have anything to do with the hickey you’re sporting on your neck?”

Rex winked at her. “It has to do with Doc. It’s mate stuff.”

“Don’t do it,” Emerson rumbled as he walked behind the bar. His hair was longer than Rex had ever seen it and was in desperate need of a brush. He didn’t smell, but Rex suspected that had a lot to do with Top forcing him to do at least the basics of hygiene. Apparently, brushing his hair and eating weren’t high priorities on that list. With blank eyes, he grabbed a bottle of what looked to be whiskey and headed down the hall.

Rex felt a sharp pain in his chest as he watched the young wolf shifter walk away. It was one thing to be newly mated and to have your mate die. That was bad enough. But to have your mate die in front of your eyes and to be unable to stop it… No one could make it through that without being irrevocably changed. Rex’s wolf let out a low whine at even the thought of something bad happening to their mate.

Emerson used to be a happy, good-hearted, responsible young man who was ready to take life on and give his mate everything that she wanted. He didn’t even see a glimpse of that young man in the detached and abrasive shell of a person who had just walked past him. Changed… irrevocably.

As he was staring after Emerson, he felt Ginger’s hand on his forearm and then she said, “Top has him.”

Rex swung his gaze back to Ginger. Her fire-red hair was braided back away from her perfect face and dark pink lips. She was stunning… a stunning badass female warrior.

“Now, tell me what’s on your mind, and I’ll see if I can help.”

“I think… I might have…”

Ginger rolled her eyes. “It’s me, Rex. Just tell me.”

He huffed out a sigh. “I think I might have screwed up the mate and Ol’ Lady conversation with Doc. She’s a thinker… a problem solver… a scientist. She asks questions, and all I can say isMagic. It’s…”

“The truth,” Ginger supplied. “Listen. As long as you’re honest with her about what you know and how you know things to work, she’ll accept it or she won’t. And if I know anything about the mate bond, she’ll accept it. The look on your face when you talk about her tells me what I need to know. She makes you happy. And if you didn’t make her happy, you wouldn’t still be on the longest first date ever.” She chuckled. “Besides work, have you spent any time apart since your first dinner?”

Rex thought about it, but she was right. He couldn’t stop himself from smiling.

“Exactly.” Ginger laughed.

“So basically, I just need to let her work it out.”

Ginger nodded. “Yup. Let her work it out.”

Rex faced forward, but he looked at Ginger from the corner of his eye. “You gonna hang with me while I drown my sorrows if she rejects me?”

“Yes, but only for an hour, then I’ll kick your ass and tell you to go after your woman.”

Rex found Axle in the cafeteria room, eating with his family. Sitting at the table with him was Gorgeous, Trip, and Darlin’. Trip was holding his son, Cane, and Axle had a sleeping Nugget tucked in his arm.

Carrying two cans of pop and the to-go containers he had packed in the kitchen, he stopped at Axle’s side and quietly asked, “Keys and Skull find anything?”

Axle shook his head. “Church at nine in the morning.”

Rex nodded, but before he could say anything else, Darlin’ asked, “What’s that on your neck, Rex?”

“Yeah, Rex,” Gorgeous added with a grin. “What’s that on your neck?”

Rex just grinned back and gave them a wink. “Gotta go feed Doc.”

“Looks like you might have already done that,” Trip commented, and raised a brow.

As the Weber brothers chuckled, Rex walked away and headed for his room.

Jolene

After taking a shower, Jolene decided to slip on a pair of leggings with one of Rex’s tees. If she had any say, and she had all the say, they would be staying in his room and would watch mindless television. She had too much rattling around in her brain to be able to deal with people.

The doctor part of her wondered if he was suffering from some kind of chemical imbalance or brain injury. What he said to her was inconceivable. She understood that there were some things in the world that just couldn’t be explained, but it was in her nature not to trust them right away. That was where she was at.

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