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)
He knew Wolfe and Boyan tried to keep their love of their mates away from Draco. None of them wanted to hurt or upset him. The club brother meant the world to them, and they wanted to see him get better.
In that moment, Rocco tried to imagine life without Rose, and his wolf crashed within his mind. His wolf couldn’t handle the thought of anything happening. It took everything not to allow his wolf full control. Just the thought of losing Rose, and his wolf wanted to run to her, rub himself all over her, immerse himself within her scent so he knew she was okay. He couldn’t remember ever feeling this way about anyone. It was so odd, and yet it was comforting.
“Are you okay?” Draco asked.
He looked toward the other brother and nodded his head. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“It will only get worse,” Draco said.
“What will?”
“The feelings you’re trying to hide. By keeping your mate at a distance, your wolf will only bear it so much. If he sees her with other men, you’ll start to lose control.”
“How do you know this?” Rocco asked.
“Because I’ve seen mates, and I’ve seen those that try to deny who they are mated to.” Draco shrugged. “Finding your mate is a blessing for some and a curse for others. Rose is a good woman. She’s kind.”
“She’s a recluse,” Rocco said.
This made Draco laugh. “And does that truly bother you?”
“No.”
“Then do you want to tell me why you rejected her?”
Now this made him frown. “Why do you think it’s me that rejected her, and not the other way around?”
“Her pain,” Draco said, which made him pause.
“Her pain? What pain? She’s not in any pain.”
Draco sighed. “At your rejection, Rose would have felt pain. You can see it in the way she held herself around you. It was this barrier she put up, like she wasn’t allowed to get close to you. Even if it was to brush past you, she’d curl into herself so as not to offend you with her presence.”
He’d never noticed that.
“Also, she’d only glance at you fleetingly, and then quickly avert her gaze, almost like she was worried about offending you. All of this points to a woman in pain … a woman who doesn’t want to be hurt again.”
They got to the end of the perimeter and Rocco looked out across the dirt road. There was no sign, no scent, but that didn’t fill him with confidence. Graham had no scent either.
“What happens?” Rocco asked.
“To what?”
“To couples that … reject each other?”
Draco shrugged. “I don’t know. All I can tell you is what it is like to have a mate, and then the hell that is surviving one, and trust me, the former is better than the latter.”
Draco started to walk away and Rocco looked at the other man.
His hands were pushed into his jacket pocket, and he still looked unkept, but that was Draco’s way. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and every now and then, he shaved his beard, but that was sparingly.
Draco was surviving. Actually, he doubted he was even doing that.
The man before him was barely existing, and in that moment, Rocco felt a wave of unimaginable guilt. Draco had lost his mate, she’d been taken from him in a cruel act by a bunch of hunters. Rocco had his mate, but he’d rejected her. Draco would do anything to have another day, another minute, another second, with his woman, while he’d pushed his mate to one side, like she meant nothing. Running fingers through his hair, he didn’t like the bitter taste of regret in his mouth, but it was there. He had fucked up with Rose, and he had to fix it.
They were trying, but Rocco knew he needed to come clean to the guys, to tell them what she meant to him.
He ran to Draco and caught up with him. Rocco wanted to talk more, but he kept the questions to himself, and instead thought about Rose and how he could make it up to her.
****
“Don’t you have more important things to do than to keep me company?” Graham asked.
Rose put the book she’d been reading to him down. “If I did, I wouldn’t be here.”
“You know, your mate is going to get jealous if he thinks you like spending more time with me than with him.”
She smiled. “I doubt that.”
“And why do you doubt that?”
“Because this is the first day I’ve spent with you, and he has no reason to get jealous.”
“Yeah, but there is also this wicked care basket. That must count for something.”
Rose laughed. “It’s nothing.”
“But you’re showing concern for me.”
She took a deep breath, because the truth was, she’d cleaned up men and women in his situation.
“That didn’t sound good,” Graham said.
“It’s nothing for you to worry about.”