Rocco rejected his mate. With all the trouble in Poison, he just doesn't have time to deal with the reclusive woman. He's not ready to be mated, so the easiest thing for him to do is reject her. Only, the club needed her, as did the pack.
Rose Swift was hurt. She had witnessed what it was like for real mates, but her mate didn’t even want to know her. So, when she’s asked to deal with the mess an insane doctor had created, she intends to steer well away from Rocco. He is not her mate, nor will he ever be. If only it was easier to deny him.
Rocco wants to keep his distance, but the way Rose smells, the way she looks—it’s like she’s a magnet, and he can't resist.
When one of Dr. Milton’s experiments comes crashing into the pack, there is something different about this one. He’s in control, he’s stable, and above all else, he somehow manages to become good friends with Rose. Rocco convinces himself he's only sticking around to protect her, but being around her is exactly what the wolf ordered.
Is there any way that Rose can forgive him? He will not turn his back on her again.
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.
Rose’s eyes started to close, and only a sudden knock at her door brought her out of her sleep. This had happened a few times, and once again she felt overwhelmed. Had Graham died?
She closed her book, placing it on the coffee table in front of her, bundling up the blanket, and making her way toward the main front door. Pulling it open, she saw Rocco on the front step, but he didn’t look grim. Instead, he carried a bouquet of flowers in his hand.
“Rocco?”
“I’m sorry,” he said.
She opened the door a little wider, and she frowned as she looked at the flowers. They looked wild, as if he had picked them himself, not gone to Chantel, the florist in town.
“What’s going on?”
“The florist was … closed, but what do you expect, it’s late, and I wanted to give you these so I could apologize. I don’t know what flowers you liked, but then I saw the wildflowers growing in your garden, I put two and two together, and you know, figured you might like that.”
“What are you doing?” she asked.
He held out the flowers but she didn’t take them.
Rose needed answers.
“I … I shouldn’t have spoken to you that way today. I’m sorry. I’m just … I’m so fed up with this shit, you know. It’s hard. They all come, and when they find us and we understand what is going on with them, it’s like we’re their miracle cure, only we’re the furthest from that.” He released a breath. “And then we have to see it through until the end, and that’s hard.”
She looked at him and the flowers. Part of her knew she should tell him to get lost, but she didn’t want to in that moment. Instead, she reached out and took them. “Thank you.”
“I have no idea what I’m doing,” Rocco said.
“And?”
“Would you like to go to the Poison Bar?” Rocco asked.
Rose frowned. “Are you asking me out on a date?”
“Yes.”
This time she lowered the flowers, focusing her attention on him. “What is going on?”
“I want us to go out, get a drink, talk.”
“What happened to neither of us telling anyone that we’re, you know, mates?” she asked.
Rocco gripped the back of his neck, and his face scrunched up. “Yeah, I, ugh, I don’t know what to say about that.”
This time Rose was amazed and couldn’t help but laugh. “Wow, so, we both come to the realization that we’re mates and our wolves want to connect, and that means we’re mated. You freak out and tell me in no uncertain terms will you ever settle down with one woman, or one wolf, that I am not enough for you, that you are embarrassed to even be mated to me because I’m a little reclusive for you. To make matters worse, you come to me with all the crap that is going on with this Milton doctor and his little experiment, to clean up your mess, and now you want to go on a date, and your only answer is you don’t know what you’re doing or what to say about it?” Rose was truly amazed.
“Okay, now that you say it like that, it sounds really bad.”
“I say it exactly how it sounds. Wow, you don’t see it, do you?”
“I do see it, and yes, it sounds bad, and there is no way I’m getting away from it, and I totally get that. I’ve not been the best … person in all of this, and I am truly sorry.”
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