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)
The Alpha would have to wait.
Chapter Two
Rocco sat waiting in the main church of the clubhouse. Rose had already reached out and told them she was on her way.
He couldn’t help but clench his hands into fists. Part of him wanted to take off in the woods, to locate her scent and then surround her with him, to tell her it was going to be okay. But, he couldn’t do that. He didn’t have the right to do that.
Rejecting Rose had been a lot easier to maintain when he didn’t see her every day, but right now it felt like the biggest mistake he’d ever made.
Alpha was looking out the window into the night’s sky. There hadn’t been any new Milton experiments lately, which they were thankful for.
The one that had died tonight had arrived two months ago. Since he survived the first full moon, they had thought they were doing something right, but it hadn’t worked. Nothing worked.
Rocco looked around the table, as the guys did seem grim. Enzo, with his endless knitting, was going mad with his needles and ball of wool. Alpha was by the window, and he’d not moved. Boyan looked broody as fuck, as did Wolfe, but they were missing their mates. Gunnar and Gray were silent. Ryker was drinking coffee.
He glanced over at Draco, and saw the other man looked … troubled. Not that it was a new look on him or anything. Draco had lost a mate some time ago. Most men went feral and there were times Draco was on the verge of going crazy. It was up to the club to keep him sane.
Rocco frowned. Usually, Draco tried to cause trouble, or he tried to lure them into some kind of fight or something, but this time the other man was silent as he stared down at the table, and his eyes were closed. He couldn’t help but wonder what was going on with the other man to keep him so calm.
It all changed as Rose suddenly appeared in the doorway. They had several members from the beta team who were attempting to join their ranks. The Poison Wolves MC was not a vast organization, they were a select few men who had the ability to alpha their own pack. Only they had defied the odds, came together, and now worked to protect each other, as well as the pack that belonged to each one of them.
“You took your time,” Alpha said.
Rose took the only available seat at the head of the table.
Rocco tried not to stare, but that was impossible. She looked so beautiful. Her blonde hair was finally out of the tight bun, and she smelled a lot like coconut, which also suggested she’d taken a shower. The dungarees had been changed to a skirt and blouse. She looked feminine and nothing like a woman who’d cleaned body parts from the forest less than a few hours ago.
“And?” Rose asked.
She also had a bad attitude. It was rare for any of them to encounter someone from their pack who was not enamored by them. There were a few groupies that were willing to do anything for them. Rose was not one of them. From what he knew, she didn’t entertain anyone. He’d asked around discretely, trying to build a picture of this woman in his mind.
“Is that any way to talk to your alpha?” Alpha asked.
“Look, I don’t have to be here. I just clean up the mess, I’m not responsible for anything else. You won’t even take my suggestion but it seems to be the only one you’ve not taken!” She glared at him.
Rocco couldn’t help it, he felt arousal at her strength. Rose was a delicate woman, and yet she had a spine of steel and one hell of a backbone, and she didn’t cower.
She raised up, putting her hands flat on the table as she stared down at Alpha, who’d taken a step toward them.
They could all put her in her place, but the truth was, Rose’s suggestion hadn’t been tried because Alpha refused to do it.
“Mixing blood is what got us here in the first place,” Alpha said. “We need a resolution that doesn’t require some of us turning into fucking vampires!”
She growled and the sound went right through his body. It was like he was waking up, he just couldn’t help it. She sounded so sure and so clear.
“What got us into this mess was a guy playing God when he shouldn’t have been. We’re not trying to play God, we’re trying to save them,” Rose said. “You need time to figure out the mess he caused, and you also need to find one of the stupid scientists that worked with him or for him.”
“Not happening. Do you think I’m going to have one of them wandering around my pack?”