Jordan.
Kai.
Dylan.
Hmm, nope. None of those fit the very-much-not-human wolf.
I went through nature-related words next.
Leaf.
Tree.
Stone.
Boulder…
I eyed the wolf.
Definitely not Boulder.
Plant.
Branch.
Rock…
Rock?
As in—
“Ha!” I exclaimed triumphantly. “I’ve got it! Your human can be Rocco, and you can be Rocky. Not creative, I know, but similar enough and different enough that—“
The wolf licked my face while I was in the middle of speaking. I gagged when his tongue accidentally brushed mine, bending over and dry heaving.
“No kissing,” I croaked at the wolf. “That’s nasty.”
Rocky had the audacity to flash me a wolfy grin, the bastard.
“Bad wolf,” I grumbled, straightening back up so I could tighten the last of the bolts.
I glanced back at Zed, remembering he was there and feeling a bit guilty about forgetting. I found him working, but also watching me with an expression I couldn’t read.
Almost… wistful?
The other guys had said they wanted to meet their mates; Zed must’ve too.
“So do you have as much toilet paper stocked up as Rocco?” I checked, speaking to the man in the room instead of the wolf.
He chuckled. “Nah. Not really my style.”
I waited for him to tell me what his style was.
He finally admitted, “I’ve got four freezers full of meals that just need to be thawed or cooked in the crockpot. Good meals; not just grocery store shit.”
My eyebrows shot upward. “Damn.”
He grimaced. “It’s overkill, but the nesting…” he shook his head. “Not really controllable.”