“Hey, Rocco changed the carpets through the whole house. That’s probably more expensive and more overkill-esque.”
He chuckled. “Rocco changed all of the flooring. He made me come over and help with the tile. It looks like wood, but it’s not, and it was a beast to put in.”
My eyebrows shot upward. “No one noticed?”
Zed shrugged. “It’s about the same color as the old stuff, and the old stuff was still in good shape. The new stuff is supposed to be tougher though.”
Damn. “See, your meals are far from overkill compared to that.” I gestured to Rocky, who licked my hand playfully.
I scratched his head in response.
“How long do you think your wolf will be hunting for?” I checked.
Zed shrugged. “Sigmas are notorious for having longer hunts, hence the multiple freezers full of food. But sigma females are pretty much the only ones who ever reject their mates, so I should probably start redoing the flooring, and painting, and decorating shit.”
I wrinkled my nose. “If she rejects you, she doesn’t deserve you.”
“On that, we can agree.” Zed bobbed his head as he continued working on the bed frame I was supposed to be dealing with. “Unfortunately, nature feels differently. A male wolf has only one mate, and if his mate rejects him, she’s free to hunt down her own mate.”
My eyebrows lifted. “What about the guy?”
“He’s lost,” Zed said simply.
My throat may as well have closed. “Damn.”
“Mmhm.”
We were both quiet for a while longer. I glanced over at Rocky, and found him resting his head on my thigh. I hadn’t even noticed, and I’d been scratching his head.
“Whoever your mate is, I’ll go fuzzy and claw her in the boob if she tries to reject you. That’ll hurt like a bitch, and she’ll have no choice but to change her mind,” I told Zed.
He snorted. “If she rejects me, she’ll probably deserve it.”
I flashed him a grin, and he met it with his own.
We continued building shit, descending back into a comfortable silence. He was working on the bed frame as well as the dresser, so I knew I was slowing him down, but he didn’t seem bothered by that at all.
The other two guys joined us after a bit, and they finished everything up quickly. They insisted on putting the furniture where I wanted it, so I told them where to move it before I sent them on their way.
Elliot promised to get me all of the spare keys on his way out, and that made me feel a hell of a lot better about everything.
It was late—almost 3 AM—when I finally crashed. There was only one set of sheets that I found, and they were already on Rocco’s bed, so I made myself at home on that one.
Rocky snuggled up against me, and I fell asleep snuggling a wolf.
It wasn’tthe sun that woke me up the next day, but the heat.
I groaned, stumbling out of bed. Somehow, I managed to knock my knee against a dresser—and then slammed my face right into a wall.
Another groan escaped me.
Something wet licked my bare knee, and I remembered where I was.
Rocco’s house.
Werewolf mate.
Instant-hubby.