“The relationship history section of the dossier on Titus Haverland is fifty-four pages long.”
“Fifty-four pages?” Titus was clearly shocked.
“Just a brief summary, thank you, Paulie,” Apollo said calmly. His own love-life was long and extensive – he would dread to think how many pages of content that would turn out to be…Although I have lived a lot longer than Titus.
“Many people are unaware, but the Fates take note of even the shortest of intimate interactions between two or more people,” Paulie said. “Those interactions, which might seem nothing more than harmless pleasure for each person involved, can have intense or unintended consequences for an individual’s relationships in later life. I believe mortals consider this a ripple or butterfly effect.”
“That makes sense,” Apollo nodded. It was why he was only intimate with people he truly cared for.
“For the most part, Titus Haverland preferred one-time intimate encounters, predominantly with women, up until he and Regis moved to Buffalo. Those interactions number over ten thousand…”
“There’s no way there can be that many,” Titus growled. “It’s not physically possible.”
“On average, four to five different intimate partners a week, over forty or more years…it’s definitely possible,” Paulie said sharply. “However, once Titus Haverland and Regis moved to Buffalo, he refused most female advances and focused on intimacy with adult males, although his pattern of how many partners he had per week remained the same.
“On page forty-two of the report, you will find an outline and explanation of what Regis and Titus Haverland call an ‘alpha bingo card.’ The card is a physical item – a five by five table printed on white cardstock. It appears to be a game between the alphas. Regis writes various attributes and situations related to people Titus Haverland might be intimate with. So far this year, Regis has two and a half completed bingo cards as a result of his alpha’s activities. You can find a breakdown of the different symbols and words used in glossary form on page forty-three.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!”
Apollo knew he should get off the app. Clearly Titus was distressed to the point of anger about what he was hearing. One of the reasons gods couldn’t know everything is because everything meant every tiny detail of a person’s life –everything. But he was still curious – there was a part of the facts provided so far that didn’t make sense.
“One last thing, if you don’t mind, Paulie,” he said, making sure his tone was as neutral as possible. “You said that Titus had relationships with women for the most part, until he and Regis moved to Buffalo. From then on, it was mostly men. What happened to cause that change in preference?”
“No.” Titus was shaking his head. “No! You don’t need to know anything to do with that. It does not concern you.”
“In the six months prior to moving to Buffalo, Titus Haverland was in a live-in relationship with a vampire woman, LornaBloom. He was still traveling with his trucks, but he believed he and Lorna were in a committed relationship. Words of love were exchanged, and at one point Titus Haverland was seriously considering taking Lorna as a bond-mate…”
“I said no. Shut that thing off!”
“In March of that year, Titus Haverland was on a long-haul trip to NYC when he received a message from Ms. Bloom, who advised him that she was pregnant with his child. The message claimed that she was determined to raise the child without him. By the time Titus got back to Las Vegas, Ms. Bloom had gone, stripping the house and their joint bank accounts completely.
“Almost a year later, Ms. Bloom sent notification through her lawyers demanding Titus Haverland pay child support for the boy at a rate of five thousand dollars a month, which he has been doing ever since. As soon as those payments were started, Ms. Bloom bond-mated with the man who was determined to be the actual father of the boy and has refused all physical contact with Titus Haverland ever since.”
“You fucking piece of shit, you don’t know anything.” Apollo’s phone went flying out of his hand, landing on the floor, and seconds later, his shoulder was smashed into the passenger door of the truck as Titus wrenched on the steering wheel, hurtling the truck across two lanes of traffic, before pulling into a large rest-stop set down from the road. Brakes engaged, the engine was shut off, and all Apollo could hear was Titus’s growling and his own shocked breathing.
That was unfortunate.Reaching down, Apollo picked up his phone, checking to make sure it wasn’t broken. Paulie was still activated.
“It appears you’ve suffered an incident, Lord Apollo. Do you require assistance?”
“No, thank you, Paulie, I can take care of myself from here.”
“As you wish. All hail the Almighty Zeus and his beloved mate, Paulie.”
Sliding his phone into his pocket, Apollo opened the passenger door and climbed out, stretching out his back and rubbing his shoulder where he had hit the passenger door. Clicking himself up a mug of coffee, he wandered slowly to the edge of the gravel area, looking out over fields and trees.Titus will need a moment to collect himself,he thought, sipping the hot drink slowly.
It was tempting to translocate, to leave the angry wolf alone for a while. But Apollo knew that the wolf side of Titus was already committed to him, and he had no wish to cause the animal any distress.He’s not responsible for his human side’s behavior.In the meantime, it was nice to stretch his legs and enjoy some fresh air for a while.
Chapter Ten
Titus could barely see straight. It was sheer luck that he managed to get the truck off the road undamaged, and that no one was hurt by his reckless driving. But in his head, he had good reason. Never in his life had his world turned upside down so quickly – Titus couldn’t think of any time when he’d been so out of control in the past.
Meeting Apollo that morning was a positive thing – out of his control - but something he and his wolf could be happy about. Apollo was the man he was meant to love, cherish, look after, and all that shit.
Who are you trying to kid now?His wolf demanded.Love and cherish and all that shit? One, why is love shit? And two, why didn’t you just talk to our mate when he asked?
His wolf was understandably furious. Their mate had walked away from them, and it was all Titus’s fault. Titus’s heart had just about leaped out of his chest when Apollo got out of the truck, but at least he could see him through the windscreen, standing on the edge of the clearing.
He’s being nice to me, giving me some space.
