Why didn’t you talk to him?
Titus didn’t have a ready answer for his animal side. They were usually in tune, working together. The wolf wanted his claim on his mate. Titus believed he was being smart. He’d always believed it was never a good idea to lay all his cards on the table in one go.
Business negotiations with his company would take weeks because Titus had a process. He leaked information about his company slowly. He learned key details about companieswanting to work with him gradually. He was never one to offer information until somebody gave him something in return first.
That’s a business strategy. How could you think that’d work with our mate?
His wolf was on the money again. When Titus had mentioned that damn Paulie app, he’d been bluffing. He was so sure Apollo would change the subject, or tell him sweet little stories about other people he’d inspired at the youth center, or something like that. Titus never expected a damn app could know so much about him.
He knew now. Apollo had called his bluff, and that damn Paulie app started spouting shit about Titus’s life…that, from the sounds of it, was true.
Fifty-four pages about my fucking sex life?Titus wasn’t sure if he should be impressed or insulted. Was there a national average for sexual exploits, and if there was, where did Titus rank? Titus was so far out of his depth, he genuinely didn’t know what to do next.
He’d hurt Apollo. That knowledge was front and center in his mind. Whether the man was mortal or an ancient god, it made no difference. Titus had been so incensed upon hearing about Lorna and the child he believed was his son, he had sent the phone flying in an effort to shut it up.
Which didn’t happen either. Apparently godly phones didn’t break the same way anyone else’s would have done. There’d been times when Titus only had to nudge his phone off the desk, and he had to buy a new one because the darn thing’s screen would be a mass of spider web cracks.
But no, Apollo’s phone could go flying, land on a rubber mat, screen side down, and not get a scratch. Not only that, but the app was still working, expressing concern about Apollo.
What about me?Titus wanted to rage so badly, his legs were twitching with the need to pace. It would be so easy to jump out of the cab and do exactly that, but he was worried that if he got too close to Apollo, without calming down, that Apollo wouldn’t just take a brief step away from the truck, he’d translocate away from his life. Titus knew he deserved that, but he still didn’t want it to happen.
How could I have handled things so badly?There were a lot of things Titus knew he’d have shared with his mate over time – especially about his relationships, or lack of them.Shoving a cock down someone’s throat does not a relationship make,although that suited Titus at the time…the many times it happened.It was a release, a quick connection that served a need, finished in five minutes, and done.
Who knew those insignificant encounters were important to the Fates?I should count myself lucky I got a mate at all.Not that Titus was feeling very lucky. Instead of saying to Apollo, “How about we talk about those things later. Tell me about the kids at the youth center, or how you got involved in Artemis’s business, or…” basically anything that wasn’t his life, Titus had fucked up, tried to bluff a freaking god, and got burned because of it.
I didn’t realize any of this was going to happen when I got out of bed this morning.Lorna wasn’t a secret, although only Regis knew about Titus’s child…who apparently wasn’t his child after all.Fuck, I’ve been scammed big time there as well.The money wasn’t important in that respect – Titus was doing well for himself now. He wasn’t afraid of hard work, and by building a team, he and his staff had all benefited. So it wasn’t the money.
But there had been a part of him, as an alpha wolf, who had been quietly chuffed that a section of his genetics was out there in the world, growing up, being raised by a vampire woman who’d now apparently, clearly cheated on him.Why the fuck didn’t I payattention to the signs back then?In hindsight, that was obvious as well.
Yes, he had given passing thoughts about bonding with Lorna, but that was only so he had a home to come back to when he’d finished his shifts. It was no fun cooking or cleaning up after himself. He would text Lorna and let her know he was half an hour out from home, and he’d arrive to a hot meal, hot sex, his house was clean, washing done… Lorna was good at tending to all his needs.
I couldn’t even be bothered to be faithful to her when I was out on the road. No wonder she cheated on me – she knew I would never say anything because I was doing it to her. And now this has come back to bite me on the ass, because I was a shit to my mate.
Titus wasn’t sure how he was going to make things right. He risked another look in Apollo’s direction. His mate was sipping coffee from a cup Titus knew he hadn’t had five minutes before.What do I do now?
Was he gutted about the boy - Cassius? Yes, he was, although more disappointed now knowing Cassius wasn’t his, and there was no way he and Apollo could have natural children of their own – not without a lot of help.Maybe Paulie has ideas about that, too.
It wasn’t like Titus had a relationship with the boy. The only contact Lorna allowed was a picture Titus received every year. It was like a bonus report card. In exchange for the sixty thousand dollars he sent every year, Titus had a collection of pictures. In the meantime, Lorna and her bond-mate were always travelling, taking the child with them, apparently.On my money, making me out to be the biggest loser of all.
Apollo was still sipping his coffee, studying nature as if it held the secrets of life. Titus snorted. After the day he’d had, he was ready to believe anything, so maybe it did.I hate that I hurt him. I hate that I was rude to him.He’s done nothing to deserve that. I’ve treated cock warmers in the truck better than my mate.
Yes, he’d had a couple of those as well in the past.I wonder what page of that fucking report they’re on. Although he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. Who knew that having different partners four or five times a week was that many people in a year? And then over forty years...
You’re not focusing on what’s important, his wolf snapped in his head.We have a mate. You hurt our mate. Fix it. You need to apologize.
Do you know what has upset him the most? The phone, the news about my son, the number of sexual partners I’ve had?Titus had no idea, and because they hadn’t claimed each other, he wasn’t sure his wolf would know either. Inhaling sharply, Titus wrenched open the driver’s door of the truck and jumped out.Has Apollo already got children?If he did, surely they were grown by now.
You could have used the truck trip to ask.His wolf was still snappy and wanted to be with Apollo.You could have talked about movies, about books, about art, about music. You could have talked about all those things that Apollo said he was really keen on knowing about. And instead, you told him to ask the Paulie app. A freaking app. Wolves don’t use apps – they communicate directly.
Yeah, Titus wasn’t keen on using an app again either. If he had his way, Apollo would never be talking to Paulie again. It was frightening how much that damn thing knew. And yet, in fairness, Apollo had warned him.Fine, so I now know that godsdo know everything – I just didn’t know they used numbered pages or tables to present the information.
His wolf was urging him to get ever closer to Apollo. He needed to apologize.I won’t be getting any Mate of the Year awards, that’s for sure.
Titus recognized Apollo was aware of him when he was about five feet away. Moving up beside him, Titus looked out at the same trees that Apollo was looking at.
“There’s a bird up there.” Apollo pointed up at a nearby tree. “A cute bird singing his little heart out. He has such a happy and beautiful song.”
Titus winced as another truck went rumbling past. He could hear the bird, but only barely. “I owe you an apology,” he said gruffly.
