Chapter Six
Titus knew that Apollo was his mate before he’d even gotten to the office. “I felt Apollo come in earlier,” Artemis had said brightly when he’d arrived. “I’m sure he won’t mind having the meeting in his office.”
She seemed on edge, her bright tones attempting to hide the nervous air covering her like a cloud.
Considering Titus thought they had come to an agreement, he didn’t quite understand her attitude, but he was eager to meet her brother…
so, he just smiled in response. Nervousness in another person would typically put Titus’s wolf on alert, but the moment he’d stepped into another hallway, following Artemis’s lead, he caught a scent that had him working double time to keep his body and wolf in check.
The smell was sweet and light, yet there was a hint of age and darkness there too - as if the man the scent belonged to had come through a million lifetimes and known both the depths of heartbreak and great joy as well.
Those ideas were confirmed when Titus followed Artemis through a wide door, indicating a corner office, and saw his mate for the first time.
What he hadn’t expected was Apollo’s reaction to seeing his face.
The door slammed behind him, the sudden freezing of the PA who was stuck hovering at a really uncomfortable angle as she was about to put a tea tray on Apollo’s desk.
Titus had stilled as he felt the brush of magic wash over his body, not because it affected him, but because he realized there were dynamics going on between Artemis and Apollo that could be useful to know.
He could be patient, waiting until there was a chance for him to speak.
As Titus listened, he drank in the details of the man who would be his forever.
It was easy to see that Artemis and Apollo were related.
Artemis’s hair was more white-blond, while Apollo’s was a darker blond.
He looked fit, without being bulky about it, and the sage green suit he was wearing really looked good against his lightly tanned skin.
Apollo was the epitome of golden…a gorgeous, perfect, golden mess.
Apollo was yelling at one point – yelling at his sister, who clearly didn’t care.
Titus was more focused on keeping his growls to himself when Apollo listed off people’s names who were clearly from past relationships.
Titus never expected his mate to be a virgin – he’d lost his virginity before he got his driver’s license.
I guess he has lived for a freaking long time – and a man like this…
Yeah, Titus couldn’t see Apollo being on his own for long. Although from the sounds of things, he was single now, and that was all that was important to Titus.
The pain in Apollo’s voice, as he was trying to get his sister to understand why he’d never intended to meet Titus in the first place, tugged at Titus’s heart and wolf. He could hear the man’s heartbreak, and any hurt he initially felt at Apollo not wanting to meet him was quickly put into context.
Not that Artemis seemed to care. She listened – half the building could probably hear Apollo’s distress – and yet his sister stood with a completely impassive face. She was either used to Apollo’s yelling or she wasn’t paying attention.
Titus’s wolf did go on high alert as Apollo was yelling about his lack of interest in business - how he hadn’t even wanted to be in the office in the first place. Why is Apollo listed as co-owner of a business if he had no business interests at all?
That didn’t make sense. Titus had three sisters. None of them wanted to go into business, either, and Titus would have never forced them to. So why was Artemis so intent on having Apollo with her? Was it simply part of the brother and sister dynamic or something darker?
Apollo’s words, when he described how he’d fallen in love with Titus from seeing him on television, touched Titus’s heart, while making him feel like stepping back at the same time. He understood the mating pull, but instant love from seeing his face on television?
You saw the man’s photo , his wolf argued in his head, and you felt a definite pull toward him, too. Our mate is intense, and from the sounds of things, he loves love, music, happiness, and joy - all those things we will give him.
Titus was inclined to be a bit more skeptical. He was heavily invested in his business’s day-to-day, although, realistically he didn’t have to be. He had come a long way since his first truck. But he was jolted from his thoughts when Artemis started explaining the concept of mates to Apollo.
A light show? That’s one way of making someone stand out in the crowd .
Apollo clearly hadn’t known, or perhaps he had known, and he just hadn’t put that fact and Titus’s apparent light show together.
But Titus had to speak up. He’d eavesdropped long enough – long enough to immediately feel bad when Apollo’s shoulders tensed the moment he heard Titus’s voice, and the huge wave of humiliation that came from Apollo’s soul immediately afterward.
Ignoring Artemis, Titus focused on getting Apollo out of that toxic office environment. If Titus had his way, Apollo would never have to go there again.
“It’s always nice being outside, don’t you think?
” Titus asked once they were outside the building.
He was aiming for some form of casual conversation, recognizing his knowledge of what were suitable opening conversation starters with new mates was limited.
Inside, he was amazed Apollo was walking beside him at all.
“Let’s go this way. There’s a nice coffee shop a few blocks from here.” Titus knew the part of the city they were in fairly well, and he took Apollo’s elbow, guiding him to the left as they made their way down the street.
“I’m so sorry,” Apollo said, his voice so low only Titus could hear. “I’m deeply embarrassed, and I am so sorry because I never wanted anything to hurt you. From the moment I saw you, I knew how special you are…”
Titus snorted. “There would be some who wouldn’t agree with that assessment – my three sisters and my right-hand man, Regis, for a start.
You have nothing to apologize for. I’m doing my best to appear casual and friendly, when my wolf is turning cartwheels, and my whole body is alive just walking next to you.
You have no idea how momentous this morning has been for me. ”
“Wolves are very big on mates and family, aren’t they?” Apollo tossed back his hair, appearing to look in different retail windows, but Titus was also aware that Apollo was also watching him out of the corner of his eye.
“Poseidon, one of my many relatives, claimed an alpha wolf of his own a few years ago. They have twins, I believe. He seems to enjoy pack life. Thanatos, god of death, I suppose you would call him, has a wolf shifter mate as well, although his wolf runs with the hellhounds. Thanatos’s son Sebastian has a wolf shifter mate as well, now I think of it.
I’m not sure if they live in a pack or not. ”
That’s setting a positive precedent for us, then. “I was raised in a pack, although I haven’t been home in many years. But if you’re saying that people like me are hard-wired to care for mates and family, then yes, those instincts are as strong in me as in any other alpha.”
“My family is so dysfunctional, I wouldn’t know where to start,” Apollo said, and there was definite sadness in his voice.
“I don’t know if you’ve read any of the myths that were written about us.
About fifty percent of it was true, and fifty percent of the stories told were vastly underestimating the truth of the situation. ”
He blew out a long breath, and Titus found himself slowing his steps. The coffee shop was just ahead, but Apollo was talking, and he wanted to hear what his new mate had to share.
“As you might’ve guessed from what you heard, I just…
I haven’t had a lot of luck with relationships.
I could find them easily enough, but no one ever wanted to stay with me.
” His smile was tight, and Titus immediately hated it.
“I often wondered if the sole purpose of my existence was to determine how many times a heart could get broken before it stopped healing.”
Uncaring that they were in the middle of a busy sidewalk, Titus wrapped his arm around Apollo’s waist. The man’s body heat seared through his suit jacket, sending his body signals he desperately tried to ignore.
..at least for now. “One thing I do know from the mating lore told by my pack elders is that when two people fated to each other meet, anything that happened in the past stays in the past. We have a future to build…together.”
“You are very driven, from what I have learned about you” Apollo said, tucking his hand in Titus’s back pocket as they kept walking. “From what I’ve observed, you’re very business oriented, much like my sister. Whereas I...for example, do you know what I did yesterday?”
“Argue with your sister about meeting me?” Titus chuckled to show he was teasing.
“I did that in the morning. In the afternoon...” Apollo glanced at him. “You’re going to think this is silly.”
“I can already tell you I won’t,” Titus said firmly. “I’ve always wondered how people like you filled your days.”
“By doing as little as possible most of the time,” Apollo said, but he was smiling.
“However, yesterday I glamoured myself to look like a down-on-their-luck, barely held together man in their early twenties and went to a youth center. I’ve been going there two to four times a month for about four years now. They know me as Ace.”
“A youth center?” Titus was intrigued. “Are you a counselor there?”
“No, I’d be rubbish at that. I play music there. They have this old hall as part of the center – I think it used to be a school, but anyway. The center’s got barely any money – they rely entirely on donations – and the youngsters who go there have had such hard lives.
“I have donated there in the past, but the money never goes to any new instruments, and that’s understandable, but I go” - Apollo’s smile got wider - “and I’ll start to play my music and often some of the youngsters join in. Yesterday, this incredible young man, Timothy, started to sing.”
Apollo stopped, right there in the street, turning around so he was facing Titus for the first time.
“This boy barely ever spoke, but yesterday he sang with such a powerful voice.
It was incredible. A couple of the other kids were inspired, they joined in with their instruments, and yet it was his voice filling the hall.
He was making up a song on the spot – his pain, his hope, his determination – it all came out.
“I was so touched to be a part of that moment. It was truly special. It’s things like that which mean so much to me. Tell me honestly, Titus Haverland, is that something you can understand? Can you support something I can do in ripped jeans and an old T-shirt instead of this suit?”
Conscious that there were people all around them, always in a hurry, barely looking where they were going, Titus encouraged Apollo to turn back the way they were going and started them walking again. They’d already passed the coffee shop, but Titus instinctively knew they should keep walking.
“One of the biggest joys I have in my life,” he said softly, leaning slightly so Apollo could hear, “is when I’m in my wolf form.
Running through the trees, picking up all the gossip through the scents left on the trails.
I can see what the other animals are doing, and in that moment, I feel part of a community so much bigger than a pack.
“You know, there are times when I’ll sit and howl at the moon, not because I’m sad or lonely, but because I can. My form of song to the Moon Goddess, who always looks so beautiful in the night sky. Is my song any less relevant because I’m singing in my fur?”
“You know it’s not,” Apollo said quietly. “I imagine it’s beautiful, and I hope I hear it one day.”
Titus was determined that his mate would.
Maybe they could sing together, although how that would work, he wasn’t sure.
“I admit my human side gets more fun out of…” he hesitated.
He hadn’t liked hearing a snippet of Apollo’s past, and he was sure his mate wouldn’t like being reminded of his. But Apollo surprised him.
“Pleasures of the flesh?” Apollo winked.
“Yes, something like that.” My gods, am I blushing? Titus’s cheeks definitely felt warm. “I do find joy in either form. I started my business because I wanted to make a living, and I enjoy the life I can have with the money I make.” An idea started forming, and Titus decided to run with it.
“And now I’ve met you – someone to share that life and those joys with.
I know we should probably find time to get to know each other, before we start sharing some of those pleasures of the flesh you mentioned” - which won’t take too long, I hope – “so I was thinking, would you fancy taking a road trip with me, in one of my trucks? Is that something you’ve ever done before? ”
“I haven’t done that, no.” Apollo was grinning again. “So long as you don’t expect me to drive, it sounds like fun. How long would this road trip take?”
“As long as you want it to.” Titus spotted another café.
The smells coming from it tempted his appetite, and the coffee didn’t smell burned.
“Let’s have something to eat and drink while I message my manager, and he can have my truck ready for us by the time we’re done.
” He glanced down at his suit, and then at Apollo’s.
“We’ll probably need to change clothes before we leave. Will that be a problem?”
Chuckling, Apollo shook his head as he opened the café door. “I can change my clothes with a thought. Can you?”
“Saves on packing an overnight bag, I suppose,” Titus muttered as Apollo laughed.