Page 10 of Alpha Claimed

Apollo raised a tentative hand and touched her shoulder. Goosebumps rose on her skin, and her wolf howled.

River slapped her hand over the spot he stared at.

"My brother bit you. Marked you," Apollo accused.

"Yes… I mean, no."

"Yes or no?" His muscles twitched, and his voice held a threatening tone.

"Yes, I was bit by your brother, but not Ares."

"What does that mean?"

"I guess he's your half-brother?"

"Titan bit you?" The rage in his voice cut right through her.

"About four years ago. He found me in my pack and attacked me."

"He claimed you? Without your permission?"

She didn't want to go into it again. River sighed. "Short story. He attacked me. I stabbed him a bunch of times with a potato peeler. I rejected him. My mom shot him. My Alpha kicked him out. I moved to the city and went to art school."

Apollo stared at her neck. "I'll rip his heart out with my bare hands."

She nodded. "That's pretty much what Ares said after we were attacked in New York."

"You and Ares were attacked in New York?"

How could twin brothers who disliked each other immensely have the same hair-trigger temper?

"Yes. Titan apparently had been watching me the whole time without me knowing. A bunch of rogues attacked. I'm not sure. Ares said it was me, but they didn't come after me. They attacked Ares and the others. All Titan did was scratch me."

"He hurt you?"

"Just a scratch. It was weird, though. We'd been in a crowd walking down some stairs, and he just… scratched me. I didn't even realize it was him until a moment later. My wolf told me it was him. I'm not sure why I didn't smell him beforehand. Maybe it was all the people. She decided to redirect the conversation. "It was in the opera house. We'd just finished watching Carmen."

Apollo stared at her for a long, tense moment, and then his posture relaxed a fraction. "I would have let them kill me if I'd been forced to sit through an opera."

River couldn't help but chuckle. "I liked it."

Apollo shook his head, and his eyes morphed back to hazel. "No thanks. Ares can have all his fancy prissy theater stuff."

"And where would you rather go?"

He shrugged. "Riding my bike. Camping. Hunting. The occasional concert or monster truck rally."

She nodded. "I like riding too. Not as much as I enjoy running, of course, but since I didn't get to run until about four years ago…"

"You never ran before four years ago?"

She shook her head. "I didn't find out I was an Omega until Titan bit me."

Apollo's brow furrowed. "How is that even possible."

She sighed.

Apollo watched her for a moment, then laid back down and stared at the sky. "It's okay. You don't have to tell me everything right now. We have time. Lots of time."