Page 63 of Alpha Claimed

"Don't you need to watch stocks or something?"

He shook his head. "We're good. I'll check on them later. I can field any calls from where we're going."

She smiled. "Good. Then I'm all yours for the day."

Ares's grip tightened further on the leather belt. She ran her hand down his chest.

"Don't worry, Big boy. We'll spend some time together afterward."

"I… have meetings." His gaze flicked to Apollo. "One of us has to keep this place running."

"We divided the duties the way you wanted them divided. I take care of the finances and keep the money flowing, and you take care of the pack business and make sure people don't kill us or each other. If you think I should be doing more, give me more to do," Apollo retorted. "You're the one who always wanted to run everything."

"Because you never do anything but stare at six computer screens and talk on the phone."

River stood between them. "Okay. Okay. That's enough of that." She grabbed Apollo's hand. "Get me some sugar."

Ares laid his hand on her arm. "Dinner and the time afterward are mine."

She smiled up at him. "Sounds great."

Ares leaned in, sniffed her hair briefly, and then kissed her cheek before Apollo pulled her away.

She couldn't decide if that had gone well as they walked down the hallway toward a back staircase. They'd been in the same room and hadn't threatened to kill or punched each other. River considered it a win.

* * *

APOLLO

Apollo's wolf'sjoy at being chosen to have time with River first couldn't be described.

Our mate. Our Omega. Ours.

Yes,Apollo assured him.She is ours.

Mate. Need.

Apollo sucked in a huge breath and looked over at River. Had she bathed in perfume or something? Her scent seemed more potent, and being near her made his wolf into a frenzy.

Calm down, bud. Remember the plan. We need to go slow.

No slow. Fast. Need mate now.

Soon. Very soon.

His wolf howled in delight, making Apollo chuckle.

"What's so funny?" she asked as they walked down the stairs toward the kitchen.

"Oh… uh… it's my wolf. He's just happy to be near you."

"Only him, huh?" She cocked an eyebrow at him.

He stopped, and she halted next to him.

"No," he said seriously. "He isn't the only one. You have no idea how little sleep I got last night because I wanted to be near you. To hold you. Touch you. Kiss you. Every time I closed my eyes, you were there. Every breath I took, I smelled you. Every beat of my heart beat only for the purpose of getting me back to you."

Well damn.He hadn't meant for all that to come out of his mouth.