Born of Blood

Chapter 11

Apollo was, smartly, silent.

That seemed to be the only think he could do, was stay silent, and wait for his father to continue. Snow beat against the window he stood near, his fathers blue, piercing, eyes boring into his. The stuffy office kept him warm as he bounced his knee, the muscle flexing with the force of raising it and relaxing with the ease of dropping it- it was an odd motion to be fueled by anxiety. He picked at the skin around his fingernails, his eyes darting around the room, unable to look in his fathers eyes.

The silence stretched for a moment, space settling between them in the grey of the room, before his father sighed and shook his head. He dropped his head to his palms, allowing his frustration to leak from his pores before collecting himself and giving a half smile to Adrienne at his sons embarrassing behavior.

"You have been twenty now, for almost a month, and you have found no scents in all those that have come to see you that have pulled your wolf to mate. Adrienne has a territory right on the border of Oregon, that lines perfectly with ours. It seems the right decision to make you two mates, and combine our territory's together, does it not?" Augustus asked his son.

Apollo hesitated before responding, he understood how the werewolf world worked. Those higher in rank were easily thrown into political relationships until their natural mate was found. It was well accepted for a pack to take a female in place of the Lunas position to balance the Alpha, until his true Alpha Female was there to take her rightful position. At his training, it was a frequently touched subject, and with the ranking of his pack he knew it would be a possibility for him. It was something he truly hadn't had an opinion on before, though now..

The only problem was, Apollo already found his mate.

His aging process had begun as soon as it had ended, and that could only be hidden for so long before it was discovered. With Scarlets parents actions, Apollo knew he would have salt and pepper hair like his fathers in ten years, and there was nothing anybody could do about it.

"Father, may I speak to you in private?" Apollo asked his father, his throat going dry.

He was going to have to admit it, he was going to have to admit to the dirty deed he had committed with his sinful mate, presumably, still healing in the prison cells. And he was going to have to tell his father, no less. His face burned hot as his stomach bottomed in his body, his blood pumping like ocean waves through his veins. Embarrassment? Shame? Fear? It was a mixture that thrummed hot under his skin, boiling to the surface. He could feel the heat spreading across the back of his neck, his muscles in his arms bunching as he clenched his fists and stared at his father with pleading eyes for privacy.

"Son, any concerns you have about this coupling should be said with Adrienne here, she knows what it is to lead a pack and can help you in as many ways as I with your worries." Apollo shook his head, fighting the urge to run his fingers through his hair.

"I don't think you understand, I need to speak with you about something important, in private." Apollo tried again.

Augustus eyed his son, before moving his gaze to the seemingly disinterested Adrienne , "Adrienne, I apologize for my sons behavior, but if you would be so kind as to give us a moment?"

She nodded, rising from the chair she had just settled into before walking to the door. She opened it, and though she appeared disinterested to Augustus, she was anything but. She closed the door behind her and walked to the end of the hall, leaving her protectors in their stance, before walking a polite distance away. She would give them privacy, but she would not allow herself to be embarrassed by misinformation, she nodded to her people to remain put. Her skin prickled while she waited, her fur's rubbing against her skin in a soothing motion as she moved from one leg to another in unease.