Page 130 of Alpha Queen
"I'll make the calls." Silas turned toward the door. He paused. "Do you hear that?"
Apollo listened, picking up the distant rumble of engines. Motorcycles, three of them, approached the cabin. His brow furrowed as he moved to the window, scanning the tree-lined dirt road.
His heart leapt at the sight of silver hair streaming behind one of the riders. River, her slender form wrapped in a leather jacket and jeans, navigated the winding path with natural grace. Behind her, Cherry and Strider followed on their bikes.
"What in the goddess's name..." Apollo muttered, already striding toward the door.
His wolf jumped to his feet and yipped, tail wagging.
He walked onto the porch as the motorcycles pulled up, engines cutting off in sequence. River removed her helmet, her silver hair tumbling free as she smiled up at him.
"Surprise," she called, dismounting with ease.
Apollo descended the steps, torn between joy at seeing her and concern at her riding a motorcycle alone. "What are you doing here? Are you supposed to be riding a motorcycle? Why are there only three of you? Where are your bodyguards?"
River rose on her tiptoes to kiss him. "Calm down. I missed you," she said. "And I brought lunch." She gestured to the saddlebags on her motorcycle. "And our favorite fudge. Plus, Mom and Strider wanted to see the place."
Apollo wrapped his arms around her, inhaling her scent with relief and pleasure before pulling back to look at her sternly. "Where are your bodyguards?"
River rolled her eyes. "I brought my mom and my dad. I'm fine."
Cherry approached, removing her riding gloves. "Don't worry, Apollo. We didn't let her out of our sight the entire ride."
Strider nodded in agreement, his massive frame dwarfing the motorcycle he'd been riding. "No one followed us. I made sure of it."
"Besides," said River. "I don't have any bodyguards of my own."
Apollo growled. How had they not assigned anyone to her as personal guards? "Well, I will be remedying that. And telling Ares just what I think of him letting you come up here."
She snorted. "First, 'let me come'? You think Ares has to 'let me come'? I can't decide for myself? And second of all, I think maybe I'll remedy not having guards. After all, they will be mine. I should get to choose them."
His gaze dropped to her belly. "You shouldn't be riding. You could have been hurt. Or the babies."
"They are fine. I am fine. Everything is-"
"Fine?" Cherry smirked.
River looked at her mom and rolled her eyes. "Ha-ha."
Apollo sighed. "You should have called."
"No signal," River countered with a mischievous grin. "Besides, I wanted to surprise you."
He wanted to continue protesting, but didn't because he was overjoyed to see her.
His wolf chuffed and hopped around like a pup.
Cherry surveyed the surrounding forest. "Beautiful country. Strider and I thought we might go for a run while you two catch up."
"There's a lookout point about five miles north," Apollo offered. "The view of the valley is impressive."
Cherry nodded. "Perfect. We'll be back by evening." She glanced at Strider, who was already removing his jacket. "Ready?"
Moments later, two wolves- one honey-colored, one deep russet- loped into the trees, disappearing among the shadows.
Silas cleared his throat. "I should head into town to start calling contractors. I'll be back tomorrow with the first crew."
As Silas departed in the SUV, Apollo turned to River, taking the food bags from her. "Let's go inside. The temperature's dropping."
