Page 21 of Alpha Queen
At the counter, half a dozen more rogues ate and chatted. They bowed the same as everyone else. All except one. In the corner, at a table with a laptop open and dozens and dozens of guns, sat Kane. He glanced up from his laptop and sneered before going back to it.
"This is River Whitetail, my Luna. You will give her the same respect you give me. All of you."
Kane looked up again, and his gaze locked with Titan, and for a moment, nothing happened, but then Kane inclined his head.
"Please continue eating," said River. "I don't need you to bow to me every time I enter a room."
"You may not need it," said Titan. "But they will do it out of respect anyway,"
The rogues nodded, and she and Titan headed through the kitchen toward Kane.
He stiffened as they drew closer.
"How goes it?" Titan asked.
Kane's gaze flicked to hers and then back. "We're short."
"How many?"
"Twenty."
Titan nodded. "Reach out to Rodolpho. See what he's got in stock."
Kane nodded and went back to his computer.
Guns? They had guns? And what did he mean by, short? They had dozens on the table, which meant they had more elsewhere. Her heartbeat kicked up at the thought of those guns being used on her loved ones. But… they hadn't carried any guns when they'd attacked before. So what were they for then?
River turned to the back windows that overlooked the expansive yard, and her wolf whined.
"I need fresh air," she blurted.
Titan nodded. "Of course."
They walked toward a back door, and when River looked over her shoulder, everyone in the room was staring at her.
Her skin prickled. She didn't like being watched, especially by Kane. The other rogues she could handle with a simple command, but Kane… she didn't know about.
All thoughts fled from her mind like a deer from a hunter, the moment she exited the house, and her entire body relaxed. She stopped, frozen on the expansive wrap-around balcony, just taking in the scents of the outdoors. Trees, dirt, flowers, fertilizer, water. Her body flooded with so many emotions, she couldn't catch them all. Happiness, joy, excitement, longing, sadness, anger. All of them mixed like a volatile cocktail, and she had to stop herself from either screaming or crying.
Memories surfaced of being in the woods with Apollo. For a moment, she let her memories flood her. Running. Chasing. Sleeping out under the sky together. His passionate kisses. The hard lines of his body pressed into hers. Emotions bubbled up, threatening to drown her.
No. She would not cry. Would not show weakness. She had to keep it together. Showing weakness would be worse than anything in Titan's pack. They'd eat her alive if they spotted weakness, especially with her being pregnant.
She gazed at the enormous yard. Several medium-sized guest houses, a bright blue pool, and a few smaller units lined the property.
Titan moved to her side. "Would you like to go down and walk around?"
She swallowed hard. If she agreed too fast, he would think something was up, but she wanted nothing more than to sink her toes into the grass.
"If you want to go down, that would be fine," she said as neutrally as possible.
The corner of his mouth quirked up.
"What?"
"You can say you want to go down. Agreeing with me on something won't mean I think you suddenly like me or anything."
She scowled at him, and he chuckled and shook his head.
