Page 42 of Alpha Queen
"What?" he asked without turning.
Bones crunched as Kane shifted to human form. "Are you okay?"
"Just fine."
Kane didn't say anything. Finally, Titan turned over his shoulder and glared at him.
"I took your mate to her room."
Titan nodded.
"We have a drop-off tonight. If you aren't up to going-"
"I said, I'm fine," Titan growled.
Kane stared at him.
"What?"
"We have an hour, want to hunt?"
Yes. Hunt. Kill.
Titan shifted before he even realized it. He hadn't hunted in almost four years. He'd sworn off hunting moments after she'd rejected him. But now he wanted to hunt more than anything. To hunt and to kill.
And what he wanted to hunt most of all were Apollo and Ares.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
ARES
Dr. Emerson told Ares that he drops the drugs off at a storage unit about two hours from Indianapolis. After finally getting more than a couple of hours of sleep in more than a week and a half, Ares had awoken in the hotel, eaten a full three meals, showered, and had changed into clothes he could move in more easily. Wearing the sweats and hoodie, he wondered why he had never let himself dress down before. He feared that if he got too comfortable in workout clothes, he might never wear a suit again. He now understood why Apollo never dressed in a suit when at home. What was the point? Who the hell was he trying to impress? At the very least, he might put on sweats, but still wear a button-up shirt and jacket for virtual meetings.
Ares crouched in the shadows of the storage unit, his muscles coiled with tension as he surveyed the rows of shelves stacked with illicit goods. The acrid smell of gunpowder and chemicals hung in the air, mingling with the musty odor of cardboard boxes and rusted metal. He turned to Theo, his voice barely above a whisper.
"We need to move. Grab anything that looks important."
Theo nodded, his eyes darting towards the entrance.
Ares rifled through a nearby crate. Dust hung thick in the stale air, swirling faintly in the weak beam of light cutting through the open door. The crate's contents seemed louder than they should under his touch, brittle paper rustling against paper. The smell of mildew mingling with oil and rust.
Nearby, Santiago moved with equal parts precision and tension. His boots scuffed against the concrete floor, echoing faintly in the cavernous space. Neither spoke; words would only waste time they didn't have. Instead, they communicated in glances, quick, sharp looks exchanged between them like silent signals on a battlefield.
The silence stretched thin until it was interrupted by the faint clink of something metallic, a sound that cut through the stillness like the blade of a knife. Ares froze mid-motion, his breathing stalling. He looked at Santiago, who picked up the metal coin from where he'd dropped it.
"Sorry," he mouthed.
Ares' hand hovered for a moment over the jumbled mess inside the crate before plunging back in. His fingers ran under something weighty. He pulled free a thick accordion folder, its edges worn as though it had passed through countless hands before landing in the box.
He turned the folder over in his hands, brushing off a fine layer of dust that left smudges across his fingertips.
"What is it?" Theo asked.
"Not sure yet." Ares pried open the metal clasp on the envelope
Ares slid out the contents, a stack of legal documents and deeds.
Ares' shoulders tightened again as he flipped through the papers, scanning each page with efficiency. "It's all here. Buildings. Companies. Addresses. Holdings."
