Page 69 of Charmed By Apollo

Shifting position, she rolled to her side to face him. Grinning, she reached up to touch the wound on his neck. “Like a warm summer’s day under the bright sun.”

He touched the healing wound on her neck. “You feel like a dream. One that I never want to wake up from.”

Her brows furrowed. “Do you really think the council will let me eat one of the apples?”

“I know it.” He flashed her a grin. “Come here, mate. I’m not done with you yet.”

Her eyes glowed, and a mischievous smile lit up the rest of her face. “Why, do you?—”

“Apollo? Geri?” came the muffled voice from behind the door. “Are you guys okay? We heard, uh, noises.”

They looked at each other, eyes widening. “Oh shit, that’s Persephone,” Geri exclaimed.

“So?” Apollo leaned back and placed his hands behind his head. “They know we’re adults.”

“Apollo!” This time it was Hades. “For God’s sake, you couldn’t transport her back home? Or even to one of thousands of guest rooms in this castle? I know you hooked up in the linen closet. How dare you defile my library too! You better not be desecrating my first edition Jules Vernes.”

Geri winced. “Maybe we should get dressed.”

“Nah,” he said, then called out toward the door. “I didn’t.”

“Good!”

“It was the complete collection of Dickens!” he shouted cheekily.

“Damn you, Apollo!”

“You’re terrible,” Geri said, patting him on the shoulder playfully.

“And you love me.”

“I do,” she said, her eyes shining bright. “But we really should get dressed and let Persephone and Hades have their library back.”

He gave her a mock pout. “Fine. Give us five minutes, guys!” he called out. Geri moved to slide off him, but he caught her wrist. “Wait, what are you doing?”

“Getting dressed? You did say five minutes.”

“Yeah, but you know I can get us dressed in two seconds,” he said with a wink.

“Apollo…”

“What? I can do a lot in four minutes and fifty-eight seconds.” He waggled his eyebrows at her. “Want to see what?”

She erupted into a fit of giggles as Apollo pulled her on top of him.

Epilogue

Summertime the next year…

The wolf dashed through the woods, relishing the fragrant scents of pine and cedar and the crisp freshness of the Alaskan wilderness. It moved so swiftly, its paws barely touched the ground as it darted around soaring trees and leaped over fallen logs of the dense forest.

It had been much too long for the wolf. Much too long being away from the forest, from the pack, from its home.

And Geri agreed. When she left to find herself, she hadn’t thought about how she would manage not being able to shift into her wolf form, living in the big city surrounded by humans. She was lucky to have found Demeter and Persephone, who knew about her nature, so at least when she was at work, she didn’t have to worry about passing herself off as a human.

Still, it was not the same as this. Not the same as being able to roam the vast property of her pack’s territory in wolf form, unafraid of consequences. And just being. Living in the moment and not having to think about her future.

As the wolf approached the edge of the woods, it sped up. In the distance, it spotted its target. With a final leap, it soared high into the air, zeroing in on the target before landing on the ground on two human feet.

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