Page 72 of Charmed By Apollo

“No, I could stretch my legs for a bit,” Hades said.

“Your territory is beautiful, Alpha. I’d like to see more,” Persephone added.

Cade nodded. “Come this way.” He turned, leading the way toward the towering wooden structure in the distance that could easily accommodate the entire pack and then some.

“Geeeerriiiii,” Adonis whispered, sidling up to Geri. “You didn’t tell me you had a hot brother!”

She smirked at him. “I thought you had that thing going on with that special lady?”

“There’s enough of me to go around,” Adonis replied, eyeing Cade. “Besides, how can I ignore that fine specimen of a man?” He fanned himself. “I think it just went up a few degrees.”

“Maybe you should take off your jacket,” Geri quipped.

As they neared the barn area, a familiar, high-pitched voice rang through the air.

“… and so, can’t you see that these sunflowers would look so much better than the roses?” Artemis said as she walked after an exasperated-looking older woman, her arms full of sunflowers. “I mean, really! Roses are so overdone.”

Cade stared at Artemis, his gaze transfixed, as if he wanted to strangle her.

“Hello, Hannah,” Geri said to the older she-wolf. “Artemis.”

“There you are,” Artemis said. “I’m glad you’re here. You should have seen what they did with the barn.”

“And what exactly did we do?” Hannah said defensively. “Except decorate it the way we always do whenever we have a mating ceremony.”

“It was fine. Beautiful, really,” Artemis said. “But I just thought, we need to do something different. And so I found these”—she nodded at the sunflowers in her arms—“and thought, these would just tie up the theme better, you know?”

Hannah let out a frustrated sound and turned to Cade. “Alpha, I swear if you don’t do something about this woman, I’m never going to help out at another ceremony or pack event.”

Cade rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’ll take care of it.”

With a huff, Hannah marched off.

“You.” Cade walked over to Artemis, towering over her. “Didn’t I tell you to stop harassing my people?”

“I was not harassing them, Alpha,” Artemis protested. “I was trying to help.”

“Our chef nearly quit this morning,” he said. “Do you know how hard it is to find someone to come out here and work for us?”

“Geri said I could help,” she said, frowning. “I just want things to be perfect for my brother and his future wife.”

“They will be—” Cade stopped short, his entire body going rigid.

Artemis frowned. “What’s the?—”

“Shush, woman!” Cade hissed. “Geri? Do you hear that?”

Geri’s ears immediately perked up. At first, she could only pick up the sound of the forest—the bugs buzzing around, a log falling in the distance, a bird flying above—but when she focused her enhanced hearing, she heard it. The faint but distinct sound of something ticking.

All the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. “It’s a bo?—”

The explosion came so fast, but thankfully, Geri was faster. She covered Apollo with her body, and they dropped to the ground. The shockwave reverberated through the ground beneath her feet, and the heat from the blast licked at her back. The boom was so loud her ears rang, rattling windows and stirring the leaves in the surrounding trees.

“Geri!” Apollo screamed as her hearing returned. “Damn it! Fuck! Are you hurt?”

“I’m…fine,” she coughed. “What the—” She gasped. “The barn!”

The barn lay shattered and broken, scattered like ashes in the explosion’s aftermath. The force of the explosion had torn through its sturdy frame, splintering wooden beams, and sending debris flying in all directions. The roof, once adorned with intricate wooden rafters, now sagged precariously, its charred remnants threatening to collapse at any moment. She could still feel the oppressive heat radiating from the smoldering wreckage despite standing far from it. Waves of intense warmth washed over them, carrying the acrid scent of smoke and burning wood.

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