"And what if I did?"
Apollo's always been the possessive one in this deal, but because he accepted Donatello, who isn't my mate or anything, I thought he would be alright with Tristan. Guess I was wrong. His face twists in insult, in jealousy, and he looks away, to the window, then back at us.
"What's a mate?" Tristan whispers to Ren, so loud I could hear if I was standing outside.
"It's the person you're meant to be with. The only one your body and your heart want. The one your soul calls for," Ren replies in a real whisper. I cross my arms, watching Apollo start to pace on the small space of the room.
"Oh!" Tristan calls out, in his normal voice. "That's what Cassandra is then."
I whirl around to him, watching him smile. The sight of his smile makes my heart beat faster, but I don't know anything about this ‘mate’ story. These men mean the world to me, but are we meant to be together? The idea is not my favorite thing, like fate is forcing us. I'd prefer they liked me for who I am.
"You don't even know what it means," Apollo shoots at us, and Tristan's shoulders drop.
"How could you know?" I ask Apollo, my temper rising. I'm tired, and I want to shower, change and get in bed with my mates. And I'm already counting Tristan in. "Are you a seer or something?"
"Of course not," Apollo shoots back, turning to me with his brows lowered over his nose. "But is every guy that passes your way going to be your mate now?"
His words are a slap. I swallow hard. "I have no control over my feelings, Apollo, and I certainly didn't go out there looking for any of you. Things just happened." I sniff. "You're suddenly going to be against it now? You looked into it, last I checked."
Apollo turns to me, shoulders tense, ready to fight, but when his eyes meet mine, he disarms. The muscles of his shoulders relax, and he looks away, pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers.
"That's not what I meant, I just..." He trails off, filling his lungs then sighing. "What about the dog?"
"Oh, the real puppy?" I ask, looking at Oreo, now propped against my leg. "He was in the Collector too. His name is Oreo."
Apollo blinks. Twice. “Oreo?”
“Because he’s a snack.” And I force a smile onto my lips. Apollo doesn’t seem to buy it. He stares for a solid minute, then pinches the brow of his nose.
"He’s not a regular dog," Apollo says, arching an eyebrow. "You know that?"
I stop. Look down at Oreo, big eyes, cocked head. Back at Apollo. "He looks like one."
"He smells like sulfur and char. That’s not normal to dogs."
Ren changes the weight of his body between his feet. “I thought that was you.”
Apollo’s right eyes twitches. “You think I smell like sulfur?”
Ren shrugs, his lips tugging into a smile. “Didn’t recognize the sulfur. But you smell like char.”
“Look, okay, he doesn’t smell like a regular dog. Then what is he? A shifter?”
Apollo bends and plucks Oreo up from the ground. “No, he doesn’t smell like a shifter. But how many dogs with red paws have you ever seen?”
I had noticed the fur of his fingers turning red, but they look much brighter now. “Well,” I reach out, scratching behind Oreo’s ears. “A curious dog. I don’t know, I never had dogs. Maybe he’s magic.” Oreo drops his jaw, tongue hanging. “He’s such a good boy! He’s a magical good boy!” His tail wags.
“The boss wouldn’t have a regular dog in a cage,” Tristan offers and I hate how right it sounds.
“Shit.” I stop scratching. “Are you a magical dog?” I snap my attention to Apollo. “What do they eat? Is that why he doesn’t eat what I give him? I thought he was sick.”
“I don’t know what he eats, mate,” Apollo says, “because I don’t know what he is. We’d need a specialist or something.”
“Like a magical vet?”
“I don’t mean to offend,” Ren says, dropping an arm around my shoulders as if we're talking about the weather, “but he doesn’t look starved. Thin, but not starved. He’s been eatingsomething.”
I cock my head. “He was skin and bones when we left the Collector, but he improved a lot.”