Apollo (Luna Lodge #5)
Apollo (Luna Lodge #5)
Author: Madison Stevens
Chapter One
Apollo whipped through the quiet halls. The massive hybrid with rugged brown hair might look like one of the youngest of the adult bunch, but he had grown. Being baby-faced and carefree wasn't going to protect them. No, he needed to be hard to deal with the shit that none of them wanted to think about, even though they were still being hunted and threatened.
His brow furrowed at the thought.
But where was he headed? Another fucking meeting. It seemed like all they did was have meetings these days, and Apollo was about done with that shit. It didn't help that they'd started letting just about everyone in on their business.
He didn't care that they'd cleared them. If they kept blindly trusting people, more of their people were going to get hurt. Or worse. No one wanted to end up back in a Horatius Group facility.
The enemy was watching them and had struck them several times. Every time they opened the door to someone new, bad shit seemed to follow.
He might have been naive when they first tasted freedom, but a year of betrayal taught him the harsh truth. Being captured was the least of their worries with groups around like Reverend John's people, religious zealots that thought the mere existence of his kind was an affront to God and death the only solution.
Before they had just worried about the Horatius Group, but now they knew their troubles ran much deeper than any of them expected, and the stakes were even higher. The Horatius Group was serious in their quest to recapture the hybrids, especially now that the Luna Lodge hybrids had women they had bonded with and children that had been born naturally.
Apollo grimaced at the thought of the bonded pairs living in the compound. They were just one more problem they had to deal with. Of course, none of the men seemed to think of it that way. Hell, he hadn't either before, but the truth was the women made them weak. They had never had issues keeping a level head or protecting themselves before. The women stepped in, and suddenly it was like no one could find their head from their ass.
Lucius burned him the most. He'd been a warrior, someone the men could look up to. When Hannah chose him, it was like nothing else mattered. Then he brought that bastard Rem into the very place the Horatius Group wanted him. Just because the guy smiled a lot didn't mean he wasn't a killer waiting for his chance.
Apollo shook his head. They had all lost their minds if they thought bringing Rem into the compound was a good fucking idea.
A familiar voice cut into Apollo's irritation-filled thoughts. "You going to the meeting?"
Lucius stepped from a side hall near the conference room.
Apollo frowned and kept up his brusque pace. "Do I have another choice?"
The other hybrid fell into step beside him. "Not this time," he said and put his hand on Apollo, trying to get him to stop just before they reached the door.
Not one to be manhandled, Apollo wrenched his arm away and glared at the other hybrid.
"Lay off."
"Look," Lucius sighed. "I know things have been rough for you."
Apollo narrowed his eyes. The older man might have a few years on him and had bonded with a great woman, but that didn't mean shit in their world.
"We can't all be so lucky to find multiple women to service us," Apollo threw back.
He knew he'd gone too far. Anything to do with Vanessa, the crazy bitch who tortured Lucius for sexual pleasure, was bound to bring out the worst, but Apollo couldn't seem to stop himself. In the end, Hannah, the sweet events coordinator, had chosen the damaged warrior over him. The sting from that still burned. Given how hard it was to find a true mate, he was probably shit out of luck.
For all his complaining about women, the worst part was knowing he'd probably be the strongest hybrid left eventually because he'd be the only one left alone.
Maybe that was fine. He didn't survive hell only to die for a woman. Fuck that.
Lucius's eyes flashed bright yellow as they stared one another down. The weathered hybrid closed his eyes and took a shuddered breath. When they opened again, the color was normal, and Apollo sighed inwardly. He might be able to take on some of the other men, but Lucius was a force to be reckoned with. Although his bond made him weaker in Apollo's estimation, there were other aspects that made him ten times as brutal. Besides, in the end, he didn't want to fight him. He wanted to fight the Horatius Group.
"I didn't come to fight with you," Lucius said quietly. "You've done well stepping in during the chaos when so many were poisoned. Without you, our people would have died."
Author: Madison Stevens
Chapter One
Apollo whipped through the quiet halls. The massive hybrid with rugged brown hair might look like one of the youngest of the adult bunch, but he had grown. Being baby-faced and carefree wasn't going to protect them. No, he needed to be hard to deal with the shit that none of them wanted to think about, even though they were still being hunted and threatened.
His brow furrowed at the thought.
But where was he headed? Another fucking meeting. It seemed like all they did was have meetings these days, and Apollo was about done with that shit. It didn't help that they'd started letting just about everyone in on their business.
He didn't care that they'd cleared them. If they kept blindly trusting people, more of their people were going to get hurt. Or worse. No one wanted to end up back in a Horatius Group facility.
The enemy was watching them and had struck them several times. Every time they opened the door to someone new, bad shit seemed to follow.
He might have been naive when they first tasted freedom, but a year of betrayal taught him the harsh truth. Being captured was the least of their worries with groups around like Reverend John's people, religious zealots that thought the mere existence of his kind was an affront to God and death the only solution.
Before they had just worried about the Horatius Group, but now they knew their troubles ran much deeper than any of them expected, and the stakes were even higher. The Horatius Group was serious in their quest to recapture the hybrids, especially now that the Luna Lodge hybrids had women they had bonded with and children that had been born naturally.
Apollo grimaced at the thought of the bonded pairs living in the compound. They were just one more problem they had to deal with. Of course, none of the men seemed to think of it that way. Hell, he hadn't either before, but the truth was the women made them weak. They had never had issues keeping a level head or protecting themselves before. The women stepped in, and suddenly it was like no one could find their head from their ass.
Lucius burned him the most. He'd been a warrior, someone the men could look up to. When Hannah chose him, it was like nothing else mattered. Then he brought that bastard Rem into the very place the Horatius Group wanted him. Just because the guy smiled a lot didn't mean he wasn't a killer waiting for his chance.
Apollo shook his head. They had all lost their minds if they thought bringing Rem into the compound was a good fucking idea.
A familiar voice cut into Apollo's irritation-filled thoughts. "You going to the meeting?"
Lucius stepped from a side hall near the conference room.
Apollo frowned and kept up his brusque pace. "Do I have another choice?"
The other hybrid fell into step beside him. "Not this time," he said and put his hand on Apollo, trying to get him to stop just before they reached the door.
Not one to be manhandled, Apollo wrenched his arm away and glared at the other hybrid.
"Lay off."
"Look," Lucius sighed. "I know things have been rough for you."
Apollo narrowed his eyes. The older man might have a few years on him and had bonded with a great woman, but that didn't mean shit in their world.
"We can't all be so lucky to find multiple women to service us," Apollo threw back.
He knew he'd gone too far. Anything to do with Vanessa, the crazy bitch who tortured Lucius for sexual pleasure, was bound to bring out the worst, but Apollo couldn't seem to stop himself. In the end, Hannah, the sweet events coordinator, had chosen the damaged warrior over him. The sting from that still burned. Given how hard it was to find a true mate, he was probably shit out of luck.
For all his complaining about women, the worst part was knowing he'd probably be the strongest hybrid left eventually because he'd be the only one left alone.
Maybe that was fine. He didn't survive hell only to die for a woman. Fuck that.
Lucius's eyes flashed bright yellow as they stared one another down. The weathered hybrid closed his eyes and took a shuddered breath. When they opened again, the color was normal, and Apollo sighed inwardly. He might be able to take on some of the other men, but Lucius was a force to be reckoned with. Although his bond made him weaker in Apollo's estimation, there were other aspects that made him ten times as brutal. Besides, in the end, he didn't want to fight him. He wanted to fight the Horatius Group.
"I didn't come to fight with you," Lucius said quietly. "You've done well stepping in during the chaos when so many were poisoned. Without you, our people would have died."