Worth It - Lisa Oliver Page 0,14

life misery instead of the part time way they did now. Being “father” of the Greek gods, Zeus was related to all of them, even if he didn’t actually have a stake in their birth.

Would claiming a god from another pantheon work? The pause was a bit longer this time, but then Zeus squashed the idea. The problem with being around since the beginning of time, or close enough, Zeus already knew the other gods. There’d probably be a dozen that would be keen to join powers with him, but then he could never trust any of them not to knock him off his throne. Zeus considered Ra, Helios, and Odin friends of sorts, but he’d never mate with any of them.

Besides, the problem with taking another mate to force the Fates to change their weave, was that for shifters, a mating was forever. What would happen to Paulie? Ra’s offhand comment about the tiger’s early demise still sent twinges through Zeus’s heart. He didn’t want anything bad to happen to Paulie – it wasn’t Paulie’s fault he’d been born as the mate to a god. And it wasn’t that Zeus was completely against the idea of taking the young shifter as a mate – part time, for a short while. He just didn’t want a mate whose bite would render him impotent to any other advances for the rest of time. A god’s got to keep his options open especially when they’re immortal.

Which meant Zeus was stuck, something he’d realized the moment he’d seen Paulie bathed in a shaft of light on his computer screen so many months before. He was an intelligent man. He listened to the gossip about his brothers and others and knew what that light meant. Paulie was his mate and he’d been in trouble. Zeus sent Wes and Cass along with the basic staples of a new life, to take care of the young tiger while he pondered what to do. Nine months later Zeus was no closer to finding a solution, and now it seemed Paulie needed more help than he could offer in a well-filled briefcase.

I can’t have him here. Somewhere in his pacing, Zeus found himself in his throne room, and he flopped down on his huge chair, still thinking hard. I do miss the good old days, he thought idly, stroking the lush material on his throne. Back in his heyday, Zeus was lord of all he could see and all the beings who lived on Olympus. His sigh was loud. Fucks and food whenever I wanted, open adulation every time I walked by, people worshipped me begging for my favor, and now…

Zeus scrunched up his face. Now all he got was hassles and petty grievances. It was why he spent so much time with his computers. Beings who lived for eternity got bored easily, and bored beings made for a Zeus-sized headache most days. A shifter would hate it here, although as he thought it, Zeus wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince. The place could be anything he wanted it to be. The same couldn’t be said for the other Olympian residents.

No. Zeus was determined that Paulie would never be subject to the backstabbing and gossip that fueled godly beings. And as the thought of having to live on earth made Zeus think he was breaking out in hives, their mating was doomed before it began. Zeus had accepted that… and besides there was the whole bite side effect thing he did not want to live with for the rest of eternity.

So mating Paulie was out. Mating someone else to appease the Fates was out. In the meantime, Paulie was still feeling unsafe, and apparently had a streak of pride a mile wide if what the demon Cass said was true, which meant buying the shifter’s safety wasn’t an option. I didn’t know… But then, Zeus reasoned with himself, how could he know his mate’s horrible past?

I have to do something to keep him safe. Zeus tapped the arms of his throne. A form of protection…a shield…a talisman maybe. Zeus snapped his fingers together as an idea formed. Seeing the image he wanted in his mind’s eye, a long ruby appeared in his hand. Hmmm. Zeus added a leather tie so it could be worn around Paulie’s neck.

Now, how to warn others with it… Zeus looked around quickly making sure he was alone. Then, plucking a pin from thin air, he quickly stabbed at his ring finger,