Worth It - Lisa Oliver Page 0,47

of our more stubborn gods. We had no idea, no indication that your life would turn out so badly, or that Zeus would prove so unfit for his position as your protector and mate. For that, we apologize.”

“I… er… I...” Paulie didn’t know what to say. Keeping his head down seemed like the best idea.

“We did think to offer you the chance to be bound to another,” the voices continued. “However, that may be no longer possible. Zeus is emotionally immature and has behaved terribly in respect to you, but he is potent and the new life you carry deserves loving mated parents. Therefore, you have a choice young tiger, something we rarely offer, but in this instance, it must be given.”

“I don’t understand.” Paulie’s head was swimming. What new life?

“We can bind you to another – a mate who will love, cherish and protect you as you deserve. In doing so, we would be able to hide you from Zeus while you live on earth. To him, it would be as though you never existed. But to do that, we would need to remove the new life you carry as a child cannot be given the same protections against his own immortal father.”

What the… “I’m pregnant?” Paulie shouted. “And you want to take that child away from me?”

“You can remain bound to Zeus and still carry the child, if that’s your wish.” The calm nature of the voices didn’t change, but Paulie’s reaction to them did. In fact, they were like fingernails on a chalkboard, grating every nerve in Paulie’s head. His eyes started to blur, his brain on overload but the voices didn’t stop. “We cannot guarantee that Zeus will be the mate you so richly deserve. Free will must be observed in all things. We’re sorry.”

“Take your apologies…” Paulie let his tears run unchecked down his cheeks, hugging himself around his middle, protecting a life he didn’t know it was possible for him to carry. “Take your apologies and shove them where the sun doesn’t shine. You who could so callously discuss getting rid of a child because you made a mistake? Who are you people? Shifters don’t swap mates out because they’re inconvenient. They talk to them. They work things out. You decided I was the mate of Zeus. I will be the mate of Zeus.”

“The choice is made. Be well young tiger.” The light and the voices disappeared.

Paulie sobbed anew, his mind a mess, but hearing a noise across the room he was suddenly aware of his audience. Folsom, Ali, Hades still holding two bundles in his arms, were watching him, and there were two new strangers standing by Hades’ bed. Stumbling to his feet, Paulie lifted his hand in greeting, and turned to leave the room. “I’m sorry,” he said brokenly. “I don’t know who they were, but they had no right to interfere in your beautiful moment. If you’ll excuse me…”

“You’re not going to wallow alone.” Paulie heard the sounds of scrambling and then Ali was by his side. “You are going to dry your eyes and meet your niece and nephew. Oh, and this is Silvanus and Artemas. Silvanus is older than Hades and is considered the right hand of the Mother herself. Artemas is sort of a relation to you too. He’s Poseidon’s eldest son which makes him…” Ali scrunched up his face. “Is that an uncle, or a cousin to Paulie, Hades?”

“Worry about it later, sweet one.” Hades said with an indulgent smile. “Paulie, please, come and meet our twins – Alison and Hadrian. It sounds like congratulations are due for you too. Silvanus will happily look you over if you like. He has experience in these matters.”

I don’t even want to think about that right now. But Paulie let Ali lead him to the bed. Ali reached over, plucking one of the babies from Hades’ arms. “This is Alison,” he said softly, as he held the bundle out to Paulie. “Go on. She won’t bite.”

Holding youngsters was nothing new to Paulie, although his mom had rarely let him near his siblings when they were so young. But as he took the bundle, peering at the cute squished face, he saw he was being stared at too. Alison had the most beautiful crystal green eyes that held remarkable intelligence. “She’s an old soul,” he said, without thinking. “A very old soul.”

“If you can see that you’ve been blessed with an amazing gift young tiger,” Silvanus said in a deep voice.