pack. One hand was curled around them protectively, the other holding a huge hammer. “Watch your tone, Zeus,” Thor rumbled.
“Why should I?” Zeus gestured around the half-filled room. “Have you brought me here to mock me? Is that your intention? Because you’re too late. Hera and Demeter, and damn near every other god I’ve spoken to, have already had their digs at me. They all think I’m going insane. And why? Because I have the guts to admit I made a mistake – a huge mistake. But if I have to tear every world in existence apart in my search for my mate, then I will. So, unless you know where my Paulie is, let me go.”
Paulie felt compelled to step forward, but Ali held him back, shaking his head.
“Why would you want a mate you used and discarded, mighty Zeus?” Orin’s voice was deceptively sweet. “Tell me why you would keep looking for him, when you’ve already broken his heart?”
Paulie nibbled on his bottom lip, his arm wrapped around his middle. His tiger, scenting his mate, was eager to get out, but Paulie couldn’t let him. This was a time for talking and he had to admit, he wanted to hear Zeus’s answer.
“I did a terrible wrong.” Zeus dropped his arms, his head bowed. “I’ve gotten used to sailing through life without really feeling anything for anyone. When I met my sweet Paulie, I was awash with emotions I didn’t understand. I thought I could keep things casual between us. I was so certain that my right to bed who I please, when I please, was far more important than the mating needs of one shifter.”
Paulie put his hand over his mouth quickly to stop his pained gasp from escaping. Hearing Zeus be so honest… the words verified what Paulie already suspected about their mating, or lack of it. But Orin hadn’t finished.
“What changed, Zeus?” Orin asked. “Something had to have changed in your line of thinking. One doesn’t decide to tear apart the godly realms for a casual fling.”
“I missed him.” Zeus raised his head looking at the stone ceiling. “I didn’t realize how important he was to my every day. I had watched him for nine months before I had the pleasure of meeting him. Every day, and I know nine months is just a blink in time for the likes of us, but it was like I couldn’t remember my life before I started watching him. I didn’t understand how important that sighting was. I didn’t comprehend how much I needed to see Paulie’s sweet face every day, just so I could smile.
“And then I had him, and I left him, because I was a coward and I couldn’t face the depth of my feelings for him. So instead of trying to find the words to tell him how our joining made me feel, I treated him like a casual fuck, and disappeared before I could witness the disappointment on his face. And now he’s gone, and I don’t know how I can go on without him.”
“You should have claimed him,” Orin said quietly. “If you’d claimed him when you had the chance, you’d always know where he was.”
“I wanted to!” Zeus’s roar rang around the cavern. “I know what I should’ve done, you don’t need to torment me with the mistakes I’ve made. I’m living with the fallout from my colossal mistake every second of every minute, of every hour of every day. Somehow my sweet Paulie is gone from me, and I can’t get him back and it’s torturing me.
“I don’t know what else to do. I must find him. I have to tell him, even if he wishes to never see my face again, I have to tell him how sorry I am, and how I wish, with every fiber of my being, that I’d taken the time to lay with him after, to hold him close and let him know just how much he means to me. How I would gladly cut off my own dick and hand it to him on a silver platter, if that’s what it took for him to believe in me. I want him, and only him, and I won’t rest until I find him, just so he can know how very sorry I am.”
“Do you really care for him?” Orin nodded to Paulie who took a hesitant step forward.
“I miss him so damn much.” Zeus’s voice broke. “I’ve loved him all this time and I never