Page 13 of Loved by Aphrodite (Gods and Beasts #4)

Chapter 13

Hephaestus

A fter walking through the portal, they once again found themselves inside the divine hall. The rest of the Council of Olympians were already there, gathered around the table as the last grain of sand in the timer slid into the bottom glass bulb.

“Well, Aphrodite,” Poseidon began. “Have you come to take responsibility or bring us the culprit responsible for the chaos on the Upperworld?”

Hephaestus cursed silently. If only they hadn’t wasted so much time squabbling, they could have come up with some sort of plan or tried to persuade one of the other gods on Poseidon’s side to join them. Hera or maybe even Athena might have been amenable, if they pleaded their case properly. But now, there would be no bargaining or reasoning.

“Yes,” Aphrodite answered, her voice loud and clear. “It’s me?—”

“No,” Hephaestus interrupted. “She had nothing to do with it. It was all me.”

“Don’t.” She grabbed his arm. “You know that’s not true. It was all love magic, so it was me.”

“Which one of you was it then?” Poseidon asked. “Or was it both?”

“No—”

“You can’t—” Hephaestus said at the same time.

“It was me.” Eros stepped forward. “It was all me.”

“No!” Aphrodite protested. “You can’t?—”

“Heph is right, Mama.” He nodded at Hephaestus, the corner of his mouth tugging up. “It’s high time I took responsibility for my actions.”

“Now that’s a first,” Apollo muttered under his breath, which earned him a glare from Eros.

“Is this true?” Poseidon’s eyes narrowed at the god of love and desire. “How did you manage this?”

“It was through a phone application.” Eros explained how Winged worked and how he and Matt Anchises came up with the concept and turned it into an app, leaving out the part where he accelerated the launch just to bring his mother and Hephaestus back together. “However, it went haywire. Something went wrong with the programming, and the magic became unruly.” He gestured toward Aphrodite and Hephaestus. “Mama and Hephaestus had no idea it was me, and have spent the last few days trying to fix everything.”

“And why did you do this?” Athena asked. “What was your purpose?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Funsies?”

“I beg your pardon?” The goddess of wisdom said. “Do you have any idea how much havoc you’ve caused? The entire world ground to a halt because of your application.”

“Really?” Eros sounded bored. “I always thought they said ‘love makes the world go ‘round.’”

“Insolent child!” Athena slapped her hands on top of the table. “You must pay for what you’ve done.”

“I agree,” Hera said. “The app may now be defunct, but you’ve already destroyed many lives. Couples and families have broken apart thanks to you. You need to be punished for your crimes.”

Eros muttered something under his breath that sounded like hypocrite , but Aphrodite sent him a glare that had him pressing his mouth shut.

Poseidon raised a hand. “As I said in the previous meeting, the culprit must be made an example of, or else other divine beings will see the council as weak, which we cannot afford right now.”

“Fine.” Eros rolled his eyes. “What punishment will you mete out? A thousand years having my eyes pecked out by ravens? Or maybe you’ll give Sisyphus a break and have me roll his boulder for a couple of centuries?”

“Oh no, nothing quite that easy.” A serious expression crossed Poseidon’s face. “If you recall from your immortality ceremony, Eros, one of the tenets we emphasize for all demi-gods who wish to partake of the golden apple is that divinity is a privilege, not a right. You swore an oath to use your powers responsibly. And now that you’ve proven that you cannot do so, we have no choice but to revoke your status as a god and return you to what you were.”

“What the fuck?” Eros exclaimed. “You can’t do that.”

“Oh yes, we can.” Poseidon looked to the others. “With one vote, we can do just that. So, shall we get on with it?”

“No!” Eros turned to his mother. “Please, Mama. Hephaestus. You can’t let them do that! You can’t let them take my divinity and turn me back.”

The hollow look on Eros’s face made Hephaestus’s chest ache. For a moment, he looked like that scared, vulnerable child once more.

“Please,” Aphrodite whispered. “They can’t…you know what will happen if they do that.”

It was rare that a god or goddess was stripped of their immortality, but it did happen, usually to former demi-gods. Had it been anyone else, they would simply revert to being a mortal human. But, in Eros’s case, he would revert to being part geryon, which meant he would lose the ability to hide his wings.

“He’d have to live in Vale Crossing,” Aphrodite whispered. “He won’t have any of his powers either.” Trapping Cyncus’s magic in the pyxis made sure of that. “And if any of the geryons found him, who knows what they’d do.”

While Hephaestus believed that finally being accountable could help Eros be the god he was meant to be, he did not want the boy to die. “Wait, before we take a vote on the matter, might I suggest an alternative punishment?”

“Alternative?” Poseidon sneered. “You bargain for him now? Why would we even consider such a thing? Why should he not be held to the same standard as every other god and goddess?” His gaze flickered at Aphrodite, very briefly, but the contempt in them was unmistakable. “Had he been brought up in the right way, perhaps we could have avoided all this.”

Hephaestus took a deep breath, resisting the urge to strangle the god of the sea. “Eros is a product of his upbringing. Yes, he grew up as a mortal geryon, but he’s been a god of Olympus for thousands of years. All this time, he looked to us, his elders, as an example of how to be and how to act. Did any of us even try to show him and the other demi-gods what it truly meant to be divine? Or were we all caught up in our own realms and petty squabbles these last thousands of years?” He looked at each and every one of the gods and goddesses who voted with Poseidon. “How have we kept up with these ‘standards’ we hold him against?”

An uncomfortable silence filled the room until Hades spoke. “What alternative do you suggest then, Hephaestus?”

The idea had already begun to form in his head the moment Poseidon decided to revoke Eros’s immortality, though he hadn’t fully formed the plan yet. Still, with everyone looking at him right now, he supposed he would have to do his best. “I agree, we should take his divinity and immortality but”—he looked at Aphrodite, sending her a silent message and hoping she would understand—”not forever. We should allow him a chance to earn it back.”

“And how would he do that?” Hera asked.

“He’ll…” He searched his brain for a moment and said the first thing that popped into his head. “He’ll have to live with the humans on the Upperworld, as one of them.”

“What?” Eros exclaimed. “You can’t be— mmph !” His mouth clamped shut, his entire body going stiff.

“This is for your own good,” Aphrodite soothed as she waved her hand, though Eros’s eyes could not hide his fury at being silenced.

“And what purpose would this serve?” Hades asked.

“So he can fully understand how his actions have affected the lives of the people he so casually toyed with. Some say we are gods and, thus, are above all in the universe. But when you think about it, can we really exist without the mortals? Would we even be here if it were not for their prayers, for their need to believe in something? Perhaps it is not just Eros who has forgotten this.” He paused. “By living as a human being, he will learn how to be human.”

“I think it’s a great idea,” Hestia piped in.

“Wise words,” Athena said. “But we all know Eros does as he pleases. How would you make sure he won’t just do what he wants and cause even more chaos? How would we enforce the punishment if he could just charm his way around the Upperworld into a cushy life?”

“I have an idea.” It was Geri who spoke up. “Eros can live in Alaska, with my former pack.” She cleared her throat. “A wolf pack, both shifter and animal, survives when everyone works together, equally. It is only as strong as its weakest link, which is why we all pull our weight. We must follow our Alpha, because he or she watches out for the good of the entire pack. I believe pack life will help Eros learn not just sympathy, but how his actions affect the lives of others.”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea,” Apollo quipped, sending Eros a smug look. “A good ass-whooping from Cade is exactly what you need. I vote for it.”

“Wait a minute.” Poseidon held a hand up. “We haven’t agreed to a vote. Besides, how long would we give Eros?”

“How about the span of a mortal life?” Hera suggested. “At his age, what’s that? Fifty years or so? It will be over in the blink of an eye.”

“But how will you know if he’s learned his lesson?” Aphrodite asked.

“When he’s shown us that he knows what it truly means to be human,” Hestia said cryptically. “We will know, right?” She glanced at the other gods and goddesses, who simply nodded or hummed in agreement.

Aphrodite turned to Hephaestus. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s the best chance he has,” he replied. “But ultimately, it’s his decision.”

She bit her lower lip. “You’re right. I’ve—we’ve done all we can. But he’s an adult, and it’s time he acted like one.” She waved her hand, and Eros’s body relaxed as she released it from her invisible grip. “What do you say, Eros?”

“I don’t exactly have a choice, now do I?” he said with a caustic tone. “I suppose I could find a way to ‘be human.’”

Hephaestus hoped so, too, but he believed in the boy. He’d gone through so much in his life, and this was just another trial that would make him strong. “I vote to punish Eros for his crimes by sending him to live with the Alaska pack as a mortal.”

The same gods and goddesses from the previous meeting voted with him, and to his surprise, they were joined by Hera, Hermes, and Athena, though he suspected Demeter didn’t raise her hand because she didn’t want to be on the same side as her son-in-law. Gods were petty like that, after all.

“It seems we have a decision. Thank you, everyone.” Hephaestus didn’t even bother looking at Poseidon’s reaction, as he frankly didn’t care, and after today he wouldn’t give another brain cell to that asshole. “The council’s decision is final; thus, you are no longer a god, Eros.”

“What? Just like that?” he groused.

“Yes, I’m afraid so, son.” He turned to Geri and Apollo. “When can he come to Alaska?”

“I’ll speak to Cade now,” the goddess of the hunt said, “and I’ll let you know. Artemis will help persuade him.”

Hephaestus agreed. “It’s settled then.”

“This is absolute bullshit.” Eros crossed his arms over his chest. “I will not stand for this.”

Worry marred Aphrodite’s beautiful face, but to her credit, she quickly replaced it with a serene expression. “Come, Eros. Let’s go and get you ready for your new home.”

He huffed. “And where are we going, exactly?”

“How about we have one last day in Thessaly?” She gave Hephaestus a weak smile and held out her hand. “What do you say?”

Warmth spread across his chest, and he took her hand. “I say yes.”

They spent the next few hours back at the house in Thessaly, as if it were an ordinary day from back when they lived there during Eros’s childhood. To his credit, Eros did not pout or protest or moan about his punishment, but rather, he seemed content to just lie on the beach and watch the ocean, play card games, and other activities they used to do when they lived there.

“We’ll take care of the dishes, love,” he said to Aphrodite as they finished the meal they all prepared together. “Why don’t you go outside and relax?”

“Are you sure?” She eyed him and Eros carefully.

“Yes.” He kissed her forehead. “Go.”

She nodded, giving his cheek a caress before she headed out of the dining room. He watched her graceful gait, his eyes lingering on her as she disappeared.

“I want you to know one thing.”

Sighing, he turned to Eros. “And what’s that?”

Folding his arms over his chest, Eros leaned his hip on the dining table casually. “Even knowing my punishment, I would do it all over again.”

Stubborn ass. For the first time that day, Hephaestus feared Eros would not learn anything during his time on earth, and he would die a mortal. “And why is that?”

He nodded toward the doorway after his mother. “Because I’ve never seen her so happy. And I could say the same for you.”

A burst of emotion startled him, coming from out of nowhere and so quick that he didn’t know what to say. His throat tightened; the words he wanted to say stuck there. “Son, I’ve always…you’re like…I lo?—”

“You don’t have to say anything, Heph. I know . I’ve always known. It’s my realm, after all.” The smallest smile appeared on his lips. “But don’t forget to tell her too, okay?”

“I—”

“Sorry for interrupting!” A shimmer of light filled the room, and Apollo and Geri appeared.

“You blinded me on purpose, asshole,” Eros complained, rubbing his eyes. “I can’t see!”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Apollo however, did not sound sorry at all. “I forgot, my powers can burn the retinas of mortal eyeballs. Your sight should come back in a couple hours. But I can heal it right now if you apologize for being such a dick.”

“I’d rather eat Hydra dung.”

Apollo smirked. “I can arrange that too.”

Geri clucked her tongue. “Just heal him, will you?”

“But—”

“Apollo…”

“Fine.” He waved his hand. “There, are you happy?”

“Immensely. I can’t exactly deliver him to Cade with burned eyeballs.”

“So, your brother agreed?” Hephaestus asked.

“Yes, believe it or not, he did,” Geri said. “But with some caveats, of course.”

“Of course. When can he go to Alaska?”

“Now, if you want him to,” the former she-wolf said.

“Great. Let me get Aphrodite, and we can all go.”

“That’s it?” Eros threw his hands up in the air. “I’m just supposed to go live in the middle of Buttfuck, Nowhere with a bunch of wolf shifters? What do they do there for fun? Chop wood?”

“Oh, I’m so gonna enjoy watching you live with the Alaska pack,” Apollo cackled.

In a shimmer of light, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, and Eros appeared in Cade Andersen’s office inside the Alaska Pack’s territory.

“You’re here!” Artemis exclaimed as they arrived. She hurried over to Hephaestus and Aphrodite and gave them both hugs. “Geri told me everything. I’m glad you’ve both come to your senses.” She winked at him. “See? Wasn’t the glow up worth it?”

“I could hardly resist him,” Aphrodite said, a twinkle in her eye.

She flashed him a smug smile. “And as always, I was right.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Hephaestus grumbled. “Anyway, Cade, this is my step—my son”—Aphrodite squeezed his hand and smiled warmly at him—“Eros. Eros, this is your new Alpha, Cade Andersen of the Alaska Pack.”

“Welcome, Eros,” Cade greeted.

“Yeah, whatever.”

Cade’s eyes narrowed. “I am your Alpha now, and you will address me with respect.”

The strangest energy filled the air, and it even sent the hair on Hephaestus’s arms rising.

Eros’s body went rigid as a board, and his eyes widened. “Y-yes, Alpha,” he stammered, like he was fighting with his own mouth.

“I’ll be damned.” Cade scratched at the back of his head. “Apollo was right.”

“What do you mean?” Aphrodite asked.

“When Geri and Apollo asked if Eros could live with us, they said he had to obey whatever I said, as if I really was his Alpha.”

“Alphas have some control over the wolves in the pack,” Artemis explained. “Of course, not all of them exercise that power. A good Alpha, after all, doesn’t have to because he or she should command their pack’s respect enough for them to obey.”

“Wait, so I have to do everything he says?” Eros seethed. “This isn’t fair.”

“It could be worse, son,” Hephaestus reminded him. “The council could have left you to the mercy of the geryons.”

“And at least they let you keep the power to retract your wings,” Aphrodite added.

Eros’s nostrils flared. “Fine. At least I still got what I wanted.” He grinned at them. “If it wasn’t for me, you two would still be miserable and apart.”

“I’ll give you that one,” Hephaestus said with a resigned sigh.

“Why don’t I take you to your quarters and show you around?” Artemis tugged at his arm.

Eros shrugged. “I suppose I should take a tour of my new prison.”

“We’ll come visit,” Aphrodite promised him. “And you’re still allowed your Olympus phone, but you can only use it to text or call us.” Hephaestus had made the modifications himself so that Eros could not access coding software and do more damage.

“Whatever.”

“I’ll introduce you to everyone. I think you’ll really like it here, Eros. It’ll be nice to have another god around….” She led him out of the office, chatting away as Eros looked back, mouthing ‘save me’ to Hephaestus before disappearing.

“Thank you again, Cade, for doing this,” Hephaestus said.

“You’re welcome. It’s the least I can do after you helped with Arcane,” the Alpha said.

“I suppose your mate’s persuasive arguments didn’t have anything to do with you agreeing as well?”

Cade sighed. “At least she didn’t bring out the whiteboard and markers.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with this, Alpha?” Aphrodite asked. “I know it’s a lot, and Eros…he can be unpredictable.”

“As long as he obeys me, he’ll be fine, my lady. I don’t know if I can set him straight, though.”

“I don’t expect you to.” After all, Eros had to do that all by himself. He had to want to change. “But if it becomes too much, let us know.”

“Will do.”

“We should get going.” The two men shook hands and with a wave of his hand, Hephaestus transported himself and Aphrodite back to Thessaly, where the sun was already low on the horizon, painting the sky with various shades of pink, purple, and blue.

“Beautiful,” Aphrodite sighed.

“I know. The sunset’s nice too.” He caressed her cheek, which had gone all flushed. “Are you blushing at my compliment?”

“Of course I am,” she said. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because you’re Aphrodite, Goddess of Love. The most beautiful woman of all creation. And wasn’t there something with an apple that caused a war?” he teased.

“Oh, ha ha, you know that’s a bunch of lies. I won that apple fair and square, and Hera and Athena can, as the humans say, ‘suck it.’”

“I don’t need an apple to tell me that you’re the most beautiful woman on earth.” He kissed her full on the mouth. “How did I get so lucky with you?” he murmured against her lips. “I don’t deserve?—”

“Stop. You deserve me.” Her voice shook. “Don’t ever think you don’t. Yes, you did a lot for me and Eros, but that only proves what a good, caring man you are, worthy of love.”

He blinked. “Love?”

“Yes,” she giggled, tweaking his nose playfully. “I love you, in case you didn’t know it.”

His chest swelled with emotion, and he remembered Eros’s words. “Damn, I should have said it first.”

She placed a hand on her hip. “You can still say it, you know. It doesn’t matter who said it first.”

She was right. So, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest. “I love you, Aphrodite.”

She sighed against his mouth as he kissed her, as if this was the moment she’d been waiting for all her life. And if he were honest, it was for him too.

“So, what are we going to do now?” she asked when their lips broke apart.

“With what?”

“Eros. Us. Everything. I mean, where are we going to live? Should I move in with you?” She sucked in a breath. “Was that presumptuous of me? I didn’t mean…You don’t have to move in if…I’m so sil?—”

“Shush.” He silenced her with a kiss. “You want to be with me, right?”

“Of course.”

“And I want to be with you. Forever.” He kissed the tiny line that appeared between her eyebrows. “Then that’s all that matters. We’ll figure everything out. We can live anywhere. We have eternity to decide.”

“But what about?—”

“No. More. Talking.” He punctuated each word with a kiss. “We have to make up for all the millennia we lost while we were apart.” By this time, the sun was barely visible on the horizon, with only the faintest bit of red and yellow staining the sky. He gestured toward the house. “Now, let’s go inside.”

And sure enough, there were no more words between them for the rest of the evening.