Chapter 45
CHAPTER 45
A few hours later saw Tatum, Wynter, and Saxon walking into the library, laughing and joking as they entered while carrying all their research. They came to a halt when they saw Dane and Peyton already working in there.
“Sorry, shall we leave?” Tatum asked as they looked up.
“Nope, it’s all good,” Dane replied, smiling at them.
“How was the first obstacle? Did you best the four minutes twenty time?” Peyton asked, perching his elbow on the table and resting his chin on top of his hand.
“Wynter smashed it in three minutes thirty-one,” Saxon boasted proudly.
“Wow. I’ll be lucky if I make it under five minutes,” Dane said. He caught Saxon and Tatum in his gaze. “How about you two?”
“Seven minutes three for me,” Tatum said.
“Five minutes fourteen,” Saxon added. “I’ve created a leader board by the obstacle, it’ll show the top ten times.”
Dane sighed. “I bet that was so everyone could see your mate’s time.”
Saxon blushed while everyone laughed.
“Busted,” Tatum said, grinning.
Saxon shrugged. “He was fast, everyone should know it.”
Wynter kissed his cheek. “Thank you, my djinn.”
“That looks like a lot of work,” Peyton said, looking at the books and papers that were being carried.
“We’re researching, looking for something, and after following the clues, we still can’t find it. We’re going over everything I’ve collected a second time to see if I’ve missed anything,” Saxon explained.
“I’m a research ninja. If you need any help let me know,” Peyton offered.
“Thanks, we might take you up on that offer,” Saxon said.
They walked to a table and put everything down, then started looking over all the notes Saxon had collected. They had to find that spear before Barnabus did.
Barnabus was sitting in his office, drumming his fingers on the desk. If he couldn’t mess with anyone on the Fortuna pack grounds, he would have to lure them out from behind their wards. And what better way to do that than to attack more packs? He smiled to himself. Yes, that would work just as well. He had heard rumours that the kings were creating defence teams to send out and protect other packs. Well, he and his men would be waiting. He could pick the teams off one by one and slowly kill all of the king’s teams until only the kings were left.
In the meantime, he still needed to find that damn spear. Maybe the shaman could help with that. If not, he thought ruthlessly, there was now no reason to keep him around.
He got up and went in search of the shaman, then he would come back and decide on his next target.
Zeus couldn’t remember ever having so much fun as he was showing Battle Olympus and introducing him around.
They were just walking to Zeus’ office when a lady approached, smiling at both of them. She was a slender woman, wearing a stunning red trouser suit, her long hair up in an elaborate design.
“Congratulations, Zeus, I heard your happy news,” she said, still grinning as she pulled him into a hug.
Zeus laughed and hugged her back. “Thanks, let me introduce you. Battle Barbuda, meet Hera.”
Battle held out his hand and Hera shook it. “It’s lovely to meet you as well.” He suddenly stopped. “Wait, aren’t you Zeus’ wife?”
They both laughed. “No, we were never really married,” Hera explained. “We were together for a while, but decided we liked each other better when we were apart.”
“Which is lucky for us, don’t you think?” Zeus asked, leaning into Battle’s side.
“It is, and thank goodness. I would have hated coming between the two of you.”
Hera touched his arm. “Now you can lay your fears to rest. We need to arrange a celebration for you both.”
“We need to hold one for Hades first,” Zeus said. “He found his mate in Frederick Barbuda, Battle’s cousin. Plus, Demi has found his mate, who’s a dragon shifter. They have a baby on the way in three months.”
“How exciting,” Hera said happily. “I shall arrange a baby shower for them. Up here or down on earth?”
“I’d say at the pack house, I’m sure Alpha Blake won’t mind,” Battle replied.
“He won’t. I’ll ask him and let you know, sister.”
“Perfect, have fun boys.” And with that, Hera vanished.
“Sister? I thought you were in a relationship with her,” Battle said, confused.
Zeus took his hand and they walked into his office. “Hera feels like a sister more than anything else now. But back then, we honestly didn’t care who we had sex with, married, or hooked up with – when you’re immortal those kinds of familial ties don’t always exist in the same way. Mind you, we were a lot younger then and didn’t care what we did. We do now, though.”
“You know it’s just me from now on, right?” Battle asked him, unsure of how to handle that bit of knowledge.
Zeus pulled Battle into his arms. “And I can’t even begin to tell you how happy that makes me.” He leant forward and kissed Battle.
They finally pulled back. Battle smiled at him and something caught his eye. “You seem to have a lot of floating messages.”
Zeus turned and looked. “Congratulations messages and work messages.”
“How can you tell which is which?” To Battle they both looked the same.
“Personal messages are always on the left and work ones are floating on the right. We can go through the personal ones later. Come, look at this,” he said, pulling Battle over to his large mirror.
“You have a mirror in your office? Vain much?”
Zeus boomed out a laugh. “No, look.” He waved his hand and the reflection transformed into a view of the Fortuna pack grounds.
“You spy on the pack?”
“No. I use this as a looking glass. I can look down on earth and watch what’s happening without having to leave Olympus. I do, however, find myself checking on the pack more than anywhere else though, because my family’s there.”
“I can understand that.” He paused. “You know I have to go back soon, right? Is there a way I can come back here without using you as my personal transporter?”
Zeus nodded. “I can give you my mark and then you can come and go as you please.”
“So, mark me already,” Battle flirted, grinning. “We could even do this marking thing naked, in bed, making love.”
“I love the way your mind works,” Zeus teased in a low whisper, before whisking them both back to their bedroom.