Love's Forge Read Online Free PDF Page A

I’ll do it myself.” He touched her shoulder. “Please don’t cry, Alala. I won’t let you be dishonored this way.”
    She shook her head. “That’s not what I want. I don’t want to be avenged. I want it to not be true.”
    Hera finally spoke. “Zeus, this cannot be true. Ares loves Alala. I know he does. I know my own son.”
    “He’s my son too, but maybe he gets his cheating ways from you!”
    Hera slapped him, and he staggered back a few steps. Her eyes flamed at him. “I have two sons! The one who has a father is yours, and you know it! You have hundreds of mortal and immortal children. You’ve fucked more women than I care to count. And you dare, after all these years, to ask me not to ever have another lover?”
    She was referring to a conversation they’d had weeks ago. She was right. He had asked her to stop sleeping with other men because, with so many other immortals finding love, he’d realized he didn’t need any other woman but her. He regretted his rash words, especially since he was angry with Ares and not Hera. Not only did he agree that Ares did love Alala, but also it seemed he might now have sabotaged his own happiness for a very long time.
    “I’m sorry, Hera. I am. I believe he loves Alala too, but I’m trying to be rational. I’m sorry for the cheating remark, all right? I merely meant I know how he and Aphrodite were at times. I overreacted. Why would Hephaestus falsely accuse him? How could he win Aphrodite that way?”
    “Married? That’s what she told you?” Hera asked.
    Alala nodded. “Yes. He asked her to marry him, but she refused. He chained her up and said he’d release her once she exchanged vows with him. She did. She still wears the ring, but she uses a glamour to keep it hidden. He left her alone for a long time, but not too long ago he came to her and told her he wanted a true marriage. At the time she told me, she was considering it. That’s as much as I know.”
    Hera looked up at Zeus. “Do you believe he did that? Would my son do that?”
    Her anger had faded, and she looked on the verge of tears. His instinct was to hold her, and he did, glad when she did not pull away. “Men in love do the wrong things at times. Seeing her with Ares for so many years might have driven him a little mad. I don’t know, Hera. I don’t know.”
    She pulled and wiped at her eyes. Hera could rarely be made to admit she ever cried for any reason, and she seemed to be putting forth a great deal of effort to stop doing so now. Zeus didn’t say anything though. Now was not the time to discuss how she expressed her feelings.
    “How could they do this to me? Both of them?” Hera asked.
    “Hephaestus has always kept to himself,” Zeus said. The fact hardly needed to be pointed out, but he didn’t know what else to say.
    “But how could she keep this from me? It’s a great challenge for her to keep any secret.”
    “Your closeness has always been something that…varied…from time to time. Perhaps it hasn’t been that long.”
    They both looked at Alala.
    She shrugged, and then shook her head. “I can’t be sure. She said ‘years,’ and that was all. If she said something more specific, I think I missed it because I was so surprised. It was before Eros was born though. She was with Ares when he was conceived because she was mad Hephaestus refused to release her. They stopped talking when she was pregnant because, to Hephaestus, his wife was carrying another man’s child.”
    “Before Eros was born? That was ages ago. When did she tell you?” Zeus asked.
    “After Persephone was kidnapped. I wanted her to know we weren’t angry with her because of the spell on Ares.” When she said his name, her expression grew sad again. “Please help me.”
    “She’ll pay for this, for toying with both of them,” Hera said quietly. She looked up and met Zeus’ gaze. “You think she was married to him the last time she fucked you? When was that?”
    “Hera, stop