“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.”