Chapter 10

Ana.

As I sat watching the children surround baby Liam all of them trying to see him and still be gentle, I had to hide my smile behind my hand. Beal was literally sitting with his arms out not letting them get too close. He looked terrified that they would accidentally hurt the baby and it was both sweet and a little comical.

Huldah was a lot more relaxed than Beal as she held Liam in her arms slapping Beal's hands away. "Beal, honey, stop with the arms. The children are fine. They know to be careful. They just want to see their cousin and they can't with your arms in the way."

Beal huffed before moving his arms and the second he did Abigail climbed on his knee so that she could get a better look at Liam, and my heart melted when she leaned over gently stroking his head.

"He is so cute. Will he grow like Ella does or like us?" I wasn't sure how to answer her but luckily Zeus did it for me.

"He won't be like you or Ella, sweet child. He will grow faster but he won't grow as fast as you because I was the one that made you grow as fast as you did." I watched as Abigail who was now sat with her little legs crossed on Beal's knee looked up at Zeus fascinated and I couldn't imagine still living the life I lived before my incredible family.

"Well, can you not make Ella and Baby Liam bigger for us because they can't play with us and it's not fair" Abigail was batting her eyes at Zeus with a gorgeous smile on her cherubic face. Zeus smiled at her and stroked her little cheek.

"No, sweetheart. I can't. I'm sorry. The only reason I did it for you and your brother is that it needed to be done but Ella and Liam need to grow naturally. You have your other cousins to play with until Ella and Liam are big enough." Zeus finished talking, smiling a little as Abigail sat back, in a mood, crossing her arms as her bottom lip wobbled like she was about to start crying and suddenly his smile dropped.

I tried not to laugh as Zeus looked at me horrified that he had upset Abigail so I stood and walked over to him tapping him on his arm. "Don't worry she'll be fine. She needs to know she can't always get everything she wants," I spoke quietly so that only Zeus could hear me but I could tell that my words did little to ease his devastation at hurting my daughter's feelings and I had to admit it was extraordinary to see someone so small hurting someone as powerful as Zeus.

I watched as he walked over to his chair where Pythia was sitting, his shoulders slumped as he picked Pythia up and sat down placing her on his lap, and smiled understanding how he was feeling because seeing my children disappointed or upset never failed to break my heart.

Artemis had been stood watching all of this with a big smile on her face. "Father, no need to look so upset. I have something that will cheer her up." Artemis had her hands behind her back and when she pulled them around, she had four soft-serve ice creams covered in chocolate sprinkles and I knew instantly the sadness and disappointment Abigail was feeling would soon be forgotten.

All of the children ran over to Artemis excited with their little hands reaching up for the ice cream and I looked over to Zeus who was now smiling again as he watched Artemis with obvious relief on his face.

"You know, father, if you spent more time down here, among the humans you protect you might learn the many ways you can cheer children up when they are disappointed. They are quite easy to please and easily distracted." We were all listening to Artemis as we turned to watch the children now all sitting at the table outside eating their ice creams and talking to each other excitedly.

"Well, dear daughter of mine, I am very grateful for your help. I didn't like to see her looking so sad. Maybe I should spend more time here and you can teach me a thing or two on the ways of the humans." Artemis simply winked at him before she walked out of the room.

"Okay, guys. Do you mind if I go and lie down? now that Liam is asleep? I'm exhausted and need to sleep." Huldah looked like she was seconds away from passing out and Beal was fussing over her.

"No, honey. You go and get some rest. Do you want to leave Liam with us or bring him with you?" Beal helped Huldah stand with the baby and I could tell he was fighting the urge to pick her up and shimmer her away.

"No. I'm going to bring him with me just in case he wakes up needing to be fed, but thank you." I gave Huldah a warm smile before they both left to go to the guest house but not before Hope hugged Huldah and kissed Liam's head.

It was so nice to see Hope so relaxed and seeing that she still had such a tight bond with Huldah was amazing. They were so close and loved each other so much so it would have been devastating if Zeus hadn't made sure their bond wasn't broken.

Everything Zeus seemed to do lately, earned everyone's respect. He had quickly become a beloved member of the family.

I stood up and walked outside to check on the children when I felt someone pulling on my leg and when I looked down I saw my son staring up at me with ice cream and sprinkles all around his mouth. "Mommy, can we go swimming again?"

"Yes, of course, you can sweetheart. I'll come in with you once you have been cleaned up." He licked his lips then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand cleaning himself, obviously not wanting to wait any longer to go swimming.

I took Theo's hand and started to walk over to the pool just as all the other children came running over shouting about wanting to join us.

Once we reached the pool I sat down on a chair, kicked off my shoes, pulled my top off, and unbuttoned my shorts, while the children all walked into the shallow end of the pool sitting on the wide steps, and waited for me to get in with them.

I stood up pulling my shorts down my legs and squealed when I felt hands wrap around my waist and lift me off her feet. I was still squealing when the person who had grabbed me jumped into the water with me.

I gasped at the feel of the cold water hitting my body and as I jumped up coughing and spluttering pushing my hair from my face and wiping the water from my eyes.

I looked around to see who it was that had jumped in the water with me. Christian stood near the children laughing along with them. "Haha. Very funny." I was laughing and still wiping the water out of my eyes when Christian walked over to me.

"Did you think I was going to let anyone else see you bent over in this sexy bikini? You know I don't like anyone seeing you like this. So, naturally the second you bent over I needed to do something to hide this incredible body from the eyes of the other men." I rolled my eyes at his irrational jealousy and splashed him.

"You are aware that everyone here is family, right?" Christian chuckled softly grabbing me around the waist and wrapping my legs around his waist.

"They may be family but that doesn't mean those that don't include your brother and father won't be looking at you and seeing how hot you are."

"Christian, you do realize how ridiculous that sounds? Apollo is smitten with Mia, Zeus only has eyes for Pythia, Beal is asleep with Huldah and their new baby, and Izzy and Elliot went upstairs when Artemis gave all the children ice creams. So, no one is paying attention to me in a bikini trust me."

"Ana, baby. Look around you. They are not the only men here." Confused by what Christian was saying I turned around to see Christian's brothers and a few other men posted around the grounds and as I looked around, they quickly looked away pretending that they hadn't just been watching us.

"Why are they all here? and when did they get here? Also, who are those other guys?" There were at least three men I had never seen before.

"I told you before, baby I have many brothers. You have only met a few, I will introduce you properly later when you are wearing more clothes but the one over to the far right with the blonde hair is Duma. The one in front of us with the black hair is Michael and the one walking over to Abaddon is Amenadiel, and don't worry, beautiful, they are trustworthy. Now, let's go and join the children. They are still waiting for us and they are looking impatient and grumpy."

I turned around to see that he was right and laughed when I did. They all looked so comical with their arms folded and pouty expressions.

We both spent a few hours playing with the children in the pool. Christian had glamoured massive inflatables that the children all used simply to climb on and jump off into Christian's arms continuously which I loved watching. I also noticed I wasn't the only one watching Christian with the children I was, however, the only one that wasn't watching him with a shocked expression on my face.

As the day went on, I found myself sitting on the side of the pool with a cocktail, watching the children and Christian playing. I was smiling, and feeling relaxed but when she looked around, she saw that all of Christian's brothers were now looking like they were all worried. They didn't look at all like the relaxed, maybe a little shocked, guards they had been just a few hours ago.

"Christian" I didn't need to say anything else as I got into the water and went over to the children still looking around. Christian looked at me with worry clear on his face at hearing my panicked voice.

"Baby, what's wrong?" He reached out for me but I was too distracted by what was happening around me. Christian hadn't even looked to see what was bothering me when he hissed and then growled.

"Get the children in the house now!" I grabbed them all not needing to be asked twice as I shimmered us all into the house.

When we all made it back into the house safely, as if sensing my panic everyone appeared in the front room. "Ana, what's wrong?" Izzy was reaching for her children, obviously needing them close to her.

"I don't know. I just know that something's not right and Christian isn't letting me into his mind so that I can see what's happening. Zeus, can you please go and find out what's happening? My husband seems to forget what I am now and that I can handle whatever is fucking going on." Zeus squeezed my shoulder reassuringly as he shimmered out of the house.

Beal shimmered in a few seconds later with Huldah and the baby, walking her over to the sofa and sitting her down with the baby. Once they were settled Beal leaned over to kiss them both before he shimmered out.

"Sweetie, are you okay?" Huldah looked up at me, fear written all over her face.

"I'm not sure. Does anyone here know what's happened?" I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head, then sat next to Huldah, taking her hands and waiting for someone to tell us something…anything.

It felt like we had been sitting for hours and I was beginning to get pissed off. I just wanted to know what was happening and no one was telling us anything.

As I was just about to stand up and go outside when Christian came in looking around the room and checking on everyone. "Christian, what's going on?" I stood walking over to him when I saw the concern on his face.

"Someone has been here. Zeus can feel the essence of one of his offspring but it's faint so he can't tell who it is. What he does know is it's not Artemis or Apollo. Also, we have the same wards here that we have at our apartment that will alert us to anyone being here that wishes to cause us harm, these ones though were strengthened by Zeus, unlike the ones at the apartment. So, no magic can override them and they went off. We don't think that whoever was here knew or even thought that Zeus would be here helping us. We have searched the grounds and the wards aren't going off now. So, whoever was here has gone, but I think it's safe to say the vacation is over"

I was shaking with rage listening to him knowing that someone had found us. "We can't go back to the apartment and the wards are strong here so we are not leaving." Christian pulled me into his arms nodding in agreement.

"I am not saying we are leaving, sweetheart. I am saying we now have to make our plans to deal with the threat against our family." I pulled back from him, grabbed his hand, and walked him outside closing the door behind us. "What's wrong, Ana?"

"Christian you cannot keep shutting me out. Do you realize the hell I have been through sitting waiting to find out what has been happening? You forget who I am and what I can do. I am not a scared, powerless, human anymore. I am a fucking goddess and I am fucking powerful. These people are after our family and I am not sitting this out. If you think you are going to go into this fight without me, think again. This isn't just your fight and you need to quit acting so fucking macho and shutting me out. Actually, all you fucking men need to remember that every woman in that house is powerful. So, stop treating us like we are made of glass."

All of the men were now standing behind Christian and I hadn't realized that Izzy had opened the door so all the women were now standing behind me listening.

"Well said, sweetheart. I for one am pissed off that we got shut in the house like the little women, while you all run off keeping us in the dark. You need to remember that aside from Zeus, I am pretty sure Ana is the most powerful person here. I would go as far as to say she may be more powerful if not equally as powerful as you Christian." My mom swiftly turned and stormed off when she had finished talking her anger evident in her voice.

I was sitting on the sofa as Artemis took the children out of the room. It was so obvious that the other women were not happy with the men as well, and I had to admit I was happy that I wasn't the only one that was pissed. I understood that they wanted to protect us but none of us were helpless and we should have at least been kept informed of what was happening.

"Dione, Ana, I know that you are annoyed but we needed people here with the children, and like you said you are all powerful. So, we knew that the children would all be safe and Huldah has just had a baby so we needed you here with her." Beal had stepped forward now trying to defuse the situation.

"Beal, we understand that and you are right. Us being here was good thinking but that doesn't mean that you leave us here and keep us out of what is happening. You could have kept us informed of what was going on, but you didn't because you as the men figured you would handle it, while we stayed and looked after the children. I'm sorry but it's not okay. I asked Zeus to tell Christian to let me know what was happening and yet I was still kept in the dark. We all were!"

Zeus stepped forward holding his hands up. "I told him what you said and he said that he would tell you, so you can't blame me. I know how powerful you are and Dione, my love, she is as powerful as both Christian and I. So, yes Ana can handle herself, and it does make her the perfect person to stay and protect the children or be with Christian and fight. Either way, I agree with Ana. None of these women should be kept in the dark. You would do well to listen to your wife in the future, Christian."

Zeus walked over to Pythia picking her up and sitting in his chair with her which I was noticing was becoming his favorite thing to do.

"Okay, fine. I'm sorry. Next time we will keep you informed and I am sorry that I didn't take into account how powerful you all are. Especially, you Ana. I am just so used to being the most powerful person around and I know that sounds arrogant but it's true. This is new to me. Working with Gods and Goddesses and others more powerful than myself is very strange for me. Especially, when one of those people is my wife. I see you and I see my sweet, kind, caring, wonderful, beautiful wife and mother of my children, and I admit when things like today happen my instinct is to protect you. I have always known that you are a Goddess, ever since I met you but I do sometimes forget just how powerful you are and I am so sorry for that. I will try to remember in the future." I walked over to Christian stretching up to kiss him and thank him.

"Okay, well, now that we have cleared that up, we need to get the children to bed. Then I don't know about anyone else but I could do with a drink while we sit down and come up with a plan because I want to get back to our lives." I was tired of hiding. I wanted this fight to be over.

Everyone agreed as we all got up to deal with the children when Zeus shouted for everyone to stop as he shot out of his seat and pushed Pythia behind him.

"SHOW YOURSELF!" He shouted so loud that things in the room shook, and I was looking around trying to see who he was talking to my other form bursting free without me realizing it. In fact, when I looked around the room almost everyone's other forms had burst free.

Slowly someone started to appear in the corner of the room that I recognized the woman standing in front of me as Zeus and Hera's daughter Hebe. One of the ones who were with Hera in the warehouse.

I didn't hesitate as I grabbed her by the throat lifting her off her feet ready to kill her. This bitch was in my home with my family and my children. Hell no, she was fucking crazy if she thought she was going to get away with this!

"Ana, my Queen. It's okay. Release her. She isn't here to hurt anyone. I can sense it. I am, however, curious to hear what she has to say." I looked at Zeus like he had lost his mind.

"You want me to let this bitch go? Are you joking? She is in the same place as my family. MY CHILDREN! And you want me to let her fucking go. Sorry, it's not happening." Zeus held his hands out and two silver bands appeared in his them.

"What are they?"

"These, my dear, are cuffs that are strong enough to stop her using magic or shimmering out of here." The bands disappeared from his hands and Hebe started to shake in my hold causing me to drop her and as soon as I let go of her Hebe started to scream.

"I forgot to say they would hurt for a few seconds as they block all the magic in her body. She will be okay in a minute. Another thing I didn't mention is that now that they are on her, once they come off, she will not remember anything we have spoken to her about."

Zeus had the biggest smile on his face as he walked over and lifted Hebe up to sit her on a chair that he glamoured for her. Once he had her seated, he turned to me again, still smiling. "Awesome, aren't they?"

I smiled before nodding in agreement because they were fucking cool and exactly what we needed right now. "Okay, I want the children where we can see them, but not where she can see them. I don't like that she is here. It feels like it could be a distraction."

"It's not I swear" I turned my gaze to Hebe who looked exhausted and terrified "Father look at me, please! Tell her that I am telling the truth." Christian was now standing next to me vibrating with rage so I grabbed his hand wanting to help calm him down a little.

"She is telling the truth. Listen for yourself, my Queen. You will hear that she is telling you the truth."

"With all due respect to you, Zeus, I don't trust anything when it comes to her." I gave him a small smile and shrugged my shoulders because it didn't matter to me what her thoughts told me for all I knew she could be tricking us all and I wasn't about to take the risk.

"I understand" Zeus turned from me to Hebe. "Now, daughter, I think you need to tell us why you are here because I fear if you don't you won't live much longer." Hebe took a deep breath before she spoke.

"Mother has recruited many of my brothers and sisters to help her. They are all outraged about what you did to Mother. All apart from myself and Eileithyia. After all, we were there in the warehouse. We saw what she did. We know that she used her magic to make Eileithyia kill you, Ana. We don't want to help her. We have defended her and stood by her side. We have even fought by her side as you know and we can't do it anymore. We love her. She is our mother, after all, but we cannot defend her actions anymore. Our brothers and sisters, however, were not there that day. They believe that she was simply trying to protect herself against you. She claimed that you are one of our father's lovers and that you have tricked him into making you, his Queen." Hebe took a deep shaky breath before continuing.

"She told them that the babies you had are our father's children and that they have been given so much power that when they are older, they will be more powerful than all of us combined, and because of this she has convinced them that you and your children need to be eliminated. You have to understand my siblings don't know the truth. They just know that our father has a new Queen and that our mother is now mortal. I have tried to tell them the truth, as did Eileithyia but they won't believe us. Our mother can be very convincing."

I didn't know what to say to Hebe. So, I just looked from Christian to Zeus in shock. Christian pulled me tightly against him and I was grateful to him because if he hadn't, I think my anger would have grown out of control. "Do you know what their plan is, Hebe?" Christian sounded like he was barely controlling his temper just as I was.

"No. Once we tried to get our siblings to see the truth we were excluded. None of them would trust us with any information, but I had to come and tell you what I knew. I followed them here today. I have been hiding from them trying to find out their plans but when they meet with each other now, they spell the room so that no uninvited people can get in and so that they can't be heard from the outside. I want to help you and I thought that if I told you what I knew you could figure out a plan. Father, maybe you could find them and tell them the truth. I could go back to them and try again to see if I could get them to trust me if it will help."

"No. You're not leaving sorry, Hebe, I am grateful that you are telling us what you know but that doesn't mean I can trust you and let you leave. I understand that you have not helped your mother and I understand that your sister hasn't but you will have to be locked up until we can find your siblings and your mother and deal with them."

I knew that I sounded heartless but I didn't care. I wasn't risking anything because I still didn't truly believe that this wasn't all a trick.

"Do you at least know where they have been meeting?" Zeus's voice was a little softer this time he spoke to Hebe. Which told me that he clearly believed what she was saying. Hebe shook her head before answering him.

"Not right now. Their meeting places change but Eileithyia has tied her essence to our brother Ares. So, she might be able to find out because wherever he goes we can find him and thankfully, now that our mother is human, she can't see what we have done and no one other than you and now Ana would be able to see it. So, as much as we don't know where they will next be meeting, we will be able to find them." Something felt off for me. I desperately wanted to believe what Hebe was saying but it just seemed too easy. It all felt very much like a trap.

"Zeus, Christian, can we talk outside?" I didn't wait for them to answer as I walked off toward the doors hearing them follow behind me. Once we were outside and the door was closed, I spun around to face them. "Do you believe what she is saying?"

"I don't sense any deception if I am honest with you." I looked from Zeus to Christian and waited for his reply.

"I don't know what to believe. I don't trust her. I'm sorry Zeus. I know she is your daughter but she became our enemy that day in the warehouse."

"I understand, Christian. What about you, Ana? What do you think?"

"I think it feels too easy. It's too convenient that someone breaches the wards and now she is here to help. I don't know. It feels like it could be a trap. I think we need to be prepared for that. Like Christian said after the warehouse we can't trust her. Not yet, anyway. Maybe if we find out that what she is saying is true, then we may be able to trust her but right now I don't. I'm sorry."

"You do not need to feel sorry. I think you both have very valid points, and concerns and I agree that it makes sense to prepare for every eventuality. All I know is if what she says is true then I need to find them and tell them the truth. If they choose not to believe me, then they can all share in whatever punishment you both feel is necessary, but I would like the chance to talk to them first. They are after all my children."

"Absolutely. You should try to talk to them and if we are lucky, we may be able to stop this in its tracks, but if we can't then we need to be prepared. We will make our plans and wait for them to all be together. Zeus when you find Ares, don't do anything, please, until he meets up with everyone else. Then call for us. We will come prepared just in case they choose not to believe you." I took a deep breath feeling a little better knowing that we were finally making some sort of a plan.

"Zeus, what do you need to find your children?" Christian seemed like he was feeling better now as well as he asked this.

"If Hebe is tied to Ares then, just a little of her blood. It will take me straight to him. I can hear that you are not happy about Hebe being here, Ana. So, once I have taken her blood Feel free to lock her up wherever you want, until we can figure out if she is being honest."

I sighed with relief at what Zeus said. I didn't want Hebe in my home or around my family but I didn't want to let her go. So, the fact that Zeus was okay with us locking her up was such a relief. "Thank you, Zeus. Christian, honey, once Zeus has taken what he needs can you have one of your brothers take Hebe and lock her up. She is not to be harmed in any way and I want her to be treated well until we know the truth."

With all of us knowing what we needed to do we went back into the house to prepare for whatever was to come.