Wearing the Lion

Hera, queen of the Greek gods and watcher of mothers and children, is angry and tired of her husband Zeus’s philandering ways. Now he has a new demigod son, Heracles, and her rage becomes focused on this one man as she tries to insert obstacles throughout his life. However, Heracles has no idea of Hera’s secret machinations against him; in fact, he is a devoted follower of his “Aunt Hera.” When Hera’s fury goes too far, lives are shattered, and she realizes that revealing the truth will damage even more gods. So, to delay a tragic result, she sends Heracles off on the trials: 12 labors which should involve destroying monsters but instead find Heracles with a newfound family and Hera reconsidering her own past deeds. Alternating chapters from Heracles’s and Hera’s points of view dive into their actions, reactions, and reflections, further mirrored by living and immortal secondary characters.