Hurricane ~ L. Valdez

1.24 - Werewolves and My Sister

      "Wolves," Piper said, and I groaned. "They sound close." Jason rose and summoned his sword, and I did the same. Leo and Coach Hedge got to their feet too. Piper tried, but she looked dizzy, and I helped her sit back down.

      "Stay there," Jason told her. "We'll protect you." Piper gritted her teeth.

      "Lara-"

      "Leo Valdez if you suggest that I stay here I will-"

      Leo cut me off, raising his arms up in defense. "Okay, okay, cariño, just a suggestion."

      Then, just outside the firelight at the entrance of the cave, we saw a pair of red eyes glowing in the dark. Just great. More wolves edged into the firelight. They were huge. I mean yeah, I'm short, but still.

      Their fangs gleamed, and their glowing red eyes almost looked... smart. The wolf in front was almost as tall as a horse, his mouth stained as if he'd just made a fresh kill. Piper pulled her dagger out of its sheath. I kept my sword up.

       Then, my brother stepped forward and said something in Latin. Of course Jason knows Latin. Whatever he said cause the alpha wolf to curl his lip. One of his lieutenants tried to advance, but the alpha wolf snapped at his ear. Then all of the wolves backed into the dark.

      "Dude, I gotta study Latin." Leo's hammer shook in his hand as he grabbed one of mine. "What'd you say, Jason?"

      Hedge cursed. "Whatever it was, it wasn't enough. Look." The wolves were coming back, but this time without the alpha. They didn't attack, just waited. There were at least a dozen now, in a semicircle shape just outside the firelight, blocking the cave exit. The coach heaved up his club "Here's the plan. I'll kill them all, and you guys escape."

      "Coach, they'll rip you apart," I said, looking at him incredulously.

      "Nah, I'm good."

      Then I saw the silhouette of a man coming through the storm, wading through the wolf pack.

      "Stick together," Jason said. "They respect a pack. And Hedge, no crazy stuff. We're not leaving you or anyone else behind."

      I grabbed Leo's hand, holding my sword steadily. The wolves parted, and the man stepped into the firelight. His hair was greasy and ragged, dark, topped with a crown of what looked like finger bones. His robes were tattered fur—wolf, rabbit, raccoon, deer, and several others. He had the features of a wolf. If I had to bet money I'd assume he was the alpha. His eyes were red and they fixed on Jason with absolute hatred.

      "Ecce," he said, "filli Romani."

      "Speak English, wolf man!" Hedge bellowed.

      The wolf man didn't like that. "Tell your faun to mind his tongue, son of Rome. Or he'll be my first snack."

      "So it's true," he mused. "A child of Aphrodite. A son of Hephaestus. A faun. And two children of the sky, a child of Greece, of Lord Zeus, and a child of Rome, of Lord Jupiter, no less. All together, without killing each other. How interesting."

      "You were told about us?" Jason asked. "By whom?"

      The man snarled in an almost scoffing manner. "Oh, we've been patrolling for you all across the west, demigod, hoping we'd be the first to find you. The giant king will reward me well when he rises. I am Lycaon, king of the wolves. And my pack is hungry."

      The wolves snarled in the darkness. I watched as Leo put up his hammer and slip something else from his tool belt—a glass bottle full of clear liquid.