SAFE . . . reyna ramirez-arellano

23 - scary wolves

"WOLVES," BRIAR SAID. "They sound close."

Jason rose and summoned his sword. Leo and Coach Hedge got to their feet too. Briar tried, but black spots danced before her eyes.

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

She gritted her teeth. She hated feeling helpless. She didn't want anyone to protect her. First the stupid ankle. Now stupid hypothermia. She wanted to be on her feet, with her daggers in her hands. Also, this felt sort of misogynistic.

Then, just outside the firelight at the entrance of the cave, she saw a pair of red eyes glowing in dark.

Okay, she thought. Maybe a little protection and misogyny is fine. Fuck this.

More wolves edged into the firelight — black beasts bigger than Great Danes, with ice and snow caked on their fur. Their fangs gleamed, and their glowing red eyes looked disturbingly intelligent. The wolf in front was almost as tall as a horse, his mouth stained as if he'd just made a fresh kill.

Briar pulled her daggers out of her pockets.

Then Jason stepped forward and said something that she totally should've known but wasn't listening.

The alpha wolf curled his lip. The fur stood up along his spine. 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. "What'd you say, Jason?"

Hedge cursed. "Whatever it was, it wasn't enough. Look."

The wolves were coming back, but the alpha wolf wasn't with them. They didn't attack. They waited — at least a dozen now, in a rough semicircle just outside the firelight, blocking the cave exit.

The coach hefted his club. "Here's the plan. I'll kill them all, and you guys escape."

"Coach, they'll rip you apart," Briar said.

"Nah, I'm good."

Then Briar 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."

Briar got a lump in her throat. She was the weak link in their "pack" right now. No doubt the wolves could smell her fear. She might as well be wearing a sign that said free lunch.

The wolves parted, and the man stepped into the firelight. His hair was greasy and ragged, the color of fireplace soot, topped with a crown of what looked like finger bones. His robes were tattered fur — wolf, rabbit, raccoon, deer, and several others Briar didn't want to identify. The furs didn't look cured, and from the smell, they weren't very fresh. His frame was lithe and muscular, like a distance runner's. But the most horrible thing was his face. His thin pale skin was pulled tight over his skull. His teeth were sharpened like fangs. His eyes glowed bright red like his wolves' — and they fixed on Jason with absolute hatred.

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

"Speak English, wolf man!" Hedge bellowed.

The wolf man snarled. "Tell your faun to mind his tongue, son of Rome. Or he'll be my first snack."

Faun. That voice sounded right in Briar's ears, but that wasn't helpful. Now, if she could remember who this wolf guy was in Greek mythology, and how to defeat him.

The wolf man studied their little group. His nostrils twitched. "So it's true," he mused. "A son of Hephaestus. A faun. And children of Rome, of Lord Jupiter and Lady Venus, no less. All together, without killing each other. How interesting."