𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫. ── 𝐣𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞

𝐱𝐱𝐢𝐢𝐢. 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐨 𝐛𝐲 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐭 𝐦𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥

"WOLVES," AELLA SAID, "THEY SOUND CLOSE."

Jason rose and summoned his sword. Aella twisted her ring and grabbed her dagger, Kopis. Leo and Coach Hedge got to their feet too.

"Stay there," Leo told Piper. "We'll protect you."

She gritted her teeth. It had been so long since she had gone on her first quest—but she was sure that a group of teenagers could do better than a bunch of tweens.

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 she'd like little protection too.

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. Piper pulled her dagger out of its sheath.

Then Jason stepped forward and said something in Latin.

"Quis es? Quid agis?" Who are you? Aella thought, What are you doing here?

Aella didn't think that would make anyone less intimidated, but 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?"

And how do I now what he's saying? I don't know Latin... right? Aella fidgeted with her ring. 

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," Piper said.

"Nah, I'm good."

Then Piper 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."

Aella got a lump in her throat. There was a weak link in their pack right now—and she was 100 percent sure that the boys would sacrifice her for Piper.

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 that she couldn't 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 and Aella 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, children of Rome. Or he'll be my first snack."

Aella flipped her sword in the air. "I'm not a Roman, Scott McCall. Now tell us what you want before we pummel you."

Besides the Teen Wolf reference, Aella didn't know anything about this human-wolf dude. Not exactly helpful information. Now, if she could remember who this wolf guy was in Greek mythology, and how to defeat him, that she could use.