The Altered Seven

The Wolf King

The foursome rode their pegasi for hours as they made their way toward Aeolus' Palace. After the fourth hour, Poker started to dip towards the ground.

Blackjack whinnied and Aelin nodded. She turned back towards the others and shouted, "We need to set down! Poker won't be able to stay in the air for much longer!"

Jason and Aria nodded and led their pegasi downwards, towards the snow-capped mountains. Blackjack and Aelin followed. They set down next to a cave and Poker nearly collapsed.

Aelin ran over to him as Jason untied the cages. She knelt next to Poker, whose pants were hoarse.

"I'm sorry, Poker," Aelin murmured. "We pushed you too hard. You did great, though. You got us so far."

The pegasus's eyes lit up from the praise.

"Is there anything we can do for him?" Jason asked. Aelin shook her head.

"He needs to rest," she said. She looked at the other two pegasi. "Blackjack, Ace, can you two helps me get Poker inside the cave."

The two neighed before clopping forward. Aelin and Jason lifted the brown pegasus to his hooves and Ace and Blackjack pushed themselves on either side of Poker. They moved forward slowly until they made it to the back of the cave. Poker collapsed again.

"Leo, can you start a fire?" Aelin asked.

The son of Hephaestus jumped. "Uh, yeah?" He gathered a few sticks and bits of bark and placed them in a pile. He glanced at Aelin nervously. "Uh, do you want me to rub the sticks together, or grab two rocks and-"

"Use your powers," Aelin told him.

"You know about those?"

Aelin nodded. "Leo, you might not remember it, but my parents have met you before. My mom has a few photos of you all hanging out together. They told me about you and a girl named Piper, said you two were some of the bravest demigods they knew." She glanced at Jason shyly. "You were mentioned, too, but by my Uncle Percy."

"How do your parents know us?" Jason asked as he watched Leo create a fire in his hand. His eyes widened in surprise before his brows furrowed. "They have to be in their thirties or something."

"My mom is, but my dad isn't. He's 27. And Mamma is 24. They're polyamorous," she added to Jason's confused look.

Leo screwed up his eyes. "If you're 13, that would mean your dad was 14 when you were born."

Aelin shook her head. "He was 17. Mom was 19."

"That's impossible."

"Not so. You see, my dad and uncle actually went-" Se tensed, looking toward the cave entrance. "Did you hear that?"

For a second, nothing. Then they heard it: howls piercing the night.

"Wolves," Aelin said. "They sound close."

Jason rose and summoned his sword. Leo and Aria got to their feet too.

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

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.

Then Jason stepped forward and said something in Latin. 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.