𝗪𝗔𝗜𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗠𝗘 ━━ l. valdez

xxix ━━ i dreamed of cracking locks (throwing my life to the wolves)

01. chapter twenty-nine

━━━━━━━━ ( 💫 ) ━━━━━━━━

"WOLVES," I SAID. "they sound close."

jason rose and summoned his sword. leo and coach hedge got to their feet too. piper tried, but swayed in her spot with a dazed look. i got to my feet, pulling out my knife, pressing the button at the base. it shot out into the stygian iron sword.

"stay there," jason told the piper. "we'll protect you."

just outside the firelight at the entrance of the cave, i 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. i didn't think a dead language would have much effect on wild animals, 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?"

"shut up." i nudged leo in the side with my elbow. "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.

coach hedge 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 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 got a lump in my throat. i took a few deep breaths, but it really didn't help.

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 bones. his robes were tattered fur wolf, rabbit, raccoon, deer, and several others i couldn't identify. the furs didn't look cured, and from the smell, they weren't very fresh. his frame was lithe and muscular. 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.

"eeee," 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."

i remembered that faun was the roman name for satyr. not exactly helpful information. now, if i could remember who this wolf guy was in greek mythology, and how to defeat him, that i could use.

the wolf man studied their little group. his nostrils twitched. "so it's true," he mused. "a child of aphrodite. a son of hephaestus. a faun. a daughter of the underworld. 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—perhaps a laugh, perhaps a challenge. "oh, we've been patrolling for you all across the west, son of jupiter and daughter of styx, 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."