Apollo's Wolves

Chapter Three -- Amari

They think I'm a monster! I'm not going to be welcomed here anymore! No one's gonna want to be my friend! Everyone's going to call mea freak and talk about me behind my back! Why'd Delta have to dothat? What did I do to her? My thoughts run rampant as I sit, huddled in a cluster of trees. Tears are dripping down my face as I sob into my arms that are resting ontop of my knees which are drawn up to my chest. My hair is full of twigs and there's dried blood all over my ripped and torn clothing. My wounds have healed already (perks of being a werewolf, I guess), except for the burns from the silver nets, and there's nothing leftto show from the fight. If I go back now, everyone's going to be scared of me!  My mind goes back to a couple of hours ago...

Flashback:

"Shift back!" Chiron glances over at me, where I stand about ten feet away from my sister. "Both of you."

Not wanting to disobey Chiron, I shift back, groaning slightly at the sting of my cuts. A loud gasp rose from the crowd, making me cringe. What are they going to do to me? My mind went to all sorts of horrible scenarios.

"When did you become a werewolf?" Kate, from the Demeter cabin, asks me.

I burst into tears and Annabeth wraps her arms around me, trying to comfort me. My secret is ruined! I worked so hard to keep it from them and now it's completely ruined!

"Shift back, Delta!" Chiron orders. "Now!"

She snarls something quite inappropriate at him and shifts back. Stunned, everyone backs away a step or two, not wanting to be in reach in case Delta goes nuts again. Unfortunately, this gives her a clear shot to me, which she takes. She sends a quick glare to the campers around me and lunges, reaching her hands out so she can strangle me. I cry out in fear, knowing that I'm no match for my sister. Several of the Ares campers grab Delta.

Clarisse throws Delta down and pins her before pointing a spear at her throat. "Don't. Move!" She warns Delta, a grin on her face. "I'd love to slice you into pieces."

"You wish!" Delta snaps back.

I let out an inaudible whimper. Why does she hate me so much?

Chiron steps forward and lays a hand on Clarisse's shoulder. "Jake, would you please escort Delta up to the Big House? I'd like to speak with her there," he orders.

Clarisse backs off of Delta and Jake grabs Delta's arm and pulls her up,even though she's trying to resist. "Let's go, Delta." He leads her away from the training arena and towards the Big House, leaving me amongst the group of demigods who came down the kill the wolves.

Once Delta's out of sight, everyone turns and stares at me. I wince slightly as their gazes seem to pierce right through my soul. "Th-thanks for helping me," I murmur quietly, so as not to startle them.

"Amari, when were you going to tell us that you are a werewolf?"Clarisse asks in the same quiet voice. "Did you not trust us?"

I quickly look down at the ground in shame. "It's not that Ididn't trust you," I say, looking up at them again. "It's just that I saw how you treated Lyacon's wolves and I didn't want to be next." I move slowly to stand up, cringing at the pain from the burns and other wounds.

Everyone takes a step back, eyeing me warily; tears well up in my eyes when I see how scared they are. "Please don't be afraid," I say in a whisper, my voice not able to go any higher because of how emotional I am. "I would never hurt you guys!" I take a step towards them and they take a step back, their hands immediately going for their weapons. A sob rips from my throat and I slap my hand over my mouth. "I'm sorry," I cry before turning and running in the opposite direction of the Big House and into the woods.