Apollo's Wolves

Chapter Twelve -- Delta

I threw stones at the rocks, muttering curses to the gods under my breath. Some of them splintered into dust on contact with the rocks, I was throwing that hard. Grass crackled somewhere behind me, and I threw one of the stones in the direction of the sound. "Hey!" a voice exclaimed. I spun around and saw Jake there, holding his hands out as if to block any more stones that I might throw at him.

"What do you want?" I demanded, dropping the stones.

He took a few hesitant steps closer. "I wanted to make sure you were OK."

I turned away from him, my hands clenching into fists. "What makes you think I wouldn't be OK? I mean, I saved my sister, for the love of the gods!"

A hand touched my shoulder, and I slapped it away; it came back. "Something changed while you were fighting Ares."

"Nothing changed," I growled. "I saved Amari so that I could kill her myself."

"That's another thing, why do you want to kill Amari? She's never done anything to you."

I whirled around again. "She's fought my kind before, that's what she's done!"

He folded his arms over his chest. "And what, exactly, is your kind?"

"I'm a werewolf, idiot."

"What's Amari's kind?"

"She's a demigod!"

"And yet she can turn into a wolf. You have a demigod aura, courtesy of your dad, Apollo. I'm seeing no difference between you two. None, except for which side of you embrace more." When I didn't say anything, he continued. "True, Amari has killed a werewolf or two, or a plain old wolf, but I'm willing to bet you've killed a demigod before."

"Yeah, which is why I'm not afraid to do it again!" I snarled.

Jake pointed a finger at me. "See, I could take offense at that, because you've hurt someone like me, but I'm not. I'm choosing to let it go, because it was probably collateral damage in a war. The Titan war, if I'm not wrong, right?"

"What's your point?"

"My point is, it wasn't anything personal. If you kill Amari, you're going to live to regret it. Besides Apollo, she's the only family you have left. You can't live alone forever."

"Watch me!"

He grabbed my arms, pinning them to my sides. I struggled to get out of his grip, but again I had underestimated him. "Let's sit down." He lowered me to the ground and knelt in front of me, keeping his hands on my arms. "OK. We're going to talk about your past. Go."

I shrugged as well as I could with my arms pinned. "What's there to tell? I grew up as a werewolf."

"That part I knew; I want to know things you haven't told even Chiron."

"Which is nothing, by the way."

"Even so. Spill."

Something was pushing inside my head to get out, and suddenly I was spilling my whole story to him. "My mom hid me from Apollo the day he came to take Amari. She didn't want to let either of us go, but she had to do something to deceive him. Mom chose Amari to give to him, because she looks like him; I look like her. She raised me as a werewolf, and I was part of Lyacon's pack. Lyacon himself hated me, but he hated the gods more, so he agreed to hide me from them. The stench of monsters covered up my demigod aura, and I was safe. I mean, where could you be safer?"

"Camp," Jake responded.

I rolled my eyes. "Really, though, if werewolves decide to protect you, you'll be safe while they die trying or until you die."

"I'll take your word for it."

I continued. "Mom found out where Amari was being kept-"

"Housed. She wasn't a hostage."

"Whatever. Mom found out where she was, and we would sneak up to wherever she was, keeping out of sight, and watch her for awhile. She would tell me, 'That's your twin sister, Delta; that's Amari.' She'd stare wistfully at her. 'I wonder what color her pelt is.' We'd watch her practice archery and stuff. On nights when there was a full moon, we'd respond to her howls. A few times, Mom took me with her, and we'd walk outside the school where Amari went. We'd say hello to her as she left to board the bus and we'd watch her go.

"It always killed Mom to see her using her demigod powers instead of her werewolf abilities. 'She could be so much more,' Mom would say. 'She could live with us and not hide who she really is.'" I sighed. "She talked so much about Amari, and I started pushing myself to be praise-worthy, doing things that werewolves didn't start doing until they were a few years older than me. Despite his hatred for me, Lyacon noticed my abilities, and he began taking me out with the pack. I'd run next to my mom, on our way to talk to allies or take out demigods. It was thrilling, to be honest, and I loved every second of it." I sighed again, but this time happily. "I love feeling the wind through my fur, my feet barely touching the ground, community with my pack." My face fell, and I scowled. "As soon as we get Amari back to Camp Half-Blood, I'm going to join Lupa's pack; she's my only family now."

Jake moved his hands from my arms to my hands. "That's not true; we could be your family."

"Never."

"Why not?"

"You're demigods!"

"What did your mom tell you about the gods to make you hate them so much? I heard you cursing them earlier."

"She told me that they're all entitled, petty, and they act like spoiled children."

"Well, she's not entirely wrong."

"She told me things were better when the Titans ruled."

"Now that part isn't true."

"She said that my dad is a brat and a thief. All the gods are thieves, because they've taken so much from werewolves and everything else they've titled 'Monsters.' She said that their children aren't much better at all."

For the first time since I'd met him, Jake actually seemed offended. "You really don't think that I'm much better than my dad?"

"Probably."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Are you better than your dad?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, I wasn't raised around him."

"So you're better than all the rest of us."

"Probably."

He shook his head and stood up. "You've got some serious ego problems, Delta, and that's saying something, because I live in a camp full of Aphrodite's kids." He offered me his hand.

I eyed it warily. "Where are we going?"

"Back to where the others have made camp; we should get some sleep. Come on."

When he helped me up, I fell into him. "Huh?"

"Are you OK, Delta?" Jake supported me easily.

I frowned. "Maybe." I tried to support myself, but my legs failed me.

"Come on." He placed a hand behind my back and an arm behind my knees; then he picked me up.

"What're you doing?" Exhaustion was overcoming me, and I found myself too tired to struggle.

"Taking you back to camp." The rhythm of his walk was calming, and I found myself drifting off. I barely remember him putting me into bed.