( ✓ ) Evermore, Piper McLean¹

17. a graceful reunion

     "Stick together," Jason said. "They respect a pack. And Hedge, no crazy stuff. We're not leaving you or anyone else behind."

     Iana felt the grip on her dagger loosen. She was the weak link in their "pack" right now. No doubt the wolves could smell the fear that she tried to cover with her poker face.

     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 Iana couldn't tell apart. The furs didn't look cured, and from the smell, they weren't very fresh.

     His frame was lithe and muscular, like a distance runners. 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.

     "Ecce," 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." His nostrils twitched as he studied them. "So it's true," he mused. "A daughter of Hecate. A child of Aphrodite. A son of Hephaestus. A faun. And a child of Rome, of Lord Jupiter, no less. All together, without killing each other. How interesting."

     "You were told about us?" Jason questioned. "By whom?"

     The man snarled— perhaps a laugh, perhaps a challenge. "Oh, we've been patrolling for you all across the west, demigod, 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."

     The wolves snarled in the darkness.

     In her peripheral vision, Iana caught Leo put up his hammer and slip something— a bottle full of liquid— from his tool belt.

     Lycaon glared at Jason's sword. He moved to each side as if looking for an opening, but Jason's blade moved with him.

     "Leave," Jason ordered. "There's no food for you here."

     "Unless you want tofu burgers," Leo offered.

     Lycaon bared his fangs. Apparently he wasn't a tofu fan.

     "If I had my way," Lycaon said with regret, "I'd kill you first, son of Jupiter. Your father made me what I am. I was the powerful mortal king of Arcadia, with fifty fine sons, and Zeus slew them all with his lightning bolts."

     "Ha," Coach Hedge said. "For good reason!"

     Jason glanced over his shoulder. "Coach, you know this clown?"

     "I do," Piper answered, her face grim. "Lycaon invited Zeus to dinner, but the king wasn't sure it was really Zeus. So to test his powers, Lycaon tried to feed him human flesh. Zeus got outraged—"

     "And killed my sons!" Lycaon howled. The wolves behind him howled too.

     "So Zeus turned him into a wolf," Piper said. "They call... they call werewolves lycanthropes, named after him, the first werewolf."

     "The king of wolves," Coach Hedge finished. "An immortal, smelly, vicious mutt."

     Lycaon growled. "I will tear you apart, faun!"

     "Oh, you want some goat, buddy? 'Cause I'll give you goat."

     "Stop it," Jason cut in. "Lycaon, you said you wanted to kill me first, but...?"