"I took Hestia … but not against her will."
"What?" she asked shakily as she tensed with the wolf's approach, her fear finally starting to show through.
"As I said, Hestia didn't want to be on Olympus any more than you would."
...
She couldn't help but snort at that comment. She hated the mere thought of being there on a visit, the damn gods always commenting on her form as unseemly for being a goddess.
Mostly some of the drunken gods wishing she was human just so there was another ass to chase for them. If she could she would have mauled several of them within days.
"You barely have any love for the other gods yourself," Umbra continued as he looked at her intensely making her shuffle on her feet nervously. "Tell me … why do you even serve them?"
"I …" she paused as she thought up a reason, her eyes furrowing in concentration.
Why did she, truly? She had no love for the Olympians spare for goddesses like Hestia and Artemis. But Hestia was gone and Artemis had distanced herself along with being in a frenzy along with most of the other gods ever since the Hearth of Olympus was extinguished.
It had been rekindled but now required constant attention and didn't carry the warmth it once had. As for most of the gods on Olympus, she could do fine without them. Hades, the world could better without their meddling but the only other options were the Titans and Giants, and she knew that would screw over everyone.
Still, she was grasping at straws for why to serve them, even though the word serve brought a bitter taste to her mouth. They'd done nothing to earn it other than threaten her when she first helped form the Romans.
She was an attack dog to them and an overseer for the orphanage they dumped their spawn at and gave it a fancy name. At least her Romans proved resilient enough to grow and expand it themselves to form New Rome and barely needed interaction with the Gods.
Still, even if she had a soft spot for those demigods, it didn't mean she was happy with the role assigned to her. She was broken out of her thoughts however when Umbra leaned closer before speaking.
"Well …?"
She shook her head before looking back at the large wolf.
"I … I serve to protect New Rome," she said but Umbra merely snorted.
"So you care for the demigods … but not the gods themselves?" Umbra said with a wolf smirk.
"…" She wasn't sure how to reply to that, her ears lowering as Umbra gave a fanged grin.
"They left you with their messes time and time again," Umbra continued as he got closer and started pacing around her, her pack stepping back in fear of the more powerful wolf.
"You don't place the blame on the children but at the same time you question why you even try to help the gods." Her heart was racing as only her head turned to keep looking at the black wolf.
"In both recent wars you only ever participated to give New Rome a chance but there was no love spared for the Olympians. And you even hide your beauty in fear of what the gods would do to you should they discover it."
"How!?" she gasped as she stepped back as Umbra chuckled.
"Hestia told me," Umbra replied as he stopped before her, his face looming closer to hers. "I know you want more than what your life is now Lupa. You want to run free with your pack, to live in both forms and explore this world.
Yet you cannot leave far from the Wolf House if only on occasions of war and then it is only to watch as your pack loses its members while the Olympians remain fattening in their thrones."
"But the demigods …"
"Would be far safer if the Olympians actually tried to care for and protect them. You and Terminus have done more for than your fair share and aren't even thanked for it," Umbra countered. "So why stay if there is another option?"
"… And that would be?" she asked softly, feeling like his eyes had pinned her down to the spot.
"Join us," Umbra said and continued before she could try to reject his offer. "War is coming just over the horizon … but it is against the Olympians themselves. We have no quarrel with the demigods and do not plan on attacking them … however, should they attack us then we will respond in kind."
He then backed up as Lupa looked at him, searching for deceit in his eyes … but found none. However she wouldn't let honeyed words tempt her so easily as she asked, "Then why kill that huntress years ago?"
"I take it you know what those hunters are actually like," Umbra said with a voice drowning in contempt at the word hunters as Lupa nodded, having found the corpses more than once, several of them Roman boys she had personally helped before sending off to the camp. "Then do you really think that hunter didn't have it coming?"
"But what did she do that deserved … that?" she asked recalling the carcass she'd seen only days after the murder since none of the hunters had the stomach to approach their mutilated sister and Artemis having been too distraught to do anything either.
"That hunter helped in the murder of my mother and step-father while also kidnapping my sister," Umbra replied with a bloodthirsty growl nearly making her whimper.
She could see the hate and rage within his eyes as he said that and understood that he would love nothing more than to rip Artemis apart for it. That and the fact that she could see he was being brutally honest filled her with doubt about her distanced friend. However, one question was nagging at her head now more than anything.
"Just … who are you?"
There was silence for some time as she watched the wolf glance away for a moment to control his emotions. Once done he turned back to her and answered, "You already know me Lupa." She was about to answer that she didn't but then was shocked to see shadows consume the wolf for all of five seconds before dispersing to leave a sight she didn't expect in her wildest dreams.
Standing at 6 ft' 4, lean and muscular with a hooded coat made of darkness, black pants and tight shirt, two swords strapped at his hips, and eyes with literal, swirling black flames for irises and glowing icy blue pupils was Perseus Jackson, the 'lost' hero of Olympus.
If she had been in her human form she would have pinched herself to wake up but she settled for biting her own tongue. She felt the pain, tasted the ichor, even shook her head again to try and disperse any Mist that may be in effect but no … this was very much real.
"Hey Lupa," he said in a far more familiar but still deepened with maturity voice.
"P-Percy?" she asked as she stepped closer to get a better look and even smell him.
His wild hair was there, the familiar tanned skin, and his scent, though changed from sea breeze to the new black orchid, still held undertones that were undoubtedly … him. It was all there and even his presence felt familiar but just barely. His presence had changed much, like an untold amount of power being held within one condensed point ready to burst.
He may be human sized now but she still felt like the smaller of the two.
"What happened to you?" she asked.
"A lot Lupa," he said as he tilted his head up to look at her before smiling softly. "But I rather us speak in a more level form."
She understood what he meant and would have refused him but for some reason, she felt the need to change, to do as he wanted of her. She wasn't sure why.
Maybe it was the warmth in his eyes as he looked at her, maybe it was her newfound respect for him after having been bested so easily, or maybe it was the sheer presence and dominance that seemed to radiate off him.
Regardless she glowed in a golden light for a few seconds but she noticed that he didn't look away or burn in any way. Once the glow died down she slowly stood as to not lose her balance.
She stood around 5 ft' 7, her hair the same reddish-brown it had been as her fur cascading down her body to her shapely rear. Her olive toned skin shivering slightly in the sudden chill of a breeze that swept over her.
Her modesty being kept only by her own hair falling over her modest sized breasts and crotch. She felt some color come to her cheeks when she noticed Percy's eyes giving her entire body a quick scan before returning to her face and had to suppress the urge to try to cover her chest with her arms.
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Don't forget to throw some power Stones, to keep the story going.
...
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