Thank you to every single person who reviewed. Each review made me smile, and I'm so happy that people seem to like my story enough to bug me into finishing it, even after all these months. I've left this for so long, and I wasn't sure I would be able to come back to it, but I have decided I'm going to finish this properly. To old readers, I'm sorry (did you miss me?) and to new readers, I hope you enjoy...

Thalia's Point of View

I found Lucy curled up at the base of a gnarled, stooped tree near the edge of camp. The roots seemed to have molded around her, as she lent back into the tree, and you could almost see the wrinkled grandmotherly figure comforting the young child.

I shoved my hands in my pockets, and sat down next to the tree, not willing to get too close after what happened last time.

"Lucy..." I said.

She turned her head, eyes closed. "Thalia, I don't want to talk to you right now."

"Understandable, I guess." I glanced around the forest, drawing my legs close as the trees whispered scornfully amongst themselves.

"You know, a part of being a Hunter- growing up even, is developing a thicker skin-"

"Don't you dare say she was right!" Lucy hissed. "You never listen to me! It's fine when I can help you do something, something you can't, but when it comes to strategizing, working together and coming up with ideas, I'm ignored!"

"I wasn't going to say she was right. Just that you have to toughen up a bit. There will always be people doubting you, and you can't let them get to you. Nixie always says stuff like that, and she isn't going to stop. She's a phoenix, remember, and fire doesn't stop for anyone. To a fire, the most important thing is burning on. Sometimes Nixie forgets that she, and her cause, are just as important as the individual person."

"I've seen what Nixie is, Thalia, and sometimes it's hard not to hate her for being this super-powerful being that doesn't need to listen to anyone, but she's not really what I'm upset about. None of you listen to me, even though I've been just as good as everyone else on this mission. And you didn't come after me straight away, Thalia. Neither did Phoebe."

She stood up, resting her hand gently on the tree. "I just need to be alone, okay?"

I nodded, standing up and walking away, back into camp. "Just don't go anywhere."

I saw Phoebe standing by the tents.

As I walked up to her, she said, "She needs to toughen up."

I marched into my tent, and swept up my water bottle.

"Where's Nixie?" I snapped.

"In her tent, daydreaming probably. Spirits of any kind are all so flighty."

"No one leaves this camp. Not for patrol, not for anything except emergencies. Make sure Nixie knows."

I walked back out of my tent. Phoebe turned to face me as I kept walking past the tents, to the opposite side of the clearing.

"What are we going to do?" Phoebe sounded infuriated.

"We do nothing. I do something I should have done at the start." I said, still walking away as I searched for something in my pocket.

Phoebe threw her hands up in the air, before clenching them into fists at her side.

"What?"

"Research."

"What about Spirit? Research isn't going to get my wolf back!" Phoebe yelled at me.

I stopped. Gods. I had forgotten about the annoying little... dog.

"It's the best chance we've got. They aren't going to hurt her. She's a wolf. And they didn't hurt any of us deliberately. She'll be fine until we get her back."

I didn't say that I wasn't sure I wanted the wolf back on my team.

Then I remembered the events that led up to my capture. "Sam could have warned me." That woman had said as she welcomed Spirit into her house, and talked to her like a person.

"It couldn't be. It's impossible." I murmured to myself, as I found a drachma in my pocket, squatting down close to the ground.

Quickly, I conjured a small wind. I spun it around and around my finger, until it was a never ending whirlwind. I carefully poured just a little water into it, enough to make a small rainbow.

"O goddess, accept my offering. Annabeth Chase, Camp Half-Blood." I said.

Slowly, an image appeared midair. Annabeth was sitting on the porch steps of the Big House, reading a book.

"Annabeth!" I said.

She glanced up, suprised, before grinning. "Hi Thalia! How are you?"

"Been better. But that isn't why I called."

"Wait a second. Percy!" She yelled.

The door of the Big House opened slightly, and Percy slipped out, looking around warily. He spotted me and gave me a cautious smile. "Hi Thalia."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "She's not here."

He quickly sat down, though he was very twitchy, even for an ADHD kid.

"What's up with you?" I asked.

"Clarisse has been after him for days, since the incident with the arrows the day you left." Annabeth explained. "She'll either find him, or the Stoll brothers will do something bad enough that she forgets about Percy. Anyway, what's wrong?"

"I need you to do me a favour." I said.

"We're all ears." Annabeth said.

"I want you to look up everything you can find on werewolves. Every culture, all around the world, but focus on Washington, and the Quileutes."

"Werewolves?" Another voice called out, from somewhere I couldn't see, and Percy jumped.

Annabeth rolled her eyes again. "Hey Leo."

Oh. Great. My brother's annoying firebug of a friend.

"What's up?" He asked cheerfully, as he sat down next to Percy. "Don't worry man, she's beating up some newbie Apollo kid who thought he could beat her at sword fighting. I just went and warned Will to prep the infirmary. Clarisse is realeasing all her pent up anger. But what was this about werewolves? Thalia, I hope you're not up against any in that big mysterious mission of yours. I hate to see such a pretty face-"

"Shut up, Leo." Annabeth snapped. She turned to me and said, "So those wolves you were sent to find out about are werewolves?"

"I'm not sure." Then I frowned. "How did you know?"

"I asked Artemis." Annabeth explained. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"Lucy is convinced they must be, but I'm not so sure. I'll admit, it would make sense, but they don't look anything like the ones I've seen, or act like them, and we've never actually seen a wolf turn into a human, or a human turn wolf."

"That's why you want Annabeth to check all kinds of mythology." Percy said.

"Exactly. If there are Romans out there, then why not others? Something we've never seen before." I said.

"But the gods knew the Romans existed. They just didn't tell us. They've admitted they don't know anything about these guys, or why they can be seen through the mist."

I stared at him. "When did you get smart?"

"Hanging out with Annabeth so long, something had to happen." Percy shrugged, looking pleased with himself, as he pulled Annabeth closer to give her a kiss on the cheek.

I felt a slight pang go through me, seeing them kiss. Strangely, it wasn't one of revulsion.

"Please, no kissy-faces in front of the lone wolf." Leo begged. "Unless someone would be willing to change that status." He wriggled his eyebrows at me.

"Can you give me a description? Size, colour, anything?" Annabeth asked.

"Well," I said, thinking over, "They're all about the size of a horse, but that's really it. They're all different colours. Brown, black, silver, red, blonde, and everywhere in-between."

Annabeth frowned. "That's odd. What about eye colour?"

"Mostly brown, I think. But their eye, they just look so human."

"Doesn't sound like the werewolves I met." Leo muttered.

I nodded in agreement. "That's why I'm so confused."

"Please deposit another drachma for five more minutes." A voice sounded.

I patted down my pockets, quickly trying to find another coin before the connection was cut.

"Don't worry, I've got this." Annabeth assured me, throwing a gold disc into the rainbow. Only, it looked like it was going towards me, so I quickly ducked, and Percy stifled a snigger.

Straightening up, I sent him a glare.

"Yeah, when Phoebe and I were caught by them, we woke up tied up, but wolves can't do that."

"When were you going to tell me you had been kidnapped?" Annabeth snapped.

"Um, look, Annabeth I'm fine." Oops.

Leo was staring at me, thinking hard, which was almost always a dangerous expression on his face. "Thalia, if they caught you, then why not catch one of them?"

"Impossible. They're as big as horses, we don't even know how strong they are, and they are always in a pack."

But I could see the cogs in his head turning. "What if I could build you a massive, super strong cage?"

"I don't know, Leo." I said. Just the thought of my silver wolf trapped in a horrible celestial bronze contraption made me hurt.

"Besides, there is no guarantee this would work." I said.

"What do you mean?" Annabeth frowned.

"I tried to kill one when I was captured. Threw I knife straight through his mouth. Didn't effect him at all. And, a day or so ago, we ran into these creeps who couldn't be killed by celestial bronze. Our knives went straight through them. Only way we got rid of them was through fire, and a little bit of lightning."

Percy had paled. "They aren't from Gaia, are they?"

"Percy, she and her spawn are long gone. Don't worry about it. And they seemed just as surprised as we were about it."

"What did these creeps look like?" Annabeth asked, frowning.

"Human, I guess, but pale, red eyes, a little too perfect, incredibly fast, and spoke like they were from another time period." I reeled off.

"Sounds like a monster to me." Percy muttered.

"I'll look it all up." Annabeth said.

"And I''ll get started on that cage. It's worth a try." Leo said, springing to his feet and dashing off.

"I hope Fate never lets him and Nixie meet." I muttered.

"Tell me about it." Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Just be careful, and tell me if anything else happens. I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

Suddenly, I could hear lots of yelling, and feet thumping on ground. Percy jumped up and ran back inside the big house.

"What's going on?" I asked Annabeth.

"The Apollo kid got cut down to size."

"I hope you don't mean literally."

"Well, he certainly won't be challenging anyone to a fight for a while." Annabeth said with a wry grin, before waving her hand through the mist.

I stared out into the misty forest. I'd slept all night, but due to my head injury, it was a very good one, so I was so tired, my eyes drooping.

I heard a huff to my left, and I stood up quickly, legs going numb.

Towering over me was my silver wolf. He stared down at me, and I swear I saw a glint of humour on his face, before he lay down on his tummy.

He watched as I approached him slowly. I gently sat down next to him on the forest floor. Even without touching him, I could feel the heat he radiated. I reached out my hand, and petted his soft fur.

He closed his eyes, and relaxed, and soon I was leaning against him, nestled in his warm fur.

I watched his face, which wore a content, happy expression.

"You're not a werewolf are you?" I murmured, letting my eyes close. "You're much too sweet."

Unsurprisingly, he didn't answer, but nuzzled his giant head against me.

"Thalia! Where are you?" A voice yelled from camp.

I sighed. "I better go." I said as I stood up.

My wolf got to his feet, appearing as sad at having to leave as I was.

"Will you be back?" I asked. For a second, I felt silly talking to an animal, but stranger things have happened. I thought that I should feel worried that I was hanging out with the enemy, but perhaps I was just too tired to care.

But my wolf looked me straight in the eye, and nodded slowly. Then he disappeared.

"Thalia, where are you?" Nixie called.

"Over here!" I yelled, walking back into the middle of the clearing. Everyone was gathered there, even Lucy, who looked relieved when I entered her sight.

I looked around at my fellow hunters. All had dark rings around their eyes, and had a certain droopy look as they stood there.

"I know everyone is tired, and confused, and worried about Spirit. But for now, there is nothing we can do. I have talked to Annabeth Chase-"

"That boy lover?" Phoebe snorted.

I turned and glared at her. "Who happens to be a hero, and a formidable person in her own right. She's doing some research into werewolves for us." I saw Lucy grin, and gave her a quick smile. "As well as the other monsters we came across. The ones with the red eyes."

"What do we do now?" Nixie asked.

"I know you are all going to hate this, but we wait. Get some sleep. Those wolves, people, whatever, aren't going to hurt Spirit, and there is nothing else we can do. Catch up on your sleep."

Nixie moaned as she walked past me into our tent.

"And no one leaves the camp. I can't promise we'll be able to come after you." I threatened.

As Nixie and I crawled into our sleeping bags, she spoke. "Thalia, what do we do tomorrow if Annabeth doesn't find out anything new?"

I stared up at the tent ceiling. I really didn't know. I was running out of ideas, and I didn't want to risk anyone on a plan that was unlikely to work.

"I'll think of something, Nixie, don't worry."

Paul POV

I sat in the dark shadows of the forrest, thinking about all that I had heard from that weird floating picture.

I could tell Sam that my mission was a success. Thalia didn't believe we were werewolves. She thought I was too sweet. How great is that?

But the downside... They were going to see if they could make cages. To trap us. They knew we at least had to be working with some humans, because wolves can't tie knots.

And all that odd stuff they said about fate, something or someone called Apollo, and Romans. That was weird. I did attend my history classes, thank you very much, but I wasn't exactly the best student. I only remember Rome because of the gladiators, but I have no idea what Apollo is.

When I arrived back at Sam and Emily's I nearly died of laughter. The white wolf the girls called Spirit had bounced into the house, and made itself at home. Sam had been terrified when he came home to see it lying by the back step. Emily had mistaken it for a new pack member, despite it being smaller than us. I guess most wolves in this area aren't white, and they don't wander into people's houses happily.

Sam had grabbed it by the neck and hauled it out to the forrest, and was currently interrogating it in wolf form, with the others standing around, watching.

"I don't thinks Sam's figured out yet that while they're both wolves, the two are fundamentally different beings." Seth said.

"And you haven't figured out that using large words makes you sound like a stuck-up asshole." Leah murmured.

There was a groan of bones as Sam shifted back, turning around and shucking on a pair of pants.

"She's not giving me anything." Sam snarled.

"Maybe because she really is an animal?" Jake said helpfully.

"We could just take her back. Bet her owners are worried about her." I said offhandedly. Well, I thought it was, but everyone turned to stare.

"We can't just let her go back, Paul, have you lost your mind?" Sam demanded.

"What if she's a spy? What if she's been sent here to find out about us?"

"She just an animal! But, hey, you're the alpha. But what if they're communicating telepathically?" I snapped back. "Then what would be the point?"

"Shut up Paul, you're walking on dangerous ground as it is." Sam marched toward me, getting right in my space.

"We aren't giving the damn wolf back, until be have absolute proof these girls don't mean us harm. You might be willing to risk your life, but I'm sure not risking my pack's."

"Have you found out anything?" He asked.

"She thinks we might be werewolves." I said.

There was a murmur among the pack.

"I knew this was a bad idea." Leah growled.

"You know how they figured it out? Thalia knew they were kidnapped by wolves, but when she woke up she was tied to a tree. Wolves can't do that. Besides, she isn't sure, it's just a theory for her at this stage." I shrugged.

"We'll have to be careful, these girls are smart." Sam said.

"It would be hard for them to be as stupid as you seem to think they are." I hissed.

Sam stared down at me, until I had to turn away.

"Is there anything else you would like to report, Paul?" He asked quietly, his eyes searching mine.

I thought about the cages that boy in the rainbow was building. They might be able to trap us, and perform all sorts of experiments on us, or worse. And I knew I'd never be able to really forgive myself if that happened to my pack. No matter how wonderful the imprint is.

"No Sam." I said.

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