"Why join the Wolves?" a reporter asked. The announcement of Annabeth joining had been made, and there had been half a second of silence as the reporters processed the confirmation of what they already knew. Each reporter threw out a question at the same time, so Annabeth only caught onto a few of them.

"Why did you join the Delian League in the first place?" another reporter questioned. Annabeth held up a hand. Piper was standing on her right, and Octavian was to her left. She knew that Lupa was somewhere behind her.

"When I first started fighting, I was just trying to get through college. I never knew that my career would become this. I didn't think I would be at the top of the Delian League, let alone the Olympic League, but everything is different now. I am done with college, and my focus is solely on my career," Annabeth stated.

"I am ready to prove that I am the best fighter in the world. I may be the newest member of the Wolves, but I am going to show them why I am the champion," Annabeth said.

Someone nudged Annabeth and knocked her out of her thoughts. She looked over at Piper. Her manager smiled nervously and glanced around. Annabeth did as well. After the press conference, Gwen approached and invited them to her retirement party. Considering Gwen herself invited them, they couldn't exactly turn her down.

Annabeth still wasn't sure how to feel about it. On one hand, it showed that she was fully accepted into the Wolves. On the other hand, it just felt wrong to be at the party of the person that she was replacing. Annabeth glanced around the room.

They were nearing the end of the public party. A few selected reporters that had been invited were now leaving, as were the other guests: a mix of Gwen's family and friends along with past and present fighters. The only ones left at the party would be the members of the Wolves.

Annabeth focused on Gwen. She was holding onto a beer and talking to Reyna. It seemed like Reyna was already five beers deep and had a crooked grin on her face. Gwen laughed and nudged her shoulder. Reyna's grin grew, but her eyes trailed up and down Gwen's body.

There was something wrong with Reyna. After the press conference, Reyna pulled the car up for them. Her eyes had been pretty red, and it almost seemed like she had been crying. Annabeth didn't know her well enough to question it, and she certainly wasn't going to try.

Reyna had been off in training too. Annabeth spent about eight hours working on the basics. She started by punching a bag for five minutes straight before taking a minute break. That continued for about two hours. From there, she practiced her footwork with a soccer ball. While Annabeth didn't completely understand it, she did not dare to question it.

Reyna did the same training as Annabeth, but she was clearly distracted. There were multiple times when she hit the punching bag too hard and had to stop. She also knocked the soccer ball away from herself multiple times. Lupa would make her do a lap each time, and it visibly agitated Reyna.

Hazel and Frank had spent the day sparring with each other, and Annabeth had kept an eye on the two of them. Frank seemed hesitant to hit Hazel. She was not so hesitant to continuously wipe the floor with him. Frank got the hint sooner or later, and the two of them had much more violent training sessions after that.

"How are you and Octavian working together?" Annabeth asked. She looked at Piper. Her manager smiled.

"He's not as bad as I thought he would be, and he's shown me a lot," Piper answered. "Although, he gets grumpy if I take his pens. He'll always wipe them off afterward."

"Do you still chew on pens?" Annabeth questioned. Piper shrugged and gave her a small grin. Annabeth grinned back.

"Hey guys," Hazel said. Annabeth glanced up and saw that Hazel was holding onto two trays of beer. Frank had a tray of food and a few brightly colored drinks that she assumed was non-alcoholic."Come on."

Annabeth slowly stood and grabbed her beer. Piper followed her, and the two walked towards the table in the middle of the room. Hazel carefully put down the tray of beers, and Frank placed his tray down. They both took their seats.

Annabeth sat next to Hazel, and Piper sat right by her. Frank sat across from Hazel, and it didn't take long for Octavian to make it to their side. Octavian spoke, "Having fun yet?"

"We are," Annabeth promised. She watched Gwen sit at the table. "Thanks for inviting us."

"You're part of the team now," Gwen said. Reyna sat by Gwen, which put her directly across from Annabeth. The two of them met eyes, and Annabeth quickly looked away. "Are you enjoying being in the Wolves?"

"I am," Annabeth answered. "The training is different, but I do enjoy it."

"You'll get used to it," Gwen promised. "Lupa is going to drill the fundamentals into you until it becomes second nature. I promise you'll learn plenty of fighting techniques though."

"I know," Annabeth said. She couldn't stop the smile that came to her face. "Lupa has always been an inspiration for me."

"She's been an inspiration for everyone," Gwen said. She helped Hazel pass the drinks around. The food was left in the middle for anyone to grab. Gwen drank a beer and then looked around the table. "Thank you guys. For everything."

"You're the one that we should be thanking. You helped us with everything," Hazel said. Frank nodded his agreement. "It's not going to be the same without you."

"I'll still visit," Gwen said. Out of the corner of her eye, Annabeth saw Nico sit at the table. He grabbed a beer and nodded to them. "If you don't mind Annabeth, I would like to know more about you and Piper. How did you get into fighting?"

"Well, I first had an interest in it when I went to a summer camp. It's the same one that Nico attended," Annabeth began. She noticed how everyone watched her, especially Reyna. "Chiron just wanted us to know some basic self-defense techniques, but I had so much fun with it. It just made sense to me, and I was good at it. I only got some basics though, and I went to some of the local gyms to refine my skills."

"My parents didn't approve and tried to stop me, but two of my best friends helped me train in secret. They took me to the gym and disguised it as hanging out," Annabeth said. She looked down as she thought of Thalia and Luke. While Thalia and Annabeth still talked, Luke had died years ago in a tragic accident. It still hurt her to think about it.

"I watched a lot of different types of boxing and fighting. I taught myself the moves and tried to get better. One of the gyms had a few amateur nights, where you could earn money for boxing. I needed some money for student bills, and it snowballed from there," Annabeth explained.

"How did Piper become your manager?" Hazel asked. A laugh escaped Piper, and Annabeth nudged her.

"Annabeth had just joined the Delian League, and a single reporter was interviewing her for a profile. I happened to be there and watched as she stuttered over every answer," Piper explained. "I stepped in to help. At first, I was just there to help with the media, but when the league tried to screw Annabeth over with her contract, I looked over it and helped her out. She asked me the next day."

"What about you guys?" Annabeth questioned. "How did you get into fighting?"

"Well, I was bullied in high school," Frank began. He shifted uncomfortably. Hazel gently rubbed his arm, and Gwen reached out to gently grab his hand. "A lot of people judge me for my weight. I went to the gym to try and shed some of that weight. I tried weight lifting, running, boxing, and pretty much everything else. There one day that Hazel and Gwen approached me and asked if I could help Gwen spar."

"Gwen wiped the floor with me, but I kept getting back up for more," Frank said. He smiled. "I didn't want to disappoint them, and we started training like that for a few months. Then, they asked me if I wanted to join the Wolves."

"I was bullied too," Hazel said softly. She shifted uncomfortably. Frank rubbed her hand this time. "I grew up in a small town, more like a village. They were so archaic and backward. My mother was a fortune teller, but she couldn't tell the difference between the voices in her head and the spirits. The other kids didn't take too kindly to her or me. It was mostly because of our skin color."

Hazel fell silent for a few moments. Annabeth gently grabbed the younger girl's arm and gave her a kind look. Hazel looked up at her and smiled slightly. She continued, "They always shoved me around and bullied me. They even tried to force me into a few fights. I decided to learn self-defense."

"My mother died not long after, and I was found by my half brother," Hazel said. She smiled brightly and looked at Nico. "He told me that he could show me a self-defense class that would teach me everything I needed. I just wish he warned me that my teacher would be Reyna."

"It was fun throwing you around," Reyna commented. She took a sip of her beer. "And, you showed a lot of promise."

"Reyna was the one who convinced me to join the Wolves," Hazel said. Reyna shrugged slightly and met Annabeth's eyes. She didn't glare upon eye contact being made, and she seemed relaxed.

"I grew up around the Olympic League," Gwen said. "My family was heavily involved in the promotional side of things. My father also fought for a few years and taught me. My father knew Lupa and introduced the two of us. I joined Lupa's gym to help out when it first opened, and I was the first member of her team."

"And one of the best," Octavian commented. "I've also been there since the beginning, but I haven't fought once. My family owns a lot of businesses, so I was free to explore my interest. Managing Lupa's fighters is one of them. There's just something that I enjoy about making you guys look like a million bucks."

"Gwen already looks like a million bucks," Reyna commented. A blush came to Gwen's face. Hazel and Frank quickly exchanged looks. Nico nudged Reyna and grabbed the beer out of her hands. "Get your own loser."

"I did," Nico teased. Reyna rolled her eyes. "Try one of Hazel's fruity drinks."

Reyna rolled her eyes again but did as Nico said. She took a small sip of the drink. Piper spoke, "Reyna, how did you start fighting?"

"Worked at Lupa's gym," Reyna said with a shrug. Nico's eyes moved to Reyna, and then, he quickly looked at the table. Annabeth frowned. "It comes with the territory."

"There has to be more to it," Annabeth began. Reyna met her eyes again, and this time, there was a dangerous look in them.

"There is not," Reyna said stiffly. Nico nudged her, and Reyna looked at him. She looked down for a few moments and then shrugged. "I got used as a training dummy by Gwen enough times to pick things up."

"You were a pretty good training dummy until you fought back," Gwen commented. Reyna laughed and said something too quiet for Annabeth to hear. A blush came to Gwen's face. "You didn't drive, did you?"

"I definitely did," Reyna said. Nico held up a set of keys, and Gwen nodded looking relieved. Reyna focused back on her drink.

"I just walked into Lupa's gym one day and got accepted in. I laid on the charm," Nico commented. He shrugged. Annabeth smiled and focused on her beer. The rest of the hour passed with small conversations starting around the table.

Nico and Frank were trying to get Annabeth into mythomagic, and Piper was listening with a confused look. Gwen and Octavian were talking about their respective families, and eavesdropping told Annabeth that their families knew each other well.

Reyna ended up drinking two more beers over the course of that hour, and she didn't talk much after that. She seemed to be drunk and maybe on the verge of passing out. Hazel would jump into their conversations at random and seemed to be enjoying herself.

At the end of the hour, they started to part ways. Nico and Hazel helped Reyna out to her car. Piper helped Frank carry Octavian, who decided to get his own fill of drinks before they left. Annabeth was left alone with Gwen as they checked to make sure they had left nothing behind.

As they were walking outside, Gwen looked at Annabeth and spoke, "Are you enjoying being in the Wolves? I know it's a big change."

"I am," Annabeth answered. "I'm still just trying to find my footing."

"Is Reyna giving you a hard time?" Gwen asked softly. Annabeth stopped walking and looked at Gwen. Her silence seemed to be enough of an answer. "It's hard for Reyna to open up and get close to people. Just give her some time."

"I can understand the sentiment," Annabeth said, but that didn't make her too happy. It seemed like Reyna didn't even give her a chance. Annabeth forced a small smile to come to her face. "For what it is worth, I know we would have had a great fight."

"I wouldn't have won," Gwen stated. Annabeth frowned, and her eyes widened in surprise. "Trust me. I know that you're a genius. You would have honed in on my weaknesses and taken me out."

Annabeth's face burned red from embarrassment. Gwen nudged her shoulder and started walking again. She spoke, "Just keep working hard and listen to Lupa. She'll take you from great to unstoppable."

"I'll do my best to fill your shoes," Annabeth said. She held her hand out. Gwen shook it and smiled brightly. "And, I hope you enjoy your retirement."

"I'm sure I'll be yelling at kids to get off my lawn any day now," Gwen said. Annabeth laughed, and the two walked towards Gwen's car. "Seriously, enjoy your time with the Wolves. I promise it will be the time of your life."