Drabble A Day Tumblr Challenge

Day 14

Characters: Lupa, Jason Grace, Lady Juno


When she first met him, he came with a fresh summer breeze. She wasn't surprised when the Queen of the Gods told her it was one of her husband's offspring, when she was told he was a son of the great Jupiter; she had smelled his demigod blood, his father's gift to his son, a mile away. She had smelled his potential.

But most of all, she had smelled the air.

It was a sunny day, so hot that some of her pack were being tended to by their elders before the intense heat took them away. She felt their ache for water, felt their ache for rest, and she allowed them to take a few steps back from their duty so that they could be properly aided. And perhaps, she had wanted to lie down as well, at least for a few seconds before being swept off by work, but it's best not to tell anyone about that.

Her pack was sweating. There was no wind. Only the humid air of which they were trapped in.

Until Juno had come, of course; it was a blessing, as it always was. Air had poured through the Wolf House's windows, giving most of her pack and then some a happy sigh of delight. The younger ones had howled loudly, and the rest bowed to the goddess. She had followed the latter example, waiting for the permission to rise.

"Come," she said, wonderfully divine voice pouring through in thin waves. "Rise, my wolves. It is a new day." Obligingly, their heads rose, including hers. Lady Juno seemed to favor them today, for she was looking at them with pride and something echoing fierce belief.

"My Lady," she spoke, respect set firmly in place. "I do not mean to pry, but surely you have come to us for a reason?"

Lady Juno considered her for a moment, before giving a slight nod, "Ah, yes. You wolves with your sense of duty. I can't possibly deny that." She clapped her hands lightly. "Disperse!" she ordered the pack, "Your leader and I have something private to discuss."

That's when she first sensed it; a summer wind rolling through the air, giving a semblance that closely could be labeled home. She had tried to find it, her nose only leading her to Lady Juno's robes, and exercised her ability to be patient. The goddess would tell her in due time.

"It is a boy," the goddess whispered, making her ears perk up in alert. Quietly, she took away the cloth hanging on her right arm, to reveal a sleeping baby boy. She looked at him in consideration, and sniffed; two years old, three at most. She sniffed again. And curiously, he smelled vaguely of ozone. She raised her eyebrows at the immortal beside her, who nodded.

"A son of my husband, I admit," Lady Juno said, her tone not without a hint of disapproval, "But I trust him to be good in your hands, in your camp. Camp Jupiter, if I remember correctly. He is destined for great things, as all sons of Jupiter are. Do treat him well."

"I will," she vowed, with conviction in her voice. "But may I ask the name of the child, m'lady?"

The goddess looked at her, her eyebrow raised, unimpressed. "You didn't think I would hand you a child and expect you to name him, did you? Some of your pack go nameless, I know, and you would possibly wait for him to grow up and name himself." She paused, and she said quietly, "But if you must know, his name is Jason Grace. That is all, my dear wolf."

She bowed, and with a twirl, the goddess disappeared, and Jason Grace was left sleeping on the ground, still surrounded by the winds of summer.


wind

n.

moving air carrying sound, an odor, or a scent.


Thirteen years later, when the boy is gone, whisked off by his winds, he brings them with him. Oddly, she feels a small pang in her chest when she can't smell summer winds from the camp anymore. And so she howls in the dead of night, like a wolf often must do, when she cannot find her pack.