Percy's POV
I was about to protest, but found my eyes slipping closed against my will.

I woke up to find silver eyes glaring hatefully down at me. Jumping back, startled, I stared down the girl that leered over me.

It took me a moment to recognize her. She was wearing a gray shirt, but black pants and combat boots with silver tips. Her hair was long, to about the middle of her back, in a ponytail. Her arms were crossed.

"Are you done gawking, Perseus? Don't make me change my mind about helping you," she spat, holding a disproportionate anger for such a small teenage girl.

That's when it finally clicked. "Lady Artemis!" I barked, hopping up on my four legs and bowing so deeply, my chest touched the ground.

She smirked at me, flicking a strand of auburn hair from her face. "Took you long enough."

"I apologize, my lady!" I exclaimed, desperately hoping she would overlook my ignorance and continue to help me. I'd never be able to return to Annabeth without the help of Artemis.

She scoffed. "Oh, get up. You're wasting moonlight. We don't have all day to do this, too. You're just lucky that I could get Apollo to watch my chariot tonight. It does have autopilot, but I prefer not to risk my deer."

I hopped up immediately after she told me to, watching her as she ranted to herself about her chariot and deer. Finally, her silver eyes shot back to me.

"Why don't you change back into a human?" She challenged.

I growled, insulted. "I can't. That's why you're here! I thought you were going to help me."
Artemis narrowed her silver eyes at me. "You can't even turn into a human? How am I supposed to help you when you can't do anything?"

I knew she was just trying to provoke me, but it was working. My blood level was rising, a dull pounding in my pointed, furred ears. I wouldn't be able to control my anger at all. I had just enough strength to hold it back ever so slightly, but one push would let it loose.

Artemis seemed to realize that. She smirked at me, saying, "You can't even do this right! No wonder Annabeth pushed you away. She deserves a real man."

Oh no she didn't. "Don't bring Annabeth into this!" I roared, rushing towards her, fingers outstretched as if to tear her to shreds. Wait, fingers?

Shocked, I stopped in my tracks, a few paces away from the smug goddess of the moon. Holding my hands up to the moonlight that shone through the trees of this forest we found ourselves in, I examined them. They were human hands! No long, black hair decorated them, neither did sharp claws. I had normal, stubby fingernails!

I looked at the man-hating goddess. "How did you transform me back? Hestia said there was no magic that could do that when it was a werewolf that was concerned!"

"I didn't do it, idiot. You did it yourself." When I stared at her blankly, she rolled her eyes and explained it further. "You just have to concentrate all your emotion into the one goal. You did that with your anger, and turned yourself back into a man."

I remained in shock, staring at my hairless hands. Hands, not paws! This was surely a miracle.

In front of me, Artemis rolled her eyes. "Let's get started. This might take a while."

Annabeth's POV (whoa, really?)

I sighed to myself, sitting in my cabin at Camp Half Blood. It had been a few days since Percy disappeared, but I hadn't allowed myself to stop searching for him. Surely he wouldn't go far, right? My heart feels like it's breaking, but I can't let my siblings see. I have to be strong. They've lost one camp leader; I can't let them lose another.

Someone knocked on the door. I could hear them panting heavily. "Annabeth, Annabeth!" I sighed again, getting up from my bunk and walking over to the door.

"Grover?" I asked, surprised when I pulled the door open. "What's wrong?"

His words chilled my blood. "It's Percy."

"Where?" I asked over my shoulder, already running towards the Big House.

Grover trotted alongside me. "Wait, Annabeth! He's not actually here."

I dug my heels into the ground and glared at the saytr. "Then what's this about him, Grover?"

In the pit of my stomach, dread settling there told me he was either dead or gone. I desperately hoped, for once, that I was wrong.

"A nymph told Juniper some news. She has news about him, but not his actual location. From what I heard though, she might be able to give us a hint as to where he is, or at least where he's heading," Grover explained quickly, probably fearing (correctly) that I'd bite his head off if he didn't tell me what was going on.

I stared at him for a moment, evaluating his words. Then, in a clipped voice, I said, "Let's go."

I followed Grover to the woods around camp, my drakon bone dagger strapped to my hip in case of a fight. We didn't come across any monsters, though, and soon we found ourselves standing in front of Juniper's tree.

"Juniper!" Grover called. "I brought Annabeth!"

The tree nymph appeared from the tree, her face pouring out of it, followed by her body. As always, she looked beautiful, looks worthy of a mythical creature, just like all the nymphs. In younger years, I had always been jealous. No wonder all the gods chased after them.

Juniper smiled when she saw us standing there. "Annabeth! It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"It has," I agreed impatiently. "What did you hear about Percy?"

The smile dropped from her face as she looked at me sorrowfully. "He was heading towards California, last anyone heard. He was almost to the middle of the United States when the news reached me, so I don't know where he would be now."

I frowned. "What's he looking for?"

Juniper swallowed hard, looking up at me with the face of a dog that knew it was about to be kicked. "They say he's looking to join his pack with Lycaon."

I gasped. "No! Percy... He would never do that! He would remain strong! This can't be true," I protested.

Grover shook his head. "I'm sorry Annabeth. I wish it wasn't true as well. But with what's left of the empathy link, I can vaguely tell that Juniper is right. Percy is looking for the werewolf pack. After that transformation in the middle of camp the other day, I don't think he has any other choice but to join them. The urge must be getting too great to resist."

I swallowed back a sob. "N-no... He wouldn't do that. He would fight this!" He promised me.
Juniper stepped away from her tree to wrap me in a hug. "I'm so sorry, Annabeth. But there's nothing we can do!"

I wiped a hand across my eyes to stop the tears from leaving their ducts. "No," I whispered, a plan beginning to form in my mind. It was a desperate one, but the only one that could have a possibility of working.

The tree nymph pulled away from me to observe my face. "No?"

"No," I said, louder this time. "I'm going to go after him. I have to stop him from joining Lycaon's pack!"

Grover frowned at me. "What would that accomplish? There's no cure to this, Annabeth. You should know that better than anyone. You spent all those days before he even woke up looking for a cure. You have to let him go."

"I can't!" I exclaimed, pushing Juniper away from me. "I can't leave him. I-I love him."

Grover sighed. "Annabeth... Chiron would never let you go on a quest to find him. It would be suicide! You have to accept the fact that he's not Percy anymore."

"Stop it, Grover," I demanded in a deadly voice. "Just because you don't believe in him, doesn't mean I can't believe in him."

"Annabeth, it's not that I don't believe in him. He's my best friends, gods damn it!" Grover yelled. "I just don't want to run after the impossible possibility that he could be saved. And at what price? There's no cure. You know that he would rather stay away, living on his own, than risk the safety of everyone else in camp with him around. You saw him that day after the transformation. He almost hurt Owen."

This was becoming too much for me. "I know, Grover. I know. But I can't do this without him! He promised me. He promised me that he would never let me go. Where is he now, Grover?"

Grover sighed, dragging a hand down his face and messing up his curly hair. "Please, Annabeth, don't do this."

"You can't stop me, Grover. You and I both know that. I'm going to do this with or without you."

He sighed again, locking eyes briefly with his girlfriend. "Fine. But I'm sure as hell not letting you go alone."

I smiled, the first one since Percy disappeared. We had a chance of getting him back, no matter the cost. I couldn't live without him, whether he was himself or not. I loved him with my whole heart.

"We leave at dawn," I told Grover. "Meet me at Thalia's tree." With those instructions said, I turned and stalked back to my cabin, ready to pack a bag to save my idiotic, lovable boyfriend.

Notes

Sorry it's been so long!! I've been really busy. Hope you like this chapter!