His stomach growled loudly, breaking him out of his self-admonishments. He rubbed it, trying to think of some way to get human food without money. He could steal, but that would be wrong. He could beg, but that would be degrading. Finally, he decided to just hunt as a wolf again, no matter how tired he was of eating rabbits and squirrels every night. With another heavy sigh, he stood up and prepared to transform again, but was stopped as he heard voices close by.

“Why on earth did I allow you to drag me out here again?” a female voice groaned, sounding rather hostile, accompanied by weary-sounding footsteps.

“Because I’m your best friend, and you never do anything but sit on the computer all day,” another girl said, sounding much more cheerful. Her footsteps sounded chipper and energetic. “You need some exercise, some sun. Come on! Cheer up. We still have a while before we get back to town, and you have to speed up or it’s gonna be dinner time before we do.”

“I have dance classes three times a week, plus the two musicals I’m doing this summer,” the first one said. “I’m pretty sure I get enough exercise at the daily seven hours of rehearsal.”

The girls came into Jacob’s line of sight. One was thin, with milk-chocolate-colored skin, and dark hair and eyes. The other was a bit taller, very pale, with dark brown hair and green eyes. The pale one looked very tired and more than a little annoyed, and the other was practically skipping backwards, grinning at the other girl and giggling happily at the irritation she was causing. The pale girl stopped when she spotted him, and the happy one turned to see what she was looking at.

Jacob felt an immediate gut-wrenching sensation. The pit of his stomach dropped out, his heart leapt up into his throat and blocked his ability to breathe, his already too-high temperature rose a little higher, and his palms began to sweat. His mind was reeling with emotions he had never felt before. He felt as if he had been detached from the world, and tethered right to the very spot he stood in. As if he suddenly understood the universe and why it revolved. It revolved around her, the pale one that was looking at him in such a funny weird way, that mistrustful manner that was way more endearing than it would have been had it been anyone else.