elise.
The moon may not be full, it might be waning, but after my being forced to give in for a night, my wolf is still eager for activity. The days before are about me and my control; the wolf doesn't try then. The days after, however... perhaps, her confidence simply rose a bit too much.
Judging by the intense stomachache, my wolf does not approve of my plans to leave La Push. Reluctantly obliging, I rest in a forest clearing. "Does it not hurt you as much as it does me?" Sometimes, when it suited me, I thought of us, wolf and human, as one and the same. Mostly, though, we were two distinct entities. I sigh, wondering why I have not been checked into the looney bin yet. The hardest thing is that there are never any distinct lines. Any one action... I cannot say if it is Wolf or if it is Me. Not truly. I pretend to, but it's not like 'we' leave each other sticky notes on the fridge.
Thud-tha-thud, thud, thud-tha-thud, thud, whoosh, wha-whoosh, wha-whoosh, tha-thud-thud, thud, thud-tha-thud, thud, tha-whoosh... I pause, listening. The sound is familiar somehow. I do not tense or otherwise become afraid, but, as always, I'm ready to leap up at a moment's notice.
He bursts from behind some bushes, like a dolphin breaking through the waves. His fur is russet-red, an interesting mix of light and dark hairs. 'I' remember him now; snarling and anticipating an attack. Oh, she'd thought to fight him? Luckily, the moon's pull had been weakening. Her aggression had been borne of desperation, a last-ditch effort to stave off Changing. The Change; usually such a grotesque affair, it'd been quick as a wink last night, now I recall. Hmmm.
"Hello," I say, realizing that I'm not remotely threatened by the grand wolf's presence. Maybe I should be. Perhaps I am right not to be. I almost certainly will never be quite sure. "I'm not like you," I add, just in case he's forgotten, "because today I will have thumbs. Same for tomorrow, and the day after that, and the –"
The speed of his change was like my unusual one: near instantaneous. It is still breathtaking, how effortless it seems. Perhaps it is, but it is so hard to tell with those low-set brows and intensely dark eyes of his. I rest my elbows on my knees, taking great care in looking nonchalant when my heart is like a runaway deer.
"You really only change on the full moon?" His question is earnest, but his tone is indifferent, sullen, even.
"Yes," it is surreal, discussing this. I am torn between feeling uncomfortable and feeling liberated. Is it strange to feel both? "The moon enslaves me and those like me... whereas the sun tries to spoil them." He looks confused for but a moment – I find I like the way it is so easy to see when understanding dawns. What I decide is the wolf in me likes that the mention of them, the enemy of our (my) kind, makes his eyes narrow and his fists clench. Good, I think to myself, the enemy of my enemy...
"That's a weird way of putting it. I think they're just obsessed with disco." The wisecrack is at odds with that frown.
"I see that we've switched places."
"How?" He shakes his head, getting it. He looks at the ground in an attempt to smother the could-be-if-he-let-it grin that tries to steal onto his face. "Right. I'm the one who's naked." Only a robot would be able to even pretend to mind that; I'm quite sure that that is what the male form should aspire to be. But to openly admire him... not my style. I keep my eyes firmly fixed on his own when he looks back at me. "Who are you?" He asks, after a moment's pause.
"Who are you?" I return.
"Jacob Black." There is no hesitation in his words and no deception in his eyes.
"Elise Korsak."
