Once again, I woke up, wrapped in a rather old blanket while Jacob knelt down in front of me, inspecting every inch of my face. I suppressed a yawn in this situation and rather rolled on my belly to hide my face from him.

“Good morning.” It was unbelievable how much I hated these words. Even then, I slowly stood up and rubbed my eyes.

“Mornin …” I mumbled and felt how he swiped a few hairs out of my face. I really needed to congratulate myself for seducing him to this point, but it also saddened me a bit to see him fall down the bottomless pit I was. “I had a really nice dream … I saved my family from being murdered. I was so happy …”

“Everyone would be happy.” He said, which renewed my conviction somewhat.

“Even you? I mean … you and your father …” I said slowly, inspecting every inch of his face. He had a rather conflicted expression for some time but still nodded with enthusiasm.

“Even I.” He said and took my hands, to help me stand up from the ground.

“Would you do everything to save them?” I asked, shortly before he pulled me up.

“Everything.” He said, still holding my hands and caressing them. I looked in his eyes and could only find love for me, but even this wouldn’t get in my way. Everything. That’s what I would do as well.

Smiling happily, I turned around on my heels and left the room, still holding Jacob´s hand with mine.

“Where are we going?” He asked and got me thinking. Do werewolves need to eat more? Less? Why didn´t he look even remotely hungry?

“I am so hungry!” I exclaimed and together, we left the library under the wonderous eyes who knew him. Well, he apparently got himself his first girlfriend, so that wasn’t really a wonder. This time, he didn´t lead me to a cafeteria, but rather towards a small, neat café. There were quite a few couples around, but also a few all-female groups. My first guess was he wasn’t very often there as he stood around awkwardly while I admired the cakes. They looked good … but one of them had a topping with way too much sugar, while another one could do a few more minutes in the oven.

But I didn´t want to be that kind of girl and thus, I didn´t complain even once as I ate my luxurious breakfast in frustration. I still couldn’t understand how they managed to fuck up a simple bun … anyway, interestingly enough, Jacob ate more than one portion. It did indeed seem as if his metabolism was quite fast, but he also had larger reserves somewhere. Well, I wasn’t the one to complain because my stomach was a black hole, devouring everything I put into it.

In any case, we were outside half an hour later again, laying on a soft patch of grass, far away from the usual routes students took and staring at the sky.

“A bird!” Jacob exclaimed and pointed towards a cloud.

“That’s not a bird … maybe an oversized fish, but not a bird.” I claimed and stared at the cloud. I seriously couldn’t see a bird in this oddly shaped cloud.

“How is that a fish?” He questioned.

“Maybe there is a bit of dirt on my glasses …” I said and looked away from the cloud towards Jacob who laid right next to me. “Maybe it is a bird … I wish I were a bird.”

“How come?”

“Flying around freely, exploring the world without any issues … that’s what I want.” I explained dreamily, pushed my hand as far as I could towards the cloud and closed my hand.

“Will you take me with you?” He asked, which made me smile involuntarily.

“…” I turned around onto my belly and then robbed closer towards him until my face was directly above his. My hairs fell down onto him, at least until I went through my hair and laid them onto my back. “Why don’t you come with me? To the institute?”

“I … I have a family who counts on me.” He said, but I could see the temptation in his eyes.

“But they restrict your freedom, no?” I asked shortly afterwards.

“What about you? Your institute doesn’t seem very nice either. They sent you from place to place, make tests with you and so on.” He said, slightly saddened by my backstory.

“I´m there on my own free will. I can leave whenever I want.” I claimed and smiled brightly to underline my point.

“I … I don’t want to cause any trouble.” He claimed, but I knew there was more to it. Was he perhaps unable to leave his family? Sighing, I let myself fall down onto my back again and looked at the sky.

“Look, a bird!” I said and pointed towards the previous cloud.

“Freedom … that would be nice.”

A short while later, we were already back in the library. Looking at clouds all day sounded romantic, but it was really not, especially if the wind wasn’t blowing. And so, we did what he apparently perceived as romantic. Reading books together.

Sure … I guess. Well, we couldn’t exactly do whatever I perceived as romantic like grilling sausages on a battlefield for example. At least he let me pick out the books, which I naturally abused by selecting one about a criminal syndicate.

Needless to say, he didn´t like it, but that proved once again how little he could identify himself with his father. As I picked out the next book though, he was quite satisfied. It was one about a detective who solved mysterious crimes.

Jacob wasn’t bad. He didn´t want anything to do with criminality and in extension, a part of his family as well. But he still loved them. He grew up with them, so it was only natural for him to feel strongly towards them, especially because they were also his pack. I wasn’t sure how much wolf was actually in him, but it certainly made him choose his family over nearly everything else.

And that was a problem.