The Things We Hunger For

Chapter Four - The Wolf in Cabin Three *Ryan* Part II

A/N: I've been re-watching the Percy Jackson movies and I can't decide which movie I like more. The first one which is such a classic quest movie or the second one which is just more awesome, has more character issue and cool effects! Plus it has Nathan Fillion and Anthony Stewart Head! Anyone who has an opinion on this feel free to share!

 Enjoy!

Four

-The Wolf in Cabin Three-

Part II

*Ryan*

The next day went by agonizingly slow, I ate everything in the cabin that could be eaten and I was still hungry. My foot was healing and the cuts had closed up and the previously black blue bruise was turning a sickly greenish yellow, which I guessed was progress. But since I still couldn't support my weight on my leg I was fairly certain the leg was broken, maybe even crushed and it was taking my body a long time to get it fixed. I also began to wish for a pair of shoes since going outside for a piss in two inch snow without anything on my feet was about as fun as juggling with razor blades.

I'd inventoried the stuff I'd found in the green emergency supply box, found candles and crayons. I figured the candles would be nice for when the sun set. They might both offer a little warmth and light. The crayons provided a bit of a distraction from both my throbbing leg and the boredom that quickly was beginning to take root in me. I wanted my carving knifes and a piece of wood. Carving was something my father had taught me and over the past year I'd gotten seriously good at it, since it was one of the things I could do for fun that cost no money and needed no electric outlet.

I also tried to put up some of the Christmas decorations but the effect was sad rather than festive. They seemed to be taunting me, reminding me that there would be no Christmas for me. I took them down and put them in the box of emergency supplies not even wanting to see them.

Sometime in the afternoon I began to pace (well, hobble) as I wait for Annabeth to come back. I felt a little bad for not talking to her last night, she'd clearly figured out what I was, and she was a wolf too. She would probably be able to handle what I told her. Still I wanted to know more about her before I shared things with her. Sharing, even when I'd been human, hadn't been something I did with just anyone.

I also was beginning to get desperate for a shower, and attempted to freshen up a little in the newly fallen snow. There was almost three inches of it by then and it was still coming down. I sure hoped Annabeth would still show up even with the snow.

Wrapping the thermal blanket around myself I sat on the one step outside the cabin with my back against the door. The blanket was keeping me warm and even if it hadn't been I'd not been able to stand sitting around in the cabin for one more moment.

A short while later I heard a faint sound coming from the west and looked in that direction. It was a red brown wolf carrying a backpack, bounding towards me with amazing speed.

Annabeth.

I stared, startled. I wasn't sure but I had half believed she was kidding me about being able to turn at will. Like she, I don't know, had been trying to tell me what I wanted to hear. That I had imagined seeing her first as wolf then as human. But she hadn't been messing with me.

The wolf stopped about a hundred feet away, dropped the backpack it had been carrying and then moved slightly to the left, behind a huge tree and out of my sight. A moment later a lean arm reached for the backpack and shortly after that Annabeth, now wearing clothes –but no shoes – moved out from behind the tree and hurried over to me.

I got up and made sure the door was open so she wouldn't have to stay on the snow any longer than she had to.

"Hi," she said as she got close. I tried not to stare at her. Not just because she had been a wolf three minutes earlier but also because she was just as beautiful in the daylight as in the moon light. Her eyes were so amazingly piercing blue and I'd never seen that kind of cascading curly hair before. I wanted to touch it, run my fingers through it. Suddenly I found myself wondering why the heck she was out here with me, and who the sweatshirt I was wearing belonged to. Her boyfriend most likely. Girls like this always had boyfriends.