Poison

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Melanie sat near the window looking over the parking lot, hoping to see Talon's car pull up soon. He still worked long hours, but during the past two weeks, he'd also made plenty of time for Melanie. Things hadn't progressed as far as Melanie wanted, but she really couldn't complain about the things he did to her. Thinking about that made her aroused and she became impatient for Talon to get home. She dropped the book she had been reading on the floor and started pacing.

A car pulled into the parking lot and Melanie stopped for a moment, but once she saw it wasn't Talon's car, she resumed her pacing. She stopped again when she noticed a man just standing in the parking lot. Something about him seemed familiar, and Melanie was sure she'd seen him before, but she didn't know from where. He looked up towards her window and Melanie quickly ducked out of view, hoping he hadn't seen her.

She remained still for several moments and then cautiously peeked out the window again. To her relief, the man was no longer standing out there, although she did see his vehicle. She told herself she was simply paranoid and that she had nothing to worry about. It was probably just someone coming to visit someone who lived in the apartment building. Then, there was a knock on the door, and knew it couldn't be anyone good.

Melanie didn't have any friends that would visit her, and she couldn't imagine that Talon would have someone come over without telling her. She could only imagine the worst – the hunters had tracked her down and they were going to kill her and Talon. It would certainly explain why the man in the parking lot had seemed familiar.

She didn't know how much time had passed, but eventually, she heard the door unlock. Just in case it was a hunter, Melanie began looking around for something to defend herself with, but she had nothing. She darted towards the kitchen to get a knife, passing by the door just as it opened. The open door brought in a familiar scent that immediately made her feel better.

"Talon!" Melanie ran over to him, jumping on him and throwing her arms around him and knocking him backwards into the hall.

"What's wrong?" he asked, knowing something wasn't right. While she had certainly become comfortable with him, she had never jumped on him quite like that.

"There was this person here. And he knocked on the door and I think he might be a hunter. Talon, what do we do? We have to leave, don't we?" Melanie found that she was almost ready to cry when telling Talon about what had happened.

"Are you sure it was a hunter?" Talon asked.

"I don't know but he seemed familiar. And I think he saw me and then he knocked on the door. Who else could it be?"

"It's going to be okay," he said, patting her on the back. "We can leave. Go somewhere far away where they can never find us." Talon realized it would probably be easier to ask the pack for help. They could surely find a place where the hunters couldn't find them, but he just didn't feel ready to speak to them.

Talon led his mate back inside, pausing as he passed the door. He inhaled deeply, wanting to catch the scent that the person had left. He found it to be familiar as well, and if he was right, they weren't in any danger, but he still thought moving might be a good idea.

"The man you saw. Was he tall? Kinda muscular, dark hair and scowling?"

"Um, yeah," Melanie said. "Do you know him?"

"Yeah," he said with a sigh. "He's my cousin. I can smell his stink all over the door."

"So we're okay?" Melanie asked with a smile. "We don't have to move?"

"Well, we don't have to. But maybe we should. I'm sure he's tracked me down because my sister wanted him to. Which means she's probably going to show up here pretty soon."