Poison

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

Talon and Melanie were curled up next to each other in their wolf forms when they woke up in the morning. They had decided to spend the night outside, and with their fur, they were certainly warm enough. Having each other only made it even warmer for them. Melanie woke first and she started pawing at Talon's face, waking him up as well.

He opened his eyes slowly, wanting to sleep longer. Melanie had worn him out. He nuzzled her gently, then put his head back down on his paws, hoping she'd let him sleep longer, but that wasn't in her agenda. She grabbed him by the back of his neck and started pulling, gently so as not to hurt him, and playfully growling. Realizing he had no choice but to wake up, he got to his feet slowly and stretched.

As he was stretching, Melanie bounced around him, full of energy. Talon didn't know how she did it; he was absolutely exhausted. Once he was on his feet, Melanie darted off. Not having the energy to chase her, Talon slowly walked after her. If he needed to, he could easily follow her scent. That wasn't necessary, however, because Melanie wasn't about to leave her mate. Before she went too far away, she doubled back and circled around him before running off again.

He let out a little sigh as he followed her, wishing he had her energy. He also hoped she knew where she was going. Before shifting for the final time earlier that morning, they had discussed heading back to the car. That's when they decided to just go back in the morning and stay the rest of the night outside. He assumed that she knew which direction to go. Wanting to make sure, he sniffed the ground, trying to see if he could pick up and trace of their scent. He couldn't, but that didn't mean they were going the wrong direction. With nothing but miles of forest all around them, they easily could have been on a new trail.

Finally, Talon caught the scents of familiar wolves and he knew Melanie had gone the right way. Detecting the scents of his pack mates almost caused Talon to growl at the memory of what they had done the previous night. He wasn't so much angry about being beaten up, although he could add that to the list of his complaints, but he was pissed that they had frightened and threatened his mate. Even if they hadn't meant the threats, they made her believe that they did.

Talon hoped that they would be able to avoid any confrontation with the pack and simply drive away. He wasn't sure if he ever wanted to speak to any of them again. But as they walked along the road they had drove in on, Talon saw that wasn't going to happen. Several wolves were all around his car, including two on top of it. A large black wolf was on the roof, while a white wolf sat on the hood. Talon recognized them as Sophia and Jason.

Seeing the other wolves, Talon stopped a good distance away and growled at them. He was a little surprised to hear another growl coming from beside him – he glanced over to see Melanie baring her teeth and growling at the pack.

The pack had the advantage in numbers, and Talon had no intention of fighting them, but he wanted to make a point. But then he saw another black wolf, a bit smaller than the one on his car. Lukas. Remembering what he had done to Melanie, Talon stalked towards him, still growling. Lukas didn't seem to appreciate that and growled as well.

While most of the rest of the pack seemed content to just watch, the white wolf jumped off the hood of the car and trotted towards Talon and Lukas. Melanie didn't know who he was at first, but when he drew closer, she recognized the scent of the pack's beta. Without thinking, she jumped between him and her mate, snapping her teeth at him. She wasn't about to let Talon be hurt again.

Jason didn't attack Melanie, nor did he even growl. He simply stopped in his tracks and looked at her. He tilted his head, as if questioning her. Melanie continued to growl at him, and she took a step forward, hoping to push him back. She didn't want him near Talon.