Chapter Nine
The week after Melanie agreed to move with him to Denver had been busy. They’d gone down that same day, mostly because Talon wanted to talk to Lukas, but he also wanted to start looking into places to live and for jobs. He’d applied for several jobs and then they headed back to the mountains and spent one last night with the Carters.
Talon and Melanie didn’t have very much, so there was next to nothing to pack into the back of Talon’s car. The dresser he got for Melanie was the only thing that didn’t fit, and the Carters promised to take it down as soon as they had their own place. The family was also very helpful on that front, giving Talon a loan in order to get a place much sooner than he thought he’d be able to. Originally, Talon’s plan had been to see if he could borrow money from Sophia and other friends, and sleep in his car until he had enough to get an apartment. He hadn’t wanted to take a loan from the Carters, but they insisted.
Within that first week, Talon had found a place to live and started a job. He was working retail and not making very much, but he knew he and Melanie could make it work. They had to do without a TV or Internet, and many of the other things Talon had grown used to having over the years, but since Melanie hadn’t had those sorts of things, she was used to it, and as long as she was happy, Talon was too.
There was a library not too far from the apartment, and Melanie quickly found a deep love for books. While Talon was away at work, she spent most of her time reading. Being a fast reader, she went through books quickly and went to the library just about every day where she checked out books on all sorts of things. While she mostly read fiction, she also found she enjoyed non-fiction as well.
After his first full week of work, Talon came home. He unlocked the door and sighed when he walked in. He really wished he had a couch or something to sit on besides the floor. Melanie had fallen asleep on the floor, and Talon felt like he was a terrible mate. He couldn’t even get a bed for her. He knew he was lucky to have her with him, but he wondered how long she would stay if he could hardly even provide for her.
He headed to the bathroom, trying to be quiet so as not to wake Melanie, but as he passed by her, she sat up. Even only being half wolf, her senses were just as sharp as his. Sometimes, it made Talon wonder if she really could shift.
“Hey Talon,” Melanie said.
“I didn’t mean to wake you,” Talon said. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. Did you have a good day at work?”
“Yeah,” Talon said. “It wasn’t too busy, but busy enough. How was your day?”
“I just read and slept,” Melanie said with a shrug. “The usual.”
Talon sighed again, still wishing he could give his mate better. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I hate to have you sleeping on the floor and have nothing but books for company. My first paycheck I’m gonna have to save for rent, and then, I got to pay back the Carters. But as soon as I do, then I promise, the first thing I’m going to do is get you a bed.”
“It’s all right,” Melanie reassured him. “Really. I don’t mind sleeping on the floor. And I like reading. After being raised by people who thought I was a monster, this is great.”
Her words didn’t make him feel much better, although he was glad she thought living with him was better than living with the hunters. Still, it wasn’t saying much, and being reminded of the hunters made him angry. “You deserve better. And I’ll get it for you eventually.”
“You don’t have to worry about me Talon. But thanks.”
“I have tomorrow off,” he said, deciding to change the subject. “We don’t really have money yet, but we can hang out. Go for a walk or something.”
“That sounds nice,” Melanie said. “I do miss you when you’re at work. It’ll be nice to spend more time with you.”
Talon couldn’t help but smile. Even if his mate wasn’t ready to accept him, he was glad she at least wanted to be with him. He could handle just being friends for a while. Just as long as he could spend time with her.
It took two months for Talon to be able to pay the Carters back. Although Talon had the feeling they wouldn’t have minded if he made smaller payments over a longer period of time, Talon wanted to get that out of the way so he could focus on making sure Melanie had whatever she needed.
As soon as he had the money, he bought a futon. He would have liked to buy a regular bed for her, but he really wanted to save some money too, so he went with the less expensive futon. At least she wouldn’t have to sleep on the floor anymore. Fortunately, he was strong enough to carry it up to their apartment on his own, although going up the stairs with it was a bit exhausting.
“What’s this?” Melanie asked when he brought up the pieces for the frame.
“I just picked something up for you,” he said. “I’ll put it together for you in a bit. Just got a few other things to bring up first.”
Talon brought up the rest of the pieces for the frame, and then put it together before carrying up the mattress. Melanie offered to help, but Talon refused. He wanted to do it himself.
“Thank you Talon,” Melanie said once she helped put the mattress on the frame. She sat down on it and smiled. “It’s nice having some more furniture.”
“Sorry,” Talon said. “I should have done this sooner.”
“No,” Melanie said, standing up and giving him a hug. “This was the perfect time for it. Plus you had to pay back the Carters.” She pulled away from him and thought for a second before asking, “What about you? You can’t still sleep on the floor.”
“I like the floor,” Talon said. “I’ll get something for myself someday. I just didn’t want to keep you on the floor. I convinced you to come here with me. I felt bad having you sleep on the floor after that.”
“I don’t mind,” Melanie said. “I’ve had worse places to sleep.”
Talon was about to ask her what she meant, but he knew that the hunters who raised her must have mistreated her. Of course they did. They made her believe she was a monster. Why would they worry about her comfort? “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” she said softly.
“Yeah, but they shouldn’t have done that to you. I wish you didn’t have to go through all that with them.”
“It wasn’t as bad as you might think,” Melanie said. “It’s not like they beat me or anything. My… um, well the male hunter. He was the only one who was ever really bad, but his wife was usually pretty nice. To be honest, I think she was more worried for what I might turn into.”
“They still hurt you,” Talon said, reaching out to stroke her cheek. He quickly remembered he wasn’t supposed to act like that around her and pulled his hand back and walked around her to stand by the window. “Maybe not physically, but Melanie, they made you think you were a monster. That has to hurt. I don’t know a lot about what you went through with them, but from what I do know, it sounds like it was an abusive situation.”
“I don’t think so,” Melanie started to argue.
“Emotionally abusive,” Talon said. “Just because they never hit you doesn’t mean it wasn’t abusive. They kept you from your family. Hell, they probably killed your real parents or at least the wolf. And raised you and made you think you were terrible just for being part wolf. Made you feel like you were worthless and powerless. Like you’d never amount to anything.”
He had his back to her, but Melanie could see that he was shaking and it sounded like he was trying to hold back tears. At first, Melanie thought he was just angry about what the hunters had done to her, but it didn’t take long for her to realize it was more than just that. He was speaking from personal experience. She stepped over to his side and gently placed a hand on his arm. He looked at her, and she could see his eyes were watery.
“Talon,” she said softly, running her hand down his arm and taking his hand in hers. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Do you?”
“Come on,” she said, leading him over to the futon. “Tell me as much as you want to. Or can. And I’ll do the same.”