Poison

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

Life had gone back mostly to the way it was before Sophia and the others had learned where Talon and Melanie lived. But now that Melanie could shift, every chance they had, they went up to the mountains and ran around in their wolf forms. Melanie was proud to say she was just as comfortable in her wolf form as her human form.

Talon was glad that the pack had respected their desire to be left alone – it had been just over a month since Melanie first shifted and he had yet to hear a single word from them. Although he never would have admitted it, he was starting to miss them. He had liked interacting with the pack, but he still had trouble getting over what they had done.

At least Melanie seemed happy. That was what Talon really cared about, and even if what the pack had done had been wrong, it at least ended up in some good.

"I've been thinking," Melanie said one day when they were driving back down from the mountains. They had spent the day with the Carter family, which helped Talon's feelings of isolation. They had been happy to see Melanie shift, and Talon knew they'd always have a family there.

"Yeah?" Talon asked, hoping it was nothing bad. He couldn't imagine any bad news she might have.

"About your pack," she said.

"We never have to see them again," Talon quickly assured her. "If you want, we can probably just move back with the Carters. I don't think they'd mind. And then, they'll never find us."

"No," Melanie said. "That's not what I meant. I never knew my family. Or my pack or anything. I guess it makes me a little sad. But with me, I never knew them. But you know yours. And I'd hate to think that you'd go through the rest of your life and never see them again. I can't help but think that you'll regret it."

"What they did –"

"Sucked," Melanie interrupted him. "Maybe even cruel. But look at their intentions. They weren't trying to hurt either of us. They wanted to help and that's the only thing they could think of to do. I wasn't happy about it either."

"Wasn't?" Talon questioned. "You're okay with it now?"

"Well, yeah, sorta. When I remember how I felt that night, it's still a little distressing, but when I think about everything else, well, it doesn't seem so bad. My whole life, I thought I was just some misfit. I wasn't a human because of my wolf blood, and I wasn't a wolf because I couldn't shift and didn't know anything about our kind. But now, I feel like I belong. I know who I am. If they had to cause me some pain for me to know that, I'm okay with it."

Talon was silent for quite some time, thinking over what she had said. He tried to imagine himself in her position. Not knowing where he belonged was a hard thing to imagine – he'd definitely had his issues with the pack before and didn't feel like he belonged with them, but he certainly always knew he was a wolf. He couldn't even imagine what it would be like to be uncertain about something so basic. It made him want to forgive the pack, but part of him still wanted to be angry with them.

"Also," Melanie said. "We do need them."

"What?" Talon asked as he was pulled from his thoughts.

"Well, we want to have children, right?"

"Yeah," Talon agreed. They hadn't changed their mind about that, but Talon knew where she was going with that line of thought. He'd thought the same thing the night she had first shifted – without the pack's help, they would find raising a child to be difficult.

"I did the math," Melanie continued. "We could have a baby, but money would be really tight. You'd probably have to get a second job, and I want you to spend time with our kids. As far as I'm concerned, it's not an option. And that's assuming we stay at the apartment we have now, which would work for a while, but eventually, we'd need more room."