Angel Blackwood (26 page)

Talon
’s head whips up
and looks at me. He removes his hands and Axel shoves him off. I
run up to Axel and pat his back softly as he coughs.

“Are you okay?”
I say softly as
he rubs his
throat and nods before sending a glare towards Talon.

“Get your hands off him,
Angel. NOW!” It’s my turn to glare at Talon.

“What? So now
I’m Angel again? Thought I was
Lexi
to you,” I spit
out, but he ignores my jab and turns to Nixon.

“What the
fuck
, Nixon? Haven’t you been
feeding her?” Talon growls as he looks my body over.

I look down and
realise I’m only wearing my bra and underwear
. I wrap my arms around my body. When Axel moves
to take off his shirt, Talon growls and throws me his. I quickly
put it on.

“Look at her! She’s skin
and bone,” Talon says.

“Don’t you dare
come here and start asking questions. I’ve been here from the
beginning! You know how hard it is to be around unmated females
when they’re on heat? I was here looking after
your
mate,
Talon. I had to force her to eat, and hold her head up when she was
too weak to lift it on her own to drink. Don’t you
dare
start questioning me!” The fury in Nixon’s voice forces me
to cower away.

“You don’t know how hard
it’s been trying to control my wolf around her, but I swear to the
Fates, if you don’t help her, I will!” Nixon yells, his face red
and eyes darker. Talon charges for Nixon and tackles him to the
ground.

“You won’t touch her! She’s
ours!” Talon growls. Axel manages to stop the fight as I stand
there frozen watching the scene play out.

After fifteen minutes of
watching the boys wrestling each other, I head back to my room. I
climb on to the stool by the window and place my hand against it,
watching the heat from my skin steaming up the glass. It’s been
raining quite frequently these past few days; I suppose it’s
nature’s way of trying to help me out…or I’d like to think it
is.

I draw a little heart on
the window, but rub it out when I hear Talon’s footsteps and take
in his scent.

“You only have
a day left of this. I’m sure my presence here
helps
, but don’t expect me to
fuck you. It’s not gonna happen.” I cringe at his choice of words
and the way he spits them out.

I don’t respond
because the truth is his presence
is
helping me, its
better with him here than without him. The heat is still very
evident, but it’s much less painful and a lot more comfortable
seeing that my mate is within walking distance; even if I’m unable
to touch him.

I bring my feet
up, pulling
my knees under my
chin as I rest my cheek on my knee and look out of the
window.

“You hear me?”
H
e asks irritably.

I know he
doesn’t want to be here
, the
little brawl he just had with the boys has him all riled up. I have
no intention of feeding his temper, for him to then take it out on
me. I just don’t have the strength for it.

“I heard
you,
” I say softly.

He walks out
and slams the door behind him
,
and after a few minutes I hear the shower turn on. I exit the
bedroom and find Nixon and Axel sharing a bottle of Jack. Each
sipping from it.

Their eyes find
mine and
Axel lifts the bottle
toward me, but Nixon the concerned big brother takes the bottle
from him and shakes his head.

“I think she deserves a
drink after what she’s been through,” Axel says, snatching the
bottle away from Nixon. I walk closer and grab the bottle. I’m just
about to take a sip when the bathroom door opens behind me. We all
turn to see Talon, his eyes fixated on the bottle in my hand. He
then turns his mean eyes to me.

“You. Get in
that room now
,” he roars,
causing the windows to rattle. My eyes widen, the wolf inside of me
has her tail between her legs and wants me to get the hell outta
here, but the stubborn human in me wants me to stand my ground.
Nixon snatches the bottle from my hands.

“Did you not
hear me?” Talon’s eyes grow darker and he bares his teeth as
he looks at my body lustfully. I
listen to my wolf and bolt for the bedroom passing him in the
process. I lock the door behind me and sit in the middle of the bed
staring at the door.

I can hear every word
Talon says as he orders Axel and Nixon to stay somewhere in town
until he gives them word to come back.

When I hear their car
leave and the heavy footsteps head my way, my body tenses. I watch
as the door handle turns.

“Open up.
Now,
” he simply
says.

I can feel him
trying to get into my head
,
but I don’t let him. The door flies open and I watch as his
shoulders move with his heavy breathing. His fists clenched at his
sides. He storms up to me, grabbing my ankle as I move away on the
bed, and pulling me closer to him. When my face is close enough, he
grabs it with both hands and holds me tightly as he bends down to
look into my eyes. I’m trembling I’m so scared, but I still don’t
let him get into my head. Even though his touch is harsh it still
alleviates the heat radiating from my body.

“Stop closing
your mind off
from me, from
us.” He speaks on behalf of his brother who is unsurprisingly
absent.

We’re inches
apart
as he looks my face
over.

“Where’s Tyler?” I ask
the question that’s been bugging me since I realised that it was
only Talon who had come to my so-called rescue.

He releases my face and I
move away from him waiting for an answer. He moves to sit on the
chair next to the bed, I can’t help but notice the distance between
us increases my heat. I sit as close as possible to him on the
bed.

“He’s
busy,
” he says, running his
hands through the stubble on his jaw.

“With Kate, right?” I
roll my eyes, not caring about the jealousy lacing my
words.

“Jesus, Angel. Grow up
will you? We can’t all stop our lives to look after your every
need,” Talon spits out harshly. I wince, not bothering to argue,
it’s a lost cause trying to defend myself. I don’t care how hot it
is, I roll over to the other side of the bed, far from where he’s
seated on the chair and turn around so I don’t have to face him. I
let the tears soak into the pillow, already feeling dehydrated as
it is.

“Shit
!” He lets out a
deep breath. “Listen, I’m sorry. Neither of us want to be here so
let’s just try get along until you ride this thing out. Apparently
having your mate here will help ease your pain or something,” he
says, matter of factly.

Problem with
that sentence is that I do want him
here, I want him with me and near me. He’s the one that
doesn’t feel the same.

I don’t respond, I just close
my eyes and force myself to sleep. I don’t have to try hard because
my body is officially finished and I fall asleep quickly.

I
w
ake up in the morning feeling
refreshed and rather cold. The heat is gone and by the looks of
things, so is Talon. The bed beside me is still warm, I wasn’t even
aware that he’d slept beside me. That’s probably why I had a good
night’s rest; well, better than any other night these past seven
days.

The cabin is quiet, so
Nixon and Axel must still be away. I shower and change into the
clothes I arrived here in. I don’t have much to take with me, and I
don’t know when or if the boys are coming back to fetch me, I don’t
even have a phone to call them with.

I search
through the cabinets looking for food
, but come up with nothing. I climb down the ladder,
sitting on the trunk of a fallen down tree below the cabin. I think
about changing and running my way home in my wolf form, but I still
don’t have the energy to shift. An hour passes by and eventually I
hear the sound of a car in the distance. Nixon looks concerned when
his eyes meet mine, I know he’s about to ask questions, but I’m
really not in the mood.

“I just want to go home. We can
talk about it later.” I open the car door and climb into the back
seat.

“Go lock up, I’ll wait
down here with her,” Axel says.

I close my eyes and rest
my head back on the headrest. I hear my door being opened, then
feel the icy air from outside wafting in. Opening one eye, I find
Axel hunched over the door looking at me, his eyes filled with
worry.

“Do I have
t
o hunt him down and hurt
him?” he says flatly. I can’t help but smile at his protectiveness.
I know what he’s implying.

“No.
H
e didn’t hurt me.” I look
away. “Well… not in the way you’re thinking.”

Chapter 15

It’s
been
three days since my heat
ended and three days since I last saw Talon. I haven’t seen Tyler
around since I got back either. It hurts just thinking how the
beautiful relationship we once had has come down to this.
Avoidance.

I avoid
them,
they avoid me, and if
we’re not avoiding each other we’re trying to hurt the other
instead; well… that’s what it feels like anyway.

Although
Noelle
has yet to teach me how
to work this so called magic, I have been keeping busy with
Phoenix. I’ve been teaching her some self-defence techniques and
although she’s a really avid student, I think using her magic will
do a better job if she needs any defending one day. Nixon has gone
back to teaching. He’s been a stand in for my mom’s class, since
she’s still stuck with my father in another territory dealing with
rogues.

Nixon makes
sure that I fill him in on every detail
regarding what happens when I’m amongst the witches,
but I think he’s more interested in every detail relating to
Phoenix. Phoenix and I get along really well, apart from Nixon and
Axel she’s the only other person I’ve been able to open up to
recently; it feels really great to have another girl to talk to.
I’ve sent Daisy messages and even tried calling her a couple times,
but every single time the call goes directly to voice mail and I’m
guessing that budding friendship is a dud.

I sit
at the end of the dock, one foot in
the cold water, the other bent up to my chest with my arms wrapped
around it tight. Resting my cheek onto my knee, I look out over the
beautiful lake. The starry night glistens as it reflects across the
water, but it’s not as peaceful tonight. I can hear the sounds of
pack members laughing and chatting in the distance. I try to zone
out, focusing instead on the sound the ripples make across the
water, but eventually the sound of my own thoughts take over all
other sounds.

I
don’t know what I was thinking. Why
the hell would Tyler come to my rescue and be by my side during my
heat? I’m actually surprised Talon showed up. He didn’t want to be
near me and he sure as hell made that known, but his presence still
eased my pain. Tyler didn’t even bother to make the effort, and now
I fear for the rage I might inflict on him when I lay my eyes on
his beautiful blue ones. I worry that once I’m in the twins
company, I’ll hurt them by blurting out all the horrible things
I’ve been thinking. I’m afraid that in a moment of pure fury I’ll
say things I don’t mean and end the mate bond that is already only
hanging by a thread, a thread I’m holding onto for dear life. Of
all my fears and doubts, losing them is still the biggest one of
all. Even after all that they have put me through, the bond that we
have now, and my wolf’s infatuated need for them keeps me from
rejecting them.

I lift my head up from where it
rests and look up at the stars praying for someone to give me the
answers for all my questions. I let out a deep breath and close my
eyes.

I
hea
r the sound of creaking
wood, I open my eyes quickly and look to my left to find Tyler in
the darkness walking towards me from the other end of the dock. He
has a green hoodie on and its pulled over his head, but the way he
walks and the perfect nose and jawline peeking out of the hood
tells me it’s him. I lift my foot up out of the water and try to
stand, just as I’m about to reach for my shoes Tyler
speaks.

“Angel
, wait,” he says
in a soft but firm tone.

I stand up straight leaving my
shoes on the floor. I cross my arms over my chest and tilt my head
to the side waiting for him to speak.

He walks straight up to me, his
face filled with concern as he looks my body over.

“How are you doing?” He
asks. Keeping his eyes fixed on my face, but avoiding my eyes.
Faith is almost purring with content at his closeness. We haven’t
had our mate this close to us in a while and I can feel her glee
within me.

“How do you
think I’m doing
, Tyler?” I
glare at him. “I’ve been in hell-”

“I’m not here
to argue with you, Angel. I’m
really
not in the mood
to argue right now,” he says, his voice getting louder and
harsher.