10. Half-dog

Without thinking, she softly ran her hands through his fur. The strands were silky and soft, like feathers, and her hands moved freely through them without any friction. "Wow..."

She could felt the heat of his body sending through the thick fur.

Suddenly, a realization dawned on Marley, snapping her out of the mischievous daze. She immediately pulled her hand away earning a small whimper from the wolf. She flirted with the idea of running away, but the words that Eden had said few minutes ago prevented her from doing so.

"Wait. You are a... no ". Her hands wrapped around her head, legs feeling weak no longer able to support her. Her brain refused to accept what she was seeing. It seemed too... unreal.

Marley sat down on the ground and again took a small peek at the wolf, whose eyes were watching her every action closely. "How?" She shook her head and looked down, too shocked to process another round of snaps that followed.

A hand landed on her shoulder sending familiar tingles. Marley looked up and found a smiling Eden, the human one. He was on his knees to face her.

"At least you didn't pass out." His lips spread in a wide grin.

Marley only looked at him in bewilderment, her mind too worked up to give the mouth any words to speak. It took a whole minute for her to realize that the man in front of her was butt naked. She quickly pulled herself away from him and was on her legs with her back facing him in no time. Her cheeks were already heating up.

"Wha-". Before he could finish Marley interrupted.

"Put on your clothes." She mumbled.

He laughed, but started to gather his discarded clothes too.

"I just turned into a wolf and that's what you care about?" He said pulling up his jeans.

"Exactly, let seeing you turning into a wolf be the only biggest highlight of my day. I don't need another." She retorted. Her face was flushed with embarrassment.

"But you already saw me naked. So how was it? Did you li--"

"No, I didn't see you nak- without clothes." When she thought her face couldn't get any redder, she was wrong. "Now please be quite." She fought the urge to say shut up, by then her brain had started functioning and it told her not to anger the guy who could turn into a giant wolf.

Eden walked to her and turned her around. He couldn't help but smile at her flushed face. It was so strange that in such a little time she had become the center of his universe but somehow it all felt so right.

"I know it's too much to process. I can explain it all. You can come with me to the pack house." His tone laced with concern and hands wrapped around her shoulder protectively.

"Pack house?" Her brows furrowed.

"Well, you know wolves live in packs."

She was still trying to come with the logical explanation about what she had witnessed but a large part of her brain knew it was all true. Eden was a werewolf and he lived in a pack. It sounded hysterical in her head... But if he lived in a pack, it meant there were more like him. What surprised her more was why she wasn't hyperventilating?

"Yeah..um... I just wanna go home," Marley mumbled looking down at her feet. She knew herself well enough to conclude that what she had learned right then was enough for a day.

Eden nodded, not wanting to push her. He had already been too abrupt and now it was time to give her space.

The ride back to her house was in comfortable silence. Eden managed to not let out some snobby remarks, while Marley, even though her present stunned state completely excused her for her silence, was never the one to make small talks. Soon, they stopped right in front of her house. She began to get out when Eden grabbed her hand, making her face turn toward him.

"You have to promise me something." He said seriously.

Marley already knew what he meant. "I know. I won't tell anyone." Besides, nobody would believe her.

His lips twitched into a smile. "By the way, here's your phone." He said, handing her cellphone. She immediately took it. After everything that happened today, it was no wonder that her cell got neglected.

Marley hopped out of the car and headed for her front door. She stopped on her tracks when her eyes fell on her bicycle leaning against the wall of the lawn. A smile unconsciously appeared on her face and she turned around. Eden was already staring at her and that made her cheeks red again. Her smile instantly dropped and she quickly reached to unlock her door. Meanwhile, she could hear the rumbling of the engine and a faint chuckle of Eden. His gaze always made her feel some things and those things were out of her extent to understand.

Once inside she instantly dropped on her couch. She closed her eyes and let her mind run free. After a minute, her thoughts took a violent turn. She knew, more like believed, Eden wouldn't hurt her but he could hurt others. Was he hurting or even worse killing others? The closest she got to know about the werewolves were from movies or stories. They were either ferocious giant beasts who killed for pleasure and food, or shirtless models. She didn't know what to expect from Eden. She desperately hoped for the latter.

Marley took a deep breath and rubbed her forehead with her forefinger and thumb. She reminded herself to be open minded. He had just told her his biggest secret, she shouldn't be accusing him of things that he most probably didn't do. Then another stream of questions struck her like a hammer.

*Why her? Why would he tell her? Marley memorized the way he had always looked her.

Did she really become his prey?