16. The Angry Wolf

Leading more than hundred wolves for a hunt was no easy task. Making sure everyone was in pace, helping younger wolves to take down their prey, and stopping fights among the pack members surely took a toll on Eden. Nevertheless, running among the woods gave him and his wolf a sense of freedom. Today's hunt was no different than the others, and like always it left him tired.

Eden took a much-needed shower to wash away the exhaustion that came from fulfilling all the alpha's duties. After clothing himself in sweatpants, he laid on his duvet, bare-chested. He didn't mind covering himself with a blanket as his body temperature was already high, one of the perks of being a werewolf. He looked out the window to see twinkling stars in the night sky and an unconscious smile made an appearance on his face. They reminded him of Marley's glittering dark eyes. This was the second favourite time of his day as he could think about her all he wanted without being disturbed. The first favourite being the time that he spent with her in school. The werewolf had no doubt that his mate was the most beautiful of all the girls.

Her soft chubby cheeks whenever turned red, he had a hard time controlling himself from not pouncing on her. Her plump pink lips seemed to be begging him to just ravish them. He couldn't wait for the day when she'll be moaning and squirming beneath him. Had she been a wolf like him, they would've mated the second they saw each other. But she was a human, moreover, a shy one and Eden knew he had to wait. He didn't mind waiting because it only reminded him how special she was for him. But once he succeeded in enticing her into his bed, he knew he wouldn't be having any mercy on her.

A knock on his door pulled Eden out of his lustful desires. He looked up and saw his father, hovering above his bed with a knowing smirk on his face.

"Let me guess, thinking about your mate." Nicholas grinned. Eden knew his father had smelled his arousal but he wasn't ashamed because that same scent always surrounded his parents. Werewolves were very affectionate creatures and they always craved sensual stimuli from their mates.

"You are the one to say." Eden pulled himself up and sat on his bed in Buddha style. Ever since he had been a cub, he saw his parents always attached to the hips.

Nicholas laughed, shaking his head and took a seat beside his son. "So, how are you both doing? You're not bullying her into being with you. Are you?" He asked, raising his brows and ready to reprimand his son if he dared say yes.

Eden knew there was no point in lying, his father would know. One of the disadvantages of being with other werewolves was they could easily detect your lies because of their super sensitive ears.

"Dad, it's not called bullying. It's called being persistent and I am being persistent with her. If not, we would not even get past the point of saying hi," Eden replied, satisfied with his explanation. Marley was a timid girl who was skeptical of strangers and remained to herself. So, he took it upon himself to get her warm up to him. But he wouldn't have it another way, her adorable shyness drew him even more to her.

His father shook his head, heaving a sigh. "You enjoy pestering that poor girl. Don't you?" He knew his son.

"No, I do not." He lied immediately but when he saw Nicholas narrowing his eyes on him, he mumbled, "Ok fine, a little bit."

His father grinned again. "Just a month ago, you hated the idea of having a mate. Look at you now, the big bad wolf running after the tail of cute innocent puppy." He cooed to tease his son.

Eden rolled his eyes at his father's remark. He didn't want to be reminded of how naive his one-month ago self was for not wanting a mate. He used to hate the notion of being with one person for a lifetime as he was more habitual to the player kind of lifestyle. His parents and friends had disapproved of his actions but he always waved them off, not paying any heed to their advices. But all this changed the moment he laid his eyes on a dark-eyed girl with burning cheeks in Marshville High's cafeteria. It was like someone flipped a switch and his whole world turned upside down. Now, he couldn't even picture himself with any girl other than Marley.

"Don't call her that. It's my pet name for her." Eden muttered under his breath.

Nicholas let out a hearty laugh at his son's sulking state. Discovering his mate surely made Eden more prone to teasings. He patted his son's back to put him into ease.

"So, you came here to lecture me about Marley?" Eden asked, frowning.

Nicholas face suddenly turned serious. "No. I came here to talk to you about what Shawn said. Do you think that rogue was telling the truth?" Eden could make out the hint of alpha tone slipping into his voice. It usually happened when they discussed serious issues. As a former alpha, his father still held the dominating aura.

Two days ago, Eden had received a call from Shawn. He was the alpha of the pack situated in Oakheart. When Eden was told about a rogue claiming that his kind was being hunted, he first labelled his statement as a preposterous lie to escape the punishment. But when Shawn said that it was his beta who interrogated that rogue, he was compelled to take the situation gravely. Shawn's beta, Hunter, was not the one to be fooled that easily. Eden had met him quite many times and the more he got to know him, the more he admired the young boy for his wisdom. He trusted his judgement as much as he did of Oliver's.

"For past few months, rogues attacks have decreased considerably in our territory also. So, that rogue could be telling them the truth, but still it will be foolish of us to just believe him blindly. Their kind is cunning." Eden replied. His face reflected his father's expression.

"What's the plan?" Nicholas inquired.

"I am thinking of increasing border patrol and also to send out a searching party to look into the matter. I advised the Shawn the same and he agreed, so we'll be exchanging reports of our respective parties. But dad I honestly think if only rogues are being hunted, we don't have to worry too much about the packs." He paused to sigh and rubbed his forehead with his thumb and forefinger. "Yeah, but then again I won't be taking any chance with the safety of pack members. So, I'll be issuing a warning to everyone. Is that okay?"

Eden had been crowned as the Alpha of his pack only a year ago. He knew himself that he needed his father's counsel to make the right decisions, so he didn't shy away from asking his opinions. Eden was unsure whether to warn his pack of the threat that might not exist in the first place and scare them for no reason.

Nicholas smiled seeing his son taking matters concerning about pack seriously. He raised him right. "Son, they have the right to know. You should warn them." He affirmed, putting Eden's dilemma to rest.

Eden nodded, making up his mind to hold a pack assembly tomorrow.

"Now, I must go." His father jumped up, shocking Eden with his sudden action. "Tonight it's my turn to put your little brother to bed. I saw him eating cookies at evening. Only God knows how much hyper he's going to be before sleeping. I am thinking of giving him a cough syrup." Eden glared at him. "I am kidding." Nicholas immediately added.

Eden saw his father's terrified face which led him to burst out into laughter. His father left the room, grumbling some incoherent curses.

The Alpha was again left into solitude to think about his adorable mate.

**********

Although it had been four days since Marley's romantic relationship with Eden (which she herself had no prior idea about) was revealed to the general public of the school, people still looked at her like a newly discovered species. All this attention and gawking eyes amplified her anxiety, making her sweat profusely.

Only the other day, she was stopped by a few giggling cheerleaders who bashed her with questions about her love life with Eden. After recovering from the initial state of shock, Marley answered them with statements that indicated that her new boyfriend was sweet, just like what they wanted to hear. Marley didn't want to see those girls frowning just because she told them that in reality Eden teased and harassed her at every chance he got.

When she had broken the news to her parents on Skype, the reaction she got was mixed. Her mother congratulated her on her first boyfriend and giggled like a teenager at the prospect of seeing Marley with a guy, whereas her father just shook his head and told her to be wary of the boy. Nevertheless, they took the news without making a lot of fuss or bombarding her with questions. This gave her a fair idea that soon they would be contacting Mrs. Sherman to satiate their curiosity.

These past few days she had been trying hard to get used to Eden's frivolous and unruly behaviour. He always kept pestering her with his perverted talks. Car rides with him were filled with his sensual jokes which often involved him teasing her for her book collection that he discovered the other day. During the classes that they shared together, he would gape at her and sometimes even peck her cheeks in front of the whole classmates and this, in turn, would leave her a red mess. But she would be lying if she said that she didn't like his uncanny way of showing affection.

"So, you guys are still together and you haven't even slept with him yet?" Rachel asked, not believing the words that left her mouth.

"Yeah." Marley shrugged. "Is it so hard to believe it?" She frowned. Everyone was questioning their relationship and it made her tired. She even heard that some students were placing bets on how long their commitment would last.

"Wow... You are changing him, Marley. That's so sweet. I wa-" Rachel stopped midsentence when they all heard a loud thud sound followed by some yellings at the entrance of the cafeteria. Girls were at their usual table during lunch.

Eden and his friends were throwing food at a guy. She recognized the victim as one of her classmates, Jason. She had conversed with him on few occasions and with that she concluded him to be a shy type, just like her. Jason was a nice guy and he didn't deserve to be the victim of their bullying.

*Nobody deserved to be the victim of bullying.*

"You spoke too soon, Rachel. Too soon." Kiara muttered. Marley saw her annoyed look, and this time she shared the same emotion.

When she saw Eden punching Jason's torso, something snapped inside her. She stood up and made her way toward them. She could feel everyone's eyes on her but this time neither did she fidget nor sweat. Her body was on adrenaline.

"Marley, don't get involved." Eden barked, not even looking at her. He already sensed her coming to him. His eyes were fixed on his victim, who was clearly doing a poor job at masking his fear.

Marley often witnessed Eden's friends bullying other students but he never took part in it and watch everything play out with amusement. He also sometimes played the role of a pacifier, whenever he encountered her eyes which pleaded him to stop the madness. For the first time she was seeing him actively bullying a student.

"Stop it," She said calmly despite her anger, and stood between Jason and him. She hoped that whatever the feelings Eden shared for her might stop him from torturing an innocent boy.

"Seriously don't get involved." He bellowed and motioned to their table, which was currently occupied by Jessica and Emilia, who looked like as if they were watching a movie. "Go and sit."

The harshness of his words made Marley flinch but she remained grounded on her spot, trying to meet his enraged gaze. "Stop it and I'll go away."

"Yes. Stop it, you bull." She heard someone just beside her. She saw Sanjay glaring daggers at Eden. Marley sighed that at least someone stood by her as she didn't know for how long she could keep up with her brave facade under the wolf's heated gaze.

"You-" Eden roared turning to Sanjay, his nostrils flaring with anger. He looked ready to murder.

"Me." Sanjay mocked with equal intensity but it was crystal clear that Eden looked more terrifying of the two.

"Oliver get him away from me or I swear-" He faced Oliver, barely holding himself from strangling Sanjay.

"Or you what?" Sanjay provoked him before Oliver could interfere.

Marley sighed with relief when she saw Eden and Sanjay bickering like their usual self. Their squabble was no new thing and they both always cooled off after getting tired of firing verbal abuses at each other. The only person who suffered because of their petty quarrels was Oliver, getting squashed between the two furious teens.

She took the advantage of their distraction to help Jason up and quietly slipped out of the cafeteria with him. Others saw her escape but no one stopped her.

"I am sorry. You didn't deserve this. Are you hurt anywhere?" She asked softly, when they reached the hallway. She handed him her handkerchief to wipe off the food that was spilled on him. She frowned seeing him like this.

"I guess not." Jason mumbled, his eyes downcast. His face was red with embarrassment. "Why are you apologizing for him?" He asked and Marley didn't miss the maliciousness with which he mentioned Eden.

"I don't know," She replied honestly but a part of her felt guilty too as Eden was her boyfriend. "Did something happen between you two?" She asked shyly, not wanting Jason to feel accused but also had a gut feeling that Eden wouldn't hit another guy for no reason.

"I have no idea. One minute I was sitting, eating my food and the next moment I was being dragged out by *your boyfriend*."

"I am so sorry." Guilt washed over her again.

"Don't apologize for him."

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah."

"O-okay."

They both looked at each other's shoes, none of them having any idea of what to say next.

"So, I guess I'll be going now. Thanks for helping me out there." Jason decided to put both of them out of their misery.

"Yeah. See you." She smiled, which was mimicked by Jason too.

He nodded and headed in the opposite direction of the cafeteria. She saw his retreating figure and her heart clenched at his dejected state. Once again anger bubbled inside her chest and Eden was at the receiving end of it.

Marley spent remaining of the school hours avoiding Eden. She was grateful that she didn't share the rest of the classes with him, saving her from any encounters with him. Marley was not used to confronting others so she needed time to come up with the words to bark at Eden. She could not let the horrible incident to just slip away.

The rest of the day went by blur. Throughout the day, her emotions flipped between anger and anxiety, that came from thinking about Eden. The bell indicating the end of school hours rang. The time she was dreading came too soon.

She was rummaging inside her locker when a huge shadow huge towered over her. She turned around to look at the indifferent face of her boyfriend, but his fierce eyes and clenched jaws revealed another story. She could feel the anger radiating off him in strong waves. All the anger along with the lines that she came up with to reprimand Eden flew right out of her mind when she took the account of his current enraged state.

"Are you done?" He motioned to her locker. He looked fearsome and cold shivers ran down her spine, listening to his voice.

Marley shook her head and continued to venture inside her locker but her actions became slower, prolonging the beginning of their intervention. Eden noticed her actions and decided on narrowing his eyes instead of calling her out.

"All done," she whispered meekly and Eden didn't waste a single second to grab her hand and pull her out of the school gate.

In the next moment, she found herself inside Eden's car with him driving off to very familiar roads that Marley knew lead to his favourite place: the woods. It reminded her of the day when Eden dragged her out into these woods to reveal his biggest secret to her.

"This is becoming a habit." Marley commented meekly trying to lighten the mood but she knew it had the reverse effect when she saw Eden's already steely grip on wheel tightening. The feeling of dread settled inside the pit of her stomach as she analyzed her present situation. She was trapped inside a small (but really expensive) metal cage with the really angry wolf.