17. Your Last

"Eden! What are we doing here?" Marley bawled, looking around in bewilderment.

She recognized her surrounding very well. It was the same place in the forest where only a week ago she found out Eden was a werewolf. But this time the stillness of lake and calm of swaying branches of trees did nothing to appease her ragged emotions.

"What did he say to you?" Eden gritted his teeth, his eyes flickering gold.

"Nothing that concerns you!" She countered, knowing he was talking about Jason. Marley knew she was entering the dangerous territory with Eden's temper but was determined to not let him get his way this time.

"Fuck!... Marley, stop it. Tell me what you two talked about." He roared.

"Eden, why would you do that to him?"

"Because I wanted to. Now tell me-"

"No! First, you tell me the real reason why you did that to him." She interrupted with a determined look in her eyes. Her heart was beating rapidly inside her chest causing her face to flush and engulf in sweat, a sure sign of her agitated state.

Eden analyzed her with calculative eyes. Her heartbeat, red face and everything screamed anxiety but her dark eyes held boldness: a rare emotion for her. It was enchanting for him to see her like this but it would be way better if the circumstances were different. He sighed and decided to give in to her demand.

"He was going to ask you out." He replied begrudgingly. His brown eyes once again flashed their golden hue. "Now, tell me what he said."

"C'mon Eden! That's ridiculous." She sighed, tired of putting up a petty fight. They were making no progress, so she opted for a lighter approach. She believed if he didn't want to tell her, she shouldn't pry. "Fine, don't tell me why you actually beat him but just don't do it again, sort out your things civilized using words. He's a good guy."

A look of confusion passed through Eden's face before turning rigid. "You think I am making it up." His voice was unusually calm, too calm.

"Of course, it's silly to just punch-" Marley stopped midway when she took in Eden's narrowed gaze. "D-did y-you really hit him just because he was going to ask me out?" She stammered, hoping it to be one of Eden's humorless jokes.

He nodded.

"What the-" She didn't know what was more impossible to soak in, Eden's overly overreaction to such a small issue or the fact that Jason liked her and was going to ask her out. Nobody ever asked her out, not even Eden (well, he just took her out, not giving a single thought to her opinion). "And.. your reaction to that seemed very...uh.. unnecessary."

"The whole school knows you belong to me! That motherfucker also knew yet he dared to think about you that way." He growled.

"Well, he never asked me out! And how do you even know that?"

"I have my ways. And my ears."

"Of course!" She cried, throwing her hands in the air.

"Well, now that's settled. So, I don't want to see you with him ever again. You won't talk to him or be anywhere within ten feet near him." He commanded.

"Eden, even you know what you said right now is absurd." Marley sighed, not believing she was getting involved in this ridiculous argument.

"No, it's not!"

"Yes, it is."

He closed the distance between them. The intimidating look in his eyes was enough to make any human tremble in fear. "Do you perhaps like him?" His breathing became shallow with barely controlled anger as he imagined her with any other man.

As dangerous as Eden looked, Marley decided to give his question a thought.* Did she like Jason?* No, she didn't. Although his calm demeanor and shy nature suited with her well and the possibility of being in a relationship with him seemed healthier than being in one with Eden, yet she didn't like Jason. She never did.

Her heart and mind refused to consider any guy remotely attractive, other than the one, who was glaring daggers at her right now.

The moment she had seen Eden for the first time, every crush or feeling that she ever shared for other guys vanished. He was the only one that her persistent mind wanted to think about. She didn't like Jason or as the matter of fact any other guy.

*Eden was the only one.*

Slowly, she shook her head.

"Then don't talk to him," the Alpha ordered.

"No, I won't do that." Marley gave her best to sound fearless.

"Why?!"

"B-Because you can't just order me around and also you sound so unreasonable."

He stepped closer, making her step back. Their action continued until Marley's back hit the trunk of a tree, stopping her further escape. Their bodies were only inches apart and his hot breath fanned her face.

"Look Marley, when I say you are mine, I am not enacting some shitty line from some shitty movie. I mean it you are mine. You only belong to me. So, don't make me do something that you don't like and stay away from him! It's not so difficult."

The graveness of his voice sent chills down her spine. The way he proclaimed his ownership on her scared but at the same time reassured her. She had no idea where the latter feeling came from.

She helplessly missed those days when her major problems involved incomplete assignments and bad food choices, not sorting out her bizarre emotions for a cranky and over-possessive boy, no not a boy but a werewolf. Werewolf!

He was a wolf and wolves were territorial. A sudden awareness came crashing down on Marley. Did his behavior have anything to do with being territorial? The idea didn't seem far-fetched. She was his mate and according to his mother, Catherine, mates only belong to each other. Initially, Marley had brushed off her words as her being romantic but now they never seemed truer. So, she literally belonged to Eden!

Marley decided to hyperventilate on that thought later at home, right now she had to make this wolf boy see reason.

"Stop being so unreasonable," she started with a calm composure. Her instincts and knowledge told her to give up her fighting stance as it would heat the argument more. "Fine, if you don't want me talking to him, I won't but first tell me this how will you feel if I start acting like you. Well, That'll be a problem since almost every girl in our school fantasizes about you. You don't see me going on a punching streak. Do you?!"

"That'll be hot." He replied immediately, turning her crimson. His gaze suddenly turned heated as he realized how close they were. Her half-parted lips never seemed more inviting to him than now. All he had to do was move few centimeters to ravish those plump lips.

"No, Stop it!" She yelled, squirming under his lust filled eyes. "Y-you are missing the point."

Her actions only seemed to intensify his heated gaze.

"S-stop staring! We are argu-"

Finally, Eden decided to give in to his lust and crashed his lips on hers, cutting her off. He felt as if those soft pink linings were made for him, only him. The pleasurable sparks shot throughout his body as he worked his mouth against hers. Just kissing her was far more pleasurable than all the sex he ever had with other girls.

When Marley's initial shock wore off, she leaned more into the kiss. She clutched the sides of his shirt to hold still as Eden slid his tongue inside her mouth, taking advantage of her parted lips. It traced each and every curve inside. Her whole body was erupting with delectable tingles and she didn't want it to stop.

Finally they parted, grasping for breath and opened their eyes to see each other's flushed faces.

After few minutes of staring into his eyes, Marley finally broke out of her daze and let go of his shirt.

"W-why would you do that?" She asked shyly, looking down avoiding Eden's predatory gaze.

"Don't pull this on me, Marley. You enjoyed it as much as I did." He smirked.

Her face turned the darkest shade of red. "Uh...you are avoiding the problem. We were just having a fight?!" She shifted uncomfortably.

"I think I found the perfect way to resolve our fights." With that once again he connected his lips to her swollen ones, ready to devour every inch of them.

*********

After letting Eden discover every tiniest detail of her mouth, Marley pulled away. Eden was more than willing to continue their make-out session but gave up on coaxing her as he saw her flushed and out of breath. He himself had a lot of practice in kissing, so his lungs were capable to withstand the lack of air supply but he could not say the same for Marley's.

He asked her if she wanted to visit his family and Marley, still in a haze, replied with a nod.

When Marley thought of Eden's house, she expected a mansion like the pack house but was surprised to come across a regular looking house. It was located among other houses beside the pack house.

As they entered through the front door, a small figure came running towards them.

"Eden! See this." The shirtless boy panted. He raised his hand and pointed to his armpit.

The young boy looked like a mini replica of Eden, sharing most of his features except the forest green eyes. Marley immediately guessed him to be Eden's seven-year-old brother, Ethan. He had often mentioned him to her.

"See what?" Eden asked with amusement.

"Don't you see it?!" Boy yelled, disappointed with his big brother. "I've got a hair." He again pointed at his armpit.

"Oh, now I see it. It's almost as big as the ones on your head." He ruffled the little guy's hair, grinning. His words made the boy puff out his chest proudly. Before he could begin another tale, Eden decided to cut in and looked at Marley. "Look, who we got here, Ethan."

Ethan became aware of Marley's presence, which he had failed to recognize earlier.

"Hey, Ethan." She bent down a little and spoke in a friendly manner. "I'm Marley."

"Are you Eden's mate?" Ethan asked looking at her with big eyes. Marley found him really cute and innocent, unlike his brother.

She nodded hesitantly to his question.

"So, you are the one who always turns red." The boy grinned mischievously.

"What?" Suddenly, he didn't seem all that innocent. Marley could see a lot of similarities between the two brothers. She reprimanded herself for letting a seven-year-old make her fluster.

"Where did you hear that?!" Eden decided to come to her rescue but Marley had already noticed him biting his lips to stifle a laugh.

"When you were talking to Oliver."

Eden shook his head. "Say sorry to Marley and for the love of god stop eavesdropping on us."

Ethan followed his brother's command and apologized. Then he wrapped his hands around her waist and buried his face inside her stomach. Although the little guy's hug felt like home, she wasn't expecting it so, all she could come up with was an awkward soft pat on his head.

Ethan looked up to her again with those big cute eyes. "You are very pretty." He mumbled innocently.

"Okay casanova, save the love talks for your mate. She is mine," Eden said playfully.

To this Ethan pressed himself closer to her and stuck out a tongue at his elder sibling, making Marley smile.

"Come here Ethan!" A voice boomed from the other room followed by the stomping of feet. "Put on your sh- Marley!" Catherine smiled warmly as her eyes landed on her guest.

"Hello, Mrs. Brown." She greeted politely, trying not to look awkward as she felt Ethan move around her. His hands were still wrapped around her waist but now his face was pressed against her back.

Catherine was about to hug Marley when she noticed two small hands enveloping her tightly. "Ethan! Stop hiding behind her. Come out!" She shouted.

Ethan poked out his tiny head from her side and shook it vehemently, making his mother madder.

Eden rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath.

Catherine was about to burst out at both of her sons but the doorbell interrupted her. She gave them the look that said 'This is not over' and headed towards the door.

"Hey, Mrs. Brown. Is Eden home?" A voice came from the outside.

Catherine nodded. "Eden come out! Callum's here." She yelled at the top of her lungs making Eden (and most probably Callum too) wince at such a loud noise.

Eden was about to head outside but he stopped midway and narrowed his eyes at Ethan. "Get away from her!" He said sharply but frowned when he saw his younger brother making no move to comply.

He left dejectedly mumbling something about him being the Alpha and people following him. Soon, he was out of the door with Catherine tailing behind him.

Marley just stood there with a seven-year-old hanging onto her, having no idea what to do. After a minute, Ethan unhooked himself from her and walked to the door. He pressed his ear against it.

Werewolf's genes remain dormant until the person turned fourteen or fifteen. The changes usually started occurring when a kid hit their puberty. Nicholas had told Marley that Eden turned at the age of fourteen. As she saw Ethan's focused face, she smiled wondering what he wouldn't do right now just to have the supernatural hearing just like others in his family.

"Didn't your brother just tell you not to eavesdrop?" She asked softly. She thought of being a good influence on him as Eden seemed far from doing that job.

He shrugged and went back to his business. Marley didn't really have any experience with the young kids or any siblings as she was the only child. Plus even though he was seven, the boy was almost as sly as his brother. So, she decided to stay put and watch over him cautiously.

"They are talking about rogues!" Ethan whisper-yelled excitingly, causing a sudden spark of curiosity inside Marley.

The little knowledge she had about rogues was that they were wolves without packs. Some were good, some were bad. Good ones were the lone wolves who enjoyed their own company, whereas the bad ones mostly consisted of those who were exiled from their pack for some crime.

She didn't want to pry on his pack matters but her bubbling curiosity got the better of her and soon she found herself standing beside Ethan with her ear also pressed against the door.

"What did those rogues say?" She heard Eden. He sounded serious.

"What? Not gonna ask me how hard it was to find those rogues," Callum said. "Okay okay, jeez no need to look at me like that. They agreed when we asked them about being hunted and stuff. They said that they lost many rogues, just in our area. I don't think they were lying, Eden. They sounded pretty confident when I warned them of the consequences of lying to us."

"So, it's true." Catherine spoke, her voice barely audible.

"And that's not it Mrs. Brown. Only male wolves are being hunted. Aren't kids and she-wolves more convenient to, you know. They also said that those hunters never left any dead body behind. They took away the wolves that they killed." Callum finished.

"I desperately want it to be the work of humans but everyone knows they cannot pull this shi- thing. I even contacted every pack in the state and every one of them denied their hands in this." Eden voiced his thoughts.

"I hope it's not the government."

"No mom. They would never interfere with our kind as long as we don't cause problems. Rogues barely go after humans. They know the code too. If authorities really wanted to eradicate them, packs would be the first place they go to for help-" Eden stopped abruptly. "Is there anything you are not telling me?"

"I don't know, man!" Marley heard Callum sigh. "I met this kid there, he told me that it was monsters who were killing them. He even drew a picture of it." He stopped for a moment, perhaps searching for the kid's drawing and then continued. "He said that they let him go... I don't know, he was younger than Ethan, so he could be making this all shi-thing up."

"Anything else?"

"That's pretty much it. Are you going to come by the pack house?"

"Yeah, tell Oliver that there will be a meeting tonight," Eden sighed, "and Mom call Dad to come home soon."

"Okay, honey." Catherine replied.

Next moments passed in a blur. Marley didn't get the chance to get away from the door and it opened causing her to fall in familiar muscular arms.

"Seriously, Ethan! I left her with you for barely ten minutes and you are already a bad influence on her." Eden mock yelled at his little brother, and then smiled lovingly looking at Marley, who was trapped in his arms.

"Come here you young man! Put on your shirt for God sakes. There is no hair!" Catherine yelled from beside them. She gave Eden and Marley a warm glance before stomping after Ethan, who had now disappeared somewhere inside.

"Hey, Marley!" She saw Callum waving at her. He was few steps away from the front door.

She tried to get away from Eden but his iron grip didn't let her budge. She was starting to hate his supernatural strength.

"Hey." She mumbled back to Callum and blushed when she saw him watching them in amusement with a wide grin on his face.

"Dude! She's so-" Callum was cut off by Eden's glare. "Fine, I'm leaving!" He raised both his hands in surrender and walked away.

"You are not escaping that fast after listening to our secret." Eden smirked, looking down at his blushing mate.

He took her hand and led her upstairs to his room. The room was large but looked simple enough with a queen size bed, two bean bags, and a study table. Although it wasn't lavished with expensive materials, few things stood out as costly like lamps beside the bed, rug on the wooden floor and few showpieces. A nylon poster containing wolf sigil of 'House Stark' hanging above his bed immediately caught her attention.

Eden sat down on one side of his bed and patted the other side for her. No way Marley was taking that risk. She pulled out his study chair and sat on it. Werewolf could only muster an eye roll at her unrequited (or requited) caution.

"Ok let's talk about what you heard." He began in a serious tone.

"I am sorry Eden! I shouldn't have listened to your conversation. It was really wrong of me. One minute I was asking Ethan to step away and the next minute I was doing the same thing, but I just couldn't control myself. You have every right to be angry with me. I'll apologize to your mo-"

"Whoa! I am not angry with you." Eden decided to cut her blabbering and sighed. "Now stop being cute so I can actually focus."

Marley frowned. "I am not cute! And you are really strange. You get furious over the littlest things and when you actually have a valid reason to get angry, you are not angry."

"You'll learn what makes me really angry." He gave a small genuine smile. "So, back to business. How much did you get?"

"Most part of it. Hunters, rogue killings and about collection of their dead bodies by the hunters." She stopped and looked at him warily. "Shouldn't you be talking to Ethan to make sure he's alright after listening to it all?"

"Nah, he hears this kind of stuff all the time and Mom's with him."

"What do you mean?! This kind of stuff happens all the time!"

"Marley, our world isn't a lot different from humans'. Killings and murders shouldn't be anything new for you. The only difference is you hear it all on the news and we just keep this stuff to ourselves."

Marley nodded understanding Eden's logic. When she was a child, she watched news about crimes all the time. It was sad but this was the world they lived in.

"Eden, you are not going to fight those hunters. Are you?" She asked, concerned about him. She already felt sick of having to see Eden injured or bruised.

"No, if we can help it. I mean they haven't really harmed us yet. Let's hope it remains that way. But even if it comes to that, they won't stand a chance. We are one of the strongest pack of America." He reassured her, a smirk appearing on his lips. "Marley, are you worried about my safety."

"I am, after all you are kind of my bo-friend." She cut off herself.

"Seriously! You are something else." Eden gaped at her unbelievingly and then shook his head. "It has not even been two hours since we kissed and I am still lying on your friend zone!" He huffed, clearly annoyed with her title for him. "That reminds me how was it? Tell me it was the best kiss of your life because it surely was mine." His eyes glinted with hope.

"I don't know, it's not that I have any past experience to compare it to." Even though it was her first kiss, Marley knew it couldn't get any better but she crafted her reply carefully so as not to boost already mammoth sized ego of the werewolf in front of her. However, it had a reverse effect.

Eden grinned so widely that made Marley wonder if his jaw would break. "I am your first kiss." He nearly shouted with pure joy. "Whoa! Marley, I am so glad to be your first kiss. And of course your last."