57. Out Of The Bag

Clicking sound of calculator filled the room as Eden tallied the numbers written on a file. It was one of the many that held the expenditures and income of their pack. After finishing the last page, he stretched his back and looked up to find Marley busy with her bundle -- which was far greater than his.

Usually, these kind of jobs, involving finance, were handled by Nicholas or some trusted elders, but they were busy negotiating and making arrangements for the warriors coming from other ally packs. By tomorrow more new faces would be here. Marley, not having much to do since their school was on break, volunteered to help. An hour later Eden, looking for her, had shown up in the office and soon found himself poking at calculator to help his mate.

He watched her knitted brows and moving lips as she computed the numbers in her mind. Obviously, unlike him the nerd was doing it all without any machine.

"I'm done," Marley said keeping the file over others on the desk.

"So am I."

She watched Eden yawning and mentally shook her head. "Why did you do join me when you were already tired?"

"Because I'm such a good boyfriend." He smiled, making her pout. "But yeah, I'm a little bit tired, after all you made me work so hard... last night." His smile widened as her face tinted.

"Uhm... Yes, about that. Do I smell different because of it?" She asked shyly. Since morning wolves had been giving her knowing looks, not just them but even Sanjay. Eden's mother didn't even hide it and had asked her upfront if she needed the after pill. The talk that followed after was kind of awkward.

"Maybe." He shrugged.

"Eden!" Marley groaned. She stood up, placed her hands on the table to lean forward, and glared at her mate, who looked way too jovial. "Can you be serious for a second?"

"Okay, jeez, yes your scent changed and so did mine." Eden leaned back in his chair. "It's more of a like we marked each other permanently, unlike those beautiful marks on your neck." He smirked as she tried to hide the hickeys on her neck with her hair.

"So it's like I'm yours and you're mine but not just in metaphorical form." She concluded.

"Baby, it was never in metaphorical form. It's now just in more consolidated form." He placed his hands behind his head.

"Okay." Marley nodded before her brows knitted in confusion. "But we didn't exactly mate, right? We-"

"Fucked."

"Used protection." She frowned. "So, it's not mating. Mating involves... making babies."

"The definition of mating is broader than just making babies. If that was the case, how do you think Sanjay and Oliver will work. Also changes in our scent is not just limited to 'the proper mating'." He explained. "It turns out small or big sexual acts with your mate, involving breeding or not, can significantly change your scent because our minds play even a bigger part in it than just our organs or genitals. To us werewolves, a scent is reflection more of your conscious and mind than your body."

"That's new." Marley stood straight, letting go of desk. She reiterated his words in her mind, until another question popped inside her head. "Small or big." She murmured to herself. "So the other night when I gave you...uhm... massage, my scent changed?"

"That 'massage' was great, baby. Love it if you could do it tonight." Werewolf teased using her euphemism before deciding to answer. "Yes, it did change your scent. But it wasn't that noticeable, however, right now you're basking in our 'post-sex' scent." He chuckled.

"So in short, everyone knows." Her face fell, not finding the situation humourous.

Seeing his mate distressed, Eden turned serious. He left his seat and in a blink of an eye was by her side. "You're thinking about it too much." He placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her around. "Sex is not a big deal here. If you hadn't get it by now, for us werewolves eating, sleeping, and fucking our mates fall in same line."

"I've learned that."

"I guess everyone is being weird about us because we've waited longer than usual." He deduced. "Or maybe they are just doing it to nag you because you're a shy little human." He pinched her cheeks, making her glare at him. "But the joke is as good as if it doesn't hurt anyone. If they're making you uncomfortable, I'll tell them to stop."

"You don't have to tell anyone to do anything." Marley sighed. "It might be just a one time thing. Or maybe they're genuinely surprised."

Eden nodded. "You know what," he began in a sinistrous tone, "we should have more sex just to spite them, show them you're not shy or prude."

Marley gave him a blank look.

"In fact, we should fuck right now, right here. So ravenous and so loud that everyone hears every stroke, every slapping sound, every moan. They couldn't help but listen to our wild love making." He went on. "And when we're done, our scent lingers here for weeks to come, so they're reminded that you're anything but a prude-"

"Stop." She pressed her lips to stifle a laugh.

"I'm serious." He feigned shock.

Marley went on full throttle. Of course, the fool would always find ways to make her laugh.

"Now you're straight up hurting me." Werewolf mocked.

Her laugh dwindled into a grin. She cupped his face and stood on her toes to kiss him. "Aww, I'm sorry." She replied with a same light-hearted tone and pecked him again.

Eden's hand wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer. "If not anything else, I was serious about wild love making. I'll show you tonight." His right hand slowly started slipping lower.

"We'll see," she said and pushed herself away, much to wolf's annoyance. "I've to go. I promised to play Legends with Ethan. You can join us." She offered.

"I'll pass. I might go to gym. But you go have fun."

For past days, him and other warriors had been spending a lot of time on training.

"Okay." *Soon*, she thought as she walked away, soon it will all be over.

******

Jared's fist tightened as his steps took him nearer to the gym door. His mind was battling to grasp the right stance. To tell Eden the truth or not.

Well, it's not like he had a choice anymore. He already fucked that up.

"You have to tell him. If you won't then I will." Thea's words echoed inside his head. A moment of intimacy and vulnerability was all that was needed when he had blurted out his inner dilemma to her. "She'll be walking to her death. It's not brave, but stupid. I never expected this from cutie."

The cat was already out of the bag. If he was going to deceive Marley, he'd rather do it himself.

Jared reached the gym sooner than he expected. His eyes unconsciously fell on Thea who was having a duel with one of her packmates on a training mat. She locked her opponent's head with her elbows and stared back at Jared, silently telling she was here with him. He gave a small nod.

The lycan then shifted his vision to Eden. Alpha was on the lone corner with a punching bag showering heavy blows on it. As Jared got near him, Eden stopped his workout and turned to him.

"What?" He asked blankly.

"There's something you need to know involving Marley," Jared said. "But can I expect you to be calm about it."

Eden's brows furrowed suspiciously. "Depends on what you tell me."

"Just remember she's having a hard time too-"

"Jared."

Lycan sighed defeatedly. "Your mate is hiding something big from you." His right hand fished out a paper from his pocket and handed it to Eden.

It was a photo. Photo of a girl in blue dress who looked eerily similar to Marley. At first glance Eden mistook the girl for Marley, but as he looked longer he could make out very subtle differences. No, She wasn't his Marley.

"Who is she?"

"Dimitri's mate, Selene."

******