59. Concede

Eden bolted out of his house and ran into the woods with his supernatural speed. He needed to get away from all the prying eyes and find some solitude. As soon as the werewolf reached the lake, his fingers dug into hair and his knees fell to the ground.

"Fuck!" A tear dropped on the mud. "Fuck!" Another rolled down his cheeks. It didn't take long before more drops gushed out of his eyes. Marley's dejected face kept flashing before him when he had spewed out those degrading words at her. "I'm sorry." Eden said to no one. Her pleadings to stop them echoed in his head. "I'm so sorry baby." Hatred wasn't a strong word for what he felt at himself.

*But he needed to do it.*

Marley had already decided to put herself on the cross for his pack. And Eden couldn't let that happen. She was supposed to lead a happy and fulfilling life, with or without him. Not fighting lycans or deadly vampires. *And It was all because of him!* That wasn't fair to her. When he saw the firm resolution in her voice as she challenged him about his inability to see the plan through her eyes, he knew a simple persuasion wasn't going to dissuade her. He had to break her. So he did.

Every vile word that came out of his mouth had hurt him back. Her horrified face was like a stab to his gut. Her petrified response when he manhandled her made him feel disgusted at himself. Eden didn't expect his mate to forgive him when he couldn't forgive himself. The only thing he wished was that it worked, and stopped Marley from pursuing her deadly mission.

Once, this turmoil had passed, he'll spend fucking eternity making up to her. But until then he'd rather have her hate and fear him than dead. The Alpha tried to justify it to himself, but that didn't make him feel any less shitty. So he let it out and cried, like his mate back in his old room.

******

Marley closed the running tap water, and looked up at mirror to find her swollen wet face staring back at her. She could make out voices of Eden's parents downstairs. She didn't know how long they'd been back home, but was grateful that they didn't come upstairs and let her have her time. Perhaps, Ethan had told them everything and they were angry at her too. Maybe, by now the whole pack hated her, like him.

She walked out of room and went down the stairs. When she reached the living room, she found Catherine and Nicholas sitting on couch. Their eyes were already fixed on her, giving her a pitiful gaze.

Catherine stood up and was by her side. "Honey, if you want to share anything, we're here." She placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Her maternal tone tugged Marley's insides, threatening another round of sobs to come out. "I know," the teen girl replied, mustering up a nonchalant look. "I'm tired, I think I'm going to head to bed now."

"You didn't have dinner. Why don't you stay a little longer and eat something?"

The appetite for anything was long gone. "I'm not really hungry. I just want to rest."

"But-"

"Cat, don't force her." Nicholas interrupted. "She looks tired, let her go." He watched his son's mate giving him a thankful look and rush out of the main door.

"Was Eden too harsh on her?" Catherine muttered.

"I think so." Nicholas said.

From others they had come to know about the talk that passed among Eden, Jared and Thea. When they came home, a scared Ethan narrated the incident of his brother yelling at Marley. Ethan didn't have the courage to eavesdrop on them when his brother sounded so mad and his shoutings were incoherently reverberating throughout the house. Eden's parents didn't know what exactly passed between him and his mate, but they hoped their son hadn't taken it too far. However, after seeing Marley they didn't get a good feeling.

Marley saw Jared and Thea on the steps of pack house. Jared took notice of her, but before he could approach her she changed her way and headed toward the woods. She wasn't in a mood to be bothered by his justification for telling Eden. She wasn't in a mood to be bothered by anyone.

The human mindlessly walked for a few minutes, before plopping down on the grass. Her mind kept reeling back to Eden and all the things he had said. A burgeoning part of her started to see herself as all those labels he had thrown at her. *Burden, weak, irritating, and ungrateful bitch.* Maybe, no, surely, Eden could have found a better mate than her.

A seering pain clutched her heart at just a thought of that.

Her train of thoughts was interrupted by a rustling sound from the side. Marley turned around anticipating one of the patrollers to come into view, but a too familiar figure shadowed over her. She turned back, wanting and expecting the guy to go away.

"It's almost midnight. What are you doing here at this time?" Eden asked.

"I could ask you the same." Marley thought but didn't utter a word, ignoring him all together.

"So, I'm going to get silent treatment now?" He said, and her fist tightened at his casual tone. *He had no right to talk to her that way!*

She kept mum.

Eden sighed. "Fine, don't talk to me but let's go back." When she made no move to follow him, he leaned down to touch her. "C'mon, you'll get bug bites."

"Stay away!" Marley jerked off his hand, and stood up. "Just because you think I'm a burden doesn't mean you have to babysit me all the time. No homicidal knight is here to kill me, at least right now." She exploded, all the built up angst erupting out. "You can go to bed and jerk yourself off to the fantasies about your pretty alpha she-wolf."

Eden gave her a warning glare, but that didn't faze Marley. Seeing him again had turned all her anxieties into pure rage. *It was her turn now.*

"Don't look at me like that. It might've silenced me back there, but it sure as hell is not working right now."

His glare dropped, watching the raging tigress in surprise.

"If you knock me out, maybe that would work. You missed my face back in the room." She seethed. "The only way it could get worse than the horrid behavior that you showed me there, if you raise your hands on me. Might as well do it Eden, then I'll truly be afraid of you and become a thing that you can puppet around."

"Marley, don't."

"You expect me to stop now but you didn't when I begged you to." Her eyes were getting moist once again. "And why would you?" She moved forward, closing the distance between them. "I'm just a pathetic, weak bitch-"

"Stop!" Eden cut her off, his eyes flickering golden.

She stopped and scowled, expecting him to go on another rant. Not a word came out of him. Silence descended upon the two as they glared at each other.

When Marley got a good look of his face her scowl vanished. She noticed his eyes were slightly puffier and red. Last time they were like this when... "Were you crying?" She asked.

"Fuck it! If you want to spend the night outside, do it." The wolf evaded, tired of playing this game. "Have a fucking picnic for all I care." He turned to leave.

"Fine." Her frown returned watching him turn his back on her. "Oh, just so you know, I'm still going on with my plan. The only thing changed is now you know."

His step stopped and fist tightened. "You're not doing anything and that's final." He said darkly.

"I never asked you."

Eden faced her, his jaw clenching. "I am the Alpha. Every single person in this pack needs my permission."

"I am not like everyone else," she countered, "I'm not a werewolf, Alpha, I'm a human. I was never bound to follow you."

He moved closer, pinning her with his fierce stare. Marley didn't back away either. "Don't make this difficult."

"You're the one who is making this difficult for everyone else."

"I am just keeping my mate alive. You're the one who has a death wish."

"Do you really think it is that way Eden?" Marley grimaced. "If that's how it is, then maybe I should stop you from fighting Dimitri too. After all, I'm just trying to keep my mate alive. But you expect me to stand on sidelines and cheer for you as you put yourself out there among hundreds of homicidal knights."

"It's different and you know it. I have responsibility to my people. And I am probably a little more equipped to fight vampires than you are." He mocked.

"I may be different from them, but they are still my people. You're the one who said again and again that this is my pack. As for responsibility, it became one for me as soon as I found out my appearance could be used to leverage our win." She stated. "And I know you're a lot more equipped than me to fight knights. I'm aware of my limitations that you so kindly told me few hours ago. But maybe, if you listened to what I have to say, you'll know I won't be having a dual with Dimitri."

"You won't be doing anything!" Eden yelled, attempting to force her into submission. But instead of fear he saw rebel in her eyes.

"Tell me, why am I not allowed to say the same? Why can't I stop you? You're being a hypocrite."

The fear and hate didn't work. Eden knew she was already gone, but he desperately held on to the last hope, and broke his facade. He cupped her cheeks, surprising her, and joined their foreheads together. "Marley, I never meant those vile things. That was just a stupid attempt from stopping you. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He apologized, his eyes starting to get blurry. "But I beg you. Don't do this."

"You're the biggest jerk I've ever met." She sniffed. "Your words hurt Eden, they hurt so much."

"I know baby. I'm so sorry. Just don't do it, please."

"Eden, you're not going to stop me." Before the Alpha could speak she continued. "You have to understand it's not about just us. Lives of so many wolves and humans depend on this. We can't be selfish right now. This is bigger than the two of us."

Alpha knew that but why does she have to be the one... "Maybe, I'm the more needy one in this relationship. I can't lose you, or I'll become the very thing we're fighting."

"You'll never be like him." Marley shook her head. "And you're not the needy one, believe me. If only you knew how much hours of day I spend thinking about you, you wouldn't say it." She grabbed the back of his neck, pulling him closer. "You're agitated. I prepared myself from the start that you will be directly against those knights, but you never expected me to be part of this mayhem... and that's my fault. I should've been honest from the beginning. Maybe I relied too much on other's judgement than trusting my own mate. I'm sorry for that, I truly am, but that's all I could offer. Nothing will deter me."

"You're too stubborn." Eden buried his face inside the crook of her neck and breathed in her scent. The girl had defeated him. "Alright, tell me your magical plan." He conceded.

Marley sighed, her chest feeling lighter, and hugged him tighter. "At least act a little bit interested," she said light-heartedly.

He bit her neck, making her whimper. "Don't."

*******