Weres

13. His Territory

"We are here." Eden beamed with pride as he looked in front. Marley followed Eden's eyes and her mouth hung open.

A large gate, made of iron beams, guarded an unpaved road ahead that was covered with mud and leaves. Among the beams on the gate, a large sculpture of howling wolf was studded. 

On either side of gate, a huge wall ran along as far as her eyes could see. The sight in front made her uneasy, as though daring her to go further.

She was broken out of her trance when the gate flew open itself. Eden continued driving inside and a few moments later they stopped. She saw a heavily built man coming toward them, making her dig her fingers into the car seat in nervousness.

"Relax. He's a guard." Eden noted her unease. "You don't have to be scared, nobody will harm you here. Believe me, this is the safest place for you."

In response to his statement, Marley could only muster up a stare that conveyed she didn't believe him in the slightest for obvious reasons. But it was far from the truth. 

For some unfathomable reason, Marley did believe him, otherwise she wouldn't be here. However, the rational part of her brain didn't allow her to admit her vulnerability.

Eden just shook his head and got out of the car. She followed. He handed the car key to the man, who now stood in front of them.

"Is it her, Alpha?" The man asked Eden as he smiled at Marley.

Eden just nodded with a smile, and it was enough for the man to beam with pride. 

Marley furrowed her brows in confusion as she listened to their conversation. The only possible conclusion she could come up with after watching their interaction was that she was going to be their food, and judging by the strange man's reaction she was going to be tasty.

"A pleasure to finally meet you. I am Tristan Matthews." The man broke her cynical chain of thoughts. 

Marley met his electric blue eyes. His dirty blond hair was sticking to his head with sweat as if he had run for miles. She guessed him to be in his late twenties. As she was studying the man, a low growl from behind broke her attention. She realized she had been staring at Tristan longer than necessary.

"Marley Seyfried. Same here," she replied hastily. Tristan left them and made his way inside Eden's car. She didn't miss the man's amused face hearing Eden's growl.

"We'll be walking from here," Eden said nonchalantly as though he hadn't just threatened Tristan. He strode forward, and Marley followed quietly, not wanting to sour his mood further.

"So, you are alpha. Like their leader or something?" She asked curiously. 

She stuffed her hands inside her hoodie pocket, trying to catch up to him. The better half of the last night had been spent by her staring at her laptop, googling about werewolves. Besides being bombarded with the shirtless pictures of Taylor Lautner, she also stumbled upon a few stories and legends about his kind. As thrilling as they were, they ladened her with basic knowledge.

"Yes."

Marley looked around and saw houses lined together on either side of the road. The place would look like a gated community, if not for the dense jungle just behind the lodgings. She saw people ogling her and their alpha. She instinctively got closer to Eden avoiding their prying eyes. 

She felt like a kindergarten kid following her teacher on her first school trip. She was sweating profusely, not because of walking but nervousness. She didn't even realize that Eden had stopped and she bumped her head right onto his back.