Weres

49. True Alpha

Kyle's words kept replaying in Marley's head throughout the evening. The more she thought about them, the more she felt trapped between the two choices. The burden of many lives lay on her one decision, and it was frightening. Neither of the option was remotely reassuring. Both involved destruction and chaos.

Why did she have to be the one to carry this burden?

The bedroom door opened, pulling Marley out of her thoughts. Eden walked in and plopped down on her bed tiredly.

"Can I spend the night here?" He asked, looking at his mate who was sitting on the study chair.

Marley noted how exhausted Eden looked, and tried to let go of her dilemma at least for a night. He too had a lot going on at the moment. Things weren't easier for either of them.

"What's the point of asking? You're already half-asleep on my bed," she replied light-heartedly.

The werewolf just responded with a smile and got more comfortable on the duvet. After lying down on one side he gazed at Marley, silently asking her to join him.

"You go to sleep. I'll join you later." She waved her book. "I have to finish this one topic by tonight."

"This nerd." Eden muttered to himself before getting up to sit. Marley watched him suspiciously, but soon realized what was going on when he took off his shirt and tossed at her. She caught it and looked at the boy in amusement. "Changed your mind." He flexed his muscles.

"Do you hate your shirts?" Marley chuckled, but also shamelessly stared at his naked torso. With time the human had learned to appreciate her eye candy without turning fire truck red. Now, she only turned light pink.

"Yes." Eden smirked. "You know what else I hate?... My trousers."

Marley threw back the shirt, which he caught effortlessly. "If you don't want me to kick you out of this room then you better keep them on." Her cheeks turned darker shade.

Eden laughed, discarding his shirt on the bedside table. "Don't worry, you'll be the one to take them off. I won't have it any other way."

She groaned at his comeback and did her hardest to fight back the imminent hard blush—which was in vain. The idea of taking off (or ripping off) his trousers seemed pleasantly tempting, not that she was going to admit that to him. This boy was awakening some dormant wild side of hers.

"Let me study."

Eden rolled his eyes. "What you're so busy studying? I also have exams. You don't see my nose buried into books. You literally studied ten times more than I did. I trust you and all those lessons you gave me throughout the months. So, why is my tutor busting her ass?"

To be honest, he was right. She really was fussing over exams for nothing, or using them as a distraction to escape much harsher reality. Marley, with a tired sigh, closed her book and proceeded to join her mate.

As she lay down beside him, his arms wrapped around her waist, enveloping her in a loving warmth. Eden gave a small peck on her lips before looking at her seriously. Marley recalled the last time when they had been in same position. The same inquisitive look when he had confronted her. And she knew that whatever he was going to ask her, she had to reply with a lie.

"What's going on inside your head?" He asked. "Ever since I came back from the run, you've been spacing out a lot. Everything's alright?"

"Yeah," Marley lied, moving her eyes down.

Eden had noticed at dinner and other times Marley was too silent and too engrossed in her own mind. While others had brushed away her silence owing to her reserved nature, he had a hunch something else was going on.