Weres

57. Out Of The Bag

The clicking sound of calculator filled the room as Eden tallied the numbers from a file. The file was one of the many that held 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, the 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 come to the office and soon found himself poking at calculator to help his mate.

He watched her knitted brows and murmuring 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 shook her head. "Why did you 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 was awkward.

"Maybe." He shrugged.

"Eden!" Marley groaned. She stood up, placing 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 raised his hands defensively. "It's more 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 relaxed back in his chair and placed his hands behind his head.

"O-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 a bigger part in it than just our organs or genitals. To us werewolves, a scent is a reflection more of your conscious and mind than of 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.