From Eden.

I wasn't so sure of what Michelle was talking about when she practically dragged me into Matt’s basement from being picked up by her instead of Zacky once the last bell rang for school to be out. Matt’s mother, Kim, greeted me as I walked through her house. I was surprised that she even remembered my name. I felt so uncomfortable, being in Matt’s house after the Dare game incident. I made an ‘oomph’ sound as Michelle pushed me onto the couch that was pressed against one of the walls of Matt’s basement. I gave her a weird look, but she just shrugged and sat on my right. Her twin, Valary - which was Matt’s girlfriend, sat on my left. I hoped she had no idea what had happened between her boyfriend and I.

I noticed that there were various amps and guitars sprawled everywhere, I even saw a drum set standing against the corner of the two walls that came together that were farthest from me. I heard voices come down the basement stairs, and I watched as all the guys came into view. I gave Zacky a puzzled look, and he shrugged like Michelle had done. I watched as Zacky picked up a guitar, placing the strap to hang over his shoulder. My mouth hit my knees as his fingers moved across the strings, causing a chord I had never heard of to blast from the amp that was beside him. Brian was pretty good too, but my mind - and eyes - were focused solely on Zacky. I was amazed that Zacky had such talent. Our eyes met after a while, and he smiled at me. I couldn’t help but smile back and admire him and his work.

All of the guys were talented beyond their years. Matt poured his heart into the mic so perfectly it was almost unbelievable. Brian made it look easy as his fingers ran across the fret, causing notes to ooze out of the amp in an almost velvety way. I used to think that bass was pretty simple, that was before I saw Johnny play it. Jimmy made beating the shit out of his drums look like a walk in the park, or run in the park, considering how fast he was moving his hands. It was wonderful, being apart of this experience. Seeing the man of my dreams enjoy something with his friends so much.

“So, what do you think?” Zacky asked as I watched him walk over to me once they had stopped to take a break from playing an hour from when they started. I stood up at the same time the twins did as they made their way towards their boyfriends to tell them how great they were. Zacky wasn’t my my boyfriend - yet, but I was going to tell him how great he really was.

“You were awesome!” I exclaimed, throwing my arms around his neck. Zacky chuckled, placing his hands on my waist. I leaned in, right to where my lips were at his ear and whispered “we need to talk about Gena.”

Zacky’s eyes widened at my words. He knew we had to talk, but what we needed to talk about had to be discussed privately. He said a quick goodbye to everyone, as did I, and then I felt Zacky take my hand, leading me up the stairs and out of Matt’s basement. We said our goodbyes to Matt’s mom, earning us a strange look.

As we drove towards Brian’s house, Zacky kept his eyes on the road and didn’t say a word. He didn’t reach over and grab my hand, he didn’t look at me and flash that smile that drove me crazy. Nothing. Nada.

“So what do we need to talk about Gena for?” He asked. He spoke through clenched teeth, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the steering wheel.

“S-she misses you, and she l-loves you” I sputtered out, looking down at my lap, afraid to anger him.

“Yeah, that dumb slut misses me alright,” he said, sarcasm lacing his every word. “She misses my fucking dick.”

I could hear the angry rising in his voice. I kept my eyes down, not daring to look at him. I knew Zacky would never hurt me, but I didn’t want to face his wrath either. “S-sorry,” I muttered, tears pricking my eyes.

“You know you can’t fucking go back there, right? She’s a fucking risk to us all. You’ll just have to study or whatever it is at Brian’s place. Fuck her and fuck whatever she told you. She never loved me.”

I looked up and saw pain in his face. Even though I only know miniscule facts of what occurred before I met Zacky, I knew it had hit him hard. The pain was etched all over his face as he drove, careful not to break the speed limit or run a stop sign.

“W-what if I t-told you that I loved you?” The world stopped. My heart stopped. Everything inside and outside of me stopped. I stopped functioning, just for that moment as I waited for his reaction. It was like we were moving in slow-motion as he took his eyes off the road to look at me, and then right back.
He was silent. I let go of the breath I had been holding and felt my heart begin to beat once more. Not a peep escaped his lips.

We pulled into Brian’s driveway, Zacky turned off the ignition and we sat in silence. I didn’t want to move. I wanted to die right then and there, to just melt into his seat. But that didn’t happen. It never would. My world was shattered and everything hurt.

Climbing out of Zacky’s car, I walked up to Brian’s front porch and moved the mat, getting the spare key. I knew Zacky was behind me, watching over me but he was the last person I wanted to be around - for good reason.

He followed me in, and as soon as the front door was shut, his hands snaked across my waist and he pulled me closer. I shifted in his arms, ready to push him off when he leaned in and his lips met mine. One of his hands traveled up to grip my hair, holding me into place. He forced his tongue past my lips, pressing me against the wall. I gave in and kissed him back, running my hands down his chest.

He pulled away, taking a deep breath. His emerald orbs looked at me, holding me in a trance. He let go of my hair, bringing his hand to caress my cheek. I held my breath, waiting to hear what he had to say.

“I love you too.”

----

A month had passed since that fateful day where Zacky and I had confessed those three words I had been wanting to say since the first time he spoke to me. It was now November. The wind had a chill to it, as fall was beginning to shift into winter. I was still living with Brian, of course, and was kept under watchful eye of Jaed and the Council. Zacky now spent half of his nights here, the other half back at his house. The guys eventually figured out what was going on between me and Zacky after Brian heard us stirring one late night. We weren’t doing anything wrong. We were just kissing, but we let ourselves get carried away once more by doing other things. We had yet to take the big step and have sex with one another, but we would kiss each other in other places besides our lips. Zacky easily figured out my weak spots. They loved to give us shit about it, always causing the one us to blush bright pink.

Zacky was still the only person allowed to be so close to me - probably because Jaed favored him so much. I had gotten much closer to the rest of the guys, and Johnny had easily become my best friend.

“So, why am I helping you?” I asked I sat down on my bed, looking at a review sheet for one of Zacky’s midterms he had tomorow. The school he and the rest of the guys went to worked on a different schedule than normal schools.
“I don't know any of this crap!” It was true, as I looked over his math problems, trying to make out his chickenscratch handwriting. Zacky mumbled something about getting it done early and rushing through it to come see me.

“I don't need to study. I’m smart!” He joked, sticking his tongue out at me. “Besides, I like being in here with you than the living room with him.” he may have not said his name, but I knew Zacky was talking about Brian, and possibly Matt, who were both in Brian’s living room.

My brows furrowed at his comment as I looked from his review sheet as I thought of what he could possibly mean. “Why?” I asked.

“I don't like the way the guys look at you.” I was quiet, waiting for him to explain. “ I always notice how they look at you. You're beautiful Delilah, and they know that. They have lust in their eyes when they look at you. All of the guys think of you like this, even Brian and Matt.” My eyes widened, and I could tell Zacky saw it. “That’s one reason why I'm with you every other night. Johnny and Jimmy have gotten over it, but Matt hasn’t. Brian slowly is, and I feel like I can trust him now. I feel like I have to protect you from not just random guys, but Matt and Brian as well,”

“You're bullshitting,” I muttered, shaking my head at what he just told me.

“And Matt’s the worst. He’s the Alpha. Even though you’ve been Imprinted on, he could take you, do as he pleases to you and then nobody could have you. I can't ever get you out of my head.” He said in his normal voice. “I hate being away from you. You make me so happy. Just looking at you makes me smile, despite all the bullshit. I don't know why I feel this way, but I know what it’s called.”

“And what is it called?” I asked in a teasing tone, sticking my tongue out at him.

“Love,” I giggled when he replied with that one word, despite my heart fluttering. Wewere in love. It might not be the right time to be in love, but we were. No one would ever hear us whisper those three words besides the other, in the heat of the moment, passionate beneath the sheets, but they all knew. It was our secret to the world, and it was a secret that needed to be kept safe.

---

I giggled slightly against Zacky’s plush lips as he unexpectedly crashed them against mine not two seconds after I got in his car. We were going to see a movie. It was our first “real” date, and seeing he was out for Thanksgiving break, we had all the time in the world. He was quick to take my hand from my lap and lace his fingers with mine. I smiled, looking at him, and I could see the smile forming on his lips as well.

“So what movie are we going to go see?” I asked, buckling my seatbelt and getting comfortable in my seat.

“Toy Story 2,” Zacky told me as we drove down familiar streets to the local movie theater. I laughed under my breath. Leave it Zacky to pick out a kid’s movie for us to go see on our first actual date. The thought made me smile.

The sun was beginning to set as we pulled into the parking lot of the movie theater. I noticed how empty it was, and for the strangest reason, something in my gut told me we shouldn’t be here.

“Zacky,” I whispered, getting his attention. “We shouldn’t be here.”

Zacky looked at me, his brows furrowed in confusion. “What are you talking about Delilah? We're here to see a movie. Don't worry about paying, I’ve got money,” Zacky told me, patting his wallet in his pocket.

I didn’t want to get out of the car. I wanted Zacky to start the ignition and drive us the hell out of dodge. Something wasn’t right here. Taking a chance, I unbuckled my seatbelt and climbed out of his car. We walked up to the ticket window. It was deserted.

“What the--” Was all Zacky was able to get out. The sound of a dog’s snarl filled my ears as I felt a pair of hands grab my shoulders. A scream erupted from my throat as I saw a wolf bounding out of the woods by the theater. Except it wasn’t a wolf. It hit Zacky with all of it’s strength, knocking him down. Zacky only had moments to react as I fought off whoever was holding me. It was hard; their grip was like iron but I kicked and punched, screaming until it felt like I had splinters in my throat.

Out of the corner of my eye, the wolf-thing was crouched low as it growled at Zacky. I saw Zacky changing. His face began to elongate, his eyes began to glow. His hands transformed to something out of a horror movie - six inch claws sprouting from each of his fingers. His teeth grew five times in size as he bared them to the other wolf challenging him. Hair began to grow at an abnormal rate as a thick grey fur covered his body. He snarled and went in for the kill.

The sounds of the other wolf yelping and crying out in pain stopped my kidnapper from trying to keep a hold on me. Zacky was killing the other wolf. Blood was everywhere as he stepped back and dove for the other wolf’s throat. I elbowed my kidnapper in the ribs, hearing him go oof as I made a break for it.

The last thing I saw was Zacky looking up from the horror-movie scene as something hard and heavy hit the back of my head.

“Nighty night, bitch.” Was the last thing I heard.

Notes

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