Hi!
This is a chapter I'm leery about publishing.
I don't know how I did so if it's horrible...lie and stroke my ego like you would Daryl.
Again this is for everyone who's reviewed, followed, and favorited.
I hope we meet and have man-harems during the ZA.
And to Jaime for being the most amazeballs person ever.

Daryl had never thought of himself as a nervous man but looking down at his bitten down fingernails he might have to rethink that.
His girl (and she was his girl) was coming to talk to him about wolves. If he didn't know any better he'd swear Hershel was a sadist.

Maybe he could distract her and they could have this oh so important conversation later...much later.

Things were slow at the park so Rick had finally convinced Daryl to give an archery class. It didn't help that every time he saw Carl he gave him the puppy eyes and "I wanna be as badass as you, Daryl.".

How could he refuse?

As Daryl prepared the archery butts he heard the crunch of gravel that announced the arrival of Rick and Carl.

"Y'here early" Daryl grunted. It really was too early to be doing this. He hadn't slept at all since Beth had texted him.

Rick grinned wryly. He knew Daryl was inwardly panicking and covering it up with a surly attitude.

"Well Carl here wouldn't stop talking about how he was going to learn to be as awesome as you and he wanted to get an early start."

Carl looked away from the bow he was studying and smiled sheepishly.

"If I get good enough maybe you can take me hunting!"

Crap. He had gotten excited Carl.

Puberty was a harsh time for wolves. The hormones and the first impending shift made a pregnant woman's mood swings look subtle in comparison.

"We'll see."

Daryl knew logically that Carl had a childish crush on Beth but he couldn't help feeling...annoyed at the young boy.

Shaking his head to clear his more primal thoughts he looked at Rick through his shaggy hair.

"Am I doing the right thing?"

Rick didn't need to ask what Daryl meant. He had gone through the same thing with Lori and had agonized over when and if to tell her.

"You can't hide something like this from her. She's yours and you're hers. What would you do if she was hiding something from you?"

Sometimes Daryl hated how calm and rational Rick seemed.

As more and more people trickled in Daryl put on his professional face. He wasn't really a people person but he loved his job. He got to be outside in nature all day which helped him keep his impulses in check. He was tying on his armguards when he smelled her.

She always smelled so damn good and he had to choke down the low rumbling growl of approval her presence brought.

Grabbing an extra pair of guards Daryl turned and met Beth's gaze. She probably didn't even know that she was responding to him on an instinctual level but the smell of her curiosity and attraction was going to drive him insane one day.

"Thought maybe ya weren't going to come."

Beth could honestly say that in that moment she adored Daryl. He was always so sweet and flustered around her. A far cry from the gruff man he always seemed to be around others.

As she smiled at him she wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed. Daryl was always warm and smelled...well like Daryl. She could never get enough of his scent.

Daryl was always half amazed at how easily he accepted Beth's affection. He wasn't one for physical contact but he couldn't stop wanting it from Beth. Sexual or otherwise. She was small and soft in his arms and he could easily stay this way for hours.

"Beth!"

Carl came bounding from behind Rick and launched himself at Beth, almost knocking her over.;

This time Daryl really couldn't help the growl that came from deep in his chest and Beth looked at him stunned.

Scrambling away from Beth Carl adjusted his father's hat and hesitantly waved at her.

"Sorry...I was just excited to see you. Now that Judi's growing up I don't get to hang out with you anymore."

"Aww, I miss hanging out with you too Carl. Maybe I could come by and visit sometime."

Rick could barely contain his laughter.; His son smelled like a hormone factory and Daryl looked ready to commit untold horrors upon innocent bystanders.

"Son, you know Beth's got enough on her plate with school and dealing with Daryl here" he said trying to get through Carl's head that his crush was going to get him in deep shit.

Daryl couldn't stand being kept out of the conversation so he wrapped his arms around Beth's shoulders and pulled her into his body. It was a familiar position for both of them and Daryl's nose always ended up in her hair.

"Ya ready to learn Miss Greene?"

The next hour was pure hell for Daryl.

In addition to dealing with people who didn't seem to understand basic safety precautions Beth was testing his resolve to take things slow.

He had paced himself and took his cues from her. She loved physical affection but didn't seem ready to go any farther yet. He'd wait as long as it took for her to come to him but it didn't help that she was wearing jeans that seemed to be painted on and was pressing back against him when he came to correct her stance.

His balls were going to be permanently blue but he could smell underneath her normal scent of peaches and cotton the beginnings of arousal.

Beth liked him plastered against her back.

He liked it too. It featured prominently when he showered and in his bed late at night.

Beth knew she was making things erm...hard for Daryl but he was being such a gentleman and they had barely gotten to kissing!

Just because she was the dreaded V word didn't mean she didn't know what she wanted and she wanted Daryl.

As the class wound down Beth knew she was wet and Daryl seemed to know too somehow. His eyes were darker and he constantly came to "check her progress" and adjust the placement of her hips. She never thought her hips were especially sensitive but the feel of his large calloused hands gripping her was delicious.

"Somethin' on your mind Greene?" Daryl growled in her ear.

Beth gasped as the vibrations seemed to echo through her body.

"I..."

Her phone was ringing and Daryl audibly groaned.

"Should probably get that." He said as he backed away. For some reason he almost seemed relieved.

Her father needed her at home to help with an emergency surgery. Grabbing her things in a hurry she went and hugged Daryl and kissed him full on the mouth.

She pulled away too quickly for him to reciprocate.

"I still need to ask you about wolves. One came up to me the other night and it really weirded me out. Maybe you come by for dinner tonight?"

Nodding so hard it almost seemed his brain was reverberating Daryl was thankful for the opportunity to collect himself and show Beth on his own terms...kind of.

A hand clasped his shoulder and Rick looked at him in sympathy.

"Seems like you got a little reprieve but you know Hershel is expecting you to tell her any day now."

Always the voice of reason Rick was.

Yeah, sometimes Daryl hated him.

The surgery was long and Beth was dog tired by the time they were ready to clean up and go home. Daryl was coming though and she needed to be awake and...well not smelling like blood and fur.

The shower was too short in her estimation but dinner was almost ready and Daryl would be there any minute. Beth didn't know why she felt so close to him. It had only been a little more than two months and already she was thinking of herself with his last name.

Daryl was perfect. Nothing could change that.

As Daryl stubbed out his cigarette he looked at the farmhouse in trepidation. It looks nice and innocent but he knew terror lay within.

Hershel and Annette weren't going to rest until he told Beth one of his darkest secrets and despite all he knew about Beth's loving heart he couldn't imagine this going over well.

"Beth, you know how you saw a wolf the other night. That was me. Oh and you're my mate and I'll only love you until I die. Pass the biscuits.".

Daryl sighed and knocked on the front door and was almost bowled over by Annette.

"Oh you're not eating enough! You look like you've lost weight. Daryl, I'll always feed you and you need to stay strong so I can have beautiful little grandbabies."

As Beth looked over her mother's shoulder she and Daryl shared the same shocked look. They had barely started being together and Annette had already gotten grandchildren on the brain.

Though a little girl with his eyes and Beth's hair...

"Annette leave the man alone." Hershel said coming to shake Daryl's hand.

"Come in son. She's cooked enough for an army so you best be prepared to eat."

Daryl wasn't fooled. He knew what Hershel was expecting and maybe it was better to just get it over with like pulling a band-aid.

As he walked in he grabbed Beth's hand in his own and after marveling, like always, the contrast between them he pulled her to the side.

"After dinner, can I talk to you."

He tried to look reassuring but his panic must have shown and Beth paled.

"It's not anything bad! I wouldn't do that to you."

Daryl pulled her into his arms, oblivious to her parents looking on in approval. They knew Daryl would never do anything Beth was against.

Beth seemed to latch onto him like a barnacle. Her little hands clutching fistfuls of his vest.

"Just...are you ok? Nothing's wrong right?"

How could anything be wrong when she was looking at him like she was terrified, like she loved him.

He tucked her head under his chin and held her tighter.

"No, nothing's wrong. You said you wanted to talk about wolves, remember?
He felt her sigh in relief.

"I didn't think you'd remember."

Daryl scoffed a bit.
"Of course I remember. Ya sent me a text at eight in the morning. Now come on your parents are lookin' at me strange. "

Daryl never ate as well as he did at the Greenes and Annette was fairly glowing when he complimented everything she made especially her peach cobbler that he had thirds of. He was hungry yes but mainly...he was stalling.

Taking a breath to steel himself he waited until Beth and Annette had cleared the table and steered Beth outside to the porch.

"You...you said a wolf came up to you the other day. What if..."
God, he couldn't do this.

"What is it?"
Beth only looked on in curiosity. She didn't know what was coming.

"What if that wolf was a man."
Beth rolled her eyes.
"C'mon Daryl, Werewolves? I don't scare easy."

Daryl's face never changed.

He was dead serious.

"Daryl?!"

He simply looked at her and shrugged off his vest.

"You know I care about you and I can't keep secrets from you." He said as he pulled his shirt over his head.

Beth was momentarily distracted by his glorious chest and she'd never thought of herself as a girl who liked chest hair but...well there it was.

She wondered how it would feel under her fingers.

Then he turned from her and she had to hold back a gasp.

His back was littered with scars and as she watched it seemed like something was...shifting underneath his skin.

"Daryl, what's going on?!"

All she got back was a groan.

Daryl fell to his knees and it seemed like his back and limbs were contorting.

The change didn't take long, maybe a minute but Beth didn't make a sound.

The wolf with the rabbit was in front of her and it was Daryl.

Her Daryl was a wolf.

Beth walked back in the house and Daryl ran as fast as he could. He couldn't deal with her rejection. He'd never felt so horrible even when his mother died.

As she walked back outside with a rolled up newspaper Beth looked at her father in shock.

"You think he doesn't find it funny?"