What Could Have Been [Thiam Rewrites]

Chapter 18: The Pack

A/N: Enjoy the shorter, fluffier chapter! The next few chapters will get a lot more intense, so be sure to keep a close eye on my author notes up here for trigger warnings.

Not much to disclose here other than the minor use of drugs. 

Thank you all so much for the support this is receiving! WCHB is currently ranked 4th for Thiam, and I'm blown away! Love you all so much!

Theo

The forest was rough beneath the pads of Theo's feet as he sprinted alongside Liam, his white coat practically glowing in the moon light. The cool air tussled Theo's dark wolf coat as he dodged tree trunks and leapt over brush. The weight of the world was lighter, simpler as a wolf.

As they neared a ravine, Theo and Liam exchanged a glance. The silent challenge hung in the air between them. Theo's muscles bunched and he leapt across the distance, landing softly on the other side with plenty of room to spare.

He whirled, sure that he'd felt Liam beside him, sure that he'd landed mere feet away—but the stark white wolf was on the other side of the ravine. He was standing still, almost as if he was frozen in time, and a shadow rose behind him.

Theo opened his mouth to scream, to howl, to mentally shout a warning to Liam. With a flash of silver, a dagger sliced his throat and crimson blood stained his white fur.

Theo bolted upright in bed, gasping for breath. His sweat-soaked shirt clung to his skin, and he flung the covers off, grateful for the rush of cool air against his searing skin.

"Babe?" Liam's groggy voice came. "You okay?"

Theo drunk in the sight of Liam. His tousled hair stuck up in the back. Pillow marks creased his cheeks, and he was curled on his side, a hand outstretched toward Theo. His neck was unscathed. No marks, no blood. None of it had been real.

"Just a bad dream," Theo whispered. "I'm okay."

He repeated those words over and over to himself, wishing that he could will the nightmares away. Just when the Tara ones had started to fade, new ones replaced them.

Liam tugged at him until he was laying down again. He pressed a kiss to Theo's temple, laid his head in the hollow of Theo's shoulder, and wrapped all of his limbs around him like the best weighted blanket ever.

"I wish I could kick your dreams asses," Liam mumbled. "Do dreams even have asses?"

That drew a chuckle of out Theo, and he turned into Liam, nuzzling his boyfriend and tracing circles over his muscular arms and shoulders.

"I'm sure they do, sweetheart," Theo whispered back, but Liam was already snoring softly.

Theo stared up at the ceiling, his eyes wide open as the minutes ticked by. He didn't dare shut his eyes, so he laid still for as long as he could stand it before slipping out of Liam's grasp. He tucked the blanket around him and ran his fingers through Liam's hair, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

"If anything everhappened to you, I would burn this world to the ground," Theo whispered. "I wouldn't stop until everyone responsible was turned to ash."

Liam only buried his face further into the pillow.

Theo grabbed a pair of sweatpants and his headphones. Out in the living room, Theo flicked on the kitchen light just so he didn't have to squint and started his routine. For the past week, nightmares of Liam dying in various situations had been relentless. Unable to get back to sleep, he'd decided to make the most of his early morning wake up calls.