𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞 ⸙

1.53𓆩ᥫ᭡𓆪

Zayn didn't sleep a wink for the rest of the night.

He woke Liam at the first sign of dawn, thankful they had made it so long without getting hurt, and for Liam to have at least five hours of sleep.

"Liam" Zayn said as gently as he could. Liam mumbled lowly, struggling to open his eyes. He smiled tiredly up at Zayn, and Zayn very nearly smiled back until he remembered that his mother was in the room. "Time to get up."

Liam struggled to sit up, but at least he didn't wake with a sore head and throat like he had for the past few weeks. Connecting the bond had done wonders to Liam's health, and he had a lovely dream about Zayn. Liam dreamt that he and Zayn were back on Ethdelin Hill, only this time, it was summer, and they were surrounded by flowers of all sorts of colours. In his dream, the sun softened Zayn's hazel eyes, and basked his skin in daylight. They were laughing, making jokes, flirting. Liam hoped they could be like that in the future, and that his new life wouldn't always be caught up in trouble.

"Solana," Liam beamed, seeing Zayn's mother sitting peacefully in the corner, still in her long black velvet dress. He was pleasantly surprised by the warmth of the room. "What time did you get here?"

"A few hours after you." She handed Liam his clothes. "They dried by the fire. Even your shoes."

"Thank you so much!" Liam changed into his smart blue jeans, his black top, and black knitted jumper with a white wolf's head embroidered in the middle. Putting on dry socks was a nice feeling and a luxury Liam might not get for a while, so he cherished his warm toes.

He gave Zayn his t-shirt back and laced up his converse.

Zayn had maybe slept an hour during the night, from the time his mum left to find firewood, and to the time she came back with some firewood. He wasn't tired, just anxious to be home again.

"Let's see if Junes will offer us breakfast." Zayn took Liam's hand and ignored his mother's wide grin.

Harry and Louis left their room at the same time. Lou smiled and Harry shuffled behind Lou at the first sight of Zayn. Zayn's fists clenched at the first sight of Harry.

"Have you tried phoning your parents?" Zayn asked.

"Yes, they didn't pick up, so I left a text to my mum saying I was safe, though I didn't tell her where I was. I don't want the text falling into the wrong hands."

Liam felt uneasy as they neared the room packed with werewolves. Liam didn't know any of them very well, and he didn't know if any of them wanted to get to know him, a human.

Baela bounced over and hugged Liam, lifting him off the ground and squeezing him tight. "I was so relieved when Zayn had found you! I'm so sorry you had to run off on your own like that."

"I was with him" Harry said.

Baela looked Harry up and down blankly.

"There's toast and eggs if you want some?" she said to Liam, steering him through the room, forgetting that he was her Alpha's mate and treating him more like a friend.

Zayn, surprisingly, didn't mind because Liam was happy to be in her company, and he didn't want to be his controlling werewolf-self and get jealous whenever anyone spoke to his mate.

I will give him room to breathe. Zayn approached Niall to see how his arm was doing while staring at Liam from the corner of his eye.

Liam had as much toast as he could eat, and two boiled eggs, not sure when he would next be able to have food. Every time he looked up, people were staring at him. Liam wanted to say hello, but his nerves got the better of him.