published 4 chapters
"Wow, it really did snow through the night," Zayn said after dragging the curtains open and yawning loudly to wake Liam up too.
"Huh?"Liam mumbled, curling up into a ball, burying himself under the warm duvet.
"Li, you have to get up. You're going to the city meeting with dad today. Desperate werewolves are waiting for your autograph," he grinned, crawling on top of his mate and shaking him roughly.
"Stop," Liam groaned, failing to hide his smile. "Get off!"
"Get up!" Zayn collapsed on top of him and captured him in his arms.
"I'll pull you out of bed," he warned, shuffling back and grabbing his ankles.
"Alright, alright," Liam chuckled, kicking him away and reluctantly getting out of bed. "I'm gonna go and check on Harry."
Zayn kissed his temple and wandered into the bathroom to turn on their shower while his mate moved down the hall and knocked softly on his brother's door.
Liam didn't hear anything, so he opened the door and peeked in. His brother was wrapped up in many layers of blankets, closely accompanied by Louis, who slept right next to him with an arm under Harry's head and his face close enough for his nose to touch Haz's cheek.
Slowly. Liam shut the door and turned to see his dad standing right behind him.
"Is he sleeping?" Vincent asked.
"Yeah," Liam said, smiling at Micah who stood up, stretched, and headed for the staircase now that the werewolves were awake. "Dad, because Haz has connected a bond with Louis, will his leg heal faster?"
"Unfortunately not. If Louis was an Alpha wolf, then maybe, but it's just a simple connection between a human and a werewolf. I think it only works with other supernatural beings, like the vampires. Of course, you healed faster because you never really were human."
Liam nodded, understanding.
"How long will it take before he can do physio?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe a month or two. His leg is in a pretty bad way, though I can't help but think that it would heal better if we took him to a hospital. Niall, Micah, and the doctors did what they could, but they were limited without the right equipment. I did speak to Haz about it, and he agrees that it's too dangerous." Vincent so desperately wished it was him with the wounds.
His son is so young to have a life-changing injury.
"It might not be the case now, but Harry is good at coping with stuff like this. He barely even cared when he found out that werewolves were real, and he helped us both through mum leaving. I know that was years ago, but now Louis can help too."
Liam refused to see the guilt in his dad's eyes.
"That's very true," Vincent sighed. "If he didn't connect this bond with Louis, I hate to think where his mind would be right now."
"Louis won't let him get to that point."
"No, and neither will we."
Ares and Zayn stood by the lake in silence. Taking a moment to mark the anniversary of the tragic day when Ares lost his parents and Zayn lost his grandparents. Throughout the years, it has gotten easier for them to visit the place where their loved ones were lost. It helped it they attended the lake together.
"They'd be really proud of you" Ares said, squeezing his son's hand and breathing in the cold air. The lake had frozen over, and everything was covered in a thick blanket of untouched snow.
