𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞 ⸙

1.28𓆩ᥫ᭡𓆪

Liam lowered his head when they both laughed
again. "My cousins always have friends over," he
mumbled.

The laughter stopped abruptly. His uncle Brandon stood from the table. The chair scraping against the tiles was a piercing screech.

"Because, Liam Payne, you're here out of sympathy. Do you think we wanted to take you in, the child of Jenny's  stupid bitch of a sister?"

His uncle always said Liam's last name like it stung his tongue. Liam had his father's last name. His uncle used that against Liam as an excuse to treat him like a stranger in a house he had lived in for seven years.

As for Liam's mother, his aunt Jenny's and her sister had never gotten on. They had a huge argument when Liam was very young, so Liam hadn't seen his aunt or uncle for years until his parents died, and he needed somewhere to live.

The way his uncle spoke about his mother was
nothing new. Liam had heard them call her every
lousy word under the sun from the moment he
moved in.

"Get out of my sight Liam. And tell your friend to
get lost" His uncle Brandon sat back down, while his aunt watched Liam blankly.

Liam hurried from the kitchen before he lingered
too long to get more verbal abuse. He hoped with
all his heart that Zayn hadn't heard anything, As he approached the door and looked up to meet Zayn's eyes, Liam gasped, astonished.

"Your eyes are red, a-and glowing!" He then looked behind him and lowered his voice. "Are they your-your wolf eyes?"

Zayn's hands were fists, clenched and shaking. "Are they always like that to you?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Oh, you heard?" Liam felt embarrassed.

"Liam," Zayn breathed his name with a heavy sigh.

As much as he wanted to storm through the house and smash his uncle's head against the table, Zayn pulled his mate out of the house and shut the front door. Zayn held Liam's shoulders, crouching, so their faces were close. Zayn's anger made him speak his mind, and he couldn't keep it back. "Come live with me."

"What!" Liam squeaked.

"At the institute," Zayn urged. "Please. You'll be safe there, and there's enough space for you. Please Liam, you can't live here with them. I can't go home tonight knowing that you're living in a place that doesn't want you.!"

Liam looked around Zayn's desperate face. Zayn
begged him with his deep soulful eyes.

"We can go up to your room and pack the essentials and-"

"Zayn" Liam interrupted. "S-Slow down." Liam looked around. The streets were empty. "Come on."

Liam walked down the side of the house and around the garden fence. Zayn followed him into the woods. They walked quickly and followed a trail until they reached a fallen tree trunk.

"Right" Liam said, scratching the back of his head before pulling his hat further over his ears. "S-Something tells me that you're not thinking
rationally."

Zayn sat on the tree trunk, flexing his injured
fingers. "Liam, you're my mate. I want the absolute best for you. I wasnt planning to ask you to live at the institute tonight, but I had planned to ask you soon. I just-" Zayn got back up and started pacing.

"You can't live like this, with people like that. I
wanted to storm into your house so badly."

Liam's eyes followed him back and forth. "Zayn, what happened to your hand?"

Zayn turned away from him. He was angry but glad his temper hadn't got the better of him. He could have stormed into Liam's house and threw punches, but he didn't want Liam to see him like that.

"Why are you still living with your aunt and uncle?"

Liam sighed. "I can't afford to move out."

"Then come live with me at the institute." Zayn
perceived Liam's silence as a bad thing. Zayn turned to look at him. Liam stared up at thy sky and the stars as if they could tell him how to answer. "You won't need to pay for anything"

"Zayn-" Liam said quietly. "This is way too sudden."

Zayn held his tongue and tried to put himself in
Liam's shoes. Zayn struggled to see why he would
reject such a request. Werewolves moved fast.
Humans always needed time to think about everything. Liam didn't have all the time in the
world. He barely had any time at all.

Zayn returned to the tree trunk and sat down
next to his mate. He looked back to his bruised
knuckles. Liam had to know everything; then, his
answer could be made fairly.

"I'll tell you what happened today, and what it means to be my mate." Zayn watched his brown eyes, silver in the night. "And before you ask, yes, my red eyes are my wolf eyes."

Liam smiled and crossed his legs, ready to listen.
"This might be confusing, but if you have questions as I'm explaining, you can interrupt me to ask, okay?"

Liam nodded, and Zayn inhaled slowly.

"So, I guess I should start with you. Nobody in the
institute knows about you yet, not even my mother. Well, apart from Baela because she followed me when I was following you." Zayn paused when Liam raised his eyebrows. "I just wanted to know who you were after I dreamt about you. Anyway, Baela was the only one to know about you, which was the safest option."

"Safest- option?" Liam asked with a small frown.

"For us both. Liam, I have a lot of enemies. Wolves are very territorial but crave dominance, especially Alpha wolves like me. We're always fighting for other Packhouses and land to expand our packs. I have a lot of enemies who would come for you if they found out that I had a mate who was still living in the town, and not the institute. You see-" Zayn took a breath. He wasn't ready for the judgement, but he knew he had to tell Liam about his way of ruling. "I'm best known for... for hunting the mates of other Alpha wolves."

Liam's frown deeperned. Zayn wasn't used to seeing him that way. "Why?" was all Liam could ask.

"Because mates are a weakness. I told you I would die for you, and that's the same for every other werewolf who has a mate. I don't kill the mates or anything, I just take them and make empty threats until I get what I want." Zayn had to hold his head high. He couldn't be ashamed of what he had done, especially what he had done to the Alpha of the southern wolves. Zayn couldn't change the past and how it shaped him to be a monster.

"I planned to keep doing that until my father- until I became Alpha a few months ago. I thought I would have years to find a mate, but then I dreamt of you. Everything was so chaotic. I didn't want to be Alpha. I don't even know if I still do. The pack doesn't feel like mine, I have no idea what I'm doing, and then you come along, and I abandon everything to meet up with you when I should've been at the institute." Zayn pressed his fingers hard against the bruises on his knuckles. "Then today, my beta wolf found out that you were my mate. My beta wolf is Jaiden, the guy who-"

"Broke my fingers," Liam whispered. "I remember him" How could Liam forget such an evil smile? He shivered at the mention of him and pulled his scarf tighter around his neck.

"Jaiden found out that you were my mate and said Baela had told him, even though she promised to keep you a secret. I don't like Jaiden, and I don't know who was lying to me. So, these bruises are from hitting Jaiden. I yelled at Baela too. Then I came to the café to wait for you."

"A-And that's why you said you had the worst day?"

Zayn nodded. "But now that Jaiden knows about
you, I don't know if he'll tell everyone. If he does,
then you're in so much danger. News travels fast in the werewolf world. If my enemies found out about you, they would take you from your home in hours. If the southern wolves got a hold of you.." Zayn didn't want to think about what they would do to Liam.

"...And in the institute, I'd be safe?"

"Yes."

"Why did you punch Jaiden for knowing about me?"

"He threatened you."

"A-And he still lives at the institute?"

"Not anymore. I don't even want Jaiden to be my
Beta. If you come with me to the institute, he will
be gone, I promise."