𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞 ⸙

1.41𓆩ᥫ᭡𓆪

Liam thought back to the wolves tearing around the field. Even from a window on the third floor, Liam was anxious.

He would need a lot of courage to get so comfortable with one of those massive wolves to be within ten metres, never mind close enough to hug one.

Liam flicked through more pages. If Liam read the book a few weeks ago, he would have assumed it was an add-on from a fiction novel. Now, he read about werewolf mates and believed every word.

"Madness," Liam mumbled and hunched over the pages again when something sparked his interest.

"A human may not understand that you feel the affect of the bond straight away. To keep your human comfortable, be tough on yourself. Do not overwhelm them with your wolfly desires. Remember, to connect a bond, you need a happy human." Liam smiled.

The book talked about humans as though they were small, cute, and vulnerable creatures. Compared to werewolves, Liam was exactly that.

He returned to the front of the book to scan the index, but a knock on the door stopped him in his tracks.

Liam stared at the door with a thumping heart.

"Who-Who is it?" he asked, staring at the lock he had forgotten to use.

"Just Baela," a voice replied.

Liam relaxed. "Come in."

Baela entered with a smile. "I saw Zayn stomping round the field. I just wanted to check on you and ask what you would like to wear tonight. I'm about to go to the town." She turned towards the window still covered with a plastic sheet.

Liam saw the black rose hairband she had used to tie up two of her dreadlocks around the back of her head, keeping the rest neatly together. He eyed the wolf stitched to the back of her purple denim jacket. He had seen the jacket before, assuming Baela wore it before he knew about werewolves.

Liam had overlooked the werewolf signs. "Um, I don't really know what to wear."

"I thought you might say that, so I thought about just getting you some smart jeans, a shirt, and a blazer. I'm guessing you're small in everything?"

Liam nodded. He would have liked to choose his own clothes, but his clothes wouldn't matter in a room full of werewolves. They would know he a human by his height, and scent, and probably smell is nerves like Zayn. Liam wondered if he would be the only human there, or if human mates were a normal thing.

"Do you have a mate?" Liam asked.

"Not a mate, no," Baela replied. "Only Alpha's have that luxury, but that just means we could be bonded to an Alpha between our ages of eighteen and twenty-three. I'm twenty-six, so that opportunity passed me by."

"I see." Liam pursed his lips with a small frown. He looked down to the book still in his hands. For a moment, his nose throbbed, and he remembered he was injured.

"You're nervous about tonight," Baela said, stepping closer to the bed. "I don't think Zayn wants to go, so I'm sure you won't stay long. Are you feeling okay after-"

The bedroom door flung open, moving fast on its hinges, crashing against the wall. Liam jumped and pressed the book to his chest. He still sat in the middle of the bed. If he were stood, he might have jumped a foot in the air.

"What the fuck are you doing in here?" Zayn asked, so deep it half sounded like a growl. He glared at Baela.

"Um, I just needed to-"

"I don't actually care. Next time ask me, your fucking Alpha. Now piss off" Zayn seethed through gritted teeth.

Baela didn't hang around. Liam watched her scurry away as quickly as she could. Zayn slammed the door behind her and stormed through the room.

He entered the bathroom and slammed that door too.

Liam sat awkwardly on the bed, barely wanting to breathe. Zayn was rather terrifying when mad. Liam shivered and waited, and waited, and waited.

After ten minutes of deathly silence, Liam shuffled up the bed and slotted his legs under the duvet, pulling it up to his waist. He sat with his back against the headboard and looked at the cover of the book he gripped tight enough to numb the ends of his fingers. The hard cover was bound in leather and a wolf's head was imprinted into the cover.

No title was needed. Liam guessed that he was one of the small amounts of humans to hold the book.

His eyes flicked to the black bedroom door when he heard movement. Zayn stormed into the room, still scowling and not looking in Liam's direction, which was hard because the bed was directly opposite. Zayn moved to the bedroom door without a word.

Liam didn't want him to leave again, not when he had no idea what was going on.

"Zayn" he called out before the big werewolf disappeared in a rage.

Zayn paused. With his back to Liam, he turned his head slightly.

"Where are you going?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know," Zayn mumbled.

Liam could see him clenching his jaw. Now is the time to be brave, Liam thought and pulled back the right side of the duvet. "Come here."

Zayn turned his head more. Their eyes connected.

Some would say that Zayn's eyes were as hard as glass and could be as sharp if broken. Liam saw how thin that glass could be, because they shattered at first glance.

Without a word, Zayn moved to the bed, slipped off his shoes, and slotted himself under the duvet. He pushed himself as close to Liam as humanly possible and pulled the duvet up over his head. His arm coiled around Liam's waist. Zayn buried his head into the side of Liam's waist and laid still, as if he had all the time in the world to lie in bed.

Liam looked down to his black hair peeking from the top of the duvet, then to the leather-bound book.

He put the book aside and shifted down the bed until their heads were level. He laid on his side and pulled the duvet over his head too. Zayn's arm was still around him, and tightened when Liam laid so close, their noses touched.

Darkness under the duvet hid their expressions. Liam wanted to see if Zayn's eyes were still fragile.

They were mates, maybe he could feel Zayn's despair if he concentrated hard enough.

"What's wrong?" Liam whispered. His breath
brushed Zayn's mouth.

"Nothing" Zayn grumbled. His deep voice sounded more toned than usual.

Liam tried to see his brown eyes through the darkness. Zayn's hand on his back gripped his hoodie. Liam brushed his nose lightly against the tip of Zayn's nose and whispered, "I don't have to be your mate to know that you're lying."

Under the covers, Liam lifted a hand and placed it on Zayn's hot neck. He felt his pulse spike. Liam traced a thumb back and forth along his jaw.

"Please let me help you" he whispered, snuggling a little closer.