𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞 ⸙

1.48𓆩ᥫ᭡𓆪

Zayn's hands turned to fists as he hugged Liam. If his mate wasn't so cold, he would have stormed to Harry and smashed his head against a thick tree trunk until he bled from his ears.

Later, Zayn thought, knowing Harry would find another reason to piss him off.

"Are you hurt?" Zayn pulled back, scanning Liam and pulling at his soggy jumper for tears and cuts.

"No, j-just cold." Liam's eyes saw a big gash on Zayn's arm and the tear in his black blazer. "You're hurt more!"

"Li, they're not serious. It's okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Zayn lifted Liam onto his feet and brushed the snow from his clothes. Louisand Harry waited for them at the top of the slope while Zayn pulled Liam's face into his shoulder. "I was worried someone else would find you first."

"I was-was w-worried about that too." Liam was so cold, he struggled to form words properly.

"We need to get you out of this snow. Ethdellin pack is eleven miles from here." Zayn looked up at the placement of the moon. He knew the woods better than he knew himself.

"Eleven." Liam looked all around him. Each direction tunnelled into darkness. He wasn't sure if he could walk two more miles, let alone eleven. "Which way?"

Zayn turned Liam by his shoulders, facing him west. "I can carry you if you want. Or..."

Liam looked up to his face silvered by the moon's glow. His hazel eyes looked black. The grey streak at the front of his hair seemed to shimmer slightly.

"Or I can change into my wolf and you can ride on my back."

"That is a really efficient way of travelling" Louis said, pulling Harry down the slope behind him. "And you'll be warm."

"And we'll get there much quicker."

Liam started fidgeting. "Um, I- don't um- I- don't know if I can."

Harry muttered something under his breath at Liam's stuttering. Zayn turned towards the human, and before Louis could stand in his way, Zayn punched him in his chest and Harry flew a few metres, landing heavily on his back, coughing and wheezing and rolling in the snow.

Louis pinched the bridge of his nose and went to see if Harry was okay.

"He'll be lucky to be alive by the end of this fucked up night," Zayn growled.

Liam watched Harry struggle to breathe with minimal sympathy. Harry had pushed him headfirst towards wolves that they thought were the enemy. If Liam needed proof that Harry would never return to the friend he once had, pushing Liam to his death was it.

"What's happening at the Shadow Packhouse?" Liam asked as they started walking west. He couldn't feel his feet. His yellow converse were drenched.

"I left when my pack arrived. I haven't heard anything else, but I assume we overpowered the southern wolves. With Thea's pack there too, we should be winning."

"Why did southern wolves attack?"

"I don't know. I think they attacked without their Alpha."

Zayn frowned as they walked.

"And what a-about Baela and um, Niall, and your mum. Are they okay?"

"They should be." Zayn's frown deepened with unease. "They should be fine."

They walked ahead of the others fora little longer, until Liam heard them running to catch up. Harry avoided Zayn by almost ten metres. Liam looked around for Louis, sure that he heard him running too.

Liam froze when he faced forward and a big black wolf trotted ahead. Liam tried to pull away from Zayn, so he could back away.

Zayn held him tighter. "It's okay," he said in a softer voice than usual. "It's Louis. He won't hurt you."

Again, Liam had a hard time linking the beautiful, brunette haired, blue eyed, and sort of tall guy to the black wolf with silver glowing eyes.

Liam thought back to Zayn's transformation from his black and brown wolf, to the person standing next to him in the snow. Louis won't hurt me.

"It's best if one of us is in our wolf forms in case we run into trouble."

Liam couldn't take his eyes off the wolf as they continued walking. The size of the animal was unnatural. Louis'  head would come up to his waist, and he was smaller than Zayn's wolf. He sometimes lost sight of him in the shadows because her fur was so dark, but then he would
turn his head and his eyes would glow in the distance.

The longer they walked, the more comfortable Liam felt. He was still on edge, but Louis acted like a playful dog. Harry would throw snowballs and he would chase them, and sometimes she would flop in the snow and Harry would rub his(Lou's) belly. He nipped him sometimes, and never broke the skin.

Liam wondered if Zayn would be that playful. Maybe it's time to get used to that part of him. Zayn was lost in thought as they walked. His thumb occasionally rubbed up and down Liam's thumb, when his thoughts drifted.

"Zayn," Liam said with a thumping heart. "-It's okay if you want to be your wolf again."

That pulled Zayn from his troubled mind like Liam reached in and plucked him out.

"You- really?" Zayn was so surprised, he stopped frowning until he saw Harry staring at them, then scowled coldly.

"I can't be scared forever."

Zayn didn't waste time and asked if he should shift in front of Liam or somewhere else.

"In front of me." As disturbing as it was to see a wolf change into a human and vice versa, that transformation was a part of Zayn, and something Liam should be comfortable with if he wanted to fully embrace Zayn's werewolf side.

"I know it's a bit gross, and I know it looks like it hurts a lot. Well. it does, but I've shifted a million times."

Zayn was nervous, Liam could tell. "T-The wolf is a b-big part of you. I want to- It's time."

Zayn nodded and squeezed his shoulder. He crouched in the snow, and the transformation began. Starting with Zayn's back, it arched and cracked and snapped out of place, then his arms bent the wrong way. Zayn's scrunched his eyes shut, grimacing at the pain.

Liam watched as fur sprouted from every pore and Zayn's face changed, but it changed quickly, and in less than two minutes, he was staring at a wolf.

"Zayn?" Liam whispered when the wolf stretched its front legs by bowing. The wolf gave a short nod and a low noise, which almost sounded like a yes. Liam lifted a hand and edged it towards Zayn's face. The wolf stilled as the tips of Liam's fingers brushed his fur.

Liam quickly snatched his hand back with a nervous chuckle. "This is so weird," he whispered. Zayn titled his head and his ears flopped to the side. "Y-You're kinda, um, cute."

Zayn made another low noise, which was one of frustration, and Liam smiled, knowing Zayn wouldn't like that statement. He reached to Zayn's neck and sank fingers into Zayn's fur. The hairs were thick and a little wiry.

"I can't believe I'm stroking a wolf" he whispered.

Zayn nudged Liam's cheek with his nose and panted with his tongue hanging from the side of his mouth. His wolf looked like it was smiling.

Liam gripped the other side of his face too. His fear slipped away when Zayn lowered his snout and pushed his fury head against Liam's forehead. He smelt like the earth and the cold.

"If we hug now", Liam whispered, smoothing his hands down Zayn's fur, feeling his warmth, "while I'm not so afraid, will the bond connect?"