"Where the hell have you all been?" he yelled.
"Again, no offence Lilith."
The demon shrugged and leant against the bannister, watching the relief wash over Vincent's face.
"We just, uh... we just needed time alone," Zayn said, lying to his father.
Ares didn't believe him and turned to Lilith.
"Why were you with them? Where did they go?"
She glanced at the boys and sighed.
"I was walking back to the house and saw them land in front of me," she said smoothly. "Then we walked back together."
"You made us worry" Ares nudged Zayn's shoulder, relaxing now that the boys were home. "Don't do that again when there's a crazy water God after your throats."
"Sorry." Zayn grabbed his mates hand, pulling him up the stairs so he could discuss what just happened. He motioned for Lou to follow too.
Arez watched until they were gone before turning to Eirene.
"He needs to start searching for more pack members; it's getting dangerous for him and Liam to be lone alphas. Lou is great and loyal, but it's about time Zayn finds more wolves than just him, who will remain by his side for life."
Eirene nodded, but she couldn't hide her concern.
"How will he trust other wolves? He has experienced the worst kind of betrayal, and it's going to be hard for him to put his life in a pack's hands."
"I know, but we have to guide him into trusting a pack. We will make sure that if they even dare to hurt him- actually, Liam will make sure of that. After what he did to those wolves when they came to kill Zayn, you'd have to be pretty damn stupid to get on a Gods bad side."
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
"So, we are just waiting for Cordelia to sort out her family problems, then her and her mate will come and... talk?" Louis said after his alpha explained what he and Liam really got up to when everyone left.
"Yeah," Zayn said, lying on his bed, throwing one of Liam's stress balls up and catching it. "I don't trust her though."
Liam sat on a chair, his elbow leaning against the desk. He wanted to pace and fidget, his mind wanted to cover every possible danger, and he needed to make up unnecessary scenarios causing more anxiety and leading to a breakdown.
Instead, he watched through the window, feeling the warm sun against his skin, keeping away anything that could lead to him freaking out.
Occasionally, he felt Zayn gaze at him then return his attention to Lou, trying to be a good alpha, a better alpha than what he has been over the past few weeks.
Louis would never complain, but he did miss how it used to be. He missed being in a fully functioning pack.
"I don't either" Louis agreed, standing in the doorway. "I'm sure we can guide her in the right direction, especially if she has already said that she doesn't want Liam dead"
"Yeah, but how do we know that's not lies? I don't want fake trust; I'm sick of it." Zayn sat up and grabbed Liam's attention by throwing the ball at him. It bounced off his shoulder, and he flashed a sweet smile when Liam jumped. "You okay?"
Liam nodded and spun on the chair to face him.
"Do you think she'll be here soon?" he asked. If Louis were just a human, he wouldn't have heard him.
"I don't know." Zayn moved to the end of the bed and pulled on Liam's leg. The wheels on the chair glided along the wood until he was right in front of him.
"Fidget with this." Zayn shoved the stress ball in his hand. "It'll be okay. We'll sort this mess out."
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
By 10:30 in night, there was still no sign of Cordelia and Zayn could tell it was eating away at his mate. Liam had been brushing his teeth for much longer than usual, staring at himself in the mirror.
"You'll make your gums bleed," he yelled from the bedroom after pulling off his t-shirt and climbing into bed. Liam finally appeared and climbed into bed beside him.
"Tomorrow, if she has not visited us by lunchtime then we'll find her ourselves."
Liam nodded and pulled the duvet up to his chin. He turned away from Zayn, and the sadness flooded his eyes. He deflated into the mattress, the worry spilling out of him.
After a moment of silence, Zayn shuffled closer and wrapped his arms around him, pulling Liam's back into his chest.
"You'll be okay" Zayn whispered and kissed his temple. "We'll sort this, I promise."
Liam turned around, and their noses touched. Zayn's arms tightened, and the God relaxed.
"Why is everything so hard?" Liam whispered.
"I'd be worried if it was easy." Zayn snuggled even closer, tucking the duvet in behind him. "I still can't believe this happened. I just thought I was mated to a human, not a werewolf God who can move things with his mind, summon storms, and shock people with electricity bolts."
"Sometimes I forget that I'm here when I wake up, and I think I'm in my old room with Will sleeping in the bed under the window. I expect to hear a voice in my head and think about when my mum will come in, waking us up for college. Then you move next to me, and I remember that that life is gone."
"The only thing I had to worry about was the rival pack," Zayn smiled and kissed him softly. Their hearts fluttered from the affection. "But I didn't get to sleep next to you every night. I know that sounds cheesy, but it's true."
"That was a bit um, yeah," Liam whispered, and they chuckled together.
"Thing's won't be this stressful all the time. Think about when it's thousands of years into the future, I'll be breking stairs, Lou will be fixing the
stairs." Zayn stopped to watch the beautiful smile on his mate's face. "And we will be used to this life."
Liam lifted a hand and rested it gently on Zayn's cheek.
He whispered, "I can't wait."
And Zayn kissed him again, slower this time and more meaningful. Liam embedded his fingers into Zayn's hair, enjoying just focusing on him.
When they pulled away, the warmth of their love circled in their bodies. The dim glow of the moonlight shone sweetly, and Zayn felt something he hadn't felt all year. He pulled his head further back, staring at his mate with a frown.
"Oh" he breathed, "I forgot about this."
"What?" Liam asked, feeling strange vibes from Zayn. His affection felt dense.
"Well" Zayn thought of ways to explain. "Do you know what heat is for animals?"
"Um, is it like, mating season?"
"Yeah. So, wolves have to go into heat usually around April or whatever, but werewolves go into heat around June or July to avoid any problems or whatever. I don't know, there are no wolves in England so I guess it doesn't matter here."
"And it's July" Liam said.
"Yeah, but I've never experienced being in heat with a mate." Zayn rolled onto his back. "I don't know how strong it'll be, or if you'll feel it too."
