𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞 ⸙

2.38༊*·˚

Liam and Lynx returned to a very warm room. Liam was thankful for the heat, but the wolves were suffering. Only Liam and Solana needed the blankets.

Zayn had crawled onto the bed beside his mother, warming her with his body heat.

Liam sat on a chair by the bed. He wouldn't squeeze next to Zayn even though he wanted to. Zayn and Solana took up all the single bed space. They were both tall people. Solana had once been muscular too, but with her wolf and the love of her life gone, she saw no point in trying to maintain her strengths.

For a while, Zayn stared at his mother, terrified that she'd stop breathing. She coughed a few times, but soon nuzzled into him for warmth. Zayn then plaited her hair that was still a little damp and smelt of the salty Ocean.

Liam sipped his coffee and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders when the fire died to glowing embers, pulsing red and orange in the corner of the room. The fire was the only source of light. Nobody could be bothered to turn on the light above.

Zara had shifted into her wolf and laid by the fire. Lynx and Bethan rested against her in their human forms, so they had somewhere comfortable Liam watched Zayn as his brown eyes slowly closed.

Zayn's head was propped up on the cushion, and it kept falling until his nose was tickled by Solana's hair, and he woke up again. Soon, Zayn was so tired, even the tickling couldn't wake him.

Eventually, Liam was the only person awake. The calm orange glow of what was left of the fire sent everyone to sleep.

The Omega's said they'd stay up, but they were all so exhausted. Sea air, a long run, and stress wiped them out.

The coffee would keep Liam up a little longer, and his spinning mind. They had been so close to losing someone else. When will it end? Death would visit everyone eventually, but premature death, in this case, could be managed if they only found the Southern Alpha. Where could he be? And what could he be up to?

Liam imagined him watching from a distance, laughing as Zayn's world crumbled around him.

It had been his plan to tear down the North. The Southern Alpha showed that by planting fake Beta's in northern packs for years. Though things got personal when Jaiden died. Solana was proof that losing a mate never got easier to handle.

Liam wondered how Junes' mate dealt with the loss, and if she could help Solana with her grief too.

When he felt sleepy, Liam woke Lynx to sit on the chair and watch Solana. Liam took Lynx's set and curled up against Zara's white wolf. She lifted her head when he pushed his back into her warm belly.

She sniffed his hair and licked his forehead
as if to say, good night. Liam fell asleep rather quickly, imagining that the wolf's warmth was Zayn's warmth.

He had an odd dream through the night. The hard floor woke him several times, and each time there was a different person sitting next to him. Bethan was there, then Lynx was there, then Zara was there, and Liam was lying against Bethan. The constant movement and the lack of Zayn woke him too, and each time he fell asleep, he fell into the same dream.

Liam dreamt that he was in Zayn's office, reaching for a bright light on his shelf. Each time he touched the light, it turned cold and suddenly he was holding a brass key with a wolf's head for the handle. Each time, Liam would understand why he held the key and what he needed to do with it, but when he woke, he forgot instantly.

The night felt long, continuously having the same dream. Liam eventually woke up and saw that Zayn was awake, whispering to Bethan about what they could do to help Solana. Liam sat up and stretched his aching body. Sleeping on the floor wasn't fun, even if he was squished against a wolf, which now happened to be Lynx's black wolf. He was fast asleep. So Liam refrained himself from ruffling his fur