𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞 ⸙

2.43༊*·˚

Liam jolted. "Hey!" He nipped Zayn back. Zayn didn't even flinch and Liam raised a brow. "Weird."

"How is that weird? You can't even bare to have your feet touched because your reflexes would kick me. That's weird.!"

"Sorry that I'm so ticklish." Zayn's smile turned devilish, and Liam grabbed his hands.

"Don't you dare."

"I didn't do anything" Zayn blinked with innocence.

"You were thinking about it."

"Prove it."

Liam rolled his eyes and nudged him again. Zayn pushed him, and then Liam pushed him, until they were wrestling outside on the courtyard in the middle of the night.

"Give up?" Zayn asked when Liam's face was pinned to a cushion, and Zayn's big body crushed him against the blankets.

Liam moved his knee between Zayn's legs, and the werewolf recoiled quicker than the speed of light.

"Okay, okay, I've felt how hard you can kick me there."

Liam scoffed. "Because you grabbed me in the middle of the woods."

"Aggressive Liam." Zayn's eyes gleamed like the stars as they trailed his body. "i like it."

"I know." Liam lightly booted Zayn in the chest. He fell backwards down the step and onto the grass.

"Ugh, it's wet," Zayn complained, feeling the water from the earlier rain seeping into the back of his t-shirt.

Liam grinned and pulled off his shoes. He jumped over Zayn and ran across the cold grass. Zayn chased him into the darkness as Liam hoped he would. Zayn's hands were on him immediately because Liam ran slow enough to be caught.

Zayn lifted him off the ground and spun him around. Liam gripped the back of his wet top as he was flung over Zayn's shoulder.

They played on the field for almost an hour, running and chasing and laughing, When they returned to their blankets, the morning sun was greeting the horizon.

"We probably should've slept" Zayn sighed, pulling Liam on top of him and covering them both in a red knitted blanket.

"We can sleep here for an hour or two," Liam suggested. He was warm from running around.

"You might get too cold."

"If I do, then we can go inside." Liam smiled, pinching Zayn's cheeks.

He worried too much about Liam's wellbeing, especially now that he was trying to stay in Liam's good books. Zayn made sure to pull the blanket to Liam's hair. He then rolled over, so he was partly squishing Liam enough to keep him warm but not enough to make him uncomfortable. Liam fell asleep within ten minutes. Zayn watched the sunset for a while longer, but soon fell asleep under a pink sky.

*******

Baela did her daily rounds at 7am. She checked in with the guards, made sure omegas were awake to start breakfast, and walked around the fences to make sure no animals burrowed under through the night.

Most days, these rounds started at 5am,
and Niall would share the weekdays.

Baela looked glum at the thought of her friend. She missed him dearly, though she had lost many friends over the years. His grief felt like all the rest.

She did her best to concentrate on her duties and walked around the fence. She enjoyed the fresh morning air and the earthy.scents of a decaying autumn forest.

Baela doubled back around the fence, and a short weak breeze rustled the brown crumpled leaves. Baela paused when she smelt Zayn and Liam's scents together.

She glanced into the trees, wondering if they had gone on a morning run, but she heard no footsteps. Then she looked towards the institute and narrowed her eyes when she spotted a pile of blankets and a propped open door.

Baela tiptoed through the grass, stopping at the edge of the stone yard. She smiled to herself, peeking quietly at Liam smothered under Zayn. His head was on Zayn's arms, and their faces pressed together with blankets up to their chins.

Baela wondered how long they had been outside for, and whether they had slept there all night, and why they had slept outside. She wasn't going to wake them, but Omega wolves sprinted through the games room with a football, laughing loudly.

"Oi!" Baela hissed. The Omegas abruptly stopped in the doorway, noticing their Alpha and their Alpha's mate. Though they were too late, Zayn's eyes, like a beast woken from a deep slumber, opened with a scowl that didn't leave his face even when
he slept.

Baela froze, the Omegas froze, and Liam woke too. He stretched under Zayn and lifted a sleepy head, peering around through drowsy dreaming eyes, forgetting where he was. His eyes then landed on Zayn and something that suddenly crawled through his hair and onto his forehead.

Liam freaked at the first sign of the spider, and in his dozy state, smacked Zayn's face. He missed the spider and it ran away, so Liam leapt from the blankets and ran to Baela.

Zayn sat up, rubbing his forehead, also confused about why he was outside until he remembered their fun in the early hours of the morning.

"You slapped me," he grumbled, now seeing the spider crawling along his leg.

Zayn was always on spider duty, especially when Liam spent a lot of time in the attic. Spiders were everywhere up there, big and hairy ones liked to wait on Liam's books and jump out at him when he took the books from the shelves.

"A spider!" Liam yelled, pointing when Zayn scooped it up and threw it away. "It was massive! It was on your face!" Liam said as he made Baela check his hood for spiders, then he shivered from head to toe, wiping his pyjamas as though he was infested.

Zayn couldn't help but to scoff at his reaction. He stretched and untangled himself from the blankets.

"What are you both doing out here?" Baela asked, helping to carry the couch cushions back inside.

"We couldn't sleep," Zayn mumbled, not wanting to explain that Liam had yet another nightmare about his office. Zayn understood why Liam had bad dreams of Jaiden, but he didn't understand why those dreams haunted Liam so often, and why his office was always the main setting.

"I'm guessing you didn't mean to fall asleep out there?" Baela asked, rubbing Liam's arms. He was freezing cold.

Liam's nose was red and numb. He felt chilled to the bone, but at least he managed to sleep for a few more hours.

"It was a nice night." Liam reached for Zayn's hand, so he could yank him to the canteen for a warm breakfast and a hot drink. When Zayn was less stressed, he was more spontaneous and eager for adventure. "We had fun."