show some love y'all
Liam barely spoke through breakfast. He prodded his egg with his fork and ate nothing more than a bite of his toast. Liam was tired, and sad. He was embarrassed about what happened at the café, even though he had nothing to be embarrassed about. The town's locals cared too much about Liam's absence. He was uncomfortable about their sudden level of care.
Where he had been and who he had been with was none of their business, yet they made it the main topic to gossip about over their dining tables.
After reading articles about his parents, Liam had worsened his sorrows. He had always wanted to find out who and what had killed them. Only now, Liam was realising that he might have the power to find out, being around werewolves and all.
Baela watched Liam from the opposite side of the table. She had noticed his avoiding gaze, small frown and distant eyes. Liam usual greeted her with a grin and asked about her plans for the day. That morning, Liam barely gave her a small smile.
Zayn spent his breakfast staring at Liam, but he didn't say anything either. He wasn't sure what he could say to cheer Liam up because Liam was rarely sad. "I need to check the perimeter of the field to make sure the fence is secure, and no animals have exposed holes underneath." Zayn tapped Liam's shoulder.
"Come with me." Zayn didn't ask, nor suggest, he commanded.
Liam wanted to crawl up to the library and lose himself in a book, but looking at Zayn's half intense, half pleading eyes, he gave in and mumbled, "Okay."
Zayn grabbed his arm and immediately pulled him out of the building. When they were away from other wolves, Zayn stopped stomping and loosely took Liam's hand.
"Let's talk," he said. "if I've learnt anything from you over the past year, it's that keeping the lid on stuff like this only makes it worse."
Liam relaxed now that he was just around Zayn. He didn't want other werewolves knowing all his problems.
"I think I'm still in shock. I never expected the town to be like that. I really thought I'd have a good time. I guess it just kicked up memories I'm usually good at forgetting"
"What memories?" Zayn slowed his long strides as they reached the fence, then turned left. Guards knew he checked the fence every Sunday morning, so they always turned off the electricity surging through it for him to check it properly. Zayn kicked at one area that looked wonky, but it didn't move from his whack, so they continued walking.
"Memories of when my parents died, the conversation I overheard about their death, the rumours, my eleven-year-old self being sick when I thought about how they died. It just circles my head, even when I try to stop thinking about it."
Zayn was familiar with falling into a depressing pit of memories that made him angry or sad. Last November, when Zayn's father had been dead for a year, Zayn had spiralled and Liam asked if they could bring in a therapist, so Zayn could get help.
Solana had made that happen when she found Zayn smashing everything up in the canteen at 3am. Talking to someone who could help was exactly what Zayn needed. Each week he felt a little more stable-minded.
Zayn's arm then made its way around Liam's shoulders. Liam soon wrapped his arm around Zayn's waist, walking as close as they could get.
"I can help you look," Zayn said when they reached the first corner of the fence. He stopped to press his foot into the grass, then lightly kicked the metal. It rang loud. "I want you to get the closure you deserve. They were killed on our territory, but I can't see why it would have anything to do with our pack. I'm guessing it was rogues, but I can't be sure. I'll look through my dad's papers of that year. I can't promise I'll find anything, but "I'll look for you, and ask other neighbouring packs."
Liam desperately hugged Zayn. "Thank you so much!"
Zayn rubbed his back. "I can't promise that anyone else will know anything, so don't get your hopes up."
"I won't. I just really appreciate the help." Liam looked up, and Zayn was staring hard.
"We'll look for you, butI don't want to see you obsessing over articles or theories or whatever the fuck the town is saying about you." Zayn pinched Liam's round cheeks. "I want you to be happy. You're not happy when you try and do things like this by yourself."
"Okay." Liam said with determination. "I'll stop looking, but you have to tell me straight away if you find anything. Don't hide it from me like you hid that rogue's death."
Zayn's eyes narrowed. "Who told you about that?"
Oh crap. Liam pursed his lips. "Um, I just overheard it !
"You mean Niall or Baela told you?"
"I-It doesn't matter who told me, I just want to know what's going on. I know you like to keep me in this happy bubble, but I want to know in the future."
Zayn sighed and gave him a curt nod. They held each other's hand again and walked the rest of the perimeters in comfortable silence. Liam longed for the days where they could explore their territory outside a guarded building. He longed for the day where Zayn could run in his wolf, and Liam could make new running routes alongside him. He was sick of running around and around a field.
Zayn longed for that too. He also missed running with allied packs, especially by the coast with water shimmering under a bright moon. His dad would always arrange them, until the Bedlam Pack ruined everything. Zayn aimed to put more energy into finding the southern Alpha, but without a pack, and without a wolf, the Bedlam Alpha would have scurried back to the south and started plotting something else. Someone so cunning wouldn't give up so easily. Zayn hadn't yet had the chance to fight him in battle. He both hoped and feared for the upcoming chance, knowing that deep down a storm was coming his way and all Zayn could do was prepare himself and his pack.
"Can I help you look through your dad's papers?" Liam asked. Talking with Zayn had lightened his heart. The bounce to his step was returning.
"Sure. My office could use some brightening up." Zayn ruffled Liam's brown waves, trying to think positive to keep Liam happy. He had missed Liam's hearty grin. "I knocked the lamp from the windowsill yesterday. It missed an Omega by inches.!"
"Was it that big wooden one that you carved your name into when you were young?"
"Yep, the one my grandfather passed down to my dad, and I broke it by turning too rigid in his stupid rusty chair."
"Maybe you can fix it," Liam suggested as they.made their way to the stairs.
"I could try. One side is almost falling off" Zayn opened the door and allowed Liam to enter first, just so his eyes could check him out.
Liam waited for Zayn to sit down on the leather chair behind the desk before sitting on his knee.
"It's tidy in here" Liam said, looking around.
The left side of the office was still full of Zayn's father's books, but a few months ago, Zayn packed all his father's work into a cupboard to make way for Zayn's work, which was getting out of hand. Liam smiled at the neatly stacked folders, crammed full of notes and important letters from human authorities about payments and other important documents.
"Yeah, the clutter was pissing me off" Zayn reached under the desk and put two shoeboxes in front of him and Liam. Zayn had been meaning to read his father's journals, but he never had the strength, until now. He lifted the lids and pulled out the first black journal. "Fortunately for us, he loved writing about his life."
Liam rummaged through until he found a journal for the year his parents died. He held it in front of them, suddenly feeling a little anxious.
"I doubt there will be anything in here other than him rambling about how the media pinned it on our pack. That's what mum said anyway. Dad had to get them to change the wording to 'stray dogs' or something."
Liam turned to the first page as Zayn wrapped arms around him and peered over his shoulder.
"His handwriting is exactly like yours." Liam smiled at the looped words that were barely readable.
"Yeah, messy." Zayn took the notebook and flipped to the 4th of September. He cleared his throat and read, "The day started well. The sun was warm, the wolves were training stronger than ever before. Then my twelve-year-old son watched as everyone ate the breakfast he had spoilt through the night, the little shit."
Zayn and Liam glanced to each other.
Zayn scoffed and continued. "When that boy puts his energy into the things that matter, he will be a great leader one day. Until then, I fear he'll drive Solana mad. Anyway, as I said, the day started well, and it ended in a way I never expected"
Zayn shifted on the chair. He heard Liam's heartbeat spike. Zayn was a little anxious to continue.
"Keep going." Liam urged, leaning his back into Zayn's chest.
"I got the news late in the evening. It was about eleven, and I was still looking for Zayn because it was way past his bedtime. We found him hiding under his OWN bed. The little shit was hiding in the place he was supposed to already be. Like I said, that boy needs to redirect that energy. Anyway, I left Solana to deal with Zayn's bedtime and met Arya in my office."
"Who's Arya?" Liam asked.
"My dad's old Beta. She died the year after this and was replaced by Jaiden."
Liam shivered at the name and tried not to think about whether Arya's death was suspicious or not. He didn't want to know.
"Um.." Zayn rediverted his eyes to the sentence he was reading. "Arya said she had gotten a call from the neighbouring pack who were doing the rounds. They had followed a group of four campers into our territory, but the campers knew they were being followed. Fortunately for us, we knew they weren't just campers and we struck first."
Zayn noted how the line underneath was highlighted in green.
"I would say that today was exciting, but that word doesn't quite feel right. Still, today is important as it marks the day where we found, and successfully captured, our first werewolf hunters."