I want lots of comments on all the chapters that are/will be posted till Saturday. Cause we are ending this on Saturday.
The climb to the top of the cliffs was a daunting task. Liam with his injured leg would struggle, never mind the malnourished prisoners who had been starved and kept in a confined space for two years.
The rest of the Rogues and humans were still being helped out. Some of the weaker ones would take a few steps, then rest, take a few steps, then rest.
Liam had come through the tunnel, but he would much rather take his chances on the climb than travel a day in darkness.
Zayn didn't say anything behind him. Liam felt his warm chest against his back, and an arm around his waist. His grip was usually strong and secure, now Zayn trembled and didn't hold tight enough.
Seeing his father had broken him, but Zayn would keep himself together until he was alone.
Liam would whisk him away to a quiet part of the Packhouse if he needed to.
First, they had to get out of the cave. Getting their parents out was hard. Multiple Omegas were needed, a few in front and a few behind. The way up was steep, and some parts included climbing. Though nobody complained.
Liam could only imagine that breathing in the fresh air and touching something other than the wet wall of a cave was heavenly.
Soon, it was their turn to climb. Liam's ribs hurt when he lifted his arms, like sharp stabs all over his chest. The thought reminded him of what had happened when he was taken.
"Baela!" he gasped, looking up to Zayn.
The werewolf stared above them with eyes a million miles away.
"She's alive," he mumbled quietly.
Liam relaxed and focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Often, he struggled with his leg, and Zayn would lift him. Not once did they let go of each other. Liam was thankful for the physical touch.
When they were almost at the top, Liam slipped on the sandy rock and put weight on his sore leg. It collapsed beneath him and he fell into Zayn. Liam gripped Zayn's t-shirt before he slid backwards with a pounding heart.
"I've got you," Zayn whispered quickly, clinging on too.
"Please lift me out!" Liam wasn't fond of heights, especially if the fall most likely meant death, or if he was lucky enough to miss the rocks, a deep plop in rough seas.
Zayn lifted him and Omega's pulled him the rest of the way up. Trees and grass and autumn leaves were sights so glorious that Liam almost kissed the ground. Instead, he crawled to where his parents sat.
All three prisoners looked around, big eyed, open mouthed, soaking up every tree, every bush, every rock. Liam's parents cried, gripping each other and laughing and pointing at everything.
Xavier had an air of tranquillity around him. His face revealed little of how he was feeling, but Liam could only imagine the emotions after two years in the dark.
Zayn was the last werewolf to climb from the steep cliff. He approached Liam, awkwardly staring at his father, still in a state of disbelief. Liam had never seen him so startled.
"Which way is the Packhouse?" he asked.
Zayn's eyes flicked to him for only a moment, but his fingers brushed his shoulder. "East."
Liam stood. He didn't want to waste another moment out in the open. He wanted the security of a Packhouse, and to ask if they could travel North in cars. Liam didn't have the energy to hold Zayn for a full day of travelling on his back, and he doubted his parents or Xavier could even hold on for longer than a second.
"We need to tell the wolves that it's done." Zayn reluctantly left Liam balancing on one foot and disappeared through the bushes, only to return with an older man and a woman, and two hundred other wolves.
Liam gasped. He had never seen so many werewolves together, so many wolves comfortably sharing the same space. His skin tingled, and his gut swirled with urgency.
"Where's your mate?" asked the Eastly Howl Beta.
Zayn turned towards Liam and so did hundreds of eyes. Liam blushed and pursed his lips, waving awkwardly.
"And what about Mira?"
"Dead."
"Definitely?"
"Yes." Zayn had waited until Liam was out of the cave before one of his Omegas in wolf form chewed on her throat. He couldn't risk her somehow coming back to bite him. "The bitch is gone for good."
The Beta of the Sea Claw Pack clasped his hands together.
"This doesn't mean that we all go back to normal. Things should be put into place so that this never happens again, starting with the Rogues. We have somewhere to take them and we will do that now, if you don't mind" He held out a hand. Zayn shook it strongly, nodding curtly.
"Thank you for your help."
When Liam first met Zayn, his manners were rather bleak. He eyed Xavier who watched on with that tilted head of his, and soft dark eyes. Liam had known Zayn long enough to know what changes Xavier could see. Niall's death had reformed him.
Niall's death had changed all of them.
The Eastly Howl Beta was next to shake Zayn's hands. "It's a shame I didn't get to punch you in the face. Maybe one day, Malik." She then stretched her arms and cracked her knuckles, getting ready to shift into her wolf.
"We're running back north
now, myself and my wolves. We'll stop at your Packhouse if you want?"
"Yes," Zayn replied immediately. "They need help."
He turned to Reena. "Try phoning Baela again."
"Most of the wolves want to stay and guide you back to the North when you're ready to go back," the Beta said. "You've been targeted the most by Mira. It's only fair I suppose that you can at least get home safely."
Zayn gazed at all the other wolves, and most of them lowered their heads with respect.
"Thank you," he said again. "We will go to the Shadow Packhouse now. Walk with us, you too, Leo."
The Rogue was surprised to be asked, but he followed without complaint. The walk was long. Zayn carried Liam because of his shin and hung back with his Omegas who helped the prisoners.
They allowed some distance to fall between them and the Northern wolves, and Xavier soon asked, "There's a Shadow Packhouse in the South?"
"Thea took over the Bedlam Packhouse when Jaiden died and Mira set the wolves on us," Zayn mumbled. For the first time, his eyes were shy to meet someone other than Liam. He wanted to avoid breaking down until nobody else could see him.
Everyone wanted to ask about Xavier and what the hell had happened, but nobody dared to voice it in the open, and nobody wanted to be the first to quiz him.
"You okay?" Liam whispered with his chin on Zayn's shoulder and his legs wrapped around his lower back. When Zayn didn't respond, Liam lifted his head. "I guess that's a bit of a daft question."
Zayn picked up the pace, walking ahead of his Omega wolves assisting their weak parents. "I don't have a fucking clue what's going on in my head. How are you so calm?"
"I don't know. Adrenaline, I think. I just... I don't know. I'm just happy you're here." Liam's eyes kept wandering to his parents. All three of the prisoners stared back. Liam was just a boy when he had last seen his mum and dad. He wasn't even a teenager then, and now he was an adult, living a whole other life.
"I feel bad going to Thea when our home is under threat." Zayn stared blankly ahead, walking on autopilot, not daring to look behind him.
"It would take the rest of the day and maybe part of the night to run back. If we get cars, we'll get there quicker even if we rest in between." Liam simply didn't have the strength to travel on Zayn's wolf. He was starving, exhausted, and every time he placed his chin on Zayn's shoulder, his eyelids drooped.
They said no more on the journey. The Packhouse soon loomed in the distance, keeping the wolves inside like a big dirty cage. "Thea lives here?"
Liam asked, trying not to look too surprised that the Packhouse was a broken mess. Though he shouldn't have expected anything else from what used to belong to the Bedlam Pack.
"Apparently it was half falling down when they got to it." Zayn had the satisfaction of watching Thea and Brandon gawk at the hundreds of wolves that swarmed the grounds. Zayn held his head up high and said, "It's over."
Thea eyed the prisoners, turning her nose up at them and Leo. "What are Rogues doing here?"
"They're not Rogues." Zayn scowled. "What punishment are you giving your Beta wolf?"
"She's gone." Thea's lip twitched with annoyance.
Zayn had swarmed in and uncovered a betrayal, rid the cave of Rogues, and killed the Southern Alpha all in less than twenty-four hours. Jealousy oozed from Thea's hot stare. Zayn's feat would be talked about for centuries. Ethdellin Pack would rebuild their reputation quickly.
"Good. Liam needs rest before we go back North. Can-"
"Fine. Stay, eat, rest, just don't bring more trouble here, Zayn." Thea stormed back towards the house, leaving Brandon hovering from foot to foot.
Thea was clearly bitter about her Beta. Zayn had always noticed that she took pride in having one of the best organised Packs, but she wasn't a warm Alpha, she was strict and treated her Omega's like dirt. Zayn once wanted that power, now he just wanted to be accepted by his Pack.
He shivered when he felt eyes burning into the back of his head, his father's eyes. This is some mad dream. "We'll have a room big enough for thirteen people."
Brandon was annoyed but motioned them inside. Liam melted into Zayn's body as he carried him silently down the hallways. Zayn was warm, and Liam was cold and tired. The Packhouse interior was homier than the outside. The floors were black carpet, the walls were littered with art and candles and large mirrors covering the grey brick. Above were long black chandeliers glistening yellow lights all over the high ceiling.
Liam felt like he was in a grand hotel. He couldn't wait to get home and snuggle with Zayn on their Own bed.
Brandon stopped by a black door that said Group Guest Room in fancy white letters.
Liam turned in Zayn's arms to see six single beds, three at one end, and three at the other. On the wall opposite the entrance, another black door said Bathroom painted in more fancy letters.
Zayn asked Reena to try and phone home again, then carefully lowered Liam on the end of the bed.
He inhaled deeply and faced the prisoners resting on the beds opposite. Zayn almost ordered his Omega wolves out of the room, but they wanted an explanation just as much as him.
"Now that we're alone," Zayn said, finally finding his voice, despite his hands still trembling behind his back, "I think it's fair that I can ask how the fuck you're all alive."