Zayn took Liam to the third floor. He hadn't yet been in his bedroom. He left his father sitting in the green armchair when an Omega hurried to the bedroom, out of breath, stumbling on her words to tell him that humans were trying to get through the gate.
Zayn couldn't help but to peek into the bedroom on his way past. His father sat where he left him.
Xavier stared distantly through the window. He watched the trees beyond as if they were some holy sight. He didn't notice his son, so Zayn continued to the end of the corridor.
The sight of his own bed was enough to make his limbs twice as heavy. Instead of flopping on top of the covers, he sat on the edge of the bed, still cradling Liam.
"Is it all sinking in now?" Zayn asked quietly.
Liam nodded against him.
"I'm proud of you for shouting at them." Zayn felt deep inside his soul that a weight had been lifted from his mate.
"That Bert needed punched in the mouth. I'll get the pack to stalk him for a few weeks."
Zayn's words had cracked a smile on Liam's sad face.
"I just want to forget about them."
"Do you want to sleep?"
Liam shook his head, drying his eyes with his hands rather than on Zayn's t-shirt. "I want to see Solana and Xavier's reunion."
"Me too." Zayn's stomach churned. His heart thumped. He felt a little out of breath at the thought. "I want her to just be here now."
Liam rubbed Zayn's back. Every time they looked at each other, a swell of emotion flooded them.
Zayn kept swallowing his tears. Liam chewed on his bottom lip.
"Soon, we can shower and sleep." Liam's eyes then gleamed. "Zayn, you did it. Anything to do with the Southern Alpha is over. Your mum's coming home, the Rogues are getting help."
Liam smiled wide. "We're free again."
Zayn cupped Liam's face and kissed him tenderly. The thought of freedom was exciting. After a long sleep, he would make a list of all the things they could do together. Running through the woods would be his top priority.
Zayn lightly stroked the skin around Liam's bruising eye. Zayn had a matching injury. He wanted a few days of doing nothing other than relaxing with Liam.
"Are you sure you don't want to sleep?"
"I'm sure." Liam intertwined their hands and kissed Zayn's knuckles. "Shall we sit by the entrance and wait for your mum?"
Zayn was eager, but Liam was limping. He let Liam piggyback him and made sure to peek into his mum's bedroom before going downstairs. This time, his father was watching the already ajar door.
He smiled at Zayn and asked what was happening.
"The humans are gone. We're going to wait for mum to arrive."
Xavier sat up straighter. "Will she be here soon?"
"Hopefully. Are you okay sitting up here?"
"Yes. I can't wait to bond with the wolves again, but I'm too tired for that right now. I just want my Ana."
Zayn understood. He carried Liam on his back all the way to the front door. They sat together on the steps. Liam thought about his parents while Zayn thought about his father.
Either the driver of the car zoomed to the Packhouse, or Zayn lost himself in thought. When the car arrived, he felt like he had only just sat down.
"Do you think she'll sense him?" Zayn asked, nervously rubbing his hands together as the gate buzzed open.
"Maybe she'll smell him."
"Do you think the bond will reconnect?"
"I'm not sure. I hope it does!"
Liam didn't need to feel Zayn's nerves to know that he was anxious. Zayn never blinked when he was on edge, and his eyes zoned ahead of him, his round shoulders sat rigid, his jaw clenched, and his heart raced around his chest.
"I don't want her to break down in front of the wolves."
"We'll take her straight to the room. You don't have to wait for me, I can-"
"I can carry you. You wanted to see their reunion."
Even after two years, Liam was still surprised when people made an effort to include him. He smiled, leaning closer on instinct. "Thank you."
Zayn squeezed Liam's hand while the black car stopped, and the door opened. Solana was a sight for sore eyes. She hadn't been gone long, but she already looked a little healthier. Her cheeks were pink, her eyes bright, her hair in a neat ponytail, and she approached Zayn quickly, full of strength.
Solana cupped her son's face, inspecting the bruises and cuts from where Reena had punched him.
"What the hell happened?" she asked, also inspecting Liam's bruised eye and cut lip.
"It's over mum." Zayn's timid voice concern her. "All of it. Everything is over."
Solana knew what he meant by that. The Southern Alpha was dead or captured or something big had happened that put an end to their fears. "For definite?"
Zayn nodded.
Solana sighed with relief and her eyes sparkled. Her gaze darted between Liam and Zayn, waiting for them to show her how relieved they were too.
"This is good isn't it?" Solana asked with a hand on Zayn's shoulder and one on Liam's. "Isn't it?"
"Mum, there's something-"
"Okay" she sighed. "I know we haven't talked about what happened at the beach. We can talk about it now. I'm ready."
"That's not... no we can talk about that later. Mum-"
Zayn's voice wavered. Words often betrayed him, but he could always rely on Liam.
"Mira had kept someone you know as a prisoner. We brought them back here and you really need to see them." Liam pursed his lips and slid Solana's hand from his shoulder, holding it instead. "Don't ask who, just come with us."
Solana's pleased glow had dimmed. She opened her mouth, stalled, and nodded instead. Though she frowned at Zayn, harder when he avoided her gaze.
She paused as soon as she stepped into the building. "I smell humans."
"Daniel and his sister are here," Zayn explained.
"We can tell you what happened later."
"I can also smell... I don't know." She allowed Liam to pull her down the corridor and paused again next to the stairwell.
"Sorry, but who is this person? They smell so... familiar?"
Zayn's heart almost broke through his ribs. "Just come and see."
He opened the door to the stairwell and even he smelt a waft of his father. His smell was more diluted than it had ever been, but it was there for the first time in years. "They're in your bedroom."
Liam entered too, and they both turned to Solana to see if she was following. Solana was frozen in the doorway, her dark eyes pointed upwards. Slowly, her hand pressed to her chest.
"Come upstairs, mum." Zayn and Liam both tugged on her hands.
"It smells like.." Solana didn't budge.
Zayn stopped right in front of her. She was paling fast. "It smells like dad.!"
Solana's bottom lip quivered. "Why?"
"Because he's here," Zayn whispered. "He's alive, mum, he's-"
She stood back, violently shaking her head, ripping herself from their hands. "T- That's not possible!" Tears glossed her eyes. "Why would you say that to me?"
"He's in your room." Zayn stepped towards her again, holding her shoulders. "Mum, we found him alive."
He tilted her chin up, so their eyes met. Zayn was as serious as he had ever been. He was emotional too, and he was telling her the truth.
Solana could read his face clearly, for once. She suddenly pushed past him and lunged for the stairs. Zayn lifted Liam and hurried after her. Solana couldn't bolt up the stairs like Zayn and slowed by the time she reached the third floor. Zayn yanked the heavy door open and followed her into the
corridor. Her bedroom door was still ajar.
Solana stopped in the doorway, gasping loudly. She froze and paled with eyes that could pop out at any moment.
Then she collapsed. Zayn put Liam down and caught her before she fell heavily on her back.
Xavier tried to stand, but he was too weak and could only lean forwards, desperately.
Solana muffled a cry with trembling hands. She scrambled from Zayn's arms, crawling through her bedroom. When she reached Xavier, she clutched his legs like a starved Pup, clawing up him, holding him so securely, Xavier couldn't move.
"I don't understand!" She sobbed loudly. "l don't how is this- how? How?" Solana tugged at his clothes, his arms, his hair, and his hollow cheeks.
She climbed on top of his weak legs and pushed her face into the side of his neck.
Xavier cradled her. Silent tears streamed down his face too. "Ana," he said through a cracked voice. "I'm so sorry."
They clung to each other. She cried loudly, muttering constantly that she didn't understand.
Xavier smoothed his hand down her ponytail, wanting her to calm down before he told her what had happened.
Solana didn't calm down. She cried until her face was soaked. She had gotten herself into such a state, she could barely utter a word. So Xavier held her for as long as it took for her heart to settle.
Liam leaned against the doorway, not wanting to stand on his sore leg. He looked up to Zayn who was tangling his fingers together in an anxious rhythm. Tears journeyed down his cheeks too. Liam leaned on his mate instead. Zayn suddenly noticed that he was crying and furiously wiped his face dry. He coiled arms around Liam, resting them loosely by his chest with eyes glued to his parents.
Solana was gripping Xavier's top, still sobbing into his neck. She gasped for his scent, trembling all over. She held him the way she held his body two years ago, before Jaiden whizzed Xavier away.
"H- How?" she cried. "You died!"
"Mira and Jaiden brought him back not long after he died" Zayn said. His father was too choked with tears to speak. "She made him think that you had died, mum. She planned to get Liam and do the same thing- make me believe that he was dead when he wasn't."
Liam held Zayn's hands that hung on his chest. He leaned his back into his warmth. The excitement of Solana reuniting with Xavier was dying down, and his energy was stretching thinner with each passing minute.
Solana wrapped arms around Xavier's neck, not ready to let go of him anytime soon.
"Y- You're- You're alive!" Her tears fell harder again, not caring that they dropped onto Xavier's top, not caring that they wet his neck, nor how she sat on top of him, or clutched him so tightly that he could barely
move.
Xavier then opened his eyes, looking straight to Zayn. He motioned for him to join them. Zayn did without hesitation. Liam leaned against the doorframe again with a soft smile. Zayn leaned down to join their embrace and ended up kneeling on the floor when he didn't want to let go.
Solana latched onto her son too, and they all cried together.
Liam felt awkward hovering in the doorway. He wanted to be with his own parents.
He eyed the heavy stairwell door down the corridor, concluding that the pain in his leg would be worth it. Liam faced away from the room, leaving Zayn, Solana, and Xavier to reunite in peace.
Liam would have been mourning his own parents if Mira hadn't kept them alive too. Even after everything, Liam thanked her for keeping them alive.
Mira might have thought their agonising suffering was crueller than death.
Her malicious soul had benefited them all, in the end.