Somber

Chapter 46: The Truth.

Dedicated to @hayleyhayley27

_______________________________________________

Chapter 46: The Truth.

Zayn's POV

I watched Niall's expression twist with confusion, and after a moment, settle into horror. My words were echoed in his gaze as he looked at Liam with disdain.

"You wouldn't," he said. But there was no hope in his voice, no real conviction.

I hated this. I hated to be the one to do this. I hated to be the one holding Liam down, even though he showed no sign of wanting to struggle or fight his way out.

Liam said nothing, just hid away from Niall's judging face. He cowered from all of us and focused his eyes on the ground, where he wouldn't have to see the betrayal in our eyes. But he couldn't escape the words, those he could not hide from.

"You woudn't betray us. You would never do that," Niall continued to repeat, in hopes of having someone reinforce his beliefs. No one did so. Not even Louis, who was watching everything happen before his eyes, as he stood aside just letting it happen, in silence.

"Zayn," Niall said softly, "Please. This must be some kind of misunderstanding," but he knew it wasn't. I had seen the realization hit him as soon as I said it. Now he was just in denial. In denial that his best friend would betray his trust and everyone else's. But in his denial, he looked at Louis, desperate for another truth.

"You don't think he would do it, right, Louis? He's your beta, your second in command. He'd never betray you," Niall's tone was almost pleading.

Louis continued to say nothing, just glanced away from Niall's pleads.

"I'm sorry, Niall. But it's true and Louis can't tell you otherwise... because he knew it all along".

At my words, Niall's eyes shifted to me again, widening in surprise. "What?"

"Louis has known about Liam's betrayal for weeks, haven't you?" The last part was directed to Louis, who aside from a short nod, remained in silence.

"You knew?" Niall's denial was rapidly turning into anger. "And you didn't tell us?!"

Nothing.

"I think he was hoping he was wrong. But he knew, deep down he knew. And he was angry and frustrated, things that he took out on Skye, who seemed to be an easy target. Am I wrong? Isn't that why you've been so hostile towards her?" I asked him.

Louis seemed to hold his breath and then look at me. "You're not wrong," the words seem to get stuck in their way out. Having to admit that was hard for him. He was an old creature, not as old as me, but old enough to hate the idea of losing his temper for any little thing. But having his second in command betray him, that was no little thing, and for an alpha, it was the worst thing that could ever happen. He wouldn't admit out loud, but he was crushed. The bonds in a werewolf pack were tight ones, so he must have known about Liam pretty much as soon as it started happening. He had just chosen to ignore it, probably out of love for Liam.

Niall looked done and defeated. He was looking at Liam like he wanted to say something to him. He even opened up his mouth a few times as if to do it, but he never did, just ended up closing it again as his hurt expression deepened.

"You should leave," I told him carefully. His blue eyes found mine and held them for a heartbeat, then he nodded and quickly left the library without another word.

Then I turned to Louis, "Help me get him to the secured room", I said. Louis didn't hesitate in coming forward and taking my place in holding over Liam. I moved towards the bookshelf behind my desk and pulled out the original copy of Homer's The Oddysey. The bookshelf itself made a creaking sound and then it slowly slid aside, revealing a vault-like door. This door was opened by a 5 digit code that I entered on the small keypad at the side. Then the metal workings inside it began moving in sync. The steel door opened with a loud groan.

The room itself was small. About 9 feet high and ten feet wide. Just big enough to keep one of us locked up. It wasn't a prison type of room. I had it made for Louis or Liam, when they were having bad moon nights, to chain them here and keep an eye on them so that they wouldn't hurt anybody. But now I would use it as my own personal prison for Liam, a thought that seemed ironic in more than one way.

After Liam's arm and legs were secured with the chains that were connected to the wall, I stepped back and pushed a hand through my hair, letting out a breath. Deep in my gut, a low nagging hunger was beginning to take form once again, and I would have to satiate it before it got too insisting. I couldn't hurt another innocent person, like I did with the girl at the shop. A few quiet words from Liam pulled me out of my thoughts.

"How long have you known?" he asked, almost timidly.

I hesitated, before I chose to tell him. "You've been acting weird for months, Liam. Disappearing at odd times, small lies here and there. You were my friend, and though you were acting way too strange, I didn't want to condemn you without being certain. I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. I wanted to trust you. So I chose you specifically to be Skye's caretaker. Fiercely hoping that you would prove your loyalty to me. But what did you do? You started feeding information to the enemy, about our whereabouts, our schedules and how to get to us.... How to get to Skye. And that's the worst part, really. I don't give a damn if you set a whole army of werewolves on me. I know I can take them. But helping them to get Skye, that's what I can't forgive. She trusted you. She trusted you from the very beginning. She used to feel safer with you than with any of us. You betrayed her trust... and by endangering her, you've betrayed mine".

Liam didn't defend himself,or deny anything, just hung his head in shame. "How did you find out for sure?" he pushed.

He knew me well enough to know that I wouldn't put him in here without good reason and if I wasn't sure. I sighed. "I didn't tell anyone, but the other day, when Paki called to give me her report on the enemy, she mentioned that she overheard a general speaking about a double agent. Someone who was close enough to the target, aka, me, who was spying for them. I knew it was you, but I still waited, to find some more concrete evidence. I asked Louis to get you and search the mansion for enemy bugs. If there wasn't any to be found, then the only logical explanation is that you were the one spying for them all along. When Louis called to say that he found nothing, I was sure that you were the traitor in our midst".

"Traitor? More like coward," Louis seemed to spit the words out at Liam. It was the first time he talked since we chained Liam up. At Louis' angry words, Liam cringed. It was his alpha talking to him, after-all, so the reaction was appropriate.

"Louis, I- you have to understand my reasons, you need to-" but Liam's desperation did nothing to calm Louis' rage, on the contrary, it added to it, and before I could stop it, Louis struck Liam's face so hard that I heard bones crack at the base of his neck. Liam cried out in pain. Louis stood in front of him, watching him cower against the wall, as far as he could be from Louis.

"I don't need to understand anything! What you need to understand is that no one takes me for a fool, and if you even try to reason what you did, your betrayal, I will rip your head off myself and let the rest be damned".

With those last words, he left me with Liam in the secluded room.

I chuckled, the sound awfully bitter. "Unfortunately for Louis, if someone is going to rip your head off, it will be me". My words hit Liam like a slap to the face. His eyes widened in fear, even more than the one he showed for Louis.

"Zayn, please, you need to know-"

"No," I cut him off. "I know you must have your reasons for what you did, but reasons don't equal excuses and even less, forgiveness. You betrayed us... you betrayed me. You will be punished for it. But first, you're going to tell me absolutely everything the enemy knows about me and about Skye".

_________________________________________________

A/N: Meh. I thought this chapter was going to turn out better. Anyways, still a bit sick (rolling my eyes here because wtf, it's been almost 3 weeks). Did good in my midterm exam though, so thanks to all the people that wished me good luck and all that. Also thanks for the "get well" comments. They were sweet. You guys are too lovely. I don't know if I deserve it, but still, thank you. I love you all. Take care and stay awesome.

Liz.x