𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞 ⸙

2.46༊*·˚

Liam often woke up sweating, or woke to Zayn shaking him, but he never woken up to a tree branch hitting him in the face.

Liam blinked into the darkness. Silence pricked him like tiny hands grabbing the hairs on the back of his neck.

"What?" Liam whispered.

His eyes widened, darting back and forth inside a still head. His hands trembled when his eyes got used to the darkness. He stood in the middle of the woods, dark, and alone, and cold.

"Zayn?" he whispered, blinking when shocked tears stung his eyes.

Liam dared to move his head, and then his feet. He looked down. His feet were bare and muddy.

His breath shone in the moon above, and Liam suddenly crouch into the shadows, pushing his back into the rough bark of a tree trunk. His back stung, but Liam ignored it. He wrapped shaking arms around himself. Woods looped his vision for as far as he could see in the dead of night.

Liam had no idea where he was, why he was in the middle of the woods, and how he had gotten out of the Packhouse without anyone knowing. Liam assumed nobody knew he was gone because nobody was with him.

"Zayn?" he whispered again. Not even leaves rustled. His wobbling breaths were the loudest noises around him.

No reply came. Liam sat in disbelieve for what felt like hours, but the moon barely moved in the sky, so he hadn't been there long until he gained the courage to move a little. As soon as he stepped away from the shadows, he heard something far in the distance, like quick footsteps.

Liam panicked and hurried towards the darkest part of the woods, shielded by a large tree and big rocks. Liam had no idea what was going on as he squeezed himself between the rocks, and next to god knows how many bugs and spiders or badgers or rabbits. But he was in the shade and could only be found by scent.

He pulled knees to his chest and listened to several feet running louder and louder. The cold stone numbed his arms. Liam freaked when he assumed wolves had smelt him. He barely had the time to think about why he was in the middle of the woods, but he could barely think at all with the threat of wolves in the dead of night.

Liam covered his mouth when a terrified tremble escaped him. The running got even louder, then he heard voices, and Liam almost covered his ears until he realised that voices meant humans, not werewolves.

"I can smell him stronger here!" a female voice said.

Liam thought it was Baela, but he wasn't sure until he heard a deep voice yelling his name.

"Zayn!" Liam gasped. Now that he had squeezed himself into a small space from so much fear, his legs weren't keen to move.

"I heard something!" the deep voice yelled. He was getting close. Liam heard his heavy panting. "Liam!"

"Zayn?" Liam replied timidly. A small part of him was scared he had got it wrong, and it wasn't Zayn.

Liam yelped when someone suddenly crouched in front of the rocks. The man's brows furrowed. His brown eyes burst with
worry.

"Liam!" Zayn breathed, reaching between the rocks to pull him out.

"What the fuck were you doing?" he yelled, inspecting him from head to toe.

"How the fuck did you even get out?" Zayn continued, grabbing the top of his arms. "What the hell are you even doing in the woods at this time of night?"

"I-" Liam burst into tears. "- don't know!"

Zayn then realised Liam was trembling, and he grasped the fact that he had been too angry.