Liam's entire body froze. The only thought flowing through his mind was about his brother. He must have told Zayn about him hearing the voice and now Zayn was here making fun of him. His brother's friend would tell everyone and he'd have to leave college or even town because everyone would now he was a freak.
"You're not a freak" Zayn said out loud after releasing the breath he was holding. "And I'm not here to make fun of you and of course, I'd never tell anyone about this "
Liam's worried eyes were accompanied by a frown. He was more than sure he didn't say those things out loud. Maybe he was stuck in some horrific dream?
"Look, I know it sounds crazy. It's not every day you get to say that to someone but it's true and believe it or not, I can prove it."
Liam's mouth now hung open. He was definitely dreaming. There was no way this was real life.
"Are you making fun of me?" he whispered. He wanted to run and never look back. He wanted to scream at his brother for revealing something that was so personal to him.
"I would never do that" Zayn's voice was a little stern.
Liam had no idea how insulting it was for him to be accused of making fun of his own mate, but none of that mattered because he still had no idea what was developing between them.
"Your brother would never tell a soul about your struggles, you know that."
Liam picked up his bag and took a step back.
"Please" Zayn pleaded. "I can prove it to you."
"No you can't," Liam whispered with tears growing in his eyes.
"You know it's really me." The voice echoed in the back of his mind.
"Don't you?" Zayn said out loud.
"I've wanted to tell you for a whole year."
"But I had to wait." Zayn said out loud once more.
"I was never mean to you. I tried to make the experience easy for you to handle.
"You know the morning you sat in the garden with your dad because he caught you talking out loud to me, and I told you l would never hurt you? I meant it"
Liam's skin prickled with fear. He was concentrating on two voices and they were both making sense, but coming from two different places. Now that he thought about it, there was something familiar about Zayn's voice and he couldn't figure out why- until now.
Zayn tried to take a step forward but Liam held out a trembling hand. "Don't come near me," He breathed, trying to keep his emotional mind from collapsing.
"Do you believe me now?" Zayn asked softly. "I can explain why you've-"
"I don't believe you," he whispered. "You're messing with me." He didn't know if he said that to Zayn or the voice in his head.
"You have to believe me, Liam, how else would I be able to know that you struggled to sleep last night and you woke up an hour before your mum had to wake you. And you've had a weird pain in your chest ever since our class finished. I know that your grandparents think you're only good for daydreaming because you told me this morning."
Liam remembered that conversation and yes, he did tell the voice that. How would Zayn know these things? Like he said, Harry would never talk about his troubles to anyone, they have that trust within each other. But why was this happening to him? He didn't know what to believe. The norms were telling him to reject any possibility of it being real.
"Liam." Zayn should've planned this out better. "There are things about me that you have to know, there are reasons why I can talk to you inside of your head. I need to know if you believe me."
Liam opened his mouth and closed it again. He never thought that he'd be in this situation. In his logical head, he was thinking that Zayn was just as crazy as him. In the back of his mind, he knew that maybe, just maybe, there could be evidence of this being real.
The thought was like sirens in his head. He couldn't cope, he had to run.
So that's exactly what he did.
He turned and sprinted across the field with his bag in his grip. Zayn was slow at processing his reaction but he was very, very fast at running and could catch up to him easily.
It was only ten seconds until Zayn was able to grab the back of his hoody and use his strength to slow him down.
"Get off me!" Liam tried to yell. He wasn't very good at it as Zayn wrapped arms around his waist, but Liam fought against him. He dropped his bag and turned to push him away but he couldn't, Zayn was too strong.
"Stop fighting." The voice echoed loud in his mind.
"Please Liam," Zayn said calmly and ignored the human's nails digging into his arms in an attempt to get free.
"Stop fighting" It was so soothing for his emotions to be so close but he hated how distressed he was.
"I'm not going to let go of you until you calm down!"
For a moment, Liam thought that Zayn said it out loud but he didn't even open his mouth. That's when it washed over him like a cold wave of water, like he had dunked his head in his sink.
Was it really him?
Liam was a wreck. He couldn't handle his emotions like normal people. He was constantly on the verge of breaking down and this pushed him over the edge. He made one last attempt to struggle out of Zayn's grip. He didn't like feeling so weak.
"I told you," Zayn said out loud. "I told you that you'd soon know who I really am."
Liam pushed against his chest to get free but after hearing that, he knew it was him. He couldn't not believe it any longer, his body and soul were too tired and the tears burst from his eyes.
He hit Zayn on the chest. It was weak and did nothing as he gave up and he let out a small cry of what felt like every emotion. "Y-You ruined my life!" he sobbed.
Zayn felt sick. He knew he damaged him and would feel guilty about it forever.
"I tried not too," he said quietly and started to rub Liam's back but he tensed and pulled himself out of his grip. "It was selfish of me to make you suffer for so long but I had to wait until I was ready."
"Until you were ready?" Liam questioned and furrowed his eyebrows. He was hurting, a lot. "I don't know who I am anymore because of you!"
This was the most Zayn had heard him speak out loud, but he was clearly angry and he had every right to be.
"There's a reason for this, please, before you start to overthink it, let me explain how this is possible."
Liam almost forgot that having someone speak through a telepathic link was still very far from normal. He began to feel fearful of the man in front of him. How was it possible that he could do that? He rubbed his eyes, trying to dry them and calm himself down but that wouldn't be possible, not now.
"Sit down, Liam," Zayn knew that once he broke down, it took him a long time to put the pieces back together. "Come on."
Zayn slowly lowered himself towards the grass and eventually, Liam did the same. His knees were feeling weak and his legs were a little wobbly. He almost wished that this was a dream.
"I'm going to ask you again and you need to be honest" Zayn said as softly as he could. "Do you believe me?"
There was a moment of silence for Liam. Even the birds stopped chirping to hear his answer.
Slowly, he nodded his head and sniffed back any approaching tears.
"Yes," he whispered and stared at Zayn's reaction. He waited for his brother's friend to burst out laughing and tell him it was some sick joke.
Zayn simply smiled and relaxed his shoulders. He wanted to dry his mate's face and hug him until he was one hundred per cent better, but they were very far from that stage. Of course, Liam needed time to let it sink in.
"That's, I guess, the hardest bit out of the way" he chuckled.
Liam's face remained blank. In his head, it was no laughing matter.
"But now you know that you're not the only one who hears voices around here. I hear yours all the time." Zayn said.
"Really?" he questioned with surprise. "Why?"
"Well, for the same reason you hear mine."
Liam fiddled with the ends of his sleeves. "W- why do I hear yours?"
Zayn sat forward and cleared his throat. When he passed one barrier, there was always another one waiting to trip him up.
"I'm obviously not like everyone else." He stated the obvious. "There are things about me and my family that people like you have been told are not true and are just myths."
Liam frowned and chewed on his bottom lip and Zayn used all of his strengths to stay where he was and not get closer.
"W-What are-" Liam stuttered. "Who are you?"
Zayn took a breath of fresh air and focused on the warm sun hitting his forehead.
"I'm a werewolf."
𓇢𓆸☆⋆｡𖦹°‧★
Zayn's eyes focused on Liam, he wanted to hold his breath. It was the first time he was willingly revealing his true self to a human. But it was to his mate and he would reveal his darkest and deepest secrets if he had the opportunity.
He was also incredibly nervous. Zayn knew that once it sinks in for Liam, he'll have a different perspective about him and maybe look at him in a negative way. He was a species that's not meant to exist.
Liam stared back at him with eyes that clearly didn't believe what he just said. "You're-" he whispered. "What?"
Zayn noticed how he stopped fidgeting. He didn't know if that was good or extremely bad.
"I know it's not what you expected to hear. but I am- um, a werewolf." He felt insecure about saying it because he knew how surreal it sounded. It didn't help that Liam was looking at him like he was utterly insane.
"I'm going home." Liam tried to stand but Zayn quickly leant forward and grabbed his wrist.
Liam was getting sick of being touched by him. He pulled his arm away and stared at the ground like he was about to fall into a neverending pit of anxiety.
"Why are you doing this to me?"
"Liam, I know you're thinking that I'm making this up to make fun of you, but I'm not. You hear my voice in your head, why wouldn't you believe that I'm not just a human?"
"Because you can't be," Liam said quietly. "I think I'm hallucinating"
"You're not" Zayn wanted to chuckle, but it wasn't the right time. "I can show you if you think you can handle it?"
Poor Liam was breaking to pieces. He shouldn't believe anything that came out of Zayn's mouth.
How could he be the voice inside of his head and how could he be a human that changes into an animal?
But he could hear his thoughts, so why wouldn't his second statement be true?
"How?" he whispered. His hands started fidgeting once more.
"Stay seated," Zayn said but stood up himself.
Liam's eyes followed him and he avoided eye contact as much as possible.
"It's okay if you freak out, it's okay if you faint, it's okay if you're sick. But it's not okay if you still don't believe me after I show you this."
Zayn smiled and took a deep breath. He made sure Liam had understood what he said before he began thinking about his other form. He closed his eyes and imagined it. Turning into a wolf used to be a slow process for him when he was younger.
It felt exceptionally strange and he freaked out quite a lot. He was only three years old and his be a slow process for him when he was younger. He remembered the first time he did it.
He was only three years old and his parents were there to reassure him and answer any questions he had.
Now, he could do it as easy as breathing.
Liam didn't know what he was doing until the change happened.
Sometimes, when people see things that shouldn't be logical, it was easy to forget everything around them, easy to forget who they were with and allow their minds to overheat. Obviously, Liam was one of those people.
The change happened so fast that he would've missed it if his wide eyes allowed him to blink.
Zayn's t-shirt had ripped in the process but his trousers had disappeared. They'd reappear when he changes back. It avoids embarrassment otherwise.
He knew he had changed because he could feel that he was different. His mind and soul were the same. He couldn't speak, only growl and howl.
Liam was watching Zayn one minute and now he was staring into the grey eyes of an enormous white wolf. It was bigger than anything he'd ever seen with big paws and lots of soft looking fur.
Its ears were curled over as it stared back at him. Liam didn't know whether to be amazed, scared for his life or tested for being crazy.
"Remember to breathe, I know that was difficult to
process."
Liam didn't want to move a muscle, he wasn't a great fan of big animals. They had a dog when he was little and even then, and that was it.
His breathing was shaky and his hands were pulling on the grass, trying to keep his body really still.
"I'm going to come closer to you, it's okay to be afraid and I'm not going to hurt you"
Liam flinched when the wolf moved a paw forwards. Zayn paused and made his actions incredibly slow as he continued to get near. Liam was visibly shaking when the wolf was only half a meter away from his crossed legs.
He watched as it sat down and lifted its paw.
Zayn moved it forwards until it was hovering over Liam's knee. He wanted to rub himself against him and rest his head on his lap. He wanted to lick his face and be excited around him because his wolf traits were naturally like that. He couldn't. His mate would surely try and run for his life. He needed time.
Slowly, Zayn placed his warm paw on Liam's lap, showing him that it was okay.
Liam flinched like he had been slapped across the face. His heart thumped hard; it almost hurt. Deep in his mind, he knew that was Zayn because he was there one second anda wolf the next. He clearly transformed, but what human believed evidence when it stared them in the face. Not the majority.
"You can touch my fur if you like?" Zayn suggested and took his paw back so he could lay down. He was close enough to Liam that his head was hovering over his leg.
Liam was still tense but he felt better now that the big animal wasn't towering over him.
Zayn waited patiently but all his mate was doing was staring at him. So he nudged his arm with his nose, making Liam lift it up quickly.
"Stroke me.!"
This time, Liam listened to the voice which he was still trying to register as being Zayn, as weird as that sounded.
His hand hovered in the air but he was intrigued to know if the fur felt as soft as it looked. He wanted to know if it was warm. So very slowly, he moved his fingers closer but eyed the wolf carefully.
He had no idea what was giving him the courage to do this as his hand gently skimmed over the top of the wolf's neck. The animal stayed exceptionally still and didn't even move with his touch. He knew Liam needed him to freeze.
His hand stayed against the white fur for a moment when Liam realised that it was one of the softest things he has ever touched. It was warm and soothing.
When he dared to stroke the fur again, his body stopped shaking.
Zayn loved the feel of his touch against him. He knew a mate's touch was special but this would and could never compare to anything else.
"Stroke my ears, I like that," he said and rested his chin against Liam's knee.
"I can't believe l'm doing this," Liam thought to himself and moved his touch up to the wolf's head.
His ears were much softer than the rest of his body and he could tell by the way the animal closed his eyes and moved his ear against his hand that he enjoyed it.
"I can't believe you're doing it either, I thought you would faint"
Liam knew he shouldn't but he was geting rather comfortable in the presence of such a huge animal. It could easily tear him to shreds, but he knew it wouldn't.
"It's the bond, it's changing the way you think about mine."
Liam stopped and stared with his chocolate eyes.
"A bond?"
The wolf lifted its head.
"Yes, let me change back and I'll explain." Zayn stood up and took a few steps away. He was surprised that Liam was taking it rather well. He could hear him constantly questioning whether it was real or not.
In another blink, his human form was kneeling in front of his mate once more.
Zayn could feel the sun against his bare tanned skin. Thankfully his trousers were still on as he grabbed his bag and rummaged for his hoody. He pulled it over his head and crossed his legs.
Liam was overwhelmed. His arms almost gave up on him and he nearly fell backwards.
Zayn edged forwards and watched in concern.
"How do you feel? Would you like some water?" He questioned.
His pack was sitting at the edge of the woods. They too were surprised that Liam hadn't fainted yet.
The human was staying rather calm about it. It would be different if he didn't have a bond that was beginning to grow inside of him. His body could feel it even though his mind couldn't.
Zayn was ready to explain that to him and talk about being his mate. This was the last major thing he had to explain and the bit that made him the most nervous.
What if Liam didn't want to be his mate? Even though he couldn't reject him and the process would happen whether he liked it or not, the bond doesn't force him to feel the same way if it's not connected.
Zayn will have to make sure that he connects as soon as possible, so Liam could feel his affection, and when the bond first settles, the affection will be very strong.
Convince me and I might actually think of double update..... tomorrow