Memory Mirage

"Where is Theo?" That was the first thing the human said as soon as he opened the front door and didn't see the chimera nor his truck anywhere. It was quite a strange thing to see Liam alone, after being a literal conjoined twin with the chimera the past couple of weeks. But what threw him off was when the beta flinched at the mention of the coywolf, the human sighted and moved out of the way, letting him in.

They both walked up to Mason's room, finding Corey on the human's bed, with his laptop on his lap, most likely doing homework, as Liam should have been doing too— but he wasn't in the right mindset for that. He walked up to Mason's bed and fell face first on the pillows, letting out a sigh. Corey looked between the beta and the human with his brows furrowed and a confused expression, only receiving a shrug from Mason.

"Liam? What happened—"

"He ran off," He whined into the pillow, still beating himself up, firmly believing that it was his fault. It had to be, the chimera kissed him and he pulled back, if Theo had done that to him, he would have run out too. That thought made him groan frustrated into the pillows and Mason just rolled his eyes, not understanding anything and pushing the beta's side to make him roll on his back.

"What do you mean he ran off?" Liam sighed as he heard Mason's question. He knew well enough that he couldn't lie nor hide things from the human.

"He zoned out again two times today, back in the sewers and in my house. It was really bad, Mase, he reeked of fear." Liam shook his head, saying it again wasn't any easier than when he told it to Scott, he still felt the same pressure on his chest as the words left his mouth. "He... he kissed me, Mase. He kissed me and I pulled back, I wasn't expecting it! One second he was seeing things and the other he was kissing me! I didn't know what to do and he... he ran out!

"Wait! Wait, wait, wait! Theo kissed you?"

Liam knew he had a lot of explaining to do.

————

A few hours had passed and Theo had finally shifted back, his wrist no longer injured. He remembered running through the wolves, shifting and feeling free. The moment had been short lived when a bear trap nipped at his paw, the claws digging deep into his fur. That's why he had crawled into his den, injured animals didn't last in the wild, he couldn't risk being found by hunters or other animals.

He tried not to think about Malia, how she had helped him. Theo knew the girl hated his guts, she had only done it for Scott... or Liam. They didn't care about him, she probably wanted to leave him for dead. Theo shook his head, walking up to the porch of Liam's house and listening in. Nobody was home.

He found the instinct to call Liam, to make sure he was okay. He cursed himself for never getting a key, even if this wasn't his home, all of his belongings were here. He saw Liam's window open, the breeze blowing through the curtains. Theo walked towards the veranda and jumped up, his hands catching the edge of the roof. He pulled himself up with all his strength, only relaxing once his feet were stable on the metal, he only hoped the neighbours didn't see him. With this being a nicer neighbourhood, he knew they'd call the police considering this looked like a break in. Reaching the window, Theo slid it up the rest of the way before entering Liam's bedroom. Immediately he caught the beta's scent mixed with Scott's, the smell was almost overpowering.

The coywolf tried to ignore the scents and made his way past the bed, pausing when he remembered the files, the dreaded fucking files. He went to his room and lifted his pillow, finding them safe underneath, just where he had left them. He needed to keep them on his person, not able to stomach the idea of losing them. Theo held them tightly, moving around his room and grabbing a pair of pants and two jackets, he didn't need much.