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"Damn it Liam, I know you're a teenager but could you maybe try to keep your thoughts PG at least during a Pack meeting? We all have to smell you, dude."
Malia's brutally honest call out makes Liam blush as he is ripped out of his thoughts. His decidedly not PG thoughts.
He feels guilty for putting his pack through this, but he can't help it. His wolf wants something and it is as stubborn as Liam's human side. Both of their wills combined desire sits across the room on a chair, flipping idle through one of Melissa McCall's coffee table books.
Theo Raeken, the first Chimera, ex-evil mastermind and powerful ally of Scott's pack. Also, Liam's roommate.
Liam is glad about his monumentally obsession with interior design though, this is embarrassing enough with only Malia noticing.
It is not the first time another were comments on his inability to hide his scent and chemosignals or keep his heartbeat even. Scott may be a True Alpha but he is inexperienced in supernatural skills and customs, to say the least.
Fighting techniques were more important at the time Liam was bitten but now that everything calmed down a little it's time to work on the other things.
Especially if it comes to privacy matters like this…
And so he uses the drive home after the meeting to come up with the best way to ask Theo for help.
Because Theo, willingly or not, has acquired a lot of useful knowledge and skills over the years, now he only needs to be convinced to share it with Liam.
Theo parks the truck next to Jenna's convertible and kills the ignition but he doesn't get out, instead he sighs, "Come on, Liam, out with it, I can smell your need to ask me something."
Frustration floods through the Beta, "This is exactly what I want to ask though! How can you and the others always tell how I feel or what I think of, I just don't get it!"
"Well, I am not really a poster child for how you learn this kind of stuff the normal way but if you want…", there is a short break, as if Theo needs to think about his next words, "if you want, I can teach you how to hide your chemosignals and how to read the ones of those who don't hide them."
~♤~
Not even two days later Theo regrets his decision.
What was he even thinking?
More alone time with Liam? As if living in the room across the hall isn't dangerous enough!
No, he needs to go and masochistically offer to teach the little Beta, being close to him, smelling him (and his weirdly always sweet scent of peppermint and chilli, that turns a dangerous swirl of enticing emotions whenever Liam gets frustrated.
The adorable pout and exasperated little growls make Theo want to kiss him even more.
Yes. Kissing.
Theo is glad that his own emotions and heartbeat are very much in control because the last thing he needs is to smell the vinegar scent of rejection and regret wafting over from Liam every time they meet.
No, thank you very much, Theo is not about to push his luck just on the off chance that he will feel a little lighter when he lets out his repressed feelings.
Ironically that is exactly what he just told Liam.
"Deep breathes, Little Wolf, you need to be calm and let go of all those restrained emotions. Your mind needs to be clear to start with this exercise."
Another frustrated growl escapes Liam's throat and he just looks so very puppy-like with his squinted shut eyes and tilted head, Theo wants to hug him.
"Anyway!", he hastily adds, "remember to concentrate and clear your mind. We will continue this tomorrow, I need to get to work now."
With that he flees the room.
Stupid Theo. So very stupid.
~♤~
After Theo's rather abrupt exit Liam is even less able to concentrate but he still wants to train. The absurd need to make Theo proud had been expected but it is annoying all the same.
After all Theo is the reason why Liam wants to learn in the first place - it has taken so much to convince Theo of moving in the Geyers' spare room instead of staying in this truck, Liam doesn't want to ruin this careful bond of trust with forcing his tragically unrequited feelings onto Theo. It's a miracle anyway that he hasn't smelled it before so Liam doesn't want to push his luck.
But without a second were to control his success, he can't really work on hiding emotions or heartbeat so he decides to try and put the (metaphorical) cart before the horse and work on sensing others feelings.
Thankfully the street his parents' house stands in is a lively one and when Liam lays down in the grass he hears the heartbeats of several neighbours and people passing by.
He notices how fast Mrs. Miller's heart goes as she sweeps dirt off the sidewalk and the metronom-like sound of a skilled jogger passing by. Everyone has their own rhythm, little things that make the hearts unique. The better Liam knows a person, the easier he can tell if something is different than usual; it's most noticeable on David, who comes home from his shift at the hospital, his heartbeat slow and steady but something seems off. Liam closes his eyes and takes a deep breath through his nose, he smells the usual disinfectant-rubber-gloves-sickness note of the hospital that almost never leaves the man but underneath it smells muted, like an empty house on a rainy day and the metallic odor of blood. (Later, at dinner David would tell them of the patient he lost that day, and the feeling of helplessness he got every time that happened.) The concoction makes Liam slightly nauseous and so he quickly concentrates on his neighbours and their less upsetting scents again.
The longer he lays there in the grass of their backyard, the more in tune he gets with his wolf, the animal in his chest seems almost overjoyed to finally get some work to do and more than once Liam gets the mental image of a young puppy running in circles from his companion, it makes him smile every time.
When a group of women walks by, deep in idle chatter, the Beta's senses get overwhelmed and he blocks them out so quickly, so instinctively that he has to replay the scene a few times to get a grasp on how he did it. But once he understands, the knot bursts. It is like a whole new world opens up through Liam’s senses, not only his nose works so much better but also his eyes and ears, like he was under water before, having everything muffled and now he resurfaced.
A headache is starting to form but Liam ignores it, eager to try and transfer the wall he built before, to shield himself from sensory overload to work the other way around, to hold his own scent inside and hide his heartbeat frequency from those around him.
When Jenna calls him for dinner his head feels like its bursting but he is able to tell that they are having spring rolls this night purely because they are his mum's favourite and she smells so happy in anticipation.
I can't wait to show Theo!
His wolf preens at the successful afternoon.
~♤~
Theo knew something was different as soon as he stepped into the kitchen the next morning, couldn't quite put his finger on what it was but he didn't have to wait long.
As soon as they finished eating Liam pushes his plate away and looks up at him, face-splitting grin on his lips.
"Smell me."
Theo almost chokes on the last bite of his toast, "Uhm… excuse me?"
"Smell me. I bet you can't."
And so Theo leans forward, taking a whiff, then another. All he gets is the shampoo Liam used earlier, after his run and the remnants of honey, still clinging to a corner of the Beta's mouth. But no emotions.
Oh.
A surprised smile appears on his own lips. "Well done, Little Wolf! You're a quick student!"
"That was not all!", Liam hops up, all but bouncing with excitement, "get up, come on!"
Theo stands up, curiosity kills the cat but not the coyote after all…
Liam’s next move almost convinces him of the opposite though. The boy comes closer, clearly trying to catch onto Theo's own emotions (Yeah… good luck with that, Li…) his forehead scrounging up in concentration as he gets closer and closer until... until his hands rest on Theo's shoulders, his nose buried into the soft, thin skin of the Chimera's neck.
It's a weirdly intimate position and Liam is lucky that Theo evolved enough to suppress his instincts of ripping him away from his most vulnerable spot. That he has to concentrate on being calm and convincing his coyote of the fact that there is no threat (the wolf is relaxed as it can be, grumbling happily about the close proximity his desired mate is in) means his focus is slipping though - and just his luck - Liam catches up on it.
"Your heart is racing…"
Theo suppresses the dry laugh crawling up his throat.
"I can smell you now, Theo", wait. What? No!, "why are you afraid? I wouldn't hurt you and you know that."
He does.
"No… this isn't fear, at least not entirely…", Liam’s nose brushes up his jaw and Theo can't suppress a shudder.
"I wonder…", Liam starts but he never finishes his sentence, staying silent in favour of a long, questioning look into Theo's eyes, searching for something, before he ultimately finds it.
And when their lips meet, the kiss shy and asking for confirmation rather than forgivingness, Theo smells it.
Liam is distracted enough that his new found ability doesn't hold up and the sweetness of chocolate with a hint of cinnamon and peppermint rushes over Theo like a wave. He finally recognizes the smell as what it is.
Love.
More specifically, Liam’s love for him.
The Beta laughs against his lips as he feels Theo returning the kiss, "finally got it, huh? Maybe I could teach you a few things now."
"Shut up, Li", Theo mumbles back, his hands firmly embracing Liam’s smaller waist to pull him even closer.