Chapter Text
Niall grabbed his bags from the back of his mum’s car, his face scrunched down in an uncharacteristic frown.
“Sweetheart…”
He took a deep breath and closed the trunk door. Niall fixed a smile on his face before turning to face the older blonde woman. “Mum, I’m fine. Really, this will be fine.”
She smiled brightly. “It will! You’re good at making friends. This will be good for both of us.”
Niall ran his hand through his blonde hair. “Yeah, course.”
“Want me to go with you?” When he shook his head she brushed his bangs back out of his face. “This will be good sweetheart. You need something stable while we figure stuff out at home.”
He nodded ducking his head a bit.
Maura pulled her youngest son into a hug. “Keep in touch, OK?”
“I will mum.” Niall pulled back and grabbed his bags from the ground. Without looking back he climbed the steps to a large stone building. He couldn’t look back. If he did he would run. Niall pulled open one of the oversized oak doors. The building was a masterpiece of hardwood floors, thick oak doors, and stonewalls. It was also very empty. It took him a minute to find the door labeled Main Office.
An elderly woman smiled at him when he walked in. Her nameplate read Mrs. Basset. “Hello love.”
Niall smiled back. “Hello, my name is Niall Horan. I’m transferring in.”
Mrs. Basset shuffled through some papers. “Ah yes! Here you are!” She triumphantly waved a sheet at him. “All the way from Ireland too!”
“Yes I am.”
“Beautiful accent love.”
Niall blushed. He wasn’t used to compliments. “Thank you ma’am.”
“Such manners too.” She smiled and looked back at the papers on her desk. “Oh dear.” Her smile turned into a frown. “I’m not sure where to put you.”
His blue eyes widened. “What do you mean? Me mum said I was staying at Pack House. With the werewolves.”
“Well that’s just not possible I’m afraid. Pack House has been full up for months. The only open spot would be in the girls dorm. And we can’t put you in there now can we?”
Niall shifted his weight from foot to foot as she looked through the papers. He started chewing on his thumb and index finger.
Mrs. Basset tapped her pencil against her painted lips. “Let’s see what we have. Pack House is all full up and so is Pride House. What about Skulk House? Oh no, that was taken last week. Hmmmm.” She looked through a few more papers. “Oh yes! Here we are. One spot left in Clowder House.”
Niall looked up at her. “What?”
“Clowder House. Only dorm with a spot left.”
The blonde tipped his head to the side. “What’s a Clowder?”
Mrs. Basset smiled at him. “Jaguars dear.”
His fair skin turned three shades lighter. “J-jaguars? You’re putting me with w-werecats?”
“Yes sweetie. You’ll be OK. They’re nice boys. A bit peculiar but very nice.”
Niall whimpered, ducking his head. This was not OK. He’d never met anything outside his birth pack, especially not a cat. How was he supposed to live with them? “A-are you sure t-that’s all there is?”
“Afraid so. It’ll be just fine.” She started putting some papers together.
He went back to chewing on his fingers. Niall didn’t want to cause any trouble or be a bother to anyone. But what was he going to do?”
“Niall love, here’s your welcome packet. It has information on the school, your class schedule, and a map. I’ve circled Clowder Hall for you.”
Niall nodded and took the packet. “T-thank you.” He re-shouldered his bags and walked back outside. The black and white map he pulled out was well detailed. Clowder House was at the far end of campus, far away from everything. That wasn’t promising. Niall didn’t see a single person as he made his way down the winding manmade path. Also not promising. There were plenty of woods though. Niall could just drop his bags and run for it. He was good with woods. Trees were safe.
Clowder House was a small dorm. A simple two-story house, something you would find in a nice neighborhood. Niall’s heart started beating erratically and his legs shook so violently he barely made it up the stairs. He wasn’t sure how he managed to knock on the front door.
A tall boy with brown hair, cut close on the sides and swooped up into a mohawk, answered the door. “Yeah?” He looked down at Niall eyebrow raised.
Niall took an instinctive step back, dropping his bags. “I-I uh, I’m N-niall.”
The bigger boy leaned against the doorframe, waiting for the blonde to continue.
“N-new?” Niall licked his lips. “I’m n-new here. Mr-mrs. Basset pu-put me in h-here.” He didn’t want to sound unsure, but he was lucky he could still speak.
The boy leaned in and sniffed along his neck.
Niall squeaked and tried to duck away. Scenting someone was rather rude.
“No more rooms in Pack House?”
He shook his head no.
“So they’re shoving you in here with us?” The boy sighed and scratched at the scruff on his jaw. “Ever been with anything outside your birth pack before?”
Niall shoved his index finger and thumb back in his mouth. He shook his head, knowing the older boy could smell his fear.
“Perfect. Well, this is going to be great. I’m Liam.”
After a few failed attempts the blonde got his voice to work again. “C-can I c-come in?” He mumbled around his fingers.
“Course.” Liam wrapped his hand around the back of Niall’s neck.
Niall jumped and tried to squirm away.
Liam bent down to eyelevel. “Look at me kid.”
The blonde slowly did so.
“No one is going to hurt you, OK?”
Niall stared at him, his eyes impossibly wide. “O-ok…”
Liam nodded. “Good.” He rubbed his thumb against Niall’s pounding pulse, trying to get him to calm down. “I’ll show you around the hose.” He led him into small foyer. “I’m the alpha here. You listen to me and follow my rules, yeah?”
Niall nodded his head like a bobble head doll.
The two of them walked through the living room, a decent sized space with two couches, one chair, a flat screen TV, and a few gaming systems. To the right was a staircase and through an open doorway on the left was the kitchen. “Upstairs has three bedrooms and one bathroom. There’s a second bathroom off the kitchen next to the laundry room, but the only shower is upstairs. Lou and I share and the other two rooms are Zayn and Harry’s. You’ll be sharing with one of them.”
A curly haired boy came bounding down the stairs. His stunning hazel eyes lit up when he saw Niall. His butt wiggled for a second before he launched himself off the stairs, tackling the blonde to the ground and grinning like a madman.
Niall was pretty positive he died.
“Harry!” Liam yanked the younger boy up with no effort at all. “Didn’t we talk about this? You can’t just go round tackling people!”
Harry made an upset sound, toeing the ground. “Was just sayin hi.”
Liam rubbed his eyes. “You need to remember to use your words.”
“I was too excited!” Harry’s face lit up like a child’s. “I get a roommate!”
“I’m not sure who he’s going with yet.”
Harry pouted at him. “But I want him!”
“Harry…”
“And besides Zayn likes his privacy. And I saw him first! And I want him! He’s a pretty puppy!”
Liam nodded slowly. “True. He isn’t a pet though.” He swore loudly when he saw Niall still on the ground. “Bloody hell Haz! You broke him!”
“I can fix him! With cuddles!” Harry moved to jump back on Niall.
“Absolutely not! Just grab his bags!” Liam cradled the petrified Niall to his chest and took the stairs two at a time.
“But cuddles fix everything.” Harry grumbled as he followed the older boy up.
Liam set him down on the unclaimed bed in Harry’s room. “Sorry about Harry.”
Niall looked up at him, his blue eyes impossibly wide.
“Harry can be…well he’s Harry. He didn’t mean any harm.” Liam gently ruffled the soft blonde hair. “He’s just a kid and forgets his manners when he’s excited. He doesn’t really know what personal space is either. He’s harmless though.” Liam looked the small blonde directly in the eye. “You’re gonna be OK. We won’t hurt you.” He grabbed Harry and dragged him back outside, shutting the door.
Niall wasn’t sure how long he laid curled up on the bare mattress. Eventually though he calmed himself down enough to move. His whole body still shook as he switched the light on. The room was fairly big with two beds, two desks, two dressers, but only one closet. Opening it Niall found half the space was empty. With nothing else to do he unpacked.
There was a small knock on the door just as Niall was shoving his bags under the bed. Harry poked his head in. “Can I come in now?”
Niall nodded, his head speeding up again.
Harry’s face lit up and he ran in. he remembered his talking to and stopped just in front of Niall, swaying a bit. “Do you have a name?”
He licked his lips and managed to whisper, “N-niall…”
Harry grinned, well like a cat. “I’m Harry.”
Niall nodded, biting his thumb.
“Want to meet everyone?”
The blonde shook his head, backing away from the taller boy.
Harry’s long limbs easily caught him. “Please?”
Niall whimpered around his fingers. He wasn’t sure about the whole Harry being harmless thing. Niall was pretty sure Harry could get him to do anything by batting his eyelashes at him. That and the fact he hated disappointing people had him nodding his head.
“Great!” Harry grabbed the hand that wasn’t in his mouth and dragged him out into the hall.
Niall’s heart tried to break through his ribs to escape. He was going to die. He was literally going to die. And his poor mother wouldn’t even have a body to bury. Because he was with cats. He heard rumors that cats eat dead bodies. Niall forgot how to breathe when he was thrust into a living room full of really big cats.