Cherry Wine {l.s.}

23. me

L

  Louis picked his head up when his ringtone blared through the otherwise quiet room and bit his lip to hold in a growl, carefully detangling from Harry's overheated body and wriggling off of the bed to scoop his mobile up from the floor. He frowned when he saw Liam's contact flashing across the screen and answered, raising it to his ear.

  "Hello?"

    "Louis," Liam breathed, sounding slightly pained and anxious, making Louis' eyes flash and his hand curl around Harry's ankle. "Louis I need you at the flowershop. There's been an incident, and you're the only other alpha I know."

  Louis frowned and tightened his grip on his omega as he glanced down, thumbing over his bond mark and clenching his jaw. "I can't, Liam. I have Harry with me and he's not...well. I need to be with him." Louis couldn't keep the slight growl from his voice, closing his eyes to try and calm himself down before he was shaking his head and puffing out a sigh.

  Liam was silent for a little while before he released an understanding hum, his breathing slightly shaky. "Okay. I'll...I'll just call Zayn and Niall. Just keep a look out, would you Louis?" The other alpha hesitated. "Ben made an appearance again."

  He hung up before Louis could answer and he let out a frustrated growl, a spark of anger and paranoia igniting a flame in his chest that had him jolting out of bed  and going downstairs to lock the door. Louis paused when he saw that it was half open and took a step back, whirling to rush back upstairs to his omega only to get tackled and hit upside the head, black swimming through his vision before he could even release a shout.

*
H

  Harry woke up to the sound of a loud thump downstairs, heat fogged mind swimming with the pull of need and want, letting out a weak whimper in an attempt to locate his alpha. A cold flash of fear spread through his chest when he felt the pain through their bond and he shakily sat up, swallowing thickly as he reached to pull on his joggers.

  He looked over when the door creaked open and froze at the sight of Ben leaning against the wall, clutching the blankets to his chest, swallowing thickly. "Where's Louis?" The omega rasped, eyes wide and hands trembling, wincing at the sound of the alpha's rumble.

  "Sleeping." Was all Ben answered as he stumbled forward and pulled his hand away from his side, the smell of his blood making Harry shudder even harder, throat clogging with terror. The alpha crawled over his body and ducked his head to nudge against the side of his neck, his growl ripping through the air and startling Harry into trying to shove him away, mark aching at the touch of a different alpha.

  Harry managed to get out from beneath him and whimpered when he hit the floor, ripping himself up and racing for the door only to shriek and thrash when Ben grabbed him by the wrist and jerked him back.

  "Louis!" He cried, a sob escaping him as he fought against Ben's tight hold, only to slump and fall silent from the sharp slap delivered to the side of his face. The alpha was snarling under his breath, heaving Harry up over his shoulder and throwing him down onto the bed before he was pinning him down and digging his fingers into his wrists.

  "He fucking thinks his mark is going to stop me." He mumbled as he tore at the waistband of Harry's joggers, managing to get them down around his thighs and forcefully spreading his legs, paying no mind to the omega's tears and soft pleads for him to stop. His mind was a confusing swirl of need and horror, tears slipping down the sides of his face and eyes closing once Ben was back to hovering over him, warm, smelly breaths brushing his flushed cheeks.

  Harry peeled one eye open when the alpha suddenly paused and blanched at the malicious sheen staining his expression, the fight snapping into him full force, thrashing and screaming and biting trying hard to ignore the blows raining down on him in response.

  By the time Ben managed to pin him again, the omega was covered in a mix of sweat and blood, chest heaving and hands curled into tight, trembling fists, crimson slipping from between his fingers. He could feel his consciousness slipping away despite his efforts to stop it, and he snarled wetly when the alpha leaned down so their noses were brushing, panting against each other.

  "If you keep this up, I'm only going to break you down all over again, just like the first time I got my hands on you," Ben rasped. "Only this time, I won't allow you to escape."

  Ben nipped at the skin beneath Harry's fresh mark and the omega thrashed, biting back a sharp cry when he tightened his hold and managing to knee him in his injured side, gasping in relief once he rolled off with a pained shout. Harry scrambled to pull his joggers back up and managed out of the door, knees trembling and vision swimming, collapsing just as Louis' wolf came bounding up the stairs snarling and enraged.

  The last thing Harry heard before he allowed the pain to take over was Ben's final cry.

***
L

  Louis stared blankly at the stark white waiting room wall tense and on the verge of snapping, the taste of Ben Winston's blood still staining his tongue despite it being hours after the incident. He couldn't get the image of Harry laying bloodied and barely breathing on the floor out of his mind, couldn't shake the guilt of allowing his omega, his mate, to be injured so severely. It was tearing at his chest and making his stomach clench, bile rising in his throat every now and then.

  He let out a soft snarl when Liam sat down next to him and touched a careful hand to his shoulder, digging his fingers into his thighs and leaning away from him. The other alpha carefully pulled his  hand back and clenched his jaw, blowing out a soft sigh before he was standing and returning to his mother's side.

  They talked quietly for a couple of minutes before Karen stood and made her way to Louis' side, his growl dying in his throat before she'd even sat down and his body slumping into her, head on her shoulder. She cooed softly as she tugged him in close and stroked her fingers through his messy fringe, lips turned down at the corners and eyes closed.

  "We tried to take him down, at the shop Lou," Karen whispered. "We locked him in the bathroom, but he climbed through the window and was already long gone by the time we opened the door again. I....I didn't know he was going to go at such great lengths to find Harry, especially after you two had already mated."

  She curled him in tighter when he squeezed his eyes shut and sighed,  fingers fisting in her shirt.

  "I want you two to be okay. You need to be okay, especially for when Harry wakes up. It's a lot, it's so much, but he needs you to be strong for the both of you for a little while. You'll need to be patient." She murmured. 

  Louis nodded slightly after a few moments of silence and carefully pulled away from the beta, wiping at his cheeks and sucking in a deep breath as he calmed himself down, Karen's gentle caresses making his shoulders slump.

  He needed to be all that he could for his omega, and there was nothing in the world that was going to stop him.

___

ill fix stuff later