the eclipse [sequel] ☾ l.s.

twenty three - the return

Louis's fingers dug into Harry's side, protective and possessive. "He needs to eat something first. He literally just woke up," the alpha argued. "

"There's food at the infirmary," Niall brushed him off.

Louis looked appalled. "You think I'm going to make him eat infirmary food?"

"It's fine, it's fine!" Harry's head spun with the fast-paced back-and-forth between his mate and his best friend. "I'll eat anything right now, honestly, so let's just head to the infirmary before I pass out again."

That got Louis's attention, and he probably would have insisted on carrying Harry the rest of the way if Niall wasn't already flanking his other side. Louis could feel his omega's dizziness as they helped him up the stairs; he could feel the pounding in Harry's head, the rhythm in sync with his own heartbeat.

Harry had gone through so much for him this year. Too much.

"Zayn's meeting with your father and the rest of the council," Liam spoke quietly as they entered the building.

Louis frowned, glancing over his shoulder. "About what?"

"About us leaving. Your father is insisting that you stay, even if the rest of us leave."

"He wants me to stay alone?"

Liam shrugged. "Apparently. Obviously that's not happening, so Zayn's in there fighting for you -- for all of us."

The crease in Louis's brow deepened. He hadn't considered the possibility that his father would try to stop them from going. His thoughts raced, overwhelmed by everything happening at once.

"Can Louis come in with me?" Harry was asking one of the healers, his small, uncertain voice ringing in Louis's other ear.

Niall was the one who answered his question. "Sure. I mean, mate status and all. It's standard."

"I'm just going to have you come into the back room with me," the head nurse said. "Niall, love, can you help him? He doesn't look too steady on his feet."

"My father has no control over us anymore. None. Zayn will make that clear to him, I'm sure," Louis quickly told Liam before returning his full attention to his mate. He cupped Harry's jaw, pinching his cheek affectionately. "Here, omega, let me help you. How's your head?"

"I'm a bit dizzy," Harry confessed. His fingers curled around Louis's forearm, gripping his mate for support as they moved into the backroom. It was still strange to enter the back room as the patient rather than the healer -- but then again, everything seemed strange. Weeks of captivity had left him weak and disoriented, and he wished more than anything that he could curl up in bed with Louis and never leave again.

"Sit down before you keel over." Niall pulled out a chair, and Louis helped him into it. "Do you want me to stay, too?"

Harry shifted uncomfortably, one hand slotted over the slight swell of his stomach, and Louis cut in sharply, "We're good. We'll meet you outside."

As soon as the beta left the room, leaving them alone with the healer, Harry exhaled a relieved breath. Their friends still didn't know about his pregnancy -- if he was even pregnant anymore. He still felt his child's life inside of him, growing every day, but after the physical and mental stress that he endured, he feared that what he felt was nothing but a ghost.

The head nurse sat down in front of him, while Louis stood behind his chair, one hand resting loosely on his shoulder. She glanced between them before her gaze landed on Harry, blatantly studying his frail form before saying, "I'm sure you have questions."

He swallowed hard. "The baby . . ?"

"The baby's fine," she assured him, smiling. "Seems very healthy, although you're going to have to make sure that you're getting enough nutrients to make up for the weight you've lost over the past few weeks. We checked while you were unconscious."

Harry finally exhaled. Louis squeezed his shoulder reassuringly, and even with his entire body still aching with exhaustion, Harry couldn't ask for anything more.

They finished their appointment soon after, the healer sending them off with another packet of medication and a huge basket of food for Harry. They had barely made it down the infirmary stairs when Harry suddenly spoke up:

"We can't leave yet."

Louis froze. He stopped walking, using his grip on Harry's hips to turn him so that they were face to face. "What?"

"I can help, Louis. She wants to change everything for all of the packs, but she thinks I'm here, and she's not going to stop targeting the Sons until she finishes what she started."

"You don't owe this pack anything." Louis's eyes were dark and serious, locked with Harry's like he could see into the omega's soul. "We can go home right now, and no one would blame you."

"Do you want to go home?"

"I want you to be safe," Louis replied simply. "And in my mind, going back into the woods is the best thing for you." He paused, studying Harry's face closely. "What do you want?"

"I want to raise our baby without worrying about her coming after us, without looking over my shoulder every day. If the witch is still looking for a wolf-witch hybrid to perform the spell and she can't have me . . . our child could do it for her. Our baby would never be safe."

Louis nodded, agreeing completely. "So. What do you want to do? Stay? I know you agreed to come back in the first place because you thought that I needed it, but . . ."

"I'm not doing it for you anymore," Harry told him. "I'm doing it for me -- for us. We have to make this right."