✧Previously on Chapter Thirteen✧
Author's Note: This is a chapter that make people really start to hate on Harry, but please see everything from his point of view. Not everything people come up with is always right or the best choice, but sometimes it's all they can think of to help in certain situations. Harry is still learning and developing himself in the werewolf world, so he doesn't know how his actions and decisions will directly affect/relate to Louis. So just keep this in mind before calling Harry an idiot or any other rude terms, pleeaassseee. Of course, people do have their opinions on characters and I fully respect that, but I've noticed a lot of people jump on Harry without realizing how overwhelming this might be for him.
Harry is a seventeen year old HUMAN. He's only been around werewolves for less than a year, and he got thrown right in the middle of a werewolf war. Not everyone is logical at seventeen.
☾
Ed walked around the border of the town to check the safety status of everyone in and around the city. He made sure no unwanted wolves were lingering around to cause any harm, but he was also making sure no council member or human could be a potential hazard to Louis' plan. It was a risk for Louis to step out into town during the day, but if Louis played his cards right and stuck strictly to his path, then he wouldn't run into any trouble. There were certain parts that Louis was allowed in, and as long as he didn't wonder too far, then the council had no threat against him.
It was still midday as Ed followed the path that Louis had instructed him on. He knew Louis would start at Howl to eat lunch, go to the mall afterwards to spoil Harry and then end up at the family bakery by sunset to end the night with a sweet treat. So this was the route Ed was surveying to make sure everything was orderly. The restaurant was clear of any potential threats, and there was hardly anyone at the mall. The town was pretty much quiet for the most part other than a couple of children playing around in the park. If anything, Louis picked the perfect day to actually go on a date with Harry considering no humans or wolves would end up disrupting their moment.
After Ed checked the first two places, he started to walk towards the bakery. He knew this was the last stop on Louis' list because it held a special place in his heart, and it was one of the things that Louis was excited to show Harry. The bakery came with a lot of history and has been in this town for over hundreds of years. It had always been ran by a Tomlinson, and it had always been a peace keeping offering between the Crescent Moon pack and the Red Moon pack that helped alleviate their feud.
The doors chimed when Ed walked inside the bakery. He noticed there was a good crowd filling up the place and that Danielle had just finished serving a customer. Ed smiled at the person who had just finished ordering their sweets and replaced them to greet Danielle. Ed knew he had a couple more hours to kill before Louis would actually make his way there, so he figured chatting it up with Danielle and getting himself a free cupcake was the best distraction in the meantime.
Once the two of them spent a good half hour of just chatting and idly taking customer's orders, Ed had noticed a little boy walking through the doors by himself. Danielle raised an eyebrow and watched him carefully as he walked up next to Ed. He was a tiny little thing with a bright smile on his face, but Ed stood there waiting for some sort of parental figure to eventually show up and claim the child - which, that was something that never happened. This child was alone, and he seemed perfectly fine being alone for what looked to be a six year old.
"Hello," the boy finally greeted, his eyes flickering between Danielle and Ed.
"What brings you here today?" Danielle questioned with a hesitant smile, leaning her elbows on top of the counter so she could see the child.
"My mum wants me to get her a bunch of cupcakes," the boy answered nonchalantly, casually looking around the display case and at the open area of the bakery before looking up at Danielle again. "She is on her way."
"Okay, well, do you know what you will like?"
The boy let out a hum and stepped to the side so he could look into the display case. He pressed up closely to where his nose was hugging the glass. He spent a couple of seconds looking over the different sweets that were displayed before he was pointing to the last snickers cupcake on the top rack.
"I want the snickers one," he mumbled, tapping the glass and looking over at Danielle. "Do you have anymore, though? My mummy and brother want one."
"Yes, there's some fresh ones in the back."
Danielle gave the boy a small smile and turned around to head into the kitchen. Ed remained off to the side of the counter and continued suspiciously watching the little boy. Ed waited to see if his parents would actually show up at the bakery, but for the five minutes that he had been there, no adult came to claim the child. It was rather odd that this child, who looked no more than six, was ordering a cupcake by himself. Surely someone that young wouldn't be roaming around town without some sort of adult supervision.
Ed watched the boy as he followed the length of the display case. His sticky fingers remained on the glass as he pointed at all the different cupcakes that he found interesting. Really, the child really was causing no harm and was no absolute threat to anything, so Ed knew his paranoia must have been on overdrive considering he was slightly worried about Louis and Harry going into to town. So with a deep breath, Ed finally dragged his eyes away from the boy to look out the window instead.
It took a couple more seconds until Danielle was walking back out with two fresh cupcakes already packaged. She walked up to the registered right when Ed turned back to look at the little boy, but that was when Ed noticed he was gone.
"Where'd he go?' Danielle questioned with a frown.
There was an uneasy feeling settling in the pit of Ed's stomach as he surveyed the entire bakery to see where the child went, but there were no signs of him anywhere. Ed knew that he didn't walk out the door because that was kind of where he was staring off to, so in all honesty, Ed had absolutely no idea where that little boy went.
"I have no idea," Ed mumbled under his breath, pressing his hand to his cheek. "He was just here."
"Maybe his mum showed up," Danielle reasoned with before she was attending to the new set of customers that just walked in.
Ed frowned as he took a step back so he could get out of Danielle's way. He kept looking at the front door and then by the display case where he remembered the little boy was, but he was still confused on how a child could just disappear like that. Even as Ed left to go watch Louis and Harry walk around town, that unsettling feeling he had felt earlier was still present, so he had a bad feeling as Louis and Harry got further in their date.
It took until Harry and Louis were finally walking into the bakery when the red flags starting going off in Ed's head. He was standing across the street while Harry and Louis were walking to the table by the window to enjoy their cupcake. Ed didn't want to ruin anything with his own paranoia surfacing, but as he continued to look at the bakery and remember how unusual it was for that child to be in there by himself, the more Ed started to realize that something fishy was going on.
And then, it happened.
The entire bakery blew up, and before Ed had a chance to save Louis and Harry, he felt something sharp and silver pressing into his back causing him to lose consciousness.
☾
Harry shot up from his bed when a loud scream belted out of his throat. He was breathing heavily and had sweat dripping down the sides of his face. His heart was beating so rapidly in his chest that it felt like it was about to burst out of him, and his wide, worried eyes started to scan across the entirety of his dark bedroom.
"Louis?" Harry gasped, eyes shooting next to where he was to see if Louis was still laying there. He wasn't, and suddenly, Harry felt his heart drop to his stomach in a very unsettling way.
"Harry?' Anne's voice then questioned before the bedroom door was soon being opened slowly before his mother was wedging her way into the room. "Are you okay?"
Harry licked his lips and looked over to where his mother was walking over to the side of his bed. He finally felt his body start to relax just a little bit before he used the collar of his shirt to wipe the sweat that was coating his face. "Yeah, it was just a bad dream."
Anne offered Harry a weak smile and took a seat on the edge of Harry's bed, right next to where he was sitting up. She angled her body towards her son and reached her hand out so she could tangle her fingers in his sweaty hair. She grimaced a little, but she began scratching at his scalp. "Well, I'm sorry I missed most of your birthday. I got called in after work, and when I came home, you were already asleep, but I do have your present."
Harry brightened up. "What is it?" he asked excitedly.
Harry reached for the box before he even let his mother answer the question. He began pulling the wrapper paper off and exposed a white box that was hidden under the wrapping. Harry's eyes widen as he slowly turned the box over to reveal an apple logo on the front side of it. Harry's lips curved up right away, and he began unpacking the phone that was stuffed inside the box.
"I figured it was time to get rid of the flip phone," Anne offered with a smile, shaking her head when Harry held the device in his hand.
"Thank you," Harry laughed. He gently set the phone next to his body and leaned over to give his mother a hug.
"Of course sweetie." Anne pressed a kiss to the side of Harry's face before she was pulling back to look at her son. Harry gave her a smile and leaned back against the headboard to his bed and reaching to grab his phone so he could begin setting it up. "So how was your date with Louis? Did you guys do anything fun?"
Harry felt his skin flush from his neck all the way up to his cheeks. He tried his best to stare at his phone rather than looking up at his mom and giving away what fun he had done earlier, and he thought he did good job of it. But, it was hard for his mind not to wonder to just hours before when Louis' lips and touch were on him, those same touches that brought Harry his first orgasm ever from another person. Yeah, he definitely tried to hide that the best he could, but well, it was still so vividly on his mind.
"It was wonderful," Harry gulped, continuing to busy himself with his phone.
"You weren't near the bakery were you?" Anne then questioned with a hint of concern, placing her hand on Harry's thighs and drawing his eyes up from the phone. "You heard about it, right?"
Harry's eyes widen briefly before he set his phone down. "Yeah, I heard about it," he sighed nervously, blinking his eyes off to the side so he didn't show his mother any signs that he was actually a part of that explosion. He didn't remember much from it, but he knew he could've died had it not been for Louis, and that thought alone sent a deep chill through his bones.
"Did they say what caused it?" Harry finally asked, slowly dragging his eyes back to his mom.
"When I went to the council, they said it was a faulty leak," she replied with a frown, seemingly not believing her own words as she spoke them. "An accident, they believe."
"You don't think someone did it on purpose?"
Anne let out a soft grunt before she was turning to look at Harry, raising her eyebrows when she noticed he was already looking skeptically at her. "Why do you ask?" she hummed.
"No reason," Harry reasoned with lazily, shrugging his shoulders and glancing out his window to make himself not seem suspicious. He didn't think it worked when he continued to feel his mother's eyes on him. "I was just wondering," he added as an afterthought, refusing to make any form of eye contact with her again.
There was a brief silence where Harry continued to gaze out the window while still feeling his mother eyeing the side of his head. He tried his best to remain calm and casual, not wanting to give away that he actually knew what happened, but there must have been some sort of look on his face that gave him away because his mom was not backing down from getting answers.
"Do you know something, Harry?" She then questioned.
Harry widen his eyes frantically and snapped his head towards his mom. "What? No, mom," he nearly yelped, shaking his head erratically. "I just - I was asking because I - well I know someone who owns that place."
Anne didn't buy it for one second. "Who exactly do you know there, Harry?"
"It's a friend."
"A friend I don't know about?" Anne sassed, cocking her head back in near shock when Harry hesitantly nodded his head at the question. Anne let out a huff. "You need to be careful with who you are around."
There was a part of Harry that wanted to easily laugh in her face about how ironic her statement was. Anne seemed so concerned for who Harry hung around, that she didn't even realize the council she was a part of was ran by wolves. Out of the both of them, Harry knew he was the safest when it came to werewolves, so it was purely laughable at how his mother automatically assumed Harry was surrounding himself with dangerous people. In fact, he had one of the strongest alphas hell bent on protecting him, so Harry thought he was doing just fine.
But then there was a part of Harry that was wondering why Anne would make a comment like that in the first place. She had never talked about the supernatural or shown any interest in wolves, but ever since Harry discovered Louis, he's noticed the subtle comments his mother had been making that made him believe she may know more than she let on, so Harry wanted to know and see just how much his mother was actually hiding from him.
"Mum, what do you know?" Harry asked slowly, carefully looking at his mother's features to find any twitch or crook that gave her away. There was nothing but widen, shocked eyes.
"W-What?" She stuttered out, shifting off the bed and standing on her feet. "Harry, what are you getting at? What do you know?"
Harry let out a puff of air when he realized that maybe his mother really had no idea what was going on. She looked utterly confused and slightly worried, like maybe there was something for her to know, and that she was left out of it.
Harry shook his head in response and scooted down the bed so he could lay down. He rested his head on top of the pillow and pulled the comforter up to his neck. "I don't know, mom. I'm just really tired," Harry mumbled under his breath, twisting on to his side and blinking up at his mother who was still standing next to him. "And honestly, hearing about the explosion scared me. We've never had anything like that happen here before."
Anne's features soften, and she leaned over to press a kiss to Harry's forehead. "I understand, sweetie," she amended with a smile. "Go on and get your rest. It can't be your birthday forever, and you have school in the morning."
"Don't remind me," Harry groaned into his pillow, grunting childishly when he heard his mother pull back with a laugh.
"Good night," Anne said one last time before walking out the door.
"Night, mum," Harry called out.
Once Harry was finally left alone with the door shut, he tossed the pillow off to the side and sat up on his bed. He looked around the dark room and waited for any sign of Louis to come out from hiding, but the longer Harry waited for this, the more Harry started to believe that maybe Louis left awhile ago. He knew the window was shut when he went to bed, and now it was open, which meant Louis must have snuck out at some point throughout the night.
At this realization, Harry let sighed and fell back down on his mattress so he could attempt to fall back asleep.
The next morning, Harry woke up to a strange feeling in his chest. He woke up alone, like he expected to when he realized Louis left him in the middle of the night, but there was still a part of him that hoped Louis would sneak back into his room to wake up next to Harry's side - but well, that didn't happen. The side of the bed next to Harry was cold, and there was no trace of Louis left in Harry's room besides the necklace he had gifted the boy a couple years back.
The next odd thing Harry noticed was that Ed never came by for school. Their new routine for the past couple of months had been Ed taking Harry to and from school to ensure Harry was safe, but that morning, Ed never showed up. Harry waited until the last possible second for Ed to knock on his front door before his mother was finally pushing him out the house so he wouldn't be late for class.
There was something unsettling in Harry's stomach knowing that he had to go to school alone today. He knew how strict Louis and Ed have been about making sure Harry was never left unguarded, but here he was, in his car alone. It was strange, and it made Harry believe that maybe there was something going on that he should be aware of because Louis left in the middle of the night, and Ed never showed up in the morning, so all Harry could do was think of the worst.
Harry had hoped once he got to school that he would see Ed there, but that moment never came. Harry searched and waited for Ed to come around the corner or show up in some of their class they have together, but he was absent, and Ed was never absent. Ed always had perfect attendance when it came to watching Harry, so the fact that he had been missing without any fair warning ahead of time really started to worry Harry.
So the question really stood, where's Ed?
By the end of the class day, when Harry realized there had to be something going on and that Ed really wasn't going to show up, he spotted his only source for potential answers walking past the school doors. Harry quickly sought out Stan in the crowd of people and caught up to him once they were outside. He stopped Stan from walking by grabbing his arm and abruptly turning Stan's body to face him.
"Hey, do you know what's going on?" Harry interrogated immediately.
Stan raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Well, let's start with the fire," Harry suggested, raising his eyebrow. "They are saying it was a faulty leak."
"We can't exactly tell people that a werewolf blew it up. We had to cover it up and not make it seem like an attack."
"Yeah, well, me and Louis were in there. I almost died - his cousin did die.
Stan let out a huff and eyeballed the students that were walking around them. He grabbed on to Harry's wrist gently and ended up pulling him off to the side so their conversation could be more private. "Yeah, trust me, the council knows who did it. Not only has Nick tried to kill you a couple times, but he attacked a section of the town. He's violated nearly everything."
"Well, what about Louis?" Harry questioned, biting his lip nervously.
"He's not mine to hunt," Stan reassured instantly, shrugging his shoulders as he spoke. "But as for your relationship, I don't know. The council is trying to find any excuse right now to take him down, and I have no idea what for."
Power, Harry thought bitterly in his mind, but he refrained from doing so.
"Okay, but do you know what's going on with Ed then?" Harry asked instead, suddenly feeling that worry make its way back into his system. "I mean, Louis left me in the middle of the night last night, and then I haven't seen Ed all day."
Stan furrowed his eyebrows together. "That's unusual for him to not be here."
"That's what I'm saying," Harry nearly cried out.
"Maybe I should go home with you," Stan suggested seriously, looking up at Harry and noticing the frown set on his lips. He let out a sigh. "Just to make sure you get there safely. Once you're inside, I'll leave."
"That's probably a good idea," Harry muttered to himself.
Harry let out a breath of air and led the way to his car.
The ride back to his house was spent in silence. Harry didn't know what much he could say to Stan considering they haven't been on the best of terms for the past couple of months. Harry knew that Stan was there to protect the people from wolves, and more specifically, to protect Harry from Nick, but there was still a part of Harry that felt defensive over his relationship with Louis when it came to Stan. Over the last few interactions, Stan had shown hesitance in accepting the two of them together, so although Harry appreciated Stan making sure he was getting home safely, he knew he still couldn't let his guard down.
Harry was just a street over when there was a sudden bump to the front of his car. He slammed on his breaks almost immediately and turned to look at Stan to see if he felt the impact of whatever he just hit with his car as well. Stan cocked his head to the side to catch a glimpse out the window, but when there was no sign of life, he turned to look at Harry with equally shocked eyes.
"What was that?" Harry asked frantically.
Harry fumbled to get his seatbelt off before he was rushing out of his car. Stan followed suit and met Harry at the front of the hood to see what he had hit, but once they rounded the vehicle to get there, there was nothing there.
"What the hell?" Stan twisted his lips to the side, staring intently at the ground by the feet as if something would just magically appear.
Nothing did appear, however, when Harry chanced a look at the bumper of his car, he realized there was a dent. A sudden wave of fear washed through Harry's system, and he suddenly felt very exposed. He let out a shaky breath and knew all the signals in his head telling him to get home was probably what he needed to do, so he intended on doing just that.
Stan and Harry glanced at each other one last time before they were turning to get back in the car, except, the minute they were taking a step forward, they saw Nick standing by the trunk of the car with an evil smirk set across his lips. Stan's eyes widen right away and he quickly ran around the front of the vehicle to yank Harry behind his back. He kept his hand planted firmly on Harry's chest while the other one brushed the side of his jacket open to reveal a belt with hidden weapons against wolves.
"Well, hello," Nick slurred out, eyes flickering between the two boys before solely landing on Harry. "Glad to see you alive, Harry."
"Glad to know you like trying to kill humans," Harry breathed out nervously. He felt Stan's arm tensing up where it was resting across his chest, and he could tell Stan was trying his best to act as the shield between him and Nick.
Nick smiled in response, shrugging his shoulder lazily and taking a step closer to them, lips curving up when Stan's hand tightened around a spray bottle. "You're just collateral damage for me, human."
"What do you want?" Stan called out when the distance between them and Nick was getting shorter. He yanked the spray he had been holding on to and held it in front of his body, pointing it directly at Nick and threatening to press down on the cap when Nick continued to walk closer.
"I want nothing to do with you," Nick growled lowly, reaching up quickly to grab the can and tossing it somewhere behind him. "I came to give this little human a message to send back to his mate."
Stan didn't get a chance to argue or fight before Nick's hand were wrapping around his neck. He easily threw Stan across the road without any mercy and then directed his attention towards Harry. Harry's eyes were wide as they watched Stan roll across the pavement and scratch up his skin, but the second he look back at Nick and tried making a rash decision on leaving, he was being pinned against his car with Nicks hand pressed deeply into his neck.
"Tell your alpha that I am not going to stop until he begs for mercy," Nick growled in Harry's face, pushing against Harry's neck harder when he felt the boy trying to struggle out of his hold. "You make sure that he knows I will not stop until he is withering in pain and begging for me to just kill him. And you better remind him that I have no problem killing you in the process if thats all it will take."
Harry let out a choked sob and continued to dig his fingers into Nick's hands hoping that they would lift off his neck. Nick let out a devilish laugh when he saw red flaring up Harry's skin and his breath getting stopped short from his hold, but eventually, he did let go, and within a blink of an eye, he completely disappeared.
Harry fell down to his knees when Nick released his hold. He felt a rush of air making its way out of his lungs and being coughed into the air. Harry reached up to his own neck with shaky hands and traced the outline of where Nick was pressing against him, and he ended up flinching at the sudden jolt he felt when there was light contact with the bruise that was beginning to form.
Harry didn't know how long he was slumped against his car trying to catch his breath, but Stan eventually walked over to him with a small limp. Harry blinked up at his body and noticed the bloody gash down the side of his face and the scratches the pavement had made against his arms. Harry let out a huff at Stan's defeated appearance and slowly stood to his feet.
"Come on," Harry mumbled, tilting his head towards the car. "I'll clean your cuts at the house."
Stan reluctantly got inside the vehicle and rested against the seat while Harry continued to drive them to his home. The silence returned between the both of them, but this time, Harry's high pitch wheezing and Stan's slow, deep breaths drew some sound to the quiet air. Harry's hands were shaking from where they were trying to turn the steering wheel onto his street, and he could feel his heart beating rapidly in his chest with how much adrenaline was pumping through his veins.
By the time he pulled up the driveway to his house, he finally felt the weight of Nick's hands settling over his neck, and he felt a throbbing sensation that made it harder for him to breathe. However, when Harry put the car in park and looked out the front window, he noticed Louis anxiously waiting for him by the porch steps.
Harry rushed out the car instantly and crashed into Louis' arms with a shaky breath. Louis let out a grunt as his arms instinctively went around Harry's waist to cradle him close to his body. Harry buried his nose into the pit of Louis' neck and just let himself be held while Louis hooked his chin over Harry's shoulder to watch Stan slowly make his way out the car.
"Thank you," Louis called out to him, hands idly rubbing up and down Harry's spine. "For watching him," Louis clarified once Stan took a hesitant step forward.
Harry let out a groan when the pressure of Louis' shoulder dug deeper into his neck, so he reluctantly pulled back with a frown. Louis' eyes flicked over towards Harry's before they were casting down to his neck, furrowing his eyebrows together as his hand reached up to lightly trace the marks lining Harry's delicate skin. Harry gulped, watching Louis carefully.
"Where were you?" Harry asked under his breath, drawing Louis' eyes back towards his. "You disappeared on me last night, and I don't know - I figured you would show up like you always do when Nick appears."
Louis' face scrunched up like he was in pain and slowly withdrew his hands from Harry's neck. He rested them carefully on Harry's hips and began shaking his head. "Today has been - it's just been crazy, and by the time I actually heard anything, Nick already left. I figured I would catch you at home though and make sure you're okay."
Harry curved his lips up a little. "I think my throat is swollen, but I'm okay," Harry reassured, soon turning to glance at Stan where he was leaning against the side of the car with his hand cradling the back of his head. "Stan took more of a hit than I did."
"Nick choked you," Louis reminded, sounding distressed.
"Stan got thrown across the road," Harry pouted in response, lowering his voice as he added, "Please, help him."
Louis rolled his eyes at the suggestion, but he reluctantly agreed with Harry. He pressed a soft kiss to the side of Harry's mouth before he was walking around the boy to make his way towards Stan. Stan looked up with hesitant eyes and slowly pushed himself off the car. He was watching Louis carefully and curiously as Louis approached him with a stern look on his face.
Louis gave Stan a reassuring nod before he was placing his hands on top of Stan's shoulders. He closed his eyes tightly and began drawing the pain from Stan and transmitting it to his own body. Louis let out a grunt and only held on tighter when he felt various spots of his body twinge with pain. He stayed there for a couple of minutes until there was nothing left for him to take away, and all the visible cuts on Stan were finally closed and healed.
When Louis removed his hands, Stan took a step back and offered Louis a smile. "Thank you."
After that, Stan started walking down the road to get to his own home. Harry knew he lived only a street over, so he didn't have that far to travel too. He watched until Stan was no longer in sight before he was walking up to Louis and pressing his hands on both sides of his face.
"Do you know where Ed is?" Harry questioned worriedly, nibbling on his bottom lip when Louis let out a deep sigh.
"Ed is uh -" Louis began, gulping nervously before he was shaking his head from Harry's hold, lips curving down in a frown and blue eyes suddenly swelling up with tears. "Ed is hurt," he then stated after a few seconds of remaining quiet.
Harry's eyes widen in shock. "What?" he gasped, shaking his head. "How?" He nearly cried. "Is it bad?" he then asked, voice sounding on the verge of crying.
Louis blew a raspberry past his lips and ended up hooking his arms underneath Harry's body. He didn't say anything other than picking Harry up bridal style. Harry was about to question why he was being lifted in the first place, but then the area around him was flashing by his eyes too quickly for him to comprehend what was happening. He felt Louis' hold tighten around his body as the wind blew quickly past the both of them.
In a matter of seconds, they were standing right in front of the cabin, and the swelling that Harry felt in his throat earlier was now gone.
Louis sat Harry down on his feet and guided him inside the cabin with a firm grip on his hand. Louis remained silent as the two of them approached the medic door that was shut. Once Harry was standing there staring at the lit up red cross, he suddenly had a bad feeling wash over him. There had to be a reason why Louis was acting this way and refusing to answer his question, and there was a part of Harry that fear the answer was related to what was on the other side of this door.
And all the worries Harry felt inside of him were confirmed when Louis slowly opened the door to reveal an unconscious Ed laying on one of the medic tables. Harry felt his entire heart drop to the pit of his stomach when his eyes landed on the scratch marks across Ed's bare chest and the deep, alpha claw mark pressed into the meat of his shoulder.
Harry whimpered as he ran over to the side of Ed's table, hands coming out to gently hold on to his beaten up face. "Who did this?" Harry cried, breathing out heavily as he continued to stare shell shocked at all the cuts and bruises littering Ed's body. "What happened? Why? Wha - How?" Harry mumbled out breathlessly.
"Nick did it," Louis responded under his breath.
Harry shook his head when the warning Nick had given him just minutes before started circling his head. "He won't stop," Harry mumbled, glancing up at Louis to see his lips curving into a frown.
"What?"
"Nick said he won't stop until you beg for his mercy," Harry repeated louder. "He even threatened me," he added on under his breath, slowly dragging his eyes back down to Ed and furrowing his eyebrows together. "I just - I didn't know his threat included Ed as well. Why would he do that?"
Louis wished he could come up with some sort of reason to give Harry, but even he had no clue. Ed wasn't even a threat, and he was never a part of the battle. The only thing Louis could come up with is that Ed was close to both Harry and Louis, and Nick was able to get a reaction out of the both of them. Nick wanted to rile them both up. He wanted Louis to get angry, and he wanted Harry to simply crack under the pressure, but still, Louis didn't know what point Nick was trying to gain by hurting a defenseless wolf.
"I - I don't know, Harry," Louis breathed out defeatedly. He stepped closer to the bed Ed was laying on and rested his hands flat on Ed's chest, staring at the ugly bite mark that was deep into his arm. "There's so many reasons, but none make sense. Maybe it's because Ed is your friend, and he wanted to get after you as well. I mean, Ed isn't even an Eta. He doesn't even fight, so I have no fucking idea why he even went after Ed. Fuck!"
Louis pushed himself away from the bed and ran his fingers through his hair. He couldn't stay still on his feet or even attempt to think straight. He was still trying to process how all this shit went down in one night and worrying if Ed would recover from this. His mind was going crazy, and he had yet another member of his pack down for the count. He didn't know how severe the injuries were. He had no idea if Ed was able to heal from this, and he sure as hell didn't know if Ed was going to survive through this or not.
All this time Louis had been focused on Harry's safety that he never once considered Ed's safety. He risked his life every day transporting between the human and the wolf world, and Louis never once stopped to consider that Ed was pretty much vulnerable when it came to fighting.
Harry's eyes soften when he watched Louis begin to pace around the medical room. He felt the tears in his eyes slowly roll down his cheek and his hands shaking from where they were hovering over Ed's body. However, when Harry heard the smallest sound of a sniffle coming from Louis, he realized that Louis was working himself so much into crying. Harry quickly walked up to Louis and tried to calm him down by grabbing on to his wrist, but the minute Louis felt that contact, he ripped himself away.
"Harry, no," Louis cried, stepping back so there was a prominent distance between the two of them. Harry's eyes widen at the reaction and he let his arms slump by his side, staring back at Louis while Louis began shaking his head rapidly back and forth, like his own mind was driving him crazy.
"I am supposed to protect my pack," Louis muttered out, letting out a choked sob and finally standing still. His fingers were still curled in his own hair, but his frantic eyes were finally able to settle where Harry was standing a few feet away. Louis let out a big breath of air and slumped his shoulders forward. "I'm the alpha now, Harry. Me, it's all on me, and I don't have my dad to do this anymore. I have to."
"Louis," Harry breathed out, gently reaching his hand out to grab a hold of Louis' wrist again, but Louis' eyes that were watching Harry's movement suddenly harden, and he quickly pushed past Harry to get on the other side of the medic room.
"I'm the one that is supposed to protect the pack and keep them safe," Louis continued to rant, balling his hands up into fist and resting them right by his side. He ignored the small flash of fear that crossed Harry's features and continued to pace around in his spot as if it would help alleviate anything. "I'm supposed to be the fucking alpha, and look at all the shit that has happened so far."
Louis emphasized his words by tossing his hands in the direction of where Ed was laying unconscious. Harry gulped nervously and let his eyes drag over Ed's beaten up body one more time before he felt another round of tears fill his eyes. Harry tried his best to blink them away and focus more on Louis, but even then, watching Louis have an emotional break down wasn't necessarily the best distraction for Harry either.
"I'm an alpha who has already lost two members, and the potential third is laying right there. I don't have my mum to help me or my dad to tell me what to do. I only have me. My little sister only has me." Louis' voice began to crack and his anger started to slowly dissipate to sadness. He took another step closer to Ed and placed his hand on top of the alpha bite imprinting his shoulder. Louis let out a shaky sigh.
"I'm all this pack has left, and right now, I'm really not sure how far Nick is willing to go to defeat me," Louis stated in a much calmer tone, one that ensured Harry he could scoot closer to him without having another lash out. "I'm only nineteen, and I'm about to go to war with one of the biggest packs ever against an alpha that doesn't give two shits about who he kills."
Harry let out another shaky breath and realized he was now in touching distance with Louis again. He watched the boy carefully as he continued to lightly trail his fingers all over the cuts on Ed's body. Harry could see the glistening of tears filling up Louis' blue eyes, and Harry realized it was one of the worst things he had ever seen. Seeing Louis so emotional was causing physical pain to Harry's own heart, and he didn't necessarily know how much more he could take himself before he would crack alongside Louis.
Harry licked his lips and lifted his hand to press on to Louis' back, "Louis,"he whispered softly, except, that was when another round of anger washed over Louis, and he ended up shrugging Harry's hand off his body and pushing himself away from the table.
"No. I don't want to hear you, okay?" Louis suddenly snapped, a low growl coming out by the end of his sentence and his once beautiful, blue eyes starting to shift into their alpha red. Harry noticed the change and stepped back hesitantly, eyes wide and frantically glancing between the alpha in front of him and the medic door to the side of him. "I can't - I can't focus on just you right now," Louis continued to yell, turning in a circle and slamming his fist down on one of the counters. "My pack is in danger - I am in danger, and I have been so focused on trying to mate you that I let Nick slip right under my fingers."
"Louis," Harry breathed out, feeling those words stabbing straight through his chest, leaving an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach like all this was his fault.
"My pack is my main priority right now. Ed could be dying right now and I just - I don't want you here. You need to go home and stay there while I figure out a way to make sure Ed stays alive."
Harry's lips turned into a frown and he felt completely frozen in his spot. Out of all the months that he had known Louis, never once did Louis yell at him or blatantly kick him out of his home. But here Louis was, doing exactly that, and Harry felt too stumped to even do anything. He knew Louis was going through a lot right now, and everything was building up in his system, but what Harry didn't understand was how this whole situation got twisted on to him. Harry continued to stand there like a bump in the road when there was another growl echoing the room and a chair suddenly being tossed across the room. Harry's eyes widen in horror as he glanced up to see Louis practically seething in his spot, looking a lot more animalistic than human with the way his red eyes hunted Harry down and his claws beginning to grow from his nail.
"Why the fuck aren't you leaving?" Louis yelled out angrily.
Harry's words were caught in his throat, and for the first time since meeting Louis, he started to feel scared.
It only took a couple more seconds before the door to the medic room was flashing open and Liam was barging through. The sudden movement had startled Harry on top of the fear he already felt, so he didn't mean to let out a small yelp when Liam came bustling towards his side. On instinct, Liam pushed Harry behind his body and stood protectively in front of him and Louis, ready to make a rash decision if Louis succumbed to his alpha side. He didn't - Louis simply let out a deep breath and slowly returned to normal.
"Please, just take him," Louis finally said in a much softer tone, losing that rush of anger and settling for pure defeat. He turned on his heel and walked over to the chairs in the back corner of the room. He sat down in one of them and instantly buried his head into his hands. "I want to be alone," he whispered, refusing to look up at all.
Liam nodded his head and quickly ushered Harry out of the medic room. He ended up walking Harry all the way back to his house in complete silence until the two of them finally made it to the back porch of Harry's house. Harry didn't say anything as he walked up the steps to make his way inside, but before he could grab the handle to the door, he paused. Harry let out a deep breath and turned around to face Liam like he was ready to say something, but when he realized Liam was already looking back at him carefully, he felt the words die in his throat. Harry was still speechless about what happened, and he really didn't know what to do or how to feel other than to remain in shock, but the one thing he didn't want to do was to go inside. Going inside meant that everything was over, and Harry wasn't ready for that yet.
"He's stressed," Liam finally added when the silence between them continued to drag on.
Harry flicked his eyes over to him and shrugged his shoulders. "Just make sure Ed is okay, please?' Harry begged weakly, feeling relief when Liam nodded his head. "I just - if anything worse happens, I want to know - I need to know. I can't-" Harry stopped short of his sentence and shook his head in defeat.
"Harry, his pack is being under attacked," Liam then reminded after a long, drawn out sigh, taking a step on to the steps of the porch and ignoring the way Harry's eyes rolled to the side. "More than anything, you're under attacked as well. He's a new, unmated alpha that has a lot riding on him. He's just stressed."
Harry nodded his head in response because he knew. He knew Louis had been under a lot of stress since he became the alpha, and he knew there was nothing for him to do. It had been weighing down on Harry how much Louis had to go through in just short of a few months, and he felt as if he wasn't helping anything get better. Harry knew he was a distraction for Louis, and he knew that he was part of the reason Louis had lost some of his pack members. Harry knew all this, and it was eating him up alive. All he wanted to do was help Louis win the battle against Nick, and if he had to make some sacrifices of his own to ensure that this could happen, then Harry was willing to go that far.
Harry could feel the cold band of the moon pendant ring resting on his finger. He knew this piece of jewelry that Louis had given him was one of the main reasons why Nick had been so prominent in attacking Louis. Harry had a feeling that because of this ring, Louis felt more drawn to him than normal which was the opposite kind of attention Louis should be giving. That attention should be directed towards protecting the pack, and the more Harry began to think about it, the more the sacrifice he felt swirling around his head sounded better.
"Here," Harry choked out, dragging the ring off his finger and handing it out to Liam
Liam looked up at him with wide eyes and stepped back from the ring like it would burn him. "Harry, no! You can't do that."
"It's because of this ring that Louis can't focus on his pack," Harry explained desperately, taking a step closer towards Liam and dramatically pushing the ring out in front of him hoping Liam would take it. "You said so yourself, Louis is stressed, and he's losing members of the pack. You can't not tell me that it isn't because he's been too busy with me. Give him the ring to lose this connection that makes him feel drawn to me, and then me and mum can figure an escape route to avoid what's about to happen."
Liam continued to shake his head as he reached out to close Harry's fingers around the ring that was resting on his palm. "Harry, he won't-"
"You know its the best thing to do." Harry raised his eyebrow when he started to see defeat splaying across Liam's features. He opened his palm again and presented the ring in front of Liam and watched as he carefully grabbed it. "I'm safe in the house for now, and I have my necklace. I'll make sure to never take it off, and when the time comes, maybe me and my mum can visit my sister out of town, but for now, if I continue to wear that ring, Louis will continue to be distracted with me."
Liam glanced up at Harry briefly and offered him a small nod that showed he agreed and understood. He didn't say anything else other than reaching across to give Harry a tight hug. After that, when Liam pulled back, he disappeared back into the woods in a blink of an eye, leaving Harry standing there with a broken heart and an empty finger.
☾
Key Components:
- There's a flashback of Ed from the night before
- A strange child makes an appearance at the bakery while Ed's there
- He gets stabbed right as the bakery explodes
- Harry wakes up in the middle of the night with a bad dream
- Louis isn't there
- Anne knows about the fire at the bakery
- Council said the explosion was "an accident"
- Harry doesn't see Ed the next day
- Stan offers to take Harry home
- Nick shows up an attacks them
- Louis informs Harry what happened to Ed
- Harry sees Ed's beat up body
- Louis cracks and ends up yelling and scaring Harry
- Liam takes Harry home
- Harry gives the ring back hoping it would help Louis stay focus on the pack.
Just a reminder, Harry is thinking what he's doing is what's best for Louis. He doesn't know all the mythical meanings behind the ring, and he's still trying to find his place in the werewolf world. The logic behind giving his ring back is what he believes will keep Louis from being distracted.