✧Previously on Chapter Twenty One✧
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The moon shined brightly at its apex point in the sky and was casting a warm glow through the trees of the woods. The only other light helping give sight to the area were the row of torches creating an aisle in between the sections of chairs. There were flower petals sprinkled across the ground and caskets lined up at the front of the area so every wolf sitting in the audience had a good view of the warriors who lost their life in battle. Thankfully, it was only six wolves, including Ed, who didn't make it, so they didn't have a lot of members they needed to bury. It was the only bright side to everything that was happening.
The warriors that laid there were a special contribution to the success in Louis' pack. They were part of the reason why the Crescent Wolves were free to roam around and live their lives without fear of an enemy pack coming after them. The wolves that lied there were some of the hardest working and most dedicated to the protection of the pack, and Louis knew this had to be one of the hardest parts about being an alpha. He had to deal with the loss of his pack, but he also had to remain poised and strong for everyone else so that he could be the leader they looked up to. But, it was hard because in those caskets was also where Ed laid, one of his best friends - one of Harry's best friends, and that right there was already hard enough for Louis to remain the strong alpha he was supposed to be.
Harry and Louis were stood next to each other on the opposite side of the caskets to the audience. They had their hands locked tightly in each other's hold while they stood in their spots so every member of the pack could walk by the caskets and pay their respects. Harry tried his best to hide his tears, but with how crazy his emotions have been over the past few days, he couldn't suppress them. He freely let himself sob into Louis' shoulder while Louis did his best to calm him down with a firm hand pressed to the base of his back. It was enough to reduce Harry to quiet sobs, but not enough to stop him all together.
Robin and Anne were at the memorial as well, standing off to the side and watching as the last bit of Louis' pack passed through the line of the caskets. Harry knew his mother was crying by the way he caught her every now and then wiping at her eyes. Robin kept his arm firmly wrapped around her waist and pulled her against his chest. Louis briefly looked over there as well and let out a sigh when he noticed Anne crying, but when he looked up at Robin and saw his shoulder shrug, he knew this was the price to pay to being the alpha of any pack. Losing members was just inevitable, and Louis knew that his pack's strength at handling everything reflected off of him, so he needed to make sure that he did everything right to ensure his pack that they would all be okay - that they would all heal from the losses.
Liam and Lottie were over by Louis and Harry, but they were off to the side to make sure they didn't get in the way once the memorial actually started. Niall, Zayn, Luke, Ashton, Calum and Micheal were close by as well. Since they were the lead Lambdas and Etas, they had the pack's honor of carrying the caskets over to the burial grounds for the Crescent Moon members to lay them peacefully down in the open ground.
It took awhile before all the pack members passed through the line of caskets. Ellie was one of the last ones who walked by because she wanted to spend her time looking at Ed once last time. She paused at where he laid and looked over where his dead body was resting. He was thankfully cleaned up of any wounds and done up to look a little bit more lively. Ellie reached her hand out and ran her fingers along the lining of Ed's jaw before she was closing her eyes and letting the last bit of tears in the corner of her eyes run down her face. She finally opened them again after a few seconds and ended up placing a small picture in between Ed's fingers, letting out a small sob before she was pressing a kiss to her fingers and resting them on Ed's forehead.
Finally, Ellie finished her goodbye and walked back to the audience, wrapping herself up in the arms of Jade and Perrie and using their comfort as a way to let herself succumb to crying. Once Louis realized everyone was seated and waiting for the memorial to begin, he cleared his throat and started talking about the warriors who fought in the battle. He knew a couple of them were Epsilon's from when his father was the alpha, so Louis spent a great deal talking about all their brave contributions to ensuring the pack's safety for the countless years they were guarding the pack. The Epsilon's were legends, and they were there when Mark was proving his dominance over the Grimshaw pack by killing their alpha at the time, Nick's father, so they left a long line of success during their active years with the pack.
Then Louis moved on to the other Eta's that fought in the battle, some of the younger ones who had trained most of their life for this particular battle. They were the newer generation who got their rank promoted since Louis' coronation of becoming an alpha, so it was a little harder for Louis to talk through this speech knowing these young wolves didn't make it out alive. They were around his and Harry's age, and they were at the beginning stages of starting their own families, so it broke Louis' heart knowing that they passed before they ever got to experience that. Louis only hoped their mates, or potential mates, could heal properly.
The last person Louis talked about was Ed, and this was when Louis finally let his emotions start to show. He managed to speak without his voice cracking, but his eyes were filled with tears, and Harry's constant crying against his shoulder was hard enough to keep on the alpha mask he was wearing. But when he looked into the audience, he saw all his pack members looking back at him hopefully, proudly - happy that they had an alpha like him to remain strong for them. Louis knew he could do this, and he knew he could do it for the sake of all those people seeking hope from him. He could do it for Ellie who was sitting there with a small smile on her face and looking back at Louis like he had the power to heal all her heartbreak. So, Louis knew he could do it for her.
"Ed was very special to me," Louis began, shamelessly sniffing as he glanced down at Ed, smiling when he realized the picture Ellie placed between his fingers was a sonogram of the pups growing in her stomach. "He took on one of my biggest task so proudly and so effortlessly, and I don't think I could ever thank him enough for his services. He may have not fought in the battle, but he fought everyday just to make sure that everyone could get home safely and could happily go about their day without fear of getting hurt. That's who Ed was. He was more than just a pack member. He was a saving grace."
Louis let out a shaky breath and paused briefly, turning to look at Harry and noticing his bright, green eyes were looking back at him with that same piece of hope everyone else was looking him with. Louis smiled and wrapped his arm around the boy, clearing his throat before continuing.
"Ed did what no other wolf had done. He protected my mate. He protected my mate for the last five years of his life and made sure that he was always safe from any outside threats. He was always the first person to jump to Harry's side, and he was always the first person to come to me to tell me about Harry's day. Ed took a big risk for me going into town everyday, but he did it. He did it because he loved me and he loved Harry - because he loved the future of this pack so much, and he knew more than anyone the potential me and Harry had for you guys, and for that, I will forever be grateful for the greatest sacrifice Ed did for me - for us."
Louis paused again when he felt another wave of emotions. This time, he let a couple tears roll down his cheek. He could feel Harry pressing in closer to his side until his boy's arms were wrapping around his waist. Louis smile briefly and held on to Harry tighter, letting out a deep breath and preparing to continue on with his speech.
"You know, not only was Ed such a great contribution to my mate's life, but Ed did a lot more for this pack than a lot of people knew. Ed was an Upsilon, and when he wasn't spending his time protecting Harry, the future alpha's mate of this pack, he spent that time traveling through the woods to gather information about Nick's pack. All of the mini fights that we were successful in against Grimshaw was credited to Ed. He was the one who knew their every move, and he was the one who always alerted the pack in enough time to prepare us for anything. He's one of the biggest reasons our pack has been successful for the past few years, and for that, no amount of gratitude could even amount to how much I valued him for that." Louis paused again to catch his breath. "Ed was such a great person for this pack, and my heart aches knowing his legacy was left behind much sooner than anyone intended, but we know Ed is in a safe place. We know he is reunited with the Crescent Moon members before our time, and all our ancestors will keep him company and continue to protect our pack every day."
Once Louis was finally done with his speech, everyone started to bow their heads. That was when Louis slowly pulled himself away from Harry and gave him the nod Harry needed to know that the next part of the memorial was to take place. Harry let out a sigh and reached for the basket full of Peace Lily petals, the type of flower that symbolized peace in the afterlife. Harry swallowed down the lump in his throat as he approached the first open casket, chewing on his bottom lip as he began sprinkling the petals across each of the corpse. However, when Harry finally got to Ed's casket, he paused. Harry paused, and he felt his entire face crumble at the sight of his best friend laying there.
Harry let out a quiet sob as he used his free hand to reach in to his back pocket. He pulled out a picture that he stuffed in their earlier in the day, and he lifted it up to his eyes so he could look at it one last time. Harry felt his lips curving up just slightly as he looked at the same photo Ed had given him for his birthday, the one when they were twelve years old, the photo Anne took of them when she first got introduced to Ed. Harry laughed softly at the memory and ended up putting the photo next to the one Ellie placed with him before he was sprinkling the Peace Lillies across his body.
When Harry was done, he dropped the basket to the ground and walked back to Louis. He wasted no time in burying himself deep into Louis' chest, nuzzling his nose into Louis' neck and using his alpha scent as a way to calm his beating heart down. Louis kept his arms firmly wrapped around Harry and started swaying their bodies together while Harry continued to cry. Since Harry's portion of the memorial was now finished, Lottie came up to the caskets with Liam and did the final thing before the deceased got moved to the burial site. It started with Liam closing each casket with Lottie following behind to sprinkle afterlife dust over the top of the casket, a dust that allowed their spirits to roam freely and connect with their ancestors before them in an after life. It had been a tradition that this pack had upheld since way before each of their times, and it was a settling way for them to know that the spirits of the dead would find their peace and their purpose after their time on earth has passed.
After Lottie finished sprinkling each box, she walked over to Louis and wedged her way in between Harry and Louis. The two of them immediately wrapped her up in their arms and held her there while Niall, Zayn, Luke, Ashton, Calum and Micheal walked over to the caskets to begin transferring them over to the burial site. The six of them led the way with the caskets held over their heads while the rest of the pack followed behind. Louis kept his hand firmly placed in both Harry and Lotties' as he guided them behind everyone to watch the final moments of the memorial take place.
There were six holes already dug up for each of the caskets to get laid in, and each of the boys did so carefully. All the pack members gathered around the area and watched as Liam began shoveling dirt over each one until the entire ground was flat again. He tossed some more Peace Lillies over the dirt and let everyone stand there for a few more seconds to pay their respects before he started the lead back to the cabin. Harry easily saw his mother and Robin in crowd of all the wolves, and he quickly dragged Lottie and Louis over there so they could all walk together. Harry's free hand immediately reached out for his mother's, and he continued to hold her hand tightly as they walked back to the cabin.
Once the pack made it back, everyone wanted to end the sad day by celebrating the lives of all the wolves who passed, so they began the event by hosting a giant cookout in the mess hall and the back yard of the cabin. Louis let Lottie run off with a couple of her friends so she could distract herself from the sadness by busying herself with some play time. Louis didn't want his little sister worrying too much about what happened. She was still young and had a pure heart, and although Lottie knew the general idea of what today was about, he didn't want it troubling her mind. He felt slightly better at seeing the smile spread across her lips when being in the presence of her closest friends, and it was enough for Louis to finally let out a big breath.
The next to go was Robin and Anne. Some of the mothers in the pack had easily taken a liking to Anne, so she easily fit in when they all came by to grab her for chat time. Louis smiled off as the two of them disappeared behind the doors, and once they were gone, Louis realized that the only people left in the main hall of the house was him and Harry. Louis let out a sigh as he turned to face Harry, checking in on how all his emotions were holding up. He knew since Harry turned into a wolf he struggled with trying to control everything. However, when Louis glanced over at Harry, he noticed the boy had a fazed out look on his face before he was turning the other way and storming down the hallway.
Harry remained quiet as he continued to walk, but where Louis was quickly following behind him, he could see the clenched fist tightly bundled against Harry's side. Louis frowned as he tried reaching for Harry to pull him back, but it was in that instant that Harry used his speed to quickly flee from Louis and rush straight to the secret door at the end of the hall. Louis' eyes widen right away as he watched Harry disappear down the stairs to where the underground cell was, and he quickly followed behind Harry to see what he was getting himself in to.
That was when Harry finally cracked.
Harry dropped down to his knees and immediately clenched his eyes together once he landed at the bottom of the steps, letting out a horrific scream as his hands went straight to the ends of his hair. He started pulling at it as another scream pressed past his lips, letting himself completely bawl his eyes out in the middle of the cell. He couldn't control how he felt at the moment, and everything inside of him was suddenly flooding out of him. His body was moving on its own accord, and soon enough, Harry was back on his feet. He started to pace across the ground while hysterically crying, and he didn't exactly know what he was particularly feeling, but when his hands got under one of the coffees tables off to the side to flip it across the room, he realized he wanted to do more.
Harry let out another cry as he jerked his body around and threw a harsh punch against the stone covering of the wall. He was too out of his mind to even process how painful that truly was, instead, he went for more. He walked over to the curtains that were covering the barred windows and yanked them free off the wall. Harry ripped the poles that were holding the curtains up out its sleeve and ended up chunking it across the room, letting out a heavy breath as he watched it shatter a mirror on the opposite wall.
Louis didn't flinch one bit. He remained in his spot as he watched Harry continue to find more things to destroy. He knew Harry needed this. He knew Harry needed to just let his emotions run freely, so this was the time for him to do. As heartbreaking as it was for him to sit there and watch his boy break down over everything that happened, he couldn't stop it. He just let it be.
"Fuck!" Harry suddenly yelled, stopping his pacing to run the back of his hands down the sides of his face. He let out another sob that soon turned into a manic laugh, and he quickly reached over to grab the closest potted plant by him before throwing that across the room.
Harry was breathing heavily as he started to spin in a circle, shaking his head and mumbling incoherent words under his breath. He truly had no idea what was overtaking his body nor what was happening to his own mind, but he realized that his eyes were shifting from green to yellow, and his claws were pressing out from his fingers and his sharp, pointy teeth poking out from his gums. He let out another cry when he felt the ache of where his canines and claws were coming out of, but that cry soon turned into a low growl, and he ended up punching another part of the wall.
Okay, now Louis needed to step in.
"Harry," Louis called out right away, letting out a huff when he heard a bone crack in Harry's fist. He sighed as he walked over to Harry, reaching for the hand Harry just punched with before Harry was retracting abruptly.
Harry was back to crying again, returning to his normal human form as he dropped down to his knees. He covered his face with his hands again and just sobbed, sobbed so loudly that it was echoing across the entire dungeon.
"It hurts, Louis," Harry whined, biting down on his bottom lip so hard he felt blood dripping on to his chin. "It hurts so much, and I don't know how to make it stop."
Louis licked his lips and immediately crouched down to Harry's side. He wrapped his arms around Harry and pulled him in tight against his chest. Louis couldn't even begin to imagine how Harry was feeling right now. He never had to go through the transition of being a human to a werewolf all the while trying to deal with the death of a best friend. Louis knew this was the hardest thing Harry ever had to deal with, and if Louis could, he would take all the pain away just for Harry to feel any ounce of normalcy again, but, Louis knew he couldn't. Not yet anyways.
"I hate him. I fucking hate him," Harry then mumbled frantically, his body shaking with more tears and his breaths coming out even more ragged.
Louis rubbed his hands all over Harry's back and frowned when Harry didn't seem to calm down at all. Louis really was trying his best to remain calm for Harry's sake, but at the same time, he knew the alpha in him was ready to come to full force just to get Harry to stop freaking out. Louis really didn't want to have to use that on his boy, for gods sake, they weren't even mated yet. It seemed like such an intimate thing to do with a mate once they were actually bonded, but to use the alpha voice on any other werewolf was just a way to prove the alpha's dominance over them, and Louis really didn't want it to come down to that.
"Harry, baby," Louis tried again, softly, swallowing when Harry's body briefly froze.
It was like in those moments of Harry freezing he came up with his idea. Because within seconds of Harry sitting on his knees, he soon enough brought his hands out in front of him and used all his force to push Louis off of him. Harry let out a growl as he jumped to his feet, ignoring the way Louis fell over the shattered coffee table that Harry threw earlier in favor of sprinting towards the hidden cell in the back of the room.
"Harry," Louis finally growled, widening his eyes when he realized where Harry was heading straight towards. "Fuck," he grumbled, quickly jumping to his feet and running off in the direction Harry just fled to.
Just as Louis suspected, Harry was already in the presence of Nick. His once beautiful, blood shot, green eyes were shifted back into their wolf yellow within mere seconds of being in front of the weakened alpha. His claws and sharp teeth made a return, and Harry's hands were occupied with a silver post stabbing rapidly in various parts of Nick's body. There was a type of fire that was burning deep within Harry's eyes, and it seemed like all the sadness and emotions he had been building up over the past few days was now turned into a sudden fury of rage directly strictly towards Nick. Harry was merciless as he stabbed and stabbed and stabbed, dragging the silver down Nick's body and leaving wide open gashes across his skin. There was blood everywhere from where it was spewing out of Nick, but just as fast as Harry was stabbing, Nick was equally healing. Harry growled every time he caught a big wound healing, so he continued to press that silver post in more areas of Nick's body. Harry even found a bottle of wolfsbane that was off to the side the guards continuously used on Nick to keep him weak. Harry wasted no time in taking the cap off and shoving all that poisonous liquid down Nick's throat and tilting his head backwards so he was forced to swallow it down.
Louis' eyes harden as he continued to watch Harry, letting out an annoyed huff when he noticed Harry pulling back to raise the silver post one last time, having the end point directed straight to Nick's heart. That was when Louis decided to let go and release his alpha, knowing very damn well it was being put to good use to calm Harry the fuck down.
"Harry, put the fucking post down and step away," Louis growled, his eyes flashing red.
Harry's body acted before his mind could even process the tone Louis used on him. He submissively dropped the post on the ground and quickly scattered away from Nick. He let out a small whimper and slowly turned his body in Louis' direction, crossing his legs over one another and pressing his hands behind his back. All the anger and influx of emotions suddenly disappeared in the presence of an alpha's voice, and all that was left of Harry was a scared look on his face and the release of a shaky breath.
Louis let out a sigh when he saw Harry's reaction to his alpha voice, but he knew it was his last resort in getting Harry to finally listen to him. Louis blew some air past his lips as he walked up to Harry, cupping the side of his jaw and slowly tilting his head up so they could look at each other.
"I'm sorry I had to do that, love," Louis whispered under his breath, sounding more calm and more like himself than he did just moments ago. "But I don't want you to kill him, okay?"
Harry blinked and looked at Louis through his wet lashes, furrowing his eyebrows together. "H-he killed Ed, though. He did this to me."
Louis nodded his head and ended up leaning forward so he could press their foreheads together. He finally felt Harry relaxing just a little bit before the boy was nuzzling his nose against Louis' wrist. Louis smiled briefly before he was tilting his lips downwards. "I know, baby, but right now is not the time for you to kill anyone. Your emotions are going crazy, and this is the last thing you need to deal with."
Harry let out a shaky breath and ended up falling against Louis' chest, burying his nose deep into the side of Louis' neck and letting his warm, alpha scent fully calm him down. "I hate him," Harry muttered against the side of his face, wrapping his arms around Louis so he could curl his fist into the back of Louis' shirt. "I hate him so much, Louis."
"I know," Louis sighed, resting his head on top of Harry's. "We'll get rid of him, though, okay? I'll have someone do it for you."
Harry nodded his head weakly against Louis' side and refused to let go of Louis. Harry finally felt himself able to breathe properly and feel relatively like his normal self, and he knew all it took was for Louis' arms and Louis scent to draw him back to his reality. He didn't even protest when he felt Louis' arms snake under his legs so he could be picked up bridal style. He let out a small hum and only pressed himself closer to Louis, hiding his face in Louis' neck and refusing to look anywhere else, even when Louis started to walk them out the room.
When Louis made it back into the hallway, Harry still cradled in his arms, he saw Liam waiting there worriedly. "Take care of Nick, please. Now."
Liam nodded his head obediently and immediately rushed down the stairs. He closed the door behind him and followed Louis' orders while Louis led Harry into the living room. The fire was now lit in the fire place, so he walked over to the couch that was in front of it and sat the both of them down. Harry immediately turned his body around so he could straddle Louis' lap, properly wrapping his arms and legs around Louis' body so that possibly every inche of their bodies were pressed together. Louis let out a small laugh and held on to him tightly, idly rubbing his hands up and down Harry's back.
Anne was soon walking out once the two of them were settled. Since everyone was still celebrating the life of the wolves who passed, they were all busy in the mess hall or were outside. Anne, on the other hand, walked over to the two boys and sat down next to Louis, carefully looking at the way Harry was clinging so desperately to the boy.
"What's going on?" She asked wearily.
Louis let out a soft sigh, pressing his nose deep in to Harry's hair. "Harry's emotions are very heightened right now. It doesn't help that he's a new wolf, went through a complete body change, literally came back from the dead, lost his best friend, and is an unmated. He's more of the omega class ranks of wolves, and so they struggle more in trying to cope with everything without having an alpha mate to ease that pain."
"I thought you two had already mated?"
Louis shook his head. "Nope, not yet. He's just sired to me, which is why he's desperate to use me as comfort, but whenever I do give him the bond mark, he'll be my proper mate. Everything changes when that happens."
Anne furrowed her eyebrows together and relaxed against the cushion next to Louis. She reached over and pressed her fingers into Harry's curls and began playing with his hair to help further calm Harry down, something she used to do whenever Harry was younger. She noticed Harry's body relaxing some more against Louis', and she could hear the leveled out breathing coming from Harry that signified he might be falling asleep.
"How much will it change?" She questioned, "The mate bite?"
"Well, when we're bonded, we can feel each other's emotions. I have the ability to feel his pain, but I also have the ability to take it away. It's really helpful when he goes through his first transition, his first heat, and even any painful experiences, like pregnancy. But, it leaves a clearly defined mark on his skin, more so than the one he has now. That one will fade, but my bond mark will be permanent, and it'll carry my scent with him so every wolf knows he's mated to me. It just - it's dangerous for any wolf to experience some things without a mate, especially their heats. Since he shows since of an omega rank, he'll be more susceptible to attracting stronger, more dominating wolves or alphas. He's just different because he wasn't born a wolf."
Anne let out a thoughtful hum before she was moving her hand over to Louis' shoulder, nervously chewing on her lip before she found the courage to say what she wanted. "Could you maybe - could you give him the bite now?" She wondered wearily, watching as Louis raised his eyebrows at the suggestion. "I mean, he's obviously struggling with everything, and if you could help him - I mean, you said the two of you were going to mate anyways. What's stopping you from doing it now? It might help him adjust better."
Louis felt his cheeks heat up in a warm blush, and he quickly had to look away. Sure Anne knew the general idea of what an alpha mating with their partner meant, but he knew that she didn't know the exact details of what comes with it. For example, she had no idea what had to be ensured to happen when the time came, like, the fact that Louis had knot her son after he bit him to solidify the bond between the two wolves. That was something he knew Anne was clueless about, and he really didn't want to have to inform her about that when her son was laying on top of his lap clinging to every inch of his body.
Louis coughed. "Well, the bonding happens - uh - I mean the bite is usually done when - uh - you know?" Louis attempted to explain, hoping his facial expression of widening his eyes was a good enough explanation for Anne.
"Oh," Anne breathed out, removing her hand from Louis.
"It's just what we have to do to reinforce the bond."
Anne remained quiet after that, not wanting to press any further with what Louis was hinting at. Which, well, Louis wasn't complaining about that either. It was already hard enough he had to imply to Harry's mother that they needed to have sex in order to mate, but any details further than that, Louis really was prepared to give. Instead, they sat there in silence while Anne continued to brush Harry's hair and Louis continued to hold Harry tightly to his body. Louis knew Harry had eventually fallen asleep with the way his body was practical dead weight against him, but he didn't move from his spot once.
The members of the pack started to filter in and out of the living room while Louis and Anne remained in their spots. They were able to sit there for a couple more hours before Robin was coming into the room to take Anne home. Anne left the boys with a kiss to Harry's head and small hug to Louis side before Louis was left in the room alone. It was already starting to get dark outside, and Louis knew the majority of the pack had already hid away for the night in their rooms, so he knew he could continue to sit there with Harry in his lap without having anyone disturb the peace that was around. However soon enough, Harry was finally waking up, cracking his eyes slowly to see Louis fondly looking down at him.
"Hi, baby," Louis greeted with a smile, leaning down to press a kiss to Harry's nose before he was standing up, dragging Harry with him.
Harry tightened his hold around Louis and waited until he was being laid down on Louis' bed to finally speak up. "What happened?" He asked groggily, wiping at the corner of his eyes with the back of his hand.
Louis ended up sitting down on the edge of the bed and reached over to push Harry's hair out of his face. "You had another panic attack I believe. Your emotions keep getting the best of you."
Harry sighed, grabbing on to Louis' hand and resting it on top of his belly. "You think I'll be able to control it soon?"
Louis nibbled on his bottom lip as he shrugged his shoulders. "Most wolves are emotional leading up to their first transition, then afterwards, their hormone levels return to normal," Louis explained quietly, but even then he knew Harry was a special and different case considering he was once a human, and everything Louis knew about werewolves was based on ones who were already born as one. So truthfully, Louis had no idea the extent to Harry's emotions or hormone levels.
"I heard you, you know?" Harry finally fessed, blinking slowly as Louis tilted his head to the side. "You said that if we were bonded that I would be able to handle everything better."
"I think it would, yeah," Louis admitted truthfully, seeing Harry's eyes get just a hint brighter. "We're sired, so your body is naturally wanting to mate me, and it could be the reason why your hormone levels are so out of whack. But that also means your heat is probably coming up stronger and sooner. That also plays a big role in your emotional state."
"Oh, heat," Harry rolled his eyes, laughing nervously.
Louis smiled apologetically. "Yeah, you'll want to be mated before you have a heat. It's a lot more challenging if you're unmated, but it's also more dangerous for any abusive and dominating wolves that are around."
"So let's mate," Harry concluded right away, jumping up to his knees and getting close to Louis, wrapping his arms around Louis' neck and yanking him close. "I want it. Now. Please? I'm ready. Please?"
Louis laughed lightly, rolling his eyes as he pressed his hand at the base of Harry's spine, "Gosh, you're such an omega."
Harry furrowed his brows, letting out an offended scoff even though he wasn't entirely sure what that meant. It didn't sound like a compliment, but at the same time, Louis said it so lovingly that it didn't sound like an insult either. "What's that supposed to mean?" Harry questioned sassily.
Louis rolled his eyes and pressed himself forward so Harry could fall backwards on the bed. He smiled when Harry's legs easily opened as an invitation, and he slotted himself so perfectly in between them before he was laying his chest down on Harry, letting his fingers curl into the side of Harry's head. "It's just a saying," Louis explained. "Most of the time, alpha's mates are called omegas because they act more submissive to the dominant undertone of an alpha. And there the ones who are child bearing and experience the heat."
"Interesting," Harry hummed, idly wrapping his legs around Louis, giggling when Louis leaned down to playfully nibble at his nose.
"It's also a ranking in the werewolf social class," Louis continued once he pulled his face back. "You have omegas, betas, and alphas. Omega is the class that most women and men who breed can fall under, like you. They're also considered omega's because they easily submit to their partners. Beta's are normal wolves. The most human like. Kind of like Perrie and Zayn. They're in the beta rank. And well alphas are alphas. They're dominating and controlling."
Harry suddenly snorted, "So this is BDSM?"
Louis shook his head fast, cupping Harry's face, "No, god no," he said right away, "It's just how a wolf acts whenever they present. And well since omegas are also known as wolves who don't have a pack, they're considered weak and submissive to danger. That's just how the title came to be. It's not a terrible thing - you being my omega."
"I agree," Harry teased, arching his head up so he could briefly press his lips against Louis'. "Truthfully, submitting to you doesn't sound horrible. I'd love for you take care of me. My alpha."
Louis snorted under his breath as he shifted his nose to the side. He ended up burying himself deep into Harry's neck and relinquished in the sweet way he smelled. Louis had noticed that as the days passed since Harry turned, not only were his emotions going all over the place, but so were his hormones. There would be times Louis caught Harry staring too longly at him or twitching in a certain way just from Louis' touch on him. Louis smelled the way Harry's scent changed from a sweet vanilla honey to a spicer version of his smell, and Louis was even more convinced than before that Harry was truly showing early signs of his heat. Simply just breathing Harry in right there ignited the alpha inside of Louis, and he suddenly had a growing desire to mate the boy, and Louis knew this strong desire only surfaced like this whenever an omega-ranked wolf was nearing their mating cycle.
"See, you're truly an omega," Louis teased after a couple seconds of silence, smiling when he heard Harry scoff. He ignored Harry's grunt in protest and continued to smell Harry, letting out a soft hum when he could feel Harry's body turn to goo just from being in his hold. "Fuck, you smell so good."
"So bite me," Harry urged, closing his eyes as his body arched up into Louis'.
Louis let out a small huff and reluctantly pulled his face away from Harry's neck. He knew the longer he kept his nose there to smell Harry's sweet, omega scent, the more the alpha in him would want to mate Harry, and well, it really wasn't a good time. Once Louis was back to hovering over Harry, he suddenly noticed the true shift in the way the boy looked under him. Long gone were Harry's beautiful green irises, they were now replaced with dilated pupils that were showing want and desire all over. Harry's once pale skin was now glistening in a fine layer of sheer sweat, and his bubblegum lips were now bitten red from the numerous amount of times he pressed his teeth into them. Harry's cheeks were flushed as well, a nice pink coat that was a beautiful contrast to his milky-white skin. Louis' breath nearly got caught in his throat from seeing how easily affected Harry got just from Louis scenting him, but he knew whenever any omega was close to their heat, they easily fell into their desires. Louis wasn't the least bit surprised that Harry was on the verge of his first mating cycle, even if he had just turned into a werewolf a few days ago, but with the amount of hormones that were running rampage in Harry's body, he was going to need some sort of release sooner or later.
Louis didn't realize he had drifted off into staring at Harry's emotions until he felt a shaky hand pressing against the side of his face. He quickly shook himself out of his head and glanced down at Harry to see a frown set on his lips.
"You're scared," Harry noted, tilting his head against the pillow, drawing Louis back down to his body. "Why are you scared?" He suddenly asked, sounding more urgent than he did before. "I thought you loved me, do you not?" he then worried, sounding hysterical and not at all like himself.
Louis let out a small laugh and quickly shook his head. He knew that omega's were always in a state of needing reassurance and love from their alpha's, so Louis really should have expected this from Harry, especially considering he was close to his heat. He used to read mating books all the time so he knew what to expect when he finally found his match, and the main thing he gathered from his research was that an alpha's mate was also desperate for their attention - which, that was a good thing because Louis loved devoting every part of his being towards Harry, so this really wasn't a difficult thing for him to deal with.
Louis bent down with a smile on his face as he nuzzled his nose against Harry's. "I do love you, Harry," he easily reassured, seeing Harry visibly relax. Louis snorted at Harry's reaction and slowly pulled back so he could sit his bum on the mattress. He then reached over and grabbed on to Harry's arms so he could pull the boy up against his chest and hold him in his lap. Harry easily went and let himself slump in Louis' hold, arms going around Louis' neck and fingers tangling in the back of Louis' hair.
"I love you a lot, darling," Louis reminded again, seeing Harry's lips quirk up happily. "But to be honest, I'm just nervous for everything. I'm terrified of biting you - I'm terrified of what we have to do when I bond to you."
"You mean having sex?" Harry hummed.
"I mean my knot, Haz" Louis breathed out with a nervous laugh, digging his fingers into the back of Harry's hips. "I'm not going to lie, it's big, and it's probably going to hurt when I knot you, and like - I can't stand the thought of hurting you during something that's supposed to be special and symbolic. I want to do it right."
Harry's features softened when he noticed how genuinely worried Louis looked. He ended up smiling at the boy and moved his hands to the side of Louis' face. "I trust you," Harry reassured, nibbling the inside of his cheek when Louis let out a deep breath through his nose. "And, it'll be worth it, yeah? We can go slow and take all the time we need. We have the rest of our lives together, so there's no need to rush it when it happens. Might as well enjoy it and take our time."
Louis let out a breathy laugh as he moved his hands underneath the back of Harry's shirt, pressing his palm against Harry's spine. "You do sound a bit desperate, love."
"Well, I am desperate," Harry admitted easily. "You turned me. I'm sired to you. You're all I think about constantly, and I just want you to touch me. Gosh, my skin feels like it's on fire, and you know, I swear my ass is wet any time you're near me - which is different, but I'm so horny, and anytime I get a whiff of your scent, I feel like crying."
Louis started giggling and ended up leaning forward to silence Harry's rambling with a kiss to his lips. "Okay, I get it. I know you need to mate with me. I wanted to do it before the next full moon anyways."
Harry's face broke out into the biggest grin, and he shoved his face into the crook of Louis' neck. He could feel Louis laughing by the shake of his body, and despite how many times Louis liked to tease Harry about his omega-like nature, he couldn't help but snuggle himself impossibly closer to Louis so he could get more of the alpha wrapped around his body. Harry couldn't help it, he was desperate for Louis' love and affection.
"Can't wait," Harry breathed out happily, closing his eyes and letting that strong, musky alpha scent from Louis lull him to sleep.
☾
Key Components:
- They have the memorial
- Louis talks about Ed
- Harry has a mental break down at the cabin
- Harry tries to kill Nick when his emotions get too overwhelming
- Louis has Liam kill Nick instead
- Louis calms Harry down
- Anne and Louis talk about Louis mating with Harry to help with his transition
- Louis considers mating with Harry soon before his first heat and wolf transition happen
- Harry wants to mate now
- Harry shows early signs of his heat