me, him, and the moon ☾ l.s.

nineteen - letting go

Louis crossed his arms over his chest, resting his shoulder against the tree beside him as he scanned the shadowy woods for any signs of movement. "What's taking so long?"

He had left Harry alone in bed, and all he could do was pray that the younger boy didn't wake while he was gone. He would be in big trouble for leaving. Harry hated to sleep alone, especially on nights when his father was actually in the house with him.

Liam huffed, not bothering to hide his irritation with the older boy's impatience. "He'll be here."

"He better," Zayn replied coldly. The dark-haired boy was restlessly pacing the thick treeline, constantly glancing back and forth between the forest and the town behind them.

Liam had a distant family connection with an enemy pack, and he had contacted his cousin for information about Nick. They had arranged a meeting for midnight, but the three boys had been waiting for more than half an hour already, and there was no sign of him. Louis was starting to get antsy.

"Lads!"

All of the boys whirled around at the familiar accent. To their surprise, Niall was running at full speed across the thin plot of land that separated the town walls from the forest, waving his arms like a lunatic to get his friends' attention.

"Christ, Ni, are you trying to wake the whole goddamn town?" Liam hissed. As soon as Niall got close enough, he tugged the Irish boy under the cover of the trees, glaring furiously at him.

"Sorry, sorry." Niall was breathing hard, and he paused for a moment to catch his breath. Then he made eye contact with Louis, and he grinned excitedly. "It's about Harry's dream."

Louis raised his eyebrows, his interests piqued. "Well? What did you find?"

Niall took another deep breath before launching into his explanation. "So, I spent all night in the pack library, and I swear to god, I read every single source that mentions witches. I don't know why we didn't do this years ago, because honestly, Harry isn't even close to living up to his potential. Even as just a half-witch, he could seriously do some damage --"

Louis mentally facepalmed, and he stole a quick glance at the other two boys to gauge their reactions. Normally, he would be threatening to rip Niall's throat out for putting Harry at risk, but he trusted Zayn and Liam with his life. He knew that they would protect Harry's secret.

"Wait, I'm sorry. I'm definitely missing something," Liam interrupted. His eyes flicked between Louis and Niall, clearly trying to figure out which boy he needed to grill for information. "What the fuck is going on?"

Niall paled visibly as he realized his mistake, and he glanced nervously at Louis. "Oh, um, I . . ."

"Nice one, lad." Louis gave him a sarcastic thumbs up, somewhat enjoying watching the Irish boy squirm. "Just go ahead and expose your best friend's biggest secret, why don't you?"

"I, uh . . . fuck, I didn't --"

"Ni, it's fine. Breathe," Louis laughed. "I was planning to talk to Harry about telling the other boys anyway. With everything that's going on, they need to know."

Niall exhaled, relieved, but traces of guilt lingered on his face. "I'm so sorry, Lou. Seriously, I can't believe I just did that. I was just so excited about what I found, and I've spent the past eight hours in the library. It's like a different world in there. Like honestly, I completely forgot that we wolves are supposed to hate witches on principle."

Louis waved his hand dismissively, feeling surprisingly forgiving. "It's over and done with." He turned to the other two, waiting patiently as they processed the information that Niall had spilled.