A Howl In The Night ✔ » l.s

10

The ointment Harry had given him was halfway empty when the day ended.

They'd just survived an attack from five beasts, and for the first time in his life, Louis felt hopeless. These beasts were relentless and never seemed to run out. He'd garnered a generous amount of wounds during the fight, which was where Harry's ointment gift went into a very well-appreciated use.

It was finally sundown and Louis and his group had made it back to the Fort. The Easton Alphas included Jeremy and Paulo, who were both very skilled fighters, but apparently didn't know how to work with others. Throughout the entire mission, they'd kept to themselves and practically ignored Louis and the others, resulting in too much miscommunications and misunderstandings.

They'd scourged their area as assigned, but there was nothing to be found. Aside from some scraps of clothes and random items they'd found along the way (which they believed belonged to the missing persons) they didn't accomplish anything, aside from nearly getting killed, of course.

They didn't find any nest, either. It had just proved as a fruitless and desperate attempt.

"That was terrible." Niall grumbled tiredly.

The Main Hall was packed with Troopers who'd all arrived from their missions. Everyone looked as unsuccessful and glum as they did.

Commander Roy was sat down on one of the tables, speaking to numerous Troopers. Liam sighed from beside Louis, patting him on the shoulder as he made his way towards Roy, to report about their findings—or lack thereof.

"You guys up for Fight Night? There's one later. Might help get rid of our stress." Zayn said, chugging down a bottle of water.

"Yeah sure," Louis agreed absently, since it had always been something they did around here.

Louis decided to leave the Main Hall and walked outside, planning to sit down on one of the tables and perhaps get something to eat, when a group of people all crowded together around one table caught his eye.

"…much, and then I swear it just left! Harry commanded the monster, I saw it myself!"

Louis' ears pricked up at that, snapping his head to the side so fast he was scared he'd gotten a whiplash. For a moment he thought he might've heard wrong, but then the girl continued speaking, arguing with someone.

"Oh yeah? Then how come he's alive? The beast was literally at his face ready to eat him, and then he raises his hands and it flees!" The girl said in a high-pitched voice. "I'm not making this up! Ask the others, they saw it too!"

Louis was hovering near the table now, eyes widening when he realized that Harry was in fact sitting at that table, surrounded by so many people. He'd only gotten a glimpse of the boy because people were blocking his view immediately.

"What's going on here?" Louis said loudly, straightening his posture as they all turned to look at him. He realized that they all seemed to be trainees.

Some of the kids immediately walked off, giving Louis a better view of Harry, who looked very uncomfortable in his seat.

"Harry, I need to speak with you." Louis said.

The boy excused himself, looking relieved when he had finally escaped the crowd. Louis grabbed his arm and dragged him away from the tables, a frown prominent on his face.

"Haz? What was that?" Louis asked in concern.

Harry looked quite disheveled, from his messy hair and pinkish cheeks. "Well, something kind of happened earlier…"

"What happened? Are you hurt? Who—" Louis immediately jumped in, blood already boiling.

"Chill out!" Harry said in exasperation. "Look, basically we—"