A Howl In The Night ✔ » l.s

17

The chatter inside the Main Hall only grew louder, numerous Troopers preparing for another night of hunting and scrounging the woods. Louis cleaned his armor with a piece of cloth, back turned to his troop mates as he focused on getting his task finished.

Louis felt a small pinch in his heart that this was one of the final days he'd work as a Trooper. When he made a deal with Benedict to allow Harry into the Fort by risking his own badge, he'd meant it. Until now he planned to keep his word and resign as a Trooper since Roy had deemed Harry unfit of being part of the Fort.

It hurt because this life was all Louis had known—the hunting, the killing, the fighting. But he didn't regret what he'd done. He'd gladly drop everything on any given day if that meant he'd get to be with Harry and protect him. Turning his back on this job was one of those instances.

Right now, he'd much rather be with Harry in their quarters, but the boy obviously needed space. After their little incident by the creek…perhaps Louis wanted space for himself too. So, he was left with no choice but to join the hunt today and ask Niall to look over Harry instead. He didn't trust Niall as much as he trusted himself, but he was the next best thing.

There was a pat on his back, and then Aaron was standing next to him with a sympathetic look. "Hey, how are you holding up? I, uh, heard about Harry."

"Okay? Who hasn't?" Louis snapped, shrugging the man's hand off his shoulder.

"I didn't mean to offend you," Aaron said, "I just wanted to say that you have my support, for fighting for Harry to stay. Just because he's an Omega doesn't mean he can't be an excellent addition at the Fort."

Louis smiled tightly. "Yeah. Well, thanks. But it's a lost cause. Roy is a stubborn bitch."

Aaron snorted. "Tell me something I don't already know."

A horn sounded in the distance, signalling the beginning of the hunt once again. Louis honestly didn't see the point in continuing this, since the strategy obviously wasn't working. Instead of finding nests and ambushing unsuspecting beasts, it happened the other way around. More and more Troopers had been disappearing and getting injured in the last few days, and Roy continued to turn a blind eye.

"Well, I'll go ahead." Aaron said before stalking off towards his group.

Louis sighed, putting his armor on and letting his eyes wander across the field and up the Fort building's windows. Harry was somewhere up there doing who knows what, and Louis honestly wanted nothing more than to throw his weapons aside and run to the Omega. But obviously, that wasn't happening.

Liam and Zayn appeared on either side of him, each patting his back.

"Ready to go?" Liam asked, hanging his weapons belt around his hips.

He gave them an unenthusiastic nod before walking ahead, towards the rest of their troop mates. Before they could get much farther, though, there was a high-pitched scream cutting through the air.

On intinct, Louis drew his sword and swereved around, eyes scanning the field. His gaze eventually fell on the Infirmary house, where several healers were stumbling out of the place with panic-stricken faces.

Louis' feet was dragging him towards the commotion already, barely aware of Zayn and Liam at his heels. A middle-aged healer tripped just as Louis arrived by her side, holding her up to keep her from falling to the ground.

"What happened?" Louis asked the trembling lady.

She looked up at him with wide, terrified eyes. "There are beasts inside the Infirmary!"

"What?"

As if on cue, there was a loud and long howl. The three Alphas dashed towards the Infirmary where other Troopers were already gathering around. There was one beast standing right outside the building, looking uncharacteristically frail and—was it actually terrified?