A Howl In The Night ✔ » l.s

31

Louis watched as all the soldiers moved according to their commander's orders, jogging around as they lugged these big gray suit cases behind them. It had been probably half an hour since they'd arrived, all they'd done was sit beneath the shade of the tent and watch pensively ahead, and soon, as David had worded it, 'watch the show begin.'

Louis couldn't be more jittery if it were possible. He'd just spoken to Harry over the phone and learned that the boy had decided to sneak out on his own to go to some town—and wouldn't even have told Louis if it weren't for Louis noticing the obvious noise of the streets and cars! Worry immediately took over him, and maybe it was his fault Harry got pissed and basically told him to piss off in the kindest way possible, but he just couldn't help it.

His mind wandered back to that one time he'd lost Harry in the crowd, only to find him cornered by a group Alphas. Louis would do the same thing over again and again just to keep him safe. But that was the thing—Harry didn't want to be watched over like a kid. He knew he could defend himself and Louis knew that too, but it was like he needed to prove himself as a good and deserving boyfriend to Harry every opportunity he got.

Louis was bouncing his leg in anticipation for something, anything, maybe a call or text from Harry, an update from David, heck, even a message from Benedict since he had no idea where the man was. But nothing came, and all he heard was the men yelling orders, marching feet, and Niall chewing chips obnoxiously loud beside him.

There was a particularly hard slap against his knee, causing him to still his leg. He glared at Zayn who was clearly responsible.

"Stop doing that, you're annoying the shit out of me." Zayn grumbled, not tearing his eyes away from the screen of his phone.

"Well, I'm losing my shit. Why is there nothing happening? Why do they even need us here? Why won't Harry answer my calls?" Louis said in exasperation.

He yelped when Zayn harshly smacked the back of his head. "Stop whining."

All Louis could do was glare at Zayn and give him the middle finger before resting his back on his chair and looking out onto the field again. For some reason, their tent was so far away from the forest itself, but David said it was so that they could have a full view of the "show."

"What do you think David is planning? One would think he's going to let the land swallow the entire forest from his dramatics." Liam said, leaning against a tree at the side.

"I don't know what he's planning because he won't fucking tell us." Louis grumbled, "I even wish Benedict was here so that we wouldn't just sit around here! He's an annoying prick, but at least he'll be sending us off to do stuff. Not just to sit here and 'observe'. David's probably mocking us or something."

Niall gave him a sideway glance. "Geez, man. Negativity rolling off of you like a goddamn wave. Chill out."

Louis most definitely would not chill out. Out of annoyance, he snatched Niall's bag of chips and began eating it himself. Niall protested dramatically and tried to get it back, but Louis was quick to shove all its remaining contents into his mouth.

"Douche!" Niall said in annoyance, grabbing the empty plastic bag and shoving it hard into Louis' face.

"Would you two idiots stop acting like overgrown children?" Zayn said, sounding like a tired mother.

The two continued to bicker back and forth until Liam caught their attention, saying, "Guys? Is it just me or do those big suitcases look suspicious?"

They all turned to follow Liam's gaze, landing on another group of men carrying a gray suitcase.

"What's in there?" Niall asked.