A Howl In The Night ✔ » l.s

40

When the explosion happened, Harry had squeezed his eyes shut, feeling Louis' warm body close all around him. In spite of the rumbling bangs and loud crashes all around them, all he could hear was Louis' thumping heart, and that alone was enough to calm him down.

Harry gripped hard onto his shirt, unconsciously sobbing in distress. When it was over, Harry could feel his entire body trembling. It was Louis' cold fingers against his skin that made him look up into his worried eyes—beautiful, sapphire eyes that were looking down at him with so much love and care in the world, Harry felt immediately at ease.

It was at times like these that Harry was reminded so much of how lucky he was to have Louis, feeling like the air got sucked out of him everytime. Without Louis—Harry didn't even want to think about what might've happened.

"L-lou, are you okay?" Harry whispered, reaching up to touch his jaw.

Louis didn't seem to hear him. The Alpha looked around them, causing Harry to do the same. The place was a disaster—the very spot where their car had been mere seconds ago was now a pile of charred metal and burning cement. He felt Louis move off of him, immediately crouching down beside him to help him up.

"Are you hurt?" Louis asked instantly, touching around Harry's head and torso.

Harry shook his head belatedly, gripping onto Louis' strong arms as he helped him onto his feet. With shaky limbs, Harry leaned against Louis, who put an arm over his waist to support him.

"What—what happened?" Harry asked shakily, eyes scanning the smoke-filled parking lot.

Louis' hand tightened around his hip. "I think we should get away from here for now."

Harry's ears were still ringing, the vibration of the explosion still trapped in his skull. He licked his chapped lips and threw his arm over Louis' shoulder—and at that point, he wasn't sure who was supporting who anymore.

They sat down on a bench a good distance away from a parking lot just as Harry felt like his legs would give out beneath him. Louis crouched down on the ground in front of him, inspecting his hands and legs as though there were some hidden scars somewhere.

Harry gasped when he saw blood trickling down the side of Louis' face, and right there on his temple, a small piece of metal was lodged in his skin. Harry ripped a piece of his shirt and dabbed gently at it to collect the blood. Louis hissed and bit his lip.

"We need to get you healed, Lou." Harry whispered, kissing his forehead and reaching for his phone.

Louis nodded silently, eyes distant as he stared ahead. It was clear that he was deep in thought, and though Harry was dying to find out what was going on in his head, he knew that rushing Louis wasn't the best thing to do. Especially in times like this.

In the silence, Harry could hear the crackling of the fire in the distance, as well as the howl of the wind rushing past them. Harry helped Louis sit down beside him, frowning when the Alpha just looked down at his lap with furrowed eyebrows.

Harry took his hand and squeezed, waiting for a reaction. None came.

With a quiet sigh, Harry unlocked his phone—all it got was a crack on the screen, but it still worked perfectly—and immediately called an ambulance, although someone might've already called due to the rather obvious explosion. Just as he was about to put the phone away, it began to ring as an incoming call came.

It was an unregistered number, but Harry answered anyway.

"Hello?" Harry said quietly.

"I hope I didn't shake you up too bad, princess."