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The male omega will doom his tribe

The moon was peeking at Louis’ wolf form as he crossed into the Styles pack’s territory. He was able to smell the change in the air immediately. The borders had been marked and remarked by years and years of guards doing their job. His mind was screaming at him.  Terrible idea, terrible idea.  If the three wolves chasing after him didn’t kill him, the Styles probably would. All packs despised rogues who set foot on their land, but the Styles were probably one of the worst packs to piss off. They were a big, prosperous pack who had a history with rogues. Specifically, rogues had killed their Alpha and Luna a few years ago, in the weirdest incident. Every pack, near and far, had heard about it.   
Terrible idea, terrible idea.
He and his Ma had avoided this land before, back when—But he was reaching his limits. If he wanted to make it to his destination before he died of exhaustion, he needed to take the risk. He’d already spent weeks leading the Yorkshire alphas off the roads his Ma might be taking, distracting them and confusing them so they couldn’t guess where he was going. It had seemed like a good plan, at the time. Now he didn’t have the strength to go around the Styles' territory and he was facing danger from two fronts.
Just keep going. You'll make it. Just keep going.
A few minutes after he’d crossed the border, he found himself going up a hill. He hadn’t seen it coming— keep going, just keep going . By the time he realised he’d made a mistake, turning around wasn’t an option. Climbing up took the last out of him. Lungs and legs on fire, he made it to the peak. His body begged him to stop, stop for a second, but he couldn’t find a good place to hide. He could hear the sound of a river flowing nearby. Water. That was good. He could drink some water. He was thirsty. He was exhausted. He was probably going to die. No. He couldn't. Keep going. Just keep going. He followed the sound of water, even if it brought him closer to the Styles’ wolves. He stumbled several times as he trotted down the mountain, afraid his trembling legs would give up and he’d fall to his death. Keep going. Suddenly, his wolf dropped on his side. He lay where he was, trying to catch his breath. His tights were spasming. He tried to, but couldn't stand up again. He ended up turning back into his human form to give his wolf a break and hugged his knees in a fetal position. Soon the darkness of the night crawled its way into the trees around him, making Louis feel small and vulnerable in his naked human form.He had some minutes by himself, lying there with nothing but his thoughts. Different scenarios played in his head, from the most terrible to the silliest ones. What if he couldn’t stand up anymore and he died here? What if the Yorkshire wolves caught up with him? What if the Styles had pity on him and let him go through? He might be able to cross this land and lose the alphas for a while. What if the Styles protected him and ran the Yorkshire wolves off?He scoffed. Protection—that was such a stupid fantasy. But fantasy was all he had left now. He couldn’t die, not after everything his family had done to protect him. But he was so, so fucking exhausted. His mind kept wandering.What if he just—stayed here, in these mountains, where the air smelled lovely? He knew he did not deserve a pack, much less a soulmate.
Bad omen. Bad omega. Evil omega.
But he could live here by himself. He wouldn’t bother anyone. His family wouldn’t have to worry anymore. He would hide in a cave, quietly hunting for rabbits here and there. He wouldn’t hurt anyone. He wouldn’t even make any noise. He wouldn’t be dangerous for anyone.
Bad omen, bad omega, evil omega.
His mind kept wandering, now onto terrible thoughts he didn’t want to think. You deserve this. You've brought nothing but pain everywhere you've been. No. He deserved to live just as much as anyone. He did… didn’t he? He wasn’t evil. He had never hurt anybody, at least not on purpose. He could just keep living a quiet life. He wouldn’t do anything bad, he wouldn’t. His thoughts stopped. The frightening scents got to him in the blink of an eye. He stood up so fast he got dizzy, but he didn’t have time to turn back into his wolf. In a matter of seconds, the three alpha wolves that had chased him for days on end got him cornered. He panicked. This couldn’t be the end, this couldn’t be. He had just lain down for a few minutes. “ Please,” he begged. They didn’t listen. He was tackled down by the first one, who viciously bit his thigh. The second one got his right biceps, tearing skin, going deeper, causing an awful crack . Louis cried out. The third one took his time. Now that Louis was being held by the other two, he circled him calmly until he stepped right in front of his face. His fangs were long, shiny beneath the moonlight. Louis whined, howled, and turned his head around, horrified at the thought that this terrible vision was going to be the last thing he saw before dying.It wasn’t. Instead, he saw the most beautiful wolf he’d seen in his life—he was a huge black alpha who smelled just like this mountain. His majestic hair blurred in the shadows of the night but his green eyes shone brightly, menacingly, along with his fangs. For some reason, Louis didn’t fear him. The corners of his lips went up. What a sight to die to, he thought.The mysterious alpha pounced.Louis heard himself whimper quietly once more before letting himself surrender to the darkness.  He woke up in a dark room. For a moment, he wondered whether hell was real and if he was there. Evil omega. Pain came in waves, though. His whole body ached. His left thigh was pulsating. His right arm felt shattered. He was alive. He tried to stand up and couldn’t. His ankles were stuck. He tried his arms. His right arm was useless in a sling. His left arm was tied to the bed as well as his feet. He was itching—the ties were clearly laced with wolfsbane to prevent him from breaking free. That was the moment he realised he wasn’t safe. He was a prisoner. Had the Yorkshire wolves got him? A confused, scared whimper left his lips.Then nothing.The next time he woke up, it was to the sound of light feet running toward him. He found himself facing a pair of green eyes that seemed familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. It was a little boy. He looked around five or six years old. He jumped onto the bed.“You’re awake,” the boy whispered as he stared at him, his nose almost touching Louis'. Louis blinked slowly. What-what was happening?  “Are you going to kill us all?” the boy whispered again. That question startled Louis. But the boy didn’t sound scared, he sounded— excited? It was such an odd thing for a little boy to say in that tone.“What?” he managed to reply.“You’re a rogue ,” the kid elaborated. “Did you know wolves go nuts after three moons without a pack and then kill everyone? That's a rogue. So, are you here to kill everyone ? Are you going to go nuts ?”“What?” he repeated, his head pounding. Then, when he finally understood the question, “I’m—No!”The kid didn’t seem to believe him. He raised a sceptical eyebrow.“You’re an omega, though,” he said. “I’d never heard of a rogue omega. The elders say that’s the weirdest thing. Harry says you can't be dangerous. Grandma says you lot can be the most dangerous, actually.”Louis tried to blink and make sense of what this little lad was saying, but he honestly couldn’t.“What?”“Are you the most dangerous, actually?” asked the kid, once again excited.“I don’t—think so?”
Oh, but what if you are? Evil omega.
The boy narrowed his eyes. Then he huffed. Then he crossed his arms and scowled. “I don’t believe you,” he said. “I heard you bring dooms. Do you bring dooms? Where do you carry them? What are dooms?”Louis could only stare at the boy with wide eyes, confused and, yeah, a little scared of him, of his endless chatter.“Levi!” a yell interrupted them.“Oh, crap,” said the kid, jumping off the bed and quickly disappearing through the door. His scent, like all other pups’, wasn’t strong. The only thing he left behind were the tip tap sounds of his feet running away.After a few seconds, there was no scent and no sound. Louis wondered if he had hallucinated the whole thing.“Hello,” said a female voice, entering the room. “I see you’re awake now. How do you feel?”Louis opened his mouth to reply, only to realise he wasn’t in any shape to do it. A whimper came out of his mouth. “Oh, you’re still—,” said the voice.Louis eyes were closing down.“Go back to sleep. Your body will take care of it.”Before closing his eyes, the last thing Louis saw was a young woman, looking at him from a distance, arms crossed. Something woke Louis up, but this time he wasn’t startled. He opened his eyes, little by little, blink by blink. His nose woke up as well, and the scent of the mountain reached his core, making him wish he was out there, basking in it. But there was something wrong with it. It was corrupted by blood and pain.“He’s been unconscious all this time, since he dropped,” said a woman’s voice. “I’ve been doing my best, but he’s not completely up yet and it doesn’t seem like he’s getting any better.”Dropped. He had dropped. Fuck. That explained why he felt like he’d been mauled. “Then why is he tied, Sarah?” asked a man’s deep, slow voice.“He’s dangerous,” said the woman, “the Elders and our Luna have said so.”“This is stupid. He’s an omega, for fuck’s sake. Even if he goes crazy right now, what do you think he’ll do? Kill us with kindness?”“He’s a rogue,” she said. “Who Yorkshire thought deserved to be hunted by three alphas, Harry.”“One, omegas don’t just leave their packs by themselves to become rogues. There’s more to it, I’m sure.” said the man. Louis breathed in deeply and identified him as the owner of the alpha scent that reminded him of the mountain. “And two,” the alpha continued. “Yorkshire would send three alphas if they had to kill a mouse. They’re brutes, Sarah.” “I’ll give it to you about Yorkshire. But I can tell you right now he doesn’t have a mating bite or a pack bond that I can sense. There’s nothing.”Louis wanted to intervene, to say something.
I’m not a rogue!
He couldn’t.“Sarah, a rogue omega is unheard of! Omegas only leave their packs to mate into other packs.”“And that’s exactly why you cannot claim to know what he’ll do. If he didn’t leave willingly, he must have been thrown out.”The man sighed impatiently in response. “We don’t know that. We won’t know until his Voice is able to talk with him.”“I won’t sit here and wait for anything terrible to happen.”“We’re surrounded by guards, Sarah. If you so much as whisper for help you’ll get an alpha guard here in five seconds.”“I will not risk it,” she said, firmly. “How can I be sure he won’t kill us all in three seconds?”
Evil omega.

I’m not!
“I’m not,” Louis made his greatest effort to talk, but he wasn’t sure he’d managed to do it.Both the alpha man and the omega woman turned to him. Louis barely paid any attention to her. His eyes zeroed in on the man—a tall, broad shouldered alpha with curly hair and the greenest eyes he’d ever seen. Oh. He’d seen them before. In his dreams? Alpha, he tried to say, but he couldn’t. Alpha, I’m not a bad omega. The woman walked toward him, staying a couple of steps away from his bed.“Hello there, my name’s Sarah.” So I’ve heard, he thought but couldn’t say.“I’m the pack healer. How are you feeling?”He tried shaking his head, but only managed to close his eyes again.“Untie him,” the alpha’s voice said. “Wolfsbane can't be helping with his healing situation at all.” “Harry—” groaned the healer. “I’ll keep an eye on him myself.”“You should be resting as well! Your wounds won’t heal just because you keep pretending they’re not there!”“I’ll be fine. Now, untie him so he can heal faster.”His words echoed in the darkness of Louis’ head.The alpha’s scent and his calm voice lulled him back to sleep.
Alpha’s here.

Alpha's kind.

Alpha’s looking after us.

We’re safe.
 The next time he woke up, he was gasping for air. He’d had a vivid dream. He remembered the fangs of that Yorkshire wolf, shining in the dark, just before they tore his throat out. That hadn’t happened, of course. Still, the nightmare had felt so real that he found himself screaming bloody murder.“Please, please, let me go, please.”He didn’t realise his limbs had been freed until his fist and his sling crashed against a person, a person who held him forcefully, making him scream even louder.“Please, let me go, please! I’ll be good, I’ll be good, I’m not evil, I won't do it, please.”“Calm down,” ordered the alpha, tightening his hold.Louis’ brain short circuited. He had never been one to obey alphas’ orders, but this one went straight to his core and made his body weak.There were a few seconds of silence, while Louis tried to catch his breath. The alpha didn’t move, didn’t loosen his grip on Louis’ shoulders. Louis felt—comforted?“You are okay, you’re safe,” said the alpha. “Calm down. Breathe.” Alpha said to calm down.  
Breathe.

Breathe the mountain air.
Surrounded by the alpha’s scent, his breathing and his heart calmed down little by little. Once he stopped panicking, the alpha let him go and stepped away.The space between them hurt Louis more than the forceful way he’d been held. “Please,” he whispered, eyes lowered and body still.
Alpha.
He didn’t know what he was begging for this time. The alpha didn’t respond. It made him want to cry.He shook his head, trying to get rid of that odd feeling. His left hand, the only one he could move, went to his face and found tears there. He cleaned them up quickly, embarrassed. Then he looked up and finally faced the alpha. It was him, dressed in simple dark trousers, a dark shirt. It was definitely the alpha who had saved him—those green eyes, those dark ringlets, that mountain scent—he was as beautiful as his wolf. Louis’ mouth went agape without his permission. He closed it as soon as he realised what he was doing. He shook his head again."It's okay," the alpha said. Then we went to the bedside table and poured a glass of water. "Here, you need this."Louis drank one glass. And then, when he finished, he drank one more which the alpha served in silence."Thanks," he said."No problem."“I-I-Where am I?” Louis asked, encouraged by the stranger's kidness.“What’s your name?” asked the alpha, his face wary.Louis’ answer depended on a lot of factors, so he didn’t reply.“You first,” he said instead. “Omegas are supposed to answer questions first.”Louis snorted.“Omegas aren’t supposed to do shit when they don’t know what the fuck is happening,” he spat. He covered his mouth with his good hand, regretting his outburst. The longest sentence he’d managed to say, and he was sure he’d offended the alpha. 
There, you’ve done it. Alpha was kind to you and you're a brat. He is going to hate us, just like all other alphas. They hate that you are loud and obnoxious. 
This alpha seemed taken by surprise, but not angry.“You’re in the Styles pack's territory,” he replied. “Oh,” Louis lowered his eyes again, thinking. That made sense. He had crossed their border, after all.He hadn't been caught by the Yorkshire wolves, then. That was a huge relief. “Now. Who are you?” repeated the alpha.
Who was he? 
He looked around. The ties that had bound him before were still attached to the bed. He was free of them, but he wasn't free.“That’s up to you lot, innit?” he replied, staring at them. “A prisoner, I guess?”“That is not for me to decide,” said the alpha. “Now, your name and pack?”“Louis Horlyk,” he said, because if the alpha wasn’t telling him anything useful, Louis wasn’t, either. “And I don’t have a pack,” he confessed.After a tense silence, Louis looked up to find the alpha frowning at him, as if he’d said the wrong thing. 
Bad omega.
Louis could have explained that he’d had a pack. He’d had two, in fact. One he’d had to flee and the other he’d had to give up. But he looked at the disappointed expression on the alpha’s face and had no desire to share the most shameful details of his life with him.
He’ll hate you.

Evil omega.

You only bring pain everywhere you go.
“And you? Who are you?” Louis asked then, after the silence became too much for him.“My name's Harry Styles,” the alpha said.“Oh. Fuck.” He knew then that in front of him stood the future pack Alpha of the Styles Pack, one of the worst people to antagonise. Every pack near and far knew his story. He was being prepared to assume the leadership of the pack while his grandmother acted as Luna and Regent, a position she’d held since Harry’s parents’ death at the hands of those rogue alphas. Rogue alphas. Rogues. Just like he was in this territory. He clenched his good fist at the realisation.
Apologise.
Apologise for what, though? For his whole existence? Styles didn’t seem in need of apologies. His eyes were fixed on Louis’ arm. His nostrils flared. “You’re bleeding,” he stated calmly.“Shit, sorry,” said Louis, covering his broken arm with his good hand.The alpha raised an eyebrow at him."Sorry?" he asked, confused. Then he turned to the door and yelled, "Sarah!”The female omega Louis had seen before appeared in the hallway. “What’s going on?” she asked, hesitating at the door.“Louis is completely awake now,” he said. “And his arm is bleeding.”Completely awake was a nice way to say he was completely up from his drop. Very polite. Louis was thankful for it.The female omega stayed in her place.“Harry, is it actually safe?” she asked.The alpha nodded, firmly. That seemed to give her the courage to walk to Louis’ side."How are you feeling, after dropping?"Louis tensed. Of course he wouldn't be able to keep his dignity."I'm fine," he sighed."Had you ever had such a long drop before?"Louis nodded."All the time."She pursed her lips."All the time? How often do you drop?"He shrugged. She stood next to him and took a look at his wounds, still not touching him.“The drop should have helped you heal, though. And it didn't,” she said. “It’s been two days. Your arm shouldn’t still be bleeding.”Louis frowned. Two days, already? The drop had messed with his head. He only had vague memories since the mountain. But if it had been two days, she was right. His superficial wounds should have healed by now. His broken arm should be on his way to fusing.“Why—why am I not healing?” he dared to ask. 
Weak omega.

You're useless.
“Are you nearing your heat?” asked the healer. “Sometimes heats can take up energy that our bodies could use for healing,” she explained.Louis glanced at the alpha in the room, embarrassed. He’d never answered such personal questions in front of an alpha before. Said alpha turned his head toward the wall, pretending he wasn’t there. Louis swallowed his pride to reply.“No. I drink a potion every three months,” he said. “I only get a heat once a year. In February.”It was June. The possibilities of his heat being the thing interfering with his healing were minimal. “Any other condition I should be aware of?”He shook his head.“Have you ever healed from a wound caused by an alpha before?” she asked then.Louis tensed, remembering his step-father’s hands on his shoulders when he was sixteen, shaking him, hating him for what he was bringing to his family. Bad omen, bad omega, evil omega. You only bring pain.That was nothing compared to the way the alphas had bit him and clawed at him. He shivered.“Not like this,” he replied, mouth dry.“Then we must assume this is your normal healing time, given the circumstances, what with you not having the strength of a pack bond or a mate. You should be in better shape soon.”He flinched at her words. She hadn’t called him a rogue to his face, but she had implied it. He wasn’t a rogue, though. Rogues went crazy after months of loneliness. He’d only been on his own for a few weeks. He had time.Unless omegas took less time to go completely rogue.Or maybe just him. Bad omen. Weak omega.
No. 
He shook his head.“Let me clean this up,” said the healer“Thank you,” Louis replied, subdued.She smiled at him tenuously.The future pack Alpha stayed by their side. His eyes never left Louis’ trembling body. It felt weird. On the one hand, Louis' stupid omega was relishing the attention. But on the other, he knew the alpha was there only to make sure Louis wouldn’t hurt his pack healer. He knew that if he made a wrong move, the angry alpha could rip his throat out in seconds. He was very careful not to make that wrong move. Sarah reached out to the side table for cleaning supplies and finally touched him. She carefully moved the short sleeve of the hospital gown out of the way and removed the sling. Then she removed the bloody bandage from his broken arm and stared cleaning. Louis bit his lower lip to stop himself from reacting to the painful labour.“Harry, can you hold this for a sec?”The alpha approached and held Louis’ clean bandage while the healer worked on the hooks to secure the wrap. Louis’ arm felt warm. His face felt warm too, but he decided to pretend nothing was wrong.“Here, thanks,” said Sarah.Harry let go. Louis' arm stopped being warm. His face didn’t.“All done,” said Sarah, after a new bandage was tight around his arm and the sling was in place. “Now it’s your turn, Harry.”The future pack Alpha crossed his arms. It wasn’t until then that Louis paid more attention and realised he had bandages peeking from beneath his shirt.“All’s healed,” the alpha said.“I can smell your chest is not,” she said. “Not completely.”“Let’s go, then,” the alpha sighed and gestured for the omega healer to leave the room before him. He followed her.“Zayn!” he called on his own way out.An alpha dressed in a black cardigan and black trousers appeared at the door, walking slow, deliberate steps. He didn’t look happy to be there, if one were to judge by the way his brown eyes looked at Louis with distrust. “Take care of him, please,” said the Styles’ future alpha.“Yes, sir,” said the other alpha, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.“Goodbye, Louis,” the Styles alpha said, before leaving the room in fast strides, following a quiet Sarah.“Goodbye,” Louis replied. The alpha didn’t look back. Louis' heart felt heavy as he watched him go. 
Alpha’s gone. He doesn’t want us. 
Louis' body tensed. What a stupid thought to have at a moment like this. He shook his head again.Zayn stared at him for a few seconds, quietly. Then he approached the bed and tied one of Louis’ ankles to it again. Louis sighed, but didn’t complain. He rearranged his body in the most comfortable position he could find, closed his eyes, and let darkness take over. The next time Louis woke up, he felt better. Yes, his ankle was still tied to the bed and it itched, but he felt—lighter. His mind was clearer. With his eyes still closed, he pressed his nose against his broken arm and inhaled a hint of mountain air.The mountain. He opened his eyes.
We needed to go. We needed to escape. Keep going.
He’d wasted too much time. He tried to stand up. His ankle stopped him. He blinked a couple of times, trying to get his bearings. The room wasn’t as dark as before. He was now able to see the wooden walls that surrounded him. There was light coming from the open window. A window. A way out. But wait a second. A pair of green eyes were peeping at him from behind the curtain. He shook his head, confused. A child jumped from the windowsill onto a gray settee that was placed against the wall.“Heey,” the boy whispered, faking casualness.“Hey,” he replied.Oh, well. He hadn’t dreamt of this kid, then. He was real. He looked like a tiny Harry: black curls, green eyes. A mischievous smile with dimples he could imagine on the alpha's face, despite never having seen him smile. “Zayn’s guarding the hallway and I’m not allowed in here cause you’re dangerous,” the boy explained. “So I had to climb the wall and wait out there until you woke up and it was boring.”Louis scoffed. “I’m sure you had to, little lad,” he replied with humour.“Shhh!” the boy said, his head turning toward the door with wide eyes. Louis glanced at the door as well, but it remained closed.“Okay,” said Levi after nothing happened. “So, can you speak more now?” he asked. “What’s your name? My name’s Levi. They said your name was Louis or that bitch, depending on who I asked.”Louis held back laughter, covering his mouth with his hand. “Did they really say that?” he asked instead.“Yes,” replied the kid, in a matter-of-fact tone. “So what’s your name really?”“I’m Louis,” he said. Or that bitch, I suppose , he thought. Evil omega. Levi took his answer in stride.“Okay. Are you here to doom us?” he asked then.“Excuse me?”“I heard you doom. They said so. What does doom mean?”“Who are they and why are they talking so much about me?”“People.” Levi said, avoiding his eyes. “They’re discussing lots of things because of the trial.” “The trial?” he asked, his body tensing. He didn’t get a concrete answer, though. Levi simply nodded.“Yeah, the trial,” he said, dismissive. “Is it true that you fought with three alphas?”Louis clenched his good fist, memories of the moment flashing before his eyes. “Yeah,” he said, breathless.Levi’s eyes filled with glee.“Cool. Did you fight against all of them? Or did you have to wait for Harry to save you? The elders and Grandma are pissed ‘cause they say you almost killed Harry. Did you fight Harry too?”The door opened just as the boy was shooting question after question.“Levi,” interrupted Zayn from the doorway. “I thought I heard you. You cannot be here.”The boy rolled his eyes and jumped back to the windowsill, from which he promptly jumped out of the room, without a word.Louis felt tempted to ask who this boy was (Harry's son?) and why he was so obsessed with him (people around him kept talking about the rogue omega and he was curious?). He wouldn’t ask Zayn, though. The alpha’s lips were pursed, and he was looking at him as if he was the worst thing to ever happen to this pack.Louis tried to make himself small in the bed. He understood the look in those eyes now and he felt guiltier. No wonder everyone in this pack seemed to hate him—not only did they see him as a rogue, but they also held him responsible for the way their future pack Alpha had been almost killed. He whined in distress. A headache started at the back of his head.  The rest of the day was like torture for the omega. He kept wondering whether the future pack Alpha was more severely wounded than he was aware of. 
What if Alpha dies?
Zayn entered the room to find him alternating between combing his fringe with his fingers and biting his nails. The alpha didn’t say anything, just raised an eyebrow and approached him. “Here,” he said, offering some fruit in a bowl. Louis hadn’t eaten since he’d been here. To be fair, he hadn’t been awake most of that time, but still. He looked at the bowl. Are you going to eat while our alpha, no, the future Styles’ Alpha might be dying?  Louis’ stomach hurled at the thought. “No thanks,” he said, probably with more disgust than he meant to. The alpha didn’t take it well.“Not up to your standards?”Louis knew his body was weak and not recovering fast enough and that he should be replenishing his energy if he wanted to keep on his way. But the sole smell of strawberries made him want to gauge his eyes out.“I’m not hungry.”The alpha stared him down."Eat."Louis didn't like it when alphas ordered him around.“No,” he replied, stubbornly.“Okay, let me just go tell Harry—”Louis panicked.
No, don’t tell Alpha we’re bad.
"No."He took the bowl and placed it on his lap. He stopped breathing and put a strawberry in his mouth. Then he forced himself to chew. Then to swallow. Zayn observed him, arms crossed, standing still by the side of the bed. Put in mouth, chew, swallow, rinse and repeat. But what if his alpha was dying and he was here, eating like nothing was wrong? Louis got nauseous.Put in mouth, chew… and he didn’t get to swallow because his body decided food was bad. And he was evil for eating when Alpha might be dying.He threw up. Zayn’s eyes widened as he saw him rolling on his side to try to spare the bed. He almost fell off it, in fact, and only his tied ankle saved him. The alpha ended up holding Louis’ head and helping him. Once Louis stopped gagging, he whined.“Well. Shit,” the alpha said.It turned out he wasn’t such a mean alpha, after all. His usually distrustful eyes filled with compassion as he got Louis a glass of water for him to rinse.“Thanks,” Louis responded in a raspy voice.The alpha nodded. Out of the blue, he turned his hand into a paw. Louis jumped in his place. But Zayn didn’t hurt him. He just cut the rope he’d put around his ankle.“Thanks,” Louis repeated.Zayn nodded again.That made him feel a little bit better. The alpha left the room and came back with a bucket. Louis watched him clean, in awe.An alpha cleaning. He'd only seen the Horan alphas do such a thing."Come," the alpha said. "Let's clean you up."Zayn helped him to the lavatory. Louis washed his face and cleaned his teeth and felt fresher, if not better. Zayn even helped him into a new gown. By the time they finished, Louis was fighting against his eyelids, which refused to stay up.“Sleep might do you good,” the alpha said, guiding him back to the bed.Louis didn’t want to sleep. He wanted to see Harry. He wanted to make sure the alpha was okay, eating well, drinking well, not dying. But getting sick all over himself had been too much effort for his body. He closed his eyes for one second. Only one second.He spent the rest of the day in between unconsciousness and panic. He nodded off, then woke up and panicked about Harry.Zayn didn’t offer any more food for the rest of the day and Louis was able to keep the nausea at bay.It was already late in the evening when he caught a whiff of the future pack Alpha’s scent. Mountains. Freedom. Happiness. But it was far away and Louis couldn’t tell if the alpha was on the verge of dying or not.  Alpha, he called.He stood up. His legs couldn’t hold him very well, so he held onto the bed and made his way toward the door. The bed ended and there was still a long way to go. But he had to make it.“Alpha,” he whispered, even though he wanted to howl it.He kneeled on the floor and started crawling, little by little. Almost there. 
Alpha.
“—can’t even hold his food,” said Zayn’s voice, right outside the door.“That’s not good at all,” said Sarah, the healer.“What did you give him?”“Strawberries.”“That’s not even enough, he needs protein,” said Harry.“Let me see—”The door opened.Harry was here.Harry was here.
Harry was here.
“Fuck, are you okay? Did you fall?”The alpha rushed to his side and helped him stand up and go back to bed.
Alpha is here.
“Louis?”He breathed in his scent, eagerly.He didn’t smell like he was dying. In fact, the smell of blood on him was less potent than last time. Louis breathed in deeply to make extra sure of it. Harry was strong and healthy. Strong, strong alpha will protect us. The omega sighed in relief, a tiny smile painted his face.“Louis?” called Sarah.“Yeah?” he replied, distractedly.Harry’s scent was in the room. Everything was fine. Louis didn’t want to escape anymore. He wanted to stay here, right here where he was safe. His eyes were fixed on Harry’s face. The alpha met his eyes for a second. Louis shied away, staring at his lap instead.“Zayn was just telling us you’re not eating at the moment,” said Harry.Oh, that. He could eat. He certainly could eat again.“Couldn’t,” he said by way of explanation.“It’s okay. Your body might not be ready for solid food. We’ll try something else tomorrow,” said Sarah."Okay," he said.He looked up again and scanned Harry’s body. He noticed a scratch on his neck, still unhealed. He heaved.“It’s okay, Louis, we won’t make you eat anything right now. Let me see that arm instead.”No food. Okay. He deserved that. Alpha was hurt because of him. Bad omen, bad omega, evil omega. Was that the reason why alpha didn’t want him, didn't claim him? Because he could sense he was evil? It must be. It must be. Sarah got him off the sling and peeked beneath the bandages. She poked at his skin. The pain took his attention away from Harry and back to the healer.“Your arm feels much better,” she said. Then she looked at his legs beneath the hospital gown. Her lips pursed.“But your thigh doesn’t look so good,” she added. There was some silence. Louis looked up to realise Harry and Sarah were exchanging glances."What?" he asked with a frown.“Louis, I need to ask something that can help me make a better assessment of your health,” she explained.“Okay?” he replied.“How long have you been on your own?”Oh. That. “Weeks,” he said, honestly.“Are you quite sure? Weeks? Not months?”“No.” She didn’t seem to believe it.“How many weeks, exactly?”Louis looked at her dead in the eyes.“Didn’t have a chance to write a journal,” Louis replied. “But not even a full moon cycle. And I don’t feel like I’m going crazy, if that’s what you’re asking.”“Your body is not healing at a normal rate. I was just wondering,” said Sarah.No. Even if deep inside he feared it might be possible, he knew he had lots of time before he went crazy. Three full moons, they said, would a wolf stay sane without a pack. Not even a full cycle had ended since he’d left the Horan pack. Perhaps there was another reason why he wasn’t healing. 
Evil omega.
Perhaps it was some sort of punishment. “Louis,” called Harry.Louis’ head snapped up. “You must try to eat something tomorrow. To get better.”
Yes. Eat tomorrow. Tomorrow. Eat. 
Louis nodded enthusiastically. Harry smiled at him.Zayn entered the room with a water jug.“Here, it's full again,” he said. “At least drink something.”Louis frowned and looked at Harry. Was alpha okay with him drinking water?“And do you expect him to pour a glass himself or what?” said Harry to Zayn, elbowing his ribs.Zayn rolled his eyes while snorting and passed the jug to Harry. Alpha poured a glass for Louis and put it in his good hand. Louis drank enthusiastically. 
Perhaps alpha doesn’t hate us, despite everything? Perhaps alpha wants us to be well?
“Okay, let’s leave Louis alone,” said Sarah. “Sleep will be good for him, I'm sure.”“Goodbye, Louis,” said Harry.Alpha left the room. Louis kept holding onto the glass for a long time. He slept fitfully. He woke up several times at night, after nightmares of the alphas in the mountain, attacking him, killing him. When he wasn't having nightmares, he dreamt of his pack, his first pack and his second pack. He also dreamt of his alpha, a dark shadow who stayed away from him, fearing him, because he was evil. Early the next morning, the window opened once again and little Levi jumped onto the settee. Then he jumped to the floor. Then he jumped onto the bed. “Hi,” he said.“Hi, Levi,” said Louis, rubbing his eyes, still sleepy.The boy smiled.“You remember my name.”“Of course I do,” Louis said. “You’re kind of unforgettable.”Levi’s smile got wider as he stretched his body next to Louis’. “Do you have a Luna in your pack?” the pup asked. “I don’t have a pack,” replied Louis.“No, but you have to have a pack,” he insisted. “So, does it have a Luna?”Louis supposed the concept of a packless omega was too much for a little kid to grasp completely. Even the adults around him were flabbergasted. He sighed and decided to walk the path of least resistance. He told Levi about the pack he’d left behind. The pack he’d got to consider his for years. It was more his pack than his birth pack would ever be, in any case.“Yes, there is a Luna,” he whispered, caressing Levi’s curls out of instinct. “She’s my best friend’s mother,” he said. “And the pack Alpha is her mate.”“Obviously,” Levi snorted. “And does she do good soulmate readings when a baby is born?” he asked. Louis’ eyebrows rose.“Aren’t you too young to be interested in soulmate prophecies?”Levi scoffed.“No, I’m six and a half,” he said. “What’s your soulmate prophecy?” he asked in the same breath.Louis tried to give him a smile, but he probably just managed a grimace. “I don’t have one,” he said.“No. Everyone’s got one.”Not males in Yorkshire. Not until they presented as alphas or betas. Because if they presented as omegas, they wouldn’t be needing a soulmate prophecy. They would be needing 'cleansing'. But Louis couldn’t tell that to a pup.“What’s yours, then?” he decided to ask instead.The corners of Levi’s lips went down.“Grandma won’t tell me,” he said. “She says soulmates don’t matter for future pack Alphas, ‘cause pack is more important than soulmates. She says I’ll be an alpha and I’ll have an omega and my omega will be Luna and that’s that,” he explained, as if that was something he’d learned by heart. “Does she?” he asked, uncomfortable. It didn’t sit well with him, the idea of a little child believing he was supposed to grow up to be a specific gender. It had happened to him. And look at the mess he’d caused when he finally presented.Louis' hand stopped stroking Levi’s hair. The pup whined and rubbed his head against his hand. So, Louis continued while he thought of something to say.“Well, you know what? Don’t worry about that yet. Your father will be your pack Alpha next. You won’t be pack Alpha for a long time.”Levi buffed.“My parents are dead, silly,” he said.Louis blinked. “Harry isn’t your father?”That made Levi scowl.“Harry’s my cousin,” he said, in a duh tone. Louis felt really stupid. Levi and Harry looked so much alike… He’d thought… but obviously Harry was quite young and... Oh, now he remembered. Apart from Harry’s parents, other important members of the Styles pack had died, attacked by rogue alphas. Levi was six now. Was it possible that his parents were among those who had died? But that’d mean he'd became an orphan when he was just a baby. Louis' heart ached for him.“I'm sorry,” he said, unable to come up with words to console the little boy.He got interrupted.“Anyway," said the pup, dismissing his concern. "Grandma says I’ll have to step up as pack Alpha if he doesn’t prove himself,” he said. “Louis, how do you prove yourself?”Louis had no idea, actually.“That’s a great question, Levi. I guess by doing your best.”Levi nodded.“I hope Harry does his best. I want to have a soulmate,” the boy said, too sorrowful for someone so young. “Do you think your pack Luna could tell me my prophecy?”Louis hugged him tight. He didn’t have the heart to tell him the truth—soulmate prophecies were read at birth by the pack Luna. It was them and only them who could share them. Or hide them. Louis' had been hidden. And Levi was in the same boat, apparently.“I can ask her when I see her again,” he decided to say.“Okay,” said the child.Louis opened his mouth, but didn’t get to speak. The door opened and Harry himself stood there, frowning at them.“Levi,” the alpha groaned.“Harry,” the boy groaned back, plastering his body against Louis’.“You know what Grandma thinks of you being here.”“We were just talking,” said Louis, trying to help."Levi."Levi sighed and jumped out of bed.“Okay, bye Louis,” he said to him.Harry didn’t even look at the omega. He waited for Levi to leave the room and closed the door quickly. He didn’t say Goodbye, Louis.  He just left.Why did Louis’ chest feel so tight about something so stupid?  Zayn came back later that morning. He brought some food for him to try, as promised. There were a bunch of small portions on a tray—sliced carrots, sliced cucumber, baked beans, cheese, some rabbit meat, some avocado and a handful of cashews. There was also tea, milk, juice and plain water. "Woah," he said.“Eat whatever you can,” he said. “But do try to eat or Harry will start whining. I’ll be right back.”Louis moved the cucumber, beans and avocado away, to the farthest end of the tray, with a wrinkled nose.Suddenly, something stopped him.
You must try to eat something tomorrow.

Try to eat or Harry will start whining.
He shook his head.I need to eat to be strong enough to run away, he thought.No. You need to eat to be good, to do as alpha told us, he thought as well.These feelings and thoughts were confusing, so fucking confusing. They didn’t allow him to focus on what should be his goal—escaping, reaching his Ma at their agreed destination. 
But alpha is here, we need to stay here. He will claim us.
Louis shook his head. He was doing that constantly now.What was he even thinking ? He had no alpha. No alpha, no soulmate. Not now, not ever. He didn’t deserve one because he was a bad omega. Bad omen, bad omega, evil omega . 
Alpha said you had to eat.
His hand took a fork. It was tricky, using his left hand, but he managed. He ate a little bit of rabbit. He munched on a cashew. He ate the carrots. And finally, he tried the cheese. And loved it. It tasted so different from the ones he'd had before, with his birth pack and with his old pack. He ate it all and wished for more. He stared at the cucumber slices, the beans, and the pieces of avocado, frowning. Suddenly, that heavenly scent reached his nose.Alpha.He was at the door.“Hey, Louis. Sorry about earlier. Levi is... Anyway. Oh, you must try the avocado, it’s so tasty this time of year.”He'd never heard Harry speak so much. He seemed excited., and like Levi, he babbled. But his words had a different cadence. They were slower, steadier. Louis smiled at him.Before he realised what he was doing, he was trying the avocado. His fork was holding it. And carrying it to his mouth. And he was opening his mouth to try the vile thing. He regretted it at once, and tried to wash the taste away with water. It tasted just like the ones he'd had before. He hated it just the same.But he had tried it. He'd been good. No. He hadn't done it because Harry had said so. He'd done it because he needed strength to run away. He shook his head.“Oh, you didn’t like it?” asked the alpha, disappointed.
You have disappointed him. Bad omega.
“I’m sorry,” he said.“It’s okay,” said Harry. “Why don’t—?”“Harry,” called a voice from the door. “What is the meaning of this?”“Grandma,” said Harry.The change in his mood was evident. His shoulders went down, his frown came back. Louis turned to the door, angry at whoever was there who was robbing Harry of the excitement he'd shown just moments before.It was an elderly woman, short, lean, with gray hair. He was petite but her presence felt immense. Her words were sharp.“Come with me,” the woman ordered.Harry followed her. He didn't look back. The door closed behind them, but Louis could hear them, whispering at first, then louder and louder.“You must stop this nonsense,” she said. “He should be in jail, just like the other three, not here, being coddled by you of all people.”“Grandma, I told you, he’s too weak. And he’s just an omega, I—” said Harry. “Think with your other head, Harry,” said the woman, harshly. “Just because he’s a pretty omega, it doesn’t mean he’s not dangerous.”“He’s not a rogue yet—” said Harry.“Do you really think that’s the problem?” she asked. “Our pack could deal with a rogue alpha in the blink of an eye. Do you know what we cannot deal with as easily? Yorkshire’s anger.”Harry was quiet for a few seconds.“What do you mean?”“I mean that, as usual, you’re missing the point completely,” she said, in an icy tone. “The news has spread. We’ve got official mail from quite a few neighbouring packs.” “What about?” asked Harry.“Oh, everyone is very interested in the fact that Yorkshire want that omega dead. They’re wondering what those brutes might do to us now that he’s here. The Cadogan are especially interested, those cowards.”“Do you think Yorkshire will come find him?”“I know so. Our friends have sent word to us. A messenger from Yorkshire should be here any day now. Apparently, they’re being diplomatic. At first.”“Shit.”“Ah, you’re finally getting it.”“But, Grandma—what—what do you suggest that we do, just hand Louis over to Yorkshire?”Louis felt a knife going through his heart. He held his breath.“No, of course we won’t just hand the omega over,” the woman said, and Louis breathed again. “And we won’t do so because of a simple fact: three of their alphas entered our territory and injured my grandson. If we don’t hold our ground and proceed as we’d do with wolves from any other pack, Yorkshire will smell our fear all the way to their territory.”“But we do fear them, you've said before, that we should fear them,” said Harry, matter-of-fact.“We shall not show them that!” shrieked the woman. “We’ll proceed as usual. The omega and the alphas will go to trial. We won’t look weak in front of that messenger. Do you know what Yorkshire would do to us if we simply did what they want?""But we'll end up doing what they want?" asked Harry, sharply."They would fall upon us like birds of prey," the woman went on, avoiding Harry's question. "I won’t have our wolves fighting a war against those brutes if I have to die first.”“Please don’t say that, Grandma,” said Harry, his voice sad."Say what? That I'm going to die? You know I'm going to die.""But not soon. We still need you, Levi's so little--" “Precisely," the woman said. "Think about that. I need you to keep focused on your pack, Harry. We'll need to be clever if we want to make the best of this situation."“What do you mean by that?" he asked."You don't need to know that."Harry kept quiet."What happens after the messenger? Will Yorkshire attack us?”“Maybe. I’ll have our wolves prepare for the worst, in any case.""And then? What else can we do?""We bluff," she said. "We prepare. We dig. There's a reason Yorkshire is sending a messenger and not a battalion. That’s good. I just need to find it out why.”"Perhaps they fear us? Our pack is big and strong."She scoffed."You're useless, sometimes. You see, but you don't think.""I'm sorry," the alpha replied, immediately."As you should."“Grandma," said Harry. "What—what will happen to Louis?”The woman huffed.“That damned omega should be the least of your worries,” he spat. “Didn't I just tell you to focus on your pack? We wouldn’t be in this mess if it were not for him. And you! You have him here, relaxing in our own house—”“He’s too weak,” he repeated. “He gets ill whenever we tie him with laced ropes for too long. He wouldn’t survive a wolfsbane cell--”Louis heard an impatient groan. “Then take him somewhere else!”“I’ll do it, when he’s better.”There was a long silence. Then steps. The voices faded as they walked away.“You’re so stubborn, you never listen to me,” said the woman.“Gran—”“I’m your Luna,” she said. “And you act like you’re the Alpha of this pack, but you’re not. You’re not ready. And this is exactly why you’re not.”“Gran—”“The danger you’re putting us all in because of your stupidity is simply—We can't wait anymore—The trial shall start soon.”The voices were now inaudible.Louis was left inside his room, heart beating fast, hands sweating. He didn't understand a lot of what was said, but he got the gist of it. Yorkshire already knew where he was. He was in danger. Everyone here was in danger.
Harry’s in danger too.

Evil omega.
He needed to run away. And he needed to do it soon. If only his stupid body would cooperate.He put the tray aside and started to think, to plan. A few hours passed in the room without any news. Louis was on edge, after the conversation he’d overheard. He dissected it, over and over—the news has spread, handing him over, Yorkshire sending a messenger.A war, over him?  Evil omega.  
You only bring pain.
He was convinced he needed to get out of here no matter what. And soon. The big problem was his body. His arm was still in recovery, his tights still wouldn’t hold him for long periods of time. Walking to the bathroom got him breathless. And his stupid, stupid omega was having near hysterical thoughts about their non-existent alpha.
Alpha, alpha. Alpha must be angry at us. We’re putting his pack in danger.

Shut the fuck up. Let me think.
Zayn brought him a snack—crackers and cheese and a banana. Louis’ morning brightened a little bit. He’d loved that fucking cheese. He was slowly eating, looking forward to the banana when he heard the light steps with which he’d already become familiar, side by side with the slower, heavier steps of an adult. Sure enough, soon he heard Levi’s high voice speaking as fast as usual.“And is Grandma giving her a birth reading? Is she going to have a soulmate? Diana says I don’t have a soulmate cause I’m insufferable. I told her she’s stupid.”“You shouldn’t call her stupid. When you grow older and she’s a big, bad alpha, she’ll give you trouble,” said a female voice Louis hadn’t heard before.The boy gasped dramatically.“I’ll be a bigger alpha!” he replied, indignant.“You keep telling yourself that,” she scoffed. Louis couldn’t help but smile mid bite. He could complain about a bunch of things right now, but never that he lacked entertainment or distractions while his body was stuck here. Levi entered the room without missing a beat and jumped on the bed, right next to Louis. “Hi, Louis. Uh, banana,” he said, immediately grabbing it from the tray. “Be my guest,” sighed Louis, smile still in place as he watched the little boy peeling the fruit.“Hello, Louis,” said the woman at last. She stayed by the door, politely waiting for permission to enter, unlike the little child.“Hello,” Louis said, careful and curious. "Come in."Now that she was closer, he was able to smell–and see–that she was a heavily pregnant omega, dressed in elegant pants and blouse, a necklace hanging over it. “I can see you’re no longer tied to the bed,” she said. “Doctor’s orders?”She was incredibly impassive, for an omega at her most vulnerable facing an alleged rogue wolf.“He’s too weak and can’t be tied for too long,” replied Levi, mouth full of banana mush.“Don’t speak with your mouth full,” said the omega.“Swallow that, lad,” said Louis at the same time, caressing his back.The two omegas’ eyes finally met and they exchanged a complicit smile. “My name’s Aurora,” said the omega. “I’m going to be your Voice at the trial.”Louis dropped his hand, his heart beating faster. The trial. He kept hearing about that.“Uhm. What trial?” he asked.“Oh,” she said. “I reckoned someone else would have informed you. Silly me, It’s me who must inform you. I apologise. My pregnancy brain has been hard on me lately.”“Are you close to your due date?” he dared to ask. Her belly was huge.“A bit,” she said vaguely, as she walked into the room and sat on the settee gingerly.“It’s a girl. Grandma is going to do her soulmate reading,” Levi whispered, still munching on the banana. "Or maybe Shawn, I guess?"Louis smiled again at the little oversharing gossip.“Congratulations,” he said to the omega.“Thank you,” she said. Then she turned to the boy, “Levi?” “Uh?” he asked, unaware of the sudden seriousness in the room.“Can you leave us alone?”The kid groaned, but took the rest of his banana with him and jumped from the bed to the settee and then toward the windowsill.“No spying,” she said.Levi turned his head to them, made a point of rolling his eyes, and jumped out of the window. Soon, his little feet were heard running away. Louis found out that he felt… less protected without Levi there. That was weird. He was alone with a pregnant omega, not with a predator. He shook his head.“So—what’s this thing about a trial?”“Well, now—Louis, you’re going on trial so that the pack Elders and our Regnant Luna can decide what to do with you. I’m here to listen to your story. And then I’ll tell your story to the pack so it is taken into consideration as you are judged and sentenced. Do you have any questions?” Louis felt something like panic closing up his throat. “Fuck,” he said.“Hey, easy,” she said, leaning toward him and reaching out for his hand. “It’s nothing bad. A trial is the fairest way the Styles pack have to decide what to do with wrongdoers in our territory.”“Wrongdoers,” he repeated. “What am I accused of?” Being a rogue? Hurting Harry? Drawing a gigantic target on this prosperous pack for Yorkshire to find?  She bit her upper lip before replying.“Entering our territory as a rogue wolf and endangerment of our future pack Alpha.”Louis feared as much. “I am as good as dead,” he whispered to himself. “You’re going to hand me over to Yorkshire, aren't you? Why bother with a trial?” he asked, looking straight into her eyes.
Evil omega.

Damned omega.

They're only in this mess because of you.
Her gray eyes met his.“My job is to prevent that outcome from happening, as I understand it’d be a death sentence. In order to prove that you’re not guilty of the charges, if you agree, I’ll argue that you’re not a rogue and that you did not endanger our alpha on purpose.”He huffed.“How could you prove that?”“I will need to hear your story first, of course, to find whatever extenuating circumstances I can. But as of now, I plan to argue that you are in no way a rogue. It is known that omegas leave their birth packs willingly only if they’re with their alphas, and in most cases, only if those alphas are their soulmates. Plus, rogues go crazy. I think it will be a solid defence, considering that you don’t look crazy to me.”He chuckled, if sort of hysterically. “Gee, thanks,” he said. “As for the other charge, I will argue that it wasn’t you who hurt Harry. It was those Yorkshire alphas. If we prove they had no good reason to chase after you into our territory, that you wouldn’t even have crossed our border had it not been for them—all the blame should fall upon them. And of course, there’s no reason on Earth why they would be exonerated after entering our pack territory and attacking our Luna's grandson.”Louis felt nauseous once again.“What if there is one?”“There’s a what?”“What if they do have a good enough reason to have done what they did? You'll hand me over, then?” he asked.
Bad omen.
Aurora’s expression sombered.“Do they? Do you believe you have done something unforgivable to them or their pack?”
Bad, bad omega. Evil omega.

You will doom your tribe.
Louis bit inside his mouth to calm down. He shrugged.“You mean to say you believe the reason those alphas were chasing you justifies what they have done?”Louis shook his head.“No, it would never justify the attack on your future pack Alpha, no.”“But it would justify an attack on you?”Louis bit harder and avoided her eyes. “In any case, it would be much better for your pack if you skipped this farce and just handed me over to them, you know?”Aurora stood up, slowly, and stood next to the bed. She put her hand on top of him and squeezed his thigh twice.“Louis, I want you to understand this: As your Voice, your wellbeing and your being treated fairly are my main concerns right now.”“Yeah, right,” he said, slowly, unconvinced. “Please hear me out. I’ll do my best to make sure your life is spared. But the only way I can do it is if you tell me your story and we can use it to gain sympathy for you.”If he told her everything, he was pretty sure he’d get no sympathy. He’d be killed instantly to avoid causing even more pain. 
Evil omega.
“I don’t have a story to tell,” he said. “Everybody has a story to tell,” she refuted. “I don’t,” he insisted.She stared at him.“You’re a male omega who has left the security of his pack and risked going crazy with rogueness, who’s been hunted for at least two weeks by three alphas from the most powerful pack in the region, and who has at least to some degree gained some favour in our pack in a matter of days. Louis, you’re everything but a wolf without a story. I can wait for you to tell me. But be aware that I cannot wait for long. Your trial will start in two days.”When Aurora left, Louis started biting his nails again, uneasy. That evening, the omega was trying to defend himself from a vicious attack with just one arm and a pillow. It wasn't going great, as he was finding it hard to breathe. Because he was laughing so hard.“Rawr, rawr,” the little boy was uttering what he thought were menacing growls. They were closer to kittens’ purrs. “Oh, no,” Louis said, in between giggles. “Who’s gonna save me now?”“I will,” said Levi, in a different voice, this time trying to sound deeper and slower. “You’re the good guy too?” asked Louis, faking surprise.“Of course I am,” he said. “I’m the future pack Alpha of this pack, and I’m going to save you!”“I’m saved!” said Louis, giggling once more.Levi had come to him again, and Louis had accepted the distraction he offered with open arms. He wasn’t strong enough to run away yet and he needed to fight against the confusing thoughts about a certain alpha that made his head pound. Levi kept all his problems at bay. His innocence and playfulness brightened Louis’ mood.“Now you’re the mean alpha,” said Levi, out of nowhere. “And I’m the omega.”The door opened as he was speaking.“What are you doing?” asked Harry, frowning.Levi didn’t reply. He got still and quiet, which wasn’t at all like him. “Levi?” asked the alpha again, but the boy just rearranged his body to hide behind Louis.“We’re just playing,” Louis replied. “Levi was bored and he came to visit, there’s nothing—”“Levi knows he’s not allowed in here. We've told him again and again. And what did I hear about you pretending you’re an omega?” asked Harry.“Nothing,” Levi whispered.Harry kept frowning as he walked into the room. He went the window and made sure to close it. “You know Grandma doesn’t like it when you do that," he said, once that was done. "You’ll present as an alpha.”“Yes,” Levi replied, still whispering.Now Louis was frowning too.“Come on,” ordered the alpha. “Get out of here. You know I can’t stop Grandma if she decides to punish you this time.”That irked Louis to no end.“This is bullshit,” he said, loud and clear. “We were just playing, it was just a game. He’s done nothing wrong,” he said.
What are you doing? You don’t speak like that to Alpha!
Levi let out a sudden cackle. Then he stopped and covered his mouth with his hands, staring at Harry with wide eyes.Harry was looking at Louis with similar wide eyes, probably too caught out of guard to get really angry.“I’m—” the alpha started, but then stopped. “Levi, out. No spying.”Harry stayed in the room and closed the door behind Levi.“If you could refrain from undermining my authority in front of Levi—”
Alpha is mad at us. I told you to shut up!

But what he did to Levi is not fair.
The confusing thoughts, again.
Apologise to alpha. 
He shook his head.
Shut the fuck up.
“You scared him!” Louis cried out. “We were just playing and you said some pretty shitty things to a pup. You should apologise to him! Not worry about authority!”Harry stared at him for the longest seconds. Then he looked down.“It’s just that Grandma has said—”“Your Grandmother sounds like she says the shittiest things too,” Louis said.
Shut up. Shut up. What are you doing? He’ll hate us. 
“Perhaps,” Harry said, slowly. “Perhaps she doesn’t say things in the kindest ways, but she means well. She’s only worried about us. She's had to raise us after-”“Do you really believe this is well meant?” asked Louis, indignant. “Punishing a little boy for pretending to be an omega for a game?” he was so angry. "When that little boy could grow up to be an omega himself?"Harry stayed quiet for a long time. Louis felt like he was about to cry.
This is why he hasn’t claimed us. Because you’re impossible. Bad, evil.

Shut up. It's unfair. Levi shouldn't go through this.
“No,” the alpha said in the end, in a tiny voice that Louis barely heard. “But Grandma has never liked that,” he added. “And she’s our Luna. She must—she must know best, right?” he asked, although it didn’t seem like he was asking Louis in particular.Shut up. Just shut up. Don't say anything.“I don’t know,” said Louis, fighting against his omega. “I don’t know her. But Lunas are supposed to do everything they can to keep their packs safe and happy. If you ask me, the way I’ve seen you treat that little lad around here doesn’t look like the best thing for him.”There, he’d said it.Harry’s eyes turned sad. 
Alpha is sad. You hurt alpha. Apologise.

No.
Harry sighed.Louis felt a weird tingling inside his body. He closed his eyes and saw himself in that bed. But he wasn’t broken. His body was healed. There was a fluttering feeling on his cheek, the scent of the mountain. Was that—a kiss? But it wasn’t. Louis opened his eyes, gasping for air. He’d stopped breathing for a second there.Harry was avoiding his eyes now. He retreated from the room, closing the door without a word, and Louis was left alone. He felt lonelier than ever before.  He didn’t spend long by himself, fortunately. Otherwise, his omega might have gone crazy with worry. He had no nails left to bite. “Louiiiis,” said Levi’s little voice from the other side of the window, as he knocked insistently. “Harry’s gone! Open up!”Louis gathered all his strength to stand up. He was gladly surprised to find it easier than before. Still, he didn’t test his luck and walked slowly to the window. He opened it. Levi jumped onto the settee and hugged him by the neck. Louis smiled at him and patted his back.“Hey, little lad. Back so soon?”“You smell sad. Don’t be sad,” said the pup. “Harry doesn’t mean it.”“I’m not sad,” he lied. “I’m just tired.”The child breathed in deeply. Then he wrinkled his nose.“No, you smell sad. Yorkshire roses, like usual, and sad.”Louis held back his laughter. He pushed himself back and looked at Levi in the eyes.“Hey, pup, it’s impolite to talk about other wolves' scents,” he explained. “You’re only supposed to do that with your alpha… or your omega. Or your beta, I suppose. Whatever the gender of your future mate.”Levi stared at him with his deep green eyes. Louis hoped he understood he didn’t have to be an alpha, even if he was too young to grasp the situation completely. Or to stick to a topic.“Did you know Yorkshire roses grow in Yorkshire? And did you know Yorkshire is to the north?” he asked, pointing at a random direction which was decidedly not the north.“Yeah,” said Louis. “About five days from here.”Levi nodded, as if he was a teacher examining him.“Very well. And do you know that… what’s to the south?” he asked in a whisper."Beyond the packless lands, you mean? Well, the Cadogan pack's territory,” he replied. Levi seemed thrilled to get new information. His eyes brightened. Louis was again grateful for the distraction he offered.“And to the east?”“The Midlands,” he explained. “Land of the Payne pack"."Cool. And to the west?”“Lots of smaller pack territories. Then the ocean,” he said, staring vacantly in front of him, remembering the road he’d taken twice. “And if you turn into your wolf and swim for a day, you’ll get to the land of the Horan pack. The best pack ever.”Levi frowned.“No,” he groaned, “the Styles are the best pack ever.”Louis smiled at him.“You’re a good pack,” he confirmed. You and Harry are, he thought. And well, your pack haven’t killed me yet, that must count for something. “How do you know so much? Did you study a map?” asked Levi.“Pfff,” he said. “I wish. But no. In fact, my geography teacher called me an idiot once, back in the day.”Levi gasped.“That’s rude!”“Right?!”His geography teacher didn’t know that Louis would get to visit most of the lands he taught about. He’d run across them for his life, once fleeing from this island, once coming back. “Anyway, I know a lot because I’ve travelled a lot,” he said, deciding that bragging a little bit to a pup wouldn’t hurt anyone.Levi looked at him with bright eyes.“Will you take me with you? One day?”Louis frowned.“With me?”“Yeah. We can travel together and you can take me to your Luna,” he said, excited. “To see if she can give me my prophecy?”He hugged the little lad as tight as possible, without replying.Because he couldn’t promise to take him. His future was uncertain, but no version of it was likely to have a moment for him to take Levi to the Horan pack. And even if he managed to do it, due to some kind of miracle, he couldn't promise him a soulmate prophecy.“Hey, Levi?” he asked instead, trying to distract him.“Yeah?”“Do you trust Aurora?”“Yeah, of course,” he said. “She’s a Voice. That’s like. Super important. And she’s so wise. Like a Luna, but younger.”“Okay,” he said, thinking carefully.Louis felt exhausted after a while. He had a headache again. He went back to bed, slowly. Levi kept talking to him and he replied as much as possible. He didn’t know when he fell asleep or when Levi left the room. That night was harsh for Louis. He slept, but it was difficult. He felt like he had a fever. Alone in that room, the confusing thoughts raged rampant inside his head.  
Alpha must hate us.

I need to escape.
 
Alpha doesn’t want us cause you have a big mouth.

What if I am, in fact, going crazy?
 
Alpha doesn't want to claim you. He must sense you're evil. He must know.

Focus. Run away. Fast. Ma is waiting. 
 
Alpha doesn’t want to claim you cause you're bad. Bad, bad omega, evil omega.

You have to survive. You have to. Your Mum and Ma sacrificed so much to save you.
 
You deserve to die. You’re a bad omen. You’ll doom your tribe.

Yorkshire is coming. They will kill this pack all and then they will kill you.
 The voices seemed to agree on something. 
You are bad for this pack. You need to go, go.

Run away. Keep up with the plan. Get to Ma. 
 In the middle of the night, he was rolling on the bed, trying to get his head to shut the fuck up.He stood still, as he remembered something he'd felt earlier in the day. A feeling. Lighter than a butterfly. But it was a connection. A kiss? He could still feel it on his cheek. Alpha, sighed his omega. And finally shut up. He woke up when the sun was up in the sky, still exhausted after such an awful night. Zayn brought him breakfast. Louis ate more of that delicious cheese and bits and pieces of other things. Eating proved to be good for him. His arm felt a bit better, his legs held him well as he went to the bathroom and back.“You seem better,” said Zayn.“I feel a bit better, thanks,” said Louis, a bit more optimistic than the day before.Perhaps he'd be strong enough to run away, after all. To leave. As fast as possible. Soon.Aurora appeared in the room some time after breakfast, and installed herself on the settee.“How are you feeling?”Louis shrugged.“Are you ready to tell me your story?”Louis didn’t see the point in telling her anything. Either he'd run away or he went through the stupid trial to be sentenced to death anyway. He shrugged.She sighed. “Listen, Louis, I will not move from here until you give me something. If we get to that trial without a story and a solid defence, I won’t be able to fight for you. Do you understand that?”Louis wasn’t going to be on trial if he could help it. He was going to run away. He felt better. But then a terrible thought crossed his mind--what if he started feeling worse? It had happened before. He thought he was feeling better, his head felt clearer and suddenly--He kept stubbornly silent as he analysed the odds. Levi did say Aurora was a good person. Like a Luna. But what type of Luna? Louis didn't know why he didn't trust her completely. She was a nice, kind, pregnant omega. He stared at her and she stared back. Finally, he realised that telling his story, or at least part of it, might be worth a shot. The only way to spare his life (if she were to believe Aurora's words), in the unlikely event of a fair trail.Louis had to be extremely careful to tell Aurora only about the convenient parts. Not the parts that could get him automatically killed.
Evil omega.

You'll doom your tribe.
“So,” he started. “A few weeks ago, three alpha wolves from Yorkshire came to town.”They walked straight to the Alpha and Luna house and requested arrangements to examine every male omega between the ages of presentation and thirty living in the land, mated and unmated.“Ma thinks it’s an odd request,” said Niall, his best friend and the second child to the Alpha and Luna of the Horan pack. “But Yorkshire is an odd pack. This must be just another of their power trips. Anyway, we can’t say no. Might smite us,” he said, trying to joke.But the truth was that whenever Yorkshire required something, be it a tribute, a marriage of convenience or the life of an enemy, the other packs bent over backwards to comply. Those who didn’t, didn’t last long as a pack either.The Horans wouldn't be an exception. They were a big, prosperous pack, living far away from Yorkshire, but they were not big or powerful enough to stand up against them. “Did you ask why?”“I mean, Da asked, but they didn’t want to say anything specific. They don’t have male omegas back there, for some weird reason. Something in the water. Or so we've heard. So... perhaps they want to check ours out to, I don’t know, see what they’re like?”Louis tried to keep calm. He couldn’t show anything on his face or he’d give his fear away. He knew why they were here. And he knew why there were no male omegas in Yorkshire.A good bunch of the young population of the Horan pack were to receive urgent summons the next morning. Louis wasn’t going to wait until then. He hugged Niall tight, smelling his ocean scent one last time, quietly saying goodbye. Then, with a heavy heart, he rushed home and told his Ma about it.Only once before had Louis seen Helen Horlyk trembling as she did then. A retired singer who had toured a hundred pack territories, she had seen more of the world than any common beta had. She was usually fearless. Except when he had brought Louis here with her, back when he was just sixteen years old. And now. “You must go on your own,” she said.“No,” he said. “We’re going together, just like before. I’m not leaving you behind.”“I’m older now, Louis. I’ll only slow you down. You’ll need to be as fast as possible if you want to outrun them.”“I will not leave you here to be killed.”“I won’t just stay here to be killed, darling,” she said, kissing his forehead. “I’ll run away too. But I assure you they’ll be following you, they won’t bother with me.”“I won’t take any risks.”“You’ll run away to the east. I’ll go south. Then I’ll turn around and follow right behind you. Remember the Payne pack?” He nodded.“They were friendly, back then.”They would have let them stay. And Louis would have stayed, but he and his Ma were too scared and wanted to put as much distance as possible between them and the Yorkshire pack. The Horan pack, past the ocean, seemed like a better option. “I’ll find you with the Paynes. I’m sure they will let you hide until I come find you. We’ll make a better plan then.”Louis tried to breathe in deeply, to stop the tears that were gathering in his eyes. He knew their rushed plan might go terribly wrong along the way and this could be the last time he’d see his Ma. The woman who had raised him since he’d presented.“I’ll see you there,” he promised.Helene hugged him tight.“I’ll also write to your Mum, using our code. If I don’t—If I can’t get to you, she’ll know where to find you.”Louis squeezed her in his arms.“You’ll find me, Ma.”Louis escaped that night. He only took the time to write a quick note for NIall to find. He told him the truth and apologised for having put the Horans in danger. He thanked him for his friendship, for having his back since the moment he’d reached his pack, a sixteen year old just-presented omega scared to death. Tell those alphas I’ve run away, he wrote. They’ll come after me, they won’t hurt your pack. He had a head start that night. But the Yorkshire alphas weren’t distracted by the other omegas for long. The next morning, someone pointed out distractedly that Louis was missing from the line of male omegas. And thus the chase started. “I must confess I have more questions than answers,” Aurora said.“Yeah, makes sense,” Louis said, with a half shrug.“You knew they were there to get you.”“Yeah.”“How did you know?”
Bad omen, bad omega.
“Cause I’m a male omega.”“That doesn’t sound like a good enough reason to chase you into another pack’s territory and attempt on your life, even if you're really prejudiced,” she said, frowining.Louis reached out for a glass of water forgotten on the night table and drank a sip, trying to dissolve the lump he felt in his throat.“You do know why there aren't any male omegas in Yorkshire, don’t you? You're closer to them than the Horans. You must have heard stories." Aurora blinked."I'll give you a hint," Louis said. "It's not the water.”“I-one hears rumours, b-but-” she stammered. “Why would they do that with an omega from the Horan pack? It’s not like they go around hunting male omegas from other packs at random.”“Don’t they?” he wondered out loud.When they had appeared in town he’d thought maybe they had taken it upon themselves to ‘cleanse’ all packs. To eradicate all male omegas, all bad omens. He hadn’t seen a male omega in the Styles pack, so the idea wasn’t totally crazy.“Not that I’m aware of,” she replied. “Louis… Does this mean you can confirm Yorkshire kills their male omegas upon presentation?”Louis' heart sped up. He could see it again, clear as day. His step-father was beyond himself. His Mum was crying and his little sisters along with her. He’d grown up hearing the rules— male omegas were bad omens. Male omegas were evil. They had to be given to the Alpha and Luna of the Yorkshire pack upon presentation, to be ‘cleansed’. They never returned to their homes. Louis’ step-father asked him to pack. When Louis didn’t move, he shook him by the shoulders, leaving claw marks on them.“Don’t you understand the danger you just put your Mum and your sisters in?”He was having his first soft heat. He was sweating, tired, and vulnerable. Having an alpha threatening him, hurting him, made him scream.“Stop!” his Mum screamed.“We’ll surrender him to the Alpha,” said his step-father, firmly. "You know the rules.”“Yes,” she replied. “But first let me say goodbye.”.She pulled him into his room. She closed the door.There was a travelling show in Yorkshire at the time, full of adventurous betas who formed a nomad pack of sorts. One of the singers had taken a liking to Louis’ Mum and all her children. She played with the little girls. Louis’ Mum sent Louis with tea and biscuits for her every afternoon. Louis and his sisters knew her well, liked her.“Go with Helene,” said Mum, kissing his hair, holding him tight before letting go. “I’ll take care of things here.”“But Mum—”He was scared. He wanted to stay here, with his family, safe. But he knew he wouldn’t be safe. And he knew his family wouldn’t be safe either.“Go!”He didn’t get to kiss his sisters goodbye. He ran and ran and found the tent where the singer lived temporarily.“Helene,” he cried.She took one look at his red face and teary eyes and knew it.“Oh, honey,” she said. “We must go now.”His Mum and Helene—who'd become his Ma— saved him, risking their own lives. A month passed between his escape and when he finally settled down with Helene, now posing as his mother. All those days he spent wondering whether his Mum and his sisters had been killed because of him. And then, one day, he got a letter. And his will to live returned. His family was okay. His step-father had told the Alpha about his escape, but he blamed Louis and only Louis himself. Louis couldn't make himself hate the man. He'd protected his Mum and his sisters. They were safe.Louis was far, far away.He was alive.They had gotten away with it.He kept receiving letters from his Mum, in code. Now that the girls were older, he’d received a couple from them as well. He was happy. Everything was good.“So, Yorkshire is your birth pack. Theoretically, they want to kill you just like they want to kill every male omega. But they kept looking for you. One omega escapes among a sea of others that are killed systematically—Why would they bother looking for you, even after all these years? Why not just let it go, forget about you even? Vengeance?”
You'll doom your tribe.
Louis looked down. He couldn’t say that. They Styles would realise he was evil. They'd kill him. Hand him over. He didn’t reply.“All right,” said Aurora. “I can sense you’re tired, and so am I. Let’s talk again tomorrow, shall we? Our last chance before trial. See if you remember any other details meanwhile.”Louis sat still for a long time, alone with his thoughts. 
You’ve only brought pain and trouble to the Styles, just like you did with your family, just like you did with the Horans. Bad omega. You must run away.

But alpha...

Alpha doesn't want you. You're a danger to his pack.
He spent long hours staring at the door, waiting for something, for someone. But Harry never appeared. And Levi didn’t either. He was alone, alone with his thoughts.
Evil omega. 
He left the bed a couple of times and walked around it, training for what was to come.
Evil omega. You must leave. You must leave.
The door opened. Louis felt hope until Zayn’s scent reached him.“Hey, I’ve brought you some tea.”“Thank you,” he said. “Thank you for everything. You’ve been amazing.”Zayn raised an eyebrow at him, but didn’t say anything. Louis hoped Zayn understood how grateful he was. How this was goodbye.He left the tea tray on the table and forced himself to sleep before the sun was down.  He woke up in the middle of the night, disoriented. He’d been dreaming of something, something he couldn’t quite remember. It was something related to a scent. He was trying to find where it came from, but in the dream he was lost in a valley, no moon to guide his wolf. He howled, trying to call for it, but there was no answer. He sighed and rubbed his eyes.It was time. But he was so fucking exhausted. He'd been right, his recovery hadn't lasted long.For a moment, he fantasised again. What if he gave up? What if he lay here and let death take him? He was so tired of fighting. 
You’re evil.

Not even alpha wants us.

It’d be better for everyone if you just died.
But then he remembered the day he’d presented, his soft heat. The way his Mum had protected him. She knew what a male omega meant for her pack, and she’d still saved him. Then he thought of his Ma. The way she’d saved him and cared for him even when she didn’t know more than his given name and his gender, the way she had guided him to safety. By now, she might already be in the Payne pack’s territory. Louis had wasted so much time in this fucking bed. Was she okay? Did she know where he was? Had she written to his Mum?He needed to focus. If he was to escape, this was the moment to do it. The three alphas who had hunted him were being held by the Styles and the messenger Yorkshire had sent hadn’t arrived yet, at least not to his knowledge. 
Run now, before they hurt alpha’s pack.
 He had a valuable advantage—the Yorkshire pack believed Louis to be detained, the same as their alphas. But he wasn’t. He wasn’t even tied anymore. His heart sped up as he glanced at the window. Little Levi jumped off it constantly. Surely, an adult wolf would have an easy time of it as well. He sat up. He was breathing faster now that he had a plan: jump off the window, run to the border. He’d run to the Payne pack’s territory, as agreed. He’d find his Ma. They’d hide together. He’d write to Mum once he was safe, so she wouldn’t worry.He stood up on trembling legs. He looked around. There wasn’t anything useful in the room, nothing that he could take with him anyway, as he’d keep on travelling in wolf form. For a stupid moment, he thought of taking his glass with him.What a fucking ridiculous idea. Why was he thinking of that?
Alpha poured water for you.
He shook his head. Focus. Shut the fuck up. He removed the gown he was wearing and turned into his wolf for the first time in days. A light gray wolf, on the smaller side, approached the window and stood on his hind legs to look out. He couldn’t say for sure, but it looked like he was two floors off the ground. Easy peasy. He stopped. He remembered hearing something about being surrounded by guards. But he sniffed no fresh alpha scents. Everything was dark and quiet. It was now or never. He jumped out.He jumped, and for a second he believed he’d made it.  Wait, said his omega. What if they kill alpha because they think he let you escape?  No sooner had that thought occurred to him than he realised he was landing on human hands and feet, instead of his trustful paws. And then he felt it—pain, pain from his head to the soles of his feet. He howled. His right arm was on fire again, and this time his legs joined in.It felt like an eternity, but only a few seconds passed before there was an alpha in front of him.“Rogue,” he said. “What are you doing?”Louis was gasping for air, unable to form any sentence. He didn’t know what to say, he only knew he needed help.“Hurts,” he managed to gasp.“Was he trying to escape?” groaned another alpha voice.“Go get Sarah,” said someone else.“Rogue,” shouted the second alpha, suddenly in front of him. He clutched his good arm and forced him to stand up. “Were you trying to escape?”Louis opened his mouth to reply, but he couldn’t do it. A pitiful howl came out. He’d have felt ashamed of his reaction, had his body been capable of feeling anything besides pain. “I’m talking to you,” groaned the alpha, shaking him. “Were you trying to escape?”“He wasn’t!” cried out a little voice. “He was playing with me and he fell out the window! It was my fault, I’m sorry! Let him go!”The alpha turned to Levi and snarled. “Are you lying, little one?”“I’m not!” Levi cried again. “Let him go! You’re hurting him!”The alpha didn’t budge. He turned to Louis and snarled at him. He felt like he was going to throw up. Or pass out. Or both. “Let him go!” cried Levi, again and again. “Let him go!” roared an adult alpha at the same time. The alpha let go of Louis immediately. He felt his body slowly falling to the ground. But he didn’t fall completely. He found himself in the arms of the alpha who’d saved his life once, and was saving it now, again.  Alpha. You’re safe. It’s Alpha. He let himself go.  Only his ankle was tied to the bed when he came to, which was probably a compromise between those who hated him, and those who hated him but didn’t want him dead yet even after his pathetic attempt at an escape. That was the first thing he noticed when he woke up in the small hours of the morning. The second thing was a weight on the bed. He looked down, but in the darkness all he could see was a shadow. For a second he believed he saw green eyes looking at him, but he must have been wrong, because later he woke up again to an empty space where the shadow had been. He smelled the bed sheet, discreetly, trying to catch the scent he wanted to catch and smiled when he found a hint of it, probably left there a long time ago, the last time the alpha had been in this room. He woke up again when the sun was up in the sky, this time convinced that the shadow he’d seen wasn’t Alpha, but little Levi. The boy was now sitting on the bed. “Hi,” he said. “Hi,” he replied, sighing.Louis managed to sit up, but he felt awful doing it. He knew then he wouldn’t be running anytime soon. There went his plans for escape. He was exhausted, in pain, and almost completely disheartened. 
But alpha saved us!

And then he left. He hates us.
“How did you survive three alphas if you can’t even jump from this high?” asked Levi, using his index and thumb to signal a comical distance.“I suppose I was in better condition then,” he decided to reply.Levi narrowed his eyes.“That was a stupid thing you did,” he said.Louis laughed.“Yeah, probably. Yet you lied for me,” he whispered, glancing at the doorway. “Why?”Little Levi blushed and turned his face. Then he shrugged. “You’re not telling me?”He shook his head.Louis smiled at him.“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me. Thank you, anyway.”“Just don’t do anything stupid again,” said the boy. “And if you do it you hafta tell me so that we can see what we can do.”Louis had a feeling someone had said those words to Levi before and he was just parroting them, without really understanding it wasn’t something a child said to an adult. “Promise, then,” said Levi, in all seriousness.“Promise?”“No! Like this,” he curled his pinkie around Louis’ own. “Repeat, I promise I won’t do anything stupid again.”Louis’ smile got wider and he did what Levi asked, even if he didn’t mean it at all.He’d probably do a lot of stupid things in the near future. Unknowingly, the first one was to ignore his omega calling for his alpha. 
Alpha, alpha, alpha. Alpha saved us. Alpha, alpha, come, come and claim us.
Shut up , he thought. He’s not our alpha. He’s just an alpha who happened to save us. A couple of times. You’re confused.
But alpha saved us.

And our sole existence is putting his whole pack in extreme danger. Shut up. Shut the fuck up.
Sarah, the healer, went to check on him after that and chased Levi away.She wasn’t happy with Louis either.“Nothing broken, but you didn’t do any favours to your body,” she sighed. “Have you experienced confusion? Dizziness?”“No,” he lied.She stared at him for a long time.“The elders asked whether I considered the trial should be postponed until you recover from this fall,” she said.“Oh, okay,” he said.“I said no. I said you might be going rogue, after all, maybe at a faster rate than an alpha or a beta might.”“I am not,” he groaned.“It’s difficult for me to believe that, when you've done what you did yesterday.”She left the room.Louis bit the inside of his cheek. He got confused, sometimes, because of those stupid thoughts, but… but this wasn’t him becoming a rogue. He had time. Three moons total. 
Then why haven’t you fully recovered? Why weren’t you able to jump the distance a child does daily?
Maybe he was going rogue after all?No. He was sure. But then why?He wanted to scream. What was wrong with him? 
Focus. You still need to escape, no matter what. Focus on that.

Alpha…

Shut the fuck up.
 Aurora visited him again, as promised. This was the day before the trial. She seemed on a mission. She went directly to the settee and let herself and her enormous belly on it. Her smile was tired.“All right. How are you after last night?”Louis felt ashamed, as if he was being told off. It was probably the motherly omega hormones that Aurora’s body was producing.“I’m okay,” he said.“You don’t look very okay to me,” she said. “And yesterday you tried to run away. That won’t look good for you during the trial. Did you think about that?”“I wasn’t precisely thinking of my image at the trial yesterday as I was playing with Levi, no,” he answered, a bit sassily. Aurora sighed. Her big pregnant belly went up and down. “Louis, I’ll repeat this—I’m here to help you. Let me help you. Tell me what you know. Everything you know, including the reason why you think escaping is better than facing this trial.”Louis played with his fringe, nervously, and kept quiet. “Louis,” said Aurora. “I need you to understand you’re not the only one who has a Voice here. You’re not the only one who’s telling his story. The alphas are, too. Please think about that. Are they going to say anything against you to save themselves?”Louis’ eyes widened at her words, but he bit his cheek to stop himself from any other reaction.“Louis?”“Why do you need me to say anything at all then? If they’re going to speak, they’ll tell you,” he said, harshly.
The male omega will doom his tribe. He shivered.
Aurora leaned toward the bed and whispered back.“I’m here to hear you, to help you and to defend you .”Louis finally looked up and stared at her.“Then help me get out of here,” he whispered, pulling at his restrained ankle. “That’s the only real way to help me and your pack.”She groaned in frustration and leaned back against the settee.“I cannot do that. The only thing I can do is defend you during this trial. Please give me something,” she said. “Something I can use for your defence.”This time, Louis couldn’t stop himself from snorting.“Why don’t you just give up?” he said, tired of going round in circles. “There’s nothing you can use to defend a male omega, not in the eyes of Yorkshire,” he spat. “And you’re doing yourselves no favours, going on with this trial thing. I know you’re trying to buy time, but for fuck’s sake, think about it. Even if Yorkshire lets you get away with wasting their time, what are you going to do? I know you’re not going to find me innocent, you can’t. You’ll have to hand me over. And they’ll be pissed at your fucking mind games. Just fucking let me go and it’ll be me and them again, they might still spare you.”He gasped for air at the end. Oh fuck. Now that he said it aloud, his thoughts were clearer. They were playing games with a fucking monster and the monster was going to kill them all.
You have to run away.

I know! I fucking can’t! Fucking body! 
Aurora stared at him for a few seconds.“But why do they want you, Louis?” she pressed. “Oh, for fuck’s sake!” he cried out. “I’m dangerous, why don’t you get it? We’re wasting time!” he begged, turning desperate. "I'm fucking evil!"There. He’d said it. Now she knew the kind of danger her pack was in. Now she knew they were wasting time with their trial when Louis was simply evil.But Aurora didn’t say anything about that.“But why do you think you are you dangerous, what makes you evil, in your mind?”“Oh, for fuck’s sake! Why don’t you have male omegas parading around here either?” he asked. “Maybe you think you’re so different from Yorkshire, but why don’t you like us either? You must know, deep inside, you must know!”She kept staring at him, eerily calm. Why didn’t she get it ?“Why do you think we don’t have male omegas here? What do you think we know, instinctively?” she asked, sounding genuinely curious instead of panicking.“Cause we’re a bad omen!” he spat out. “We’re evil! We’ll only bring pain, and-and destruction!”
We’re doing that. We’re doing that every step of the way. 
Her eyes brightened as she processed his words.“That’s what they believe in Yorkshire.”He huffed, still angry and every second more desperate.“Yeah, that’s what they fucking believe in Yorkshire.”“Why do they believe that, Louis?”Louis’ lips closed, instinctively. Ever since he was a child they had drilled into his head not to talk about it with anyone who wasn't pack. The pack must know. Everyone repeated those words: Male omegas are bad omens, male omegas are evil, male omegas must be cleansed. But when visitors came, nobody said a word. It was a rule. It just was, no explanations.He’d already talked too much. And it hadn’t even worked out. She was not getting it.Louis glared at her and shrugged, violently.“Okay,” she said, after a long silence. “But you must know that’s not what we believe here, not at all,” she said. Louis snorted.“It isn’t?” he asked. “Then why— You’re lying.”“I’m not. I’ll show you. Just give me a minute.”She stood up, as fast as she was able with her big belly, and then waddled to the door. “I’ll be back,” she said. “Yeah,” said Louis, dismissive. “Could you tell Zayn to get me something to eat? Just some crackers and cheese or something,” he decided to ask.“Sure! Wait. You haven’t got your breakfast?”Louis looked away.Aurora groaned.“Levi?”He kept stubbornly quiet.“I’ll tell Harry. He shouldn’t be doing that.”“Please don’t,” said Louis.Aurora stopped at the door to stare at him again. Then nodded and left.  While Aurora was away, he sat and stared at the wall for a long time. His thoughts were still fighting for attention in his head.
Alpha.

You’re evil, evil, evil.

Alpha’s pack’s in danger.

You can’t run away now. You should die. That’s the only solution.
Levi got him out of his head again, but this time he was coming from the hallway and Louis was aware of his presence much earlier, despite the pup's lack of scent. There was something announcing his presence--a sound. A jingle? The boy opened the door.“This is your fault” he groaned dramatically.“My fault?”“Levi,” said a stern voice, following close behind him. "Apologise and go."The boy jumped on the bed and showed Louis his wrist. There was a bracelet around it, with tiny charms and bells hanging from it. The jingle he’d heard was the sound they made whenever Levi moved his hand.“What is that?” he asked, curious.The pup whined.“It’s Levi’s punishment,” replied the future pack Alpha, from the doorway. “I told him again, and again, and he still chose to disobey. He won’t be sneaking around to play with you for a while. If that’s what he was doing yesterday,” he said, raising an eyebrow at the boy. “He’s here to say goodbye to you and to apologise for all the trouble he’s caused. He won’t be bothering you anymore.”He felt his stomach sinking. Goodbye. Goodbye to this little boy he'd learnt to care for in such a little time. Goodbye, forever? He had tried to run away the day before, why did saying goodbye to Levi felt so much worse today?
Alpha can’t even trust you with a child. You’re a useless omega.

Shut up.
“But—but why? No. He’s not. He’s not bothering me,” he blabbered in a small voice. “It’s not only about that. Levi has been getting away with a lot of things lately, and we believe it’s time for him to stop being childish.”“But he’s a child!” said Louis.Harry stared at him, a frown in his face.“In any case, he’s not the only one deserving of punishment,” he said.“What?”He panicked. Punishment. Was he going to be punished? Was he going to be killed by the Styles, right now? Was he being handed over to Yorkshire? Was the messenger here?“You were also sneaking around. You’re not a free wolf, you should realise that. Your freedom depends on the result of your trial.”Oh fuck. Oh fuck. He couldn’t breathe.“You’re not a guest here, either. It’s ridiculous that you believe you can just leave this room to play with a kid. And it’s all my fault for not wanting a lone omega to be in a cage.”
Bad, bad omega. You should be in a cage. 
His whole face turned red. 
Apologise. Beg.
“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice higher than usual.Levi whined again and held to his good arm. “This is what we do here to stop little pups from being where they shouldn’t,” said Harry.The alpha took Louis’ good hand away from Levi and clasped a bracelet around his wrist. Like the pup's, it had lots of little charms and bells. Louis put his arm down and the thing jingled loudly.That sound felt thunder roaring in his head.“I’ll remove that after the trial,” said Harry.Louis couldn’t breathe, couldn’t hear anything, his ears were buzzing. Alpha was mad at him. Really mad. 
I knew it. I told you. He hates us.
"Levi. Apologise and come."“Bye, Louis. I'm sorry,” said Levi, in his sweet little voice.Louis barely heard those words. His ears kept buzzing, his face was hot. He was being punished. 
Bad omen. Bad, bad omega. Evil omega.
He couldn’t even say goodbye back to Levi, who was dragged out of the room, pouting.Louis' mind went blank when the door closed. He didn’t know for how long he stayed there, sitting in bed, staring at the bracelet and repeating the same words.
Bad omen. Bad omega. Evil omega.

You should die. 
 Louis was woken up by Zayn. He didn’t know when he’d fallen asleep. The alpha entered the room out of the blue and threw some clothes on the settee. Then he begrudgingly untied Louis’ ankle, with a scowl. He hadn’t been scowling in Louis’ presence lately. His face looked charming and perfect then. But now Louis had made him scowl again. Just like he'd done with Harry. Evil omega.  “Get up. You’ll get dressed and come with me,” ordered the alpha. His voice was stern. Louis did not like those words or his tone. His heart sped up."Where are we going?"Was Harry finally done with him? Was he sending him away? Handing him over?"Downstairs. Just dress."“Yeah, sure, why not, come with you to an unnamed place for unknown reasons without further explanations. Sounds like something I’m dying to do,” he blabbered.The alpha did not take that with humour.“You’re in no position to disobey,” he replied, glancing at the bracelet. “Or do you want me to call the alpha guards to drag you out?”Louis did not respond, just pursed his lips and carefully left the bed. He took off the gown he wore. The stupid bracelet jingled and reminded him of his shame. His legs threatened to give up, so he sat down to put the clothes on—some pants and a ratty shirt he put over his sling. He did it slowly, both to be mindful of his wounds and to piss off Zayn. Once he was done and stood up again, he realised they were extremely baggy on his body, even with the bump of his sling there. The bloody sleeve covered his good hand up to his middle finger. At least the fucking thing covered the symbol of his shame, that fucking bracelet. But he must look ridiculous. He glared at Zayn.Zayn looked back, with softer eyes. The alpha didn't seem to be angry anymore. He offered his arm for support, in silence. Louis sighed and took it, reluctantly. They crossed the door. And then started walking down a hallway. For the first time ever, Louis was able to see the cabin where he was a prisoner. It looked huge. He walked and walked, slowly. He glanced out of the windows as he came down the stairs and saw dozens of cabins, as far as his eyes could reach. All the neat pathways led toward this place, to the Alpha and Luna’s home, where the Regnant Luna and Harry, the future pack Alpha, lived now.He glanced back at Zayn and saw the alpha frowning once again.“Are you mad at me?” he asked.“You did try to escape,” huffed the alpha, avoiding his eyes.“But that's not your fault,” Louis said.Zayn glanced at him. “I’m sorry,” Louis said then.The alpha pursed his lips. “Okay,” he said after that. He sounded sincere.“Where are we going?”“You’ll see.”He kept following Zayn’s lead, looking eagerly around him, getting a bit overwhelmed by the multiple scents he could smell in this house, all strange to him. 
Where’s alpha? Too many people.
They reached a door. Louis was tense, on edge. Why was he here? The door was opened. He was glad to catch Aurora’s scent. And then…“Thank you, Zayn!” she said. “Louis, come in, come in. I want you to meet a few people!”Louis walked into the room and sat on a sofa. Soon, he found himself surrounded by a bunch of men. Upon further inspection, their scents were—peculiar. Louis’ eyes got wider as he realised why. He opened his mouth.“Oh, shit,” he said without thinking.“Hello to you too,” said one of the male omegas, giggling. “I’m Isaac. This is Matt.”“I can introduce myself,” said the other omega, elbowing the first one.  Holy shit, holy shit. He was surrounded by male omegas. They were taking turns to approach him and make small talk, telling him about their lives, their jobs, their families. One had a baby in his arms and the baby started crying, making the room much more chaotic. Louis felt a spark of joy. This land was only days away from Yorkshire, and he hadn’t seen any male omegas, so he’d just thought … so many stupid thoughts, as usual.During a pause in conversation, he turned to look at Aurora, who was sitting down, patting her belly and smiling at the whole thing. She was talking to one of the male omegas, who was sitting demurely by her side. She winked at Louis and then turned back to the omega.  Louis sat there and listened to them all, happy to keep mingling with the omegas for as long as he was allowed. It was such a relief, such a distraction from his thoughts, from his fate, from the stupid bracelet that burned his wrist, even worse than any wolfsbane chain would ever be.He was listening to the omega with the baby. The man was happy to chatter about the little one for ages. And Louis was just as happy to see the little thing gurgling. Suddenly, a murmur caught his ear.“All prissy. Believes he’s better than the rest.”“And he’s such an idiot. I can’t believe he gets to live here.”For a second, he thought they might be talking about him. However, when he looked toward the omegas who were saying those hateful things, he found them staring straight at the omega that was sitting with Aurora.“He believes he’s the only one who’s had Harry’s knot,” he heard one of those omegas say, giggly.Louis' shoulders tensed. “Oh come on, he must know,” said another voice. “Harry’s fucked half the pack. Even if that one’s a bootlicker, he’s not blind. He’s gotta know.”“Don’t be disrespectful,” said the omega he recognised as Matt, in a serious tone. “You cannot simply say those things around him. And at the future pack Alpha’s home, no less. You fucking idiots.”The omegas disbanded their little circle. Louis stopped watching them to glance at the omega they were talking about. He glanced back at Louis for a second. Then his eyes shied away. Louis stood up as if in trance. And then he walked toward that omega. Only when he stood in front of him, did he realise how awkward he was being. He shook his head and turned to Aurora instead.“Thank you for arranging this meeting,” he said. “I thought—I didn’t know—I didn’t know the situation for male omegas here was so different here than in Yorkshire.” “I guessed as much,” she said, with a satisfied smirk. “I hope this encourages you to talk more with me later. And that you have made some friends here.”“They all seem lovely,” said Louis, almost fully honestly. Most of them seemed lovely. Except for the little clique that was talking shit about the omega in front of him.“And you haven’t met our loveliest yet,” Aurora said. “This is Shawn.”Louis greeted the omega with a nod. Closer up, he looked like he could be related to Harry and Levi, although he didn’t know in what way exactly. His eyes were darker, but he had the same chocolate curls and dimples. Louis was staring. He knew he was staring but he couldn’t help it.“Nice to meet you,” he said.“Hi,” said the omega with a smile. And then he kept quiet.The other omegas had shared a bit about their lives with Louis, but this one didn’t seem so open to the idea. Aurora took it upon herself to keep the conversation going. “Shawn here is Harry’s fiancé and our future Luna,” she explained.“Oh,” said Louis. “That’s. Oh. Uhm. Congratulations on your upcoming marriage,” he said, voice high, suddenly breathless“Thanks,” said Shawn in a barely audible voice.“I’m gonna—I think—” Louis started to say. “Louis?” asked Aurora, worried.He planned to say he was going to talk to the other omegas for a little bit, but in the end his body refused to do even that. His hands started shaking and the lights in the room dimmed down. I think I’m going to faint, he thought, but he couldn’t say it. The next thing he knew, he was on his knees on the floor, surrounded by concerned omegas.“Louis!”He couldn't answer. His whole body was trembling. His throat had closed up.  “Look at me,” said Sarah, holding a finger in front of him. He tried to focus on it, but everything was still a little blurry. He blinked.“Now, smell this and tell me what it smells like,” she ordered.“Uhm,” he replied, holding a type of rock in his good hand.“I guess… humidity? It’s mossy.”She didn’t seem happy with his answer.“I want you to hold my hand and grab it as tightly as you can. Aim for breaking-bone strength for a few seconds.”He just sighed and tried his best, with spectacularly bad results that weren’t quite unexpected.Healer Sarah was displeased with him. Like she always seemed to be.
Bad omega.
“Louis,” she said. “I don’t think you’re going rogue.”“That’s… that’s good right?” he asked, blinking slowly.“Harry, you may come in.”The alpha walked into the room, eyes fixed on Louis. The omega perked up instantly and inhaled his scent. 
Alpha is here. We’ll be fine. 
“That would be all. Thank you, Harry, you may leave.”The alpha didn’t hesitate. He turned around and left. Louis panicked.
Wait. Wait, why? No, don’t go away. We’re good, we’re good. We’re better than Shawn, let us prove it!
“Louis!” yelled the healer, finally catching his attention.Louis shook his head. What the fuck was he thinking?“Exactly how attached are you to Harry?”“I’m not,” he replied automatically.She frowned. “I’ll rephrase. I can see from your symptoms that your omega is extremely attached to Harry. Most probably because he saved your life.”Louis got a lump in his throat and his face got extremely hot.Attached. He wasn’t attached, was he?But then… he couldn't lie to himself. He knew it, even if he'd tried to supress it. The confusing thoughts. The way he’d tried so hard to be good for him. The way he felt more energised after Harry was in the room with him. The shame he’d felt when Harry had punished him. He stared at his long sleeve, hiding the the bracelet beneath. He knew it. But he had forced himself not to think about it.His omega was fucking messed up. Adding that layer of complication on top of all his problems.Now, with the truth out there for everyone to see, for everyone to know... He was mortified. 
Alpha…

How many times did I tell you to shut the fuck up!
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” he said, humiliated by his stupid omega and his stupid reactions to a person whose only mistake was to show an ounce of kindness to him.Sarah’s eyes were sympathetic. “I know, it happens to the best of us,” she said. “But we really need to reverse this attachment if you want to make a full recovery. Your body won’t focus on healing while your omega is distracted in this way.”“Yes, of course,” he said in a tiny voice.Inside him, his omega was in shock. 
What do you mean reverse? That’s impossible. We need our alpha. He’s ours.

I said. Shut. The fuck. Up. You’re only trouble. You’re evil. You’re evil.
“My medical recommendation is for you to keep as far away from Harry and his scent as possible from here on. Hopefully, that will do it.”The lump in his throat got bigger, stronger, it sent tears to his eyes, which he tried to hide by rubbing them discreetly.“Yes,” he said. “Louis?” she called.He looked up to her.“You’ll be alright,” she said. “This will pass.”
It won’t, it won’t pass. We need him. We need him.
“Is there—?” his voice cracked.“What?”“Is there any reason why it wouldn’t pass? After we’re apart and everything?”“Well, unless you’re soulmates, I see no reason why it wouldn’t pass. It'll be tough on you for a night, perhaps tomorrow morning. But then you'll be fine.”It felt like a stab. Soulmates. Even his omega got quiet inside his head. Louis didn’t have a soulmate. Louis would never know about his soulmate because he didn't have a soulmate prophecy. He was just attached. Because his omega was a fucking idiot and Harry was a nice person.He kept rubbing his eyes. Sarah, Harry and Zayn talked outside his room in hushed voices. Then Zayn walked in.“You’re coming with me,” he said. “I’m packing.”He had an empty backpack with him. There was nothing for Louis to “pack” in that room, but Zayn took a stash of bandages and cleaning supplies and put them inside. A new presence approached the room while he did that. Louis got a whiff of her scent and immediately knew who she was: Harry and Levi’s Grandmother. The pack Luna. Her eyes pinned Louis to the bed. She stood there, as if supervising that Louis was actually leaving her house. Harry appeared next to her.“I told you so,” she said.“Gran—”“You indulged that omega too much and look at what you’ve caused.”“He didn’t cause anything,” said Louis, defensive. “It was me.”The woman turned to him and glared. He couldn’t help what came out of his mouth, though. He just couldn’t allow her to blame Harry, who’d only been kind to him. It was all his fault. His stupid omega's fault.
Evil omega.
The pack Luna turned her back to Louis and addressed Harry instead.“You’ve spent too much time circling this room. You’ve confused him. He’s getting ideas into his head.”“I haven’t spent time with him,” said Harry, now looking at the floor.Louis opened his mouth to confirm that, but the woman kept talking.“I told you he should be in jail or somewhere else, but you had to say no. And look at us now. In his mind he’s already mated to you.”Harry glanced at Louis, alarm in his eyes.“Grandma, I don’t think—!”“He is,” she said, sternly. “He’s attached. Can you even begin to comprehend what it means? From the beginning, that omega has brought nothing but trouble. And now this.”Zayn touched Louis’ good arm. He had kept quiet up to that point. “Let’s go,” said the alpha. Louis stood up. He had no shoes on. It didn’t matter. He went to the doorway and walked the space between Harry and his Grandmother. He took a little sniff of Harry’s scent—mountain, freedom. He hoped he could remember it, in case this was the last time he saw the alpha.
Alpha… 
“Take care, Louis,” Harry said.“Thank you. For everything,” he said. His voice cracked again. His shoulders hunched. The stupid bracelet in his wrist jingled as he walked away. He didn’t look at Harry’s grandmother. He felt humiliated enough as it was. “Let’s go,” repeated Zayn. Louis descended the stairs for a second and last time. He glanced through the windows and admired the pathways that led to this house, the cabins that surrounded it. He sighed.Zayn supported his weak body, in silence. Once he managed to set foot on the ground floor, Zayn guided him through a hallway. This way was different from the one they had walked earlier. Instead of the room where he’d met the other male omegas, they passed an enormous hall. Louis had time to take a peek inside, thanks to his slow steps. He recognised the kind of place it was. An audience room. Every Alpha and Luna home had one of those. It was the place where the Alpha and Luna couple received those who wanted to talk to them to receive advice or to offer tribute. At the Horan’s, the room had a table and lots of chairs for people to sit around it and discuss the matters at hand with a good beer. The Styles were more traditional—their audience room included chairs for the Alpha and the Luna, and then pillows thrown around on the floor for their guests. Louis’ eyes fell on the Luna’s chair. It was made of exquisite wood and decorated with an assortment of jewellery in different tones of red. There was a somber black cushion placed on the seat. The Alpha’s chair was similar, but there were no cushions on it. It looked sad, abandoned. The Regnant Luna was the only one using the audience room, apparently. Or at least the chairs.Louis had to stop his walk for a second. There was a tingling sensation inside him. He got dizzy. Suddenly, he wasn't in his body any more. He was seeing the Alpha seat again, but this time it was decorated with colourful throw blankets. There was a cushion on it. It was pink. It looked cute. The future pack Alpha was now sitting there, in his rightful place, his elegant hands full of rings. Louis had never seen rings on Harry’s fingers before, had he? Then, there was Louis. But not seated on the Luna’s chair, no. He was kneeling on the floor, between the Alpha’s legs, resting his head on his lap while the alpha stroked his hair. No. He wasn’t only resting and the Alpha was not only stroking him. They were doing something else, something much dirtier. And the alpha was pushing his head as he moaned deeply. He could almost feel it, almost, a pressure against his throat, not the anxious lump that was actually there. Something sparked in Louis’ belly. He gasped and shook his head, trying to dispel the image. He looked around, full of guilt. Zayn was staring at him with a confused look in his eyes.  Stupid omega, he thought, embarrassed at his own thoughts. “Louis,” said a voice right behind him.He jumped in his place and turned to see Harry.His entire face went red. He looked down, too embarrassed by his stupid fantasy to face the alpha who’d been the protagonist of it. “I brought you these,” said Harry, and offered a pair of shoes. “You forgot to—,” he said.“Those are yours,” said Zayn. “From when you weren’t as tall.”There was a pause. Harry didn’t reply. Louis felt tempted to grab the shoes and run with them, but when he raised his hand the bracelet jingled and reminded him of everything.
Evil omega.
“He shouldn’t have anything of yours. It’s not good for his attachment,” said Zayn.Harry laughed, uncomfortable. “I haven’t worn those in years. They shouldn’t have any of my scent. It just rained outside. He’s weak,” he seemed to beg.Zayn sighed, but took the shoes and leaned down to help Louis into them.Louis knew he shouldn’t. But he felt giddy. He had something of Harry’s on him. He smiled a tiny smile. He lost it when he was forced to keep walking. Zayn nudged him, made him move. Harry stood there. Zayn closed the door, separating them. Once outside, Louis was painfully aware of the lack of Harry's scent that the world suffered. He felt naked, vulnerable outside the Alpha and Luna home."Let's go. This way."His heart beat faster and faster as Zayn kept leading him away from Harry. Behind them, a couple of alpha guards followed them, discreetly, quietly.The bracelet jingled. His body felt heavier and heavier with each step.They had only walked a few meters, but Louis was ready to die.  A petite beta woman was standing on the road in front of them. The guards who were following Louis tensed and prepared to attack. She didn’t react. She seemed innocuous, except, of course, because of the Yorkshire emblem on her formal tabard. Louis clutched Zayn’s arm.“Greetings,” she said, “am I on the right way to the Alpha and Luna house of the Style’s pack?” she asked, very polite.Zayn blinked at her, as if surprised. “You are,” said a voice some meters behind. It was the pack Luna. “Who are you?”Louis turned his head around to find the Styles Luna’s sour expression. “Greetings,” said the messenger, “from the ancient and mighty Yorkshire pack.”“Greetings,” the Luna said, “from the Luna and Regent of the Styles pack.”The messenger stared at the Luna, unmoved. “The Alpha and Luna of the ancient and mighty Yorkshire pack send a message with me. Would you be so kind so as to receive it?” she said. “Of course. Come here,” ordered the Luna.The messenger started making her way to the Alpha and Luna house. Louis looked around and found out they were surrounded by more guards now, who had come quickly and quietly. They followed each of the messenger’s steps like hawks. The messenger passed by Louis’ side and looked at him sideways. She glanced down at him and smirked. Louis' heart stopped, and then went haywire. Zayn put his arm around Louis shoulders. That's when he realised he was trembling. The beta kept on walking and bowed in front of the Luna.“Thanks for having me.”“No problem at all,” said the Luna. “It seems that my pack has become quite popular lately,” she added. “Has it?” asked the messenger, without interest. “Yes. You will find I have another important visitor inside. You might be familiar with the future alpha of the Cadogan pack?”That made the messenger tense for the shortest second.“Of course,” she said. “He shares blood with our old Luna. He’s her… grandson, I believe?”“Yes,” confirmed the Luna. “Yorkshire is his mother’s tribe, you know? She left to marry into the Cadogan pack.”“Of course,” said the messenger. “Have you met him?”“I don’t think so, no,” she replied.“Allow me to introduce you,” said the Luna, and opened the door. “Come inside.”
No. No, don't let her in! Harry is inside!
The messenger entered the house, followed by a handful of dutiful guards. Alpha guards. She was only a beta. Harry was strong. And there were many guards. Harry would be okay. He would be okay.Louis held his breath until the door closed. Then his legs gave way and he stumbled in his place.“You’ll be okay,” said Zayn, holding him from his waist now, so he didn’t fall. “They’ve sent for me,” Louis whispered.“Perhaps. But your trial is still to happen and—.”“They won’t care about your stupid trial,” said Louis, now in hysterics. “This is it! It’s over! You’ll have to hand me over. You’ll have no other option.”
They will kill me.
The realisation hit him like a ton of bricks. 
They will kill me.

I’ll die.

It’s over.
He started hyperventilating. “Louis—”“They will kill me,” he said. “Let me go, please let me go, please, please—”Louis had a panic attack. He was sure of it. Zayn held him and asked him to breathe, trying to calm him. It took a long time before he was breathing normally again. By the end of it, he was once again exhausted. He wanted to drop there and die.
Yes. That would be better for everyone. 
“Let’s go,” said Zayn instead. “Do you want me to carry you?”“No,” he said, stubborn.They managed to reach Zayn’s cabin, even if it took a long time.  Zayn opened the door and let Louis into his place. The den was full of colorful pillows all over the floor. The walls were full of paintings, drawings, and graffiti. It looked nice and cozy, somehow homier than the Alpha and Luna home. “Thanks for having me,” he said, falling on top of the cushions. “I know this isn’t what you’d want.”“It’s okay.”Louis hugged a cushion to his chest. It smelled like nothing. Everything smelled like nothing. He shook his head. 
Focus.

You need to—you need to try.
“Zayn?”“Yeah?”“I’m really sorry you got saddled with me,” he said.“It’s okay. Are you feeling better? Do you want some tea?”Louis shook his head. “Zayn?”“Yeah?”“Your Luna is making a mistake,” he said. Aurora hadn’t listened, but perhaps Zayn… He seemed like a sensible person. Harry liked him. Maybe he'd listen?“What do you mean?”“She thinks she’s buying time, preparing, bluffing. But all she's doing is pissing them off. They will come and get me. They won’t care about your trial. They will be mad. You have to…”His first instinct was to ask Zayn to let him go, just like he’d begged before. But now it was too late.“You have to hand me over to her. Don’t waste any more time,” he said. “They might still spare you. Please.” “Louis—”“Everyone here’s in danger,” he explained, desperate.
Harry. Alpha.
“We have to trust her,” said Zayn. “She’s older, wiser… she must know better.”Louis groaned, frustrated. He was so fucking tired. Everyone was in danger and no one was getting it.“It will come to it,” he whispered. “And you’ll have to hand me over.”Zayn’s deep eyes stared at him.“Not tonight,” he said. “And not tomorrow. Tomorrow is your trial. Please don’t try to escape, not on my watch.”“I won’t,” he replied. “I’m too weak ‘cause my omega got attached to your future alpha cause he was nice to me once, you know? And tonight’s my first night on scent rehab. I’m probably going to start having withdrawals soon.” His joke fell flat.Zayn grimaced.“Sorry about that,” he said.“Not your fault,” said Louis. “Just stop being so nice to me as well,” he added. “Might get attached to you instead.”Zayn snorted, his eyes finally gleamed with humour.“You can,” he said. “I am single, unlike Harry.”Louis tried to smile at him, but he couldn’t.Reality settled into his bones. He was here, a danger to everyone, and he couldn’t even run away because his fucking omega got stupidly attached to a kind alpha.A kind alpha who had an omega.A kind alpha who didn’t want him.
Alpha sent us away.

Bad, bad, omega. Alpha hates you. You can’t do anything right.

But he gave us his shoes? And a bracelet?

‘Cause he pitied us. And as punishment. Don’t be delusional.

This is not the moment to think about that.

Everyone’s in danger.

Yorkshire's messenger is here.

They’re going to kill you.

You deserve it.

Evil omega.
“Louis?” he could hear Zayn’s voice, but it was far, far away. Zayn opened the door, later on. It was dark outside and Aurora was there. The alpha glanced at Louis, who was basically a ball on the floor, hugging a cushion, wearing only an old pajama of Zayn’s.“Is he–?”“He’ll be fine,” Zayn said. “He’s going through withdrawals. Sarah said tonight should be the worst part of the attachment reversing. He should be better in the morning.”She sighed.“Can I talk to him?”“Yeah. Come in. I’ll wait outside.”“Hi,” she said to Louis, standing by his side. This close to her, he was only able to see her swollen feet.“Hi,” he said back.“I’m sorr—”“Not your fault.”She paused.“Still. I’m sorry I put you in that situation. I just thought it’d be nice if you met some of our male omegas.”“It was nice,” he said. “Honest.”“I—I came to see if you were okay. I tried to push the trial back, but there’s a Cadogan here, and a messenger from Yorkshire’s and—”“It’s okay,” said Louis.It didn’t matter, anyway.
Alpha hates us.

Bad omega.

Alpha’s in danger.

Just die now. Problem solved.
“Louis, I–I know you’re not feeling your best, but I’d appreciate it if you made an effort for me. Please, please tell me if you know more about why those alphas were chasing you, why it is so important for Yorkshire to kill you that they looked for you all the way across the ocean.”Louis shrugged. “It doesn’t matter anyway,” he said.“It matters. For the trial.”“I deserve to die,” Louis said. “No,” she said. “I’m sure you don’t.”“I do,” he said, looking up to meet her eyes. “Just hand me over.”“The trial is tomorrow,” she said. “I’ll leave some formal clothes for you.”He didn’t pay a lot of attention to her words. His mind was occupied somewhere else.The next thing he knew, he was crawling to the door. Alpha, his omega screamed inside him. We need alpha. Louis crawled. Slowly, slowly.
Alpha. We’ll go to alpha. He will claim us. He has to.

No. You don’t deserve it. You’re just trouble to this pack. You need to die.

But alpha…

He has an omega. You're just a delusional omega who's got a silly attachment to him.
Zayn appeared by his side.“I’m not trying to escape,” said Louis, stopping mid crawl. He was breathing with difficulty. “I know,” the alpha said. “But you can’t go to him either. It’ll make it worse. Let this night pass. You’ll feel better in the morning.” His eyes and his voice lacked harshness or judgement. Louis wanted to cry out, to punch him, to tell him not to pity him. Louis was not doing this on purpose. He had not become attached to Harry for fun. He didn’t want to be like this either. When he’d gotten here he wanted to escape, to go away, to get to his family.Now he wanted his alpha.But he knew he didn’t deserve an alpha.Harry was not his alpha. He didn’t have an alpha.He was evil.He deserved death. And Death himself was closing in on him. There were angry tears in his eyes. He tried to clean them with his sleeve. Louis woke up way too early on the day of the trial. It was still dark outside. He decided not to waste time, given how long it took for him to do the most basic of things. He slowly turned around and crawled toward the corner, where the clothes Aurora had left were. White pants went on his legs, extremely slowly. Then he took a break to breathe and stare at the wall. Next, he picked a white shirt and frowned. He couldn’t put it on, not without help. Waking up Zayn wasn’t an option. The poor alpha had spent an awful night taking care of him.He started opening the buttons, one handed. It took long minutes, but he did it. Then he managed to cover his sling with the shirt, but struggled to cover his other side. He was close to tears, frustrated with his body, feeling so fucking awful, so fucking stupid.
Why don’t you just fucking die already?
“What are you doing?” asked a sleepy voice then.“Nothing,” he said, out of habit.“Let me help,” said the alpha.Zayn stood up, walked toward him, and crouched to look at him.“There are other things in that bag. Are you sure that’s what you want to wear?”“Yeah,” Louis lied. He was too exhausted to care about clothes.“Okay, let me just…”Having a couple of extra hands helped. Zayn was extremely careful with his arm.“What time is the trial?” Louis asked, once he was ready.He’d tried so hard to make them realise how useless a trial was. Now he’d given up. He'd go to the trial. He was probably going to be killed then and there.“At ten,” Zayn replied.“And what time is it?”“Six.”He was all dressed and it was still far too early for him to start making his way to the fucking trial. He wanted it to be over already. He wanted to die. He sat and waited. He zoned out for a bit. The next thing he knew, he heard some knocks on the door. Zayn opened it. Harry’s scent filled the room within seconds. Louis perked up and leaned on his side as much as possible to catch a glimpse of the alpha.“Is he ready—or is he gone already? I've brought him a cheese sandwich.”“You shouldn’t be here.”“A night has passed without him being exposed to my scent. The worst of it must have passed, right?”Zayn sighed, tired and pissed.“Harry, he had an awful night, I don’t—”“What happened? How is he?”“You can see by yourself,” said Zayn, opening his door wide.“He’s still here?” Harry frowned.“Where’d he go by himself?”Harry entered Zayn’s cabin and stared at Louis with wide eyes. The omega felt uneasy. “What?” he asked. It was more of a what did I do now? “What’s wrong with you?”Louis flinched.“What did I do?”“Your—Zayn, what’s wrong with him?”“Nothing? I mean, nothing more than the attachment—”“No. His scent.”“Hey!” Louis complained, flushing. He didn’t like his scent being talked about, much less by the alpha he’d become embarrassingly attached to without meaning to!“Sorry, but—something’s wrong with your scent.”Zayn’s nostrils flared. “I don’t know what you're talking about.”“It’s—it smells fainter. Can’t you tell?”Zayn shook his head.“Do you feel any different?” Harry asked him.“No?” he replied, unsure of what Harry meant. “I’ll bring Sarah,” he said.“There’s no for that,” said Zayn. “We must start walking to the clearing in a few minutes if we want to get there on time. He’s still weak.”“I’ll—”“You’ll do nothing. You’ll keep your distance, to be safe. I’ll take care of it.”Harry frowned. "At least give him the sandwich. He must eat something."Louis did eat. His heart felt lighter for the glorious minutes it took for him to eat up the food his alpha had provided. He loved that fucking cheese. When it was over, he felt sad. Zayn pulled him up and served as a human support for Louis. Once on his feet, it was easier for him to walk. It didn’t have anything to do with the deep breath he took in as he passed by Harry’s side. Aurora was waiting for them some meters away from Zayn’s cabin. She walked with them. He didn’t understand how it was physically possible for her to walk now. In less a week, her belly seemed to have become even bigger than when he’d met her. She waddled slowly, which was very convenient for Louis, who managed to keep up with her steps.Harry followed behind. Louis tried to avoid turning his head back to make sure he was still there. His scent, even if fainter outdoors, comforted him as he walked to what felt like his execution. He’d seen his green eyes for the first time when he was about to die. What a sight to die to, he’d thought.Louis finally gave up and turned his head around to glance at Harry’s eyes, just one more time.He still felt the same way.
What a sight to die to.
 They reached a clearing in the forest that was prepared for the occasion. There were seating spaces all around it, in a circle. Aurora pointed at the part of the circle where he was to sit as a defendant. Harry and Zayn stayed behind.“Don’t worry. I’ll explain everything. You’ll only need to talk when they ask you to do it, and you’ll only need to tell the truth. Meanwhile, just keep quiet and you’ll be fine.”He squirmed in his place, uneasy.To his left, he saw a group of people from the pack. Aurora looked at them.“They are here to represent the people of the pack,” Aurora whispered. Louis nodded nervously.To his right, he saw the much more ornate seating spaces. “That’s where the seven elders will sit,” she said, pointing with her chin. “And those two places are for our Alpha and Luna.”Louis gulped, picturing Harry and Shawn there. He didn’t want to think about that. He didn’t need to. Shawn wasn’t there. Instead, Harry’s Grandmother took a seat.“She’s Amelia Styles,” Aurora whispered again. “She’s our Regnant Luna, and the person with the most authority in the pack until it is considered that a suitable heir is ready to take over as head of the pack.”Louis sat cross-legged, now, uncomfortable and on edge, waiting for everything to blow up. Next to him sat Aurora, for whom a comfortable and ample chair had been dragged to this clearing. Harry sat next to his grandmother, but not in the Alpha seat, on a different chair. Last, the Elders of the pack took their places.When Louis thought everyone was ready to start, there was some commotion to his left. There were two extra seats next to the elders. There was an alpha sitting on one of them, but Louis barely even glanced at him. The Yorkshire messenger was on the other one.“Where are they?” she was saying.“Here they come,” said an elder. The acrid scents reached Louis' nose before he saw them—the three alphas. They made his hair stand on end, remembering the long weeks he'd spent being hunted by them. For a second, he thought that was the end of him. They were here. They were going to kill him now. But they couldn't.They were escorted by two alphas from the Styles pack each. Unlike Louis, their ankles and wrists were still tied by wolfsbane binds. And they looked like they had only received the most basic hospital care—their wounds were clean, but not much more. Compared to them, Louis felt like he’d been given the royal treatment. It felt good, for a sec—to think of himself as other than the most hated person at this trial. The alphas got seats some meters away from him. Louis hugged himself. His bracelet jingled at his action and made everyone look at him. He felt himself blush, embarrased. Fortunately, one of the Elders stood up and interrupted the whispers. “Our wise Luna,” he said, bowing to Harry’s grandmother. “And our Alpha-to-be,” he bowed to Harry, with noticeable less enthusiasm. “Our elders, and our people,” he said, opening his arms. “And of course, our special guests: From the Cadogan pack, future alpha Julian Cadogan,” he said. “And a kind messenger sent here from Yorkshire,” he added. “We’re all here for this rogue omega and these three Yorkshire alphas to be judged by the law of the ancient and wise Styles pack. The omega is accused of entering our land as a rogue and endangering our future Alpha. The alphas are accused of injuring or future Alpha and five wolves more who came to his aid. Let us start.”“Omega Aurora of the Styles pack,” said another Elder. “You’re here to be the rogue omega’s Voice. Do you accept this burden?”“I do,” she said. Louis crossed his arms in front of him. He did not expect this trial to open by calling him a fucking rogue and a burden .
Why don’t you just kill me already?
“Alpha Simon of the Styles pack,” said the same Elder. “You’re here to be the voice of these three alphas from the Yorkshire pack. Do you accept this burden?”“Yes, I do,” said an older alpha man. Well, he thought. At least, once again thanks to the alphas, he wasn’t the only burden here. “The omega shall answer questions first,” said the Elder.“Omega Aurora,” said the elderly Luna. “What do you have to say for your defendant?”Aurora breathed in deeply and stood up.“Our wise Luna, future pack Alpha, blessed Elders, Pack, and honourable guests, I am here to speak on behalf of the omega Louis. The first thing I will ask is that he’s called a rogue no more. By definition a rogue is a wolf who has left his pack to roam solitary, and who after three moons becomes crazed and a danger to themselves and to others. That is not Louis’ case at all. He has a pack, all the way across the ocean, but he was forcefully removed from them by way of threats.”“The omega lies,” said the alpha called Simon. “He does not belong to a pack across the ocean. He was born in Yorkshire and belongs to them. As such, the alphas I represent believe it’s Yorkshire’s right to do as they wish with him.”Louis clenched his fists. He did not belong to Yorkshire.“Alpha Simon, please remember Omegas have a right to speak first in our pack. Do continue, omega Aurora. Tell us the omega’s story.”Aurora nodded. She repeated what he’d said to her, without skipping any detail, clarifying some things Louis had skirted about, only implied. He was surprised to hear her version of the story. She was much more eloquent than he’d ever felt. Hearing his story out loud, in her voice, felt… weird. He watched everyone’s faces discreetly. He saw—sympathy? For him?It felt good, for a little while. He knew, though, he knew they would all hate him when they knew the full truth, the danger they were all in. 
Bad omen.

You'll doom your tribe.
He felt Harry’s eyes on him, but he couldn’t make himself look back.He didn't want his alpha to know the truth about him.
Evil omega.
 Aurora finished telling Louis' story, or what she knew about it. Her final words were received with solemn silence.“In conclusion, Luis has been another victim of the three alphas standing here before us. He had no intention of entering our pack territory as a rogue. And he did not mean to cause harm to alpha Harry. That was all on the alphas. Thank you.”The Elder who was chairing the trial stood up. “Thank you, omega Aurora. Now, what do the alphas have to say for themselves?” the Elder asked.“Yes, thank you,” Simon huffed. He stood up. Then his eyes zeroed in on Louis. “You might not feel as much pity for my defendants, as they’re alphas and not deceptively quiet omegas. However, I want our Wise Luna, our Blessed Elders and our Pack to know that my defendants were only trying to protect their pack,” he explained.“Protect from whom?” asked the elder, glancing at Louis’ pitiful shape and probably holding back laughter at the idea that a broken omega could be a threat to the most powerful pack in the land. Louis would share the feeling if he didn’t know what the lawyer would say next.“There’s a prophecy,” he said. “The Yorkshire pack are only making sure it doesn’t come true.”“A prophecy?” was the general murmur.The messenger from Yorkshire stood up. The lawyer turned to the alphas and one of them spoke up.“The omega is dangerous, evil,” he said, looking straight at him again. Louis shivered. They were going to say it. They were finally going to say why Louis was dangerous. And that might be good, now. Louis hadn’t been able to tell the whole truth, but they were going to do it. Finally.Perhaps the Elders would listen to them.Perhaps they would hand Louis over and Yorkshire would spare the Styles pack. He held his breath.“The alphas I represent would like to exercise their right not to say any more than that,” Simon said, glancing at the messenger from Yorkshire. Louis frowned. What? Harry’s Grandmother stood up.“Do the alphas understand that if they do not tell us their story, our Pack might not show leniency?”Two of the alphas snarled. The third one kept staring at Louis, who was immediately back at that night, being stared down by his wolf form. He held back a petrified whine and glanced at Harry.Alpha was here. He was safe. He shook his head. “They understand,” Simon said. "And they still desire for those words to be their only declaration--the omega is dangerous and evil."Louis felt frozen in his place. Why wouldn’t they say more? Everything was aligned for them. They only needed to tell the Styles about the prophecy. The Styles would hand Louis over. They might even pardon the alphas’ lives, even if they had attacked Harry. Yorkshire would be happy to get Louis. They wouldn't hurt the Styles. Why was that not happening?!Louis’ heart beat fast as he tried to understand.He looked at the messenger. She was still standing, smirking again.There was a reason. There was a reason they were not talking about the prophecy. Why? “Wise Luna, Elders,” said Aurora, out of nowhere. “I would like to request a recess.”There were murmurs and whispers until the pack Luna silenced everyone.“Let us have a recess,” she confirmed.Most of the people in the audience turned to talk to each other, whereas the Elders, the Luna and Harry retired in silence, followed by their guests. A group of alpha and beta guards rounded up the three Yorkshire alphas and started guiding them back to—wherever it was they were held. A prison cell far away from here, hopefully. Aurora herself started walking away slowly, without a word to Louis.“Are you okay?” he asked, catching up with her. It wasn’t hard. She walked just as slow as he did.She tried to smile at him, but grimaced instead.“I’d like to be discreet,” she replied. “About what?”“I’m going into labour,” she whispered.“You’re fucking what?” he squeaked.That called the attention of the future pack Alpha, who turned around and walked straight to them.“What happened?” he demanded.Louis winced at Aurora, apologetic. She just sighed.“I’m going home,” she said. “I believe it’s time.”“How frequent are your contractions?” asked the alpha.She looked a bit guilty.“I haven’t been counting, but my guess is… around ten minutes now.”Louis panicked. The alpha seemed to panic as well, judging by his wide eyes.“I’ll carry you there,” he said.“Nonsense,” she replied. “I can still walk. It could be hours yet.”“No, let me—I’ll—”“You can go help my alpha to prepare,” she conceded. “He’s probably going nuts at home, feeling what I'm feeling. I forbade him from coming to the trial. He gets so upset when he attends one that I can't focus.”“But—”“And if that’s not enough for you, you can run and tell Sarah to come.”“And—”“And I need someone to tell my mum it is time to come to the house and take care of the little ones.”Harry finally nodded, his face all serious.“I’ll do that. But let me ask a guard to—”“Nonsense,” she repeated. “Louis here will walk with me. And Zayn follows him everywhere like a lost puppy. We’ll be fine.”“Hey!” complained Zayn, who was, as predicted, following right behind them. “It’s the truth!” said Aurora, jokingly, but her expression was tainted by pain.Louis held her arm.“Are you sure?”“Yes,” she said. “Come on, come with me.”Harry looked at Aurora, then at Louis, then at Zayn. He nodded to her and waled away, first in strides, then basically running. Louis doubted he’d been satisfied with Aurora’s response. His suspicions were confirmed when he realised that, apart from Zayn now walking beside them, they were being followed by two burly alphas whose eyes were fixed on Aurora’s belly.He had a fleeting thought—Harry was a caring alpha. What would he be like when his own omega got pregnant? His mouth tasted bitter at the thought of a pregnant Shawn. He tried to hide his feelings by talking.“You seem very calm,” Louis said to Aurora.“I’m a Voice,” she said. “I’ve trained for years to be calm under extreme pressure.”“I envy your nerves of steel,” he said.She giggled. “You’ve survived for weeks while three alphas chased after you. If that’s not having nerves of steel I don’t know what is,” she said.Louis reflected on her words while they made their way to her cabin, ever so slowly. “Don’t worry, I’m not made of stone,” she said. “I’ll be howling in a couple of hours. Labour is no joke.”“Do you have more kids?”She nodded. “Two more. Alpha’s with them.”Louis smiled, imagining the scene. His alpha at home, taking care of the little ones—. An alpha. Not his alpha. Just. An alpha. Any alpha. Aurora’s alpha. It was a cute idea. “He sounds like a good alpha.”“He is,” she replied. “Almost died of separation anxiety when we discovered we were soulmates,” he said, uttering her words carefully, breathing with a bit more difficulty. “Couldn’t spend a night without me.”“How did you find out you were soulmates?” he asked.Perhaps it was stupid, but he loved to hear those kinds of stories.“Mine was On a new moon, a fall, so dark. His was a broken paw but a whole heart. ”“Fuck, did he break a paw during a moon run?”“Yeah,” she giggled. “But he didn’t even care. He was too excited to finally know it was me.”“That’s sweet,” Louis said. “Did he claim you immediately after?”She shook her head.“We had to wait for a few months for my heat,” she said. “He went crazy. Couldn’t calm down until I let him put this necklace on me,” she added, pointing at the necklace she was wearing.“Were you calm and controlled, then?”She giggled.“No, of course I wasn’t. I was a right mess. I wanted to live in his head, I longed for him to live in mine. I kept trying to guess what he was thinking and getting it wrong.”“Oh! I heard from other soulmates that they can share some thoughts, even before they mate,” he said, thinking of Niall’s Ma.“We started sharing some ideas, some feelings, yeah. It was thrilling, addictive, but that wasn’t enough. We mated as soon as we were able.”Louis smiled, but his heart felt heavy.“Some soulmate stories sound like fairy tales, don’t they?”Aurora seemed surprised.“Mine?” she asked. “It seems very normal to me.” Not to me , he thought.“Oh, well. I get where you’re coming from. I got a good alpha,” she said, upon reflection. “I know that’s not the case for every omega.”“Well, they say we have the best alphas in our pack,” intervened Zayn.Aurora scoffed.“Who says, you?”“People!” he replied, indignant. “Louis, you’ve been to other pack territories. They say that about us, don’t they?”Louis smiled at him, placatingly.“You seem like a good alpha,” he said instead of replying to his question.Zayn blushed.“That’s not what I meant!” he said. “I mean, generally. Our alphas. Are good.”He had heard the rumours about the Styles' alphas, yes. But he didn’t believe them. No pack that allowed Yorkshire to run rampant sounded good to him. He now realised he was being unfair. What could this pack do against Yorkshire? He glanced at Aurora’s belly, discreetly. Then he looked behind, to the alpha guards that were following them.He hoped they had time.But he knew they didn’t have a lot. They got to Aurora’s cabin. Louis was surprised to be let inside, along with Zayn. Aurora’s alpha was waiting for them, just inside, carrying a toddler and hugging a nervous little girl by the shoulders. “You kept telling me to wait here, but I wanted to run to you,” said the alpha.“I know,” she said, and kissed his check. Then she kissed her kids.“It seems like it’s time,” she said to them. “I’ll go to my nest. Zayn, Louis, can you take care of Anya and Timmy for a minute while my mum gets here?”Louis turned to look at Zayn and after a silent exchange, they both nodded.Zayn ended up with a confused toddler in his arms and Louis got himself stared at by a girl of around three years old.“You smell funny,” she said to him. "Like nothing at all."“Thanks, Anya,” he said, without missing a beat. “So, do you have any dolls?”Her face brightened. “Yes!”She was easily distracted for a few minutes. Except then she stopped playing and ran to see her mother. Aurora sent her away and the girl came back with tears in her eyes.“Hey,” Louis said. “It’s okay, it’s okay. Mommy is just really busy making sure your baby sister is safe.”He cuddled her in an effort to get her to settle, but it took time. Before she could calm down, her brother caught up with the tension in the room. And then Zayn found himself with a crying toddler squirming in his arms. “Shhh!” the alpha was trying to say, but his panic wasn’t helping.“Give that one to me,” Louis said.Louis picked up the toddler and took the little girl by the hand and ended up improvising a little nest in Aurora’s den, using the pillows, cushions, and blankets he found there. He cuddled them and tried to distract them with silly faces and games, ‘stealing’ their noses and blowing raspberries, all while explaining that their mother would be okay and that Nana was coming and she’d give them biscuits (at least he hoped so). It took a while, but he managed to calm them down. Zayn was just awkwardly standing by his side, staring at him. “What?” Louis asked.Zayn opened his mouth to say something. Then the door opened and Harry entered the cabin along with Sarah and an older woman.For a second, time stood still. Louis closed his mouth and opened it again. He couldn’t say anything. His body wasn’t his. He was watching himself from afar. He was cuddling a little body, just like he was doing in reality, but this wasn’t reality. Louis knew it wasn’t real because this wasn’t Aurora’s little girl. This was Levi by his side. He knew this wasn’t reality because he could feel a baby bump in his belly. And he could see a certain future pack Alpha crouching next to him, caressing the bump, smiling. His green eyes were gleaming with happiness.Louis gasped for air.He was back in his body, eyes wide open.Louis’ hand went straight for his belly, which was empty, as usual. As it would always be. He’d never hallucinated before, and now it was happening so frequently. What sort of hell was his mind creating? It was the fucking attachment. It had to be. He’d never heard of it lasting even beyond a night of withdrawal, or causing hallucinations, but it had to be. He shook his head. While he was distracted, the children went to their grandmother’s arms, much calmer than before. She kissed them and rushed to get the backpack their parents had prepared.“I’ll take these ones with me,” she said to Harry. “Wouldn’t want them to be here for—you know. The worst of it,” she whispered. Meanwhile, Sarah went into the room where Aurora would deliver the baby. Zayn and Harry started talking about something, something related to the alpha guest, Cadogan. They seemed agitated. Louis watched the kids go. Then he watched Harry and Zayn’s discussion. He felt… as if his body was still not his completely. He crawled to a quiet corner of the room. There was an armchair there, but he didn’t feel like sitting on it. He sat down next to it instead, hugging his knees. It was comfortable here, between a wall and the chair. The commotion in the house didn’t reach him there. He couldn’t see Harry, but he could still smell his scent. He felt a bit safer.Everyone had probably forgotten he was there. He could have run away at that very moment. If he didn’t feel completely depleted now that he had no one to care for. Aurora was safe. Her kids were safe. Louis' eyes were droopy. He stayed there. Nobody paid attention, everyone went on their way. Zayn left the cabin too, after Harry asked him to do something or other for him.Louis stayed. Harry stayed. Louis looked up and found Harry in front of him. Their eyes met.“Uhm,” said the alpha. “Are you feeling better?”
Are you feeling less obsessed with me?
Louis felt like crying. He didn’t allow himself to do it, though.“Yeah,” he lied. “Was the trial too tiring?”Louis shrugged.“Do you like children? You—you seemed to like Levi. And Anya and Timmy.”“Yes,” he said, now avoiding Harry’s eyes. “I love them. They’re fun. I used to play with my sisters when they were little.” “Oh. You have sisters?”Louis couldn’t answer the question. Zayn opened the door to Aurora’s cabin and narrowed his eyes at them. “They were already on his way, Harry. They’re right here .”Harry stepped away from Louis just in time for his Grandmother to walk inside. Shawn entered behind her. Louis made himself as small as he could. He didn’t needn't bother, the Luna of the pack pretended like he wasn’t there, as usual.Zayn sat down on a sofa right in front of Louis and kept an eye on him.“Are you okay?” he mouthed.Louis didn’t reply. He didn’t feel great. He breathed in deeply, trying to get a bit of Harry’s scent into his lungs. It didn’t help a lot. The room was now filled with other scents. With Shawn's. With Harry's grandmother's. He hated it.“We’re ready to perform the ritual,” the Luna said. Shawn nodded and unpacked the bag he was carrying.“Yes, of course,” said Harry. His voice sounded a little bit off.“Shawn, proceed,” she said.The male omega sat on the floor and started placing a series of stones around him. Louis couldn’t see very well from his corner, but they seemed to be runes. Oh, oh. He’d seen a similar ritual when his sisters were born, a Yorkshire version of it, at least: The Luna of the pack did it while the child made their way into the world, to read their soulmate prophecy. Louis remembered being there, peering at their Luna as she read each of his sisters’ futures. He was so envious, back then. They got them at birth, since they were girls. Louis had to wait until he presented as an alpha or a beta to get his own. He was looking forward to it. But that never happened.Now he stared and stared—at Harry’s grandmother, at Shawn, at the runes. He wished he could read them. That he could give little Levi his prophecy. Perhaps he would also get to know if someone was out there, waiting for him. There’s a prophecy about you, the voice inside his head said. And it’s not about a soulmate. Evil omegas deserve no soulmates.
You deserve to die.
 “You did it wrong,” the elderly Luna said, interrupting Shawns movements and startling everyone in the room.“I’m sorry,” the omega said, quietly. “I’ll start again.”“Take a break,” she said, a bit too harshly for Louis’ liking. “I’ll go breathe some air. Harry, come. We need to talk now that I got rid of Cadogan.”She was still pretending to be unaware of Louis’ presence in the room, then.Harry stood up, but he didn't follow immediately. He took a minute to pat Shawn's back."It wasn't so bad," he said. "You'll get it right soon."Louis hated to see him touching Shawn. He hated it. He wanted to snarl, to bite. He wanted to disappear and die.Shawn stood up and walked toward Louis’ corner. He was flushed. Louis wondered if he was going to tell him he needed to go away so that he could focus, but the omega did no such thing. He just fell on the armchair, covered his face with his hands, and started sobbing.“Shit. Hey,” said Zayn. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. It looks like a difficult thing to master.”Shawn breathed in and out, and after some attempts he managed to stop crying. He cleaned his tears away.“It’s just so difficult,” he said. “And all the other omegas already think I don’t deserve this.”“Don’t listen to them. They’re just jealous you bagged the future pack Alpha.”Shawn got quiet.“It’s not like it was on purpose,” he whispered. “No, I know. We all know. That’s what makes them even angrier. Why you, and not any of them, you know?”“I wonder the same every day,” said Shawn. “Especially today.”“Our Luna chose you ‘cause you descend from a family of Elders and you’re also hot, so she might have thought you'd be able to keep Harry distracted,” said Zayn, joking.Shawn laughed uncomfortably.“Perhaps,” he said, unconvinced.“You’ve never looked quite happy about this.”“No, I—I’m honoured, really. I will have the most honorable role I could aspire to in any pack.”Zayn’s eyes glanced at Louis. They were full of sadness. Then he looked back at Shawn. “And Harry’s the hottest alpha this side of the ocean,” he prompted.“Yeah,” the omega said, without any emotion behind his response. “But?”Shawn’s hands became fists.“It’s stupid.”“You can tell me,” Zayn said. “I can pinkie promise I won’t tell anyone, if that helps.”Shawn laughed again, this time a bit more sincere.“It’s just—I—I’ve—I’ve always dreamt I’d mate my soulmate,” he whispered. “Your soulmate?!”“I told you it was stupid.”“It’s not stupid,” he said. “The whole thing about sharing mind and body with a person forever sounds—I get it. It’s just—you don’t believe Harry’s your soulmate?”“I–I wouldn’t dare to say that aloud, of course,” he whispered. “Our Wise Luna has decided we make a good pair, so—”“But you don’t believe it.”Shawn’s hands started trembling.“I just—my—my birth reading.”“What was it?”“The ocean waves will come,” he whispered.“The ocean waves will come?” Zayn asked, emphasising the word in disbelief. “You do know that’s not possible, right? Unless… is that a thing about tsunamis? If an ocean wave gets here, we’re screwed, mate.”Shawn shook his head, a tight smile on his lips.“Don’t be like that,” he said. “I just wish—I—-I haven’t ever thought of Harry in relation to the ocean.”“No, not quite an ocean scent or an oceanic guy, right?”“Not quite,” Shawn replied.“And—do you know Harry’s soulmate prophecy? Have you talked about that?”Shawn got quiet.“No—No. Our Luna said that’s not important. Pack is more important than soulmates for future alphas.”“Yeah, why would it matter? You’re only going to spend the rest of your life with an alpha with whom you never felt any sort of connection. No big deal.”Shawn laughed again. “Thanks for distracting me,” he said. “But there’s nothing I can do. I have to try. To read the runes, I mean. Again.”“Yeah, sure. No problem.”“I’ll go tell our Luna I’m ready.”“You should go wash your face first,” said Zayn. “You’re blotchy.”“Oh,” he said, rubbing his cheeks. “Shit. Yeah. Thanks.” “He didn’t know I was here,” whispered Louis, once Shawn had left and closed the door to the lavatory.“No. I don’t want to sound rude, but you’ve been losing your scent since this morning. Harry was the first to realise.”That was odd. He shook his head.“Not the point. You should have told him I was here.”“You could have done it yourself. You could have even moved your hand a little bit and your bracelet would have jingled,” said Zayn, raising an eyebrow. “But you wanted to hear that. You needed to hear that.”Louis blushed.“Did you do it on purpose?”“Maybe,” he said, nonchalant. “Why, though?” Louis asked.“I have my reasons,” he said. “Now get up.”Louis couldn’t do it on his own, but Zayn helped him. By the time Shawn, Harry and his Grandmother returned, he was sitting on the armchair. “What is he doing here?” asked the Luna, as soon as she stepped inside the cabin and saw him.“Aurora invited him,” stated Zayn, calmly lying to the Luna. She frowned but didn’t say anything.Louis looked at Zayn and back at her.“It’s tradition,” Zayn said. “The omega may invite whomever they wish to partake in the celebration of life,” he explained, as if repeating words learnt as a child.A lot of what the Styles pack said seemed to be like that.The ritual proceeded as usual this time. Shawn sat and placed the runes. Harry participated during a part of it, blessing the stones in a rhythmic chant. Shawn tried again, but failed. His head went down, in shame. Aurora’s screams were loud now. The pack Luna took over, arranged and rearranged the stones, chanted, and finally had a reading by the time the first scream of a baby was heard all around them.“She’s here! She’s here!” Aurora’s alpha announced, in the happiest roar Louis had ever heard from an alpha.Everyone in the room smiled, including Harry’s grandmother, which was odd.“Let us go to the child.” Everyone stood up, including Louis. Zayn guided him to Aurora’s chamber. They walked in behind Harry, his grandmother and Shawn. Sarah was still inside, but she stepped away, respectfully. Once everyone was there, in a circle around the newborn, the pack Luna extended a piece of paper to the new parents. “Here it is,” she said. “The little one's birth prophecy.”The mother accepted the paper and held onto it as if her own life depended on it.“Read it!” begged Aurora’s alpha.She looked tired, but also eager.“What is her name?” the pack Luna asked.“Romina,” said the alpha.“Romina,” confirmed Aurora."Romina," said the Luna. "Herein lies your destiny."Aurora then read the text on paper aloud. “Moonlight, midnight, the river that flows,” she said.Everyone cheered.Aurora hugged her baby. Her alpha hugged them both, tears in his eyes.“You’ll live a long, happy life,” he said. “And one day, the river and the moonlight will introduce your soulmate to you, just like fate brought your mother to me.”Louis caught a tear with his hand.He looked up. Harry was staring at him, even when his grandmother and his future omega were right next to him.Louis looked away. He stared at baby Romina instead. After one of the craziest, busiest days of his life, Louis returned with Zayn to his cabin while Harry left with his grandmother and Shawn and Sarah made her own way. They all left the new parents alone to enjoy their newborn baby. Louis walked slowly, so slowly, hugging his own body, the bracelet tight against his chest to prevent it from jiggling and getting on his nerves. He stopped several times on the way, just to breathe. Without any distractions, his thoughts ran rampant inside his mind. Baby Romina, his mind was screaming. She’s in danger too. And it’s all because of you.
Run away.

I can’t. Alpha…

Just die already!
“Are you sure you don’t want me to carry you?” Zayn asked, in a quiet voice.“I’m okay,” he lied.They managed to reach Zayn's cabin. They didn’t enter, though, as there was a little boy sitting down in the garden, waiting for them.“Louis!” said the pup, and ran fast to tackle him, his own bracelet jingling. Louis would have fallen to the floor, had it not been for Zayn’s hold on his good arm.“Levi!” groaned the alpha. “You’re not supposed to be here, you’re grounded.”“But I—”“Go back home.”“But it’s important!” he cried out.“No. Go home.”“Harry didn’t want to hear either!”“Harry’s busy. Lots of things are going on right now, Levi, lots of adult things. He’ll hear you out later, okay?”“But it’s important!”“Levi. For the last time. Go. Home.”Those harsh words brought tears to the pup’s eyes. Louis had had enough of it.“Let him speak, for fuck’s sake!” he yelled.Both Levi and Zayn shut up and stared at him. Levi was the first to react.“It’s really important,” he said. “I’m not lying.”“I believe you,” said Louis. “What’s going on?”Levi’s lips were trembling and his little fists were clenched. “I did something bad,” he confessed.“Something bad?”“Levi, what did you—?” started Zayn.“Hush,” said Louis. “Do you want to tell me?” asked Louis.Levi nodded.“I was spying,” he said.Zayn snorted. And yeah, Louis got why he reacted that way. Everyone and their mother knew about Levi’s spying. The kid knew way too much stuff he shouldn’t. He knew how to take advantage of his short size and lack of scent.But Louis didn't laugh. He could tell something was wrong this time.“Did you hear something bad?” he probed.Levi nodded. He was about to cry.“I’d spy on the mean alphas. Sometimes. Cause they said things about you,” he said. Every word was now said with difficulty, as Levi struggled to breathe and speak.“That’s okay,” Louis said. “Did they do something to you?”He shook his head.“I—I heard Simon, their Voice, talking to them,” he explained. “He said the messenger had arrived and was ready, and that he’d set them free at midnight.”Louis froze in his place. “What?”Zayn was quick to react. He looked at the sky, to assess the time.“It’s past midnight,” he said, already pushing Louis and Levi toward the cabin, his guard up. “I ran as fast as I could, but Harry wouldn’t hear me!” cried Levi. “I didn't know what to do. I went to Aurora’s place but Grandma was there and she’d be so mad. So I came here and waited and waited until you came back.”“It’s okay,” repeated Louis, holding him by the shoulders. “It’s okay,” he repeated. “You did okay.”They were in danger. They were in terrible danger. This was the moment.This was what he'd expected would happen during the trial. He'd gotten way too comfortable when he should have been alert. Alpha, his omega screamed in his head. Alpha, alpha, alpha. Zayn kept pushing them and puffed out his chest, getting ready to howl for help.“No,” Louis stopped him. “They will hear too,” he warned.“Styles wolves are fast. And they have been in laced cells for days. They’ll be weak.”“No," he said firmly. "Levi must run to safety first.”Zayn glanced at the child and nodded.“Levi,” said Louis, crouching to look at him in the eyes. “I need you to run fast, as fast as you can to the Alpha and Luna house, okay?”Levi’s eyes watered.“But the mean alphas want to hurt you,” he said, his lower lip trembling.“They won’t hurt me. I’ve faced them before and I won, remember?” he lied, trying to appear calm for Levi’s sake. “Now, you have to run, okay? You need to tell Harry about this. He’ll hear you out now, okay?” His voice was high, almost hysteric. Zayn was on guard by his side, fangs already out.“Okay,” whispered Levi.“Go!”Levi ran. He was the fastest little boy, but his body was so small… and his bracelet jingled. Oh fuck.His bracelet jingled. “Levi!” he cried out. He didn’t know how he managed to do what he did next. Guided by pure adrenaline, he ran to Levi just in time to push him behind his body as one of the alphas appeared in front of them. He was so fucking tall and strong. His claws were bloody. Even in his human form, his snarl was terrifying. “Louis!” the pup cried, scared.Louis sensed, more than saw, as Zayn turned into his wolf behind them and howled for help.“It’s okay,” he said to Levi. “Change of plans, you’ll run to Zayn’s cabin, okay? You’ll be safe there.” The alpha snarled again and took a step toward them.Louis didn’t know how or why, he snarled back. The alpha stopped, confused.“Levi, go!”He held his breath as he heard the little steps and jingles running away. He waited and waited for what seemed an eternity, while Levi ran and the alpha walked calmly toward him. Finally, he heard the sound of the door slamming closed.Levi was safe. For now. He sighed, relieved, and faced the alpha, fist clenching. The man took another step toward him. He seemed amused by Louis.Zayn appeared right next to the omega, an elegant brown wolf, and snapped a warning. The wolf laughed. The other two appeared from the shadows, one to Louis' right, one to his left. The three were in their human form, weakened as expected, but just as deathly. They were three, and they were surrounded. Zayn was growling menacingly, a strong wolf, but only one against three.And Levi’s little body was only protected by a flimsy door.He knew it would come to this. He’d tried to tell them.“I’m here,” he said, opening his arm, his bracelet jingling. “You can have me, just please don’t hurt them.”That alpha, that terrible alpha who had almost killed him before smirked.“As you wish,” he said.Zayn didn’t seem to agree with the way Louis was handling things. As the alpha stepped forward, he pounced on him. He didn’t hold back, he bit hard and stretched with all his might. The other two wolves didn't take long to react. One ran straight toward Zayn. Louis snarled again, from the bottom of his heart. 
Hell, no. You can have me, but not them. Not them.
He turned into his wolf without hesitation. He was smaller, an omega after all, but he had a little advantage over the alphas in his wolf form. He went straight for that alpha’s throat to defend Zayn. The man wasn’t expecting that. He fell to the ground, his eyes wide as he realised he was bleeding, probably to death.The third alpha attacked seconds after. He didn’t bother with Zayn, who was still busy fighting the first one. He went for Louis, instead. Louis fought, he fought with all his might, but he was fucking strong, even in his human form. He still had claws and fangs and he wanted to maul Louis. He clawed at him.Louis whimpered and fell on his knees, suddenly back in his human form, shivering and with a horrible gash across his chest.“Fuck,” he said. For a moment, he wondered if this was how he died.Alpha, he cried. He was supposed to see his alpha's green eyes when it happened.The Styles wolves were fast, though. And they were many. In the blink of an eye, wolves came from all directions. Three alphas against one were terrible odds. Three weakened alphas versus an entire troop of angry wolves—well, the odds changed. Louis watched it all from the floor, frozen in his place. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the Styles wolves kill the alpha that Louis had injured, as if it was nothing. Turning to his right, he saw others tackling down the one that Zayn had been fighting, easily overpowering him.And then, right in front of him, he saw the majestic black wolf in action. He pounced swiftly and caught the neck of the alpha that had opened his chest. It cracked. Louis watched in awe until the last of the Yorkshire alphas exhaled his last breath. The chase was over, after the longest three weeks.The black wolf dropped the corpse, stepped on it and howled.There was silence. Everything was quiet once the alphas were no longer a threat. The Styles wolves turned back to their human forms. Little Levi, hearing the black wolf's victory howl, peered at the scene from an ajar door. “Harry!” he cried out and ran to his cousin. Harry hugged the little kid with all his might. Zayn, for his part, ran to Louis.“Are you—? Oh. Fuck, fuck. Harry’s going to—”“Louis!” cried out Levi again, this time running to him.He was crying now, hysterical. Harry ran behind him. The alpha kneeled on the grass right next to them and put his hand on Louis’ shoulder. The omega felt warm. His heart started to slow down, finally.“What did they do?!” the alpha snarled.“Louis! You’re hurt!” Levi sobbed.“It’s okay, little lad,” he said to Levi. “I’m okay.”“Did you win again?” the boy asked, tearful.“Yeah, yeah, I won again.”Harry kept staring at him, his eyes darker than ever.“What happened? I heard you calling.”“Simon let them out,” said Zayn, by way of explanation.He was hurt too. He collapsed on the ground as well.“Fucking Simon,” growled Harry. “I’m going to kill him.”“No need,” said Zayn. “Smelled his blood on that one,” he said, pointing at the corpse of the alpha leader.Sarah got there just minutes later. Along with her there were volunteers, carrying all sorts of medical supplies, prepared for the worst. She gave instructions so that everyone got first aid treatment while their wounds healed. She walked to their little group herself and checked on Harry herself while a volunteer checked on Zayn.“I’m fine,” Harry said, pushing her hand away. “He’s the one who needs help.”“Fuck,” she said, as he noticed the omega’s injury. “It’s going to take a while for your body to heal from this one.”Levi whimpered, tightening his hold on Louis. Harry’s hand on Louis' shoulder felt tighter as well.“I’ll be okay,” Louis said. He just kept repeating that, unable to actually process what had happened.The last to get to Zayn’s cabin were the pack Luna and her entourage. The Luna, as usual, seemed displeased with what she saw there.The messenger from Yorkshire came with her. Louis' stomach sank at her sight. First, her expression was somber, but then a little smile appeared on her lips, her eyes gleaming.“Shall I send your message to my Alpha and Luna, then?” the messenger said to the Luna.She probably didn’t expect the elderly Luna’s reaction.“Hold her,” she ordered.In a heartbeat, two alphas had grabbed the beta.“What? You cannot hold an official messenger hostage!”“Oh, please,” the Luna said. “As if Yorkshire respected diplomacy and tradition. Take her and search her extremely well for weapons.”Harry watched everything unfold, mouth slightly agape.“What are you doing?” he asked, standing up, freaking out.Louis held Levi tighter, missing Harry’s touch already.“Buying a little more time,” the Luna said. “Yorkshire will have a pretty good idea about what happened here when they realise their messenger isn’t back. But meanwhile, they’ll wait for her return.” “Grandma,” said Harry. He couldn’t say anything more.“I expect you can now see the gravity of our situation,” she said, overtly calm and stoic, but eyes alert, scared.Louis kept holding Levi as Sarah cleaned his wound. The healer was quiet, focused, as if pretending she hadn’t heard or seen what the Luna had done. Nobody was saying anything. Everyone just kept playing their roles. Little Levi’s eyes were closing.Louis started to finally process everything. The alphas were dead. The Styles had killed three alphas from Yorkshire without a fair trial or a sentence. And all because of Louis.What had he done?Had he just doomed the Styles?The Luna spoke again to the guards, before retiring.“Bring the omega to me when he’s not bleeding all over the place.” Sarah took her time bandaging his wounds. Little Levi, so exhausted by crying, fell asleep on his lap. “Louis?” said Sarah.“Yeah?”“Good luck.”He didn't know what to tell her.The time came for Louis to go to the Alpha and Luna house. He was flanked by two guards. Harry took Levi and carried him in his arms, walking behind them. Zayn tried follow but Sarah stopped him.“No. You go to the clinic with me,” she ordered.Zayn huffed."Harry?" he asked. "Are you okay to--?"The future alpha nodded at him, but Zayn must have seen something in his face, something that unsettled him.“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” said Zayn.“No,” Harry said. “Take as long as you need.”Zayn sighed and ran to catch Louis.“Louis,” Zayn said. “Yeah?”Zayn pushed his body to move a guard away and hugged Louis tight.“Stay strong,” he whispered in his ear. “He’s getting there.”Louis blinked at him.He didn’t understand.The guards made Louis keep walking. Harry walked behind. He followed Louis’ slow pace in silence. Louis had to stop several times. When he did, Harry stopped right behind him and touched his lower back, ever so slightly, encouraging him to go on. It was ridiculous, but that barely-there touch did help and gave Louis the strength to keep going, even when he didn’t know what he was walking towards.Bring the omega to me, she’d said.This whole day had been fucking crazy. He didn't know what to expect anymore, but he knew it wouldn't be good. Perhaps, this time, he was walking to his death.Once in the house, Louis was guided to the audience room, the one he had seen—was that only yesterday? It felt like an eternity had passed since then. The door was closed now and it opened only for him. When Harry tried to step in, the guards shook their heads.The future alpha frowned.“It is my right to be present at the audiences,” he said.“It’s our Luna’s orders,” said one of the guards. “As you’re not pack alpha yet.”“Or ever,” murmured the other.Louis was irked by their attitudes but there was nothing much he could do. When they were closing the door, leaving Louis inside and keeping Harry and Levi outside with them, he managed to step on the toes of the guard who had made that last comment. The man gasped. Louis growled at him, defiant. The guard didn’t say anything and closed the door all the way. It felt good. He was all by himself in the audience room. He turned around to find the Luna of the Styles pack, sitting in her chair, waiting for him. Her expression was transparent. She was pissed. “Sit,” she ordered.Louis walked toward the center of the room, slowly, and sat on a pillow on the floor, right in front of her. Not because he wanted to obey, but because he was exhausted and about to crash. As the elderly woman stared at him, he felt tiny and lonely. This time, there was no lawyer to talk for him. It was him against her judgement in this one-on-one trial.She stared and stared. Her attention was suffocating. Louis would rather she went back to pretending like he didn’t exist. “Omega,” she finally said, almost spat. “The time for games is over.”Of all the things he'd imagined, he did not expect that sentence. “What?”“Tell me why Yorkshire want you,” she ordered.“What?” he repeated, now more confused.“I’ve given you a chance to say it all in your terms, in private, to a nice, caring, motherly omega. And you’ve simply refused to say anything useful, again and again.”Something finally clicked for him. “Then I thought those alphas might speak, when I offered you to them on a plate at the trial.”Louis tensed. “But it seems you’re all trained not to say anything, aren’t you? And that messenger was useless. She came to spit her venom and nothing more. So now we stand here. You’re the only one who knows why Yorkshire wants you dead, and you will tell me.”“Why would I do that?” he asked, chin up, glaring at her.“You can, of course, keep quiet. But then, would you risk Harry and Levi, Zayn and Aurora, little Romina, just a newborn?”He'd never liked her. But now that he saw her for who she really was, he despised her. He felt manipulated and… angry. “You wanted me to meet them all,” he realised. “What for? To make me feel guilty if something happened to them?”“Yes,” she said, simply. “I wanted to appeal to your omega’s desire to protect,” she explained. “I wanted you to see my pack as real people who will suffer if something happens to them. And now you do.”When she said it like that, it sounded logical. But Louis was pissed. Cause she’d managed to trap him. Now he felt like he needed to help her in any way he could, to protect this pack, to protect Levi, Zayn, Aurora's little kids. And above all, Harry. To whom the Luna knew he was attached.“You’re a shitty person, did you know that?” he said.She didn’t react.“You wouldn’t understand,” she said, “the lengths I’d go to to protect this pack. Now tell me. Tell me and I’ll know what to do to protect my pack from those brutes.”“Hate to disappoint you,” he said. “But the only way you could have helped your pack was if you had handed me over before any of the events of this evening transpired, as I told your caring, motherly, lying omega lawyer,” he said, angry he'd somewhat believed Aurora's fake concern for him. “You can still try, though. Beg for your grandchildren’s life. They will kill you, after what you’ve done. But they might spare them.”She glared back at him.“No more games,” she roared. “I’m not playing games, you are!”“The male omega will doom his tribe,” she said, suddenly.Louis gasped.Nobody, nobody outside of Yorkshire was supposed to know about that.
Evil omega.
“Who told you that?”“An interested party,” she said. “When did your Luna read this prophecy? At your birth?” Louis analysed the situation for a few seconds. She already knew about the prophecy. And she seemed to think that answering her questions was the way to save his pack.
We must trust her. She’s older. Wiser. 
Louis gulped. He didn't believe that, not for one second, but what option did he have?“No, not at my birth. At our pack Alpha’s birth. It came to our Luna after she'd read his birth prophecy.”The Luna nodded, as if he had confirmed what she already knew.“How did they know you’re the male omega the prophecy is about?”Louis stared at the wall.“Because I’m the only one who’s still alive. Yorkshire cleansed every male omega living at the time of our Alpha’s birth. And then they cleansed every male omega who presented since.”“They killed every male omega in the pack?” she asked, again as if confirming information. She did sound disgusted, he had to give her that.“A male is not pack until they present as alphas or betas,” he explained.Everyone knew—male omegas were bad omens, evil . They would doom their pack. When a female was born in Yorkshire, her birth was celebrated. When a male was born, he was treated like a visitor, just passing by.She heard every word he said, avidly.“Yet you survived. You escaped.”“I got lucky.” My Mum and Ma saved me, he thought. But he didn’t want to talk about them in front of this woman. “And how did they find you?”Louis looked down.“My sisters started to write to me recently,” he said. “My best guess is that they were not as careful as Mum was.”She nodded, this time differently, as if it made sense to her. The Luna took her time thinking of her next question, staring at the wall behind Louis. He shifted in his place, uncomfortable, wishing this was already over.
Why don't you die already?
“Did you ever find it interesting that the prophecy clearly stated that you would doom your tribe, not your pack?” she asked.“Uh?” he frowned. No, he'd never thought of that.“You see, omega, prophecies are an art. Every single word is important, charged with meaning. For example, your tribe. As an omega, if you mate into a different pack, Yorkshire becomes your tribe. ”“But I’m not mated.”“No, you just got exiled and became a self-fulfilling prophecy.”“I—guess?” he said, still frowning, reflecting.His tribe. Yorkshire. Not this pack, right? Not the Horan pack. That was good, right? It mean they were safe, right? The prophecy was not about them.
No, Yorkshire will destroy them after what you've done. It's all your fault. You could have kept going. If you had kept running, Harry's pack would be safe.
“Another thing about prophecies," said the Luna, bringing Louis back to the moment, "they're always two lines. Take soulmate prophecies, for example. At birth, you get your line. And then you meet your soulmate and finally make sense of everything, when it matches their own line.”“But we’re not talking about a soulmate prophecy.”“Precisely. Which means that your pack Luna, back then, did not write one line. They wrote two lines. What is the second line, Louis?”He looked down, thinking, thinking.“I’ve never heard of a second line.”She seemed disappointed, but somehow not surprised."Figures."“But--If there’s a second part, why did nobody mention it, ever?”She smiled. “Two birds, one stone. They told you what was convenient to them: male omegas are evil. What does that do to a pack? Make them afraid. Predisposes them against male omegas. Keeps them compliant---they must kill those omegas if they don't want their pack to be doomed."Louis hated to admit it, but she was making too much sense."What's the other bird?""Protecting theirselves, of course. Think about it. ‘The male omega will doom his tribe’. What’s missing there? What might the second line be about?”Louis analysed those words from a different perspective for the first time in his life.“How?” He'd asked himself that question before, how, what will I do? But this time was different. How? He wanted to know the answers.“Precisely,” she said, for the first time looking at him with a positive emotion. “What do you think other packs would do if they could hear that second line?”“Make sure Yorkshire is doomed,” he replied. That's what he'd do, too.“Precisely. And that is why the complete prophecy must have been kept a secret.”Louis' mind was reeling.“If a powerful pack knew how and finally stopped them--”“It would be nice, wouldn’t it?” she said. “There are several packs interested in this mystery, did you know that? But only one who might do the trick.”“What do you mean?”“The Cadogan pack is quite something, you see?” she said. “Their future alpha wrote to me, all dramatic lines and expletives, saying he wants to protect you, as he believes you are his soulmate. He was desperate to see you, came all the way here. You might have seen him at your trial.”Maybe, but he didn't even remember. Louis felt disgusted at those words.“He’s lying,” he spat.“I know,” she said. “How would he know he’s your soulmate if you were not given a soulmate prophecy at birth? But he had a nice little lie to cover for that one.”“What lie?”“You see, his grandmother used to be Yorkshire's Luna. She had two daughters. One stayed behind. The other is currently living in the south, as part of the Cadogan pack. A marriage of convenience, of course. She had a son. And wouldn’t you know it, she told her son about you, she just happened to know your birth prophecy.”Louis' anger found a new target.“More fucking lies.”“Absolutely. You were no one at birth, one male amongst many others. Nobody knew you were going to be an omega, much less that you'd be an important omega. Your prophecy was hidden among many more.”He looked down. He was painfully aware of that. If he were gullible, he'd fall right into the trap, eager to get to know his prophecy. “Why would they lie about that?”“Because they want you,” she replied. “It makes no sense for Cadogan’s mother to know about your prophecy. But she might know about another one, one that is much more important.”“They know how?”She seemed giddy. “I believe so, yes. Julian Cadogan wants to meet you. To ‘take you home’ with him.”Louis’ whole body shivered.“No.”"I'm giving you a chance to make up for all the wrong you've done," she said. "To redeem yourself and help me to protect my pack.""No," he whispered."Go. And find out how. Stop Yorkshire. Doom your tribe."No."Or do nothing and enjoy your front row seat when Yorkshire comes and kills every single person you've met. Up to you."No.Harry, Levi, Zayn, Aurora's family, the male omegas...He'd rather die than go with another alpha that was not Harry. But he knew he must do it. To save them. He nodded. She summoned Julian, not caring about the fact that the sun wasn’t up yet. The alpha rushed there some minutes later, barely awake.“Louis!” he cried out and ran to hug him. “I’m glad to see you’re fine! I've just heard about yesterday’s commotion.”Louis held back a snarl.“I’m okay,” he said.“I’ll leave you to it,” said the Luna, and left the audience room.Louis' whole body was on high alert. He was alone with this alpha. He was alone with this alpha. He breathed in and out. He had a job to do. He could not mess this up. “Has she told you about us, then? Are you ready to go home?” asked Julian.“I—I can’t in good conscience put your pack in danger, even if you are my soulmate,” he said. “Yorkshire won’t stop until they have killed me.”“We’ll be ready for them,” Julian said, looking at him with a smile that Louis would believe was sincere were it not for his dead eyes.“How ?” Louis asked, pointedly. “Don’t you worry your little head about it,” he said. “We’ll just be. But we need to go, quickly. Yorkshire men could be marching here as we speak.”Louis felt his heart stop.“What?”“Again, don’t worry about that.”“But the Styles have helped me.”“And I’ve offered some of my wolves to help them in exchange of you.""Some?""Enough," he replied. "Yorkshire are big, but our forces combined should be enough to stop them. Again, don’t worry. Battles will be fought, but we’ll win. And you and I, we’ll be far away from here.”He held Louis by his good arm and pulled him to the door.“Let’s go.”“But how—how do you know you’re my soulmate?”Julian's eyebrow arched for a split of a second. He controlled his expression quickly.“I just knew, my darling, when I laid eyes on your beautiful face. Don’t you? Don’t you feel it?”
No. 
He shivered again. Harry was sitting on the floor, right outside the audience room. He stood up when the door opened and stared at the scene: Julian’s hand around Louis' arm, pulling him.Louis was relieved and ashamed to see him in equal measures. He felt like he needed to say something, but he didn’t know what.
Help me.

I’m sorry.

I’ll make this right.
“Louis,” Harry said, finally.“Ah, Harry. Good to see you," said Julian. "I wanted to say thank you one last time for taking care of my omega.”Harry’s face lost all colour.“Are you feeling better, then?” he asked Louis, staring into his eyes. "From your--the problem you had earlier?""The gash is better," he replied, reassuring him."No. The--the other thing. With the, uhm. Thing you had. When you met the omegas."The attachment. Louis' face went red."Yes," he lied. Harry clenched his fists."Okay."“Well, it's been lovely,” said Julian, dismissive. “But now we’re going home, not a minute of happiness to waste!”Louis was pulled again, but a thought crossed his mind. Did Harry know…?“He doesn’t want to be here in case the Yorkshire wolves attack,” said Louis.Harry’s eyes widened, and that gave him his answer."What?"“Louis—” said Julian.“He should leave some of his men behind,” said Louis. “To help you. And send more. He–”“I’ve discussed this already. With the pack’s regent,” said Julian, tightening his hold on Louis' arm, pulling again, harder this time. “Harry,” called Louis. He wanted to say so many things to him.“Take care,” was all he could say. “Take care of Levi.”“Of course,” said the alpha.He wanted to cry. He’d believed before that he’d never get to smell Harry’s scent again, but this time it was real. This was it. He sniffed the smell of mountain and freedom for the last time as Julian pulled him away from Harry.  I promise I’ll find out how, he thought. 
You’ll be safe. I promise. 
He had a mission: protect this pack, make sure Yorkshire got doomed. But he felt like his heart was being ripped off his body in the process. It didn’t take long for Julian to show his real self.He mounted Louis on a horse, once he realised he was too weak to run in his wolf form. He rode behind him, holding his waist tight.He kept a smile as they made progress inside the Styles’ territory, going south. But once the cabins became more and more sparse, he lost his smile and started shouting orders at his wolves.“You, run home and let them know the news,” he spat. “You, bring the healer here, right this instant. The rest of you, get away from me.”“Yes, sir!”They were left alone for some miles. Louis kept quiet, tense. Julian observed him.“You won’t speak like that again, do you hear me?” was the first thing he said.“Like what?”“Like an idiot,” he replied. “Only I shall speak in front of other people,” he said. “Understood?”“Yes, sir,” replied Louis, mockingly. The tone was lost on the alpha.“So, what is it that is special about you?” the alpha asked, barely touching his cheek with his index finger.Louis pulled off, afraid, disgusted.“I’d dare to say nothing,” he replied, dry.“No,” said the alpha. “No, there must be something. Why would you be the fall of Yorkshire otherwise?”That sobered him up.“What do you mean?”“There must be something about you that will help me,” said the alpha. “But what?”“If you tell me the exact words of the prophecy,” Louis dared to say. “I might be able to help you. Perhaps there’s something—something I’ll understand. And I’ll give you whatever it takes to conquer Yorkshire,” he said, a bitter taste in his mouth.“You know the prophecy already,” said Julian, distractedly.“Not all of it."
Not the important part.
“You don’t need to hear it, it doesn’t make a difference for you.”“It might,” Louis said, his heart beating fast.Julian tilted his head, observing him from a different angle. “The male omega will doom his tribe. Yorkshire will fall by his alpha’s hand,” he said.Louis gasped. “A-are you sure? Those are the exact words? What does that mean?” he said, breathless, but he knew the answer.“It means I will mate you,” he said. “And then, I will destroy Yorkshire.” Louis' heart sank. His alpha. So–just because of a mating bite, this idiot would have the power to defeat Yorkshire? Not a fucking chance. That was Harry’s right. Harry would always be his alpha. He felt electricity running through his body. Yes, his omega sighed, relieved at being heard.Harry was his alpha.He saw it clearly then, despite the fact that none of them had birth prophecies to share.He hadn’t gotten over his stupid attachment because it wasn’t a stupid attachment. His omega was dying, trying to reach out to his soulmate without success.He was Harry’s and only Harry’s.Harry was his alpha.Did Harry know?Did Harry know and did he hate him?Was that why he didn’t claim him?Or perhaps it was because he had an omega, a better omega, more demure, more obedient.And all those other omegas, all those other omegas he’d knotted.Louis couldn’t breathe. He didn’t want to drop. He didn’t want to drop. But he felt everything getting dark around him. Louis heard voices as in a dream.“He’s unwell,” said the first voice. “I can see that. Tell me something I don’t know,” replied Julian. “What’s wrong with him?”“I wouldn’t be able to confirm it, not without a soulmate prophecy to check, but if I were to hazard an opinion, I’d say that this omega has been rejected by his soulmate within the last few weeks.”“Soulmate rejection? That’s the fucking last thing I need. What’s going to happen to him?”“Without his soulmate? He’ll die soon.”“How soon?”“A matter of days, I’d say.”The alpha groaned.“The Luna said his heat is not coming until February. I cannot mate him without a heat. I cannot be his alpha without a heat. Do you get that?”“I know, my lord, but—”“Well, do something! Aren’t there things to trigger a heat?”“They’re dangerous, my lord—”“Bullshit. He’s already dying.”“I wouldn’t recommend—”“Can you do it or not?”“A heat takes up a lot of energy. As it is, he’s delicate. If he were to go into heat, his days might as well become hours, my lord.”“I don’t care,” he roared. “He can’t die before we mate. Trigger a heat. Do you not see what’s at risk here?”The other voice remained silent.“Yes. I see, sir,” the voice said in the end.Louis closed his eyes.He tried to look for the scent of mountain and freedom. But there was nothing here, not even a hint of it. It was far, far away. Harry had let him go.Harry didn’t want him.He was a danger to the Styles pack.
Rogue, defiant, disobedient, bad omega, evil omega. 
Yorkshire would destroy his soulmate’s pack because of him.He deserved to die.He hoped he died before Julian touched him.If Harry didn’t get to be his mate, no one should be.He felt something on his lips, in his mouth.“Drink this, omega,” begged a voice.He tried not not. He did. But he was too weak. Alpha, he called. Alpha, alpha! 
Harry! 
 He smelled it again—mountain, freedom, happiness. “You came,” said Louis, breathless. He opened his eyes and looked around. There was light, too much light, but Harry was here. His heart leaped in hope.“Of course I did,” his alpha said. “You called.”Louis jumped and clinged to his shoulders with his arms. Harry held his waist. Wait a second.His arm was completely fine.Oh. He was hallucinating again, wasn’t he?“No,” said the alpha. “No. This is real. I’m sorry, I’m sorry it took me so long to realise. I’m such a fucking idiot.”“It’s not real,” said Louis, hiding his nose in imaginary-Harry’s neck. “But it’s nice.”“It is real.”“Not,” he said. “It’s happened before. My omega was so starved for your attention that I started to have these… fantasies. I’m sorry.”“They were not your fantasies,” said Harry.“Uh?”“They were mine.”Louis giggled. “Sure. That sounds lovely. I’m liking this one a lot. It feels so real. I’ll be happy to die here, smelling you, looking into your eyes. I love your scent. I love your eyes. When you’re a wolf, they are so shiny. Wish I’d told you that.”“You won't die here. I won’t let it happen.”Louis held onto him so, so tight, wishing he’d done this when Harry was real and close to him. Back in that room. He’d give anything just to live one of those moments they shared again.“You’ll see me again,” said Harry. “I’ll hold you tight, won’t let you go, not this time.”“It’s too late,” he said. “I’ll go into heat soon. I can feel it.”Harry tensed. “What do you mean? It’s still a long way until February.”“He gave me something,” Louis said. “I’m sorry. I don’t want him, I promise. Only you. If you wanted me.”“I want you,” said Harry, a roar behind his words. “I want you so much, I love you. I won’t let him touch you. How long do we have?”“Hours?” he replied. “They said I’ll die, though. If I go through this heat. I’m too weak.”“You won’t.”“I’m sorry,” he said. “I can’t help it. And Yorkshire will attack you because of me. And I left ‘cause I thought… I thought it was the best thing to do but it wasn’t. I should have stayed with you. You’re my alpha. You will be the fall of Yorkshire,” he said. “You’re talking nonsense, love.”“No,” Louis said. “Your grandmother didn’t tell you, did she?”“What?”“The prophecy.”“What prophecy?”Louis let go of his shoulders to look into his eyes.“You have to know. You have to make them fall, even if I'm not here anymore.”“What are you talking about?”“The male omega will doom his tribe. Yorkshire will fall by his alpha’s hand.”Harry was looking at him with wide eyes.“Louis.”“You’re my alpha,” he said. “No matter what he does, you’re my alpha.”“I know,” Harry said.“I wish I’d been a good omega for you.”Harry pulled him again and held him tight against his chest.“You. Are. A good omega. The best omega. Do you even realise everything you’ve done?”“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”“No, Louis. I mean it in a good way.”
Bad omega. Evil omega. 
“No. No, you’re not bad, love, never.""You can hear that?" he asked."Yes, and I don't like it one bit. You're an amazing omega. I--Come. Let me show you what you mean to me, to my pack.”“Can we stay here?”“You’ll stay here,” Harry said. “You’re safe inside my mind.”Louis tilted his head.“I’ve finally lost it, haven’t I?”Harry laughed. “No, love. Let me show you.” “Louis is pack!” Levi cried.“He isn’t,” said Grandma.“He is!” the boy insisted.“Levi–” said Harry, trying to calm him down. “I know Louis was your friend but he decided to—”“He is my friend. My only friend! He always listens! And he answers my questions! And he plays with me! And he saved my life!” he cried out. “He fought with those alphas!”Harry glanced at his grandmother. She was losing patience. “I—yes, he did," said Harry. "And we’re grateful for that, but–”“But you’re a coward,” said Levi. “Louis has fought for me but you won’t fight for him. If I were older I’d fight for him. I’d kill anyone who’d want to hurt Louis!”“No one is going to hurt Louis,” said Grandmother, in a calm voice. “Julian is going to take care of him.”“No, he’s not,” said Levi. By this moment, he couldn’t contain his tears and they started falling down his cheeks. “He’s a fucking knothead. ”“Where did you hear that word ?”“Why do you say that?” asked Harry instead.“Because he said—”“Levi, don’t yell,” said the Luna.“Grandmother, please,” said Harry, firmly. “What did he say?” asked Harry.“He said he’d help you fight Yorkshire and remove the pesky thing from your hands,” said Levi, yelling at his grandmother. “And you said yes and thanked him! Louis is not a thing! I thought he was talking about something else!”“Levi—” said Grandmother.“Did he really say that?” asked Harry. “Yes,” said Levi.Harry glared at the woman, his suspicions confirmed. "He's not his soulmate. You said--you f-freaking said--"“Harry, you don’t understand.”“Oh, I understand,” he said.Louis blinked. He was alone. It was quiet. No. He wanted to stay. Stay with Harry. Harry was carrying Levi in his arms. They were outside the Alpha and Luna home.“Harry,” gasped his grandmother. “You can’t leave.”He looked daggers at her, eyes now completely dark.“You won’t tell me what to do. Not anymore. You’re supposed to look after the pack. You’re supposed to want the best for us. The best for all of us.”“And isn’t that what I have done?”“No,” said Harry, his voice cracking. “You cannot possibly believe that taking my omega away is what’s best for me."“Please, you can’t possibly know that’s your omega for sure. Think about it with your real head. If you go after him you’re declaring war against the Cadogans. Our only hope to survive an attack from Yorkshire.”“Louis’ pack can help,” whispered Levi, in a tiny voice."You shut up, Levi, the adults are talking."“What’s that, little lad?” asked Harry.“Louis’ pack can help.”“They’re far away,” said Grandmother, dismissive. “And not interested in getting in the middle of this mess. You wouldn’t understand because you’re—”“You’re lying,” said Levi, encouraged by Harry’s support.She glowered. “Why is Grandma lying, Levi?”“He doesn’t know what he’s talking—”“They wrote letters. I saw them. Horan. I can read. Louis said that was his pack.”“Would that be the pack that’s waiting for news around our western border?” asked Zayn, appearing behind Harry. “Cause I saw quite a number of wolves there this morning when I was securing our borders, like you asked .”“I didn’t ask—” said Grandmother.“I did,” said Harry.“Harry—”“And I saw more people camping at our eastern border,” he added. “Probably from two different packs, if one were to judge by the two camps. Might be worth asking why they are there and why they didn’t enter our territory. Perhaps they were denied entry?”The woman’s lips were pursed, her eyes full of rage.“They’re nowhere near as powerful as the Cadogan.”“They don’t know about the prophecy, you mean,” said Harry.The was stunned.“How do you—?”“Would you believe me if I told you a voice inside my head told me all about it?” he asked.The woman’s face lost all colour.“He can’t be.”Harry asked Zayn to take Levi, and the other alpha received the child in his arms and carried him away, to much protest from the boy. Harry stayed to face his grandmother."You've been trying to take him away from me my whole life, first by denying me the right to know my prophecy, then by handing him over like a thing.""I only did what I thought was best, every time.""Then perhaps it's time for you to rethink your position in the pack," said Harry. "Because if you actually believe you're doing what's best for us, you must be delusional."She gasped, outraged.“Right now, you have two options, as far as I can see,” he said, in a calm voice, although inside, he was insecure and afraid. “You can try to stop me and my people from leaving or you can focus on saving your land while I focus on saving my omega.”“You’re not allowed to take Levi,” she said. "If you're surrendering your pack, he must remain here as future alpha."Louis’ uneasiness ran deep in Harry’s veins. “No,” he replied. “I won't let you hurt him anymore. I’ll keep him safe. We’ll keep him safe.”Louis smiled."You're a bastard--!"He couldn't hear her voice. He was alone again.“Harry!” he cried out.“I’m here,” the alpha's voice said. "Easy. I'm here. Stay with me." He couldn’t see or hear much of what Harry was doing, now. He was able to perceive some things from the outside, like images, voices, scents. But right now, what he could see clearly were memories of them, bits and pieces and full scenes that Harry shared with him, lovingly.The way Harry had found him in the mountains. He felt the alpha’s fear, but also his fury at the alphas that were attacking the lone omega. He saw his beaten body through Harry’s eyes, as he took care of him, carried him to his home, protecting him. He saw Harry’s wolf whining quietly as he watched over him, his head leaning on the bed, trying to comfort him.He felt Harry’s shame when Louis stood up for Levi. His desire to do better.He saw Harry preparing food for him, excited to get to know what the omega liked. He saw Zayn's judging eyebrow and Harry's adorable blush. He felt Harry’s possessiveness as he snapped a bracelet on him. Mine, the alpha was thinking. Mine, mine, mine. You must stay here, you're mine.He saw the alpha’s fantasies again. First, the tamest one: a brief kiss on his cheek, a thank you. Then,  Louis doing some sexual things he’d never done in his life. Louis pregnant, Levi next to him. He felt Harry's desire, his lust for him, his longing for connection.His omega purred.Then he saw their goodbye. Harry was devastated.
I thought he was... but he said the attachment was gone. He's going away with his true soulmate. What you felt was solely on you, stupid, stupid alpha. 
No.Louis pushed that thought away.No.
Alpha's kind. He's thoughtful. He's amazing. He listens. He loves. Alpha's good.
"Thank you," said Harry. "You're also all of that and more."Louis blushed and smiled.  Louis stayed in Harry’s mind for as long as he was able, exploring, getting to know him, sharing everything he was and everything he knew.All of a sudden, he thought he smelled the ocean. There was no ocean near the Styles’ territory. Wait a second.“Niall!” he told Harry, excitedly.The familiar smile and warm blue eyes that flashed in Harry’s mind confirmed his suspicions.“Niall’s here!” he screamed in Harry’s head.“He’s here,” his alpha confirmed. “We’re not alone.”………But Louis was. He was alone again.“Harry!”Harry didn’t come.“Harry!” he cried out.He felt a shiver down his spine. He was alone. Everything had been a fantasy.No. Harry felt so real. That deep connection, his thoughts, his feelings. “Harry!”He felt a spark."I'm here," he said. "We've found where you are. Wait for me."Louis held onto Harry's mind.He'd wait. He'd wait for as long as he lived. Julian’s entourage was camping in a clearing. They hadn’t had time to get far, not with Louis on the edge of a triggered heat. Julian had ordered his men to put up a tent for the act, and he had shoved Louis inside, put him in a nest his pack healer had improvisedSuddenly, his horse neighed, spooked by the shadows that had sneakily surrounded them. Julian stood up and left the tent. His wolves flanked him, protecting him.“What is the meaning of this?” he asked, looking at the stranger wolves in disgust.A black wolf made his way toward him and sat in front of him, staring at him with disturbing green eyes. Julian hold his ground, although he wanted to step away. The wolf, even sitting, was taller than him in his human form.Harry turned back into a human, pretending to be calm when in reality he was struggling with panic and rage. He couldn't smell Louis' scent, which made him uneasy. But he could feel him inside that tent.“Cadogan,” he said. “Let Louis go.” The alpha laughed. “Why would I do that? He's mine.”Harry snarled."No.""He's my soulmate."“Stop lying. I know you’re not.”Cadogan simply smirked at him.“And who do you think you are?” he asked, mockingly.Harry replied without hesitance. “I’m Louis’ alpha.”Cadogan reacted by taking a step back, purely guided by instinct. Then he stopped himself.“You’re not,” he said. “You can’t. He’s not mated.”“He’s mine in all the ways that matter,” Harry said. “He’s my soulmate.”Cadogan frowned.“W-well, how would you know that? Louis didn’t get a birth prophecy, did you know that?”“Yes. I know everything there is to know about him,” he explained. “And he knows everything there is to know about me.”Cadogan seemed unsettled by his words.“He-he’ll doom your pack,” he ended up saying. “He’s a bad omen, there’s a prophecy that predicts—”.“That I shall destroy Yorkshire,” Harry said. “And I will. Along with anyone and everyone who has ever hurt Louis.”Cadogan’s guards tensed next to him.“There are more wolves. Hidden,” one of them muttered. Cadogan looked around, nervously.Harry walked toward him. Cadogan’s guards snapped a warning at him but he didn’t flinch. “Cadogan,” he said. "I don't think you understand," he said. He could feel his alpha's rage winning over. "W-what?""I will kill anyone who has ever hurt Louis."“I didn’t hurt him!” he said, holding his hands up."I know what you did," Harry said. "I know everything." One of the guards tried to claw at Harry, but he stopped him, holding his wrist and breaking it in the act."I haven't even touched him!" he said, hiding behind a second guard."I know," he said. "That's why you're still alive. Now move. I will deal with you later." Louis was in his arms. He was sweating, his heat making his body shiver.Harry had tried to make him more comfortable. He'd thrown the old nest away and had made one for him with his own clothes. It was improvised and inadequate, but full of Harry's love for the omega.He was so weak, so weak. He wouldn't wake up, not even when Harry begged in his head. He could feel Louis’ omega trying to please him with everything he had, without success.
I can't. I'm sorry, I can't. I'm trying. I can't.
Sarah was there, but she was not helping.“Please, tell me, tell me what to do,” he cried.“I–Harry, there’s nothing we can do—”“There must be something, anything. Tell me, I’ll do it.”“The only way is to mate him. But Harry, he’s too weak. He wouldn't make it through a mating heat in this condition.”“He will survive,” he said. “He’s strong, he’s stubborn. He’s fought against fucking alphas twice his size.”Sarah looked at him with pity in her eyes. “Harry—it’s too late for him.”“Get out,” he said. “Harry—”“Get. Out.”He stayed there, holding Louis's weak body in his arms, keeping him safe in his mind.Oh.His body was too weak to mate him. Oh. He closed his eyes. “Love?” he called."I'm sorry," said Louis. "I tried. I tried so hard, but I can't. I'm sorry, I'm so fucking useless...""No. No, come here. You have been through a lot. It's a miracle you're still alive. You're so fucking strong.""Not strong enough," he said, defeated. "Your body, perhaps. But not your mind. Your mind is strong. You’re still here, with me, aren’t you?”Louis nodded, eagerly.“Will you—?” started the alpha. He stopped. His face was hot and red. Louis could sense his thoughts, he didn’t need the words, but still wanted to hear them.“Will I do what?”“Will you mate me? Here?”Louis' omega purred. He grinned. “Of course I will,” he said. “Soulmate.”Neither the omega nor the alpha knew whether it would work. None of them said it. They could feel each other’s fears, ice cold in their hearts. But they could also feel their love, the pull between them. And if these were their last moments together, they wanted to feel love, not fear.“So? When are you fantasy-knotting me?” said Louis, trying to joke. The alpha pounced on him and took him by his neck to kiss him deeply. Harry’s other hand held him by his waist, kept him there, firmly inside his mind.He had one chance, only one, and he wasn’t going to miss it. He sneaked a hand down. Harry’s skin felt so real. He trembled. “Louis,” the alpha gasped when he finally got a hold of his cock. “You feel hard,” he said. “How is that possible?”“You’re in my mind,” said Harry.“But I feel—I feel wet too.”The alpha’s eyes darkened and he lowered a hand, getting a finger inside him to test it.“Again,” said Harry. “You’re in my mind. You have no idea of the dirty, dirty things that live here.”Louis growled.“What?” said, Harry, confused. “Only about me,” he grumbled. “Of course, love, only you live here.”“Not the other omegas,” he warned, showing his teeth.Their connection wavered.“Fuck.”“Shit.”“Shhh. It’s okay, you’re okay, you’re here. No other omegas, nobody. You and only you live here. Forever. You’re my soulmate.”Louis’ omega was pleased with those words. The fantasy returned, stronger—their bodies, entangled, their scents, mixing up deliciously, Harry’s hard cock, his wet hole.The alpha moaned and closed his eyes, ecstatic.“Fuck, I love my mind. Tell me you want my knot,” he begged.“It’s the only thing I want,” the omega replied. Harry’s mind wasn’t the ideal place to do this, but at the same time, it was perfect. He was able to join their bodies in all places at once, all places where he’d dreamt of this moment. On that guest bed back at home, with Louis under his body, moaning deliciously. In the forest, against a tree, where everyone could see them. In the audience room, with Louis leaning against the Alpha's chair.“Fuck,” said the omega. “Oh fuck, I want that. I want that. I want you everywhere, inside me everywhere.”Harry moaned. His fantasies were now Louis’. The omega took over them. 
On the mountain, with Louis on his hands and knees, howling with pleasure. By the ocean, their bodies wet from head to toe. On the Alpha chair, but this time with Louis riding him desperately.
"Fuck, Lou--"In his fantasies, he usually lasted longer, but not this time. Not with Louis’ lust feeding on his own. He knotted his omega—on the bed, in the forest, on the mountain, in the ocean, on his chair, in their nest. Everywhere at once, both gasping, moaning. Louis' bracelet jingled. The sign of Harry’s possessiveness of him. His omega put his wrist in front of Harry’s fangs.“Bite me,” he begged. Harry bit him.  He was in Harry’s arms. The alpha had a smug smile on his face.“I told them all,” was the first thing he said. “You’re strong. The strongest omega.”Louis blushed and hid his face in his alpha's neck. He startled. Alpha's scent... Alpha's scent had changed. It was… more delicious than ever. He inhaled it, again and again, almost without exhaling. Mountain, freedom… and Yorkshire roses. “Mine,” the omega growled. “Yes. I’m yours. Your alpha. And you’re mine.”He looked at his wrist. There was a healed bite there, half hidden by his bracelet. He moved it out of the way to stare at the full bite, lovingly. “Mine,” he repeated.He felt sleepy.Harry tightened his hold. “Sleep again,” the alpha said. “My strong, strong, omega.” The next time he woke up, he thought everything was a fantasy. His sling was off, his arm wasn’t broken. He was wearing clothes that smelled like his alpha. He frowned. “You’re awake,” said Harry. “I healed,” he said, in awe. 
Strong omega. 
“How do you feel?”“Okay… better than.”“Well enough to go meet some people? They’re dying to see you.”Louis frowned, confused. “Who?”Harry smiled, but neither his face nor his thoughts gave it away.“Can it be outside?” asked Louis. “Not in our nest?”Harry’s smile widened. “Of course. Come.”A tiny ball of energy tackled him as soon as he stepped outside.“Louis!”“Levi!”The pup jumped on his arms, managed to elbow his ribs, took his breath away, and started blabbering.“Sarah said—Sarah said—she’s a liar. You’re okay. You’re okay. You fought three alphas to save me. Of course you are okay.”“I am,” said Louis. “I’m okay, little pup.”“Well, he was the fastest one. But there’s more,” said Harry.The smell of the ocean.Louis’ eyes widened and he turned to his right.“Nialler!”“You fucker!” said the alpha, just before he tackled him to the floor. "I missed you so much, don't you dare do that again."Louis cackled. “Nialler!”Niall tickled him, aided by Levi, until he gave up. Then a third scent got to him. There was no way.He looked up. His Mum was there. Looking down at him with a smile. “You haven’t changed a bit,” she said, her voice full of love.Niall stood up.“Come, pup," he said, taking Levi's hand. "Let’s give them a sec. You and I can go play tag with the others meanwhile, what do you think?”“Okay,” said Levi. "I'll be back, Louis!"He skipped away happily.Louis couldn’t react. He was in shock. That was his Mum. “You’re here.” He was crying, he was actually sobbing on the floor and he could not control his body’s reaction. “You’re here,” he repeated.“We are,” she said. “Your sisters too. I asked them to wait over there. Didn’t want to overwhelm you.”Louis' sobs got louder. Harry kneeled next to him and held him.“She’s here,” he said to Harry, trying to explain. He didn’t need to. Harry got it.“Oh, and Helene is on her way with wolves from the Payne pack.”“She’s not!” he kept crying.“She is,” his mum assured him, with a smile.“But how are you here?”“Well,” she said. “I’d say we’ve gone rogue and left Yorkshire,” she said. “But omegas don’t go rogue. Much less as a family.”Louis tried to calm down, but he couldn’t. She was here. His mum was here after so much time.“But the girls,” he said.“They’re all fine,” she said. “Older now. That’s why we dared to leave the pack.”“But all by yourselves?” “Of course not!”She pointed behind, where a group of young alphas and betas was waiting for Louis to stop crying and notice them.“No you didn’t!” he cried again. His friends. All his beautiful, amazing friends, from back when he lived a different life in Yorkshire were there. “They’re here for you,” said Harry. “All of them.”Louis looked around. Pack.This was his pack. His Mum, his sisters, his friends from Yorkshire laughing at his face. Niall and his other friends from the Horan pack, waving at him. Little Levi, laughing. Zayn, who was quietly watching him. Lots of people he didn’t know or couldn’t recognise in his shock. And more to come. And Harry. Harry was right there with him, holding him tight, saving his life with his sole existence. His green eyes gleaming with joy.
What a sight to live for. 
“Let’s go,” Harry said. “I’d like you to introduce me to all of them personally.”Louis nodded, wiping his tears away with one hand, holding his alpha’s hand with the other. He’d go. He’d show Harry his new pack.And then, when they both were ready, they would make Yorkshire fall. Together.