Dominus

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/30017505.

Rating: Mature
Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category: M/M
Fandom: One Direction (Band)
Relationship: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Characters: Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson
Additional Tags: Top Harry, Dom Harry, Alpha Harry, Disabled Harry, Shy Harry, He has
his moments, Bottom Louis, Omega Louis, Sub Louis, Shy Louis,
Innocent Louis, Louis in Lace, Louis in Panties, o.O, It's a very cute
story, I promise, Smut, Explicit Sexual Content, Sexual Content,
Violence, Anal Sex, Butt Plugs, Knotting, Harry goes slightly mad
sometimes, Sad Harry, Trigger Warnings, Abusive Past, Unconditional
Love, Mpreg, Mpreg Louis, Pregnant Louis
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2021-03-13 Words: 106,613 Chapters: 18/18
 Dominus
by orphan_account

Summary

Harry is of a superior species, rare and genetically untameable. He meets his missing piece in
the form of Louis and they begin to share a life that came to them too soon.
 Chapter 1

There was a storm coming their way, Louis' pretty sure of it. The tiny piece of land called the
Caprivi Lands has been victim to the most horrid storms that could ever come their way.

Louis' lived here with his family for nineteen years and today would be his last year of
school. It would also be the day of Den Nærmer - The Approaching.

Louis always thought it sounded haunted and when he was ten he absolutely refused to
partake in it. Of course, nine years ago he needn't have to. Today though, he had no choice.

Today's grand occasion was what Louis' grandmama liked to call 'The Meeting of the Mates'
and the title summed it all up. Louis' school was a kind of prep/finishing school where he was
taught the best manners just so that today would be perfect.

A Dominus was a male of the superior kind. They were bred to lead, fight and one day -
when they're twenty- two - select a mate. Most were frightening, Louis wasn't very fond of
his dad until he learnt the history, but as he grew Louis dreamt of having his mate find him in
such a romantic way.

He knew their relation would take long to nurture and it would not include what happens in
those movies he borrows from a fellow down at the beach. He just took to the idea of a
person loving him enough to protect and care for him.

"Louis!" He was planning on sleeping until ten today since the mistress would fetch him at
twelve. "Mother?" He mumbled into his pillow.

"Where's your sister's skirt?" She asked through his closed bedroom door.

He sighed. "Which one?"

"The brown one." Her voice was getting louder, signalling her approach to his room door. "It
didn't come back from the line yet."

"And the others?"

It was always his job to know where things were at all times, not for the sake of oppression
but because he just liked having answers. "What does she need them for?"

"I don't know but she won't leave me alone unless I find them." Everyone knew how
persistent his sisters were. "Try the second drawer in her closet."

"Thanks."

When she's gone, Louis burrows himself into his covers and falls asleep again.
He woke himself up forty minutes later when the dream he had was the worst he could have.
In his dream, it was twenty minutes before everyone had to settle down for the first Dominus
to arrive. They had chosen their offerings and Louis got a seat closest to the television.

At this point, each person was given a sweet wrapped in black paper. If it was white, you
would be chosen by a mate today. If it was red - there was only one red sweet each year - you
were offered to the final Dominus, a different horror each year.

Louis was sweating and clutching his sheets, the weather already looking gloomy outside his
window. He swallowed and let the sweat run down his body before moving at all.

He showered and dressed in the clothes laid out for him the night before. His mother set the
outfit of black jeans and matching turtle-neck on his study table.

"Mom?" He padded through the house, flashes of lightning occasionally illuminating the
place.

"In here, darling!"

He followed her voice to the laundry room and giggled when he saw she was still looking for
her sister's skirt.

"Oh, Lou." She hugged him and he blushed. "You look radiant already. Your hair could do
with some help." "That's why I came to you." He wrung his fingers together and bit his lip.

She was all too eager to fix his hair and pick out his shoes. She reprimanded him when he
slipped them on without socks but he decided he liked them that way.

"Moonpie." His grandmama walked in from the kitchen in her navy nightgown and fuzzy
slippers that matched a pair Louis had stashed in his closet.

"Morning, grandmama." He smiles and hugs her the same way he did when he was ten and
younger, arms crossed over her shoulders and breathing in her sweet lavender scent.

The door rattled at five to twelve and Louis' heart lurched in his throat, nerves firing up and
anxiety flaring.

"Calm down, sweetheart." She kissed his forehead. "You're still coming home to us tonight."

The tradition entitled Louis to one last night with his parents tonight, before he must leave
with the Dominus that arrives for him in the earliest hour of tomorrow. He nodded and waited
for her to open the door, chewing his lip as his anxiety made the air thick in his lungs.

In walked his headmistress with a foul glare and strict demeanour. Madam was always strict
and uptight but she treated her students fairly, all except for him. When Louis presented as
part of the improperly termed 'weaker' gender she set her sights on making him miserable.
She gazed at Louis' attire now, huffed and dragged him out the door without a word of
greeting.

"Do you know how this works, young man?" She got Louis into the car and he fought to not
stare anywhere but at her.

He shook his head. He wasn't entirely sure of anything when she was there with him.

"You sit with the rest of the students in a house out of this town. In the woods." She cleared
her throat. "You have an offering?"

Again, he shook his head. An offering was not compulsory, and Louis thought giving this
man his heart would suffice.

"You were always the laziest." She scorned, making his tiny ego deflate. "Just stay still until
your name's called. If it gets called, that is."

He wanted to cry because how can she say that to him? He's already worked up on pent up
agitation about his nightmare and not being loved for the rest of his life. The insecurity that
arose from the slight possibility that he doesn't get a partner today stayed warm and harsh in
his veins, scathing to the papery walls.

Taking a deep breath, Louis curls his dainty fingers around his sweater and folds in on
himself. They watch civilisation roll by and the woods appear to overtake them.

"Out." She opens his door and he tumbles out, landing in dirt. "Tidy yourself and go wait
inside."

He nods and turns away without a scowl or glare in her direction.

"What do you say?" She roars, using the infamous thin cane to whack his lower back.

It stung and tears sprung to his eyes instantly, knowing that the skin must have been cut by
such cruelty. "Y-Yes, headmistress." He choked on the rising sob and inhaled deeply.

The house was wooden and three floors high. Snow stuck to the ground in a thick white
blanket, coating the sharp pine needles with light dustings. Trees were tall and blocking out
the dull sunlight from behind the clouds, seeming to peer down at him like he is the tiniest
creature to walk among them.

Louis gingerly hopped up the front steps and entered the front living room without a care for
the sand on his knees and blood on the back of his sweater.

"Lou!" A feminine, friendly voice caught his attention.

"Hey, Habid." He smiled weakly.

She grabbed him in a tight hug before he can push her away to keep the sudden sting from
the base of his crusty sweater from erupting.
"Woah. What happened?" She lifts the back of his shirt to study the broken skin, pale and
smooth but clearly not worthy.

"Headmistress." Is all he had to say.

She rolled her eyes and led him to a sofa. "Lie down on your front. I'll get you something to
take care of that."

He does as told and smashes his face into a cushion, groaning from the burn of his newest
injury. No Dominus would want a broken mate and that wounded Louis' vulnerable heart.

Everyone in here was beautiful and kind, genuine in their humility and polite mannerisms.
Louis wasn't so timid and enjoyed playing in the rain, getting dirty by playing outside with
his little siblings. His family was well to do because of his father but there was nothing
extravagant about how they lived.

Maybe he was getting the red sweet today.

"Hey Lou." A second friend of his - his entire class was basically a big family - sat on the
back of his knees. "Hmph?"

"Headmistress?" She poked the side of his cut.

"Hmph."

"You poor baby."

"Get off him, Wally." Habid was back, bearing a first aid kit.

"Sorry." She dismounted and sat on the arm rest of the adjacent couch.

"Who else is here?" Louis asks the girls.

"Hang on. Pops!" Wally shouted across the room.

"Yeah?" Came the faint reply from somewhere by the fireplace.

"Who's here already?"

"All present."

"They're all here, Lou."

He laughs into the soft pillow and turns on his side after Habid's done nursing his back.

When two in the evening comes, everybody's settled down in front of the large television
screen watching a movie Louis can't pay attention to. It's a cartoon and Louis probably
should be watching it but he's just gotten his sweet wrapped in black paper and can't bring
himself to open it.
He didn't hear screams or protests so everyone else had white. He knew he had red that way
and held back tears, cries to God about what he had done to deserve this. He kept on a brave
face for everyone else because he was not going to ruin their special day.

The door creaked opened and a little boy came in. All eyes snapped to him, and behind his
back they could see the silhouette of a new arrival. He wore a red coat and had his back to
them.

The atmosphere was thick with anticipation. The excitement and fear were tangible, making
everything more surreal. Not for Louis though. He knew this wasn't never going to be a
happy ending for him.

Habid gripped Louis' hand tightly as the boy looked around the room, seeking out the face he
was told to know.

"Samantha Grey." The boy finally said.

Samantha was seated at the back of the room, doodling on some paper, and when she heard
her name she froze. Louis knew she'd go first. Being the only male in a class of forty other
females, he had a find of sixth sense.

When Samantha left, lead by the little boy holding her hand, everyone bolted for the
windows. Louis lifted the corner of a lace curtain to observe them outside, and he'd be lying
if he said it wasn't the sweetest thing he's seen.

Sam was a shy girl and nor did she have an offering, but her Dominus had a rose for her.
Everyone cooed on the inside as Samantha's cheeks turned red and it started to snow.

"Is it snowing?" Someone asked. "Shh!" Wally hissed.

Her shushing made more noise than the actual question and the Dominus' head snapped in
their direction. Louis panicked and dropped the curtain, closing his eyes on top of that.

"Are they gone?" Wally tried to see past the curtain. "Are they?"

"Looks like it." Habid sighed.

From there, a girl's name was called every ten minutes. They never came back in and that
was understood. Habid squealed when her name was called and Wally had to be waken up
from a nap to have her moment. Louis watched all of his friends go and refused to let himself
feel inferior or stupid.

He was finally left with the girl he spoke least with, Rose. She was kind and very quiet. They
sat watching another cartoon until the door opened for the last time.

Louis didn't even look because he knew it wasn't for him. Rose's name was called and his
heart finally gave up the hope that hung on by a thread.
He wished her luck, smiled and watched her go. After that, he switched off the television and
just to prolong the time spent before he begged someone to end his life so he didn't have to be
with a man ugly at heart and body, cleaned up the girls' mess.

It wasn't as if his hopes were at a hundred percent because he was a boy and almost every
Dominus didn't want a partner like him. Maybe he could use that and beg for his life.

He even took the trash out, enjoying the bitter cold and how it made his skin flush from the
frost. He exhaled white puffs of air and dumped the bag beside the bins. It was dark out,
crickets were singing and owls were hooting.

There was no rustling, no hope of being killed by a stray beast. A completely silent night.

As Louis dusted his hands, something collided with his back and when he was about to crash
into a stone wall, it caught his waist to haul him away from it. It felt human so maybe the last
Dominus didn't arrive as yet.

"Why would hey leave you for last?" The voice belonging to this stranger speaks up from
behind Louis' back.

Louis wriggles free of this person's grasp and turns on his heel to face them, slightly irritated
by their forward nature.

"Excuse me?" He says to a man whose face he cannot see through the shadow of a hoodie.

"I saw you watching us through the window." He lifts his head. "I came with my brother
because he didn't want to make the trip alone."

Louis didn't know why he was being told this and crossed his arms over his chest when the
wild wind whipped around him. This stranger dropped their hoodie and revealed what Louis
believes to be the most beautiful man alive.

He has creases by his cheeks, definitive proof of dimples; shoulder-length dark brown hair
and skin that's slightly tanned. The tips were a little curly and very unruly by the way they
framed his long face, punctuating his grace. Louis assumes he comes from somewhere near
the midlands.

Deeming this conversation over, Louis smiles politely. "I'm sorry. I have to go now."

The stranger won't let him budge. "Are you alone here now, haud mirum?"

Louis feels slightly uneasy and steps back, only to have his acquaintance shuffle forward.
This stranger spoke Latin.

"I-I am."

"You are breathtakingly beautiful." This man says, offering up a small smile as well. "Forgive
me, haud mirum. My name is Harry."
"I'm Louis."

"I didn't come with the intention of mating but it seems I've become prey to your eyes. They
are very blue, haud mirum. The bluest I've ever seen."

Louis looks at the snow hanging onto his shoe, cheeks having more reason to redden. Maybe
this could be it for him, a way out. He's looking at this enchanting individual who was a foot
taller than him with a far more impressive muscle structure that could cage him in and hold
him close forever. His eyes sparkly like little stars and Harry's darker emeralds reflect that
phenomenon, enthralled and captivated by it.

He becomes deeply saddened when he remembers what is already promised to him.

"I w-wish it could be." Louis shrugs tiredly. "But I've already gotten my fate sealed in candy."
Harry's eyebrows fly up to meet his hairline. "Pardon?"

"I-I...it's tradition."

"Oh." Harry chuckled in recollection. "The tale of the red sweet, yes?"

Louis nods solemnly. It weight heavy on his heart.

"Do not be saddened." Harry stepped closer, itching to reach out and caress this magnificent
creature. "I have the power to take you away."

"I can't ask that of you." Louis looks up with wide, deep blue eyes. "You aren't my Dominus
and we don't know each other."

"I am your Dominus now." Harry strips off his coat and drapes it over Louis' shoulders. "I'd
like to ask for your hand."

Louis felt his heart flutter and tummy tighten as the coat that wrapped around him infiltrated
his senses. Spice and vanilla with musk. Harry's scent was both strong and comfy. Louis
grinned, pleased to his core knowing that he wasn't going to end up thrown to a miserly
death. He hugged Harry around his middle, not caring for the rules that stated he wasn't
allowed to initiate anything.

"My brother told me that there is an evening masquerade later." Harry settled into the
embrace like they've been doing it for years. "Will you be by my side for the evening,
Louis?"

Louis nodded and pulled away from Harry, not wanting the man to feel too uncomfortable or
that Louis was too forward. He felt the urge to sneeze but held it in until Harry had escorted
him back into the warmth of the house.

"Your jacket?" Louis made to remove it but Harry stopped him.

"Keep it safe for me, haud mirum." Harry kissed Louis' forehead for an extended moment.
"I'm sorry I'm ill prepared."

"I am too despite having months to get ready." Louis giggles and the hairs on Harry's body
stand to attention.

"How will you leave here?"

Louis' smile falls and his slight joy fades. "My headmistress will fetch me since I am the last
one."

"You are not the last one anymore." Harry secures the side of his face with a large hand. "You
are my only one."

Louis' smile picks up again when Harry makes him laugh by constantly nudging the side of
his face with his cheek. It elicits a soft giggle from the boy and Harry kisses Louis' lips for
the first time.

Louis gasps suddenly, turning bright pink and touching his lips with his fingers. "You're not
supposed to do that."

Harry's lips tasted like the crashing of waves against smooth shoreline rocks and the peaceful
chirping of the finest bird perched on the tallest trees. He tasted like tranquillity and the home
Louis' soul has been searching to harbour itself in, as Harry's makes preparations to burrow
into the boy's warmth.

"I'm not supposed to kiss the one I love?" Harry chuckles, not withdrawing as he cupped
Louis' blushing cheek and pressed their foreheads together.

"You don't love me, Harry." Louis admonishes, playful yet hopeful. "It's too early."

"Louis." Harry disapproves. "Our mates are chosen unlike people who pick their spouses. We
have predetermined partners, something that we have in common. That same thing made me
accompany my brother. Can you imagine if I hadn't?"

The revelation makes Louis look at Harry like he isn't of this earth, carved by the Gods and
made into a hologram to mock him. Then something clicked. Creatures don't have
predetermined partners unless they were what his grandmama called creatures that had been
taken by the night.

They weren't legend nor were they myth. A specimen of Dominus status came from every
species and this kind was scariest. They were the only kind that could have two forms, shed
blood as wolf and man. They had mates, not marriages.

"Wh-What are you?" Louis had his hand captured by Harry's, his smaller palm is prisoner to
Harry's that can completely envelope it.
His eyes nervously met Harry's like he knew they were meant to be but terribly afraid of that
not being true. Louis closes his eyes when Harry leans all the way in, not for a kiss but to
nuzzle his neck like a wolf does. He answered the question without a word and Louis gasped
at his arms being thrown over Harry's shoulders.

"That question never fails to offend me, haud mirum." Harry had his body curled around
Louis' in his most defensive, protective stance. "I am who I am and that is all I can offer you
to love."

Louis' flattened hand was compressed between them, eyelids falling open when Harry presses
them close enough to be aligned. He stares into green at his Dominus and accept what he says
as the holy truth, nothing else having any meaning.

He had to take this man home to his father. So what if he had half a wolf for a lover?

"Without you-"Louis casts his gaze downwards, upset with himself. "-"I'd belong to someone
with red skin and a black heart."

Harry isn't having any of his shame and tilts Louis' head back, their noses brushing. "I may
not have come with the intention of taking you but I'm not leaving without you to call mine."

"I wish I was enough for you." Louis brushes Harry's well-defined jaw with his unsure
fingertips and blushes when his hip gets a squeeze. "That I was enough to bring you here just
for me."

"I'm still in my last year of training. I'd only have been asked next year." Harry revealed not
so hesitantly, wanting to be honest with the boy he's seeing his future in the eyes of.

"They won't allow us to be together, Harry!" Louis whisper-shouts, already drawing away in
panic.

Harry doesn't allow it, won't allow his intended to part with him. He circles his hands around
Louis' forearms, fingers overlapping around the thin bone and rubbing soothingly over the
soft, cold skin. "Stop being so eager to pull away from me because I've known you all of six
minutes, and already don't think I could ever let you go."

Harry drops and tightens his arm around Louis' back. The smaller male cries out from the
pressure on his cut. "What is it?" Harry questions, concerned by the alarming noise from
Louis' cracked lips.

"It's nothing." Louis takes Harry's arm away from his back.

"Haud mirum, you owe me nothing but the truth." Harry's inner dominance begins to shine
through when there's a threat to his request.

"It's my fault." Louis instead sputters worriedly, troubled that the injury might cause Harry to
reject him.
"What is? Louis, let me see."

Louis had never heard such a demanding voice and he immediately released Harry's hand so
the man can investigate. Harry sees the cut after asking Louis to turn around and lift his shirt.
The skin of his lower back is torn apart across a narrow, short cut that's a slit instead of a
burn.

"Oh, my darling boy." Harry cooes, standing up from his knees and taking Louis in his arms
once again. "Was it your headmistress?"

Louis nods against Harry's shoulder, tickling his cheek against the soft fabric of Harry's shirt.

"I'll take you home now, you need not spend anymore time with her." Harry promises,
gaining Louis' trust as he slips his hand into the boy's.

Harry led Louis down the hill on foot and lifted him up off the ground when they had to pass
a stream. Even afterwards when they'd reached the road and the snow thinned to tiny
snowflakes falling around them, getting lodged in Harry's hair, the Dominus did not set him
down.

"Harry." Louis swallowed, eyes never moving from Harry's artful side profile. He had the
ideal Dominus physical structure, strong body and firm muscle. Deep-set eyes with a tough
grip on everything he held. "How will we be together if you're not old enough yet?"

Instead of a disgruntled response, Harry's lips are dampened by his tongue darting out to lick
over them then his mouth twisting into a smirk at the corner. "You will come to my home and
be by my side."

"You have your own home?" Louis twisted his finger into the collar of Harry's shirt, intrigued
by such a silky fabric.

"Yes." Harry hops down from a log and continues walking alongside the snowy road, Louis
in his arms and the sky darkening above their heads. "A Dominus must run their own home
from their youngest year."

Louis frowns, picking out snowflakes from Harry's hair. "How young is that, Dominus?"
Harry's eyes briefly slid across to side then back ahead. "Fourteen."

Gasping without commanding himself to, Louis' eyes widen at the new knowledge.
Adolescents are made to keep themselves standing with houses when they are pronounced
Dominus. "What about your family?"

"Having a Dominus child is not easy. My family was not allowed to help me, nor my
brother."

Louis feels sympathetic and wraps his arms around Harry's neck to affectionately nuzzle the
side of his face, warming up what was vacant and love what was abandoned. "You have me
now."
"Yes." Harry growls and his arms get more restricting around Louis, keeping him pinned. "I
won't have to endure another day alone."

Louis' house came into sight and he pointed it out, heart hammering with the thought of his
grandmama meeting big and scary Harry. The Dominus was neutral and even a little
anticipatory because the sooner he met Louis' family, the sooner he could whisk his other half
away to their own world.

He knew he was meant for someone out there, but he never expected such a deep connection
with another soul that it knitted his broken pieces together. Such completion and admiration,
his adoration should not be possible yet it is with this blue-eyed beauty.

"This is my home." Louis gets freed of Harry's hold just as he notices movement at his living
room window.

Harry's gaze falls on him in scrutiny, eyebrow quirked so that he corrects that statement.
Louis belongs to him now, with him. There is no place on this planet for him except the roof
Harry puts over his head. Nobody blamed him for these aggressive thoughts. A Dominus is
bred and taught to lead, to provide for his own family when he earns one. He is given a
difficult life from day one, made hard and cold.

"It's where I grew up." Louis takes Harry's hand, slotting their fingers together easily, and
pulling him forward with him towards the porch.

Harry grunts, something more authoritative and misting over his calm exposure takes over
him as he senses another dominant figure. That always made a Dominus feel challenged, and
his chest rumbled with vibrations of upset as Louis guided him through the front door into an
environment that smelt of toast and wine.

When Louis' done kicking off his shoes and about to walk further into his house, bare feet on
a coarse carpet, Harry takes affirmative action to prove himself the most important to the boy.
His hands settle with merciless strength on Louis' hips, mouth attacking the boy's neck as he
partially sinks his teeth into the supple skin.

Louis is obviously pained by the experience and whines in a high pitch, the prickle of Harry's
teeth too great and uncomfortable for him. A wolf mates this way but in a more intimate way
with a deeper mark, except right now Harry's wolf is not willing to risk another Dominus
influencing Louis. He will have this boy under his arm and nowhere else.

When Harry lifts off his throat there is a bright red bruise covered in a fine glisten of saliva
from Harry's bite. Two tiny puncture marks heal over but the bruise doesn't, throbbing
beneath Louis' fingertips when he makes contact with them.

"What-"

"Your father is here." Harry's arm comes to rest around Louis' middle, holding the smaller
male against him. "He will not take you from me."
"Of course he won't." Louis tries to convince him, huffing when Harry kisses the mark and
his tongue licks over it.

"Well good evening." A frail female voice greets them from the foyer, wrinkled and bemused
smile playing on Louis' grandmama's lips.

Harry looked mighty big in their humble abode. He was tall and intimidating and never spoke
unless he felt the absolute need to. It was an innate trait for a Dominus to exude confidence
and arrogance rather than good manners to win over a heart. They never won a war being
softies.

"Relax, moonpie." She said to Louis when the latter tried to bring Harry to meet the other
members of his family. "Your Dominus is not going to let us have a piece of you now that
he's gotten one."

Louis looked at Harry in mild exasperation but the Dominus is occupied with nosing along
the mark he made. He was going to let Louis speak to his loved ones now as long as it was
from the confines of his arms. A Dominus lives a lonely, unfulfilled life from a very young
age until they can claim a partner. Harry being a wolf meant an even greater, longer struggle.
He will never allow Louis to part with him for others.

He does meet Louis' entire family and looks at them all as if they were threats, pressing his
body a little closer to Louis as each one introduced themselves. When Louis' father arrived,
Harry had full-blown black eyes and an irremovable snarl from his plump lips. They were
sinful but guarding deadly canines beneath them.

It began to unsettle the calm at the base of Louis' spine, making him desperate for a sense of
security. Harry's fingers only formed more bruises on his hips where they held on with stealth
and strength, both unforgiving on his tender flesh.

"Harry." He hoped his cracking voice would convince the Dominus to lessen his tension, but
Harry thought it to be a sign that his mate was feeling unsafe and needed his further
protection.

Looking into the eyes of the man who guarded Louis his entire life, shielded him and his
family from any form of harm, made Harry split open at the seams. Every meeting went like
this, from one Dominus to another. Passing of a hand from father to suitor was not an
extensive process, and was rated in meaning by how the suitor handled it.

Their world is stereotypical and harsh. A new Dominus fated to have their life connected
with another young soul, must prove themself worthy by outshining the older Dominus who
parented that young soul. A healthier, youthful Dominus ought to take what is theirs.

"None of this tonight." Grandmama spoke up first, obscuring both Louis' father's and Harry's
staring contest. "We may not have a feast prepared but we certainly have food. We must
welcome Louis' wolf consort."
Harry's vision diverts to her, surprised by her ability to tell what he is without a question
posed in his direction. Louis is proud to call her his grandmama and giggles when Harry's
throat makes a curious grumble.

"Grandmama was once part of the council that handles my school." Louis explains softly, his
sweet voice soothing the inner rumble of Harry's chest as the boy's small hand settles over
Harry's heart and his lips reach his ear. "No one here is a threat, my love."

Even whilst saying it Louis knew it would do nothing, if at most calm Harry's anxiety for a
short while before his instincts flare and he's forced to put himself on top again.

At dinner, Harry spared no inkling of time thinking of Louis being seated anywhere besides
his lap. Louis' father regarded him with interest. He may not have been actively involved
with the nurturing of Louis' character as he grew, but he still concerned himself with the
choice of soulmate for his son.

Harry is broad-shouldered and overbearing even at this extremely early stage, but he
respected that because he had been the same. Louis was delicate and Harry would easily
become the warrior meant to protect him forever, father their children and be a delightful
mate.

Harry being a wolf is not what he had expected, as wolves are rare and very impulsive. Even
considering this, Louis' father sees his son being very happy with this man.

"Are you no longer hungry, haud mirum?" Harry asked Louis, rubbing the boy's hip where he
sat on his closed thigh.

Louis' grandmama watched them interact from the behind the rim of her glass, smirking at
how comfortable they were with each other. Louis was turned to have his side fitted under
Harry's chin, the Dominus holding him close and possessively with both arms wound around
his form.

When Louis spoke, he had Harry's utmost focus. The boy was smiling and Harry was in
easily interpreted adoration of his sweet partner, thumbing at Louis' cheekbones and jaw
slowly.

"Not hungry." Louis replied slowly, softly. He's only eaten a branch of broccoli, some bites of
chicken and a spoonful of sauce.

Harry brought his lips to the skin below Louis' ear, dragging them against the surface as he
spoke so that the boy shivered with the assault. "When you are my responsibility, haud
mirum, you will eat far more than this or have me force-feed you."

Something in Louis' abdomen tightened. Harry bringing himself forth to accepting his
responsibility towards Louis, makes him shudder in delight. "You haven't eaten either,
Harry."
Something flashed across Harry's eyes, too quick to be read.

"A Dominus never eats for the first week that he is training." Louis' father knew better than to
interrupt a wolf while he was speaking, and so raised his voice to answer his child's unheard
question beforehand. "They single out the strong ones in that way."

When Louis looked back towards Harry, the Dominus was stiff with tension that laced his
every blink and breath. "They starved you?"

Louis' father's eyes shimmer with the prospect of this discussion. A Dominus had to discuss
with their partners, more so with wolves, the process and experiences of their training to
ensure they weren't marred physically or mentally.

The Dominus gender was not perfect. They were made superior by the trauma they're made
to experience so that nothing affected them negatively in the real world. No Dominus came
out of their training healthy. There was always a scar, a damaged trait that spoke of their past.

"Eat everything on this plate, haud mirum." Harry clears his throat and even that, such a
harmless sound, thunders across the ceiling of their dining room like a threat.

Louis looked at the abundance of food and his stomach did an unsavoury flip. Today has not
been the best of days for him because so much has happened when he's used to a boring
routine each time he wakes up, eliciting a mild headache above his lost appetite.

Harry whispered lowly in Louis' ear when the boy didn't move an inch. "I'm not asking, haud
mirum."

Louis shyly raises his hand in perfect tandem with Harry's palm sliding across his tummy,
locking down on his other hip. The boy finds himself blushing when Harry shifts his legs that
results in him falling back abruptly. His hand lands on Harry's chest and he's slightly tilted,
righting himself by wrapping an arm around Harry's neck.

All the while Harry's eyes stayed glued to his, emotions hooded beneath the green outline of
his pupil. The Dominus was just as nervous as he was, no doubt. Harry kept glancing at
Louis' neck and back up to the boy's lips or eyes, a muted strangled noise almost breaking
free.

"Will you eat with me?" Louis asked, soft as a kitten in appearance and vaguely shaky voice.
His duty to the Dominus was to keep him happy and healthy.

Harry met his gaze and it was filled with a strength so alight with sparks of empowerment
from his wolf, that Louis was shocked and awed by watching it slowly dim into loyalty. "I am
your Dominus, haud mirum. I do what you ask of me when you ask it."

Louis smiles, looking down at his lap and curling his fingers into Harry's collar. The heat
escaping to his cheeks becomes unbearable when Harry's face is blocked in his neck,
nuzzling affectionately and hoping for a return exchange. Louis can only turn his head a little
and frame Harry's neck with both his hands, his eyes slipping shut as Harry breathes raggedly
into his pulse.

They were alone at the table but they didn't notice. Louis gasped at a squeeze to his lower
back. "You are my Dominus and you will be my love."

Harry is pleased immensely with his confession and hugs his future mate around his middle.
Any secrets can remain hidden for a while longer until they were really alone.

Louis' plate of food was polished off soon enough with Harry's aid. He shared the bread rolls
and salad with Harry, still too nervous to feed him like experienced couples would. Being in
Harry's lap with Harry's arms around him, he feels safe and shy.

*****

"Forgive me, haud mirum. I have lied to you through omission." Harry came forth while they
were outside on Louis' back porch, relaxing amongst the snowy landscape together.

Everyone was inside and watching every odd moment through a hallway window, making
Louis giggle and turn his head away. Like always he was in Harry's company with a mug of
something warm in his hands, seated across from the Dominus in his own chair.

"Sorry?" Louis thinks he didn't hear correctly, and his heart begins to crack the inside of his
ribcage.

Could his fairytale be over so soon? He panics at the thought and sets the mug down with a
violently shaking hand, quickly pressing both arms against his chest afterwards.

Harry observes everything that he does and a sad look bleeds over his beguiling emeralds.
"You do not know everything about me."

Louis watches Harry stand up and the swollen wooden floorboards creak with his movement.
"I've known you for half a day, Harry."

Looking at this beautiful creature that could be his, Harry wants to lay himself bare for Louis.
His only secret is one he's kept from everyone, which is exceptionally easy because he knew
no one besides his brother. There were no friends or family besides his one sibling, which led
to minute reservations about finally sharing his life with someone else.

"Harry- What are you doing?" Louis sounds deeply alarmed when Harry's both hands reach
for his own belt buckle.

He tries not to raise his voice so as not to alert the attention of his family that lay impatiently
awaiting his return indoors, forced to slap his hands over his eyes when Harry doesn't stop
shedding his bottom layer of clothing. He knew Harry didn't plan to try anything forward
with him as there was none of that charge in the air, no promise of arousal or being forced to
give up what he's guarded his entire life.
"Haud mirum, look at me." Harry desperately encouraged, sounding so very much like a
broken man with unbreakable strength.

Louis shook his head and vehemently refused, pressing his fingertips into his eyes further
hoping it would shut out what he isn't meant to see. Harry grows tired of it, insecure in his
own way and being shred to pieces because Louis is rejecting the truth about the flaw he has
about him.

"Louis." Harry uses his dominant nature to add a lethal edge to his voice, driving a steady
shiver down Louis' spine.

Obeying the Dominus' command, Louis tentatively uncovers his eyes and peeks through his
fingers at what he's supposed to see. It takes a breath and a half for his hands to fall away
completely, his lips parted as cold air gushes in to emphasise his surprise.

"Harry....-" He trails off, scrambling to his feet whilst staring evidently at Harry, eyes wide
and mind blank.

As outrageous as Louis thought it to be that Harry simply dropped an item of his garb so
publicly, he could see now that it was for a reason. One of what was supposed to be pale, lean
and muscular legs has been replaced by the cold inanimation of a wooden substitute.

Harry had a prosthetic leg.

The quilt from around Louis' shoulders falls into his grip as he curls his fingers around the
edges. He knows that this is his turn to accept and can easily do so without judging, for this
Dominus is willing to have him. Cautiously he steps around the coffee table that separates
them and connecting their gazes to never part ways.

Harry was afraid again and it wasn't so difficult to pick up on. When Louis got to him,
Harry's eyes were guarded and he went stiff all over at seeing his future mate drape the quilt
around him instead. The shock was apparent in how his eyes grew to be so much greener,
accepting it and holding onto Louis when the boy hugged him tightly.

"How?" Louis asked in a quiet tone, hushed to keep the secret between them.

The Dominus need not redo the button or zip of his own trousers as Louis did it for him, all
the while something else becoming tangible in the air above their heads. Harry felt satisfied
like he never thought possible when he tucks Louis in under his chin, arms crossing over the
smaller male's back to keep him secured.

"A hunt." Harry replies stoically. "We are told to always go out as wolves when we hunt, but
the day was long and I thought I could bring home the first herbivore I saw."

Louis flinched at the story and gripped Harry's shirt so tightly in his tiny fists that the
Dominus made himself more protective instantly, responding to the boy's insecurity. Louis
couldn't let this Dominus go. He could see himself loving no other person besides Harry.
"I will be your mate." Louis says, sure of himself. He buries his face in Harry's chest and
finds solace in the steady beat of Harry's heart. "I will be by your side always."

"Yes, haud mirum." Harry kissed Louis' forehead and wrapped the quilt around them both,
binding them together. "I can think of no greater gift than you, from the Gods to me."
 Chapter 2

Harry only left Louis at the last moment when the night was worsening from navy to pitch
black, and they had to part ways. He stood two steps below Louis at the front porch with his
eyes boring into the younger soul's, holding onto both of Louis' hands with his.

"I will come for you at the earliest hour, haud mirum." Harry said to him in the juncture of
his neck, dragging his lips over the goosebumps of his future mate whist adoring him as
much as he could.

"I will wait for you." Louis wrapped his hands around Harry's wrists and laid a warm kiss on
the Dominus' jaw.

Grumbling pleasantly, Harry withdrew from Louis' body and let go of the boy when he least
wanted to. He skipped the last step on his departure and turned around just as he was about to
disappear into the street, lowering his upper half in a bow just for his love before blowing
Louis a kiss with his fingers to his lips.

Louis laughed loudly into the night and returned the act of fondness with just as much
enthusiasm. He felt extra warm and like Harry's body was still wrapped around him when he
stepped back into his home, chewing his lip and letting the dampness on his cheek swallow
him up.

It was after he'd showered and wandered to the kitchen for a glass of milk when his
grandmama caught him. "Come sit with me, moonpie."

Louis obliged and slid into a seat beside her, framing his tall glass with both hands and shyly
hiding behind the curtain of his hair. Today has turned him into something else, the man who
entered his life and claimed his heart has stolen his outwardness.

"You seem quite taken with the young man who brought you home earlier." She starts by
saying, side-eyeing her grandson as he slowly sipped his midnight beverage.

The rest of the house was swathed in peaceful silence, the late hour allowing them to slip into
their slumber without hindrance. Louis swallows the cool liquid and enjoys the sensation of
his coating his insides on its path Southward, chilling his nerves.

"I am." He says slowly, the crickets nearly drowning out his voice entirely. "I think he is with
me too."

"Oh certainly." His grandmother proclaims, tying up her silk robe at the front and putting her
wrinkled palm over his. "Moonpie, do be careful with this man."

Louis raises his head to look her, meeting those sapphire eyes that were identical to his own.
"What do you mean, grandma?"
"I mean that a Dominus is a scary creature." She explains to him whilst remembering her
time finding her other half. "He is a wolf and wolves mate. That is something this family has
never seen before."

"Is that-" He swallows. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No, no. Love, meeting a wolf is a wonderful thing and being mated to them is even more so.
However, your Dominus seems to be a little volatile. He will frighten you at times, but make
sure to hold your own."

Louis can feel sweat developing at the back of his neck. "Grandma, he's not finished his
training yet. Will they keep us apart because of that?"

"I sincerely doubt it. He consents and he is Dominus. Nobody can stop you two if that is
true."

Feeling less tense, Louis smiles and helps his grandmama off her chair when she's ready to go
to bed. He kisses her cheek and watches her ascend the staircase, without risking a limb by
offering to help. When the house is cloaked in silence once more he glances out the window
at the glorious moon and imagines a green- eyed wolf howling at it.

*****

"Haud mirum."

Louis had hardly finished the packing he's supposed to be doing when he spotted a black
figure in a lengthy trenchcoat near his snowy garden, and ran downstairs like the wind. He
threw the door open when Harry was just at the base step and eliminated the distance
between them by jumping into the man's arms.

"Hi." He finally said when he felt secure with the hands braced around his lower back and
face buried in his neck.

Harry's chest let out vibrations that pressed into Louis' torso, his slipping fingertips being
careful not to go too far. He had been knocked off balance when Louis lunged at him but he
corrected his stance and held the boy close all while his elder brother made his way over from
their vehicle.

"You found the right one, brother." He said to Harry. "He is full of life and you are in
desperate need of that."

Louis peeked over Harry's shoulder and saw that his brother was just as tall, with a well aged
bout of features to his face. Over his right eye however, was an unmistakeable scar which
didn't allow for the eyelid to open fully. Their complexions were the same icy white and their
eyes were the same forest green. Harry had a strong and prominent jaw while his brother held
a thin, long neck and bushy eyebrows.
"You are Louis." The older son of the Styles name spoke to the boy Harry was trying to
shield from him. "I'm Jeremiah. My brother has told me nothing about you except that."

Louis decided it was a good time to get back on his own two feet, and slid to the ground so
his socks met the frozen wood. "It's lovely to meet you, Jeremiah. There isn't much to know
about me so don't worry about it."

Harry deemed the conversation over and threw his brother a warning glance to cease the
communication as he draped his arm over Louis' shoulders and turned him away. Louis made
the choice to follow after his Dominus and walked away from Jeremiah after giving him a
small smile.

Jeremiah was Harry's brother through blood and not bond. They saw each other through
childhood and now again to make this trip, nothing about their relationship was fond or
protective. A Dominus looked after himself and his own, which they both were.

"Have you done your packing, haud mirum?" Harry walked up the steps with Louis and
frowned at the boy's lack of footwear.

"Almost." Louis led him by his hand through the doorway and living room, up the stairs to
his bedroom.

Everyone was still asleep as the sun has barely risen and the birds are still occupying
themselves with the tunes of a lark. Louis closed his door soundly and turns around to see
Harry looking around his room. There's nothing special about a single bed, pale walls and
one broken window. He never complained because he slept, worked and daydreamed here in
peace.

"You will have a better room with me." Harry announces, not touching anything as he seated
himself on the edge of Louis' unmade bed.

Harry didn't fit into Louis' little haven of a bedroom. He was prim and proper after building
his own character, developing his own livelihood through savage means. Every part of him
was marred and worn down, made to come out so much stronger on the other side.

"Oh." Louis stepped past him in a cramped space to begin loading the third of his three
boxes. He bit his lip fearfully as he spoke again. "Will I have my own room?"

He doesn't see Harry turn to stare at him. "Would you like your own room, haud mirum? I
will give you anything you want."

When Louis looks over to Harry the Dominus has such earnest honesty displaced in the green
of his eyes that it takes his breath away. He opens his mouth and stutters. The scrutiny of
Harry's stare and intensity of his attention never failed to make him blush.

"I-I-" Louis has to look away in order to keep his wits about him, although two holes burn
into his back from Harry's stare. "Aren't we supposed to stay together? I don't mind if we do."
He holds his breath while he waits for a response, praying that he didn't come across as too
forward. It is customary for the Dominus to share a room with who he has chosen to share his
life with, irrespective of where they stood physically in the relationship. Harry is still training
of course and that allows them the benefit of the doubt.

"If you so desire, haud mirum." Harry spoke to the air between them, letting it brush against
Louis' nape like a cool breeze that chilled him down to his core. "You may be with me at all
times that I can be yours in return."

Harry stands and Louis hears his heavy footsteps make their way closer, leather boots with a
glossy gold buckle resounding against his panelled flooring. When he's a breath away, Louis
can feel the warmth of his body radiating heat onto his own skin. Harry's left leg, the wooden
prosthetic one, nudges accidentally the back of Louis' own.

"I look forward to it." Louis' wording comes out in a whispered exhale, goosebumps forming
on the skin where Harry touched him.

Harry's hands find the flesh of his hips to dedicate their loyalty to, holding onto Louis at his
lower waist whilst fitting their bodies together. It is successful when he feels Louis settle
back against him, his chest to Harry's back, and his fluid folding motions slowing down to
prolong their time.

"My home has been missing you." Harry says to him, a type of strain present in his voice.
*****

Harry travelled separately to his brother, Jeremiah. They came to two cars and Louis feels
saddened to think his Dominus travelled alone to come to him, unknowing of what he would
find. Who he would find.

Louis packed the last of his life, even so it was just the essentials that he'd require to survive.
His family spent many minutes bidding him farewell, teary kisses and sad smiles being
exchanged while he kept one hand locked with Harry's. When time was up, which Harry
deemed so, the Dominus pulled Louis away from his loved ones and helped him into the
SUV that will bring him to his new home.

Inside the high vehicle, Louis got a seat near the window where he could wave goodbye his
bloodline family before heading towards his future. Harry told the driver something after
shutting Louis' door and he was distracted by the response when he was climbing into the
back-seat as well.

Louis looks at him surprised as he'd expected the Dominus to sit across from him, not right
next to. He can't smother his giggle when Harry turns his head and notices that he is there
too. Harry's frown eases up into an amused expression that brightens his eyes and lightens the
awkwardness.

"No, don't." Louis interrupts when Harry makes to change seats, grabbing hold of the man's
forearm before he can stop himself.
Their eyes meet and he can see that Harry's in dire need for him to say something more,
without making it a command.

"Sit with me." He goes on to say, loosening his grip on the fabric of Harry's sleeve.

They may not plan to be cosy or conversational for the entire trip but when Harry sits back
down they both know it will be the most calm, most pleasant silence of their lives. Harry
makes himself comfortable again right beside his mate - future mate - without shrugging off
the hold Louis has on his arm, instead hoping it doesn't ever go away.

*****

"You have horses!" Louis squeals with epic excitement as he abandons his bags to approach
the fence that guarded the furry creatures.

There was one of two standing right at the edge, braying with the attention Louis gives to the
stallion by rubbing its muscular neck. Louis loves animals, from the tiniest critters to the
giant beasts. He can't help but admire these beauties and giggle at their majesty even as the
tall black creature nudges his side.

The second horse is a snow white mare and she's not looking at Louis from where she's
settling down for the night.

The late hour doesn't seem to bother Louis but it did bother Harry. This is not the territory
Louis was born in and the dangers were not so bleak. Harry clears his throat and gathers the
amount of bags he can carry. "Come inside, haud mirum."

Harry doesn't have to wait long before a pair of lighter feet are following after him into his
home. He smiles to himself as he walks through the front door and flips on the light for
Louis' eyes to feast on the inside of his cabin.

There wasn't much. A Dominus had a home for himself and he either built it from scratch or
had to money to have it done. Harry's home was a two bedroom getaway with sturdy wooden
walls and small open-plan spaces. A kitchen with basic appliances and no windows save for
the one in the living room where a sofa sat right below it.

"There is no television." Harry tells Louis as he sets the boxes down on the floor by the boy's
feet. "The second bedroom serves as a library. What's mine will now be yours as well."

Louis looks at his Dominus a little shy, noting that they're now alone together far away from
any civilisation. Their driver had been dropped off at a town that's tiny and an hour away,
while their house stood in a forest of another world.

"Okay." He gets out, staring at the toe of his shoe.

"Look at me." Harry suddenly instructs, and his eyes are warm but not unguarded when Louis
sees them. "Haud mirum, this is your home now. Treat it as such."
Louis nods and swallows so that it is visible, trying not to shiver from inexplicable nerves
when Harry takes the side of his face in his hand. He knows he breathed out a hot puff of air
that Harry could taste by how close he stood.

"You will be alone here when I am training." Harry informs him, not touching any other part
of Louis. "I will come home to you every night at ten. You are not obliged to do anything for
me, not until we've officially mated."

"I will-" Louis rushes to say, to please the Dominus. "I will do anything for you, Dominus.
Just tell me."

"Oh haud mirum." Harry breaks all boundaries and hauls Louis into his embrace, holding him
so close that the boy is made to breathe into his chest and hug back around his waist. "I could
never ask anything of you."

Louis brings his hand to the buttons of Harry's black satin shirt, flicking the undone ones
between his fingers. "When you come home at ten I'll have dinner ready."

"Unfortunately this house is ill-equipped with food supplies. I hunt everyday." Harry closes
his eyes and hides in Louis' hair. "I will bring you fresh meat everyday in the middle of the
day."

Louis nods and scrapes the fabric of Harry's shirt with his nails. "What time do you leave
everyday?"

"An hour past dawn." Harry replies, already dreading the time that he has to awaken at a
freezing cold time to leave his lovely mate. "Since we will be in the same room, I will make
sure to tuck you in every morning before I leave."

As flattered as he is by Harry's commitment, Louis must be equally dedicated. "My love, I

cannot sleep while you are awake."

Harry squeezed Louis between his arms, ignoring the rustling of the trees and the singing of
crickets outside. "I see myself losing everything to you. Heart, mind, soul and body."

Louis' head falls back a little and he parts his lips, dry skin pulling on the other soft surface
when Harry nears his mouth with his own. Before anything more can be spoken Harry's lips
meet with his halfway and they're missing out on the world around them by wrapping
themselves up in each other.

Harry's possessive growl is undeniable when he leans into Louis and dips the tip of his
tongue into the boy's mouth, licking his taste off the roof of his mouth. The deed makes Louis
blush wildly and pull away with the remnants of Harry's essence still on him.

"I'm sorry, haud mirum." Harry battles to organise his thoughts, his usual act of certainty torn
apart by Louis' tender will. "I should not have-"
"No, no." Louis shakes his head and returns to his position pressed against Harry's torso,
hands flat upon it. "You may kiss me whenever you.....feel the need to."

Harry's smirk brightens all the features on his face and reveals the two charming dimples
embedded in his cheeks. "I am glad you saw it as a need,haud mirum. Kissing you will soon
become my means of survival."

Louis' thoughts are stolen from him when he hears Harry's passionate words, bowing his head
in submission when the man cradles him. He tucks his face into Harry's neck and holds on for
dear life, inhaling the comforting scent that lingered on Harry's bare skin.

"I will bring the rest of the bags in." Harry bends and Louis doesn't miss the wince that
crosses his features, scooping the boy up and turning towards the staircase. "You will clean
up and rest. Familiarise yourself with these walls tomorrow."

He's being carried up a short flight of steps and Harry stops at the first door to their left,
kicking it open with the leg that isn't genuine. Louis bites his lip anxiously, worrying about
the falter in Harry's step whenever he's being carried.

"This room-" Harry brings his mouth to Louis' ear, shocking him out of his mind. "-is now
yours as well."

With the light on Louis can take in the fine furnishings of this room. There's a panoramic,
extensive window on the right wall that hides all wood and brick before leading out onto a
balcony. The focal point was the bed. Covered in black linen and ancient iron wrought
framework this mattress was, then came a small walk-in closet opposite the window. A
bathroom was beside that closet and had no door.

Louis noticed how just one side of the bed had a night stand. He didn't say anything when
he's put down onto his own feet and feels the cold flooring through his shoes.

"It's cold up here." He harmlessly comments, walking around the room with his fingertips
grazing over everything.

Harry watched him like an admirer from afar, quite overly taken with the many traits to love
in this boy. "I have found methods to overcome that."

Louis keeps from looking over his shoulder so as to keep Harry from noticing the extra
colour in his cheeks. He watches the moon flicker from behind the clouds, in and out it
appeared before vanishing again like a phantom.

He hears footsteps descend the staircase and releases a breath he hadn't known he was
holding. With the room to himself, he decides to actually clean up the traces of staleness from
a full day trip.

After a thorough shower with water that needed to heat up first, Louis smiles when he sees
just one towel beneath the sink and one toothbrush at the counter. He thinks it would be
mischievous to use Harry's when his own is packed in his toiletry case, but double checks
that he is in fact alone and does it anyway. The bristles taste like the minty toothpaste and
Louis isn't ashamed to remember that Harry's mouth tasted the exact same.

Once his hair is dried with the same towel he used on his body, Louis makes his way into the
bedroom again looking for clothing. His own hasn't been brought up yet and he realises that
he was very foolish to not ensure

that it had been done before taking a shower. Now he is left to the last resort, and pads
sneakily into Harry's closet.

Harry walks into the room he is now sharing with Louis and raises his eyebrow when his
attention is brought to a boy dragging one of his less important T-shirts off a hanger. He
knows Louis hasn't seen him yet and remains silent, watching Louis pull the clothes on in a
skilful way that never reveals any skin.

He admires Louis' physique, curvy and warm in all the right places. Harry loves that Louis
just fits against him and can be easily whisked away without requiring more strength than to
lift a heavy cushion. His mate to be is a lovely little specimen.

"You have permission to use my clothes, haud mirum." He finally says, clearing the
sandpapery feeling of his throat.

Louis jumps from a fright and nearly slips on his bare feet, steadied by gripping Harry's
cupboard door. He turns bright red when he notices Harry standing there, crossing his arms
over his front self-consciously and curling his toes.

"Don't be nervous." Harry comes to him and raises his chin, looking into those almighty blue
eyes. "I-I'm not." Louis tries to refuse, smiling weakly before relying entirely on Harry to
guide his eyes.

"I brought your things here." Harry gestures to something over his shoulder that Louis cannot
see. "You may change if you want to."

Louis shakes his head and takes in what he looks like in a shirt he's drowning in with boxers
that fit oddly on his hips. He's quite fond of the look. "I like what I-I'm wearing."

"As long as you're happy, haud mirum, I have no objections." Harry presses a chaste kiss on
Louis' forehead and snatches up his towel before leaving.

It's difficult to admit but Louis is exhausted and hardly gets a few of his belongings out to be
slotted into the spaces Harry created before he's yawning and dragging his feet. The Dominus
is still in the bathroom and Louis catches whiffs of his soap as he stacks a few folded boxes
and leaves them in a corner of the closet.

When Harry gets out he's using a different towel to the one Louis had and running his tongue
along the ridges of his gums, making Louis want to burrow under the sheets. He chose the
left side of the bed without a nightstand and fluffed up the single pillow before placing his
own one from home over it.

The sheets were cool on his skin and began to warm up against the friction of him constantly
moving. Harry reappears from the close and Louis hardly thinks to remember that one of his
legs is wooden, only picking up on it again when Harry sits on the edge of the bed to remove
it. The straps are stricter than ordinary ones and leave terrible gashes, even cuts, on his skin
above the stub.

Louis sits up in bed. "You shouldn't leave it like that."

Harry pulls himself back onto his allotted two pillows and looks angelic with a dark halo
framing his head where he rested. The moon shone on one half of his face through the glass
window and the other half was as dark as his occasional sadness.

"What, haud mirum?" He asks for specification, his good leg hidden by the sheets but the
injured one exposed like a pale lump that looks soincomplete.

"Your leg." Louis' eyes fall on the fatality and he wonders gravely how Harry got such a foul
injury. "You're hurting yourself."

Harry for the first time displayed a sign of nonchalance and momentarily weakened himself.
"Haud mirum, a few more scars mean nothing."

"Still." Louis presses the matter and crosses his legs. "May I?"

In the darkness, Harry's interest piqued. "What are you asking permission for?"

Louis is already off the bed and taking his bottle of cocoa butter lotion back over to the bed,
the only sound in the house coming from his feet on the floor. "I'm going to take care of you,
whether you like it or not."

Harry's chuckle is audible in the calm atmosphere and Louis takes it as consent when he
brings himself a little closer than before to the Dominus. He squirts some of the lotion onto
his palms and carefully snaps the lid shut to prevent any spillage, once more asking for
permission when he's spreading the white blob between his hands.

"You may, haud mirum." Harry's voice has significantly lowered and his body jerks at the
cold contact of Louis' hands on him.

Small, careful and gentle hands layer the lotion onto Harry's skin. Louis chews his lip raw as
he tries not to worry himself greatly over the trauma the man must have faced when he lost
his leg, keeping the emotions at bay whilst massaging with his fingertips. He tries to be as
soothing as he can, rubbing away the rashes and bruises with slow care.

The entire time he worked Harry said nothing, but his clenched fists at his sides spoke for
him. It made him uncomfortable and angry to think about how this fatality fell upon him,
made his blood boil through the rivers of his veins.
Louis attempted to have a light as a feather touch when he came around the bend to where the
stub of Harry's leg rest. The skin had been pulled to the centre when it was amputated, page
white flesh has been sewn together to maintain the rest of this man. Louis can never see this
as a flaw, but rather as a token to prove that his Dominus has seen the worst of life and come
back to him.

"How- How did it happen?" Louis makes himself ask to feed the curiosity that sat idle in his
mind, still gently working his fingers over what marks the wooden leg left behind.

Harry's fists were released and his eyes had to be opened to respond. Louis gave him a piece
of calm and tranquillity that could never be found on his own. He loves that this boy can
soothe his inner wolf.

Just when Louis thinks he will never be answered, Harry's raspy voice fills the air. "I trained
for more hours than usual and went out to hunt when I was...exhausted. I forgot to look over
my back."

Louis feels utterly sympathetic and gives Harry a small smile of his own that's sweet and
genuine. The Dominus looks away and Louis isn't offended, because it is obvious that Harry
would find shame in this experience.

"All better." Louis nearly croaks when he puts the lotion away and looks at Harry's face
again.

Harry's whole visage is blocked by the blackness of this night and Louis can't see him beyond
his pale limbs. He pulls the covers over himself up to his ears and waits for a response.

"Thank you, haud mirum." Harry cranes his neck to a lower degree and kisses Louis'
forehead gently. "This is a new bed and I know you are scared."

Louis tries to hide the fact that he shifts a little closer to Harry's side, agreeing without words
to how strange he's made to feel by this fresh environment. The woods has never been the
place for him and now they're all alone in it.

"This forest is safe, haud mirum." Harry notices the rustle of his sheets over Louis' delicate
form and he notices it riding up at his back.

Carefully he leans over Louis to reconceal the column of skin that's been exposed. He doesn't
know what to do after he's returned to his original position on his back. After years of
imagining it, Harry always thought him meeting his mate would play out differently.

"Harry?" Louis is inches away from the planes of muscled skin that rest as part of Harry's
abdomen. Harry's response is a weak grunt, the lift and drop of his chest signalling the
sudden inhale. "Nevermind." The sound frightens Louis, thinking he disturbed the Dominus
in some way. "Goodnight."
He's rolled over onto his other side by the time he feels Harry prop himself up to enquire
further on what he wanted. Squeezing his eyes shut, he prays that Harry does ask but ten
minutes later there is still no sign of the question and Louis falls asleep.

The night falls over them kindly, concealing them both its shadows and mild temptation of a
dreaming world. Louis only gets to revel in this fantasy of deep green eyes that light up like
Christmas whenever they see his crystal blue ones, for a few hours before he's shaken awake.

It's not a conscious Harry either when he turns around to see what's wrong. Through fuzzy
vision that slowly clears up, Louis' eyesight adjusts to the darkness in time to see that Harry's
body is jolting and tossing itself around. His first reaction is to scramble out of harm's way
but the Dominus looks to be in pain whilst sleeping and Louis can't let whatever horror he's
witnessing in his nightmare continue.

Harry's words are muffled and muted by his face buried in his pillow. Louis holds onto his
right arm as he shuffles closer carefully and swipes the sheen of sweat off Harry's forehead as
he situates himself under that arm. It immediately clamps down on his lower back, causing a
hiss to part from his lips when Harry's strength nearly crushes him.

"Shh." Louis runs his hand up and down Harry's back, feeling the dampness and ripple of
flesh beneath his fingers everytime the man jerks in some odd way with a tense frown. He
whispers in Harry's ear. "It's only a nightmare, my love. You're here with me and nowhere
else. None of this is real. I'm real. Come back to me."

It doesn't work for the time it takes Harry's subconscious to soak in those loving words, then
the terror of his imagination and memory slowly fade away to dream of Louis and him. Harry
is completely calm after he's overcome the nightmare and remains asleep, holding onto Louis
like his lifeline in a way that's sure to cause bruises.

Louis let's him. He knows now that he will always let Harry use him to calm whatever
horrors he needed to. Their position is strange for Harry is almost completely covering him,
but Louis sighs contentedly and accepts it when Harry's prickly stubble finds a home in his
neck.
 Chapter 3

Louis sleeps peacefully with half a space-heater draped over his left half. He wakes up when
the warmth disappears and Harry's body has left faint traces of sweat dampness on his own
skin. It's as if he could only be settled with Harry's weight resting on him, and is now
disturbed by a shift in that tranquillity.

The singing of the birds outside in the highest treetops surround their little haven. Torn and
fallen leaves crack under the heavy footing of hooves or baby animal paws. Wind blew in a
northerly direction and kept the breeze light, the sun still waking up the new day is broke
through the horizon.

He felt Harry withdraw with a drag to his motion almost as if he was hesitant to do it at all.
Before his eyelids lifted to look upon the fine hairs on him arms where they were tucked in
under his pillow, Louis heard himself gasp ever so mutely when Harry placed a tender kiss on
his shoulder.

The act of Harry actually gathering the covers around the boy to tuck him in physically, had
Louis forcing himself away from the comfort to get up. Harry's hand was on his waist and he
really didn't want that to change when he sat up and yawned, partially concealed by the dull
conditions of such an early hour.

Harry was looking at him with a soft smile that reached his eyes and made them glisten. His
hair was ruffled up with all his movements from the night and he looked utterly harmless
with his sleepy contours. Louis cracked the knuckles in his fingers and met Harry's eye,
slightly concerned.

"Are you okay?" He remembers his Dominus being so disturbed by his nightmare that he
would be an unkind mate to not ask how he's feeling.

"What do you mean, haud mirum?" Harry frowned briefly and took Louis' hand in his, just
one, to rub his thumb over the knuckles and wish he could each one.

Did Harry not remember? "You had a bad dream last night. You were moving around so
much. Whatever it was must have been really awful."

Harry's eyes are clouded when they meet Louis', a continual string of emotions entering and
leaving them. He drops his head and presses his lips to Louis' wrist, saying nothing as he
turns around to pick up the wooden prosthetic piece from against his nightstand.

Louis' hope dies when he observes this reaction from the Dominus, and sighs just before
pulling away as his hand falls to the sheets. He slides off the bed and leaves the room before
he can mutter something harsh, feeling hurt by Harry not wanting to even talk to him about
not wanting to speak of this nightmare.

Harry noticed the change in their atmosphere and his eyes followed Louis out the door, self-
hatred bubbling beneath the surface of his skin as he pulled on his hair and groaned.
In the kitchen, Louis took stock mentally of everything he had. The basic essentials such as
milk, eggs and rice were present. There seemed to be bulk groceries packed into the pantry,
from bottled water to canned foods. Louis pouts at everything in boxes and that which are
non-perishable. With hardly a fresh thing in sight, he pities the Dominus who hasn't had a
decent meal in who knows how long.

For now, he pours himself a glass of water to wake up and puts the gas stove on to prepare a
good enough breakfast. Scrambled eggs sizzle on the frying pan and Louis makes a note to
buy butter the next time they're in town. He pops the last two slices of bread into a separate
pan with cheese and stands on his tiptoes to get the sugar from a high shelf.

A hand circles his hip at that moment when he's just about close enough to grabbing the jar,
and he immediately falls back onto his feet when Harry's fingers slip under his shirt. It wasn't
intentional by the way Harry merely gets the jar for him and steps away without saying
anything.

Louis kept his gaze low as he set water to boil on the stove and got out the tallest mug he
could find. Harry's presence both soothed and suffocated him because the Dominus felt
unpredictable, mercurial. There was no choice of tea or coffee, just a special type of tea leaf
that he remembers his father having at home.

Thankfully he remembers how to make it and starts to do that carefully, bringing a plate to
the narrow counter to serve Harry's food.

"Haud mirum, I-" Harry starts to say and swallows his words with a grimace at himself. "I am
very fond of you and you walking out on me has made me regret.....ignoring you."

Louis looks up with wide and attentive eyes but he can't let Harry say this, can't have him
loathe himself for something so trivial. "It doesn't matter, Harry. I never should have asked."

"No. No, haud mirum." Harry comes around the side of the counter again and takes the jar
from Louis' hand, placing it on the counter so that he is free to hold the boy. "You are free to
ask anything you like. It's just you and I up here. We must be comfortable with one another."

Taking comfort in Harry's embrace, Louis allows himself to be held and curls his fingers into
the front of Harry's shirt to reciprocate. He feels so lost at peace and safety when Harry holds
him, tight against his chest to make the boy feel inexplicably secure from any and all dangers
in the world.

Louis notices that Harry smells fresh of musk from his shower and that a little bit more of his
stubble has come in. He shamelessly nuzzles the side of Harry's neck and the Dominus
growls protectively as he locks arms around him.

"It's okay." Louis speaks, angelic and soft like the finest deity that Harry isn't worthy of.

"Let me go out and train today." Harry let's go reluctantly of Louis' form so that he may go
back to his previous occupation. "When I return, I will tell you about my nightmares."
Louis nearly drops his spoon from where he's tasting the sweetness of Harry's tea concoction.
"You don't have to, my love."

The endearment makes Harry smile. "I've had no one to share anything with for most of my
life. You cannot take this away from me."

With a smug little smile playing on his lips, Louis hands the Dominus his tea and slides to
him his plate of food. It is difficult to miss the look of awe and surprise on Harry's face when
he picks up his fork.

"What is it?" Louis bites his upper lip and asks, worried that maybe he served too little or his
food was merely distasteful.

Harry's admirable smirk full of dimples and a peek at his canines say differently. "I have
never seen a plate of food so full before my day began."

Louis tries not to let that sink in, pulling his heart down with him. "Well, now you always
will." "Come sit with me."

There's only one chair.

Louis fights the sprint in his pulse and lump in his throat as he obeys because he's been asked
something directly. He wishes he had longer sleeves to hide his arms and didn't look so
dishevelled with a head of unruly hair and bitten lips.

"Wh-Where?" He asks, tripping over his nerves as they light themselves up.

Harry holds out his hand, only now allowing Louis to notice that he's wearing all black once
again. He's only worn black since the boy met him. His T-shirt clung to his abdomen and his
jeans were ripped at the knees, boots heavy and old.

Taking the offering, Louis let's his hand slide into Harry's and sucks in a sharp breath that
whistles through his teeth when he's hauled off the ground. His tiny noise of protest is
drowned out by himself when he's placed on Harry's lap, two hands leaving his hips. One arm
circles his waist and the other is free to manoeuvre his food.

"Are you comfortable?" Harry's lips are on his temple.

Louis unknowingly preens and his eyes fall closed. He is warm and comfy where Harry put
him, slotted against the ridges and planes of firm torso. He never wants to leave.

"You have a beautiful voice." Harry's thumb rubs back and forth over Louis' hip-bone like
he's been doing it for centuries, having found the perfect spot to adorn with gentle caresses. "I
heard you last night speaking to me in my sleep."

Astounded, Louis hides his blushing face behind his hands and curls his body up as much as
he can without falling to the ground. "Y-You heard me?"
"Yes." Harry scrapes his plate with his fork, taking bites in between his hushed conversation
with Louis. "It felt like a dream because no mortal could possibly be as beautiful and warm as
you are, yet I got to wake up beside you this morning."

Louis is agape and lost for words as he rests his cheek on Harry's shoulder, the tip of his nose
grazing the faint touch of incoming facial hair. "Stop it."

"I will stop." Harry sets his cutlery down and holds Louis like an infant. One arm circled his
shoulders and the other held onto his legs, hoisting the boy higher and closer to him. Their
faces were an inch apart. "I will stop when there is no breath left in my body."

How can someone ever repay a man for being this honest, this passionate with his words?
Louis is weak with his vocabulary and can only wrap his arms around Harry's neck to remove
all boundaries of space between them, letting every ounce of affection he has for this man
soak into him.

"I'd like a favour, haud mirum." Harry's dexterous fingers are working out some lifeless knots
at the base of Louis' spine.

"Anything." Louis gushes, then his cheeks flame up from how eager he sounded.

Harry's chuckle is a raspy melody present in Louis' ear, stuck on a loop in his mind. "Do you
sing, haud mirum. I will say with certainty that someone with a speaking voice like yours
must have the sweetest singing."

Louis wants to stay a part of this man forever, held by him and treasured this much forever. "I
used to sing to my little sister."

Their half an hour of breakfast is spent in a way that Louis could never have predicted, and
Harry never imagined he'd appreciate. The Dominus sat on the old, upholstered chair and
secured Louis on his lap so that the boy could sing in his ear. His voice made the sun less
harsh and the food more divine. Every gasp of air was more savoury and Harry was drunk off
his innocence by the end of one verse.

Louis' thin and cool fingertips danced across the dips of Harry's clavicle, tracing the outlines
of bone protruding through skin. He sang an old tune from generations ago that his
grandmama taught him, after her mother taught it to her.

It narrated the story of a dancer who danced just for the King of an ancient, faraway land.
One day the ruler allowed his son to watch her and the prince fell in love. The chorus was
scratchy and Louis' voice was so delicate that it did their tale justice by how he lowered it
enough, keeping their union a secret even in this day.

The song ends long after Harry is supposed to be out the door, neither possessing enough
courage to end it. Louis is lifted when Harry stands and looks over the man's shoulder at how
far off the ground he is.
"Harry, don't-" He begins to fuss when he notices the Dominus carrying him over to the only
couch in the tiny living room.

Ignoring him, Harry lowers Louis onto the sofa and insists that he must not get up. "Handle
the kitchen later. Sleep now, haud mirum."

Louis' pout is a trigger in Harry's heart. "I am not tired."

Harry indulges him with a fond smile and by sitting on the edge of the structure, sinking the
cushion further. He drapes the thin quilt over Louis' body and conceals his form right up to
his ears, to both their amusement. "Says this." Harry kisses the tip of Louis' nose where it
rested scrunched up so the boy could swallow his yawn. "Rest, haud mirum."

"Why do you call me that?" Louis tips his head back when Harry withdraws for a breath,
snapping their close proximity shut.

"It means you are my little wonder." Harry's eyes sparkle like the most glorious stars in the
skies above, humouring Louis with another kiss on his forehead. "You struck me as one the
minute I saw you."

Louis reveals himself from behind the quilt and gently pecks Harry's cheek before pulling it
back up. Harry's smirk widens and his dimples become more prominent, lethally charming as
he crooks his index finger over the corner of the quilt.

"I will not leave without my kiss, haud mirum, now that you are here to give it to me." Harry
says as he leans in with a faint smile that teases his lips and the uneasy self-restraint evident
in his concentration. He's holding himself back.

Louis pushes himself up to connect their lips and relaxes into the touch of his Dominus over
him. It feels like having a taste of Harry the first time, a whiff of him in Louis' senses. He's
the ideal drug and Louis has him all to himself. When Harry repeats his act of advancement
again, the tip of his tongue passing the barrier of his lips to tease the roof of his mouth, Louis
tangles his fingers into those curly locks hastily drawn back in a bun.

A Dominus is meant to marry or mate the person they chose as soon as possible, mark the
one they love so the never have to suffer a loss. Harry is stopping himself because he won't
force Louis just yet. He wants the moment they become one of two souls knitted together to
be perfect, just like the boy he loves.

They separate with hesitancy in both parties. Louis is panting without air and Harry licks his
lips thrice to reimburse the taste in his mouth. "Do you know the strength I have, haud
mirum?"

Harry's question throws Louis off base. He struggles to get any one thing to focus in his mind
made of mush. "I-I don't understand."
With no regard for wasted time, Harry sits upright and takes Louis with him. Their faces were
kept in impossibly close proximity, breaths mingling and goosebumps brushing. Harry's eyes
were ablaze and they burned right through Louis'.

"Do you know the strength a wolf has, haud mirum? How much we must tame and learn to
control?" Harry's hands drop to his consort's lap and glide over the creases of his shirt to hold
onto his sides, fervent in his appeal and desperation. "Yet with you I have no willpower, no
ability to hold myself back."

Harry's feverish actions made Louis want to soothe him, reassure him. "It is fine, my love.
I'm sorry I cause you this pain."

"No." Harry becomes a different person, an impulsive creature more like as he touches parts
of Louis his sober self would not. He hugs his lower waist and explores the skin of his thigh.
The storm in the green of his eyes steal Louis' words. "I love everything you make me feel. I
could breakyou, my Louis, but I'd rather lose my other leg than let that happen."

Louis reaches forward and cups both Harry's cheeks, watching the wolf surface and retire
from exhaustion with a whine all in one scorching act. He presses his lips to Harry's forehead
and kisses the frown away, creases of skin only easing because of his touch.

A Dominus is a possessive animal. They were weak-willed and ruled by primal instincts at
most instances, but there was no other creature more loving than them. The strength Harry
spoke of was not a myth. A wolf's strength is both an abomination and a miracle. Harry could
tear this house down in a breath without a thought of regret.

"I am yours, my love." Louis tells him what he wants to hear, feeling the aftermath of the
strings attached to his heart tugging relentlessly. "I will only ever be yours."

*****

Louis has never known boredom this way.

He wakes from his nap that Harry left him to conduct, blinking awake to some time that must
be late morning. There is no device to tell the time so he doesn't waste time finding one. His
first act of independence is to fold the quilt and set it at the foot of the couch again, padding
energetically to the door that he yanks open. He gets smacked in the face by fresh, earthy air
and grins because of it.

Leaving the front door gaping wide, he has his shower with cool water and dresses in his own
clothes. He hummed and unpacked his boxes for a while that took him into midday, making
space for his clothes amongst Harry's and his small belongings alongside the previous ones.
Without meaning to, Louis notes that all of Harry's clothes are black. Shirts, shoes, jeans,
socks and even his undergarments.

Abandoning any judgment towards his Dominus' sense in fashion, he makes the bed and slips
on some trainers to venture outside. The woods welcome him with a fine breeze and scent of
nature in its purest form. He goes into the small area fenced for the horses' protection and sits
up on a wooden post, watching them graze for entertainment.

A twig snaps behind his back and he quickly rotates to see what it was. The tree trunks were
slim and tall, hardly wavering in the wind. However the pine needles at the base are full of
green leaves that do nothing to hide the shape lurking behind them.

Out of the shadows comes a wolf of monstrous height. The pair of sparkling eyes that aided it
in darkness turned into the most familiar set Louis' had the pleasure of knowing. Louis has
never seen Harry in his wolf form and he regrets now that he's never taken in the majestic
outline of such a almighty animal.

The wolf was all black and stood as tall as Louis did up on the post he was perched on. It
stalked forward with something hanging from between its jaws and Louis identified the
carcass as a doe, his jaw falling slack at the significance of such a deed. He looks up from the
dead wildlife at his feet and finds the wolf terribly close to his face, its muzzle nearly
nudging his shoulder with bloody teeth.

"Hi, Harry." Louis found it amusing that he could say a greeting and not have it returned. He
waited before continuing, studying the wolf's eyes for a reaction. "Thank you."

Harry's wolf raised its head, unmistakably proud. Louis giggles and extends his arm, wanting
a feel of the softest fur on the scariest beast. He runs his fingers through the threads of fibre,
attractive in its deep colour that makes Harry a shadow and a king.

"You have to go now." Louis recites sadly, passing his fingertips over Harry's jaw. "Don't
forget about me."

Even as a wolf, Harry's able to make a noise akin to a scoff and lightly bump Louis' side
before taking off into the innards of the forest.

With silence engulfing him again, Louis looks down at the lifeless doe and speaks to the
horses. "Do you know how to cut a doe?"

It takes him a long while to master the art of almost skinning a doe so he can cook it. He
would not have thought that his life will become this primitive but he'll be lying if he said it
didn't give him a sense of responsibility and liberation.

He was free of a life where everyone did the same thing. Sure, many of the girls he stayed
with in that cottage two nights ago went on to live extravagant lives with pearls and yachts,
but on his first day he is enjoying the overdose of a busy day in a wonderful place.

At a point where the sun is glaring and making his skin sticky, Louis goes inside to find
himself something to eat. There isn't much to work with and he whips together a quick snack
of half a can of beans with an egg to survive.

The day starts coming to an end after he's come indoors with enough meat for a decent dinner
meal. He shuts the door this time and kicks off his shoes right beside it, travelling to the
kitchen with his dish and washing off his hands before preparing to cook.
Louis turns the gas stove on again and sets a frying pan on with oil to heat up. He can guess
through a peek out the window that it's nowhere near ten o'clock and he has enough time to
do a bit extra. Getting out the ingredients to make bread, he puts them on the counter and
goes back for potatoes. There's a sack of it with four left so he decides to use all, guessing
that he'll beg Harry to take him to the city tomorrow.

He leaves the venison cubes to sizzle in the pan and monitors it from his station of making
bread, kneading the dough with the ball of his palm. It gets rolled out and shaped into a
knotted, elongated bun of sorts. After popping it into the oven, he dumps the dishes in the
sink and returns to the meat to turn it over.

Deciding when they're cooked enough, he leaves the pan on a cold stove and peels the
potatoes to dice them. He creates a salted mash with it and does multiple taste tests to
confirm that it tastes good enough. Remembering the half can of beans he used earlier makes
him fetch the remainder and put it over a flame as well, letting it cook through.

The deer meat goes back onto the heated portion when he hears the door rattle and realises
the amount of time he spent cooking was quite a bit.

He feels something flutter like delicate wings in his gut when he counts the steps Harry
would take to find him in the kitchen. At the fourth there's a pause and he draws in an
unstable breath whilst stirring mindlessly at the bean pot.

Furtherly, he counts three more steps of Harry's large strides and shakily exhales when he
knows the Dominus is right behind him. He turns his head to the side but not entirely and he
can see it, Harry's black clad hand bravely reaching forth and touch him.

It feels like the tension in a balloon gives way when Harry's palm reaches ground on his hip,
fingers flexing over the bone as he cups it. One more step the man takes and he is pressed
flush against Louis' back, able to hear how he swallows nervously and his eyelids seal over
his eyes when Harry kisses his neck.

"You will never have to worry about me forgetting you, haud mirum."

Louis feels charges electrified on the surface of his skin by these words brushing over them,
giving them power. He leans back as much as he can into Harry's protection and cranes his
neck to plant a kiss on the stubble of the Dominus.

It feels prickly on his soft lips and he knows Harry takes it as the request he intended it to be.
In a fleeting moment he feels Harry's lips on his and they're greeting each other in a way that
reacquaints their bodies as well. Harry feels anchored when he's in physical contact with this
boy.

"My home has never smelt this appetising before." Harry's palm has found a path to Louis'
tummy and is petting that part of him with small strokes.
"It's nothing special." Louis professes modestly, turning the stove off and freeing the various
pots of the open flame. "Are you hungry?"

"Ravenous." Harry responds, and the glint in his eye that conceals itself hastily has Louis
trying to duck out of his hold.

Taking Harry's hand in his, Louis leads him to the couch in their tiny living room. "Sit."

Harry is smug about Louis' authority but does as told anyway, figuring that he is to be a
leader anywhere except a place that contain this petite wonder. Expectantly he looks up at
Louis until the boy rushes back to the kitchen and serves food into two plates, the portions in
one outweighing the other. He returns to Harry with them and two bottles of water that he
sets on the floor because of the absence of a coffee table.

He sits only after he's brought the bread from the oven and leaves it to rest between them on a
cold plate so it causes no damage to the couch.

Their silence is awkward and even so, they'd both rather not be anywhere else. Lovers
behaved differently around one another but they were hardly lovers yet and with a tender
bond developing so slowly between them there was no need to jeopardise what they had.

"No." Harry's dominant objection makes Louis pause in his aim to touch his food.

He stares down at his lap without any of the relaxation he had prior to this, and fears
everything that could have gone wrong with anything he did today. His mind is racing with a
million different wild cards and faults, until Harry slices through it with a calm request.

"Sit with me." Harry says.

Louis lifts his head with his slightly hunched shoulders, confusion showing with his frown.
"I-I am, my love."

Harry turns his head from left to right, signalling a negative response. Now Louis was
thoroughly off-put. His Dominus refrains from saying anything more and they stare at each
other up until Louis has the enlightenment dawn on him.

"O-Oh." He feels heat crawl up his neck. "If you want."

He stands up again and watches Harry hold his plate out of harm's way when he makes his
way closer. Louis raises one knee and it digs into the couch cushion, before nearing the other
one to it and he falls astride Harry's hips in one fluid move. He's almost proud of himself
because nothing was spilt.

"You belong here." Harry speaks again when he gets to see Louis' crystalline marbles from
beneath his feathery fringe.

"In-In your lap?" Those very crystals grow a little wide in surprise.
"I suppose." Harry chuckles and picks up his fork. "Rather, I meant you belong in my home."

Louis' ducking his face when he smiles and couldn't help but agree wholeheartedly that this
sanctuary up on a hill is meant just for them.

They eat in silence and share the bread roll, ending in its entirety being savoured by their
taste buds. Louis can't praise himself because his own cooking tastes regular on his tongue
but to a man who was isolated from civilisation, every morsel of food tasted like divinity.

Louis takes some dishes to the kitchen and doesn't expect to spin around at the sink only to
find Harry bearing the burden of the others. He smiles and takes them from the Dominus,
leaving them in the sink and starting the cleaning process.

In what felt like definitely less than an hour they were done and back in their spot on the
couch, resuming the positions they had before leaving. Louis need not ask permission before
taking the band that held Harry's bun together and pulling it off, letting the lengthy curls
tumble freely to frame his face.

"I like your hair." Louis compliments, twirling one of the locks around his finger.

"I admire yours." Harry returns, his reward for the appraisal being Louis' quiet giggle.

"Can I say something?" Louis sits back on his haunches and Harry's thighs, staring into green
pits as he warned the Dominus of what he might say.

"Yes."

"You don't get much sleep." He takes a breath. "I don't think I like it very much."

Aside from their breathing and the rhythm of the night outside, Harry laughs openly for the
first time since Louis' met him. "There is no choice,haud mirum. We as Dominus are
programmed to function on minimal sleep."

"But-" Louis shakes his head and places it on Harry's chest, memorizing the thrum of his
heartbeat. "Which days do you not train?"

"I can take leave from training on Sunday because of you." Harry's arms wind their way
around Louis' slouched form. "Having a mate entitles a training wolf to Sunday free."

His fingers are drumming out the lub-dub rhythm of Harry's pulse without being aware of it.
"What if you have a family?"

The question and notion of having a family before ending his training makes Harry chuckle.
"Impossible, haud mirum.. I will only able to reproduce after I pass as a fit Dominus."

Louis raises his head, curious. "What does that mean?"

Harry starts to get up and takes Louis with him, carrying him with careful stepping in his
arms. "It means what it does, haud mirum.. Now since you object to my sleeping hours, why
don't we get a head start?"

It sure sounds like Harry is avoiding the task of answering Louis' question but all is forgiven
and forgotten when they find themselves in the sanctity of their bedroom again. Louis is put
back on his own two feet and Harry's hand is not so discreet as it lingers over the curve of his
spine for a bit longer.

"You should shower first." Louis voices what mindless thought he had, looking Harry in the
eye as he says it. Harry raises his eyebrow as if questioning what this boy meant by that.

Louis catches on and hurries to save himself. "I-I- Just because you should get to bed earlier."

Hoping it doesn't sound insane to an outside ear, Louis nibbles on the dry skin of his lower lip
and looks away guiltily. Harry does not go so far as to say anything more because today has
been quite an experience for them both and he'd like to fall asleep soon to dream of further
possibilities. His hands grip Louis' shoulders and he leans down close to the boy for a sweet
kiss on his forehead.

"Goodnight, haud mirum." The Dominus whispers, gravely voice feeling like smooth honey
and cascading silk down the heated skin of Louis' back.

"G'night." He can only muster up as a sufficient response.

While Harry is in the bathroom, Louis spends many minutes picking his attire for sleeping. It
will also serve as his clothing for the day tomorrow as he does not plan to change just to be
alone. The hamper in the bathroom is fairly full and he guesses a load is necessary to be done
tomorrow as well.

Louis manages to duck from sight when his Dominus steps out of the bathroom and stealthily
slip through the open door for his turn. He pulls open the frosted shower door and lays his
folded sleepwear on the counter by the basin before stripping down in the steam created by
Harry's shower.

Once safely under the mainstream spray of the hot shower, Louis picks up the body gel he
brought from home that's running from medium to low and squirts some into his coarse
sponge. Regular sponges were not made to remove the grime of the day as he preferred.

After satisfying his subconscious with the job of shampooing and conditioning, Louis rinses
himself off from head to toe one last time and exits. The steam from his shower carried the
scent of cherries and vanilla, whilst Harry's was mainly musk or something herbal.

He smiles to himself with a burst of silent laughter when he sees space for two towels now
laid out beneath the counter, one already having been used and thrown into the hamper. He
happens to notice yet another change in the cup meant to hold toothbrushes.
Louis clearly remembers putting his own into the cup earlier today when he was unloading
the luggage he came with, yet there is just Harry's left here. He dismisses the concern for a
short moment as he dries off and dresses in his pyjamas, constantly running his fingers
through his damp hair to dry it quicker.

Back at the search for his toothbrush, Louis finds himself crouching and looking around on
the floor. A bright blue catches his eye and his vision snaps towards it, stunned speechless to
find his toothbrush with that vibrant shade in the small woven bin.

He's no longer deeply offended when he remembers Harry deduced that he'd used his
toothbrush last night. Is intention is obvious here, that he wants Louis to use it again and not
his own. The thought behind such a deed makes Louis' cheeks redden and he succumbs to the
talons of temptation. He smears Harry's minty toothpaste onto the bristles and brushes his
teeth in his usual time.

The hum of adrenaline from his possibly scandalous act wears off when he enters the
bedroom again and notices the slick frustration lingering above his head. Frowning, he turns
to Harry and pauses when the Dominus seems to be struggling with something. He's clearly
trying to fall asleep with his irritated little huffs and continual punches aimed at flattening his
pillow.

"Harry?" He approaches the man, one foot at a time. When Harry's eyes open and laser focus
on him with a steady grimace, Louis stops. "What's wrong?"

Whatever it is that previously bothered Harry dies down into a soft group of creases above
the bridge of his nose. "Nothing, haud mirum."

"Are you sure?" Louis takes a brave step forward and swiftly assesses the state of his partner,
feeling his gut twist at the flushed tint of his skin and the sweat already developing on his
chest.

He turns around for a trip back into the bathroom and ignores Harry's word of argument as it
floats into the room with him. Louis grabs two Paracetamol pills and two painkillers,
knowing that a Dominus can burn through them in seconds. He fills a glass with water and
goes back into the bedroom, switching Harry's bedside lamp on.

"Have this." He muffles his yawn and disguises the tired shuffling of his feet, handing over
the medication and tumbler to Harry.

The man's skin up to his extremely lower abdomen is visible as the sheets are hastily kicked
off him. His nether regions and one disabled leg are concealed by the dark covers but his
other pale limb is exposed against it. Louis tries very hard to not stare at the toned and
sculptured physique of his dominant.

Harry swallows the tablets and drinks the entire glass of water, handing it back to Louis who
is suspiciously swaying in his footing. Louis refills the glass and wets a clean medium-sized
towel with cold water, squeezing out the excess moisture and going back to bed one last time.
"What's this?" Harry asks him about the white cloth in his hand as Louis switches off the
light and adjusts to the darkness.

"I'm here to take care of you." Louis doesn't have to ask for Harry to budge over, as it seems
the Dominus can look at him and know everything that he's thinking. "I intend to do a
thorough job."

There is the light of amusement in Harry's sparkling eyes as he moves over and allows Louis
some space on his side of the bed. Although they should be reserved about how much bare
skin contact there is between them, Louis figures there must be an exception in this situation.

Louis sits with a low slouch and uses Harry's pillows to prop himself up, the Dominus
making little room before lying back with his head against Louis' tummy. The boy's skin is
soft and barely touching him but Harry feels high off it, flying with the clouds because of it.
Louis crosses one leg with his foot beneath the other thigh, that leg resting snugly against
Harry's side.

His shorts were hardly recognised by either of them until Louis picked up on it and his
embarrassment escalated. Harry was fine with it, his fingers playing to a silent melody as
they circled Louis' bare knee and his eyes close as if nothing could disturb his contentment.

Louis folded the cold cloth and placed it on Harry's forehead, not missing how the Dominus
leaned up into his touch. "You should feel better soon."

"I already feel no pain, haud mirum." Harry leaves a kiss on Louis' shin by turning his head
slightly. The skin afterwards where his lips had touched lights up. "You are not allowed to lie
to me, my love."

Harry's laughter is husky and hardly something musical, with a low octave and rough voice.
Louis loves the sound. "Tell me about your day, Louis."

Louis clears his throat and folds the cloth over to expose more of the cooling sections. He has
no job for his hands otherwise and starts to comb through Harry's hair, straightening it out
with his fingers raking through them.

"I didn't do much besides sit outside with the horses and start cooking towards the latter part
of the afternoon." He says.

Harry is pleased with the actions and starts to let out soft groans or actively nudge Louis'
hand when he stopped. "Were you discontent?"

"No." Louis races to answer. "I like it out here very much."

"Then what are your plans for tomorrow, haud mirum?" The Dominus asks, drawing circles
on Louis' hairless calf with his thumb.

"Laundry, I suppose." Louis deems Harry's hair unknotted and moves his hands lower to the
man's shoulders, conducting a weak massage to remove the abundance of knots he can feel.
"I want to start a vegetable garden."

Harry groans and Louis doesn't predict it was supposed to come out with such a high volume.
He blushes bright red at knowing he caused those pleasured sounds, even if they were from a
more innocent perspective. "Do you?"

"Y-Yes." He bites his tongue after stammering, working his fingertips over the firmness
around Harry's neck. "Would you mind if I did?"

"Of course not, haud mirum. This home is yours." Harry considers something before
speaking again. "Tomorrow is Sunday. I will take you get everything you need from town."

Louis beams, bright as the sun, and bends down to kiss Harry's cheek in a quick peck. "Thank
you. Thank you, my love."

Harry catches the back of his neck and holds him still, lips brushing with how close they are.
"Give me another kiss of yours and I will spare the expense of going bankrupt tomorrow."

Louis nearly chokes on air with how honest Harry's words are, the lit fire behind them
intensifying the man's earnest appeal. "I will kiss you for an eternity, my love. I expect
nothing but your lips in return."

*****

They fell asleep that way, with Harry tucked into the cradle of Louis' curled up body. The
Dominus awoke at his regular hour and discovered himself using Louis' front as a comfort for
his head, the softness and scent being something he could never replace by a synthetic pillow.

He watches Louis, his sweet boy, sleeping with his head turned towards the window and his
chest slowly creating the rhythm of his breathing. Harry doesn't let anyone know except the
morning dew and whistling of the woodland creatures, when he kisses Louis' lips in a delicate
grace. He settles back down on his front, not between Louis' legs but rather on his side and
snaking around him like a vine.

Louis heard the fighting of the trees outside and woke up to their faint blowing in the wind,
blinking lazily as he touched the weight over him. He gasped and retracted his hand when
that weight had a pulse, a beating heart. Harry lay on top of him in a sleep so deep he was
dead to the world except for the rise and fall of his chest.

He was no longer tired and Louis stayed up as the sun rose late in the morning, his fingers
brushing back and forth over Harry's scapullas. Through yawns and small stretching, Louis
cracked the knuckles in his body without disturbing Harry and curled his arms over the man's
shoulders. Harry's face was turned to the side, smashed into Louis' front with his lips parted
and pouted. He looked so harmless, so peaceful in his sleep.

Trying not to let his thoughts wander, Louis realised that escaping from under Harry would
be a task irretrievable. He didn't mind though, and sheepishly smiled to himself before
settling back into his nest of pillows for a few more hours of sleeping.
Harry had the day free and that's what seemed to wake them both up at a later hour when the
son was completely enveloping their room in sunlight to emphasise the time. The Dominus
rose from his position first and left a chaste kiss for Louis' skin to remember him by as he sat
up.

Although he felt simply adored by the kiss, Louis couldn't spend all day wrapped up in it. He
yawned away the sleepiness and pulled himself upright, drawing his legs closer to his chest
from where they were behind Harry's back. The man sat at the edge of the bed, unmoving,
and seemed to contemplating things with his arms straining against the springs.

Louis felt the silence would kill him and with a sudden burst of energy, leaned forward to
kiss Harry's cheek. "Good morning."

When he withdrew Harry smirked and glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. He seemed
to chew on something when nothing was in his mouth, and grabbed the prosthetic limb off its
stand. "Good morning, haud mirum."

Nothing more was said for the entire duration of time it took for them to shower separately
and appear downstairs for breakfast. Louis thanked any deity that would listen when he saw
oatmeal in the pantry and prepared some on the stove, listening to Harry slide into the chair at
the counter wordlessly.

The Dominus who sat idle with his fingers laced together and bare feet on a rod attached to
the counter, cleared his throat. "Do you have a list?"

He didn't know how Louis fondly rolled his eyes and worked harder than he ever had in his
life to suppress a smile. Their awkwardness was something he never thought he'd desire.
"What kind of list?"

Louis fills up a bowl with steaming oatmeal, letting the other remain at half full. He dribbles
some honey over the porridge substance and tosses the bottle into the trash after committing
the name to memory. Harry liked honey?

"The....-" Harry listens to himself lose his sentence when Louis comes around the counter to
hand him his food. "Whatever it is you plan to buy today."

Without being told, Louis opens Harry's arms and crawls onto his Dominus' lap. Harry
couldn't be more pleased about the change in events and hesitantly places a hand on Louis'
back to keep him still considering the boy had nothing to support his posture.

"I have an idea of what to get." Louis jabs at his breakfast while it cools. "We need fresh fruit
and more than canned beans."

Harry's already fed himself a spoonful of the best oatmeal he's tasted, and watches Louis in
his lap talk on with a humoured smirk on his lips. He's stuck on the use of 'we' like a
lovestruck fool.
"I'd like to get seeds for the garden." Louis finally eats, Harry monitoring that he plans to
finish all. "You don't suppose there's live chicken in these woods?"

The Dominus watching him stares at him in evident surprise, the green in his eyes that match
the environment of the trees outside becoming more so. "No, haud mirum. I don't."

Louis puts Harry's empty bowl onto the counter, followed by his own. "Then we'll get
chicken as well today."

There's nothing to hold onto anymore and Louis' hands fall jobless onto his lap, Harry's arms
choosing to cage the slim figure of his waist like it was his method of worship.

"Harry?" Louis puffed up his cheeks and slotted himself beneath the man's chin.

Harry's means of responding was a slight trail up and down his bare arm, grazing the smooth
skin enough to tickle.

"I never asked and I should have but-" He tries not to make himself out to be self-doubting
and unsure although he is. "-all these expenses....- Are they-"

The Dominus had a fair guess at what Louis meant to say. "I know what you are asking, haud
mirum. Yours and my expenses shall always be taken care of."

"I thought you said your family didn't....you know, support you financially."

"They do not." Harry treated Louis' puzzled look with a brush to his slanted fringe and kissed
his forehead over that scented, upset hair. "My brother and I made certain investments that
would look after us during the time that we won't work."

Louis hums as he listens attentively, gnawing on his lip to punish himself for asking. How
rude of him. "I'm sorry, my love. It was none of my business."

Harry catches him by his chin, blazing emeralds set on hot coals burrowing their homes in
the mellow peacefulness of Louis' sapphire crystals.

"You should apologise for saying that rather than asking, haud mirum. I will give you any
answer you require, my world is at your feet. That was your business, my Louis. We are one
now; one soul, one beating heart. There will be no secrets between us."
 Chapter 4

Designated duties were handed out between Harry and Louis the moment they stepped into
the decently proportioned, well-stocked grocery store that rested an hour away from their
home. At least, Louis was about to be quiet and just nab a trolley for himself but upon
attempting to do so he discovered that Harry already retrieved one for them.

While Harry wished he could touch some part of Louis for the entire span of their shopping
trip, he had to let the sight of said boy walking ahead of him suffice. Louis had the sweetest
physique and it went so ideally against his own. The boy was petite and full of life, no more
muscle than an average human. He had the daintiest wrists and ankles that Harry could circle
with one hand. Louis' chest was narrow so that it fitted in a perfect slot between his broader
shoulders, a smaller puzzle piece finding its home.

He could walk at any pace with the trolley because Louis seemed to function at his pace.
Harry leaned forward with his elbows on the handle and strolled leisurely behind his mate,
always assessing some tremendously intoxicating feature of his.

Louis handled fresh produce first, tying up bundles of herbs and heads of lettuce in clear
plastic packets. Harry watched him like a hawk, always a foot away from him and blocking
him from public sight because he's extra protective in public.

"What do you think?" Louis held up a bunch of green leaves, tiny ones that were crisp and
pungent when Harry sniffed them.

"I don't remember this herb." The Dominus said as he frowned, discreetly setting his hand on
Louis' lower back.

"Neither have I. It smells good though." Louis can feel the weight on his back and smiles to
his self satisfaction, hiding it by ducking his head.

They get enough of what they need to last them a long while. Fresh foods are bound to go off
so Louis doesn't buy an abundance. Harry has to pick up a pocket of potatoes from the
ground when Louis asks for his help, the Dominus does not miss an opportunity to show off
his physical strength. It doesn't do anything for Louis and Harry isn't surprised, more like
settled in his initial conception.

When Louis is choosing the right pack of rosy red apples beside a woman picking out
guavas, Harry scans all the bunches of bananas before putting it into the cart. Louis returns to
his side after thirteen seconds of being away and still is his shyness evident, for he softly
excuses himself before stepping past Harry to the trolley.

It offends Harry.
The Dominus' true internal nature flares up as he spins around on the heel of his boot, looking
at Louis with squinted eyes. It's his instinct to be upset when his mate isn't immediately
opening up to him, trained for this to be such. However his own self means more and Louis
means the most. He will contend with agony and celibacy forever for this wonderful boy.

"Bananas?" Louis picks up the yellow selection of fruit and assesses them in Harry's
panicked silence. "Okay."

They keep the bananas and in the dairy isle, Harry gets to stack multiple six packs of long life
milk into their trolley. He wonders how Louis can do this without needing pen and paper, as
he did everytime he had to handle his own pantry. Louis has a denim jacket on that's as little
as him, covering half his face when the collar is flipped up as it is now.

After getting the butter and yogurt, Louis takes Harry's hand by sudden impulse and leads
him into the bakery at the back. The Dominus declares himself to be weak, for he merely
stares at where their hands are joined without breathing properly. It's as if Louis read his
mind and knew that Harry wanted contact with him.

"Have you ever had these?" Louis is pressed to Harry's side, lighting the Dominus' skin on
fire even over his heavy leather jacket.

Harry has to look down and when he does, he's met with the sight of Louis propelling a type
of cheesy bun towards him. He recognises the smell and nods, still floored by how close they
are in public whilst secretly being smug about it.

"Are you okay?" Louis asks out of the blue, frowning worriedly up at his Dominus. His
small, thin fingers flexed in Harry's closed fist.

"Yes, haud mirum." Harry felt the need to elaborate when Louis' eyes didn't lift. "I am with
you. How could I ever be unhappy with that?"

Louis blushes and looks away at last, done stealing the breath from Harry's lungs. When the
man thinks so all he ends up surprised by is Louis rocking up on his tiptoes to press his
sweet, soft lips to Harry's cheek.

"I'm happy too." He whispers in Harry's ear, his cheeks tinted bright red as his feet hit the
ground again.

They're stuck in a queue of four people while they wait to be served at the bakery, so Harry
gambles his luck. His cheek is a little moist from where Louis licked his lips before kissing
him, and he wrapped both constricting arms around the boy without so much as an
explanation.

Instead of protesting, Louis sighed contentedly and rested back against Harry's chest. He
hesitated before throwing caution to the wind and placing his hands over Harry's interlocked
ones, complete disregard for their trolley as they comforted each other.
"Haud mirum?" Harry petted Louis' hip, poised in his mind to continuously feel the supple
flesh every chance he got.

"My love?" Louis responded. As much as Harry using his one affectionate term on Louis got
his heart to flutter, Harry was just as affected when Louis was cute with his petnames.

Harry braced himself for humility, a trait he's never been required to have in his life. "I'd like
to......-"

Louis sensed his difficulty and turned around, all electric beauty and intelligence faced at the
man now. He looked up at his Dominus in his untidy yet sophisticated bun and had himself
stepping a bit closer, their chests gently colliding.

"You'd like to?" Louis prompted when Harry never finished his request.

Large hands spanned the length of his waist, and Harry's independent pinky finger was
nearing the middle of his hip. Harry nudged his boy's head to the side until it rested on his
shoulder, the pale column of the throat that concealed his erratic pulse exposed to him.

He licked his lips. "I'd like to kiss you here."

However amused Louis may be by this proposition, he is also aware of how dead serious his
Dominus is regarding the matter. He can say yes and have the pleasure of Harry's kisses
somewhere other than his lips, a place if not twice as sensitive.

"You didn't ask before, my love." Louis muses, eyes full of mirth as he tilts his head back.

Harry licks his lips after they move one space closer to the woman handing transactions. "I
am asking now for your permission to do it whenever I need to."

Humming, Louis stews over this offer. "At any time?"

"Yes." Harry slides the palms of his hands from Louis' hips to his front, thumbs rubbing
cyclic shapes over the boy's tummy. "Do you honestly have an objection, haud mirum?"

"Maybe." Louis tries not to shrug as it might knock Harry off his shoulder. He shivers
slightly from a blast coming from the air-conditioner. "What if we have an argument?"

There's an unpredictable scoff that escapes Harry. The Dominus quickly covers it up with a
clearing of his throat but Louis' already giggling. "I see myself at your feet even if we
do.....disagree."

"Or in this case-" Louis takes two steps forward to be nearing the woman now, pouting when
Harry covers that distance in one stride. "-at my neck."

It becomes Harry's turn to laugh, even though it may be a slight chuckle and unrelenting
smirk that dimples his cheeks. "Do I have my yes, haud mirum?"
"Well-" Louis risks a change in his attention from the queue to Harry. "-if you get a spot to
kiss then I want one on you."

Harry doesn't think about it and brings his right index finger up, tapping his lips with it once
to answer Louis' bargain. Louis breaks out into the boldest laugh he's ever endured, still pink
in his cheeks and making Harry's chest swell with pride knowing he caused it.

"You're not a big, bad and scary Dominus." Louis tells the man, convinced of it himself. He
undoes and re- does the top button of Harry's silk shirt beneath his jacket, inappropriately
snuggled up to the Dominus.

"How could I be, haud mirum?" Harry's hands flattened on Louis' back, looking down at him
bemused.

"Exactly." Louis relaxes to the extent of nearly sleeping with Harry's heart pounding in his
ear, the man's hand rubbing his back repeatedly on the other end.

The prattling housewife ahead of them is almost done. Louis decides he's definitely okay
with Harry's mouth on his neck, as well as finalising an arrangement for himself.

"I want to kiss you here." He dragged his fingertip, cold from the chill in the air, over the
place on Harry's muscular chest where his most vital organ pumped blood to the rest of his
body.

Harry's blood seemed to simmer beneath the highest layer of his skin, thickening with the
impact of Louis' words. His future mate, pure in person and whose soul is bound to be
knotted with his, wants to lay a kiss over his heart whenever he feels like returning the
affection from Harry kissing the bare skin of his most sensitive and exposed spot. Harry's
going to lay his mark on that spot one day.

"Yes." Harry hardly has air in his lungs after he exhales his urgent response with the breath.
He grabs hold of Louis' hand, completely concealing everything below the last knuckle of his
index and nips at the tip of the appendage. "Yes,haud mirum. You may."

Louis sounds so muted when he speaks next, there's an entire world around them that
disintegrates to allow them privacy. He finds himself losing himself to the forestry of Harry's
eyes, whilst in return the Dominus drowned in his.

"We have a deal then." Louis vows, sucking in a short breath when it's their turn to get baked
goods.

Harry starts to step forward but Louis takes a chance and plants a kiss over his pectoral now,
leaving the skin warm and loved. There's no time for Harry to carry the boy off to somewhere
secluded and return the favour so he remains stunned with a hand in Louis' so he isn't
uncoordinated as well.

Louis smiles, sweet as sugar and as alluring as a pilgrim's temptation, at the woman serving
customers and recites their order from memory. Harry isn't caught staring at the boy's neck by
Louis himself, but every other shopper present in their raincoats and boots were eyeing him
shiftily.

The bakery boxes are packed neatly into a front carrier section of the trolley and Louis briefly
meets Harry's eye across the expanse of the cart. He looks away for he became suddenly shy
and turned around to lead the Dominus onward. Harry had his stepping memorised by the
time they reached the confectionery isle. He's got it noted forever how many creases form on
Louis' mating spot when he cranes his neck or angles his head.

Louis doesn't know if Harry likes candy as much as the man loves honey, so he offers up his
finest options first. Harry frowns at peanut brittle, nougat bars and gummy worms.

"Do you have a sweet tooth at all?" Louis is afraid to ask about regular chocolate bars, and
uses one of the in- store bulk specials to buy three for half the price.

"Yes." Harry feels like that's the correct answer. He picks up one of Louis' wholenut dairy
milk slabs and studies it.

"For?" Louis is browsing the other options, citrus sweets to liquorice.

Harry walks around the trolley to find it himself, bringing his best choice down from the
highest shelf whilst standing in close proximity to Louis' back. He hands it his favourite
person and waits for judgment.

Louis reads the label and discovers that it's a soft candy, caramel toffee. The brand is such an
old, well-known company that only makes this particular sweet in humble ways. It reminds
Louis that Harry's been around longer than he has and among his possible vices, were the
littlest quirks he's bound to love.

Harry is simple and Louis can bet the finest threads of his soul that there has never been
another Dominus who is the same. It makes him fall a bit more in love with Harry.

"Good choice." He manages to get out, lips twitching into something that's a hybrid of awe
and fondness.

The Dominus is pleased and it shows by the way he fights to hide his relieved smile. Louis
can thankfully reach the largest pack of this caramel delight and puts it in their trolley instead
of Harry's demonstrative small pack. He doesn't want to walk ahead of the cart anymore even
though he should, and wordlessly comes to Harry's side so that they're paired.

Whenever they were stationary and Harry wasn't occupied with pushing the trolley, either one
initiated the hand-holding between them. Louis liked to flex his fingers in the alternative gaps
of Harry's, while the man preferred to hold steady and thumb over Louis' knuckles.

At the frozen goods section with endless rows of topless deep freezers, Louis had to let go of
Harry to find the right kinds of whole chicken. He was a fan of chicken and so picked out the
perfect ones. Harry found soya and Louis pouted.
"Why soya?" He asked, examining the choices in ice cream.

Harry chuckled, both of them suffering from their fingers being numb with the cold. "I quite
like soya."

"Okay but I'm not eating it." Louis pointed out to him before accepting the green packet into
their grocery accumulation.

The problem of their nearly blue fingers had not been taken care off and even though the chill
would naturally disipitate soon, Harry didn't like that. He took Louis' hands in his and
enclosed them in an oyster shape of his palms for warmth rejuvenation.

"Hey, Harry?" Louis curled his fingers inward and pulled the oyster formation apart to lock
their hands together.

The small frown upon Harry's brow softens when he sees Louis take a step forward. He looks
up for a moment and a soft pair of thin lips that taste like what lay behind them, crashed into
his. Harry's chest growled as it did everytime they kissed, his inbred possessiveness coming
to the forefront.

Louis separates one of their unions at their hands and brings it up the back of Harry's neck,
pushing himself up whilst pulling the man down to him. The kiss only deepened when Harry
touched Louis' hip where the boy's shirt jumped a little, grasping the bare supple skin as he
opened his mouth and took over Louis' senses.

Harry was concentrating on the kiss, attacking Louis' lips everytime there was a need to pull
away. He reeled Louis' body in closer to his, eliminating all space between them as he licked
into the boy's mouth to taste everything. Their tongues didn't battle and Louis let him have
the dominance, moaning louder than he should when Harry massaged the wet muscle with
his own.

When the time came for them to part because other people were partially disturbed by their
public displays, Harry's torso was in a hum as he clenched his jaw and suffered the
separation.

Louis felt it too. The despair made his heart clench and his breathing turn to chopped intakes.
Harry leaned forward again, hungry for more but Louis avoided his gesture even though it
pained him.

"At home." Louis said to him, scraping the hairline at Harry's nape with his fingertips. He
found an estranged flame in the Dominus' eye, then became its prey no sooner. "Kiss me
when we're home, my love."

Harry was unhappy with it but that was to be predicted. He nodded reluctantly and instead
pecked Louis' forehead. "I have never been this eager to return to my own roof before, haud
mirum."
The grocery store became well acquainted with the unmated couple who behaved like they
were, in just this one day. Louis perused the shelves of edibles and small equipment, deeming
a few worthy and others unnecessary. He bought honey in a pack of four medium container
sizes, picking cereals that were frosted and some round.

They ended up needing two trolleys as everyone else did. This grocer dealt with bulk buy and
nobody here lived from day to day. The retail clothing store just a few doors down was the
same.

"Winter is coming." Harry spoke up for the first time since their indecency in the frozen
goods section, the tip of his nose red and everywhere else nearly chalk white.

Louis raised his eyebrow, awaiting further explanation of this sudden statement.

Harry helped him get their purchases scanned and re-pile them into the trolleys. "Winter in
the cabin is not very pleasant without proper insulation."

"Okay." Louis watched him make use of a wallet that always lay idle on Harry's nightstand.
He paid with a blood red card of some kind. "So we should get better clothing?"

"Yes." The Dominus got his card back and put it away before any questions were asked.
"Each winter is different. This year will be one of the worst."

Louis frowned at the news. "You're going to be outside in that weather?"

"No, haud mirum." Harry promised with a small laugh. They were stocking their groceries
into the back of Harry's SUV at this point. "We graduate on the day of the first snow for
winter."

Louis looks forward now to Harry's 'graduation'. He knows after studying the topic for a short
time that a Dominus' passing of his training was an outstanding achievement. For any who
excelled at it - although there were very few who did and even Harry wasn't one of them
because of his prosthetic leg - their reward was somehow greater.

"Really?" Louis hands Harry the small items like the candy and bakery boxes, leaving the
Dominus to himself pick up things like trays of canned food and packs of bottled water.
"What if snow doesn't fall?"

Harry barks a laugh and fails to smother it with a rub of his palm. He feels comfortable
around this boy and doesn't need to hide anything. "Winter has seen snow fall for every
century since this tradition began."

"You never know." Louis sing-songs, handing Harry back to SUV's keys when the boot is
sealed.

Rather than responding with something amused and sharp, Harry extends his hand and Louis'
slips into it. He fills the spaces Harry had in voids and made him feel toasty from within.
The clothing store is massive and continues on for what is probably a mile indoors, feeding to
the public rails and racks of clothing or gear that are seasonally appropriate. Thirteen
counters await the cash exchange for such merchandise, and Louis passes them on his way to
the first couple of selections.

"No, haud mirum." Harry tugged on his wrist to take Louis away from the blazers and
sweaters, towards the bulkier jackets. "We live at a peak where the cold is at its worst."

"Oh." Louis folds his arms over his narrow chest and follows in the fold of Harry's arm.

To his horror, Harry presents a light brown jacket that's taller than him and twice as thick in
faux fur. "This is suitable."

"No." Louis can't even hold it up without one arm sagging under the weight. "It's
horrendous."

"It doesn't matter." Harry frowns and dismisses such remarks. "I always buy one of these for
winter."

"For you." Louis clarifies. He'd rather cocoon himself in a dozen blankets and never move.

"Yes." Harry nods, folding the jacket over his arm as if it didn't weigh like a cow. "I would
like to pick one out for you."

Louis can't bring himself to say no even if he thought about considering it. He kisses Harry's
pectoral again. "You know best, my love."

"I do." Harry confirms, a wince making his features twitch because he was battling
something internally. "If you do that one more time, haud mirum, I'll have to return the
favour."

A gasp frees itself from Louis' lips and gets lost in the wind. He felt heat in his cheeks and
blood rushing to the spot on his neck where he's been promised kisses. Cheeks flaming, Louis
nods in understanding and preens when Harry starts to lightly rub the skin between his
shoulderblades.

"Haud mirum, winter begins tomorrow." Harry doesn't make a move to part with Louis. "We
have a lot to prepare for it."

Louis feared the cold that Harry tells him of. He will have to contend with it however,
irrespective of the difficulty because he has Harry who just might be with utter certainly the
finest and kindest man to ever live.

"Okay." He sniffles and pulls away. "Do we need anything besides the jackets?"

Turns out the answer was yes because Harry ended up buying things that would be in excess
for Louis, but he didn't say anything because he hasn't seen a winter the way Harry has. Now
he will and he's a little frightened.
Besides the jackets, Harry got pairs of gloves and made Louis choose between the purple or
green mittens. Louis chose green but didn't say why. He knows of the boy's compulsion to
wear socks without shoes so he bought extra thick ones. Vapour rub was important during the
winter, he informed Louis. They got a tub of it and Louis smelt it close to seven times
because of the minty scent.

From the personal care section at the back, Harry got them the toiletries they'd be needing.
When toothbrushes came up, Louis smiled and Harry looked at him questioningly but he too
knew what the boy was hinting at. The shed outside behind the store accessible through a
manual gate, had Harry trying to choose between two generators. He already had one at home
but a new one will probably be more efficient.

"All done?" Louis was perched on a barrel of gunpowder, legs crossed and playing with a
deck of cards he asked to have.

"Yes." Harry said after approaching him, hands on Louis' knees and blocking out the men
carrying the generator to their car. "We are in town, would you like to eat here?"

Louis dropped his legs over the edge of the barrel and Harry stood the the side of them. The
Dominus awaited the day he could rest between them. "Is that a date?"

"A date?" Harry doesn't understand the word other than the conventional usage and the frown
worrying his features says so.

A little something breaks in Louis' heart for his Dominus. Harry didn't know what a date is
and he finds himself holding onto the man's hand tighter. "We go out together somewhere."

Harry barely catches on. "But we are courting."

"Yes." Louis bites his lip and accepts the packets he's given by the cashier, watching the red
card being tucked away again. "But asking a person to go to court with them doesn't sound
very nice."

Harry's laugh is a loud and hoarse one that's close to his regular drawl of words. "How is the
word date any better, haud mirum?"

"I don't know." He shrugs and steps into the cold outside again. "It sounds cute."

Harry's pupil darted to the corner of his eye, momentarily regarding Louis before his smirk
lightens. "I feel the need to further research this topic,haud mirum."

Louis retakes Harry's hand in his and begins their stroll towards the only actual reputable
restaurant. "I-It's not complicated, really."

The Dominus circles Louis' hands with his own and pulls him closer rather than letting any
distance form between them. Louis doesn't appreciate any amount of unwarranted distance
separating them either but he's more subtle about it.

Fortunately, there is a booth available to Harry's liking in the back of the eating
establishment. It is with comfortable cushioned seats in a semi-circle around the table, place
settings already laid out and a tray of bread sticks brough up to them immediately. The taste
is warm and contains hints of garlic, soothing the rumbling of Louis' tummy for a bit.

The meal options on the menu are hard to pronounce but Louis recognises most of them. He
sank his teeth into his lower lip and chewed some more on the same bread stick.

Suddenly he felt the need to look up and found Harry staring at him, face unreadable except
for that pair of wrinkles at the corner of his left eyebrow. Louis blushed and lowered his head,
chin almost touching his chest, trying to maintain his composure.

"Wine, Dominus?" The waitress returned in her prim black and white uniform, taking the
wine list from Harry.

"Yes." Harry's gaze is unfaltering and shameless as it burns right through the candle flame
placed in the centre of the table. "The le Roux. Two glasses."

Louis heard the waitress say something and scurry off to leave them in their isolation. He
looked up again, partially hoping he'd have the courage to return Harry's soulful stare in all
its dark glory, only to discover that the Dominus was focusing on the menu now.

*****

They were home. Bags were abandoned and Louis' feet didn't touch the ground yet when
Harry had him by his waist, lifting his weight to bring him inside. Pressed up against the door
Louis had his personal space vanquished as Harry redeemed his promise of kissing when they
were at home.

Harry's fingers just escaped the ledge of the door as it slammed shut and he plastered his
upper body to Louis', not wanting to scare him with pushing too far. His palm was flat and
extended to the highest part on the wall it would reach, the other hand curled around Louis'
throat to direct his line of fire.

Harry didn't have to pry Louis' lips apart and he got instant access to the intoxicant that is the
boy's riveting taste. He groans into it and the sound is drowned out by Louis' whines, muted
whimpers making his fingernails dig into Harry's shoulders.

Their kissing session got deeper, filthier without setting out for it to be. Louis was putty in
the sculpting hands of Harry's grace and prowess, stretching upward whenever the man
threatened to leave him. He liked the invasion of Harry's tongue flicking against his, their
teeth clashing and noses bumping as they tried to take it all the way.

Harry withdrew for a moment. It wasn't enough as he felt the deprivation as soon as it
happened. "Again."

Louis was all too willing to oblige, the poorly weather outside belonging to another
dimension as they wrapped themselves up in each other. His arms locked around Harry's neck
and the Dominus aided him in lifting him slightly to better the degree of dipping whenever he
wanted to kiss the boy.

Somehow Harry's legs became tangled with Louis' and the latter male was close to being
hoisted entirely off the ground. Their ardent desires were fierce by their positions once the
flame dimmed within them, leaving them in one another's embrace.

"I never want to stop kissing you, haud mirum." Harry's thumb brushed the swollen
plumpness of Louis' upper lip, licking his own to remember the taste. "I never want to stop
being close to you."

"You won't." Louis promises to the Dominus, pressing their foreheads together and closing
his eyes. "My love, you are mine and I am yours."

*****

Dinner was not an extravagant one but everything that it consisted of was procured from
family secrets Louis learnt from his kitchen addict of a mother. He made spaghetti with his
favourite recipe for Swedish meatballs, grating cheese to sprinkle over while the bolognaise
simmered.

Harry spent his evening unloading their bags and bringing the horses in under shelter into a
reasonably sized barn attached to the back of the cabin. He came in and locked the back door,
taking the stairs two at a time to have his shower because Louis already took his.

Each time they passed by each other for one reason or the other, a faint pulse of electricity
came alive and made them nervous. Harry was best at hiding it but Louis was prone to
ducking his face or shying away when his Dominus glanced his way again.

Time to eat came around seven and already it was as dark as midnight outside, the howling of
wolves signalling that it was now their territory.

Harry came downstairs in sweatpants and bare feet, his chest unnecessarily bare and giving
Louis something to ogle at every spare moment. So what if the bolognaise got burnt? Tattoos
and more tattoos were plainly visible on such taut skin, worked hard beneath the sun and the
scars to attest for it.

Louis felt overdressed in his excessively large navy T-shirt and matching slacks that needed
to be folded at the ankles so it didn't touch the ground. He had thick woollen socks on but his
feet were still not entirely at peace with the chill bound to set into his bones.

"We will eat in the living room." Harry comes to tell him as he's preparing two plates. "I lit
the fire place so it's warmer."

"Okay." Louis handed Harry his plate and his skin buzzed where their fingers connected
briefly.
They made themselves comfortable for this time to be spent silent and engaged in their
meals. The awkward, nervous tension was back and this time is bugged Louis. It felt like
over the course of today the two mates have grown closer and returning to a blushing,
anxious routine seemed to be heartbreaking.

He decides to make a change.

While he was already in Harry's lap, he utilised the seconds that the Dominus wasn't looking
at him to move around a bit. It was probably going to make a mess with their food and drinks
but he's far too determined now. Harry let's him go on, stifling any groans from the boy
wiggling on his lap by holding his breath.

At last Louis managed to get himself across Harry's lap with his weight perched on one
muscular thigh, his legs folded to the side of him so he could lean on Harry's shoulder. The
Dominus' misfortune came around when he realised that he had no way of eating except a
way around Louis.

"Haud mirum." He says, amused but not entirely discouraging. "Would you care to share a
plate with me?"

Temporarily, Louis doesn't know what Harry meant by asking him that. His facial features
scrunch up in thought but the Dominus overrides everything with his throaty chuckle and
presses a kiss on Louis' temple. Confiscating Louis' cutlery, Harry creates enough space on
his own plate to bear the load of the boy's portion as well. He transfers the food from Louis'
plate to his and sets the excess dish on the floor by his feet.

It certainly made things more convenient because of the lack of a need for more space and
detours around the other person. Louis still had his fork but his appetite was lost in a tangle
of unforgiving knots, nerves and bright hope skipping to the front of his mind.

"Haud mirum." Harry grumbles, clearly his upset at a failed plan becoming evident.

Louis found him remarkably adorable for a Dominus with a discontent pout. "I'm fine, my
love."

To prove his claim, Louis sat comfortably on the man's lap with his knees bent and the plate
they had in common resting atop his thighs. It was quite a comical scene perhaps, painting
the mural of a to-be mated pair that may not have all the cutlery in the world and had to live
in such unfortunate circumstances. That would be an outsider's point of view who had no idea
how much they'd rather share a possession than have the finest individual objects.

"I have a question for you, haud mirum." Harry laid out after there was just Louis' food left to
be consumed.

"Yes?" Louis twirled some of the ruthless spaghetti strands around the prongs of his fork,
glancing up to smile anxiously.
Harry took a moment before saying anything further. He studied Louis' motions and
uncovered his dormant desire to be actively involved in the boy's every move. Without
permission, he makes Louis surrender his utensil so he may feed the boy himself.

"Oh." Louis' hands fall limp and useless. He's not so displeased by it anyway because there's
an innate feature that has him finding happiness in being taken care of.

"Do you remember-" Harry tries not to stare at Louis' rounded lips closing around the forkful
of stringy pasta being fed to him. "-when I said this winter is to be a noteworthy one?"

"You said it will be awful." Louis paraphrases for his benefit.

Chuckling to himself, Harry nods. "Yes, I did. My question is to see whether you'd like
to....spend it elsewhere."

Louis stops chewing and sits back, upright and defensive as worry dawns over him in thick
clouds. "You want me to leave?"

Harry rushes to rectify his error, eyes wide in contempt and concern. "When I was outside an
hour ago, haud mirum, the air felt different."

"What kind of different?" Louis is reclaiming his permanent home between Harry's broad,
protective shoulders sheltering him from the weather and other vile threats.

"Bad different." Harry whispers, irrevocably smitten with how blue Louis' eyes are when
they're peering up into his like two variations of the same magnificent ocean.

"Oh." Louis is ignoring the amount of skin contact they're having, and burrowing into Harry's
chest like a kitten. "I'm staying."

Harry leaves the empty plate on the floor as well and wraps his arms around Louis' waist,
breathing in deep as he lowers himself into a lengthwise position over the couch. "We might
get snowed in."

"So?" Louis giggles, lighting up Harry's whole world.

"It isn't pleasant, haud mirum." Harry warns, serious overtone and slight hints of his Alpha-
like heritage. Sighing, Louis reaches up and caresses Harry's jaw with his cold fingertips.
"We'll be here together, my love."

Harry's exasperation is strong when he buries his face in Louis' tummy, breathing ticklish
gushes into the soft skin. The boy's shirt was an obstruction but the Dominus didn't want to
cross any boundaries. Louis was against the armrest, his fingers combing through Harry's hair
as the latter flinched at a memory of what being snowed in was like.

"You've experienced it before." Louis read Harry like a book and it was terrifying.
There was no response. Harry listened to the silence from his hideout in Louis' soft abdomen,
hands kept to themselves where he lay beside the boy's legs instead of between them.

"My love." Louis sounded softer, saddened. He shifted enough to grant Harry's first wish,
allowing the Dominus to rest between his thighs while they supported his hunched back and
he trusted Harry to be this intimate with him.

"Haud mirum, it is not for you to worry about the past." Harry says strictly, too absolved of
his troubles because of Louis' body like ivy around him.

"But it is for you?" Louis challenges. The bravery came from a place unknown but it was
here to stay.

"Yes." Harry's eyes were closed yet he didn't notice. He slid an arm around the back of Louis
and left the other to lay jobless.

"Harry, we are going to be mates." Louis tries to keep any emotion from flooding his system
but he fails and the prickle of something at the corner of his eye builds. "Will you keep things
from me then? Even when I ask?"

Despite all the comfort and cloud nine sensations running wild through his frame, Harry
scowls and Louis sees it. "Knowing this isn't necessary for you."

"For me?" Louis hates the sting at the rim of his eye. "I care for you, Harry. I share a bed with
you. Every burden of yours is mine too."

"No." Harry curts, cold and harsh. This is a new side of him and Louis isn't fond of the
distant reproach in Harry's eyes at all.

"Yes, Harry." He insists, stepping into a pot of hot water he shouldn't be near. "I'm not here
just to cook and clean. You're pushing me away when we're supposed to be honest with each
other."

"Fine, haud mirum."

Harry is a formidable presence when he picks himself up and pushes Louis down flat on his
back, his arms bracketing the boy's shoulders as he loomed over him. Everything was black,
even the colour of his eyes.

"I was fourteen and the only roof on this cabin was a sheet of plastic. The snow came and
lasted for three days. I got to watch as it completely covered the only home I had, watch the
sky disappear. I was alone. I had five blankets and three growing horses to care for. The two
you saw outside were the ones to survive."

The completion of his story was conducted in the confines of Louis' midsection. Harry did
not hesitate to press his face into its warmth, its facade of love. He had to calm down and
Louis could feel something radiate off him, causing the skin on him to vibrate and teeth to
clench.
"I am sorry, haud mirum." Harry unintentionally dug his fingers into Louis' sides and his
chest heaved, all products of being worked up. "I do not want to consult with my past when
you are my future."

There were no words on Louis' tongue except those of apology. He felt sick to his heart
hearing this story and he needed to get that feeling out. Imagining a little adolescent boy with
the weights of such massive responsibility as the lives of animals put on his shoulders during
his loneliness, made Louis nauseous.

"My love." He started, not knowing how else to. "Oh my love, I'm so sorry that happened to
you."

He can't slink down to Harry's level because the Dominus wants his comfort to come from
Louis' tummy. The man had his lips parted and their wetness leaving trails on Louis' shirt as
he shifted slightly. Louis sniffed and wiped his cheeks when a tear fell, followed by another.

"Harry, what can I do?" He pleaded for a purpose.

"Let me be with you." Harry replied, voice cracked. He brought himself higher to hear Louis'
heartbeat in his ear, the boy's leg draped over his hip when he turned onto his side. "There is
no greater comfort than you, haud mirum."

"I made you tell a story you didn't need to. Please don't hate me for it, my love." Louis could
hear the whistling of the wind banging against trees and the sides of their little home. He
kissed Harry behind his ear and didn't protest when the Dominus circled one of his socks with
his hand.

"How could you say that when you are everything to me? You exist in me, haud mirum. My
heart, my soul." Harry kissed Louis' fingertips with his other free hand. "To hate you is to
hate myself."

Louis pressed his lips to Harry's cheek and curled himself around the Dominus, protecting
him from whatever misery came with the memory of before.

"Your feet are cold." Harry suddenly said, squeezing Louis' foot and sounding disapproving.

Laughing as the tension eased, Louis' felt Harry shuffle back down much lower than before.
His leg was bent and the inside of his thigh used as a pillow for Harry's head. Louis blushed
at the position but said nothing, gasping when his socks were pried off his feet.

The leg of his that wasn't under Harry's body rested on the man's side, his ankle on Harry's
hip. Sitting up straight, Louis could monitor the Dominus' moves better.

"What are you doing?" He asked, biting his lip.

Harry' lips curled into a smirk and he pulled the quilt off the back off the couch, cloaking
them both in it. "Lie with me, haud mirum."
"With you down there and I up here?"

A playful spark was present in Harry's returning green shade in his eyes. "Indeed."

It didn't work out that way for long. Harry craved Louis in his arms far too much for him to
be patient, and lured the boy down into his embrace quickly. Louis' ear was at his heart and
Harry managed to repay all the kisses granted to him on the boy's neck. He aimed for his
most sensitive spot, revelling like a champion in every gasp he got from Louis.

"I will mark you here one day." Harry had his arms braced tightly around Louis' shoulders,
the cold unable to affect them. He pressed a hard kiss to the already pink skin of Louis'
throat.

When Harry growled, Louis shut his eyes and tucked his hands in between them. "Will it be
soon, my love?" A hum entered his hearing and Louis smiled at it. "As soon as you want it to
be, haud mirum."

Louis' eyes flew open but not much else of his posture changed. He decided to ask something
else, snuggling contently into Harry's body cautiously. "What if I said tonight?"

Harry's body grew tense but not at all because of reluctance. He's dreamed of mating with
Louis on the perfect night with the moon above them and Louis beneath him.

Such thoughts raged a war within himself and he had to make sure these words were genuine.
His fingers brushed some of Louis' hair aside and suddenly the boy was whimpering from too
much pressure from sharp teeth on his skin. The pain was nightmarish and Louis squirmed
desperately, Harry's canines leaving behind a tiny strain of essence.

"Mating is painful, haud mirum." Harry said upon withdrawing, the taste of Louis' skin and
sweat on his tongue. "It is too soon."

Louis' eyes were wild and his body was electrocuted, high on pulses of energy that Harry had
given to him. He swallowed thickly and nuzzled Harry's neck, trying to lose some of that
adrenaline.

"Hush, baby." Harry's new loving name for Louis made him whine.

He's bringing his arms up to lock around Harry's neck, shutting his eyelids and sniffling
loudly to Harry's amusement as the Dominus gently guided his legs to straddle him. It led to
nothing else. Harry covered them with the quilt and listened to Louis' small noises, rubbing
his back and kissing his neck.

Louis remembers learning about mating ceremonies. They were indeed painful but maybe for
him it might be even more so. Wolves mated privately and sometimes it lasted for days,
neither mate wanting to give up the bliss of a new bond. The mark would come from blunt
teeth because Louis isn't a wolf and he is bound to bleed for even a second.
"Do not worry, haud mirum." Harry's lips traced the tiny mark he left behind on Louis' neck.
"You will always be the only one for me."
 Chapter 5

Louis had a bowl of sugary cereal in his lap with every crunch of the corn goodness being
audible to his ears as he flipped the pages in his latest choice of a novel. He wasn't alone in
the living room for Harry was right beside him, feeding on his own breakfast of fried eggs
and hashbrowns. The Dominus was bravely trying to hide his smirk whilst watching Louis
eat around a tablespoon that was obviously too big for his mouth.

"Do we not have-" Harry leaned across and his thumb swiped over the white droplets
escaping the corner of Louis' lips. "-more suitable spoons,haud mirum?"

Louis pouted at the man's comment and his otherwise lively but pale cheeks, turned pink at
Harry's skin grazing his. "We do. I was just really hungry."

Harry's frown comes to his features as he withdraws after a meeting of his lips on Louis'
forehead. When he's a space back he sees that Louis' eyes are closed before they flutter back
to consciousness.

"Will the cereal be enough, haud mirum?" Harry checks, worried that his only sweetheart will
be left unhappy because he didn't eat adequately.

"I think so." Louis chews some more and swallows, scooping up a bit in his spoon for another
round.

"That won't do." Harry shakes his head and removes any bother of doubt by taking the bowl
with him as he leaves the couch.

"But-"

Harry's hand extended towards him. "Come."

Louis took it and stood up as well, being guided to the kitchen by his Dominus who sought to
amuse him. The winter days were already settling in as one could tell by the ravenous winds
outside pelting against the sides of their haven, uneasing the nerves of the horses in their
barn.

The air whipping about their feet from the gap beneath the locked door was vengeful and
Louis felt his ankles go rigid many a time during the day. It wasn't the best sensation to have
the frostiness creeping up the soles of his feet to leave him in pain.

Harry hadn't known about that discomfort and he still doesn't. They've been cooped up in
their little cabin for a whole day now, this being the second and the snow hasn't begun to
grace their grounds yet.
"I'm cold." Louis complained, even with his two long-sleeved shirts and extra thick double
layer of socks.

Harry turned around from the stove to consider this, chewing his upper lip in conflict. He too
had on twice as much clothing, but the oncoming winter was beating out their reserves easily.

"It's an early hour." Harry replied heatedly, two black orbs focusing on Louis across the
counter. "I could light the fireplace for you?"

Louis grabs the hot water bottle they've been using for their frozen nights, milking it for the
dregs of warmth it had left. "Maybe we could bring our mattress down here?"

Harry peeled open the tab of a sachet of creamy soup, letting a portion of water simmer in a
pot over the stove. The smell of flavoured chicken and mushroom filled his senses and Louis'
tummy rumbled without command at it.

"You do not eat enough, haud mirum." Harry admonishes without appearing to be
threatening. He fetches the leftover bread Louis prepared last night and spreads butter over
the slices to sit in the oven. "I do not like that."

"I eat plenty." Louis defends gutlessly, well aware that he isn't eating as much as he should
be.

Harry doesn't let such a subject go as easily. He continues to regard the preparations of Louis'
proper breakfast whilst thinking about how many more covers they'll have to bring out from
the closet. "Your idea is clever, haud mirum. We can bring the bed down here for the fire."

Louis beams at him, self-appeased and a little tiredness tugging at the crinkles of his eyes.
Casually, he speaks again. "You were late to bed last night."

"I know." Harry plucked the toasted bread from their tray and poured the promising soup into
a large ceramic bowl. It heated up in his palms first before being passed to Louis. He looked
the boy in the eye when he laid out his instruction. "Eat all of it. I am serious, haud mirum."

"Okay." Louis obliges, mouth watering at the sight of delectable soup instead of cold milk in
crispy cereal. "Thank you, my love."

"No." Harry stopped Louis from taking his first bite, coming around the bend to pick up the
saucer of bread. Louis pauses, a rather comical twist of his circular lips. "No?"

Harry chuckles at something secret and holds out his other hand, helping Louis out of his
seat. "Eat with me by the fire?"

Finding humour and admirable romance in such an offering, Louis follows Harry with his
bowl of soup and nods his consent. The short trip to the couch is over when Harry hands
Louis back the bread plate and walks behind the contraption to brace his hands against the
structure and push it forward. The sound of solid wooden legs dragging against an aged
selection of floorboards makes Louis wince at first, then grow accustomed to it.
Harry stops at last when the sofa is before the fireplace, tucked away in a little nook where
they can seek refuge from the cold. When Louis makes to move forward, the Dominus holds
up his finger for him to wait.

"I should tell you-" Louis' bottom lip is jutting out ahead of the top one. "-I am the least
patient member of my family."

Upon passing Louis by, Harry offers him a lopsided smile with dimples arming the edges.
"As am I, haud mirum."

Louis' wait lasts for a minute at most, during which Harry fetches the comforter and
miscellaneous blankets from upstairs. He drapes half of them over the sofa so they're trailing
on the floor but also bunched up at the corners of the cushions. The Dominus disappears for a
moment more then reappears with a stack of books that he places at the foot of the couch.

"This is as close as I will get to building you a palace." Harry says, scratchy and syrupy slow
from lack of sleep. He gestures to the comfy arrangement and Louis grins, easily excited to
cuddle in it.

"I will not be needing a palace when I have this." Louis reminds him, stepping around the
corner of the couch to climb onto it.

His legs are crossed and he's cradling the hot bowl of soup with both hands, even so not
meeting the size requirement. Harry is hopelessly smitten with this angel of a boy, a specimen
sent to him straight from the Gods. They wanted to reward him for something grand and they
chose their finest angel to be his consort.

Harry joined Louis in their cocoon and made the duty of the other blankets be to ensure
they're thoroughly insulated from above. He lies on his side between Louis and the couch's
back support, the boy nestled in the curve of his arm. The Dominus felt Louis' legs find a
place between his and pulled him closer, inhaling the sweet scent of Louis from his mating
spot.

"Your feet are cold again." Harry mumbles into the unmarked territory but claimed territory
of Louis' throat. He almost had the boy's source of pulse between his teeth.

"They're always cold." Louis dismisses the worry. He finishes the soup and reaches over to
put the dishes down on the floor.

"They should not be so." Harry always has warm everything, from head to toe.

Louis flexes his toes against Harry's thigh and makes himself a home below the Dominus'
chin. He felt that tightness in his muscle again, the joint bones of his ankle regions set ablaze.
The pain of it was horrendous and he sighed loudly, trying to mask a little huff.

"Your hands are warm." Louis says to distract them both, satisfied with the brush of Harry's
palms up and down the length of his back.
Harry smiles against Louis' temple and gives him a small squeeze. Nothing felt better than
holding this boy in his arms, hearing his heart beat against his and skin radiate warmth to an
equilibrium with his own.

"I look forward to this winter." Louis spoke after it was just the crackle and flicker of orange
flames left to fill the silence. "I'll get to wake up next to you every morning."

"And I next to you." Harry kisses his mate's forehead and cheek, hugging him even tighter
like the cold could take him away. "Haud mirum, would you mind if I took off the leg?"

Louis' become aware of every circumstance under which Harry could and will ask him this
question. His prosthetic leg made cuddling uncomfortable because its purpose was now
rendered moot. Louis felt better without anyway due it resulting in just him and Harry being
part of their activities.

"Go ahead." He answered.

Louis made enough room for the man do unstrap the wooden piece and rest it against the side
of the couch, leaning back again to be covered by a smaller male. Harry's hoarse chuckle was
pressed into Louis' ear where he lay a kiss and started caressing the boy's hip.

The missing portion - however majority - of Harry's leg never caused a hindrance in their
private time taken apart from the world to curl up as one and fall asleep together. Louis still
tucked his freezing cold feet between Harry's thighs and gripped the Dominus' shirt like an
ivy vine.

"I was thinking-" Louis starts to trace star shapes on Harry's torso with his fingertip. "-about
getting some hens."

Harry pauses for a brief moment and stares at Louis' head of hair, his eyebrow meeting the
hairline above it when the boy tilted his head back. "Hens, haud mirum?"

"Yeah." Louis brings himself up closer, incidentally presenting his bare neck to Harry again.

It always drove the Dominus up the wall whenever Louis did that unknowingly. He'd let his
fingers clasp the boy's throat in a harmless cage and let his warmth radiate like spikes into
Louis' body, marking him up on the inside. He knew Louis was continuing to justify the case
of chickens in their yard, but his face buried in that delectable expanse of pale skin had his
inner wolf salivating.

"Harry?" Louis realised he's been talking to a wall when Harry starts to make those infamous
short growls from the depths of his chest, more animalistic. "You're not listening, my love."

The Dominus stopped growling like a purring beast and remained in his sanctuary. "I was
not."

Louis pokes Harry's indestructible forearm, wrapping his hand around it but unable to go all
the way. "You were meant to."
"I apologise?"

The playfulness is new-found and rare in Harry's mood swaps. This makes Louis gasp and
giggle when the Dominus doesn't at all look interested in his repent. Trying to leave is also
futile for Harry is an iron clad grasp that's far too in love to let go.

"You may have all the poultry you want, haud mirum." Harry chuckles in a deeply unnerving
way that sets Louis' skin to tingle where his smile is pressed to it. "Maybe your garden can be
completed first?"

"Oh yes." Louis remembers all the seeds he bought for carrots to sunflowers. He only
planned to utilise a small patch of the ground outside for fresh ingredients everyday.

"I look forward to not waking up everyday at dawn." Harry was yawning, obnoxiously
refraining from covering it with his hand.

"Me too." Louis does it for him, his small cupped hand closing over the man's widening lips.
"I get to make breakfast at an hour that is normal."

Harry laughs along with capturing Louis' hand and lacing their fingers together, resting the
unit on his chest. "I get to be the first to see you in sunlight."

Louis' blush is enough to heat up the coldest of confines of the most frightening of nights. He
was made impossibly more beautiful by the light of their fire cast on the side of his face,
letting a glow burn from inside him. Harry appeared ruled by the forces of nature. His
structure was rigid, jaw always tense and features always stable.

It's Louis' eyes that dart towards the windows first, widening upon the sight through the glass
panes. "Harry, look."

Reluctantly turning his head to see the same thing, Harry is also shocked to see white flecks
of ice crafted by Mother Nature falling to the ground. He straps his booted leg back on before
he gets off the couch when Louis' weight is removed, walking over to the sealed window and
feeling like he fell into another portal.

Harry is not in control of anything he does or feels. He can't feel the cold whipping around
his one bare leg and sitting malevolently in his bones. He stares out the crystal white glass
that's frosted at the corners with one hand braced against it, white puffs of air escaping him
everytime he exhaled.

"Harry, no." Louis has to stop the Dominus when he witnesses a reach for the window latch.

Luckily, his mate is as mellow as he usually never is and can be easily led back to the safety
of the couch. He doesn't reprimand him just yet, instead letting him lie down at a different
angle so Harry can watch the snow. Something seems to have been triggered in him because
the man doesn't blink or move apart from what Louis does for him.

Louis sits down beside Harry and crosses his legs, pulling the abundance of covers over them
both again. Harry's instinct to have Louis as close as possible kicks in and he snakes an arm
around the boy's waist, not looking away from the window.

"Are you okay?" Louis is worried by this switch in modes. Harry's never been this disabled
before. "My love?"

Harry doesn't snap out of it all the way but he's returned to Louis a fair amount, his head
space releasing his inner wolf. The inner wolf with primal conduct hoping to have an early
departing from the consistent press of his training.

"You spaced out on me." Louis says to him when he can see all of the glorious green come
back into Harry's earthy eyes. "What happened?"

"Do you remember what I told you about the snow falling in winter?" The Dominus smiles
softly, kissing his little love's forehead once more.

"You graduate now, don't you?" Louis is eager to see Harry pass the realm of preparation into
the true responsibility and meaning of a Dominus, a master.

"Yes, haud mirum. Have you studied a wolf's graduation?" He asks next, something
indecipherably dark about the clouds of his gaze.

"Um...-" Louis tries to recall any classes but cannot. "Not really. Tell me?"

Harry waits to first prop Louis up on his lap, finding peace and adoration in the way his boy's
cheeks become that memorable shade of rose petal pink. He has his hands on Louis' waist,
supporting him in his mission to remain upright whilst straddling Harry's thighs. Louis
looked extra tiny in all the bedsheets concealing his features and curves, wrapped entirely
around him.

"Unmated wolves will receive a branding from their mentor." Harry sits up himself and pulls
his Louis closer to him, arms stretched out behind him. He is proud of the curious, attentive
look Louis is sporting. "Mated wolves will fight."

Louis' curiosity leads him to be stunned, lips slightly parted. "Which are you?"

Choosing a consort for wolves was as important as already marking that partner. There was
no difference and it made Harry's eyes turn an inexplicable shade of black. "The latter."

"Oh." Louis' palms are flat on Harry's pectorals, fingertips pawing at the man's bare skin
beneath his shirt. "Oh no."

"Not at all, haud mirum." Harry smiles convincingly and hugs Louis tightly, burying his face
in Louis' neck and breathing moderately. "I get to prove myself to you."

"But-" The tip of Louis' nose is cold where it presses against Harry's steady pulse. "But I
don't want you to get hurt."
"I won't." Harry chuckles as if the challenge ahead is set to be the easiest he's faced. "I know
the other mated wolves. There is no need to worry."

"I'm worried." Louis contradicts with a sniffle, squeezing Harry around his neck.

"My sweet haud mirum." The Dominus is amused and flattered by Louis' concern, scenting
the boy's skin where he can to return the favour. "Please do not trouble yourself."

"Then promise me something." Louis draws in a shaky breath, cupping Harry's cheek and
making their eyes meet.

"What would you like?" Harry kisses that wrist of his, reconnecting their gazes with his fiery
affection.

"Come back home-" The boy presses his lips to Harry's jaw. "-and mate me."

Repeating his appearance of going stiff with worried tension, the Dominus tries not to sound
disinterested when he dissuades his mate. "Haud mirum, that is a step you are not ready to
take yet."

"You say that-" Louis argues, pushing himself up into a reasonably high seated position over
Harry's abdomen. "-yet you want this bond as much as I do, my love."

"That is true." Harry can't fight the fact that his heart gallops when he thinks of Louis or that
his blood sings in his veins when the image of Louis' neck with a bite mark from him is
depicted. "I am still far more concerned about your well-being."

"I'll be fine, Harry." Louis tries to convince him, forcing his point across with a desperate
sadness in his eye like an unshed teardrop. "I know you'll take care of me."

"My sweet Louis, listen to me." Harry frames both sides of Louis' face, wanting those
gorgeous crystals all to himself. "We will mate when I know we're both ready."

But then it hits him like an express freight train carrying the largest load of all. Maybe Harry
doesn't want to mate with him anymore and after the winter the Dominus will drop him back
at the school. He's certainly allowed to do that because he's young and below the average age
of being able to mate. It breaks Louis' heart looking down at the most beautiful man to ever
walk the Earth, knowing he just might not be good enough.

Louis decides not to jump to conclusions and be unnecessarily insecure because that just
might jeopardise what they have more than some illusion. "Okay."

It pleases Harry to hear this and he smiles before dotting a peck on Louis' forehead. The boy
cuddles up to him, preparing to get a nap in before they have to eat again or check on the
horses. Louis can't close his eyes for a long while and so he watches the fire burn,
intimidating and influential. He thinks Harry is asleep after the Dominus stops rubbing his
back but Harry is awake, watching Louis' doubts rob him of his sleep.
He knows Louis is strong enough to handle them on his own, so he holds back from saying
anything. Louis eventually sighs and forces his eyes to close, letting the burn beneath his
eyelids disipitate before falling into a light slumber.

*****

Louis is making pancakes in three T-shirts and a sweater piled on, his boxers covered with a
pair of joggers and shoes as well as socks on his feet. Harry has to go outside today to finish
the business of his training and his worried mate isn't too happy about it. Knowing that he can
chew his lip off all he wanted, Louis sighed as he woke up that morning and decided to soak
Harry in a hot bubble bath before letting him leave.

He plates five pancakes while they're warm and leaves a dollop of butter to melt over it,
drizzling Harry's blue gum honey around the edges but deciding to carry the bottle up with
him anyway. The water is boiled and Louis makes a steaming cup of the blackest coffee he
can make without making Harry's insides feel like a brewery, putting it all on a tray before
padding upstairs to join the Dominus.

Harry is mostly covered by the frothing bubbles of the claw-foot tub he's rarely used, his
soapy arms draped over the edges on either side of him. The man looks up and smiles at the
precious sight of a soft, sleepy Louis carrying his food with an equally fond grin.

"Hi." Louis brought in a short stool from the bedroom and yawned, setting Harry's tray down
on his lap where he sat immediately beside the Dominus.

"Hello." Harry surprised them both by leaning over and planting a wet kiss to Louis'
forehead, traces of water on his lips.

Cheeks reddening, Louis' lips twitch into something faintly resembling a blush. He tries to
disregard it but physical contact with his Dominus always left him flustered.

"You need to eat this." Louis clears his throat, getting straight down to business. "I still have
to make the fry- up but this is for now."

"Haud mirum." Harry's chuckle is met with his damp hand latching onto Louis', almost
crushing the boy's thinner fingers. "Why do you worry so much? I don't like seeing it."

Louis' eyes narrow at the Dominus' unappreciative attitude. "I care for you, Harry. This is my
duty."

Harry brings Louis' hands up to his lips and kisses it repeatedly. "I'm sorry, haud mirum. I
know you care. I care about you as well, more than you could ever imagine."

The Dominus in the room isn't allowed to leave the hot water while Louis hands him his food
and tastes his coffee, fighting back the cold himself. It's awful and has a borderline bitter
aftertaste, a bit of his tongue turned deep brown from the concentration.
"Would you like me to feed you?" Louis raises his eyebrow, amused at Harry trying to keep
water out of his plate.

They end up doing that as well, Louis getting up and sitting on the lip of the tub. He cuts
Harry's pancakes up into reasonably sized portions and soaks each one in the honey or butter,
pressing it to Harry's tongue whenever the Dominus opened his mouth.

"You are a dream." Harry rests his head on Louis' thigh, breathing in the calming scent of his
only lover. Future lover. He doesn't care because Louis is his in every way.

"I can't be." Louis cards his fingers through Harry's hair, holding the cup to Harry's lips at
intervals and relaxing as much as the man did against each other. "I'm here. For you, I'm
here."

Harry closes his eyes and welcomes the deep-rooted nature of those loving words, his one dry
hand wrapping around Louis' thigh and his face burying itself in Louis' waist. He can't stop
himself from snaking that arm around Louis' middle and holding him prisoner.

In that moment of letting Louis' essence soak into his pores and land like sultry silk over the
icy nerves that lay beneath, Harry realises he's more than ready to mark this boy. There won't
be a better time and waiting only disadvantages them. He can't teach Louis his ways as a wolf
or mark him up every night from love-making.

With those fantasies not so far away in the future, Harry nuzzles Louis' hip and growls. "I
will mate you tonight."

Louis falls into the water.

It's a shock that comes to them both in a sudden fit but Louis is sputtering and coughing so
loudly that Harry's first priority becomes making sure the boy is alright. Complete disregard
for his nude state, Harry scoops

Louis up in his cradled arms and pulls him closer. He tilts Louis' head back and rubs his chest
just in the little dip between the boy's pectorals, encouraging any other urgent reactions to be
done with.

Louis is soaking wet from his armpits going down, not shivering because the temperature of
the water is still on a steady high. He stops sneezing and ends up with a red nose, puffy
cheeks and slightly watery eyes. Harry finds him uncomprehensibly breathtaking.

"My sweet Louis." Harry's thumb brushes over Louis' cheek, the water sloshing up to his chin
when Louis tries to keep his knees bent over the edge of the tub. "Are you okay?"

"I'm f-fine." Louis is flame with the reminder that one of them is naked.

He can't necessarily feel of the 'goods' that every Dominus is foretold to possess, but just
being this close to Harry is still enough to make Louis shy.
"This affects you?" Harry is pushing a few of Louis' untamed strands of hair out of his eyes,
taking his time to do so.

"N-N- I don't know." Louis shrugs, far from uncomfortable in how well the fabric of his
clothing is drowning.

"I usually avoid slang but-" Harry like a semi-evil pirate who seized the finest treasure,
pulling Louis in fully after prying his little shoes off. "-you are adorable, haud mirum."

Louis bursts into giggles and folds his legs across Harry's lap with many a wave crashing
between them. His Dominus is amused as well, dark eyes twinkling. "Were you serious
about....mating?"

"Yes." Harry sobers although he's still the most at peace as is possible for a troubled creature
like himself. "It is up to you as well, haud mirum. Would you like to wait?"

"I don't." Louis shakes his head against his shoulder, afraid of extending himself beyond
where he is confined now lest he encounter some private detail that it is too early for. "I want
to be mated to you, even if it might hurt."

"It will hurt." Says Harry, who is lightly peppering the side of Louis' face with kisses. "I will
ease that pain as much as I can."

Louis shudders at the thought of suffering from pain but he is willing to endure any misery
for Harry. "Will you taste my blood?"

"I must." Harry leaves a lingering kiss on the spot he plans to mark, always pink from his
reverent attention. "The bite must be deep enough."

Nodding, the boy sinks his teeth into his lower lip as the nervousness begins to creep its way
into his system. It is in hardly noticeable amounts for he is far more excited that afraid, eager
to be part of the cycle that their lives will be dependant on together.

"Do you have um-...mating cycles?" Louis feels awkward to ask but how else will he get the
answer on whether his mate will have to pin him down and have control of his body for
weeks at a time?

"Not that I know of." Harry chuckles, raspy and unique once again even in laughter. He dips
his arms below water level to ensnare Louis' hips. "That was a myth made up about the
wolves. I don't know why."

"Oh." Louis mutters, trying to remember any other enquiries. Part of that ambition dies in its
birth because he's pulled closer to Harry's chest where he may rest completely at ease.

"Do you know-" Harry turns his head and keeps his lips against Louis' cheek. "-making love
between wolves was once a survival technique."
Louis goes hot and cold all over but the confusion boils over once he uncovers his deep red
cheeks and suppressed smile. His eyes threaten to bulge out of their sockets. "How can it
be?"

"Simply."

Harry's fingertips are drumming against the waistband of Louis' joggers, the light grey now
turned to black. The Dominus smirks at his mate's curiosity and when he glances at Louis, the
boy looks away. With a sigh, Harry grabs hold of Louis' chin between his index and thumb.
He brings the boy's attention back to him, needing to see those beautiful blue orbs and
comprehend their feelings.

The Dominus feels numb staring down into their universes. "A dominant wolf gets his
vitality from his mate while his mate gets a type of nutrition and strength from him. In this
way, they need one another to survive."

Louis circles his lips at this new information. Harry will get his vitality from him? That's like
he's dictating Harry's youth and how long he lives. It's.....It's so intimate to know your
existence is dependant on the one you love. Regular matings are never so in-depth nor
committed.

"Wolves are passionate beasts." Harry explains with a soft expression on his features. He
frames Louis' face and kisses his lips gently, languidly so he may taste the softest skin. "Are
you afraid of mating now?"

Instead of feeding that doubt, Louis stretches up and connects their lips for a moment longer.
"You have only managed to make me more eager to be yours."

Harry's expression sobered and turned into something dark, thunderous. "You are mine. Even
now, haud mirum."

"I know." Louis leaned into it when Harry circled the circumference of his neck, whining
when the Dominus pressed down with his thumb. "I belong to you, the man who made me
brave and happy."

*****

As promised to him, Harry got his proper breakfast even though it was well past an hour
where the wind pounded against the sides of their home and rattled the door to the horses'
barn. Louis was preparing it over the stove with fresh clothing on and an especially warm
sensation stagnant in his spine along with the caramel drip of Harry's effect on him.

Both were unmistakably pleasurable. He moved and felt the phantom of Harry's hand on his
hip or his lips somewhere on his neck. Louis would smile knowing he's alone while Harry
gets dressed upstairs for the day ahead.

He found the biggest plate Harry owned and covered it in scrambled eggs, beans, half a
dozen crispy bacon strips, two stunted mutton sausages and three slices of buttered toast.
Everything smelt divine along with Harry's proper cup of herbal tea with wisps of scented
steam coming out past the rim.

Louis himself would appreciate a slice of toast with maple syrup. He pops bread in the toaster
and waits for it, letting his mind drift ashore to a world where Harry and he are mated.

Their lives will be tied up and knotted in more than one way. Harry will need Louis as much
as Louis will need him, the strain on such a reliable relationship bound to be one that pushes
them to their limits. The Dominus will be the dominant figure without a doubt and Louis
looks forward to it, to being protected and cared for.

He does worry over Harry taking on a true Dominus nature. That will turn him into a monster
that everyone shall respect because he is Master.

Trainees only learn the ways of a true born Dominus on their last day, which is today for
Harry. He will come to know about whether or not he wants to rule or be part of a ruling.
Louis chews his lip raw and extracts the nearly burnt toast, praying he chooses the latter.

Heavy footsteps under the weight of paired boots cut off his thoughts and Louis grabs a
saucer, using the butter knife to scrape the black crusts off his toast. Harry comes around the
corner from the staircase and catches sight of his boy doing this, soundlessly rounding the
counter to kiss Louis' neck.

"Hi." Louis repeats his polite greeting, entertaining the alternate universe where they didn't
see one another twenty minutes ago.

Harry's lips curl upward and his smile becomes dazzling from sombre. "Don't let yourself
become bored with behaviour like this, haud mirum. When we're mated I will be much
worse."

Louis' blush gets a kiss too. "Talk is cheap, my love."

With one last peck from Louis to Harry's pectoral, the Dominus is ushered to a seat by the
fire and handed his food. While Harry looks up at Louis with more longing than the boy can
handle, the latter relents and brings his maple syrup toast to sit in Harry's lap.

"Are you warm?" Louis asks, two bites in and barely denting the golden toast.

Harry simply adores how prosperously small everything about Louis is. "Plenty warm, haud
mirum."

Louis is pleased to hear it and continues to watch the fire as he chews and swallows. Harry's
lap is a far better seat to have than a couch cushion, the Dominus is probably King but he's a
throne to his mate.

"That looks unsavoury." Harry's frown at Louis' breakfast causes his nose to scrunch up and
for Louis to need to kiss it.
He doesn't but he does roll his eyes and break off a piece at the corner. "It's tasty."

Harry gets a sample taste but he still dislikes the sugar overpowering the bread. He finishes
his own meal feeling full of carbs and heated up from the inside to get this day over.

"You take excellent care of me, haud mirum." Harry attacks Louis as soon as the latter is
done eating, flattening him on the couch and nibbling on his mating spot.

"It's my duty, my love." Louis replies, trying to straighten them both so none of his food
brings itself up again.

"Not true." Harry withdraws and pushes his hair back, fingers stiffly raking through its
length. "You had no obligation to take care of me or my home because we weren't mated."

"Too late now." Louis smiles. He was happy to do everything he did to maintain their little
slice of Heaven.

Louis' legs are slightly spread and he folds one in so that isn't so, stretching forward to meet
Harry's lips with his own. It's an explosion of taste in that union and it is easy to tell that the
Dominus is holding back from losing himself in the kiss. Louis parts his lips and Harry's
tongue slips in without a moment of hesitation, a low moan leaving him as he marks the
inside of Louis' mouth.

They kiss like that for however long it takes one of them to pull away, lack of oxygen making
Louis dizzy. He pulls away with a small sound of separation and their foreheads are held
together by Harry's hand on his cheek.

"I am yours now. I will be yours when I return, haud mirum." Harry seems to sense that Louis
is worried about what might happen today by the dimming of the usual light in his eye.
"There is nothing they can say to make me hurt you."

A Dominus who turned to his true nature was dangerous even to his mate and Louis could
shudder at the thought of such an animal returning to their bed every night.

"Listen, haud mirum." Harry is just as desperate as Louis for confirmation, his eyes boring
into Louis'. "Nothing can take you away from me. I won't do it. I won't choose to be a Master.
You could reject me and I'd never live through that."

Louis choked on a lump in his throat and he held on to Harry's wrist, angling his head to kiss
the palm of his hand. "Where would I go if you rejected me?"

Harry makes a pained, depraved noise. He can't imagine a world without Louis to love and
live for. His blood boils and thickens at the possibility of not having him.

"Rejecting you will have the same effect on me as you rejecting me." Harry's murmur is
branded into Louis' skin, left to sizzle on the dip of his jaw. "It would end me."
 Chapter 6

Harry's been gone for a little over six hours and Louis has no idea what to expect when that
door swings open, bangs against the wall and a trail of snow follows the Dominus in. He
chews on his thumb nail whilst anticipating it, unable to concentrate longer than a second on
a line from Heidi as selected from Harry's mini library.

The fire is just right in allowing him the allocation of heat Louis requires to keep from having
his toes frozen off. He sits in the middle of the couch with one knee bent in the air, the
threads of that joggers leg being picked at relentlessly. Louis has to distract himself from
staring out the window at random intervals, marking beacons between how late it's becoming.

He decides on actually finishing a chapter of the classic novel he started before wrapping
himself up in three of the quilts they have laid out downstairs, hoping to have a nap. The
latter is a complete fail as he is left to stare blankly into the crackling, powerful orange
flames of the fireplace.

His eyes close but they're too restless, along with all his limbs, to actually have some rest.
Louis sighs in frustration at himself and huffs in the silence, rolling onto his front and
smashing his face into the first pillow his hands grab. It turns out to be Harry's pillow because
it's scented heavily with musky and vanilla, the two vital ingredients in all that the Dominus
smells like.

Louis relaxes at the phantom presence of his Dominus, his body sagging into the sofa
cushions as he let's his mind fill with Harry's earthy appeal. It always calmed him right down
but sent him skyrocketing towards a high at the same time. The excitement made him giddy
and turn red in the face, secretly wanting to be caught cuddling Harry's pillow.

The door opens, completing the sequence of hitting the wall with the force exerted on it.

Everything that settles in and around Louis flies away from their peace, shot to Hell when the
electricity shocks his nerves so they're alert once again. He stays frozen and staring at his
reflection in the flames, mind racing. Heavy footsteps behind him echo through his sense of
hearing and he pushes himself up to look over the back of the couch, the sheets he's covered
in clutched to his chest.

"Harry?" He whispers below his regular volume, lips dry once again and eyes wide.

The hunched form of his Dominus is unmistakeable, except he's not turning away from the
door handle which his hand was holding onto. Louis swallows thickly and shuffles a bit to sit
up straighter. Harry's jacket is protecting him the freezing cold conditions and his skin where
its sleeves ended looked particularly pale.

Louis can't take the silence, can't handle merely staring at the back of the man he loves while
Harry's chest heaved and his eyes were obscenely blank. The boy hops off the couch and
cautiously makes his way closer, shutting the door first because the toasty atmosphere of their
abode was dropping dangerously.

"My love?" He takes one of Harry's hands in his, lacing his fingers through Harry's icicle
appendages.

Looking up expectantly, Louis drops Harry's hood back down to his shoulders and studies the
empty shade of green staring back at him. He's a little frightened by the lack of motion or
forwardness, but tries not to verbalise that.

"Are you okay?" He brings Harry's hand to his back where the Dominus liked to hold at all
times, letting the cold palm settle on his bare skin under his sweater.

He's slammed into the wall, the wind knocked out of him in an unpredictable gasp when his
arched back hits the wall. Harry forcefully pulls him forward so their abdomens were lined
up, flush against each other's. He swooped down and latched onto Louis' neck with ravenous
lips and teeth, groaning loudly into the delectable skin as he tasted it.

"Oh- Harry." Louis had one free hand to get lost in Harry's hair, pulling his hair tie off and
carding through the curls. He didn't expect it to happenthis fast.

Harry is making a series of noises from grunts to moans of pleasure, his face lodged in Louis'
neck. He made that his home for the time it took to hoist Louis into the air, getting those
warm thighs around his waist and pinning him to the wall.

Another part of Harry was in control when he spoke. "Will you have me?"

It was his more instinctive self that came with the territory of his inner wolf. Louis didn't ever
imagine that having to answer such a question that he's been preparing for, would make him
this breathless. He tightens his fingers in Harry's hair and presses their bodies so close that
everything was touching, allowing the Dominus more access to the flesh on his neck. Harry
was well and truly an animal in the way he gnawed on Louis' skin, vicious when he's usually
collected and desperately holding onto the wall so he could display dominance.

"Yes-Yes." Louis rushed to say, after which Harry was already making a trip towards the
staircase. "It's cold upstairs, my love."

Harry acknowledges him with a squeeze to the cheek his large hands are cupping, fuelling the
flames in Louis' cheeks. "The only warmth we will need I will give to you and will have from
you."

The words in response make Louis shiver and for his head to feel lighter, nervous energy
burning up with anticipation. He's never been with someone and now, looking into Harry's
crystalline glowing emeralds, he knows that he wants Harry to own that part of him more
than anything.

*****
Harry raked his nails down Louis' sides with his face buried in the boy's front, wanting to
press into the soft skin until it hurt for both of them. He left red streaks on the supple surface
layer on Louis' waist, grumbling nonsensical words into Louis' navel. He dipped his tongue
into it and Louis shivered noticeably, fingers gripping his Dominus' hair.

Louis felt like he was on fire, being this bare and vulnerable to this one person who promises
to protect and love him forever. The thought of their future, of their wild present has Louis
inflating between his legs but not beyond his raw desire to spread his legs even further for
Harry.

The Dominus had unstrapped his prosthetic limb and let it lie discarded on the ground so that
he had his focus solely trained on his boy.

Coming up to Louis' level, Harry looks like a mentally crippled Alpha male. He growls when
Louis shifts even the slightest to bring space between them and digs the heel of his palm into
Louis' extremely lower abdomen. The younger male howled from the merciless ache it
created and whimpered with Harry's teeth caught the lobe of his ear.

"You will feel me right here, haud mirum." Harry said it like a mantra, like a deep-seeded
prayer in a voice that's hardly even his.

Louis' whole person jerked with the promise, his calm uprooted as he is reminded by Harry
telling him how passionate wolves are. It's easy to guarantee with the way Harry's wolf is
keeping him from parting with Louis' body that's bare and open just for him. Harry's chest is
alive with warm groans and moans, rubbing his hands up and down the body of his sweet
little lover.

He wants to be tied to Louis forever, sliding his hands down beneath Louis' body to lift him
up. His skin slides against Louis' and his lips drag across the boy's clavicle to pick up the
taste of his dampened skin. The cold of the night that was meant to nearly cripple them was
batted off and berated by their connection, the heat of one another earthing and splitting so
they were one unit.

"You have to talk to me, little one." Harry's brow was creased in the struggle to to keep
himself in control. He wanted to pry Louis' legs apart and bury himself inside the boy's
warmth, his beauty to be rubbed off on him as well.

Louis is breathless when his wide-blown cerulean eyes find themselves burrowed into Harry's
sparkling forestry orbs. He can only whine and raise his hips to say that he's ready and he's at
Harry's mercy.

"Tell me when you want me to stop." Harry's words are branded like ice onto Louis' chest,
moving inches closer to Louis' puckered nipple. "Tell me where you want me."

Hands at Harry's shoulder and bicep, Louis' jaw falls open and the Dominus circles his nipple
with wet lips. Suckling noises fill the air as Harry slots himself between Louis' legs, the
painful bulge he's sporting inside his underwear is straining against Louis' own arousal. Louis
loves the sensation of Harry tweaking his pink nipples, teasing them with nimble fingers and
pinches of his nails.

The pain was extraordinary and Louis held Harry to him, wrapped around him so tightly and
securely that the Dominus faltered in his hold. Harry's body crashed down on his and Louis'
mewl was embraced by Harry's tongue flicking over the swollen nub he was feeding on.

"You taste like my dream, haud mirum." Harry opens his mouth and sinks his teeth into
Louis' throat where the boy's most sensitive spot lay.

He took the squirming and whimpers of his mate by holding him down, hands around Louis'
bare thighs and upper half weighing on Louis'. Touching this beautiful wonder with naked
hands on naked skin, is everything he'd hoped for come true. They've waited much too long
and here they are, letting the best of one another lay open to the other.

"H-Harry." Louis choked, swallowing and feeling Harry's sharp teeth against his jugular. "I-I
don't want to-"

"I know, my little love. I know." Harry withdrew and once more brings himself down past
Louis' front.

He places desperate kisses along his path, tongue poking out to leave a wet path everywhere
he moved. The universe made him feel like every deed committed prior to this moment was
in a build-up to what would be happening now. Every stitch of intention and sliver of hope
was meant for this, for him to raise his head with dishevelled hair and wild eyes to look right
at the boy who claimed most of his soul upon first glance.

Harry looked down at what was all his for the taking, licking his lips and tasting Louis as he
devoured the sight before him. Louis' skin was flushed and his abdomen clenched with need,
with unspoken want. The Dominus circled Louis' thighs and held them apart, making
vulnerable what region of the boy was always guarded.

Every movement he made was hindered by his lack of one complete leg and it was only
slightly evident in the extra time Harry took to settle or steady himself. Louis found the
valiant efforts behind every movement far more worthy because of it.

"M-My love." Louis choked on the air he couldn't inhale, fingers scraping the man's scalp as
he desperately fought to bring him closer.

He never imagined a time in his life where he'd be this eager to be connected with anyone yet
here he is ready to eat those words. Louis didn't like that Harry was on his knees between his
legs doing nothing, skin raw with anxiety and the message of his greedy brain travelling to
every crevice.

Harry snapped his fingers and Louis found himself paying attention, silencing every protest
he had to listen with a keen. The Dominus smirked down at him in pride, sharing that with
Louis in a tender kiss that deepens once their lips unite. Harry rounds his hips against Louis'
and groans, digging his fists into the sheets and moving quicker.
"Do you feel good, haud mirum?" Harry whispers in Louis' ear, one hand cupping the boy's
cheek before gliding down the curved form of his body to grope his pert behind. "Do I make
you feel good?"

Louis is nodding vigorously, already high off the drug Harry is administering by merely
gripping him where nobody's touched him before. No other soul has wanted to be interlocked
with his this way and already Louis

can feel his mind concentrating on fusing with Harry's, the Dominus' constant hold on him
ushering the edge on.

Unable to help himself, Louis found Harry's wrist where it rested on his lower back and held
onto it with all his might. He guided that hand in its kneading and massaging motions over
his bum, moaning loudly into Harry's mouth as he tasted the man in his throat. Harry had a
forearm on the side of Louis' head, obeying when Louis made him tighten his grip or hasten
his hips.

The time came to be completely bare for one another and Louis had to hold his breath while
Harry curled his fingers over the waistband of his underwear. The elasticated material easily
picked up to be replaced by the Dominus' gentle touch caressing the faint red marks left
behind. Louis stretched upward to unite their swollen lips in a sloppy kiss for their record,
Harry's instincts leading to him massaging the wet muscle of Louis' tongue with his own.
Every sound either made was drowned out by the way their bodies were all-consuming.

Louis watches with wide eyes of trepidation as Harry drew the fabric of his boxers down his
legs, peppering firm kisses down the path he went to Louis' dainty ankles. He met the boy's
eye and pulled him up into a seated position for a heated kiss that left Louis breathless,
mentally scattered with his teeth not releasing Harry's bottom lip.

"Haud mirum." Harry's brow was furrowed in explicit concentration, getting his own back
and surrendering himself once again to Louis who held onto both sides of his face with his
cautious hands.

Gingerly, Louis let whatever was arising within him to control his actions as he ran his his
hands down Harry's back to the forbidden territory below his waist. His mouth opened up for
Harry's tongue to tease and torment the confines of, whilst he pushed away the hindrance that
was Harry's underwear. His hands skimmed over the milky planes of skin and squeezed
lightly the point of the Dominus that would bring his lower half closer to him.

Starved lips were at Louis' neck, vibrations pressing into his narrow chest via Harry's skin on
his. Louis held onto the Dominus' sides and bent his knees in the air, ardent desperation
working to always have his lips on some part of Harry.

Harry felt Louis' soft, delicate skin grinding against his and knew his inner wolf was
surfacing with the desire he felt unravel. He released Louis' body and pulled away from his
lips with a wet sound of disconnection, hurriedly moving down lower to hike the boy's thighs
up on his shoulders.
Louis was open where he never was before and his small fists were holding onto the cold
wood of the headboard. He mewled and bit his lip, curling his toes as Harry leaned forward
to lick the red skin above his hole. Louis tore himself apart with the intimacy causing his
enthusiasm to sky-rocket.

Harry couldn't believe it. He had to trace his index over the puckered rim of Louis' entrance
and apply a bit of pressure with his knuckle. Louis was completely untouched here and the
Dominus was the honoured man who got to change that. He admired Louis' innocence and
beauty for a moment longer, drinking in the sight of his lover spread eagle and sweaty.

Louis gasped breathlessly when Harry growled whilst pressed right against him, leading to
something hot and clenching to tighten in the pit of his tummy. He's never felt this amazing
before and it didn't look to be wearing off soon, as he hoped it wouldn't. Harry pressed his
fingertips into where thigh met pelvis and wrapped his wet lips around Louis' rim to taste
even more.

It was maddening the first hints of the taste right before Louis' essence exploded in his
mouth. His tongue flicked out past his lips where it pressed flatly onto the wrinkled, sweet
skin. He felt something animalistic within him causing his blood to boil, his greed to extend
itself. Harry's chest rumbled as he rubbed Louis' soft thighs on either side of his head, licking
hungrily into the boy's body.

Louis arched up off the bed and screamed from all the sensations running free throughout his
crumpled system. He felt the ache in the depths of his gut begin to cut him raw, the heavy
length dribble salty precome on his tummy turning to painful. His fingers tightened in the
sheets and Harry became more urgent, tongue prodding more fervently at his hole and Louis
never imagined it would feel this good.

It was like the most exquisite, most expensive drug was lacing the inside walls of his veins. It
all drove him mad as he threw his head back and silently screamed to the ceiling, thrashing
about from Harry's arousing ministrations on him. The Dominus looked sinful, forbidden
from what he's allowed to have when a pair of transfixed emerald green eyes connected with
his. Half his face was hidden by Louis' quivering body, the determination in those eyes
making Louis feel like the prey to the most beautiful predator on Earth.

When he couldn't take it anymore and the wetness between his cheeks was satisfactory, Louis
cried out as he fisted the pillow and was flipped over. It wasn't hard to tell Harry was fighting
an inner battle when he tried to be forceful but gentle in turning him over, running his
calloused palms up Louis' back to his shoulders and back to the globes of his behind.

Louis heard the blood singing and soaring in his ears, the pressure too great as Harry pressed
down on his back and he had too much friction on his inferior erection. He came without
warning but loudly shouting into the cushion he bit into, scratching the sheets when Harry
covered his hands and entire body with his own.

"I'm about to make you mine." Harry's voice has turned husky and he breathed harshly down
the back of Louis' neck, sharp teeth scraping the boy's skin. "Your mind, body and soul will
be mine."
No words could be formulated as Louis released a high-pitched sound from his throat, only
able to spread his legs further and let Harry's long fingers seek out what they wanted.
Roughly, he was inspected before Harry's teeth sunk into his throat without marking him and
a finger entered him. Louis would have jolted violently had Harry not pinned him down so
securely, jaw slackened numbly and eyes screwed shut as the pleasure burned through him
like wildfire.

Harry waited before moving that finger, pumping it slowly with the slick sound of saliva. He
let it run dry before pulling out and sucking on two of his fingers. Louis could see it all and it
was obscene enough for him to lose his mind to it, bending his knees to leave himself open
even more. He made his lip bleed, the metallic taste of blood filling his mouth as Harry
slipped those fingers into him.

They rubbed against his walls and lubed up his tunnel for what was to come, scissoring
against his most sensitive spot to make him cry out. Harry continually jabbed at Louis'
prostate to make him harden again, licking and nibbling on the skin of his neck
simultaneously.

"My knot will be here." Harry turned his head and pressed kisses to Louis' cheek, teeth
dragging over his jaw. "I'll split you open and fill you up. You're mine, haud mirum."

Louis whimpered at the mental imagery and the vow of Harry's statements, wanting it all
more than he wanted to breathe again. He was switched back to stare up at the ceiling before
meeting Harry's lustful stare, dark and full of indecipherable glints. Louis wrapped his arms
around Harry's neck and welcomed the Dominus between his legs, immediately his thighs
pried to their widest open angle and something promising pressing into him.

Harry could never possibly find a better description of what it was like to border on entering
Louis before he actually did. It was like he got his chip of Heaven finally and the angel who
brought it to him lay beneath his protective body. The Dominus' mind ran wild with his inner
Alpha wolf that was lost to the lust and cravings as it howled from everything crashing down
on him.

Louis was the most pleasant feeling to be a part of, his body tight and hot from the start. A
petite form he had with virgin skin and it was easy to complement with Harry running off the
steam from his primal hindbrain commanding everything he did.

"Oh- Harry." Tears pricked to the corners of Louis' eyes and he whined, fearing the stretch
that Harry's tip was causing as it deepened.

"Shh. It will get better." Harry kissed all over Louis' face and his lips, licking into his mouth
for more of his taste as his wolf needed it to be sated.

Harry pushed in more and his length was massive enough, swollen to near painful for the
Dominus, that Louis felt every ridge or throbbing vein finding a home in him. He raked his
nails down Harry's back to leave angry red welts behind, his body feeling fuller than it could
handle.
The Dominus kissed Louis' neck and clavicle in worship, thumbs rubbing soothing circles
into his inner thighs. He didn't stop, couldn't possibly think of it, until he was hilt deep inside
his sweetheart. Louis had tears spilling over his cheeks and darkening the pillow, the stretch
too great for him.

"I can't pull out, haud mirum." Harry' lust-induced haze cleared enough for him to be worried
about his mate's condition.

He was so sensitive that he could feel Louis' walls throbbing and clenching around him,
swollen from being forced to accommodate such a wide girth for a first time. Harry's never
felt a greater or more intense pleasure, burying his face in Louis' neck and not moving more
than to grip the headboard.

"It-It hurts." Louis sobbed unintentionally, hands gripping Harry's sides as he wanted the
Dominus close even when that's the source of his misery.

"It must, haud mirum." Harry pecked Louis' lips and wiped his tears away, tasting the
saltiness. Those enchanting blue eyes were even darker, even deeper in their immense beauty.
"Do you remember what I told you about what our mating would be like?"

Louis sniffled and nodded, holding onto Harry's wrists to anchor himself. He trusted the
Dominus more than anything, only ever needing approval and love from this one person to be
complete. Wary blue eyes connect with deep green and Harry presses their foreheads
together, the physical union between them too sacred to sacrifice.

Harry's hands encircled Louis' thighs with a stretch, hiking them up suddenly to rest atop his
own. This way he was as deep as possible inside his lovely mate, letting him experience the
worst of it before it got better. He could sense how sore Louis was becoming by the rhythmic
clenching around his developing knot, groaning in synchronisation with the boy's quiet pants.

"I love you, haud mirum." Harry kissed Louis' temples and held onto the headboard with both
hands as a kind of anchor to ground himself.

Louis whined from just hearing the proclamation. "I-I love you. My love, you are my
everything."

Harry growled possessively and swooped down to press his lips to Louis', both lips
sandwiching the latter's lower one as he sucked on the thin pink cushion until it fattened up in
swelling. All the sins of pleasure being conducted on Louis' naïve body led to his orgasm
pending very near, the dampness from his first squelching between them.

There was nothing more sensational the way it was to be this close to the one a Dominus
loved. Harry was proof of that in the way he was so out of control, prisoner to whatever
Louis offered him with both hands.

"Now, haud mirum? Are you ready?" Harry's breath mingled with Louis' and his lips brushed
the boy's with every word after they pulled away, hands tightening around the rods of the
headboard.

Louis nodded because he was and he was going to explode if the prickle of electricity on his
skin wasn't fed with some sort of activity. He dug his nails into Harry's shoulderblades where
the muscle rippled and flexed under his palms, the Dominus moaning brokenly as he shifted
his hips.

Harry didn't want to do this haphazardly and Louis felt so amazing that he can't possibly deny
this boy the full display of pleasure. He pushed himself a little lower and dropped his hands
to the bed, tearing through the sheets with gritted teeth as he slammed back into Louis. His
mate's bones rattled with the impact of his thrust and Louis cried out from the throb it had
caused, getting a taste of what will blow his mind.

He did again, allowing Louis a small breather when he retracted his c*ck from Louis'
stretched tunnel. The Dominus found too much comfort in it to be away from its clutches for
long, thrusting back in as quickly as he could without injuring either one of them. Louis' head
rolled back as his body responded with broken noises, mewls becoming whines.

Harry brought one hand up to the back of Louis' neck, rung up and drawn apart by the
feelings of intensity making his core toasty warm with the essence of his little mate. He
kissed and sucked on Louis' throat, securing himself on the bed so he could thrust slowly as
they made love. Louis' hands were on his back and shoulders, eliminating all the space.

Their proximity was so close, so magnificently sweet yet bitter in a twist that they savoured,
that Harry's wolf was drunk off it. Louis opened his eyes to meet the eyes of his better half,
mouth frozen in a scream even when Harry sealed their lips together.

Although he had blunt and ineffective nails, Harry's strength was immense when it ripped the
makings of their bed. The sound of fabric being torn and shredded

The Dominus grunted into Louis' clammy chest as he suckled on the tight pink nipples
presented to him. Louis knotted his fingers through Harry's hair and paid all his mind to the
intrusion between his thighs, breathless and blissful from this form of love. He was empty of
thoughts except Harry and the pulsating heated skin of his c*ck laying a deep claim in his
most private parts.

Harry pulled himself back up and reached out for the headboard, sensing his loss of the reins
over his pleasure. His wolf was dominant and Louis could see it, witnessing the blackening
of his eyes until no green was ever visible. He wasn't frightened by the rough, raspy sounds
his Dominus made into his neck. It made him braver, prouder.

He had to go slow even if he wanted to hold Louis' perfect hips and pound into him with
ferocity that broke him. Harry was pained in this struggle to keep himself in control but Louis
didn't appreciate it. The rhythm of their bodies moving together on the creaking bed was
becoming quicker, more desperate.

The headboard structure banged into the wall and let the noises echo off the walls, Harry's
body bucking feverishly into Louis' so powerfully. Louis felt the pivoting of his Dominus'
hips slamming into his pelvic bone without delicacy, causing the skin to sting. The
aggravated length inside him was burrowed so deep that it uncovered a spot past his depths
and folds to render profound pleasure.

Continually and maddeningly, the tip of Harry's c*ck plowed into the boy's body as he was
held apart by two undeniably strong arms. It made a wave of intense satisfaction to crash
over him, loosen his worries and let

him surrender. Harry was fighting something as he growled with near sparkling eyes and the
panels of the headboard cracked with the force he exerted on it.

"M-My love." Louis gasped to the night sky, shrieking right after when he was fucked into a
little less carefully. "M-Move fa-faster."

Harry's body cloaked his, held his thighs open and pivoted without a rhythm as it thrusted
into the tight, wet condition of Louis' welcome. He was breathing and absorbing the drug,
shaking his head even when it threatened to make him obey.

"Don't tell me that." He clenched his jaw and closed his eyes, hips moving with merciless
notion.

Louis need not say anything else for Harry did as asked even with his slight protest. The
Dominus had weakened the structure of the bed so much that it shook unsteadily. His hands
gripped Louis' thighs, hitching them up on his waist and connecting their lips to pound into
the boy's wonderful body.

Harry can't point out a single thing he did to deserve such pleasure. He howled in a cracking
voice and Louis held onto the shredded sheets with smaller hands, succumbing the brutality
of Harry's treatment. It felt like fire and it felt like ice, mixing in the pit of his stomach.
Harry's fingers pressed into the flesh of Louis' bum, pulling it up into the air as the boy
arched his back and his muscles tightened with something great creeping closer.

Thrust after thrust, Louis was inches closer to pulling on his own hair because nothing should
be this amazing. He screamed when Harry held him down, moving his hips in precision to
aim for that special spot inside him. It was swollen and throbbing by now, sore like the rest of
him. Harry was clawing at anything he touched and that included the flat frame of the
headboard, creating a sickly grating noise with his nails dragging down the aged wood.

"Fu- Yes." The base of Harry's length was fattening up to the stage of his knot. It was
uncomfortable by the way his ethereal visage twisted in agony before smoothing out in the
promise of having that locked inside Louis.

Before a mistake could be made, Louis brought Harry's mouth to his neck and winced at the
bite he got first. It did nothing for his naked and needy skin so he waited with a hand buried
in Harry's sweaty curls, tightening when the jaws separated against him. He was jerked up the
bed with each thrust and had Harry to hold onto or hurt himself on the wall, the appendage
buried inside him not easing up. Harry was a major part of his wolf in the way he made
animalistic noises with a gruff voice, fucking thoroughly and brutally into what was open just
for him.

Louis' breath caught in his throat when Harry's knot started to catch on his rim, his body
unable to stretch further so he had to face the burn. He choked on nothing when Harry
whispered a warning in his ear.

"Now you're mine, haud mirum." And he settled his teeth over the point he will bite.

Two seconds passed before Louis' hands found purchase on Harry's lower back, a keen
coming from him when something expanded inside him and Harry stopped thrusting with a
stutter of his hips. A long drawl of a howl leaves the Dominus, lighting Louis' skin up from
within with the flood of warmth within him. As it dripped and seeped into him, Louis bled
from his throat where Harry bit down.

His canines found steady ground and dug into the thin skin, two droplets of crimson flowing
out before the blunt molars followed and tore past the restricting layer. He had to be deep
enough for the bond to be extremely tender tomorrow and for it to heal over into a mark he'd
be proud of. Without precaution, he kept

his teeth locked onto Louis' pierced skin until he could taste enough blood in his mouth and
Louis was all but pushing him away, the pain too great.

Neither of them expected it but the point of their sacred bed where their heads lay rattled
shakily before a loud crack fell into the night air and the legs broke off. The bed fell
backward in a slant and Louis shrieked from all the weight on him, Harry only able to help
by hauling him up into a diagonal stretch across the mattress.

Satisfied with what he'd left behind, Harry pulled off and dragged his tongue over the
bleeding indents to seal it. Louis sagged in content and had come a second time somewhere
amidst the storm of pleasure circling his head, his tummy with splattered white traces and his
length a permanent semi-hard as it would remain until Harry's knot went down. Deep, deep
inside the Dominus was filling him up with his seed so that Louis' scent was altered with his
and his claim was complete.

"Haud mirum." Harry dropped himself down to his elbows, brushing stray strands of hair
away from Louis' eyes. His boy's eyes were so bright, so energetic. "How do you feel?"

Louis swallowed the mixture of tastes in his mouth and parted his lips to speak, feeling more
awake and less tired. He looked into Harry's eyes a little afraid. "I-I feel...alive."

Harry's worry ended at that and he nuzzled Louis' neck away from the visually unpleasant
spot of his bite. He smiled brightly and kissed the boy's skin where he could. "That's perfect,
haud mirum."

"It is?" Louis still felt hot even where they weren't connected and tried not to move, feeling
every twitch or squirm affect the joint portion. He felt Harry's sated wolf withdraw and leave
the green back to reside in his eyes.

"Yes." Harry leaned down and bumped their noses together, kissing him gently once again.
He concentrated on feeling where his knot pumped loads of himself into his petite other half,
his world tilted on its axis to face and equal to Louis. "As I get strength from you, you will
inherit energy from me."

"Oh." Louis remembers their talk about mating yesterday and blinked away from the white
spots in his vision, whining when Harry pulls him up into a seated position. He giggles.

"What is amusing you, haud mirum?" Harry's knuckles caressed Louis' cheekbone, trailing
down his front to thumb over his left nipple.

It surprises Louis that he doesn't shy away from his Dominus' hand. "We broke the bed."

Harry chuckles as well at realising that, studying the angled position of their forfeited bed.
He held Louis up on the slightly raised portion where it was least uncomfortable for the boy,
hiding his face in Louis' neck. "I ought to have warned you about how out of control we tend
to be."

"It's okay." Louis twirls a lock of Harry's hair around his finger, biting his lip or flinching
whenever the knot inside him shifted. "I liked it."

"Did you?" Harry raises an eyebrow to tease him, hands on the precious cargo of Louis'
behind.

Louis giggles loudly and locks his arms around Harry's neck, embracing the Dominus as he
lined himself up with the man. Harry breathed in deep the altered scent of his mate.

"Did I hurt you at all, haud mirum?" He asks, scared of the answer.

"No." Louis opened his eyes and stared down the length of Harry's back, tracing the curves
and dents of muscle with his fingers. "The bed might beg to differ."

Harry laughed at him and found no shame - they were mates now - in lightly spanking Louis.
"There is no doubt about just how energetic you are."

Louis sniffled and continued scratching the base of Harry's hairline, enjoying the short groans
he'd get from the Dominus. He didn't dare move his legs although he wanted to, hissing when
Harry's warmth landed on his prostate as it slipped out of him.

"Talk to me." Harry brought one knee up to beside Louis, bent in the air against the boy's
waist with his leg over Harry's hip. The amputated leg rested jobless at Louis' other side.
"How does it feel?"

It felt so good that Louis couldn't form the proper words to do it any justice. He might only
ever be able to offer up his neck in submission and whimper.
"The bond, sweetheart." Harry presses a delicate kiss to his mark left on Louis' skin, still
crusty from drying blood and damp with it. "Feels powerful, doesn't it?"

Louis preens, his forehead resting on Harry's with their eyes open and pinning the other's. "It
feels like every fibre of myself belongs to you, my love."

Harry groans from hearing the words alone. He brought his hand up to the back of Louis'
neck, keeping his fingers around the golden tan column. "The feeling is returned with no less
intent. I am yours for today, tomorrow and every day to follow."

For an hour they sat up talking about little things and sometimes nothing, connected for the
time it took Harry's knot to climax before softening. It was a late hour when that happened
but Harry didn't care much for pulling out so he stayed inside his mate, tucking the boy in
under his chin for warmth.

"Don't I have to clean up?" Louis had Harry's fingers laced through his, held to his chest over
his heart.

"No, haud mirum." Harry had his eyes closed and lips below Louis' ear. "Nothing of mine
will leak from you." Louis knows by now that Harry is suspiciously trying to keep himself
inside him when there was no need. He couldn't protest when it added feelings of security to
his own senses.

"Your body will crave everything I give you." Harry pushed Louis' legs open with his fully
able one, wrapping his arm around Louis' waist. He spoke into his ear, smirking when the boy
shivered. "It will refuse to give anything up."

"O-Oh." Louis' head was cradled by his favourite pillow of Harry's, grinning unabashedly
when the Dominus sought out his lips.

"Haud mirum, won't you kiss me?" Harry caught the side of Louis' face and turned him
around, briefly connecting their lips in a sweet kiss that left its spark lingering on Louis' lips.
His smiled was pressed against Louis' lips, slightly hindering their kiss as he felt giddy and
warm inside. "Thank you."

"For kissing you?" Louis' hip was secured firmly so he couldn't turn around, just lie on his
side with Harry curled around him.

"For the kiss-" Harry squeezed his waist. "-and much more, haud mirum."

Louis pecked Harry's jaw and hung on for a bit. "Thank you for taking me with you that
night." *****

There was no sunlight by morning and no birds sang outside, the harsh wind whipping
around their tiny cottage vengefully as it rendered the coldest winter this mountain peak will
ever experience. The chill settled into the bones of their home and wrapped around
everything inanimate except the bed they lay on nestled together.
Harry awoke before Louis did, the only light allowed to him came from the window and it
was so dim indoors that only the outline of his sleeping mate's form was visible. He took
some time after kissing Louis' shoulder and healing bond mark, to note the damage done the
night before.

Their bed was still slanted and hazardous, the top half knocked off its legs and on impact
with the floor. It was a close degree of inclination that almost had them continually sliding off
their perches. The headboard was all but deteriorated with lengthy scratches down the front,
chipped and cracked wood making the whole thing a broken complete. Their mattress had
dipped where all the weight lay last night, the sheets that once covered them lay scattered and
ripped apart. All this damage to everything around them and Louis lay peacefully asleep, not
more marks on him than necessary.

He let Louis sleep for a moment or two longer, not wanting to disturb the perfect art of
tranquillity that rested all the boy's features but the Dominus hasn't eaten at all and didn't
want to make something downstairs away from his lover. A newly bonded pair always
needed each other physically and if Harry was away from Louis before they'd settled into the
courtship, damage could be done.

Harry's hands wandered over Louis' skin. His chest where it rose and fell from sleep, his
tummy that had a delicious little pudge. The Dominus grazed the hairless tops of Louis'
thighs and found that his heart picked up the pace when he got to the glorious perkiness of
Louis' bum. He felt like a demon touching these regions of his lover in sleep but the bond he
branded into Louis' skin the night before reassured him.

Something stirred in Harry's chest and it was his inner wolf peering out through his eyes onto
the beautiful body of his mate. Harry listened to the voice in his head and was soon rolling
over to weigh down on Louis' back harmlessly. He was a newly mated wolf and the taste he
got last night of what pleasure he could have wasn't enough now.

He strained his arms and pushed himself up, finding some sense of gravity with the blood
flowing away from his brain to the swelling between his legs. Manoeuvring down the length
of Louis' body was easy and he was soon resting on the actual slant of the bed that could be
detrimental if Louis decided to wake up and fall. That didn't matter now for Harry made sure
Louis was properly insulated before rounding the curve of his behind and prying the cheeks
apart. He growled at the scent of his mate, soft and arousing to him even in sleep. Louis was
a little open from last night, his rim moist and swollen with tiny slits from where the skin
tore. It was such a sight for the Dominus to behold, the effects of their first night together as
mates making his chest constrict. He teased the puckered ring of tight muscle with his
thumbs, applying some pressure to it before it gave way. Unable to hold back, Harry moaned
when Louis' body accepted the appendage and clamped down on it once inside.

He had a little experiment to conduct. A wolf's mate had the miraculous and sudden trait of
slick dripping out of them after their first mating so that the pain and discomfort of a knot
against dry walls were avoided. Harry licked his lips and dove right in, hoping to provoke the
slick supply even whilst Louis was asleep. The boy that lay beneath him mumbled something
incoherent and shifted, almost as if he knew what Harry was doing and in his sleep tried to
aid him.
Louis was being roused from his sleep and Harry couldn't have that so he hastily clambered
up to his level and rubbed circles into the boy's back. He kissed all over Louis' bond mark
and hoped it was enough. A deity above decided to smile down at him and Harry heard Louis'
breathing return to their dozing pattern.

He kissed a path down to where on Louis' divine body he was last acting, muffling the
strangled echoes of his groans with nibbling on the skin exposed to his teeth. Like divine
intervention, Harry graced Louis' hips and thighs with slow rubbing and pinching that
asserted his presence and claim here.

Harry worshipped the skin around Louis' hole, his fingers holding that area open for his
praise. He bit around it and felt moisture dab his chin as he moved. The excitement built and
brewed in the pit of his stomach as he knew the slick was close to leaking. With more
determined a nature, Harry licked a stripe over Louis' perineum and savoured the taste that
latched onto his tongue. He prodded at Louis' hole with the stiffened tip of his tongue,
curious and intrigued by lust.

The Dominus fought to suppress his urges because he wasn't going to take apart his mate
until he was bare at the seams and bury himself in the warmth and innocence of someone
made just for him. He sucked in a sharp breath just thinking about it, wanting it so badly that
he had to physically clench his fists at Louis' sides and nuzzle the flesh down to where it was
quickly moistening.

He extends his tongue and laps at the dampness, the scent and taste of such sweetness
remains muted but heavenly after only being generated this one time. Harry parts his lips and
presses his tongue down over Louis' puckered hole, worsening the pressure until the tip slips
in and he can wiggle the muscle around for room to lick at the newly formed glands creating
the slick.

Louis was close to awakening fully, restless in his slumber as he squirmed under Harry's
tongue and involuntarily rolled his hips back. Harry caught him by his sides and held him
down to the noisy mattress, hungrily exploring the confines of his mate. He moaned and the
vibrations travelled up Louis' spine, causing his own length to twitch and for his fingers to
curl tightly.

Harry's nails bite into Louis' cheeks as his teeth sink into the taut skin around his hole,
keeping his mouth open to deposit every bit of slick the Dominus can earn. Louis' eyelids
flutter into consciousness and he watches the snow blowing around outside before a tongue is
unleashed on his arse and he chokes on a pleasured sob.

It felt mind-blowing and exquisite to have Harry's mouth on him down there, his keens and
whines not unheard by the Dominus. Harry released Louis' flushed bum and raised his head,
the lower half drenched in spit and slick, for his mate to comprehend drowsily. Louis brought
himself closer for the benefit of Harry, their lips meeting in the middle and he tasted himself
on Harry's tongue, his mysterious slick transferred from the Dominus to him.
Louis pulled his lips away and Harry's wolf made a depraved sound from his throat, lips
plump and drawn together in an unintentional pout. His mate was sympathetic and kissed
Harry's lips once more with a smile while the man lay there above him silent.

"What's wrong?" Louis' thumb swiped over the wetness surrounding Harry's mouth, cleaning
up the mess made by Harry's excitement over his slick.

Harry growled because clearly, Louis was aiming to be a tease. The Dominus rolled his hips
into Louis' behind, bulge prominent, and let that growl fade with a nip to their fresh but
extremely tender bond mark.

"My love." Louis combed Harry's hair back and caught his breath when the Dominus roughly
found solace in his neck.

Louis could himself pick up that whatever Harry had been up to left him equally aroused and
wanting, his rumbling libido wide awake and shuddering against his insides. Between his
cheeks was the slide of a definite wet patch and Louis was flushed from his shoulders to his
belly button.

"Lay down." Harry encouraged, nudging Louis onto his back so he was a soft sight for sore
eyes, spread out on his front with sheets surrounding him. The marks on his skin were faint
and fading, just tiny reminders of their love. "I want to take you again."

With a preen, Louis arched his back and propped himself up on his elbows to look over his
shoulder. Harry was nearly invisible yet his body that was grinding enthusiastically against
Louis' became undeniably plagued with desperation. He allowed himself a longer amount of
time taken to enjoy the rare taste of Louis' slick, then forcing himself upright to hover over
Louis like a magnet drawn to his beauty.

Harry took Louis' hands in his own, wrapping his fingers around the boy's knuckles as he
brought him over to loom above his form. Back to chest and Harry's heartbeat thumping
against Louis' scapulla as he pressed his open mouth to the back of his neck, sinking down to
seal himself around Louis as tightly as possible.

A small noise between a grunt and muffled growl was scorching the heated skin below Louis'
ear, teeth and lips sucking on the surface. He was checking on whether Louis was ready and
the boy knew exactly how to respond, rolling his hips back to get the Dominus' aching
erection between his cheeks where it fitted snugly, pressuring externally the boy's sensitive
hole.

Louis mewled helplessly when Harry's hand circled his throat, forcing him back onto him
with all his strength. Harry reached down between themselves and hastily prepared himself to
be positioned at Louis' entrance, cut- off and breathy exhales coming from his rapidly
heaving chest. He's never been this excited or out of tune with his sanity before, wanting
nothing more ever again than to bury himself to the hilt inside his boy.
With a shout, Louis fell forward and left his hips propped up in the air under the close
attention of Harry's rough hands. Palms scathed his flushed skin and doused it with ice,
rubbing over his cheeks and pulling them apart to worsen the stretch. Louis felt so full and
topped to the brim with Harry lost inside him, bottomed out and taking up every confine of
space within his body.

Slowly he moved as Harry started to, nervous about not knowing what to do except the
Dominus took charge from the start and secured Louis' hips before beginning the
unfathomably brutal process of thrusting with wild bucks in and out of him. Hard hips
slapped against Louis' ass, the sting and pinch of it leaving him feeling throttled. Harry was
taken over by something primal and of his animal side, waist pivoting in desperate efforts to
remain swathed in Louis.

The boy threw his head back and raked his nails down the mattress, screeching when Harry
reached around the front and massaged him where thigh met pelvis. It tossed him overboard
as the swaying length between his legs was too much and the ache deep in his belly was
being beaten up by Harry slamming into it so it bruised. The Dominus didn't care for damage
and gentility as much as he did for locking onto Louis' shoulder with his teeth and fucking
into him like it was his only means of survival.

It just might be so because as Harry sped up and he drunk in the sight and sounds of Louis
losing himself to pleasure, surges of energy crashed over them. Louis had wide-blown eyes
and swollen lips, hair and skin sweaty to match Harry's pale but faintly red exterior. Harry
watched his length disappear into Louis' tight, pink hole. It stretched magnificently to
accommodate the girth of his fattening knot, slick seeping out around his c*ck and filling
their morning with loud squelching sounds.

One of the most significant things Louis has ever witnessed is Harry muttering curse words
and muted exclamations of pleasure into his neck. It was profound and oh so sensual to have
the Dominus' rosy lips that

were once experiencing the landscape of his body now ruining them both with just his low
and dirty words. They left Louis breathless and flustered, his blush still present through all of
it.

Harry guided Louis' hands to the foot of the bed where the wooden frame of the bed still
survived. He clamped down on the wooden rod holding the two legs apart, his hands secured
over Louis' to keep them both upright. His knees parted Louis' thighs as he pleased and gave
him no moment to think, snapping his hips against Louis' bum without a fear of breaking any
rules. He could only see the part of Louis that he wanted to breed and mark up as viciously as
possible, intending with his athletic thrusts to leave it bruised and so tender that his mate had
to rely on him for everything.

Louis made soft 'uh' noises between the delivery of Harry's thrusts, curling his toes and
rolling his head back from the opaque satisfaction. Harry was attacking his prostate with his
angry length, determined by his grunts and groans to leave Louis broken.
"Talk to me." Harry suddenly growled into his ear, his wolf demanding the sound of Louis'
voice when he's trembling.

His mate was at a loss, not knowing what words were expected of him. "I-I lov- Ah! Love
you."

Harry's lips formed a smile on Louis' throat, sucking bruises around the bond mark that's
started to bleed again from all the tension and emotions travelling through it. "You have s-
such a sweet soul."

Louis can't comprehend how Harry is speaking clearly when he's rapidly reaching his climax,
chalking it down to a Dominus having so much control - with last night being the exception.
Harry did stutter when he cursed in Louis' ear and flattened their bodies into one unit.

"It belongs to me now." He vowed, eyebrows furrowed as he endured the coming of his knot.
"F-fuck!"

His mate in his arms came apart with a shout, white ropes splattering his belly and torso.
Falling apart at his edges, Louis sucked in a sharp breath and screamed loud enough to be
heard above the winds, ass tender from the pounding it earned and muscles raving with
energy as Harry' knot inflated. He'd hardly caught the beginnings of his breath when Harry
collapsed onto his side and took Louis with him, an arm wound tightly around the boy's
middle. They were locked together and it felt like an infinity.

Harry kissed Louis' bond mark, bloody though it was, his leg that usually needs the prosthetic
nestled between Louis' warm thighs. The boy feltexhausted but terribly alive and restless
from the come entering his system, all the energy coming from his Dominus. He stretched his
upper half as much as he could and smiled when Harry wrapped around him protectively,
growling lowly as his knot sat snug in Louis' body.

"Did I hurt you, haud mirum?" Harry asked with a scratchy voice that spoke well about their
just past passionate escapade.

Louis shook his head and blushed when Harry wiped off his front with a stray shred of their
once precious bedsheets. It was discarded and Harry used his able leg to support them both so
they were stationary on a crumbling bed. His precious mate was slowing his breath and
holding his hand, a thigh resting on Harry's to stay open and not shift the knot tying them
together.

"I love you too." Harry replies to Louis' proclamation from earlier when his mind was mush.

Giggling abruptly, Louis coincidentally rests his hand connected with Harry's over his tummy
and gasps from the sensation beneath it. He doesn't think before wriggling and Harry hisses,
stilling him from such acts.

"It's just me, haud mirum." He chuckles at his darling mate, peppering kisses behind his ear.
His fingertips lightly tickle that portion of Louis' belly where the bump was from his wide
knot pumping his seed relentlessly.

"It feels strange." Louis says quietly, tracing the outline of Harry's wolf c*ck where he knew
it was.

"Bad?" Harry nuzzles his mate's neck and licks over the bond mark to seal it, preventing
anymore blood loss. "No." Craning his neck, Louis sees what his Dominus looks like in his
postcoital glow.

It's a magnificent sight. Harry smiles in a way that makes them equal forever and kisses
Louis' lips so gently it erases his roughness from earlier. He had such prominent emerald eyes
that they fought to seek a home inside Louis' soul, the dark tint of them changing the
connotations from humble to erotic.

"I'm feeding you after this." Harry gave him an Eskimo kiss and pecked his lips. "Whatever
you like."

Louis doesn't know if he'll survive not doing anything with all this energy rocking his center
of gravity. He cuddles into Harry and traces the tattoos on the biceps around him.

"We both need a bath." He laughs to himself and Harry picks up on it, chuckling softly at the
reminder.

"I agree." Harry bit his lip and let Louis use his arm as a pillow. "I don't suppose you'd mind
sharing that with me now?"

With a smile that took away time from his response, Louis pouted. "Maybe I do." Harry
pinched his hip and nipped at his knuckle. "What do I have to do to such trust?"

"Hold me." Louis was immediately wrapped up by a pair of the strongest arms in the world,
making him feel safer than anyone else could possibly feel. "I'll share that bath with you
now."
 Chapter 7

Louis' memory deceives him as he tries to remember how making breakfast turned into him
being bent over the kitchen countertop next to the stove, his sweatpants dropped and now
keening at the inexplicable pleasure awarded to him by the smooth slide and snap of Harry's
hips against his bum.

He has broken noises falling from his lips with slightly white frosty breath, fingernails
scraping the wooden surface and his body held down by a strong arm pressing into his back.
Harry held onto his hip with so a deathly a grip that Louis would have to face bruises once
they're done.

Thing is, that greedy recently developed part of his brain that controls his libido doesn't ever
want this to stop. Harry makes every sexual experience feel like the roughest experience
whilst remaining Louis' fairytale. The Dominus was straightforward with what he wanted,
driving forward into the warm clenching confines of his lover.

Louis screamed and gripped the cabinets for some sort of grounding when Harry nailed his
prostate, his back arched beautifully with a light sheen of sweat covering it. Harry's hips
pivoted with his thrusts, punching every sound and breath out of Louis before leaning over
and rapidly snapping his thrusts. Louis was thrashing about

and shrieking from how Harry was merciless in the nibbling on the skin around their bond
mark, reopening it with his teeth.

His thighs hit the drawers and his ass was on fire from the persistent sting of muscular thighs
slamming into him. Harry groaned and clenched his fists, angling Louis' head to unite their
lips in a sloppy kiss with tongues and teeth. After making love twice, this experience is
declared far more hurried and urgent. The noises they fill the room with are all choppy and
broken, left to linger in the air above their heads.

Something possesses Harry to spin Louis around and hike his soft, golden thighs up high on
his waist before pushing back in. His mate makes a long, high-pitched moan as his back
meets the counter again and he's flattened extensively to a point of little pain. He has his eyes
closed when Harry starts moving again, pounding into him and bruising his tight walls. The
scent of his slick fills the heated atmosphere, adding the sound of wet skin as it drips onto his
inner thighs and Harry's V-line.

The swelling at the base of Harry's throbbing erection becomes prominent when Louis feels it
stretching his hole far more than it can handle. Harry's also making sounds of discomfort
because a knot is meant to be kept still and nestled inside his mate. He was pushing the limit
until it popped fully and he physically couldn't move it.

"H-Haud mirum." Harry struggles to pull himself together, to have control over his own
fervent body.
Louis' head is thrown back and his neck craned, thighs quivering where Harry held them up.
He was blinded by the feverish lust between them. "I-I- My love, pl-please!"

Harry thrusted once more into Louis' welcoming heat and satisfied them both by coming hard
into the sore and tender state of his mate's body. Louis screams to the ceiling as he paints his
tummy white with his release, muscles tightening before settling.

The broader of the two lovers realised there was something wrong when Louis started to
squirm in discomfort. He chuckles and plants a wet kiss over the boy's pulse.

"We should not have done this." He remains completely still, the muscles in his back
straining.

Louis giggles too and Harry hears it in his ear, the sweet sound grazing his hot skin. "What
are we going to do?"

Knotting in a position like this was difficult to get comfortable in, especially when Harry's
knot took close to an hour to go down. He thought for a moment before pecking Louis' lips
and straightening himself, the knots in his back popping in tandem with Louis' whine and
pawing fingers at his chest.

"Shh." Harry captures both his mate's hands and kisses all ten fingertips before helping him
up.

Louis has himself tightly wound around Harry's body, arms and legs locked around the
Dominus' frame. He rested his chin on Harry's shoulder and flinched everytime there was a
shift inside him. That would happen often and he'd always make a sound to say when it
became too sensitive.

"Lie here with me, haud mirum." Harry lowers himself onto the couch and Louis goes with
him, sitting perched on his Dominus' lap with flushed skin and bright eyes. "You are
magnificent, my Louis."

Blushing still despite their current situation, Louis clutches one of the quilts from their cosy
nest by the fire and half his face is buried in it. The sight is both adorable and breathtaking to
have just those two astonishing eyes peering shyly back at Harry.

Time seems to slip past them after that moment when Harry raises himself up on his elbows,
smirking into the kiss Louis consents to. His palm brushes Louis' smooth, soft cheek. He
keeps their mouths aligned and connected, his teeth nibbling on the boy's bottom lip.

The Dominus has Louis falling forward under the covers that hide them both, their kiss
deepening until it tastes like liquid gold and magic. He warns Louis before letting his hands
wander down the curved plane of Louis' spine, squeezing the gasp out of his mate when he
reached the perkiness of his behind.
"I love this." Harry muttered gruffly into Louis' neck, suckling on the skin of their bond
mark. The blood dabbed his lips and he tasted it on his tongue. "I love this part of you."

Louis is giggling again and wrapping his arms around Harry's neck to serve as his pillow
rather than the armrest of the couch. He presses their foreheads together and beams so bright
it's a fair contender for the hearth of their cottage.

"I want to hear that sweet voice of yours." Harry taps Louis' lips with his index finger. "Why
won't you grant me that mercy?"

Without rolling his hips though he wanted to because they were growing stiff and restless,
Louis curls his fingers in Harry's hair and gets concealed in layers of warm covers. "I don't
know what to say sometimes. It feels like we're still outside that cottage on the first night we
met."

Harry's brow knits together for a moment as he fights any chance at jerking his hips so he'd
get a further opportunity at uncovering a deeper rest position inside his sweetheart. Louis'
calm breathing and soothing pulse helps bring Harry's internal pressure to a standard state
that doesn't make the Dominus feel like he's being compressed.

"Why do you think that?" Harry pulls Louis down more securely to his chest, combing
through the boy's fringe so it's pushed back and speaking with a drawl into his ear.

Louis sniffled and tucked his feet in under Harry's thighs, one still feeling bare because of the
lack of surface area on the Dominus' leg. He felt just as warm anyway. "I think it may be the
excitement. Everything feels so new but I love that it's all ours."

Harry smiled into Louis' hair and nuzzled the side of his neck affectionately. "Oh how sweet
you are, haud mirum. Of course everything of mine is yours."

*****

Louis was too fond of burrowing into Harry's torso when the cold got lethal and he would
whine or shiver, mostly both. The fire was roaring beside them and Harry couldn't feel a
stitch of the cold but he was in mourning over the fact that he wasn't able to help his precious
mate. Since their steaming bath together this morning, he's gotten every blanket or quilt out
from storage and sacrificed them all to have Louis cocooned by all twelve layers twice over.

For now, Harry could only keep Louis plastered to his chest with bold arms constricting
around him. He breathed in his mate's scent with flared nostrils and little growls of expert
possessiveness, fingers sometimes twitching when it gave him bursts of emotion.

"Are you alright now, haud mirum?" The Dominus waits to ask after Louis hasn't sneezed or
grumbled for twenty full minutes.

"A little." Louis replies in a small, tired voice. The energy given to him by his Dominus has
worn off the exhaustion produced by their amorous activities has caught up to himself.
Harry got a glimpse of the ocean from two perspectives that was the pure miracle of Louis'
eyes, tinted grey by the orange flames. "I love you very much."

"I love you too." Louis is smiling when Harry leans in to kiss the tip of his nose, a blush on
his cheeks when the Dominus nuzzles that part of him. "Why aren't you feeling cold?"

Feeling guilty at the question, Harry clings a bit more to his sweet lover. "We aren't meant to,
from the first Dominus to the last."

"That's weird." Louis chews his lip and it burns from the amount of times he's done that.
"Can I sleep now?"

Harry hesitated. Sleeping in extremely cold weather isn't good or prone to producing any
happy results. He'd rather have Louis awake and tired than never wake up again. "I'm sorry,
haud mirum. You have to stay awake until the wind settles."

Louis didn't argue or whine in protest. "Okay. We need something to talk about then."

Feeling an abundance of relief, Harry rubs over the region he suspects - he's as certain of it as
he is of his name - to be Louis' behind. It's become an obsession with him, to feel up some
part of his lover at any - or all - times.

"Tell me everything there is to know about you, haud mirum." Harry trails his relaxed
knuckles up and down Louis' back.

"Um....-" Louis huffs and turns onto his side, curled up smaller than he could possibly be
under his Dominus' chin. "I really like apples. The first thing my grandmother taught me was
to climb an apple tree and pick the best ones before we made an apple pie together."

Harry hums, intent on listening to everything his mate tells him. He pictures a young Louis
with the finest eyes and softest appearance perched on the steadiest branch on an aged apple
tree. "Perhaps we can go together to a meadow I discovered last spring. There will be enough
choice of apples between three trees, I believe."

"Oh! Please?" Louis pouts after his painful sneeze and Harry kisses his forehead. "That
sounds wonderful."

"I can't promise to let you climb any trees." Harry dictates his restrictions because he will be
firm in them at any and all times for the sake of his mate's well-being.

"That's okay." Louis agrees instantly, circling Harry's nipple with his index. "I don't think I
remember how to after years of learning how such behaviour can make a mate unworthy."

Harry has to change his mind after that, a frown causing the stress creases on his forehead to
worsen and unkind growl to ripple out of his chest. "Haud mirum, nothing could ever make
something about you unworthy. I love you from head to toe, even the air around you is
desirable to me."

Louis looks up at him with shimmering oceans for eyes that sparkle because they're so
floored by passionate words from a newly mated Dominus. He reaches up and cups Harry's
cheek to deliver the sole response he can share with connecting their lips. His love and
commitment all flow through their united lips, undeniably rendering them both free of any
worldly trauma.

"I want to have to again." Harry makes a soft depraved sound from the gravely tone of his
throat. He's clutching the blankets where they hugged Louis' hips and nipped continually at
the boy's soft lips.

Tilting his head back, Louis gasped at the sensations produced by Harry sinking his teeth into
his throat. He scratched the Dominus' scalp and mewled lowly, aware that it's been little
under two hours from their last knotting.

He had to tell Harry what was on the tip of his tongue. "I-I could get pregnant."

Harry's growl became intensified with volume and vibrations warming up Louis' bare skin.
He licked into his mate's mouth with sheer concentration and massaged the hot, pink tongue
flicking against his. Imagining Louis rounded and with child - his pups - was enough
motivation to cage the boy in.

"I want that, haud mirum." He stated in with Alpha timbre in his voice, eyes darkening with
lust and need so his mate knew of his clear intentions. "I want to breed you, fill you up with
my babies."

Louis wasn't as stunned at the naughty words his wolf Dominus used with him as he had been
their first time together. His cheeks heated from the skin of his neck and he tightened his
body like a vine around Harry. Carrying the man's pups is what he wants just as well, craving
the extra warmth and weight from the lives of their unborns.

Unfortunately, he had to be rational because a Dominus had an Alpha side that never thought
clearly when clouded with the scent of their rightful mate. Louis whined high in his throat
when Harry started kneaded his behind by snaking his hands down under the covers,
desperate to awaken the glands that produced copious amounts of the sweetest slick.

"I-Is it-" Louis was majorly sensitive when it came to his ass and couldn't be blamed for
losing track of his words as Harry's fingers inspected that recently found feature of amassed
beauty. "Is it not t-too soon, my love?"

Harry disagreed by slipped two of his dry fingers down the crack of Louis' cheeks and
rubbing incessantly against his hole. The circular muscle began to clench and unclench,
trying to open itself to the offering from the Dominus. Louis felt it throb and Harry gripped
his right cheek so firmly that releasing it made a slight ripple of the muscle.

"H-Har- My love, please." Louis arched his back and stretched himself out, rolling his hips
back into Harry's hand that's playing with his abused hole. "T-That feels good."

"Yeah?" Harry teased because his sexual prowess has been intensified each time they were
naked and vulnerable to one another. He sucked a bruise into his mate's skin below his ear
and prodded at the moistening entrance his fingers inspected.

Louis dragged his fingernails down Harry's scalp and nape, overruled by the torturous
sensations being driven up his spine. Harry's skin was heating up just like his and it felt so
cool that Louis failed to resist bringing his mouth down to the Dominus' clavicle and tasting
it.

"Take me." Louis surrendered his resistance and sat up with Harry, his length hardening yet
inferior to Harry's stiff erection pressing into his belly. "Breed me, Dominus."

Harry was magnificently uncensored after Louis muttered those words to him, relinquishing
control to the Dominus. He yanked the covers off Louis and threw him down on his back so
that the far more possessive of the two lovers had him pinned to the couch and open. Harry
buried his face in Louis' neck for the taxing hour

he took making love to Louis with slow, gentle thrusts that worked him up immensely and let
his hole gaping around air.

Louis clawed at Harry's back while the Dominus penetrated his most private and sensitive
region. He gave in to their kisses with an open mouth and clashing tongues, shared his
essence by the slick dripping down his thighs. It stained the couch and Harry often reached
down to circle around their joined area. He'd gather up as much slick mixed with the leaked
traces of his own precome to taste. It was obscene and explicit, bringing the most erotic
things Louis could possibly imagine to his attention.

Harry didn't knot him after Louis' first orgasm. He pinned his legs apart and dove right in
with an eager tongue, lapping at the possible gallons of slick welcomed onto his tongue.
Louis thrashed about and scraped the couch cushions with such ferocity that it left marks on
the fabric. Harry didn't stop until his tongue was wiggling around inside his mate, holding his
sore walls apart and massaging their tenderness with the wet muscle.

Their eyes would connect and Harry never refrained from shutting out the cold with his
steamy smoulder. It crippled Louis' higher brain power and left him twitching, squirming so
frantically beneath his Dominus.

The absence of one full leg never hindered Harry's abilities to drive Louis utterly mad with
pleasure. He'd earlier unstrapped it for their cuddle by the fire and now manoeuvred without
it across the length of Louis' body. Lost in their current activities, Harry failed to remember
the hindrance his missing leg once caused. He knew his little wonder loved him without it
and wouldn't pray for a change anytime.

"M-My love, please." Louis' head tossed from side to side, tugging on Harry's hair. "I need
you." "Yes, haud mirum." The Dominus kissed his way up the boy's flushed front to his lips.
"I am yours."

Louis' legs were thrown over his thighs and Harry had to secure them with both hands or else
have them slip off where one of the boy's ankles couldn't hook over his complete knee. The
Dominus held onto the soft, firm flesh and snogged all he could out of his mate.

Emotions and tastes were swapped between them, skin sliding against wet skin and the couch
creaking from their jerky motions and sudden outbursts. Sounds of their breathless pants and
ragged moans filled the air hanging around in their homely cottage.

Harry throws himself into their whirlwind of passion and forgets that the day wears on
around them, the blizzard of snow lessening and the night crawling closer. He pushes back
into Louis only when he's got the boy bent over the arm rest of the couch, stomach pressing
into the toughest part of the sofa so he could add mass to his back. The Dominus had the
perfect view of Louis' glorious posterior end, puckered and glistening hole clenching around
nothing.

He draped himself over Louis' body and pushed back into him, groaning loudly and drawing
it out because of the intense satisfaction derived from sheathing himself in the hottest and
tightest confines. His inner wolf was howling powerfully, trailing off to cloak and protect his
precious mate at a time when his hips start to pivot wildly.

There is nothing on Harry's mind except the image of Louis pregnant. He convinces himself
that the harder he thrusts, the more fervent and animalistic he let's himself become he's
getting closer to that image. His tough thighs slap against Louis' lower half as he grunts and
moans into the boy's ear, pinning their arms down and swallowing any other sounds from his
mate with a roll of his tongue.

Louis comes for a third time with his abdomen clenching tightly and twisting with a great
release. He paints his belly and torso white before panting from the bursts of energy and
empowerment granted to him by his

Dominus. Pushing himself up, Louis moved his hips backwards to encourage Harry's release,
the inflation of the girth driving him wild.

Harry's fingers curled around Louis' neck and drew him back with one solid tug, choking his
air supply as he shoved his knot in as deep as it would go. It popped with a satisfactory
squeeze from his mate and began pumping loads of his seed into the boy's system.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to stop myself from wanting this." Harry spoke after a moment
of silence when Louis sought comfort in his arms and closed his eyes in contentment.

Louis flattened one palm on Harry's chest, the other pulling the sufficient amount of covers
up to his shoulders. He was sticky and in need of a shower but he couldn't care less. "I'll
never stop you. I want it too."

The Dominus buried his nose in Louis' hair and ensnared the slender silhouette of his mate's
waist, claiming it all as his own. He tangled their fingers together and felt Louis' cold toes on
the stump of his leg. "Why do you think that is?"
"We're newly mated." Louis' eyelids flutter when Harry's lips reach his bond mark and a new
wave of heat settles inside him. "We want nothing more than each other."

"It may also be-" Harry nipped at his earlobe and thumbed at the skin below his belly button.
"-that I love you with so much of my own being that it requires yours for mere survival."

Louis is shaking his head and even already once again breathless from such affectionate
speech from a man who didn't have time to practise. "My heart and soul are so taken with
you, my love. I don't think we'd ever move past one another. I love you."

The circular trap of Harry's heavy arms made of refined muscle structure tightens Hellishly
around his mate, protective in his stance and possessive in his little growl. He looks pained
by how his brows furrow and forehead creased in a frown, so deprived of such passion and
love all his life as a Dominus to have it now at a mighty climax. His lips part and his throat
releases a strained howl that's low and dedicated to his beautiful better half. It was a wolf's
way of saying 'I love you, be mine and I'll be yours'.

*****

Louis woke up to a midnight hour where he's facing the frosted window, a thousand and one
blankets or comforters draped over his balled-up body to be tucked in at the corners. He was
immobile and had nothing to complain about because the warmth was so on point that he
wasn't too hot or uncomfortable. Yawning softly, he allowed himself to stretch. Pointing his
toes and cracking his knuckles before blinking away the fuzziness of his vision and picking
up the divine smell of edibles.

One disappointment comes into being and that is the fact that his brutish other half that he
cared for to the world's end, isn't curled up with him anymore. Before he can recognise what
he's doing, Louis makes a small whine of longing to call his absent Dominus from wherever
he may be.

There's a shadow blocking some of the fire's embers and light not two seconds later,
following by the crouching form of his dominant lover who still wasn't as cold as he should
be. He smelt like he did before, like he and Louis shared skin as well as scents. With a soft
smile, Harry reached forward and caressed Louis' cheek. The simplistic enchantment of this
boy in such a sleepy mood happens to be his main addiction.

"Haud mirum." Harry chuckled when he was on his knees, Louis huffing before freeing one
of his hands to be linked with Harry's. "How did you sleep?"

"Woke up without you." His mate whispered, leaning forward a bit so he could rest his head
in the juncture of Harry's neck where it was safest. "I didn't like that so much."

"I'm sorry, my little darling." Harry tried not to upset the nest Louis was in when he shuffled
closer, careful of his prosthetic limb scraping the ground. "I planned to make us supper."
"Oh?" Louis wrapped one arm around Harry's neck and let his eyes close once again. "Can I
help?"

"I'm afraid not." The Dominus rubs up and down his bare back under the sheets. "You are not
to leave this spot, haud mirum."

He sounded so authoritative in his Alpha voice that Louis giggled. "Yes, Dominus."

Harry's playful growl and bite to his mate's shoulder only served to strengthen his enjoyment.
"If you disobey me there will be consequences, my lover."

"What kind of consequences, my love?" Louis replied, watching the snow fall through a
window pane on the far opposite wall.

"You may have to take a bath with me." Harry spoke seriously, but the twitching of his
smirking lips said something else. "Let me explore this lovely body of yours with this hand."

Louis saw him hold up his right hand from where he's peeking out at life in the cove he's
created in Harry's neck. He tears up after one more yawn and grabs that hand with his,
wrapping all his fingers around Harry's middle finger. "This hand?"

Harry hummed and kissed his forehead, now supporting Louis' weight so it didn't slide off the
sofa. "The very same, haud mirum."

Amused, Louis allows himself the peace of mind that comes with laughing to heard his
Dominus laugh too. He picks at the fine threads of Harry's shirt that's long-sleeved and
unbuttoned at the top. The material was so smooth and silky even though it had to be cotton,
not letting up when Louis was pinching it.

It got too uncomfortable on the floor for the wooden slate of Harry's prosthetic to continually
slide aggravatingly against his stump of a knee. He got up and sat on the very edge of the
couch, smiling when all Louis did was discreetly hide his face in his side. Arms loosely
around Harry's waist and breaths short, he's stuck to his Dominus.

"What were you cooking?" Louis mumbles into the firm area of Harry he's cuddling.

"Stew." He heard and felt a hand smoothing down his back, brushing away faint traces of
sweat and lightly scratching his skin.

"I like stew." Louis confesses with a tiny smile, quiet as the faintest dew and cute as a button.
"What kind are you making?"

"Beef, haud mirum." Harry's chuckle made his dimples pop and convince him to lean down
until he's pecking the boy's temple. "Would you like something else?"

"Maybe I can help?" Louis had such devastatingly shimmering eyes when he tilted his head
back to ask. "I hate not having anything to do."
"Unfortunately I still fancy you staying here." Harry patted Louis' hip and fanned his fingers
out over the sinful curve that made visible the position of his mate's bum. "It's almost done,
haud mirum. Maybe next time I won't allow you to sleep in favour of helping me."

With a small yawn and attempt at turning into a ball of human features, Louis kisses Harry's
leg and closes his eyes. "I think I would appreciate that."

With Louis in and out of his fantastical land of dreams, Harry tends to the pot on the stove.
He lifts the lid and stirs what smelt delicious inside it, daring to taste some while he mentally
turned over a deliberation about whether or not to reveal something of entertainment
purposes so his mate wasn't so bored all the time.

He slips out of the kitchen with the timer on and bounds up the stairs two at a time, pushing
his hair back when it fell in his face and reaching above his head to yank on a suspended
string. Down came a folded set of stairs that stood before him, aged and leading to an attic
that's small enough to keep him hunched.

Being up there in complete darkness after never taking the time out to install windows or a
lightbulb, Harry sneezes thrice in a row before bumping into his target. He brushes the top of
it and feels dust gather on his fingers, the sandy feel never once before having been a
blessing. It's been documented as many years since he had this old television in his life, the
monstrosity of a device being one of the few things his brother was allowed to gift him.

The television was heavier than the ordinary flatscreens of today and still functioned with an
aerial rod and VCR gadget. He had a box of old tapes that couldn't possibly be worth their
time but Harry can't do any better now that they're stuck here in isolation. He wants to do
everything he can to make his mate happy and in their current circumstance, this old
television is the best he can manage.

Taking it downstairs to his sleepy and unoccupied Louis is the toughest bit of all because the
Dominus has no idea of what to expect from the boy. He hauls it down the thirteen steps with
the cardboard box of old taped atop it, unable to see and rolling his eyes fondly at the soft
gasp he hears from the fireplace.

"What are you doing?" Louis doesn't sound too happy with Harry attempting to do what he
is. He hops off the couch and takes the weight of the cardboard box off Harry's shoulders.

"Settle down, haud mirum." Harry soothed after dropping the television onto the floor and
resting his palms on Louis' hips, thumbing over the slight protrusion of bone and laying
kisses over the boy's neck. "You are....very naked, beloved."

Louis was pouting and cross but that all faded away the moment he realised how nude he
was. With a gasp of scandal and a prominent blush rising to his cheeks, the boy tries escaping
from the cage he's in to cover up. Harry is far too fond of his adorable mate and his soft,
delicate body always in plain sight to let him slip by. His arms tighten and his fingers curl
into Louis' sides, tickling him without meaning to.

"Harry?" Louis spoke quietly and gave up his struggle, unsure of whether or not his Dominus
really wanted this of him.
The temperature in and around their cottage had risen to a level that's allowed the fire to keep
everything on their current level toasty. Harry was fine with the nakedness but his protective
instincts were more powerful than his lust.

"Put this on, haud mirum." Harry was pulling his shirt over his head, messing up his flawless
curls that were at rest and now thrown off their balance.

After turning it inside-out again, Harry takes an impossible step closer to run his hands up
Louis' arms and stare wondrously into Louis' eyes like they could save the world from war
and hatred. He put the shirt on for his mate without permission and wrapped his arms around
the figure of his hips, smiling goofily when Louis was on his toes trying to connect their lips.

Granting himself and his beloved that mercy, Harry bends a little to crash his lips into Louis'.
Their bodies instantly swapped meaning and became designed as well as intended for the
other. Louis was supported by Harry's firm, objective hands pressing into his lower back. He
was giggling in muted form and bit playfully on Harry's lower lip after their mouths
separated, a squeak leaving him when his Dominus picks him up off the ground.

Harry's growl is warm and reassuring as he doesn't let up on his gorgeous other. "I think I can
forget about the world and just be with you, haud mirum."

Louis closes his body around Harry's and let's himself be taken to a land of love and
adoration. "I wish the world would forget about us and let that be."

*****

Louis and Harry have been occupied together in the kitchen all evening, their little moments
between slicing home-made garlic bread and sampling the warm pudding Louis put in the
oven being priced higher than any materialistic object in the universe.

There was no running away from the small bursts of laughter he'd earn from his mate
whenever there was time to pinch his hip or chuckle after catching him nibble on the bread
for too long. Louis ate both ends of the freshly baked bread and held up an offering for his
Dominus when the man happened past him in the cramped kitchen.

Harry didn't have to set their places and despised his decision to not buy a dining room table.
He chose to drag a stunted coffee table from a spot under the staircase, setting it in front of
the fireplace so their view was the roaring pit. Louis watched him hoist the television onto
the far end of it so it's the perfect viewing height, his smile unsmotherable at how domestic
Harry's nature is.

While his Dominus worked timeously to make the pair of aerial rods atop the box television a
functioning set, Louis turned off the stove and plated their food. He put the rest of the bread
onto a warm plate and set the pudding tray down on a cloth. Harry was done when the first
sign of static came in, making Louis clap like a gleeful child.
"Well done, my love." Louis commended him with a chaste peck on his lips after Harry
pretended to bow at his accomplishment.

Harry smirked with humble pride and shared in Louis' Eskimo kiss before it was no longer
possible to delay their hunger. Louis spread out the blankets evenly before sitting down on
them cross-legged, his hot plate of food warming up his lap. Harry sat beside him and soon
had half a lapful of his beautiful mate.

"Where did you find this?" Louis asked about the television, his thigh serving as a surface for
Harry to place his plate. "I always thought you never had a television."

"We have an attic I'll have to show you one day." Harry tore up his bread and jabbed them
with his fork, scooping up some of the gravy and meat with the pieces. "I never cared for
them. The films we have are stupidly old."

Louis rolled his eyes and picked up some of the chopped vegetables in his bowl. "I love old
films." Harry gave him an indiscreet wink. "Then prepare for the time of your life, haud
mirum."

The Dominus put on the first decent movie he could find in the box of cassette tapes after
they finished their food. Louis grinned at him with the last slice of the bread roll in his hand,
munching on it happily from his relaxed post on Harry's chest. They laid themselves out like
that for the night, Harry's body keeping Louis' safe and warm with a container of pudding
between them.

Chosen wisely is the movie Harry put in. It was black and white and starred the legend
Charlie Chaplin. Louis' eyes crinkled a thousand times from the hilarity of the star's antics
and would open his mouth to get fed more of the pudding with Harry's stainless steel spoon.

Like that the night wore on until yawns were heard from Harry's cuddling partner on their
third old movie. Louis wasn't lying about having had a liking towards them because he
whined when Harry tried to switch the television off.

"Come now, haud mirum." Harry extended his arm at his hiding mate. "We have to clean up."

Remembering the mess they made earlier brought Louis' focus back and he woke up with a
short stretch. Harry's eyes weren't forbidden from wandering across the expanded planes of
his lovely partner's body, from his quivering thighs to the peek of their bond mark. They
washed up the grimy dishes together and Louis only let himself leave after the kitchen was
spotless. He took the pillows from their couch along with the dirty sheets from the floor with
him to the bathroom to dump in the hamper.

Harry found himself sharing a tiny shower with his lover where their bodies had to be pressed
together and the steam shared in the space heat both their chests up. The hot water cascaded
down Louis' form in perfect rivulets, cleaning him of the day's burdens and leaving him
squeaky clean. Harry's hands slid over Louis' hips and pulled him back to him, nosing along
his fresh bond mark with small rumbles.
"I like the smell of this." Louis inspected a bar of pale soap that's supposed to be herbal but
effective.

Bemused, the Dominus spreads some of the foam across Louis' tummy and his thumb rubs it
gently into his belly button. Louis was preoccupied with the soap until Harry took it from
him and began the lathering process with his rough hands battling to be cautious. The boy
sighed and leaned back against Harry, shampooed hair earning a kiss after his temple.

"What do you suppose we do tomorrow?" Harry is stuck wrapped around Louis under the
shower spray with his face in his mate's neck.

"You don't think-" Louis chewed his lip hesitantly. "-we could go outside for the snow?"

A loud scoff came from Harry. It was an absurd thought to have about playing in the Devil's
lair of the snow outside. Playing or merely stepping beyond their foyer is unthinkable.
"Absolutely not, haud mirum."

"But why not?" Louis was sticking his bottom lip out undoubtedly and Harry isn't brave
enough to see it without caving.

"It's too cold for either of us to be outside, beloved." Harry explains slowly, lips dragging a
course up and down Louis' bent neck. "Maybe towards the end of winter when the snow is
less hazardous, okay?"

Louis can make that compromise and nods with a tired smile. He exercises his fingers on
Harry's forearm by spreading them out and swaying slightly with the Dominus. They finish
up with Louis making Harry pick him up to wash his hair, afterwards stepping out so the
Dominus could remove and dry his prosthetic limb.

Harry sat on their bed after towelling over the wooden plank of an object, ensuring the cranks
and straps were not going to fail on themselves with his usage. Louis found a comfortable
sweater and some thick socks to pair with his sweatpants. He saw Harry drop the wooden leg
onto the bed next to him and look at him silently for a minute, fingertips brushing the waxed
surface of it.

Not wanting to destroy Harry's moment of silence, Louis wrapped his arms around himself
and stayed hidden in the closet. He watched Harry close his eyes in thought before revealing
a fresh set of green eyes, the emotion that once swam in them now vanquished.

"Come out here, haud mirum." Harry spoke to him after being aware of his mate's choice of
being silent. "Come be with me."

Louis hid his hands inside his comfy sleeves and left the dark closet to crawl onto Harry's lap
where he rightfully belonged. He smiled shyly up through his lashes and Harry comforts him
with a small tug on his waist. The Dominus latches onto him with both arms, presses his bare
chest to Louis' clothed one.
"What's the matter, my love?" Louis asks softly, combing through Harry's hair with his
fingers. He kisses a spot on Harry's cheek and listens to the man sigh peacefully.

"There are moments when I wish I still had my leg." Harry starts, holding onto Louis as his
lifeline and anchor to this world. "I could be a whole man and Dominus for you."

"Harry, my love." Louis must protest to that and he does by hugging the man holding onto
him tighter. "I'd never change anything about you. You are my loving, sweet, caring and
passionate Dominus. Leg or no leg, if you didn't have both legs. Harry, I love you for your
heart."

Harry's response is to grip Louis' sides and comforting body with all of himself laid out bare
and exposed. He breathes harshly into his mate's neck where he sat perched on his thighs, the
incompletion of one not rendering Louis deterred. Tolerant and adorable, Louis lightly tickles
the back of Harry's neck with his fingertips and tugs on a stray strand of curly hair.

"Sweet, sweet beloved." Harry brushes his thumb over Louis' back where the dips and faint
bumps of his spinal column. "I love you. I was born into this world to find you and yet I have
no way to thank you for the comfort you bring me."

"There is no thanks between mates, my love." Louis feels his own heartbeat thump like a
thunderous racehorse against his ribcage, fighting to join Harry's.

*****

"Why is it so hot?" Louis asked in a disguised complaint as he kicked off everything covering
him.

He lay spread eagle on the mattress they've dragged downstairs to have in front of the
fireplace in this freezing winter, but here's Louis feeling like he's burning up. His temples are
sweating and through the pores on his scalp, fingers clammy and clothes too much. He's been
stripped down to just a thin white vest but even that feels like too much.

Louis turns his head to raise an inquisitive brow at Harry when the Dominus laughs louder
than usual. "What is it?"

Harry turns onto his side and the blackness of his pulsating emeralds orbs sparkly from the
fire reflecting light off them. He nudges Louis' cheek with his nose and finally gets his place
nuzzled into the sweet powerhouse of his neck.

"The temperature has not changed, haud mirum." Little rumbles and Harry's calloused
fingertips repeatedly rub Louis' tummy pudge. "Hot flushes is a symptom of your body
preparing to take care of my pups for nine months. You are...very pregnant, my lover."
 Chapter 8

Louis has been ill for three days, treading dangerously to the cliff edge of self destruction.

He had severe fatigue on the first day when Harry diagnosed him as in fact pregnant, not
being able to wake up from their couch beyond the hoisting and shifting Harry did for him.
The boy coughed and sneezed all day long with a festively red nose and irritably scratchy
throat that Harry left laden with kisses every opportunity he got.

The entire duration of that dull, stormy Thursday comprised of Harry spending every waking
minute beside his ailing mate filled with dread and concern. He kept him topped up with
fluids and forced him to eat even when Louis' stubborn streak shone through. The Dominus
held him close in sleep and hoped that their intimacy will transmit to his unborn.

All he ever thought about when given the opportunity was Louis pregnant then having to give
birth, bringing his beautiful little first-born into the world. He already vowed to be a
completely dedicated and devote father to that baby, cherish it and his mate so much more
with all he had to offer. From dawn to dusk he will serve the whims of his family.

A Dominus sought all their lives to build their bloodline and create a lineage, starting from
finding their mates to making the products of their love and commitment. Harry was no
different of course and was most eager to accomplish what is most fulfilling and beautiful
thing in a Dominus' life.

The second day of Louis knowing he's pregnant comprised of majority of the day spent
kneeling over the toilet. He couldn't keep down more than what the underdeveloped foetus he
was carrying wanted to obtain nutrition from. When Harry walked in at one point with a tall
glass of warm milk, he found Louis slouched against the bathtub almost asleep with a hand
caressing where his bump will form.

Day three was the most uneventful and Harry was so grateful for it because the time could be
spent making sure Louis recuperated. He made certain that the boy was in bed all day, eating
and drinking what's beneficial for him, before he joined him for their midnight cuddle.

Outside the snow was worsening and Harry had checked through a window to see the depth
of it before he sealed them, screwing his jaw shut at noticing that it had barricaded a quarter
of their front door. He never told Louis and just checked on the fireplace once more before
rejoining the overly fond boy in front of it.

"Are you excited?" Louis asked with a giggle after his Dominus crawled forward on his front,
burying his face in Louis' tummy with apt fingers massaging his hips.

"I can't describe how I feel about this little one." Harry's words were muffled by where he
branded them, plump lips sliding across the pudge of Louis' front as he concentrated on
giving that area attention. "I wish it were possible to hold my baby now."
"The time will fly by, my love." Carding through Harry's hair and straightening it out
between his shoulderblades, Louis smiled with hearts in his eyes at the circumstance he was
part of. "Why do you think I got pregnant so quickly?"

His question was a legitimate one for mated pairs took close to a year before actually
conceiving a life. It just has always been that way so Louis was curious to know how they
took three days tops.

"You are very fertile, haud mirum." Harry stated with a lopsided smirk intended just for the
blush of his darling mate, shielding Louis' body as he pulled himself up higher for a languid
kiss. "How is my baby behaving?"

"You asked me that ten minutes ago." Louis reminded him amidst his laughter, eyes crinkling
and the tint of blue brightening. "Our baby is still too little, my love."

Harry brought his hand up to where Louis' rested over the spot where his baby would grow,
covering the boy's hand entirely. "What about you, beloved? Do you need anything?"

Louis shakes his head and smiles in that especially nervous way that made Harry want to
bundle him up for loving. The Dominus could only smother him in kisses on his bond mark
and cheek, face hiding in the juncture of his shoulder to breathe heavily and feel his baby. His
mate's arms circled his shoulders and anchored himself with a contented sigh.

"Not anymore." *****

After being stuck in front of the television for far too long, Louis desired some physical
movement more than a bowl of ice cream. He woke up from the couch and covered his belly
that hasn't grown since the last time he tried checking for development, as it always lay bare
now for Harry's convenience to nuzzle the warm skin.

"What are you doing, haud mirum?" Harry stirred something in a pot on the gas stove when
Louis made his way into the kitchen, hooking his chin over Harry's shoulder.

The Dominus was amused and his dimples proved that when he slightly turned his head to
kiss Louis' forehead. "Does my other baby want something?"

Louis grinned and tried to hide his blush in Harry's bicep. It didn't work because the Dominus
roped him in by his waist and planted a very hard kiss on his bond mark, leaving a damp spot
behind. Settling comfortably into Harry's side, Louis peered into the pot and salivated at the
smell of beef cooking.

"What are you making?" He asked with sweater paws trying to push his fringe away.

Harry held up the wooden spoon for him to sample, the close to red gravy getting sampled by
Louis. "It's a kind of mild curry."

"I like it." Louis declared before gluing himself to Harry's side and wrapping his arms around
him. "When will it be ready?"
"Are you hungry now, haud mirum?" Harry's lips were at his temple, his hand rubbing over
Louis' back.

Louis nodded and kept his face hidden, easily tucking himself in under Harry's chin even
where they stood. His fingers curled into the fabric of the jersey Harry wore and he sniffled
from the faint swirls of the cold wind brandishing his ankles. Harry had a thing for how
dainty and cute every feature of Louis' was, always holding onto as much of his mate as
possible in light and darkness.

"We have pasta from last night." Harry set the wooden spoon down and embraced his mate.
"Does that meet your fancy?"

He got the lovely boy in his arms to giggle. "Yes please."

Harry bent his knees, masking the flinch he makes from the feeling of his prosthetic gyrating
against the stump of his leg. He picks Louis up by his thighs and let's him hang on like a
koala bear, making his way to the counter where he deposits his lover. Louis sits on the
narrow surface with his feet dangling above the ground, feeling warmer near the stove and
his lover.

The Dominus need not ask how much Louis would like because he's a professional at
deducing such facts. He finds a suitable plate and fills it with their refrigerated pasta from the
previous day, popping it in the microwave with extra grated cheese for five minutes.

Louis has one hand flat on his tummy when Harry turns around, the other one supporting his
weight as he leans against the pillar. Worried, Harry takes a stride closer and cups Louis'
cheek to check his temperature or something but the boy smiles reassuringly and kisses
Harry's palm.

"You worry too much, my love. Everything is fine." Louis tells him with his legs parted so
that Harry may step between them.

Harry rests his forehead on Louis' and briefly closes his eyes to revel in the twice altered
intoxicant that is his mate's scent. "My duty is clear when it comes to you and now this little
one. I must worry."

"Nope. You'll get yourself grey early or worse-" Louis twirls a lock of Harry's extensive curl
around his index and tugs. "-bald."

*****

After supper when the only source of light the couple had came from the fireplace because
the lamps and lights were off, the windows sealed shut. Harry was not paranoid and instead
rather overly prepared. He switched everything unnecessary off and joined Louis in their
make-shift nest consisting of pillows of blankets on their mattress on the floor.

"Why this game, haud mirum?" Harry frowned at the animated board that's been opened up
and laid out between them. He hated it already.
"Have you played this before?" Louis asks, chewing his own lip to block the sound his
constricting heart muscle will make when it tightens in sympathy.

"No." Harry picks up a playing piece and studies it. "What is it?"

Louis explains the rules of 'Snakes & Ladders' to Harry whilst sharing with the man his love
and awe. Harry didn't know about most things that existed outside this current small world
and Louis found himself endeared by being the one to teach him.

"It doesn't...-" Harry trails off as he eyes the playing die in distrust. "It doesn't seem very
challenging."

"That's the great part." Louis beams about it. "It isn't."

"But-" Harry's brows come together in a frown that's deep and contemplative. "Why play it
then?"

"For fun, my love." Louis replies, already picking his bead as yellow. It's a lovely neutral
colour. "Ready to play?"

They get past two turns for each before Harry gets bored and would rather have Louis throw
a popcorn at him everytime it was his turn rather than just pay attention. Every corn segment
lands on some part of himself, which he picks up and pops into his mouth.

He's lying down on his back with his head in Louis' lap and arms at his sides where he held
onto his mate's hands. Louis eventually gave up on the board game as well and paid attention
to his Dominus with small pecks and Eskimo kisses.

"What would you like to do?" Louis ran his smaller palms down Harry's front and stopped at
his belly button, leaning down close to take in Harry's smile.

"I used to want many things." When Harry had Louis' fingers laced with his, he gave each
knuckle a kiss. "Just you and this baby is more than enough for me now."

"So-" Louis antagonises his Dominus by elongating the syllable. "-you mean that you've
settled?" "Absolutely not." Harry blinks up at him, scandalized. "Haud mirum, that is not
what I meant."

"I know." His mate giggles at his expense and pecks the tip of Harry's nose with a playful
smile. "Let's do something, Harry. I'm bored."

Harry's smirk grew from subtle to obvious and Louis had to physically cover his face in order
to conceal his blush.

"Not that!" He cried with a laugh to trail it off, shaking his head when Harry tried revealing
his hidden visage.
"Come on, haud mirum." Harry futilely coaxed with a gentle, sultry voice as he wrapped his
hands around Louis' wrists. "Let me see you."

Louis refused and turned away with a louder laugh threatening to bubble out of him from
Harry's persistence. He felt the restraints around his hands remove themselves and a bit of
rustling that tempted him to peek through his fingers. Louis convinced himself that he is
stronger than that and will not give in.

He gasped through those barriers when he heard Harry's voice again, spoken like a
whispering gentleman to his tummy.

"It seems like your mother is ignoring me, vegrandis mirum. Do you have any advice for
me?" Harry says to the growing miracle sleeping in Louis' womb. "Speak to him, little one."

He's smiling from the graze of his teeth on Louis' skin and the latter feels unmistakably
overwhelmed with emotion. Louis' hand cradles the back of Harry's head after lowering it
from his face, unable to postpone matching his smile to Harry's. Their happiness came from
the little life he will have depend on him for the next nine months.

"What does it mean?" Louis asks about the name Harry used to address their unborn.
"Vegrandis mirum?"

First, Harry's lips twitch smugly into a pleased suppressed grin before lifting himself up with
the strain of his arms. He presses those lips to Louis' and feels an electric shock speed
through the finest nerves in his body from the spark ignited by them.

"Parvulus es, haud mirum. Gloria nostra est nimis, vegrandis. Vegrandis mirum." Harry's use
of another language makes it far more exquisite and silky when the Dominus recites it against
Louis' lips. "You are small, beloved. Haud mirum. Our baby is very little. Tiny. Vegrandis
mirum."

*****

A week went by smoothly in their sacred cottage where the wheels of their lives spun from in
love to far more.

Harry had an abundance of chopped wood that he had stacked and allocated before winter
began, which kept the fire and stove going. The snow was out of control outside and blocked
the surface area up to half of their door if either one was to open it. They were already
partially snowed in and the days were so dull that neither could tell the difference between
night and day.

Louis enjoyed the isolation very much and he made his Dominus happy by not erupting into a
fit of lacking gratitude. He got to accompany Harry up into the prestige attic when the
Dominus deemed that the day would not get any brighter and he'd start fidgeting with
restlessness soon.
Sitting on a blanket on the ground, Louis had a box of trinkets at his feet that he sorted
through while Harry handed the bigger equipment. There was not a lot to handle and it
almost scared Louis as much as it saddened him.

"Haud mirum?"

"I'm okay." Louis laughed softly and answered automatically. His Dominus has been an ol'
bucket of sap and over-protectiveness recently.

Harry went back to sifting through miscellaneous nonsense with an old plaid shirt that left all
his muscles on display through the nearly transparent material. Louis is no longer ashamed to
say he was the one to beg that the Dominus wear it.

After an hour of Russian nesting dolls and a ball of yarn with two knitting needles sticking
out, Louis picks up a leather bound journal. He picks at the golden crescent lock for a while
with his fingers, trailing them over the embroidered designs that were intricate and beautiful.
The intrigue to read what was in the diary nearly made Louis a buzzing lightbulb of energy.

"What's this?" He asks the only other occupant of the room, not looking up from his
fascination.

He hears heavy footing coming closer and is forced to raise his head because this must be
important enough to get Harry over here. The Dominus looks hooded and a little intimidating
from his hunched height, naturally dark eyes made more frightening by the lack of lighting.

"My old journal." Harry crouches by Louis' side and knocks the box he was working with
aside, taking the desirable out of his mate's paws carefully. "I thought it was lost. Where did
you find it?"

"In there." Louis gestures to the box, head tilting to the side as he studied the Dominus'
emotions that fleetingly swept over his features. "Did I do something wrong?"

Harry's gaze snaps up to him and they soften from adoration and fondness. "Not even close,
haud mirum. I am thankful that you found this."

Louis beamed and went with it when Harry's lips swooped lower to smash his, giggling into
it whilst reaching up to thumb at the man's earlobes. He felt a curve take to Harry's mouth
and teeth clashing in their kiss from the giddiness travelling between them.

Having to pull himself away, Harry secures the side of Louis' neck to place a firm kiss over
his bond mark on the opposite side. He breathes out once in a way that blew hot, rough
exhaled air over Louis' skin to give him goosebumps.

"Wait, wait." Louis pushes Harry away by his shoulders and it takes a while to get done.
"Who would have put it up here for you to think it was lost?"

"My brother." Harry gets to his feet and takes Louis with him, keeping a secure arm around
his mate who is in a fragile state. "He thought I needed his help and wanted to behave as if I
were a charity case. I was insulted and refused to take anything. My journal was with him
from the time before our training. One day when I was out hunting he left everything up
here."

Louis listens to the story with a bitten lip and pricking ears. He holds onto the back of Harry's
shirt with a closed fist as he hops down the last step, right into his Dominus' hold again.

"I'm sorry." He said softly, tucking Harry's hair behind his ear and smiling comfortingly.

A Dominus was superior for none other than the reasons of their genetic coding to be proud
and self- sufficient. Even a Dominus as humble as Harry will not accept help from another
under any circumstances. By Jeremiah offering to assist his brother all he did was offend him.
The psychology of it never rang sensible in Louis' head but he figures he isn't a Dominus and
doesn't understand.

"I'm going to check on the horses." Harry disrupts his train of thought and sets Louis down
on his own feet. "Stay warm by the fire until I return,haud mirum."

Louis takes a chance and salutes Harry before spinning around on his heel to descend the
staircase. The Dominus shook his head as he chuckled and went down behind him, turning
left rather the straight ahead direction Louis took.

Ten minutes apart and the cottage goes dark. Harry had been ensuring the water was warm
enough without being distasteful for the horses to drink, and Louis was fidgeting with Harry's
journal whilst mumbling about the struggle to the unprepared little ears of his baby. It was not
even a flicker to warn them before the generator gave out and they were plunged into
absolute darkness, no lamps or candles lit either.

"Harry?!" Louis has been afraid of the dark for as long as he can remember and being alone
in it now with the cries of howling wind and wild animals loose outside to complement it
terrifies him. "Harry!"

"I'm here, haud mirum. Don't be afraid." The familiar warmth and feel of a hand on Louis'
shoulder made the boy relax instantly. "Stand up for me, love."

Louis let his feet touch the ground and stood as instructed, Harry's palms sliding over his hips
to stop just above the curve of his bum. Through the pitch blackness Louis blushed still and
leaned forward into his Dominus. He wrapped himself up in Harry's scent and breathed it in,
feeling an eternity of security with his lover.

Two unorthodox clicks later and Harry had a cigarette lighter held up next to their faces. It
illuminated just about enough for them and Louis discovered that the darkness was only scary
because Harry wasn't with him in it. The nerves settle and the hype of his worry drowns
itself.

"Were you frightened?" Harry is assuring his mate that he won't ever be leaving his side by
thumbing gently over his fleshy hip.
"A little." Louis doesn't feel like admitting it now that he is where he is, with whom he'd like
to be with most.

He can smell the staleness of hay and dust on Harry's shirt, scrunching up his nose at how
awful the combination is. Once no longer bothered by the circumstance they're in, he reaches
up to snap the lighter shut so it's just the crackle of a dead fireplace and their breathing left.

"It's alright, my lover." Harry gives Louis' shoulders a squeeze and kisses his temple, attuned
to the boy's body even when he can't see any of it. "I'm with you now."

*****

The lights stayed off for as long as Harry deemed would be safe. He would set up the
gasoline generator by the hearth when he absolutely had to because this winter is bound to an
extensive one and the last thing he'd want for Louis and his baby was low resources. Louis
got out a packet of marshmallows from the pantry, one of three he bought during their last
grocery shopping expedition, and a slab of chocolate.

He crosses his legs when he sits down next to Harry, a permanent hand over his pudge that
was now home to another life. His Dominus gave him a kiss and added to his hand with his
own, fanning his longer fingers out over Louis'. They speared the marshmallows with
wooden skewer sticks, holding over the tallest orange flame and leaning against each other.

Outside was calmer than most winter nights when the weather was a level of outstanding
when it came to being deplorable. Harry had built their home to be strong enough to
withstand any power of the wind but the noises of its force on trees and loose objects outside
was spooky. The moon shone directly through their window and cast a long patterned image
on the ground, disappearing when the clouds eclipsed the light.

"I don't like silence when it comes to you, haud mirum." Harry kissed his mate's forehead and
picked apart his roasted marshmallow. "Tell me anything I don't know about you."

"Well-" Louis' two fingertips are made messy when he tries to figure out which way to eat the
marshmallow. He pouts at the ruined white puffy treat.

"Allow me." Harry chuckled in harmless mockery and set his stick down to take Louis'.

He pulls little chunks off and feeds his mate with the boy tucked under his arm, turning his
head to nuzzle Harry's shoulder whenever he was chewing. Harry would kiss his forehead
when there's more ready and Louis would blush every time like it was a fresh experience for
him, trying to be chaste when sucking the melted marshmallow off Harry's sticky fingers.

"Tell me." Harry urged, bumping his nose into Louis' jaw. He wanted to know everything that
had to do or could be associated with his lovely other half.

"I used to lose my stuff a lot. In school. At home." Louis confesses the first thing that comes
to mind with a small shrug. "What about you?"
"Did I lose my 'stuff'?"

"No." Louis giggles and tastes more of the slightly burnt marshmallow. "Tell me something
exciting about you."

"Haud mirum, you have seen everything there is to know or see about me already." Harry
makes Louis think of the experience in the yard when Harry came forth in his wolf form and
dropped a doe at his feet.

"Your wolf is beautiful, you know." Louis tells him quietly whilst picking at the tiny buttons
of the Dominus' shirt. "I've never seen many wolves like you but I'm sure you're the scariest."

"You find me scary?" Harry blinks as he tries to understand.

"Scary is good." Louis insists, crawling his way onto Harry's lap and feels the best in comfort
he's ever felt. He let's out a happy sigh and Harry captures his waist with residual fingers
under his shirt. "I like when you become all Alpha-like and scary."

Astounded and quite confused, Harry's eyebrows rise to meet his hairline as he stares down at
his peculiar mate. "You have never seen me....all Alpha-like and scary, haud mirum."

"I don't think I'll have to." Louis' fingertip operates on small circle traced on Harry's bicep.
"The baby thinks you're more like a Papa Bear."

"I must be." Harry smiles and crosses his legs so Louis cradled between his thighs. "I am a
Papa Bear."

Louis was content with hugging Harry's neck and moulding himself to the Dominus in every
way. He closed his eyes when he felt Harry's fingers bothering the knots at the base of his
spine, dexterous and concentrated appendages massaging the uncomfortable region.

"You're a Papa Wolf." Louis corrects, the sass getting very real very fast and making Harry
growl teasingly into his bond mark. "Much better than a bear."

"Oh really?" Harry's smirk is benign and oh so attractive that the craters of his deep dimples
made Louis' cheeks heat up.

"Yes." Louis leaned over and modestly pecked his Dominus' cheek, smiling into it when he
felt Harry's dimples on his lips.

Harry has Louis on centre stage, arms roped around his sweetheart with their fingers
interlocked and Louis wrapped around him. When the boy giggles, he chuckles to
complement the gorgeous sound before returning any kiss he got. From his lips to his
forehead and jaw, Louis was no stranger to being innocently affectionate.

"Daddy wolf." Louis murmurs, close to dreamily when he hears Harry growling in approval
of the name. "I like it too."
The sound that comes from his Dominus is something between a grumble and muted howl,
appeased by the proceedings. "Remember that, haud mirum, because a fathering wolf will
only yield to the mother of his pups."

*****

"My love."

"Harry?"

"Dominus, please." Louis pouts needily at his partner who won't give him any attention.

Rolling over from where he was almost asleep, Harry let Louis crawl onto his chest once he
was laying down. The boy sneezed and brought half a dozen blankets with him, nestled
perfectly into Harry's embrace with a kiss on his lips and pink cheeks.

"What's wrong, beloved?" Harry's palms trail over the path of Louis' curled back, one
stopping to rest over his very vague baby pudge. "Do you not feel well?"

"No." Louis whimpers with a sniffle and squeezes his eyes shut to crush the feeling of falling
down from extravagant heights. "I feel dizzy."

Harry cooes and tightens his arms protectively. "I'd take the discomfort from you in a
heartbeat, haud mirum." "I know." His mate managed a smile. "I love you."

"I love you." Harry bumped their noses together.

Louis winced at another restless sensation of twisting air bubbles in his gut made him
whimper. His Dominus comforted him with the sweetest whispered nothings and tiny
peppered kisses all over his face before they were both too exhausted to stay up any longer.

It's been a full two weeks of winter destroying the atmosphere outside, dropping the
temperatures to sub- zero without the confines of their home. Harry often checked the
windows and doors to make sure there were no discrepancies, thusly avoiding any
unwarranted catastrophes. Louis slept for most of the day because growing a wolf hybrid for
a pup was as tiring as any pregnancy.

He ate more then four meals a day and had rosy skin at all hours of the day, the softest skin
that Harry got to caress with his hands and lips. Louis got irritable at some points and would
walk around the house from window to window, peeking outside where his Dominus hadn't
boarded the shutters so it could not open. The snow was well over the windows on one side
of the house where Harry kept the windows and vents sealed, allowing the Dominus more
time to see the outside before the other side would soon be closed off too.

From the nearby post in the kitchen where Harry is preparing two plates of sandwiches for
lunch, he calls for Louis. "Haud mirum?"
A short breath later and there's a pair of thin, frail arms around his waist. The Dominus
manages to kiss Louis on the lips and taste his sticky sugary lips before drawing him closer to
the subject at hand.

"I want mustard on mine please." Louis went to the fridge and fetched the transparent glass
jar himself with a butter knife for convenience.

Although a disgusting combination for Harry, he did as told and smeared some of the yellow-
green sauce onto a dry slice of bread. Louis took the knife and swiped his finger over one end
for the remnants of sour mustard, unpredictedly moaning when he tasted it. Harry's system
keeled over for a moment before he could recover from the sensational and arousing sound.

"I thought I might open my diary today." Harry says after clearing his throat and trying to
successfully slap cheese slices onto the bread.

"The old one?" Louis stole one of the cheese slices to nibble on, a flattened hand over his
tummy under his shirt. Harry sacrifices the slice from his sandwich.

"Yes." He closes everything up and starts cleaning after himself.

"That's maybe a good idea." His mate supplies with an impartial shrug, hopping up on the
counter to sit.

"Maybe?"

"It could go either way, I mean." Louis tries to clarify, swinging his socked feet back and
forth. "What if you don't like what you read in there? Don't you remember anything?"

Harry pauses to answer, hand on the top of the fridge. "Not entirely, no."

"See." Louis rings his fingers together. "But if I were you, I'd open it just for the equally sized
chance that it could all be good."

They look at each other while Harry thinks about how in love he is with this magnificent boy,
who has a wonderful mind and beautiful exterior. No Dominus is as lucky as he is, it must
have been written in the stars thousands of generations ago when they lived a previous life
together.

Harry decides not to bother with the diary for the moment and it goes to prove that he is in
fact a slave to his wolf, for thirty minutes after that happening he's got Louis on his back
writhing in pleasure calling out his name.

Soft like his entire being, these breathless gasps come from Louis' licked parted lips. He has
his screwed shut and his begging in a string of words to be taken, loved and sated. Harry's
body cloaks his smaller one completely, loud rumbles and possessive growls coming from
him as he sucks on the flushed skin around their bond mark.

"H-Har- My love, please." Louis choked on the air his lungs fought to inhale, nails digging
into Harry's strong shoulders.
"Say it, beloved." Harry said through clenched jaws, thrusting once for emphasis into Louis'
tight heat. "Say my name."

Louis sobbed from the ruining pleasure and threw his head back, exposing more of his throat
that Harry's teeth and tongue attack fervently. Marks are left scattered all over his upper half
from sharp teeth and hungry lips. Harry moves his hips in slow, purposeful thrusts. He wants
to convey his love with everything he did this

time, his unbuttoned shirt still hanging off his rippling shoulders and Louis' sweater ridden up
to press their bare abdomens together.

Harry could stay inside his lover for an eternity, feeling only this complete and full of
belonging when he's desperately burying himself in the boy's body. He felt Louis all around
him, walls throbbing and clenching from their soreness as a result of two prior orgasms. His
wolf didn't care and his knot was forming for a second time that afternoon, only the light of
the fire left to illuminate their amorous doings.

"Say it." He snarled not viciously, dragging his tongue over Louis' clavicle and lapping at the
gathering taste left for him.

"H-Harry." Louis croaked, leaving bright red scratches down Harry's back as he gathered the
fabric of his shirt and scraped his skin for grounding.

"Louder." Harry demanded, hips starting to pivot wildly to bruise Louis' insides and punch
his prostate to deliver maddeningly satisfying bursts throughout his body.

"O-Oh my-" Louis' tongue couldn't form words with remnants of his Dominus still on it. "Pl-
Please, Harry!"

Harry's large, rough palms slid down Louis' supple form and circled his thighs, hiking them
up onto his own and moving faster. His thrusts became hard and brutal, marking up Louis on
the inside with using up his slick and staining the tunnel with flowing precome. Each snap of
his left Louis' bum red and bruised, hard muscle slamming against his softness. Back arched
and fingers curled, Louis came with a loud cry and Harry's mouth on his puffy nipple.

The sound of such sated circumstance made Harry's knot pop deep inside his mate, still able
to do so however not producing half as much seed as he would if Louis weren't pregnant. A
wolf was engineered to ensure the survival of their kind and that they would treasure most
what is truly important to them. If a Dominus produced the same amount of seed to offer
their mate whilst the latter is pregnant, the current baby could be severely affected.

Harry now had to take care of his mate and smiled when Louis blushed up at him, winking
discreetly to hear the boy gasp. With a bark of laughter he leaned down and covered Louis'
mouth with his, taking over the control of their deepening kiss and getting them sorted in a
more comfortable position.
Louis made the time to completely strip Harry of his shirt to the amusement of them both. He
sighed happily and let the Dominus rest on him for a while, head on his chest.

"Do you know, haud mirum, that I cannot remember a life before you and now my baby?"
Harry had his paw over Louis' tummy where their pup was, feeling the energy of a third life.

His mate had been combing through his lengthy curls. "Me neither."
 Chapter 9

Winter's end came to them when Harry predicted it would. He felt their home becoming far
too unstable under the weight and influence of the snow caging their home in. On the first
day of Spring when the sun first shone through the animal infested treetops and the icicles on
branches began to melt, Harry got up on the roof through the attic and dug out a pathway
from the door.

It took him six hours to get some area of the ground visible again. Louis stayed indoors just
like he was asked and took stock of all their resources that needed replenishing. At one point
he was at the window watching Harry working outside, and waved when the Dominus caught
his eye. He got a wink and chuckle everytime.

They had a lot of groceries to buy and plenty of equipment to get for Harry to restore what
was damaged during the winter. On the second day of the brightest spring season Harry has
ever seen, he sat on the floor of their bedroom unscrewing the hinges on the remaining two
legs of their bed. He had to let the legs go in order for the flat structure to rest entirely on the
ground, just a plush mattress on a wooden frame.

Louis opened all the windows and let the sunlight in, smiling to himself with a hand on his
vaguely pregnant belly as the rays of beautiful light hit his skin and warmed it up.

"That's the world, my baby." He said softly to the little one he was carrying, listening to the
birds and wild harmless animals making the best of their days. "You're going to see it very
soon."

He heard a loud bang and gasped out loud from the shock of it, clutching his chest once it's
over. Without thinking, Louis made for the staircase and entered their bedroom to find Harry
already dismantled their bed.

"What was that sound?" He asks, stepping further into the room with a shy smile at his
Dominus.

The Dominus looked up with his bare feet alongside his tool kit and let Louis get comfortable
on the ground next to him. Their floors weren't so chilling anymore and Louis often sat on it
rather than couches, much to Harry's confusion.

"I assumed this would be better." Harry replies with a cheeky grin, gesturing to the fallen bed
with the mattress they brought up already.

Louis blushed and leans into Harry's side smiling into the man's bicep when he got a kiss on
his forehead. "I like it."

"I am glad." Harry's arms circle Louis' body and draw him onto his lap, their legs getting
tangled and Louis' face hiding in his neck. "How is my baby treating you, haud mirum?"
"Baby is okay." Louis fondly answers, bringing Harry's hand to his tummy where the
Dominus could feel the additional soul and life form developing. "We both want to go
outside."

Harry looks out the gaping window over Louis' shoulder. The wind is still a little on the chilly
side and the snow was in the process of steadily melting away but they're nothing an extra
layer of clothing can't fend off.

"Your wish is my command, haud mirum." Harry drops a sweet peck on his bond mark and
doesn't make an effort to get up yet.

He leans his back against the bed and bends his fully capable knee in the air, Louis resting his
side on it. The boy sighs from content and his finger traces the faint marks on Harry's shirt
over his chest, in love with the toned and muscular exterior of his broader lover.

"How about a trip into town today?" Louis proposes with his fingers wrapped around Harry's
middle finger, the size difference being a lethal anecdote to the Dominus. "Please? I really
want to walk around somewhere."

Harry is not a real mate or Dominus to his lovely other half if he dare ever say no to him.
"We'll take the horses out and then go into town, okay?"

Louis smiles so brightly it contends with the sunlight and kisses Harry hard with arms locked
around his neck. "Thank you. I love you."

"I love you too, haud mirum." Harry bumps their noses together and smiles when Louis
giggles under his breath.

They work together to tidy up everything that needs the attention and bring the horses outside
for fresh air. Louis sits on the wooden fence with his legs hooked over the lower log,
watching Harry brush through the stallion's mane while the mare trotted around the odd
feeling grounds. She clearly noticed a change in what used to be their platform of safety in
the outdoors.

Louis was surprised when she made her way over with perfect strides, stopping when her
head was cradled in his hands. With his laughter and her continually bumping his shoulder
for attention, Louis learned to love this magnificent creature.

"What's her name?" Louis asked Harry, who was observing the interaction from a few meters
away. The Dominus left the male counterpart to wander off close by. "I never named them."

"Why not?" Louis' lips formed an 'O', placing a kiss between the two large eyes looking back
at him. "She's a beauty."

"She's not as young as she used to be." Harry tells his mate with a sad smile, petting his
horse's strong neck with his whole hand. "She lost her baby a year ago."
"Oh no." Louis felt especially dispirited after hearing that, rubbing the mare's soft ear and
listening to her huff against his knee. Her heart was so much more fierce than his. "You poor
thing."

"She's a strong one." Harry tried to uplift the mood that settled over them, pulling on her
bridle to turn her towards him. "Aren't you, girl?"

As if to answer him, the mare neighs and nudges his shoulder suddenly to nudge him
suddenly. He barks out a fond laugh and let's her go back to the other four-legged occupant of
their pen. Louis smiles when Harry approaches him, getting picked up off the fence and
lowered to the ground with caution.

"Where are we going?" His mate asks when Harry takes his hand leads him back onto the
cottage's short porch.

"We are going to get dressed." Harry answers him, shutting the front door behind them and
turning around to hoist Louis up into the air, effortlessly settling his thighs on his hips. "I'm
taking my babies where they want to go."

Louis nearly screams from all the sudden movements and grabs onto Harry with both hands,
his fingers scraping the Dominus' shirt fabric and his face hiding in Harry's neck. "Do I count
as your baby too?"

"Certainly." Harry's sneaky hands snake their way down to his bum, banding like steel around
that precious territory as he moved.

Settling in comfortably to his Dominus' arms around him, protecting him and his baby, Louis
could close his eyes and inhale the warm spice scent of his lover. It should come to an end
once Harry has reached their bedroom upstairs but the man can't bring himself to let go of
Louis when the boy is so soft, gentle wrapped up in him.

Instead, Harry presses his lips against Louis' softer ones for the briefest moment and sits at
the foot of the bed. He'll be delaying their trip into town by possibly hours but he couldn't
bring himself to care when he's got such a sweet sight so near to him, mixing with his scent.

"'arry?" Louis' voice was muffled by him nuzzling Harry's neck affectionately, thin fingers
drumming to his heartbeat.

"Yes, haud mirum?" Harry answers his mumbles with a small kiss just for him, placed on
Louis' temple.

First his mate yawned and his fingers fanned out to a stretch, then he curled himself up again
on Harry's lap. "When are we leaving?"

Harry chuckled. "Is Baby making you sleepy, haud mirum?"

"No." Louis shakes his head and blinks away the tiredness because he desperately wants to
bask in the outside world for a while. "Baby and I want to go out."
"Alright then." Harry gets up and lays Louis down on his back on the very low mattress,
dropping a chaste kiss to the pale skin below Louis' belly button for his little one.

Over the duration of ten minutes, Harry keeps himself stripped down to his tiny boxers -
Louis' favourite pair on him - while he dresses his lounging mate in clothing. Louis isn't lazy
as he doesn't allow himself to ever get that way but Harry chooses to spoil his mate whenever
he can, like in instances such as this when he wants to just adorn Louis' body himself.

The accomplishment he has to his name is that Louis feels safe and loved enough around him
to not shy away when either one of them were to be in the nude. Completely or midway,
Louis found the courage to let Harry's hands roam his perfect little body without any
reservations plaguing his mind.

"I do not think it would be fair and wise to go outside today." Harry says with a rumble from
his chest, his visage blocked from where he hides it in Louis' front. "I'd much rather spend the
rest of my days right here, haud mirum."

Louis rests a hand at the back of Harry's head and his fingernails scratch lightly at his scalp.
He is also appeased by their present circumstance and appreciates that his Dominus desires
the same figure of laziness as he. The little life taking comfort and safety inside is no
different, half Harry and half him to make the perfect newborn.

"Do you remember a little boutique next to the retail grocery store?" Louis asks
absentmindedly, a spark of interest ignited when he remembers his first thoughts after seeing
that boutique.

It had been the first and only time thus far Harry took Louis into town for stocking of their
supplies before the winter season. They only went to the essential stores but of course, Louis'
eyes had wandered and they landed on this particular boutique with a pink banner and glass
windows to display skimpiest mannequins.

"Which boutique, haud mirum?" Harry is puzzled as to what his mate is talking about, and
looks up at him with a furrowed brow of inquisition.

Louis is mildly smug that his Dominus can't remember because considering his intentions he
wants to keep it a secret up until he's gotten through with his plan.

*****

Louis is fidgety the whole hour-long drive down the snowy, dodgy path to the highway
leading to town. He sat in the front with the heater on and crossed his legs on the seat,
holding Harry's hand over the console whilst staring out the window. Trees were just
recovering from the brutal frost of the past winter and like them, people were finally coming
outside to enjoy the beauty of spring.

Already flowers were blooming and adding colour to the gloominess of an otherwise sad
territory. Pink and pastel blues all around. Louis wanted to stop and touch each one but he
wanted to get into town even more.

As they reached the toll gate that they always had to pass before getting into town, Louis
tasted the cool air on his tongue when Harry opened his window. He leaned over to the
Dominus' seat and kissed his cheek for no apparent reason before Harry dealt with the
transaction at hand.

"You seem excited today, haud mirum." Harry teased with a faint chuckle and squeeze to
Louis' smaller hand in his.

"I haven't been outside in nearly three months." Louis simply replied, resting his Dominus'
palm on his thigh.

As one would guess, he's wearing his comfortable sleeping pants with little black butterflies
on them rather than presentable clothing. Due to their mating being so fresh even now, Harry
and he almost always slept naked anyway.

"So long as you do not talk to strangers-" Harry pulled into a parking space closest to the
complex with everything they needed. "-I look forward to seeing more of this mood from
you."

Louis was antsy and brave enough to stick his tongue out at Harry, squeaking when the
Dominus pinches his thigh. He pouts with memorable fondness in Harry's eye whenever he
watches the boy carrying his pup. Jumping off first, Harry opens Louis' door for him and
helps him down unnecessarily by encasing his waist with one arm.

"It's not nice to show off." Louis tells him, no truth behind his words at all. In fact all there
was were hearts and him embracing Harry for warmth. Maybe he should have worn two
pants.

"What do you mean?" Harry frowns adorably as he tries to think over what he's done to
provoke showing off anything.

"Nothing, my love." Louis thumbs away the creases on his forehead and wiggles his way
free. "Can we do the laundry first?"

Harry grunts and comes around the back to help Louis carry the bags of laundry they have to
do. It's odd that they even have clothing left to wear when all of it seems to be in these
baskets. The Dominus takes three quarters of the load during two runs and only let's Louis
carry one hamper because he's pregnant and shouldn't be straining anything.

They book three washing machines just for themselves and Louis, having already sorted out
the clothes, tosses them in with the right amount of soap before stacking their baskets up and
leaving it aside. Harry comes in after making a call to the only doctor in town to book an
appointment for Louis, walking over to his mate through the other customers.

"We will be visiting Dr. Phoenix in an hour." Harry informs him, helping Louis hop down
from his perch on one of the dryers.
"We?" Louis raises his eyebrow, his wild scent of the freshest flowers and vanilla intoxicating
Harry's senses.

"Yes. This little one-" The Dominus stops Louis from gathering his coat and lays his palm
over the boy's tummy where their baby rested, his chest curved to fit his mate against him. He
kisses Louis' temple. "-and my other little love."

Louis' blushing and trying to dodge Harry's kisses whilst still in need of them, laughing softly
in their private bubble when the Dominus releases a loud exhale into his neck. It tickles his
skin and leaves goosebumps to rest on the surface.

"Stop, my love." He tries to alert his mate that there are other people around, prying eyes that
are going to take notice of them.

Harry fails to obey and growls in a manner that alerts Louis he isn't going to listen. He stills
his mate with both steely arms and nips at their bond mark once, twice. The Dominus finds
great comfort and reassurance from doing this, thusly leading to his constant stream of
affectionate acts upon it.

Their tiny room that's one of many in this laundromat becomes thick with the air they're
breathing, laced and charged with their energy. Harry's large paws grip Louis' hips and his
face buries itself in the boy's neck, tip of his cold nose pressed to his jugular. He breathes
with Louis, let's their hearts beat in the same rhythm, and matches the pulse their veins throb
with.

"You're so small, haud mirum." Harry brings his wet lips up to Louis' ear, smirking at the
shiver he elicits from the boy.

He lays his hand out palm facing the sky, resting Louis' over it to compare the sizes. It's
phenomenal how Louis seems to just fit with a distance between the edge of their hands, like
when they carved from the same pillar in the stars it was so that Harry could always protect
his mate.

"I'm not small, my love." Louis argues weakly, giggling at his Dominus' Alpha mode. "You're
just a giant."

Harry laces their fingers together and closes his eyes, both arms locked around Louis'
curvaceous waist - he's been plumping up deliciously for the pregnancy. The faintest hint of a
developing bump always gets Harry's wolf going, howling to the skies at any hour because
his pup is conceived and living in his darling mate.

After managing to pry themselves off each other to remember that the rest of the day is
dwindling away and they have many an errand to run, Harry escorts Louis out of the
laundromat with as smug a grin as his wolf can uphold because of all the strangers' eyes
darting to them in judgement. He holds his mate's hand and holds the door open for him, all
automatic reflexes programmed in him to be reserved just for this boy.
"There's the boutique I was telling you about." Louis briefly gestures to the quaint pink shop
he had mention earlier.

Harry hums and follows his line of vision. He intended to glance at it before insisting they
continue on into the grocer but then he sees what they have have on display, and he pales
after failing to breathe twice in a row.

Lingerie.

"You..-" He trails off with a thick swallow around the lump in his throat, face paler than
usual. "You wish to go in there, beloved?"

"Maybe." Louis' fingers flex against Harry's and he sniffles against the wind. "You can't come
with me though." Harry is even more opposed to the store's existence now. "That will never
be happening then."

Louis guffaws and he's so convincing with those blue eyes, illuminated by the angels who
made him from sunshine and beauty. "Please, my love? I want to surprise you."

"You surprise me plenty, haud mirum." Harry kisses his forehead in addition to the cheesy
comment. "I have more than enough with you and Baby."

"Harry, please?" Louis is all but hanging onto his arm and pleading with wide eyes, knowing
there's a victory nearby for him.

The Dominus sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose with the other hand, thinking this
proposal over too much for the novelty of it to be enjoyable. He thinks of the mishaps, the
taxing aftermath and most of all, what it might do to him to see Louis so delectably tucked
into lacey underwear.

"Stop thinking." Louis quips, getting up on his tiptoes to peck Harry's jaw and melt his
worries away. "Stand outside for ten min-"

"No." Harry immediately cuts across, eyes momentarily flickering to black flames. "I'm
coming in with you." Louis quirks an eyebrow. "You won't feel awkward?"

"Haud mirum, our bond is so new." Harry pulls him close and envelopes the boy in his
warmth, mouth just hovering over Louis'. "It's still so fresh and happened so that I spent three
months with you alone in our home. You are carrying my first pup. I can never let you out of
my sight."

Preening, his mate connects their lips and wraps his arms around Harry's neck so he bends
down closer to him. Louis lines himself up flush against the Dominus and withdraws even
when Harry's lips follow him, landing on his throat just beside his Adam's Apple.

"I am coming with you into that place." Harry says it softly but firmly, leaving no room to
argue on the subject.
"Okay." Louis nods and with his slightly swollen lips, kisses Harry once more for the hour.

The store smells of subtle jasmine inside and Louis loves its homely ambiance. He hums to
an imaginary tune just before stepping inside and Harry is at his back, letting Louis have all
four fingers with his thumb wrapped around his middle finger. It's become their way of
holding hands and Louis isn't always the one to initiate it.

There are approximately six or seven other people in here already, browsing through the
sheer cotton and lace. Louis smiles back when the attendant greets him, walking past the
window displays into the first isle. When he stops at the first row of merchandise - assorted
feminine undergarments - he bursts into low volume laughter at seeing Harry's pained
expression.

"You look terrified, my love." He murmurs just to the Dominus, abandoning the stock for the
man.

Harry's frown deepens in contempt and discontent at being present amongst so

many....modern things that he really didn't think existed. "I have my reservations."

"Don't worry." Louis squeezes his hand and smiles reassuringly up at his Dominus. "Baby
and I will protect you."

*****

"It's nice to meet you, Louis. Mr. Styles, my assistant tells me you've already diagnosed the
situation." Dr. Phoenix greets them both with a humble appearance and gestures to the two
empty seats on the other side of his desk.

Harry let's Louis sit down in the leather chair first before doing so himself, still a bit
unnerved from the happenings at the boutique store. Louis was an efficient shopper but that
didn't lessen the trauma of his Dominus witnessing him choose between two options, then
pay and bag one of them. He hasn't gotten to see the number yet but Harry has exceptionally
high hopes.

They now spend an hour with the funny and perfectly suited doctor, who makes Louis lie
down with blue gel on his tummy to conduct the ultrasound. Harry is nervous about all the
buzzing and beeps from the piece of equipment by Louis' head but he stares at the fuzzy grey
screen long enough that the distinguishable blip from their baby nearly ends him right there.

"That's your little one." Dr. Phoenix points to the blip with his pinkie finger, circling the
region around him.

Louis' hand tightens around Harry's finger and he's smiling so brightly, so enchanting is he
when the Dominus leans down to kiss him after the doctor gave them some privacy. There
was always that nagging voice in the back of Harry's head doubting whether this pregnancy
actually occurred or whether he was just so excited that he hallucinated a happy mirage.
Now he's holding a copy of their baby's sonogram in a clenched fist and kissing his precious
mate like it's the first time. Louis' hand cups the side of his face, tilting his head back to keep
their lips together.

"I'm so excited." Louis confesses to him with a grin crinkling the corners of his eyes,
emphasising his faint freckles and making him that much more exquisite. "That's our baby."

Harry sits Louis up and stands between his legs, securing the boy's thighs on his hips as he
presses their foreheads together. "It certainly is. You have given me a baby, haud mirum. My
first-born."

Dr. Phoenix rejoins them after twenty minutes of hushed whispers and he gathering a
portfolio for them. He doesn't have to hand out pamphlets or the like to this mated couple
because he has a strong instinct telling him that the Dominus is lacking nothing in fatherly
and mate-worthy skills.

For ten minutes they discuss meal plans and supplements that Louis has to take, some of
them that are compulsory for him yet optional for others. He's carrying a hybrid pup which
means the baby could be born in either wolf or human form. The doctor hopes it's the latter
because birthing an actual wolf can harm Louis' body greatly.

Afterwards, Louis becomes restless and has his hands in his pockets while Harry handles the
payment transaction. Their next appointment is scheduled for a month from now which puts
Louis at four months pregnant. He's a little disappointed that there isn't a bump present for
him to shield with his clothing or fawn over with his mate, but Dr. Phoenix said that in his
first pregnancy such a thing is natural. He might only start showing at four or five months.

"I have never been so excited to go grocery shopping." Louis professes to his Dominus once
they're back out in the opening, where the parking lot was busier and more voices flooded the
air around them.

"I can believe that, haud mirum." Harry can't help but to chuckle when his lover all but tugs
on his hand to get him inside the grocery store.

Inside the buzzing and freshly stocked retail store, Harry allows himself to be led around
from isle to isle. They always have two trolleys between them but Louis isn't shopping for
hibernation mode anymore and is

easier on the cataloguing of grocery items. Toiletries are restocked first and he asks Harry for
his opinion on something that the Dominus didn't concern himself with because he was
staring blatantly at the curve in Louis' sweater over his front.

"My love?" The boy got worried when Harry didn't answer him with more than a
disinterested grunt.

Apologetically, Harry meets his eye and sends to him a helpless look before reaching out to
touch Louis' belly over his sweater. "This still fascinates me."
"Yeah?" Louis smiled warmly in a way that toasted Harry's insecurities to golden brown. "My
love, Baby isn't going anywhere."

Irrespective, the Dominus was wildly paranoid and always kept an arm secured around Louis'
waist to ensure his safety and close proximity. If another person got too close with the hazard
that is a wrought steel trolley, he'd pull Louis aside even if it presented no danger.

The candy isle smelt of warm toffee and cookies. Louis chose a few packs of chocolate chip
and rainbow cookies for them, together with Harry's humble caramel peanut sweets and some
sour gummy bears. Harry gets two six packs of milk and bottled water from the heavy duty
refrigerator while Louis hunts for the perfect frozen whole chicken.

His fingers were freezing themselves off after his mission through the deep freezers, and
Louis sidled up to Harry before tucking them under the hem of Harry's shirt to rest on his
bare skin. Beneath his fingertips was a firm and muscular torso, twitching just once upon first
contact when the sudden temperature gradient caught the Dominus off-guard.

"Are you cold, haud mirum?" Harry asked the boy that's publicly cuddling up to him.

Louis shook his head but his slim fingers flexed and warmed up with friction from Harry's
abs. They weren't abs that seemed to be utterly stone and Louis loves that because he adores
the fact that Harry is soft at some places.

Two entire hours later and the crickets are chirping outside already, the moon clearly visible
through the dark grey clouds. Harry pays for the groceries and miscellaneous items they
bought with his infamous black card before pocketing his wallet and pushing the trolleys out
to the car.

"You should let me put things away, you know." Louis sat on the edge of the SUV's boot with
his feet crossed off the ground.

Harry packed the purchases around his mate, passing him an amused smirk and stacking the
milk boxes up. "You seem to have my rules disordered, haud mirum."

When the wind picked up, Louis buttoned his jacket and hid half his face in it to block his
pout. "I'd like to help. I feel useless."

"You are never useless, beloved." Harry pauses to kiss Louis' fringe firmly and reinstate his
faith in the boy. "You have my pup to take care of. Being the love of my life whilst doing that
is more than enough work on your part."

Louis' eyes get inexplicably brighter at the fondness of his Dominus, and pecks his lips twice
with a broad smile. He waits a moment to let go, sighing in peace and tranquillity when
Harry's arms steel themselves around him.

"Brother?" Harry hears the voice and his attention breaks its cue to straighten his back and
look at this approaching individual.
Looking up as well, Louis sees the figure belonging to Jeremiah walking up to them. His
chocolate hair was twice as dark as Harry's and on this fine night, it became a well suited
contrast to his pale skin elsewhere. Louis isn't sure of what he's meant to do because he's
been on his feet all day and does not want to stand up to greet anyone.

When his brother is nearer, Harry and he exchange awkward hugs that dictate their
discomfort around one another loud and clear. Louis' Dominus is the first to withdraw and
step backwards twice, closer to his mate. Jeremiah's eyes flicker, sparking silver for a
moment and Louis finds himself creasing his brow in confusion.

"You have chosen a beautiful mate, Harry." Jeremiah says approvingly, nodding at Louis but
nothing more.

Harry leans back against the side of the SUV and offers his most unimpressed expression to
his only sibling. "I know."

Jeremiah laughs with a shake of his head, kicking stones at his feet for two seconds. He
manages to take a step forward and Harry isn't too happy about that, much to Louis'
misunderstanding. Why was he suddenly so defensive when Louis' met Jeremiah before?
Harry stood in front of his mate as a protective forefront, something fleeting but dangerous
flashing across his eyes.

"I will be going now." Jeremiah chuckles knowingly at his younger brother's behaviour,
smiling at Louis as he backs away. "Goodbye, Louis. Brother."

When Harry all but snarls at his brother, Louis tugs on the sleeve of his shirt to desperately
regain his attention. "What's wrong, my love?"

The Dominus sighs and helps Louis off his perch first, shutting the trunk with a sound slam
of the door whilst holding his mate to his chest. He kisses Louis' forehead and then his
temple. "My brother didn't choose as I did after his training, haud mirum. He became a
Master and he's not been the same since."

Louis' lips parted to take in fresh wisps of cool air that made his teeth shiver. "He didn't seem
that way when I first met him."

"A Master is always polite to strangers." Harry answers, leading Louis by the hand around to
his seat on the passenger side. "I try to prevent he becoming more than that to us."

Feeling not as dumbfounded, Louis nods and let's Harry open his door for him. The Dominus
gets a kiss for many things, majority of which occurred today. Harry let's the boy climb up
and buckle up before shutting his door soundly.

*****

Louis had absolute plans for when he got home. He wanted to unpack the necessary groceries
in the kitchen before starting to cook dinner, letting Harry get the bigger items out and into
the pantry. They formulated the perfect game-plan and he looked forward to his shower
afterwards when he can tick off today's tasks.
Unexpectedly, all his lovely plans are shot out of his grasp when Harry pinned him to their
front door. Louis had tried to speak reasonably but Harry's mouth and hands on him never
failed to render him a human mass

of raging hormones. Between making it to the kitchen counter and Harry hastily marking up
Louis' throat, their clothing was stripped down to nothing.

Harry was careful but open about his intentions. He growled when Louis tried to hoist
himself up onto the counter, tightening his hands on the boy's fleshy hips until they bruised.
His lips and teeth latched onto Louis' throat, sucking deep red bruises into the skin while his
chest took off in rumbles. Louis' head rolled back between his shoulderblades, mouth falling
open when his Dominus picked him up by his behind and dropped him on the countertop.

Things like utensils has fallen to the floor but Louis was made to forget when his back was
flattened on the surface. He felt Harry holding his thighs apart, hiking them up on his waist
and desperately nipping at his chest. Teeth circled Louis' nipple and fingers pulled on the
other one, making them erect and pink from the usual brown complexion. Harry smelt the
first hints of slick and he was made even more frantic, hungry for the taste on his tongue.

Louis screamed and arched his back when the Dominus' tongue flicked over his clenching
hole, gathering up the slick and applying pressure to get more out. Harry ate him out with
devotion and worship for what felt like hours, a hand always on Louis' tummy to make sure
his pup was alright.

After his begging and tears fell down his face, Louis pleaded to have his Dominus' knot. He
felt the shifting between his quivering legs and then an abrupt press of a blunt, bulbous tip
penetrating his body. Harry's chin and cheeks were glistening with slick, a feral look in his
eye as he watched his cock disappear inside his lover.

The position wasn't good enough for Harry, who was so ravenous with the greed in his eye.
He pulled Louis off the counter and kissed him with tongue and bitten lips, swallowing the
boy's whimpers and slipping three fingers into him without patience. Louis moaned and
tugged on his hair, eyes rolling back from the prodding at his prostate. Slick dripped down his
legs and onto the floor with how aroused he was, Harry's hand covered in it as he pumped his
fingers into his mate.

Breathy, broken gasps fell from Louis' lips. He was lowered to the ground momentarily
before Harry sat on the counter and he clambered onto the Dominus' lap. Their mouths united
and Louis pawed at his chest, whining for more until he was positioned over Harry's erection
and forced to sit down in one thrust. Bottomed out in his lover, Harry laid back and held
Louis' hips as the boy controlled their rhythm.

Louis looked ethereal and angelic above Harry, nails digging into the man's chest as he bit his
own lip and bounced on his lap. His skin was flushed and toes curled from all the energy
soaring through him, doing laps around his disorientated brain. Harry watched with black
eyes as Louis' tummy flexed and his jaw slackened, the Dominus' taste still on his tongue.
Getting closer and closer to his climax, Louis rolled his hips and gave Harry his fantasy of
watching his cock create a slight bump in his lower abdomen. He was tired and drew Harry
up into a seated position, the noise fucked out of him when his lover chose to pivot his hips in
a brutal way that stung his thighs and made obscene noises with his production of slick.

Harry's knot inflated when he was buried deep inside Louis, holding him down so it was
fitted snug inside him. Louis came across their fronts, painting it white with the thick ropes
that spilled from him. He was sated and exhausted, resting with his jittery arms wrapped
around Harry's neck.

"I can't believe we did this on our counter." He whispered, out of breath.

Rife with laughter, Harry rubbed Louis' back and seated him properly on his thighs before
responding. "It was the only surface left, haud mirum."
 Chapter 10

Harry has been striving for an opportunity to see Louis in the lingerie his mate purchased for
two weeks now. The little pink box with poker dots and a bow on it has remained sealed and
unspoken about for all this time, not even Louis thinking out loud in its respect. His Dominus
looks at it sitting atop their humble dresser everyday with a mournful expression before he
goes downstairs to breakfast.

That itself always brightens his mood because Louis is experiencing an unpredictable phase
where he hates wearing anything on top, so he's always shirtless. As a result, Harry gets to
see their beautiful creation of a baby - his vegrandis mirum - whenever he wants to. Louis'
skin has stretched itself over the most extraordinary curve he has, his baby bump, and almost
always has a hand over it like he's protecting their unborn.

This morning he declares to be no different, and Harry jogs down the steps on their choppy
staircase to greet his precious lover in the kitchen. Louis is in yoga pants and humming to
himself as he plated some scrambled eggs.

"Haud mirum." Ever since Harry's been pronounced Papa Wolf, he grew the tendency of
enveloping Louis with his body at all times. "Good morning."

The weight of his Dominus weighed down Louis' shoulders in a familiar way, he felt Harry's
lips at his neck and giggled at how ticklish they were. He abandoned the frying pan and
turned around to embrace his mate with a nuzzle into his chest and contented sigh. Harry's
bare chest pressed against his and the Dominus broke out a soft growl at feeling a connection
with his baby.

Louis kissed Harry's naked pectoral and let the scent of his Dominus settle their baby. "Good
morning, my love. I made breakfast."

Harry chuckled and withdrew enough to see Louis' face. "You seem to always be on top of
things, beloved." His petite mate managed to preen under the safety of Harry's chin resting on
his head. "Aha."

Being offered a plate of food really is not enough to convince Harry that holding Louis for
longer will be unnecessary. Unfortunately, his mate is moving away already so that their
scents redisperse and Louis is back at the stove.

"Pregnant and barefoot in my kitchen, haud mirum?" Harry eyes the small, pale feet of his
mate exposed to the wooden flooring.

Louis rolls his eyes and fondly teases his smirking Dominus. "I believe I laid claim over this
room a while ago." Harry's eyebrow rose just a bit, provocative towards his mate's comment.
"Oh did you?"

"Of course I did." Louis filled a bowl with cereal and poured more milk than needed into it.
"Are you going outside today?"
Ever since Harry completed his training, Louis believed that Harry wouldn't need to leave the
cabin for any reason other than the obvious hunting needs. He was wrong however because
Harry - quite often - went out to attend to business with the pack he was part of, yet isolated
from.

The logic of it was twisted in Louis' books but what he understood was that a group of
Dominus' would claim an area to go through training. Their shares in it were equal and they
were one pack for all external purposes, to fulfil the societal norm of bonding with others of
their kind.

"Do you not want me to?" Harry picked up his fork and shovelled some of the food Louis
granted him into his mouth.

Louis stood across from him with a cup of warm milk and plate of pineapple cubes. It is safe
to say that their little one is giving him the oddest cravings. "I never want you to leave me."

Harry's hand slid over the counter's surface and his longer, bony fingers laced together with
Louis' softer ones. He always adored the feeling of his mate's hand linked with his, the
contrast in size and texture warming his core.

"I will never leave you." Harry brought Louis' hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles
tenderly, their eyes not once parting ways. "I love you and I must stay by your side, haud
mirum."

Colouring his cheeks is the faintest blush, a dash of light pink on his pale cheeks. He flexes
his fingers between Harry's, even the smallest of appendages belonging to his Dominus being
the ones to protect his mate's. Louis knows how safe he always will be with his Dominus
with him, secured by the strongest and warmest arms.

"I won't let you leave then." Louis accepts when Harry leads him around the island and
beside him.

Harry is grinning wider than any Dominus ever has when his lovely better half tugs on one of
his curls, letting his arms band around his slender hips to hoist him up onto his lap. Situating
himself is easy and fluid as Louis shifts minutely to get in the right position, his body cradled
by Harry's. He wraps an arm around the man's neck and giggles into his ear when Harry
kisses his neck.

A hand - however innocent in intention - slides from the cap of his knee to between his warm
thighs, a cold contradiction to the heated skin. Harry nips with closed eyes at Louis' earlobe,
pressing his plump cherry lips to the damp skin below moments later.

Louis didn't protest to any of the acts being carried out on him, instead opening up for them
because it did more to soothe his restlessness than anything alternative. "What time do you
think you'll be back home?"
Harry's face is hidden in his mate's comforting shoulder junction, warm puffs of air landing
on the boy's supple skin. The Dominus always got the honour of rubbing lotion on him,
leaving the younger male feeling like a lavender snowball.

"I cannot promise a time, haud mirum." Harry replies regretfully, food forgotten and the
lapful of his enchanting mate becomes the possessor of his focus. "I will return to you as soon
as I can."

"Oh." Louis caresses Harry's artfully structured cheek, the Dominus' sharp jaw being the bane
of his admiration. "Say goodbye to Baby before you leave then."

Harry's lips twitched in his partial smile. "You won't be missing me, my lover. I will return
before that can happen."

*****

With Harry being gone for an hour already, Louis finishes cleaning up the cottage from the
kitchen to their bedroom. He tries not to do everything consecutively and tire his body when
he's actually supposed to take it easy on himself. Rather than creating an ugly situation, he
shuffles around the house at his own pace with an old vinyl record playing.

In the living room, he has his hand on his back as the entire column starts to ache relentlessly.
When the dull throbbing commences he thinks a bit of wintergreen ointment will fix it but the
ailment worsens to sharp jabs to his gut from behind and he simply cannot take being on his
feet any longer. Slowly, Louis lowers himself onto the nearest couch and crosses his legs, a
cushion on his lap.

For two hours he lies down staring at the ceiling with such miserable pain in his back that all
he can do is whine about it. Movement felt like torture and his breathing was becoming
laborious because of the intense pressure on his lungs, the need to use the bathroom
becoming cruel as he lay there suffering. His bump was numb to the hurt however and Louis
rubbed his hand over it, speaking softly to his baby as he nodded off.

"What are you doing in there, love bug?" He pulled up his shirt and hoped to calm down the
spirited individual growing inside him. "It doesn't feel so good out here."

Just after noon Louis managed to force himself to fall asleep, turned on his side and stretched
out to eliminate any further triggers for the pain. The nerves in his spine were set alight,
glowing as red as spilt blood as they interfered with his normal functioning.

The weather outside was delightfully earthy and cool. Winds forming the lightest breeze
rustled the leaves in the highest pine trees. Wild but harmless animals were roaming about
trying to recover from the winter. Louis' dreams are blurred with images of deer and rabbits
kicking through the blossoming flowers, wolves coming out at night with sparkling silver
eyes.

*****
Harry begins to feel the lowest mood swing he's ever experiences when he's assisting another
Dominus in the rationing of communal goods. They all hunted for an entire day to build a
bounty worth sharing, then split it into four equal halves before going home.

The first signs of unease arise with he's chopping wood, wiping sweat from his brow with the
back of his hand and angling the axe for another swing. Blocks of wood split down the
middle into equal halves, the entire procession becoming a wonderful work out.

"You okay over there, Styles?" His current work partner questions, bare upper body matching
Harry's in how it glistens under the glaring sun.

Harry pinches the bridge of his nose to think for a moment, trying to gather what the
nauseating sensations in his gut is telling him. It dims all on its own after ten breaths and he
returns to the task on hand, still with doubts at the back of his mind.

Olivier, his temporary partner in crime for the day, notices this alteration but refrains from
saying anything. He's the one out of their pack who knows Harry has a mate already while
they didn't, a facet of his life that

each Dominus wanted to claim. Nonetheless, Harry felt most secure in confessing it to
Olivier than anyone else.

It's when the evening starts to come forth, covering the treetops in the darkest shade of blue.
Harry sniffs the air and it smells like Mother Nature's purest creations nestled into a quaint
part of the entire universe. His heightened senses allow him to pick up the scents of blooming
flowers and hunted animals.

"Styles." Olivier is approaching him with his shirt on but unbuttoned all the way down the
front, his olive tanned skin on open display for the moonlight.

Harry shrugs on his jacket and ties his hair back into a sufficient bun, clearing his throat to
prepare for speaking after not doing so all day. "I'm listening."

"Joaquin just said that we have to make a trip to the mating school next week." Olivier says,
dusting his palms off on his pants.

"I won't be coming." Harry informs him, receiving a curt nod from the other Dominus before
they're allowed to part ways.

*****

Louis is suffering from terminal restlessness and he whimpers softly into a cushion from the
ache and energy within him. He had so much to do today but couldn't get any of it done with
the rigid state of his spine, the nerves bursting with pain. His red flags are up and blazing,
fear of the worst presenting itself as he protectively rubs his baby bump.

"We're okay, sweetheart." He tells to the little pair of underdeveloped ears that will listen.
"Your Daddy will be home soon."
A wave of nausea washes over him once more out of eighty times and he moans from the
discomfort it renders him. Night has already fallen and Louis is hungry after missing two
meals already. Besides the grumbling of his empty tummy and the misconduct of his aching
spinal column, exhaustion from a day spent tossing and turning has enveloped his mind.

Familiar heavy footsteps awaken him from the few stages before actual slumber, and Louis
yawns with a crack in his stiff knots when the door swings open. The scent of spice and
vanilla welcomes him to where he feels safest and he picks his head off the couch to see
where Harry may be.

The Dominus is shedding his jacket and boots at the door, pheromones of distress making
him hurriedly drop them to the ground before rushing to his mate's side. He looks like a
troubled God-like creature, kneeling by Louis' head with his hand framing the boy's cheek
and his concern radiating off him onto his mate.

Louis leans into Harry's calloused touch and his throat releases a tiny whine when the man
kisses his bond mark, a symbol of loyalty for this situation. He grips Harry's wrists and can
hardly keep his eyes open, trying to move his back by rolling over or stretching forward but
everything feels too saturated to be shifted.

"What happened to you, haud mirum?" Harry shuffled forward on his knees, wincing at the
scrape of his prosthetic on the ground. He kisses his mate's lips first and tastes what pain he's
experiences with a discontented growl.

"My back." Louis weakly gestures to it when Harry sits on the edge of the couch, now
reassured by his Dominus' scent so near to him. "It hurts a lot."

Harry is careful about capturing Louis' waist in his grip and turning him over onto his front,
chasing the pained mumbles from his mate away with chaste kisses. He bites his lip with
concern and a mind plagued with troubles now that his mate cannot see him, his fingers
examining the plane of Louis' back.

Louis' skin is just as remarkable and soft as always, small nobs down the middle from his
spine. The arch is still a perfect curve and he has no bruises or strange anomalies. Harry runs
his hand down Louis' back, feeling nothing but the wriggling life at the boy's abdomen when
he gets there.

"I cannot see anything wrong, beloved." Harry says with his fury at himself etched into his
expression. If anything happens to his Louis or his baby he will drag a blade right through his
heart. "Let me carry you upstairs."

The Dominus gets to his feet and picks Louis up in his arms, careful not to jostle him more
than he can handle. Louis remains as limp as he was before and hides his face in Harry's
neck, arms wound tightly around the Dominus while he swallows his hurt noises.

He gets to their bedroom and kicks the door open with the toe of his foot, then lays Louis
down on the bed even when the boy doesn't want him to let go. Harry strips off his shirt and
pants to avoid any obstructions in their future close proximity. Before seating himself, Harry
fetches a bottle of painkillers and vapour rub from the bathroom.

Louis has shimmering eyes when he looks up at Harry from where he's cradled by pillows
and their comforter scrunched up around his body. He's nearly buried beneath all the softness
and Harry lays a gentle peck on his tummy before encouraging him to lie on his front.

"When did it start to hurt, haud mirum?" Harry asks, spreading the vapour rub onto his
fingers and massaging it into Louis' back with cautious strokes.

"Before noon." Louis answers, already feeling relaxed from Harry's hands on him taking
away the hurt. He closes his eyes and folds his arms under his head. "It already feels better."

Harry smiles a bit as he does his duty of caring for any unhappiness on his mate's part. He
enjoys the feel of Louis' smooth skin under his fingertips, baby hairs tickling him. Lightly, his
nails scratch at the surface of his lover's body just to reinvigorate what sensory missionaries
have fallen stagnant.

Louis is half asleep with too much weight on his full bladder when Harry finishes up. He
smells of mint and the painkillers Harry makes him take remove the burden of suffering
through falling asleep. His Dominus fetches him a warm blanket from the closet and lays it
over his back to insulate the warmth.

"Try to sleep, haud mirum." Harry presses his lips to Louis' temple and his throat, tasting the
boy's faint sheen of sweat and his peace at last. "I will be in the shower if you need me for
anything."

His mate releases his hand only after sleep overcomes his senses and he easily slips under the
sheath of peaceful rest. Harry stays there by his side for a few moments longer, brushing
Louis' cheek with his knuckle and feeling his little breaths exhaled onto the appendage. The
moonlight shone ideally through their open window, curtains blowing in the breeze that
tickled their skin.

Harry showers thoroughly until he's certain that the day's grime is washed off his body,
leaving just squeaky clean skin behind flushed and smelling of his body gel. Beside the musk
scented gel was Louis' apple shower gel and the sight of it makes Harry wipe the soap
nearing his brow off to smile secretly.

Returning to his bedside that is essentially at ground level because their bed frame rested on
the floor, Harry leaves his rings and hair tie on the floor by his head before slipping in under
the covers. Louis is on his back already, one lightly tanned leg kicked out from beneath the
sheets and his head turned to the side. Harry gets in next to his dozing mate and resumes the
position he always does, sidled up close to Louis and roping a possessive arm across his
waist.

Louis responds to his Dominus' presence by automatically giving Harry the space to nuzzle
his neck and sleepily whimpering when the man's lips brush his own. They fall asleep
together with a beam of pale white line peeking in through the gaping window, lighting them
both up from the inside.

*****

Harry is awake again before the sun comes up, cracking the knots and knuckles in his neck or
fingers. He covers one yawn with his closed fist and realises that whatever he's asleep on is
exceptionally warm, delicately scented. His eyes remain closed and he slides both hands
down the two edges of his body, inner wolf growling as they closed around the waist of his
mate.

Louis is still asleep, a hand in Harry's hair and the other hidden under his pillow. Harry
managed to manoeuvre himself onto the boy's front, arms now tucked under him and keeping
him locked in. His face was pressed into the spot where his pup rested safely, nurtured by his
wonderful mate.

Along with the early morning chill that's creeping into his bones from where his feet weren't
covered by the sheets. Louis smells like the freshest daisies and the best tasting honey. Harry
burrows into it and settles in for another snooze, lips more pouted because of his sleepy aura
and he briefly presses them to Louis' belly button before going limp again.

To wake Louis up for the first time in the day is the suffering of his bladder, which is enough
alarm on its own to have him jolting upright. The action is too sudden and he hisses at the
sharp jab of pain that spirals up his back, his hand clutching the curve of it to let the tension
ease. Harry's head raises off his lap with all treasured softness and harmless exposure, the
sweetest the Dominus will ever appear. He kisses Louis' lips and pinches his hip before
flopping over onto the other side of the bed, arms fallen onto his sides.

"How do you feel, haud mirum?" Emerald green orbs are boring into Louis' back, a warm
hand rubbing up and down his back.

"Better." Louis waits a bit before standing and shuffling on socked feet to the bathroom.

When he returns, Harry is still awake and free of a shirt on his chest. The article of clothing is
balled up in his fist and he's tossing it into the air before catching it on the downfall. Louis
tears up when he yawns and shuffles over to his Dominus, a man who predicted he'd want to
cuddle with him so soon. Harry welcomed Louis onto him when the boy straddled him and
laid his head over his head.

At once there were two broad arms closing around him, hands overlapping on his hips and a
thumb rubbing circles at the base of his spine. Louis sighed and got comfortable under
Harry's chin, daintier hands grasping the Dominus' biceps.

"I can tell your back no longer bothers you, haud mirum." Harry drags his cold knuckles
along the path of Louis' arched spinal column. "Am I wrong?"
"You're right." Louis blocks his smile in Harry's pillow, just for effect stretching himself out
with a little moan and wrapping his arms around Harry's neck.

He rests their foreheads together, grinning dopily at his Dominus who is just as sleepy as he
is. Harry is utterly harmless when it's this early for him, eyes melted emerald and lips just
perfectly pink. Louis bumps their noses together once and kisses Harry's lips, opening up for
it when the man wants to taste his mouth.

Harry's hands fall to Louis' behind and cheekily dare to grip the perky roundness with both
palms, eager enough to push past the restriction of Louis' waistband to knead bare flesh.
"What happened yesterday, my lover? I have never been so fearful in my life."

Louis smiles in a sad way and brushes some curls out of Harry's face, lips on the man's
cheek. "It's our pup, my love. A whole other life that goes wherever I go. I'm sorry I scared
you."

Harry shakes his head and hugs his mate, trying to transfer all the love he has for the boy into
him and the baby. "My duty is to make you happy. It was nothing short of an honour to take
care of you, haud mirum."

Smiling as fondly as he can with redness in his cheeks and marvel in his eyes, Louis leans
forward again now that he doesn't feel like the planet is tipping over and kisses Harry. His
fingers tease the stray curls at the base of Harry's hairline, their skin-on-skin contact
elsewhere making him feel at home.

"Do you have to leave again?" Louis asks, quiet and innocent with wide blue eyes.

Harry demonstrates his response first by grabbing hold of the covers and pulling it over their
heads, creating a tent around them that completely shielded them from the outside world.
Louis was in love with it and giggled at being attacked with kisses as his Dominus sought
many spots to fawn over.

"I'm all yours today, beloved." Harry had them on their sides, their legs tangled and fingers
laced together. "What will you do with me?"

Louis has a mischievous glint in his eye that says it all. He brings himself closer to his valiant
tower of a Dominus and drapes himself over him, finding solace and reprieve in the embrace
of his mate's scent. "You are going to stay right here with baby and I."

Harry is noble enough to accept this proposition. "I am hoping that this will last all day?"
"All day."

*****

Regardless of his healing capabilities, Louis had a Dominus that enjoyed carrying him from
room to room. For the latest breakfast he's ever eaten, Louis was upheaved from his comfort
loft and kept in Harry's arms for the trip downstairs. He spends the meal sharing a bowl of
oatmeal with Harry, giving the Dominus sticky honey kisses all the while.
Harry let Louis be sprawled across his lap, always shifting or fidgeting because of his lack of
tiredness. The boy downed two glasses of water and one of milk, nibbling away on cheese
crackers after the oatmeal didn't suffice for his appetite.

"Let's go outside." Louis suddenly suggests, down to his last cracker, crumbs on his lap and
fingers even after Harry took the time to lick the first rounds off. "Baby and I want to go
outside please."

"Where would you like to go?" Harry entertains his mate's fantasy, locking him in with both
arms and kissing various spots on Louis' neck. "Pick any place, haud mirum."

"Can we go to that meadow you took us to a few days ago?" Louis uses the alternate pronoun
to get Harry's heart pumping blood faster, giving him the illusion of flight.

"The one with a little lake?"

Louis nods excitedly from his hiding spot behind a plush cushion. "And the huge picnic tree."

Harry peppers a few kisses on Louis' forehead, temple and cheek before agreeing. "Alright
then, beloved. We'll go."

*****

"After three months of being inside our home, I wish I could spend three months out here."
Louis lay down on his back, eyes closed and head cradled by Harry's coat.

He had his feet in the water of the crystal clear lake, the rocks and pebbled beneath reflecting
ounces of sunlight at a time so that it all formed one beautiful picturesque image. The grass
was cushioning Louis' back and cradling his petite frame, extending towards Harry where the
Dominus lay on his front communicating with their baby.

"I can understand your judgment." Harry picked more glaring yellow flowers and tore the
stems off, leaving just the pretty petals in their organised state to set on Louis' tummy around
his belly button. "Summer time can be quite gruelling. I imagine us coming here more often
during that season."

Louis feels the plant buds being placed on his sensitive skin as ticklish, the very slight
dampness where Harry removed the stems sticking to the surface. He opens his eyes and
watches the clouds drift towards their partners, combine then separate into different paths.

"I think that would be fun." Louis was careful not to kick his feet when he moved them,
revelling in the cool glide of his ankles in cool water. "Although, I will be....very pregnant
during that time."

With an abrupt laugh that Harry was hoping to contain, the Dominus rolled onto his back to
face the sky as well. "A great deal of my time will be spent catering to you, haud mirum. I
look forward to it."
"Pray do tell, was that sarcasm?" Louis ran his fingers through Harry's never-ending curls,
watching them straighten out before recoiling once again.

"Of course not." Harry angled his head to peck Louis' wrist when it was near. "I will be
taking care of my baby who happens to be having my other baby."

Louis had Harry's hair splayed over a fraction of his chest, the shoulder-length chocolate
locks adding a subtle shampooed scent to the air he breathes. He's giggling at Harry's
comment and fondly rolling his eyes. "You know, I never asked you what you did when you
left your babies to see the pack."

"Yes?" Harry waits for him to go on, feeling small tugs on his hair. "Would you like to know,
beloved?"

"If it's not top secret then yes please." His mate has commenced the process of braiding
Harry's hair without permission, parting it down three ways and twisting reversible knots
together with deft fingers.

"Well, haud mirum-" Harry feels Louis sitting up so he does too, resting between Louis' legs.
"-we hunt and check the area of our territory for safety measures."

"Oh." Louis' feet reappear out of the water and Harry hauls them onto his lap, leaving the
boy's legs crossed around his waist. "How many others are there?"

"Three." Harry discovers that his hands are larger than Louis' feet, his fingers able to overlap
when they encircle his ankle. "I have only one friend in all of them."

Louis knows he must be wetting Harry's pants with the water droplets he had on his legs, but
the Dominus didn't seem to care. He kept this in mind and continued to braid Harry's hair of
appropriate length until it was decent. He'd only made a small plait down the side rather than
getting all his hair involved.

"Why just one?" Louis hooks his chin over Harry's shoulder to watch the water before them.

"The others are not very friendly, Lou." Harry turns his head and Louis smiles at the sight of
such undeniable radiant green jewels. "Although, neither am I."

"That's not true." Louis arguably says, arms wound constrictingly around Harry's shoulders.
"You're very friendly with me."

Harry's shoulders shake with his burst of hoarse laughter, sunlight absorbed by his eyes to
make them darker. Louis pouts silently and squirms when his Dominus tickles the bare
underside of his foot.

"I am indeed very friendly with you." The man chuckles and his dimples deepen into lovely
craters that Louis wants to lick. "I think it is safe to say that friendly about sums up our entire
courtship and-"
"Alright, alright." Louis can't contain his mock amusement as he puts an end to Harry's
rambling. "My love, can I tell you something?"

Harry becomes slightly apprehensive about this. "Anything besides what will break my heart,
haud mirum."

Louis is in awe of this man who has not had romantic love but who manages to say the most
heartwarming things. "I want to say that I look forward to you teaching our baby about being
a Dominus."

"Are you so sure that our baby is a Dominus?" Harry questions softly, taking Louis' hands in
his and linking them together.

It's an old, nearly forgotten, tale that the one carrying the first-born baby of a bloodline's
generation, that they would be able to predict the gender of the innocent heart learning beat
within them. Every estimation made thus far by all mothers have been correct and Louis
saying this right now to Harry, makes his heart flutter with joy.

A little Dominus, boy or girl, who he could teach to hunt and be part of the most advanced
species to grace the planet. Once he has a moment to let his subconscious catch up, he's filled
with opaque dread. His baby will have to go through the torture he did to endure. The times
he had to spend alone, bearing the brunt of nature's cruellest tides with bare arms that are
scarred now with the most blatant marks.

The rules of their lands dictated that a Dominus must go through the trial of independence in
order to be declared a fully fledged Alpha specimen. There was no mercy for anyone, no
exceptions of the sort for anyone and Harry's amputated leg was proof of that. Originally both
Harry and Louis were proud to be part of these lands because it's the finest portion of the
world, with the clearest seas and highest rate of success. Now however, looking into each
other's eyes with the reminder of the nearing due date when they will meet their baby, both
mates know this cannot be their home anymore.
 Chapter 11

The sun came out at an exceptionally early hour today, but the birds remained in hiding until
the last minute. Their chirping is magical and musical as it brings in the new day, painting the
sky violet in colour and the sun a vibrant orange. The view was spectacular from any point of
view.

"Haud mirum, where are you?!" Harry breaks through the clumping of the trees to the
clearing where the scent of his mate led him.

He had woken up this morning and made a point to prepare breakfast so Louis could sleep in.
Against his intentions, Louis had snuck out at some second of the morning to see the sky
himself. The outside was breezy and scented with nature's perfume. Harry searched all
through their little home trying to find Louis, panic rising in his chest until it threatened to
end the pulse that beat through his heart.

Louis looked up from the blanket where he lay staring up at the skies. "I'm right here."

He didn't have to raise his voice for Harry to hear him. His ears pricked at the sound of heavy
approaching footsteps, and he craned his neck to smile up at his Dominus. Harry was relieved
to find Louis here just outside their home, getting some of the sun's radiance as he lay in the
simplest clothing; shorts and one of Harry's ripped T-shirts that formed a crop top on the boy
after its mistreatment.

"You must not frighten me this way." Harry fell at Louis' side with a stutter in his footing,
expression one of relief and deep concern as he cupped Louis' face in his hands. "Promise me
you will never leave again."

Louis hadn't left any more than he merely stepped outside to get some air with the horses.
Harry was well past becoming a paranoid father to the five month old foetus Louis carried in
his baby bump, and never let his mate out of his sight.

He pressed kisses to Louis' forehead and cheeks, his prosthetic leg faltering as he kneeled
unsteadily. The boy's pout was remarkable and Harry kissed it away before sitting down so
Louis could be cradled against his chest.

"I'm sorry." Louis kisses the tip of Harry's nose and apologises further by crawling onto the
man's lap. "I won't do it again."

Harry banded an arm around Louis' front to grip his hip with one firm hand, his forearm
pressed against Louis' beautiful baby bump that has grown a little more prominent. Bare skin
of his mate rubbed against him because Louis' shirt is well up on his chest in length. Harry
flattened his palm over Louis' front and kissed up his neck.

"What are you and Baby up to out here, haud mirum?" Harry whispered against his throat
where it sourced shivers down the boy's back.
Louis sighed, content with this circumstance, and leaned back against his mate's broad
shoulders. He brought his arms up and behind him to be locked around Harry's neck, turning
to kiss the Dominus' cheek.

"It's nice out here." Louis crossed his legs. "The sky is pretty."

Humming in agreement, Harry left Louis' neck laden with soft kisses like feather embraces.
His mate preened with pride and gave him further access to his naked skin, Harry's finger
crooking over the neckline of Louis' improvised crop-top to enable that.

"Nothing will ever be as gorgeous as you are-" Harry rubs over Louis' baby bump soothingly,
his inner Alpha's chest rumbling. "-looking this happy as you are carrying my pup."

Their plans of moving have been temporarily rendered obsolete until they can find the perfect
home elsewhere. Harry has been speaking to Olivier and learning about other lands, far and
wide, to decide which will be best about raising their baby. Unfortunately, most territories are
strict about Dominus babies because the more dominant of genders needed to be the best of
the best.

Harry often sat up all night watching Louis sleep on his back, a bare hand over his exposed
bump to protect the little one it shielded. He talked to their unborn infant and gave it many
kisses, small promises to always make life a painless one. What he's gone through he'd rather
sacrifice than have his baby suffer as well.

Louis' eyes were closed, papery pale skin slipped over the most powerful shade of sapphire.
"This is just spring. Can you imagine the heat of summer?"

"I can." Harry scraped his prosthetic on the ground when he shifted that leg slightly. He
forgot about it once he'd given Louis' shoulder a peck. "We'll be spending all our nights under
the stars."

*****

Harry was not entirely opposed to helping Louis in the kitchen but recently he's been forced
to leave because his darling mate wanted to handle it all on his own. The Dominus would
simply kiss some part of Louis and leave him be for some time. Tonight however, Louis is
feeling particularly strange and needs some aid.

The dizzy spells stemming from his pregnancy have been taking over his duty to their home.
He can't dress or bathe himself without Harry's help, which is something that's begun to gnaw
on his nerves. Independence is crucial for him but Harry seems to enjoy more than anything,
Louis' need for his help.

"Haud mirum?" Harry called to him from his station behind a chopping board laden with bell
peppers of three different vibrant colours.
"Hmm?" Louis had half a pickle between his lips, something he snacks on often whilst
cooking.

Harry licked his lips at the delectable sight of his beautiful mate in low-hanging sweatpants
and a top that's cut up above his tummy to expose the protrusion of his baby bump. "What
have you done with the lingerie you bought the last time we went into town?"

Louis doesn't even skip a beat when he blushes from the question. "I have it somewhere.
Why?"

He knew why his Dominus was asking and felt a little guilty for making him need to ask.
Louis' neglected the lingerie ever since he bought it and Harry has become a hater of the
trend. He wants to see his mate slip into that skimpy nightwear just for him one night.

"You know very well why I'm asking." Harry took a step towards him and landed in a spot
behind Louis, chest plastered to the boy's back with secure hands on his full hips. "Why do
you torture me so, my lover?"

Louis has to tilt his head to the side when Harry's lips, spicy from nibbling on pepper, start to
dot damp kisses along his neck. "I thought you'd forgotten about it."

Harry's chest rumbled with a growl, fingers flexing against Louis' flesh. "How could I when
you've planted the seed of such a fantasy in my mind?"

Teeth sunk into Louis' mating mark to turn the skin flushed and itchy, making the life inside
him stir from such a physical connection to the father. Louis gasped from the flutter of baby
wings in his womb, tapping against the walls of his body to let him know his baby is awake.

"I want to see you in the lingerie tonight." Harry's voice held a warm, curt type of authority
that both instilled fear in and allured him. "An Alpha only has so much self-control, haud
mirum."

To worsen the state of his mate's arousal, Louis innocently wiggled his pert bottom against
Harry's crotch. He pretends to reach for the salt. "If Idon't wear the lingerie....what would you
do?"

Louis got a glimpse of something dark and feral in the Dominus' eye. It was the breeding of
an inner beast that resided in the heart of every Dominus, no matter how humble the
character. Harry growled, louder and deeper, into Louis' neck where it stung their bond mark
and scratched his skin.

"I don't want to punish you, haud mirum." Harry's lips were wet and parted, being dragged
across Louis' throat. "I want to give you the world, my world."

It was like listening to the gravely words of an entirely different dominant male. Louis knew
his Harry to be somewhat timid when it came to making love because he was pregnant and
the Dominus never wanted to cause him harm. This Harry is one to beat, with sinful erotica
rolling off his skin and grasping at Louis' nerves.

"What kind of punishment would you give me?" Louis spurred this new animalistic persona
on, desperate to see how far it would go.

Harry pinned him to the counter, both hands framing the baby bump to protect it. He bit
down on Louis' shoulder, costing him a whine from his lover.

"I'll taste you here-" Harry was uncensored when he reached down and palmed Louis' bum,
kneading the toned muscle. "-for longer than you want. Won't give you my knot though."

Louis regrets ever starting this back-and-forth. He may not be crazy but he's still the mate to a
more than attractive and physically appealing Dominus. He has little shame when it comes to
Harry's knot and how much he wants it inside him. If he weren't pregnant, the chances of him
not letting Harry's c*ck out of him were precisely high.

"What happened to my sweet Dominus?" Louis pouted playfully and nuzzled Harry's neck
affectionately.

The man responds by letting his nails press into Louis' baby bump, harmless but pinching the
taut skin. It should hurt a lot more and have Louis' screaming, but mated couples of different
bloodlines behave differently when it came to pups. Some Dominus' were gentle and loving
all the time, whilst others were aggressively protective and laid claim on the unborn pup
early. Harry was a mixture of both.

"If you take Baby and I somewhere tomorrow, I'll wear the lingerie and-" Louis locks his
arms around Harry's neck and brings their faces in close proximity. "-I'll let you take it off
me."

*****

Harry's vow was fulfilled in words as soon as Louis got him to promise that they'd visit the
enclosure nearby where small animals roamed in pairs and freesias bloomed everywhere.
They managed to make it through dinner when Louis made mashed potatoes and a sizzling,
delicious chicken roast. Harry took all the corn as Louis took all the pumpkin, deciding in the
end to share the spiced wedges.

Together, they sit in front of a roaring fire on the floor with a picnic blanket and two cups of
milkshake. Harry has Louis' legs over his lap, stopping between swallows to brush the boy's
knees and knead his swollen ankles with his jobless left hand.

"What are you thinking about?" Louis sidled up next to Harry, protected by the weight of the
Dominus' arm.

Harry presses his lips on Louis' forehead, wrapping the other arm around Louis' front to bring
him closer. "You are the most beautiful creature and I was thinking about all the things I'm
going to do to you."

Blushing deeply, Louis whines softly and settles himself astride the man's lap. He placed his
hands on Harry's shoulders and looked into the abyss presented to him by two black pulsating
orbs. The Dominus let his hands cup Louis' bum and let him grind down on on the
developing bulge between his thighs.

Bitten lip and scorching gaze, Harry peered up at Louis with hunger burning right through his
restraint. One tug brought Louis down for a fervent kiss, prying the boy's lips apart to lick
into his mouth. The taste of vanilla cream and sprinkles fills his senses and Harry cradles the
back of his mate's head, deepening their kiss. Sloppy as it turned out, Harry never allowed
them to part and for air to come between them.

Harry spends hours making love to his darling mate in front of a never deceased fireplace.
However symbolic it may be, he couldn't concentrate on anything besides the spread thighs
of his delicate better half whimpering and thrashing about under him.

Louis tasted divine to him, for the eternity he spent lapping at every droplet of slick that ran
down the crevice of his behind. Harry's never felt so sated in his life when he brought Louis
to two orgasms just with his tongue, another with his long fingers pumping in and out of him
with cruel massages to his prostate.

Sensitive as he turned out to be because of the denial of his Dominus' knot, Louis didn't
object or protest when Harry slid into his body and thrusted with precision into his heat. He
was sensitised by the pregnancy and screamed to the stars, back arching and skin glistening
with sweat. Nails raked down Harry's back to hear him growl approvingly and recreate the
bond mark on Louis' throat.

Harry's knot inflated inside his lover and went down after twenty minutes, a connection so
undeniable and unconquerable forming between him and his unborn baby during that time.

The Dominus was determined to leave the phantom presence of his c*ck inside his mate, and
started moving again before waiting for Louis to settle again. Quick, haphazard thrusts had
him slamming into the firm flesh of Louis' bum as he hiked the boy's legs up on his waist.

He had the most beautiful, responsive mate in all the lands because Louis was breathless and
crying out desperately. Bruised as his walls were, special spot deep inside him swollen from
abuse, he wanted his

Dominus' mistreatment all the time. He came absolutely dry the fourth time and was whining
loudly from the painful pleasure of it.

"You were so wonderful, haud mirum." Harry whispered sweetly into his ear, voice hoarse
and raspy.

They were still connected and Louis was nearly entirely asleep, head lolled the side and lips
parted in quick breaths. "W-We forgot about the lingerie."
Harry couldn't help but chuckle at the reminder and place a warm kiss on Louis' jaw. "Next
time for certain, my lover."

*****

"It's so pretty here!" Louis announced the second he got a spot on a grassy hill for them to set
up their leftover picnic. It consisted of foods that Louis cooked during the week and hadn't
been finished, leading to sandwiches and snacks for today.

"It indeed is." Harry cups Louis' cheek and kisses his forehead, smiling at the preen of his
mate. "Not prettier than you and my pup."

Louis rolled his eyes in fond exasperation and squeaked when Harry pinched his bum. They
were in full view of the meadow that was rarely visited by others for there weren't residents
in this territory and the rest of Harry's pack were not mated yet.

Under the sun, Harry laid down a blanket and Louis sat down first with a container of
chicken salad. He put more dressing and pepper than necessary and munched away whilst
leaning into Harry's side, watching the squirrels race up trees and deer pass to the glistening
lake.

"Tasty, is it?" Harry teases him, brushing Louis' fringe away from his eyes and kissing his
nose.

Louis pouted and offered some of the chicken up on his plastic fork. Harry instead took the
cherry tomato from between his lips. Scandalized, his young mate gasped and swatted his
pectoral.

"That was mine." Louis points out to him, palm flattening over Harry's heart and pulling
himself up to be perched on the man's thigh.

Harry hums, his prosthetic flattened out on the ground to grant it some rest from all the
labour of moving him around. He kissed Louis' hair. "All mine."

Not more than ten minutes later, Harry notices that their food is lain abandoned on the ground
while Louis fawns over a bunny rabbit. The creature was snow white and had hopped right
up to Louis' ankle where it received a leaf of lettuce from the boy and allowed itself to be
held.

"He's adorable, Harry." Louis professes to his uninterested Dominus, pouting when all Harry
does is smile briefly. "Pay attention to me."

Harry has a burst of laughter. "I am paying attention to you, haud mirum."

Louis holds the bunny to his chest so it looks like his arms are crossed, an inexplicably fierce
look becoming his expression. "Not enough then."
Raising an eyebrow at his mate, Harry secures Louis' waist and reels him in closer to unite
their lips in a less than publicly appropriate connection. With a whimper, Louis easily
surrenders to his Dominus' tongue flicking against the roof of his mouth and massaging his
own wet muscle.

"Who knew my lover was a sassy one?" Harry smirks knowingly when he poses the
rhetorical question, hand sliding over the curve of Louis' perky behind.

"Sassy?" Louis releases the animal in his arms back to join its friends by the bush nearby.
"I'm not sassy."

Harry hums disbelievingly. He hasn't paid mind to their baby all day due to the rush of
getting Louis out the door and his mate waking up ten minutes before him with morning
sickness. To rectify this crime, Harry helps lay Louis down so he's resting flush against their
picnic blanket. For a moment he hovers over the boy, smirking devilishly when Louis blushes
and kisses the boy's lips once.

Although a risky position for the exposed wood of his prosthetic, Harry takes his chances and
gets down on his front between Louis' warm thighs to cater for his pup. Both hands, dry but
loving, brace the protruding bump with small strokes and a kiss over Louis' belly button.

"Five whole months of carrying my pup, haud mirum." Harry pushes Louis' shirt up to
uncover the bump, peppering kisses along the way to stir the sleeping wonder.

"Baby is going to be so small." Louis puts his hand alongside Harry's lips, feeling the life
within him. "I can already feel your next pup will be as big as you are now."

Harry chuckles at the ridiculous statement before sobering with his thoughts. "My lover, I've
found a place where our pups can remain with us for as long as they wish."

"Really?" Louis pushes himself up on his elbows, intrigued by the revelation.

"Yes however-" Harry sighs and gazes down between them at their growing baby. "-our new
home will be extremely modern and most likely in a city."

"Oh." The add-on actively steals some of the joy from Harry's news.

The territory they lived in, even where Louis had his home before, was old and traditional
although advanced enough to follow universal laws. A city is most innovated because of the
activities within it and maybe finances won't be an issue but adjusting to such a hectic
lifestyle might put a strain on Louis and the baby.

"What are you thinking, haud mirum?" Harry asks after a moment of silence between them.

Louis has himself propped up on his elbows, lost in thought for a few beats of time. "I'm
thinking us learning to live in a city is a better option than letting our baby go before they're
ready. I haven't even had them yet and I'm terrified of losing my pup, Harry."

"Shh, my love." Harry hastens to grab Louis by his middle and settle his anxiety with sweet
words. "I won't let anything take our baby away, haud mirum."
"You can't promise that, Harry." Louis whispers, upset enough to sound broken. He fans his
fingers out over Harry's bicep and tries to monitor his breathing, sniffling sadly.

"I can and I am." Harry places a kiss on Louis' ear lobe and bumps their noses together to get
a glimpse of his mate's extraordinary eyes. "I'll pack us up in a day if I have to."

Louis smiles but it doesn't reach his eyes, worry setting in. "We're going to move?"

"Most likely, haud mirum." Harry takes Louis' hand with his and kisses his forearm over the
throb of a strong pulse. "Do not let this bother you, my lover. I will handle every
arrangement."

"How can I do that to you? We are mates, Harry." Louis argues once fully seated again,
crossing his legs. "This is my rule." Harry states firmly. "You will not disobey my rule, haud
mirum."

"Okay." Louis flashes him a wry smile, exhaling tiredly and letting his eyelids slip shut.

"Good." Harry's lips give Louis' forehead a kiss. "Now how about we do what we came here
to do?"

Louis looks at him indignantly. "Which is?"

Harry grins, dimples and thousand watt smile. He looks nothing like an intimidating
Dominus when he is so charmingly handsome. "Go swimming."

Gasping, Louis shakes his head vehemently. "Your leg, Harry."

"I know about it, beloved." Harry chuckles, standing Louis up without negotiation and
gripping the hem of his shirt. "My wolf has no problem with the water."

Louis questions his motive. "You're going to be be with me as a wolf?"

"Yes." Harry answers simply, stripping his mate of a shirt and tossing it back onto the blanket
before a smirk is born. "Are you afraid of my wolf?"

"Hardly." Louis scoffs, his own approach to sass becoming evident. "You won't bite me?"

Barking out a sudden laugh, Harry brings his hand to his eyes as his chest pants with the
amusement. "You have never asked me that before yet you've seen my wolf many times."

Louis bats Harry's hands away when they go for the knot on his sweatpants. "It's mean to
laugh at people."

Harry takes the swing of moods in his stride and tugs Louis closer even though the boy
doesn't wish it. He chases after Louis' lips for a kiss he doesn't get. "My lover, are you upset
with me now?"
"It's possible." Louis covers his mouth when Harry swoops low enough again, something
stubborn causing a glint in his eye.

"Oh, haud mirum." Harry pulls Louis' wrists away from burdening him and pins them behind
his back, their chests flush against each other and faces an inch apart. "How could you think I
would ever open my mouth to offend you?"

Louis' eyes shimmer as the sun's rays bounce off their colour. "You laughed at me."

Harry knew Louis' pregnancy hormones were off the charts and often did everything possible
to avoid being in trouble. He was still a little hurtful to his precious mate by laughing and
wants to hate himself for never being able to take it back.

"I didn't mean to laugh at you, my beloved. Never you." Harry petted Louis' sides and tucked
him in under his chin. "I apologise for hurting you. I love you."

Louis' giggle comes out unbidden at Harry's last proclamation. He wriggles his fingers under
the Dominus' arms and fists the fabric at his sides. "I love you too."

Harry did get Louis to go in the water with him and it wasn't after much convincing. The boy
had taken off his pants to save them but stayed in his obscenely short boxer briefs that was
curved underneath his baby bump to accommodate it.

The water was cool and not cold enough to have Louis squeal and run off like the first time
they came here. He could wade through the water without difficulty but his Dominus was far
too protective and concerned to let him do so. After a few seconds of waiting, Louis turned
around at a boulder in the middle of the lake to watch a majestic wolf step into the water.

As a wolf Harry could not communicate beyond touching and Louis' voice, but he still set the
parameter for how far in they'd go. He got to Louis, fur wet and towering height casting a
dark shadow over his mate. Louis scratched his jaw where the muscle was firm and the bone
was noticeable. He kissed the wolf's muzzle and Harry bumped his shoulder.

"Careful now." Louis warned with a brilliant smirk lighting up his features. "I'm pregnant,
you know."

Harry's wolf growled and bent in the water, tip of his nose grazing Louis' bump and licking
the spot he felt his pup as if to say 'Trust me, I know.'

Louis was graceful and stealthy but being pregnant put a slight blunder on those traits. He
often clung to Harry's side for balance when he felt uncertain on edgy rocks and the wolf was
more than obliged to shield him. Once safely up on the largest boulder standing stagnant in a
flowing lake, Louis let the water drip off him and dry under the humidity.

Harry rested the heavy head of his wolf on Louis' lap though he still stood in the water. He
huffed out a breath and his black, shimmering eyes closed for a beat. Louis' fingers were
raking through his silky fur, coarse vibrations coming from the Dominus' chest.
"I miss your voice." Louis kissed the spot between Harry's sealed eyes.

The wolf picked up its head and sharp teeth nipped at Louis' throat over their bond mark,
casually eliciting a helpless murmur from his mate.

"I've heard that your senses are better when you're in your wolf form. Is that true?" Louis felt
like Harry's shadow was massive enough to conceal them both, feeling measures of more
secure.

Harry made an unintelligible grumble that sounded displeased. Louis took it as a no.
 Chapter 12

Harry was on the prowl. He searched high and low, over and above the locations Louis - his
blissfully panicking mate - directed him towards to fetch his favourite cableknit sweater. It
was no less than medium in warmth and Harry didn't even need more clothes than chopped
sweatpants but his mate wanted a sweater and so he shall have one.

He found all the cableknit sweaters not dumped into their laundry hamper and brought it
downstairs to where Louis was making a cold turkey sandwich for himself. It was
accompanied by slices of pickles for chips and apple juice for a beverage.

"Would your favourite choice be among these?" Harry held up the three vastly different
selections and had Louis narrow his eyes to a squint.

"No." Louis looked heartbroken, pout complete with upset eyes and a creased brow. "You
looked everywhere?"

"I did, haud mirum." Harry dumped the items of clothing onto their couch and went to
comfort his saddened mate by kissing his mark on him.

"In the closet?" Louis didn't pay him any mind while Harry rubbed two flattened palms over
his baby bump and peppered sweet kisses up to his jaw.

"Of course." Harry murmured, distracted by the tantalising brush of Louis' skin on his lips.
"In my drawer in the dresser?" Louis popped a shred of dry turkey into his mouth.

Harry smirked. "All that is mine is yours. How can the drawer be yours when we both store
things in there, beloved?"

"Don't get sappy on me." Louis wrapped one hand around Harry's forearm when it steeled
itself around his lower abdomen. "We're in a crisis."

"No, my lover." Harry spins him around as a darkening part-took in the widening of his
pupils. "A crisis is that we have a new home worlds away waiting for us."

Just two days ago, on the day they finalised a move from these lands, Harry forced himself
out of the territorial pack and received a month in time to move away. He soon found their
new home in the form of an apartment as is part of a well-known complex. Louis saw images
of it when Harry took them into town yesterday to finalise the details and call the estate agent
on the other side.

"We haven't even packed yet." Louis' fingernails lightly scratch at the dips created between
Harry's broad muscular frame. He ran his thumb over them and got his Dominus to growl or
shudder. "Do you think Baby will like it in the city?"

"Baby will never know about this home of ours." Harry dropped his arms to Louis' hips.
"Will you be getting a job there?" Louis runs his fingers through Harry's silky locks, freshly
shampooed from his shower. "Life in the city is expensive, my love."

"I am aware." Harry chuckles not uncomfortably, patting Louis' pert bottom to hear him
giggle. "I will not be acquiring an occupation outside our home, and neither will you need
to."

Louis sighed and stepped with socks on his feet onto the dorsal side of Harry's feet. The
wood of the Dominus' prosthetic was slippery but nothing Harry tightening his arms around
Louis couldn't solve.

"I believe you." Louis pecked the tip of Harry's nose. "How do you feel about banana split for
dinner?"

*****

Louis got to make his decadent banana split with more Madagascan vanilla ice cream than
chocolate, cherries or banana. Harry watched in odd fascination during his meal of leftover
lasagne as Louis devoured the entire extravagant treat without breathing between bites.

Without a television and more than eighteen movies from over thirty-five years ago to
entertain them, Louis cured their chronic boredom with Scrabble. He whipped out the game
from the attic and coughed through the entire process of dusting the box off. Harry pitied him
but more so admired his determination, for tiny acts like this reassured him everytime that
there's no other creature on this planet for him.

After three full rounds that took them well into the night, Louis called Harry an expert
cheater and stormed out the front door to check on his mini garden. He's already picked out
six plants that will survive the trip to the city in another land, potted and waiting for
transportation.

Louis kneeled under the moon and thumbed over the sprouting leaf of a carrot plant. He
spoke to his unborn pup. "Your father isn't a cheater, little one. I love him very much and so
will you."

Harry stood idle by the doorway, arms crossed and smile soft as he watched his precious mate
talk to their baby. He was guarding them both by standing so near, undetected.

"I am glad you told our vegrandis mirum the truth about me." The Dominus let his arms hang
at his sides when he verbalised his thoughts.

Louis saw him at last and scowled, so teasing on such a beautiful face. "Go away, cheater."

"I do not cheat, haud mirum." Harry said to clear his name again, taking steps towards Louis.

"That's what cheaters say." Louis defends his mutiny with pouted lips and a yawn.
"Do you not love me anymore then?" Harry sat down beside his tiredly swaying mate,
dirtying his knees with the soil and luring Louis in with lips at his ear. "Am I not worthy of
your bed any longer?"

Louis abandons all stubbornness and offers reprieve by resting his head on Harry's shoulder,
face hidden in the man's neck and nibbling on his scratchy skin. "Don't be foolish, my love.
Whose sleep will I ruin when I'm restless?"

With a bout of laughter, Harry can't resist kissing his blushing mate's cheek and at last
helping him off the ground. "Look what you've done, haud mirum. We are both in need of a
bath now."

Louis shrugs noncommitally and takes Harry's hand to lead him inside, the howl of a wolf at
the glowing moon following them indoors.

Strict as he may be, Harry's mate still gets the better of him. Louis has the bluest eyes on the
planet, if not in the galaxy, and uses them to fight unfairly when it comes to convincing him.
Harry ends up naked in their tub with a lapful of contented Louis, pruning already at his
fingers and toes.

"I haven't seen this body of yours for far too long." Harry trails his dripping wet fingertips
down the curve of Louis' hip, stopping at his thigh to massage the fleshy part of him.

Louis hums, arms locked around Harry's neck and eyes closed against his pulse. "What a
false truth, my love."

Harry chuckles when Louis shifts his legs, letting them fold across the man's lap and protect
the bump. "What do you think it's like in the city?"

"You've never been?" Louis asks him, fingers curling around a few curls at the base of
Harry's neck.

Harry shakes his head, sloshing the water they've settled in when he straightens his back. The
Dominus checks that his prosthetic is against the side of the tub outside it.

"Neither have I. Maybe when I was little but then I don't remember." Something in the pit of
Louis' gut stirs in a pleasantly low manner, fuelling his act of straddling Harry's lap to be a
head higher than he is.

"What's all this then?" Harry runs his hands up and down Louis' delicious little body, a
salacious glint reborn in his deep green eyes.

Louis sucks in a sharp breath when Harry's palms slide over his behind, kneading the muscle
reverently. "All yours."

Harry lifts his head up from placing kisses along Louis' tummy and baby bump, teeth making
an appearance to nip at the soft scented skin. "I knew it had to be true after all the times you
spent in my bed."
Tossing his head back for a beat, Louis laughs a loud giggle at Harry's interpretation and
execution of a joke. "Who would have taken you for a comedian?"

His Dominus' dark emeralds turn fully blown black orbs, swallowing the light as it reaches
them. He tightens his hold to bruising on Louis' soft hips, growling hungrily when he caught
the scent so familiar to his inner Alpha during love-making.

Louis couldn't control the generation of his slick and moaned weakly as it dripped out of him.
He hid in Harry's neck as the Dominus reached behind him to prod at the puckered rim
leaking, dirtying the bathwater with his sweet slick. Harry's chest rumbled against Louis' and
he slipped one finger in suddenly, twisting and curling it to render shudders through the boy's
body.

Harry secured Louis' body to his, arm steeled across his back as the other worked sloppily at
his entrance. "Who knew this lovely hole of yours could be so greedy, haud mirum?"

Helpless, Louis whined and rutted back on Harry's hand. Two fingers now were inserted,
causing slick to gush out of his hot, flushed body as he desperately rolled his hips. His walls
were being stretched open and scraped by Harry's rough handling, jabbing at his insides
without caution or care.

Harry's other arm lowered to the same region and Louis keened, crying out loudly when a
separate two fingers forced their way into him. His tightness lessened but the stretched
burned, his own length fattening against his tummy sufficiently.

The four fingers held Louis open in pairs, opposite poles created to pry his clenching tunnel
apart. Louis whimpered and rode out the pain, listening to explicit sounds of Harry's fingers
causing squelching effects whenever he moved. The Dominus' hands were drenched in slick
as Louis' body couldn't stop producing it, releasing the intoxicating substance in copious
hoards to roll down Harry's wrists and into the cooling water.

"Look at you all open for me, beloved." Harry crooked two fingers only over Louis' rim and
removed the other hand, scissoring what was still inside the boy. "Do you think you can take
me?"

Louis nodded fervently, still burrowing into Harry's shoulder. He whimpered and squirmed
away from the Dominus' invasive appendages, reaching behind him to grasp the throbbing
c*ck nestled between his thighs by Harry's body. Breathless and needy, Louis sank down on
Harry's monster erection without a pause. He bottomed out all at once, greedy for the feel of
it deep inside him.

He rolled his hips in figure eights, raking his nails down Harry's chest and throwing his head
back to revel in the pleasure. His Dominus' lips were at his pebbled nibbles, slick-covered
fingers teasing one as his mouth abused the other. Louis lifted himself up and dropped down,
releasing loud moans on each thrust.
"My lover, be careful." Harry cautioned when Louis got too worked up, slamming down on
his body so their thighs stung and Louis had a twisted frown.

When Louis didn't register his words, Harry caught his hands and laced their fingers together.
The slick from his rubbed off on Louis', pinning the units to either end on the lip of the tub.
He had Louis arched backwards and thrusted to his own rhythm up into him.

The most beautiful pants of 'uh uh uh' were tumbling out from Louis' swollen lips. He comes
across Harry's torso when the Dominus delivered one harsh blow in the direction of his
prostate, screaming louder than he has before during an orgasm. The Dominus hugs him
close around his middle and knots with a pained groan, letting Louis sink down a bit more
and get tied to him.

"I love you." Louis was choppy in his breathing, ragged pants torn away from each other with
a heave of his chest.

Harry pulled the plug out of the tub, letting the ruined bathwater drain out from around them.
"I love you, haud mirum. Close your eyes and have sweet dreams, I'll take care of you."

*****

"Harry." Louis spoke soft and lowly into Harry's ear.

He was draped across his Dominus' body, a leg over the man's hips and. The evening was
warm with a slight breeze coming with it. Sleep was evading Louis and he was told firmly by
the Dominus to wake him up if such a thing happened.

"My love." He caressed the artful, strong relaxed jawline of his Alpha mate, scratching the
faintness of Harry's growing facial hair.

There's a slight muffled sound from Harry but nothing about his position changes.

"Harry. He elongates the second syllable by dragging it out, bored enough to start nibbling on
Harry's ear lobe. "Please wake up."

It takes two seconds after pulling off Harry's skin for the Dominus to stir. He grumbles
unintelligably for a short second, one eye cracked open to reveal the most enchanting soft
green. He smiles tiredly at his mate.

"Hi." Louis chirps a greeting for him, bright as day and beaming while a lonely owl hoots
outside. "Hello." Harry squeezes Louis' waist and gives his bum a comforting pat. "Is
something wrong?" "No." Louis traces invisible circles and hearts on Harry's torso. "Baby
won't let me sleep."

Amusement shone through the glow in Harry's eye. "Then I must be awake too, yes?"

"Well-" Louis stretches himself out along the curve of Harry's body, toes digging into his one
calf. "-you told me I could wake you up if that happened."
"I did and I wouldn't lie to my baby or my pup." Harry caught Louis pouting and winked, just
in time to watch him blush bright pink. "This is my favourite colour on you."

Louis blushed even deeper and leaned in with a preen when Harry framed the left side of his
face. He looked so content to smile shyly as he was, sprawled out atop Harry's heaving chest.
The boy received a kiss on his dry parted lips, smiling into it when Harry sighed happily with
shut eyelids and palms sliding over his mate's baby bump.

"I was thinking-" Harry managed to restrain himself and pull away for air, lips still lingering
breaths closer to Louis. "-perhaps we can go on one last trip tomorrow."

Louis furrowed his brow. "What sort of trip, my love?"

Harry still had his eyes closed, head fallen back into his pillow. "The kind that would require
four hours on the road."

"Four hours? Where will we be going?" His mate questions, surprised by the proposition as
they've never travelled that far together since Harry brought him to his new home.

"There is a city on the outskirts of this territory, smaller in scale than Olympia. I'd still like to
visit it for some final arrangements regarding our home there."

Harry's plan was to visit this lesser influential city area tomorrow so that he may speak with
the woman who handled their affairs in Olympus, the far greater city across an ocean. Their
newly purchased home there needed some things shipped ahead of them and a few
furnishings put in.

"Also-" Harry rolls them onto their sides carefully, hearing the wheezing of Louis' breaths
because of the pressure on his lungs. "-I'd like to sell this home."

Louis' eyes widen in rejection. "No. No, you can't."

Harry shook his head with a small smile, thumb brushing over Louis' bottom lip to say that
the decision is already made. "Haud mirum, we can't have both."

"Harry, my love." Louis wrapped his hand around Harry's wrist, staring up into his eyes.
"You built this home of ours. I don't want anyone else living in it."

"I know, beloved, but the situation cannot be helped." Harry started pushing his mate's
feathery, unruly hair out of his face.

"B-But-" Louis inexplicably had tears forming in his eyes and Harry was shocked by them. "-
this is our home, Harry. I can't-"

"Shh." Harry hastened to bring his unsettled mate closer, embracing him with both arms
around his hot little body. "Hush, haud mirum. I will accept no tears from you."
"Well you're s-selling our home." Louis jabs Harry's bicep hard enough for it to be felt and
sniffles loudly from a blocked nose. "You can't do that, Harry."

"How can we have two homes across the world from one another, haud mirum?" Harry tries
to reason with his upset better half, chest damp with Louis' tears.

"People do that all the time." Louis tried not to sound choked up, although he was and he
sounded that much more saddened. "One day we can bring Baby back here."

Harry smiled down at his red-nosed and puffy bluest of blue eyed mate with quivering lips.
He kissed those lips and tasted the saltiness of Louis' tears, growling because it displeased
him.

"Alright, haud mirum. Alright." He broke his resolve for the sake of Louis and their first to-
be born pup. "I'm sorry, beloved. Is that better?"

"A little." Louis hugged Harry around his waist. "I'm tired now."

Harry couldn't help but chuckle, glad that their midnight slash obscenely early morning
conversation had a point. "Go to sleep, haud mirum.."

*****

"Do we have everything?" Louis poses the question of attitude to Harry, his Dominus who
stood under the opened door of the trunk with his arms crossed.

"I'm certain we do, haud mirum." Replied he with a chuckle.

Louis had on the pastel pink sweater he's most fond of after Harry's lavender one, yoga pants
for their exceptional comfort and Vans. He looked positively stunning to his Alpha mate, a
bubbly personality all dolled up in sweet coating of baby colours and carrying a baby.

"What if we don't?" Louis nervously chewed his lower lip, standing against a pillar on the
porch.

"Well-" Harry let his arms drop and sauntered up to his adorable mate, an unsmothered smirk
of charm taming his lips. "-we do."

Louis was caught by two hands on his waist when he was distracted by the leap of a doe to
his left by the trees. He hadn't looked when Harry tugged him closer, the Dominus standing
on the ground with the boy a head above him.

"Come now, my lover." Harry gave Louis' taut belly a kiss. "I do not want to be driving into
the evening."

As originally planned, Harry and he are making a trip to Olympia to visit their international
real estate agent. Instead of simply going and coming back after a day, they decided to make
a tiny getaway of it and spend the night. Louis thinks it's a brilliant idea to have a to-scale
taste of the city life before they're living it.
"Okay." Louis held Harry's shoulders when he was hoisted off the porch and placed on the
ground swiftly. He remembers hating being short enough to be manhandled but with Harry,
being lifted and carried - swept away - was magical. "Let's do this."

Harry flashes him a smirk, one worthy of Louis' awe and blush. The Dominus need not help
his mate yet he does, securing an arm around the younger male's waist and leading him to the
car. Louis has to be aided when getting seated because pregnant or not, his ability to climb
into the vehicle was hindered by his height.

The road down the mountain was along a rocky dirty road winding about the giant structure
from peak to base. As he's orchestrated this drive many a time before, Harry has no problem
with navigating a path down onto the tarred freeway.

Louis had a sensation much like air bubbles in his tummy but he knew for a fact it wasn't
bubbles causing it.

"Feel." He grabbed Harry's aimless hand off the leather console and guided it to his abdomen,
placing the warm palm of his Dominus on his bare skin where he could feel their pup. "Can
you feel 'im?"

"Him?" Harry smiles at him quickly, eyes training themselves back onto the road. "You think
our pup will be a boy?"

"Yeah." Louis' sweet voice was honey on over-heated skin. "He's going to be big and strong
like his daddy."

"I do not disagree." Harry squeezed Louis' hand in his and gave his fingertips a kiss. "A little
princess for me to love and protect as I do with you will be just as perfect, haud mirum."

"Maybe a little girl will come later but but this bunny is definitely a boy." Louis promised
him, his skin glowing and smile beaming brighter than the sun.

He curled his fingers through the gaps between Harry's and let the Dominus thumb at the
small pudge he's gained after his baby bump stretched out the one he had since birth. The taut
skin was golden from his many hours spent outside under the sun without a shirt and Harry at
his side.

"Yeah?" Harry's smirk is salacious and worthy of making Louis blush the way he does. "You
want more babies after bunny?"

Pink cheeks and twitching lips, Louis meets his Dominus' eye. He leans over and kisses
Harry's jaw. "Of course I do. Not so soon after this baby is born but I still want to have your
pups."

Harry risked life and limb to nuzzle his mate's neck where their mark was, smiling
significantly for those five seconds when he lay a kiss on Louis' throat to hear him whine.
"Haud mirum, you are such a sweet distraction."
"Well that's not good." Louis giggles and pushes Harry away by his muscled shoulder. "You
need to keep us alive on this road."

Harry's inner Alpha growled with the mention of being insufficient with care, rejecting the
thought of such simple irresponsibility. Darkness clouds the infinite green of his eyes. "I have
a solution."

It takes Harry all of two minutes to park in a roadside ditch where the ground was even and
the wheels of his car were safe. He wastes no time no time at all in moving their unit to the
back-seat, rather pushing his seat back as far as it will go and accommodating Louis on his
lap.

With cars passing them by far and few between, Harry can imagine how awful it must seem
to those strangers to have a car with foggy windows and gentle rocking motions parked off.
He only thinks about it afterwards however. The boy in his lap, bouncing breathlessly on his
c*ck is far more important.

Harry grips Louis' soft fleshy hips with both hands, bruising the delightfully supple skin with
his fingertips. He groans when Louis hastily got their bodies connected and growls when the
boy starts to move. The slick drag of his erection against Louis' clenching walls was the
finest sensation, bruising the tissue and slamming into his throbbing prostate.

Louis threaded his fingers through Harry's hair and kissed him blindly, tongues and teeth
clashing with a sheen of sweat rolling off on each other. He whimpered at sudden athletic
thrusts delivered by his Dominus, closing his eyes and tugging harshly on Harry's hair as he
felt his behind being used for a severe pounding.

"Louder, haud mirum." Harry's hips jerked and he rammed into his quivering mate, kneading
the warmth of his thighs. "I want them all to hear you."

His mate still wanted to be careful for the baby he was carrying, but he lived to please his
Dominus too. The conflict had him arching back onto the steering wheel and screaming
himself hoarse when Harry continued to fuck into him without mercy or breaks. The base of
his length began to fatten further and Louis was a mess, needing to be pinned down to keep
from thrashing about.

Harry pulled Louis' hips down to his, slick and precome messing their thighs. His knot
popped, stretching out his mate's insides far more. Louis' hand print stays on the misted glass
when he slapped it on the window and rode out his orgasm with Harry's lips at his clavicle.
He came down from the climax in time to feel Harry rubbing his back, whispering little
nothings into his flushed ear and kissing the odd spot.

"Are you alright, haud mirum? Did I hurt you at all?" Harry pushes his hands under Louis'
rumpled sweater and frames the baby bump between them with both palms.

"We're okay." Louis kissed under the man's jaw, tucking his face into Harry's neck.
Harry brushed some bits of Louis' messy hair out of his eyes and kissed his forehead. "I
imagine you're going to nap for the rest of the drive?"

Louis poked Harry's bicep with his index finger, malice absent. "Better not be a distraction
for you."

"I'd take you and my pup as a distraction any day." Harry feels saddened by his knot deflating
slowly, having caught on that Louis cannot be further impregnated.

Louis hums and stretches up to the sky, cracking his knuckles and covering his yawn with a
closed fist. There was a special glow about him now, flushed and pink skin made extra
sensitive because his Dominus could never stay away from him. Harry captures Louis' wrists
on the uptake and slides down to his naked posterior, cupping the firm skin and inspecting the
area where they're joined.

Immediately Louis starts to fuss, batting Harry's hands away. "Too sensitive now, my love."
Harry sighed contentedly and leaned back in his seat, dimples making an infamous
appearance.

"What?" Louis pulled off Harry's c*ck with ease, letting the massive length slap against his
abdomen. "Why're you so smug?"

Harry reached out and thumbed at Louis' sore nipples, pinning his mate's wrists behind his
back when he resisted. "I have the prettiest mate from all the stories written under the stars."

"You and I must have done something right in our lives." Louis replies, captive by his own
Dominus. "Nothing and no one else can make me as happy as you do."

*****

Louis hates leaking.

Harry knots him a minimum of three times a day, irrespective of venue - he's been unable to
put a stop to Harry taking him against a tree - and time. Their escapades were wonderful,
mind-blowing in fact, but the worst part was when Louis remembered Harry had a thing for
his come staying inside him and never got to clean himself. He planned to ask Harry to
accompany him on a visit to a more personal store for a solution.

They're in new territory, the room of their hotel in Olympia. Evening has just fallen and the
skies are darkening, as they can see through the wall-sized window. Harry has just finished
bringing their bags up via the elevator and Louis could tell he was tired but the proud
Dominus wasn't giving in.

"Have a nap, my love." Louis climbed up onto Harry's laps, jeans and all. "I know you want
to."

Harry surrendered by caging Louis' waist and rolling over to render his mate helpless. "You'll
take one with me?"
Louis freed his hands to run through Harry's curls. "I'm not tired and I would like to have a
shower first." "I'll join you." Harry heaved himself up and off the bed.

However, Louis wasn't having any of it. He pushed the Dominus back down onto the bed and
kept him there with a firm scowl. "You drove for eight hours so you will sleep now."

"I don't need a nap, haud mirum." Harry defended himself, propped up on his elbows and
smirking devilishly.

"I don't care." Louis went around the room scooping up miscellaneous items and removing
his sweater to turn up the thermostat. "Close your eyes and pretend to sleep."

Harry groaned and fell back onto the sheets with an arm thrown over his visage. Upon an
accident, his eyelids closed over his eyes. He heard shuffling and slowly the noises of the
room began to fade away. Louis shook his head amusedly at his stubborn Dominus, but still
removed his ridiculous jeans and boots for him. He pulled off the Dominus' socks and
unclipped his prosthetic limb, setting it on the sofa seat by the window.

In no time, he had Harry covered by a layer of bedsheets because of his awkward position in
the middle of the bed. He gave the Dominus a kiss on his lips as a reward and whispered
goodnight before pulling away.

He went into the spacious bathroom next, dumping their shared vanity case on the counter
and taking out his toothbrush to slot into a glass tumbler. His skin was prickly and sticky
from such a long trip, all of which he planned to annihilate with a good, long shower. Harry
was still sleeping, strewn across the mattress with his snores muffled by the pillow on his
side.

Louis took a shower of decent duration, not stepping out from under the warm spray until his
skin was squeaky clean and he felt fresh. The hotel had fluffy white robes and slippers under
the bathroom counter, one set of which he slipped on after towelling off.

Being careful not to raise too much havoc, Louis tiptoes to the bags where his clothes were.
He dug through the folded heaps he created within the night before, seeking out the little pink
box he packed underneath his conventional underwear.

His Dominus stirred in his slumber like he knew Louis was up to something naughty. Harry
didn't wake up though and Louis got to uncover his lower half quickly enough to drag the
lace up his hairless thighs and wiggle them onto the fit over the curve of his behind. He
hoped the surprise for his Dominus when he woke up would be worth it.
 Chapter 13

Louis mewled and let his weight fall forward, tummy cradled by a dampened pillow from
their currently extravagant hotel room. He was sore and Harry didn't seem to care, making
Louis doubt whether today was the day to wear his pastel pink panties.

Harry had woken up from his nap feeling far more rejuvenated than his mate thought he
could be, and Louis opened his eyes soon to being roughly eaten out under the covers. The
secret was explicit and Harry's form was beneath the comforter, hidden from sight as he
sloppily worked his tongue into his mate.

After one orgasm that way, Louis thought it would be over. He thought. His Dominus was
quite convincingly an animal and covered his body with his own, thrusting once into his
clenching tight heat and fucking indelicately to prompt his knot. Louis didn't hate the
mistreatment of his Dominus, not at all. He just made sure that his front was cushioned and
accepted a kiss with too much tongue and teeth from the Dominus looming over him.

It's now three hours later and Harry had cancelled an appointment with the real estate agent to
pin Louis to their bed. The sheets were destroyed and so were Louis' treasured panties,
drenched in his slick and Harry's come as it continually leaked out of him. There was already
a tear in it from how desperately Harry pushed it aside to bury his monster c*ck in Louis'
petite body.

His Dominus was careful with him. Careful enough, really. He cradled the back of Louis'
head when the boy was on his back, sucking deep painful bruises into his neck as he bucked
his hips wildly to their own rhythm. His hips slammed into Louis' pelvic bone, turning the
skin flushed and stinging. Growls and groans of pleasure from Harry's inner Alpha surfaced
to the air above their heads, the entire bed shifting with how earnest his thrusts were.

Louis could do little else other than hold onto Harry's shoulders, already having made enough
red scratched lines down the Dominus' back to leave the skin broken and sensitive. He has
never had sexual encounters before Harry and never at all has he experienced it so
passionately.

For three hours his body was worshipped by the same pair of lips, every inch of him touched
and praised. He would keen whenever Harry got between his legs, where his hole was
throbbing and gaping after being used so thoroughly. He shivered permanently whenever
Harry came up to his level and started thrusting, working open his hot and tired little body
until it accommodated him.

In Harry's eyes were a fire Louis hardly ever saw. He was more beast than man when he
popped his knot and flooded Louis' body with his seed. It was more than an orgasm to him
everytime he did it, as it formed a connection from him to his mate and his unborn pup.

For three entire hours Louis wasn't allowed to leave the bed. He stayed under Harry for
majority of the time and even got fed some apple and crackers on it to replenish his nutrition.
Harry made a call to the real estate agent with Louis whimpering beneath his body, thighs
hooked over Harry's hips and body exposed as the

Dominus pounded into him. It was obscene the way they behaved, sanctioned fully by their
bond and courtship.

The most noteworthy thing Louis got be a part of was when Harry tore his ruined panties off
his legs. The fabric was sheer and thin, easily breaking off his skin. Harry was proud of what
he'd done to them, left them crumpled and destroyed somewhere amongst the sheets they'd
kicked off the bed hours ago.

Now, it was well past nightfall and Harry's mouth was connected to Louis' in one last
unbreakable union. The boy tasted his own slick as he lost the battle for dominance, allowing
the Dominus to overtake his senses. Harry was moving his hips slowly, working his way in
and out of Louis' tender behind. He felt the walls clench and throb, the boy's thighs quivering
as he threatened to come again and add to the mess on his tummy. "Haud mirum." Harry
seemed to gasp like he couldn't breathe was his knot inflated and he hastily pushed all of
himself into his mate.

Louis couldn't respond. He was exhausted and Harry's knot was tugging on his rim, the
sensitive skin there rapidly clenching around the wide girth.

"Did I hurt you?" Harry pushed himself up onto his elbows and ran his hand through his hair,
drawing back the sweaty strands.

Shaking his head weakly, Louis mumbled a drowsy complaint when he couldn't find a
comfortable dry spot to lie in. He twitched and Harry's enormous knot shifted inside him,
stretching him out more than his taut body could endure.

"I'm sorry for being so callous with you, haud mirum." Harry ran his hands along Louis'
sides, calming the embers of arousal that were finally dying down.

Louis huffed tiredly and closed his eyes, sinking into the sheets without a care for whether or
not he was messing himself further with remnants from the bed. He sighed happily and felt
Harry's arms case his hips, two strong bands locked tightly around him and their pup.

"I think we can agree that panties aren't a good idea." Harry kisses along the bone behind
Louis' ear, a smirk playing on his lips.

Louis blushes from hearing so and mewls when Harry finds reason to magnetise his hips to
the boy's pert yet red bottom, digging his knot in deeper. "Y-You simply cannot go any
deeper, my love."

Harry's chuckle is marvellously close to Louis' ear lobe, the Dominus' teeth latching onto the
soft skin with a growl. "Get your sleep, my lover. Try not to awaken and put on any other
lace underwear."
Louis starts to pout when he thinks about his destroyed underwear. "You ruined them."

"I believe I did." Harry isn't even ashamed to admit it. He's smirking boldly and with nobility.
"It was quite an honour."

"I've only got one pair." Louis swats Harry's arm when it comes over his chest to crush him.
He squeals with laughter.

"I'll buy you a thousand more. One in every colour." Harry professes. "Should you put them
on they'll all have the same fate as this one."

Louis' giggles are muted by his yawn. He smiles in the oncomings of his sleep and Harry
cuddles him close like he's a lost treasure just recently rebundled. His Dominus breathes
harshly into his neck where their bond mark was throbbing with the intensity of their
reimbursed intimacy.

"That won't be necessary." Louis linked their fingers together and kissed the back of Harry's
palm. "Sleep tight, haud mirum." Harry's lips met Louis' cheekbone.

*****

Louis announced at something to seven in the afternoon that he was restless and being
cooped up in just one hotel room was making their pup antsy. Harry had been on the phone
with their real estate agent, attempting to make another appointment for the next day now that
their stay has been extended.

Promptly entering the brightly illuminated bathroom behind his Dominus, Louis breathed in
the lingering scents of their hotel shampoo - Harry's hair was still damp from his shower -
after swapping their messed bedsheets for clean ones. He saw Harry leaning against the
bathroom counter in front of the basin that was his target and so shuffled forward in slacks
and a crop top of sorts.

"Tomorrow at eight in the night?" Harry briefly glanced at his mate, shorter in height with a
head of the softest hair that's freshly washed and dried. He presses a kiss as a greeting to
Louis' temple when the boy nears him. Louis wanted a hot cup of herbal tea that's void of
caffeine and beneficial to the growing pup inside him. He was still waddling slightly instead
of walking confidently and one had to be his salacious Dominus mate to know why. Now, he
wanted to fill the little mobile kettle with water and Harry was blocking the sink so he batted
the Dominus' arm aside without making a sound and turned the tap on.

Harry cleared his throat through a chuckle to maintain his conversation with a stranger on the
other end. He watched Louis with devilish green eyes, a smirk curving his lips. No guilt
riddled him regarding Louis' tender state whatsoever. He, as any Dominus would be, was
proud to have a mate so submissive yet full of personality.

"Thank you." He hangs up just as the real estate confirms his appointment and Harry nearly
cracks the screen of his phone in an attempt to grasp an easily escaping Louis by his hips.
The boy squeaks when he's lifted and dragged back to his Dominus, bare feet colliding with
Harry's and eyes narrowing in mock distaste. "What are you up to?"

Harry bent down low to nuzzle Louis' neck affectionately, soft rumbles coming from his
chest. "I should ask you that, my lover."

"I want tea-" Louis pouts up at him. "-and you were on the phone."

Humming, the Dominus bends down low enough to peck the tip of Louis' nose. "Well, I'm all
yours now." "Yay." Louis softly cheered, gathering the kettle back up and walking into the
adjoined room. "Can we go out?"

Harry sits on the neatly set bed, tapping away on his phone while briefly catching glimpses of
every move Louis made. "Where would you like to go?"

Louis thinks it through for a short while, pressing the button on the kettle holder and readying
a mug. He tears open a teabag's packet and pops it into the mug. "How about for a walk?"

"Just a walk?" Harry's voice held hints of mirth, lighting up his eyes as he sauntered over to
his lovely little mate.

He reached over Louis' shoulder and flip off the kettle and turn Louis around, arms wrapped
around the boy's upper arms. His mate settles instantly into his embrace, burying his face in
Harry's neck. It was warm there for him to get a relaxing dose of his Dominus' masking scent.

"How does that sound?" Louis asks, muffled by Harry's broad and bare shoulder against his
lips.

Harry rubs up and down the curve of Louis' spine, teasing the little knobs on her spinal
column with tiny scratching motions. "I like it."

Louis smiles brightly at the finalised decision and makes to move out of Harry's arms, getting
stopped just a foot away.

"Put something on first, haud mirum." Harry thumbed at the hem of Louis' cotton crop top.
Such attire was inappropriate for eyes besides his.

With a fond roll of his eyes, Louis pulled his hand free and saluted Harry with a giggle. He
rummages through their suitcases until coming across one of Harry's older shirts with a red
plaid design and two buttons missing at the bottom. It would come down to his thighs
anyway.

Louis slips on decent outdoor shoes on his feet while Harry locates his boots, switching his
top for a shirt while Harry pulled a random one over his head. The Dominus found his wallet,
phone and keys before waiting for Louis by the door. His mate met him there in the darkness
cast over their shadows by a towering wall.
Harry gave Louis a kiss first, stealing his hand away from the doorknob and lacing their
fingers. He feels the boy's smile on his lips and replicates it, teeth tugging on Louis' lower lip
for one last taste.

"Come on." Louis bursts into giggles when Harry threatens to deepen their state, grabbing the
man's wrist and freeing themselves into the hallway.

The carpeted floor softens their footsteps and Harry locks their hotel room, following right
behind his mate as Louis led him towards the elevators. The passage was vacant and they saw
no other occupants of the floor, granting Harry the perfect opportunity to spin Louis around
as the elevator doors opened and pick him up by his thighs. Louis held onto his shoulders, a
gasp let out into Harry's ear as the Dominus chuckled smugly and watched the doors closed.

"Who says you're not mischievous?" Louis teases him with a nip to Harry's jaw. He slides off
the man's hips and to the ground. "Our pup is going to be twice as much so."

Harry's smirk is pressed into Louis' mating mark, sharp canines grazing the sensitive skin. He
dismisses the comment. "We are going outside, haud mirum. I have rules for that."

Louis expected that much to be true. He raised an antagonistic brow. "And those are?"

Harry first brought Louis' hand to his lips, walking out of the elevator into the lobby as he
blessed each knuckle with a kiss. "Don't speak to anyone but me."

Louis finds the cold outside their hotel to be too strong, the breeze light enough to be less
than violent. He tucks himself into Harry's side, under his arm and protected by the Dominus'
body warmth. "I do that anyway."

"Yes but-" Harry starts them on a path Westward, taking an easy route leading to more of a
hub of city life. "- you had no choice before."

The lights of the city were coming to life, summoning those who crawled in the night. It was
a breathtaking sight to witness the flickering of neon lights and strengthening of crowds
outside pubs. People were buzzing all around them for different purposes, loud and chatting
to their companions.

Harry was cautious with where he allowed Louis to walk even though he was right there. He
kept Louis curled in under his arm, the boy's body held exceptionally close to his own if it
was going to be safe.

They started on this trail and passed some closed jewellery stores, opening bars and had a
club ahead. Harry seemed to see everything without particularly looking and it's a trait that no
city-born Dominus possessed.

"That looks cute." Louis pointed out a quaint little florist with wheelbarrows of roses at the
entrance and a baby blue banner.
It was a few meters away from them and they didn't slow their pace to hurry along either.
Harry kissed Louis' forehead and clutched his hip, lowering his arm to encircle the boy's
waist. Other people, strangers with beautiful faces and dull personalities, were looming about
harmlessly getting on with their elicit affairs. More often than Harry cared for did they pass a
short alley with a couple cloaked by that darkness, allowing themselves to get too intimate.

"What?" Louis looked up at his Dominus, feeling how tense the man was against him. "You
have that look in your eye."

Harry glanced at him through his peripheral. "What look, haud mirum?"

"That one." Louis stopped him at a safe distance away from the awaiting patrons of a
nightclub, stepping in front of his Dominus at a parking meter. He reached up on his tiptoes
and thumbed over the creases on Harry's brow.

Harry sighed. "You know I don't approve of many things happening here."

Louis' eyes were so blue under the light of a street post, so hypnotic in their pull on Harry's
gravity. "Not everyone had the upbringing we did, my love."

"Regardless." Harry made an unhappy noise in his throat. He looked back over his shoulder
at the alley. "People here are so....indiscreet."

"Yes, my Dominus. They are and that's who they are." Louis brushed some of Harry's hair
away from his scorching green eyes. His earnest in trying to prove that it'll all be okay shines
distinctly against the deep colour of his eyes. "You have certain skills that they never will."

Harry glares at something over Louis' shoulder before pulling his mate closer, their chests
colliding and the Dominus able to reassure himself that his pup is protected. "Like self-
restraint and-"

"Shh. I didn't give you permission to ridicule them." Louis taps Harry's frozen lips mid-
motion with his index finger and recaptures the man's hand shortly after.

"I apologise." Harry continues their trek down a sidewalk towards a quieter part of the city.
They come by the florist and he gets an idea. "Come."

"What?" Louis blinks in misconception.

Harry knows his mate inside and out by now, and chuckles in an uncensored manner when he
realises Louis' understanding. He tugs on his better half's wrist to bring him with him. "Not
that, my lover. Come with me."

"Oh." Louis' cheeks flare up in embarrassment and he scrambles closer to his awaiting
Dominus as the wind picks up.

"Don't be ashamed." Harry curls his arm protectively around Louis' narrow shoulders and
kisses his temple.
Harry escorts him into the lovely little establishment entitled something French and
florescent. Louis' smile is permanent when he walks in and all he can smell are flowers of all
kinds. The kind old woman behind the counter has a child, probably her grandson, perched
on the structure beside the register.

Louis goes to the first display where roses and lilies are arranged in beautiful bouquets. He
brushes his thumb over the brightest sunflowers he's ever seen and sighs a little sadly at
thinking he'll never get to have his own now that they're moving out of the cabin.

His hand still caught in Harry's, Louis chews his lip in pondering over what choice to make
here. Seeing all this grandeur tucked into one little store is mind-blowing enough. He feels
his Dominus distractedly grazing over his knuckles as he looked at the other flowers in deep
thought.

Louis never saw his expression like this before, lips sewn in a thin line but eyes disguising a
million emotions.

"Hey there." Louis brings himself closer, step by step. He's finally plastered to Harry's side
with an arm tightening out of reflex around his hips.

Harry lightly shakes his head as if to break out of his reverie. He smiles at Louis but it doesn't
reach his eyes like they should, the demons still lurking in the latter fending off the bliss.
"Haud mirum, these are ghost orchids."

Louis looks at what Harry is speaking about and nearly has to squint to see the flower at all.
Thin, white petals flow from an invisible centre. They were true to their name and appeared
like ghosts, the legs wide open as if they were always in dance.

"They're pretty." But Louis had a feeling that their attractiveness isn't why Harry introduced
him to them. "What's wrong?"

Harry took a quick breath, his jobless hand reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose as he
looked to the ground. Louis followed him there, concerned enough to have his heart leap into
his throat. He extended his arm and cupped Harry's cheek, guiding him back to have their
eyes meet.

"My love?" He coaxed, more desperate than ever to know what's clouding the warmth and
joy in Harry's soul.

The Dominus kissed Louis' wrist where it was so close to his lips. "If I remember anything
about my childhood, haud mirum, it's that I used to bring ghost orchids to my mother
everyday."

Louis is surprised to say the least when describing how he felt after hearing this. Harry's
never revealed a smidgen of information about his family before leaving them to become a
Dominus. It was gutwrenching to hear. Louis felt his Dominus' reminiscent sadness and hated
it, wanted to make him happy again.
"Oh my love." Louis pulled Harry's forehead down to rest against his, the Dominus' eyes
closed and hands tightening on his hips. "I'm sorry you have to feel this way when you
remember your childhood."

Harry growled but it wasn't threatening, hardly deadly at all, and instead provocative. It was
also a little wounded and that broke Louis' heart.

"It's not a sad memory." Harry tells to him in promise, nipping at Louis' soft skin. "I just wish
I didn't have it."

"Can I help you find something, dear?" The lady behind the counter is no longer there, now
instead right next to him.

Louis smiled politely at her and tried to get his hand to lower when he realised Harry still had
it captive. "No thank you."

She had freckles on her nose and definitely a beautiful face from her youngest years.
"Alright. Let me know if you need help then, okay?"

"We will." Louis sees her grandson in denim overalls and sneakers clinging to the skirt of her
dress. He waves at the toddler who has his thumb between his lips. "Hello there."

The grandchild hides further from him, only his pale legs peeking out from behind. Louis
adores him already and the child's grandmother fondly ruffles his hair.

"Say hello, Johan." She encourages just as Louis begins to feel Harry's presence behind him,
hands settling over his hips.

"H-Hello." Says the smallest of their company, doubtfully exposing his one eye to smile
fleetingly.

Louis crouches down to his level and Harry is unsettled by such a compact position. He starts
to say something when Louis squeezes his wrist to reassure him.

"How are you today?" Louis asks Johan with a small arch to his lips, his sapphire blue
settling the nerves of this grey-eyed boy.

Johan comes out a bit more. His nose was the exact shape of his grandmother's and his eyes
were always pronounced. "G-Good and h-how are you?"

"I'm fine." Louis laughs and watches Johan's expression relax from uptight.

"He's very shy with strangers." His grandmother explains to Louis as Harry brings him back
up to his feet. "This is the best I've seen him interact with others."

Louis listens to her with genuine interest while Harry's hands don't waver from extending
towards his front. The Dominus remains undeterred as he rests his palms over Louis' bump
where he can protect best his mate and pup.

"How far along?" The florist owner asks, briefly seeing Louis' prominent baby bump.
"Five months." Louis answers with a proud smile, giving up on trying to relax Harry's
possessive nature.

"Really?" Her shock is evident. "You're quite big for five months?"

"Yes." Louis becomes reserved about this matter. He's never witnessed a pregnancy nor had
anyone to aid him in his from experience. How could know if something was
unconventional?

"I would double check on those little ones, sweetheart." She says kindly, picking up on Louis'
anxiety. "Having a bump that big could only mean multiples."

*****

"You're cold, haud mirum."

"A little." Louis buries his face in Harry's neck for this moment they have absently standing
in the middle of the sidewalk. He hides his hands inside his shirt sleeves and hugs his middle.
"You're warm though."

They've managed to leave the florist unscathed and with one ghost orchid that Louis got as a
gift from Harry. The Dominus chose to hold him close ever since the woman spoke to them,
as if he could communicate that way with the lives in Louis' womb.

"I am always." Harry all but lifts his huddled mate off the ground and into the cafe on their
left.

The cafe is quiet and smells of cinnamon rolls with icing. The smell of coffee is decadent and
sweet like the treats on display in a warm glass case. Harry found them a booth in the back by
a window, where they can safely watch everyone beyond the window without being in their
vicinity.

"Do you think she's right?" Louis asks out of the blue with his hands laced together over the
table. A navy Japanese lantern sat between them beside a propped menu of what the cafe
offered.

Harry was extracting his wallet from his back pocket and leaving his phone on the table. He
pauses to raise an eyebrow at his mate. "Who, haud mirum?"

"The woman at the florist." Louis responds, dropping the menu and dragging it towards him
to read. He had a hand on his bump. "About bunny."

"About whether it could actually be bunnies?" Harry grasped Louis' smaller, colder hand in
his grip and gently stroked over the racing pulse beneath his papery skin. "I don't know, my
lover. We will see our doctor once we are home again."

"Do you think-" Louis sat up straighter in his seat and leaned forward, eyes darkening with
the dim lighting and one tiny flame from the lantern reflecting off the center orb. "-we should
see a doctor here? For a second opinion, maybe."

Louis was insecure about asking this of his Dominus but it had to be done because it
concerned their unborn pup - or pups - that needed all their attention. He chewed his bottom
lip as nerves worried him.

"We will." Harry reassures him with a soft smile, dimples making an appearance right at the
end. "If that's what you desire, haud mirum, we will see a doctor here."

"Thank you. It will really make me feel better." His mate responds with a breath of relief.

Harry waits for Louis to read the menu quickly and pick something to order above the others.
The Dominus almost frowns at Louis' decision of a meat-less sandwich and chocolate
milkshake. He leaves Louis for the short minute it takes to place their orders at the counter, a
fresh kale and apple smoothie for himself.

"I always thought kale was a name." Louis was reading the receipt with his legs crossed
under the table, licking his lip at odd moments. "Isn't it?"

"It is." Harry does something fleeting on his phone before putting it away in his pocket. He
leans forward to take the receipt out of Louis' hands and replace it with his hold. "You haven't
seen it around the cabin?"

"No." Louis flexes his fingers, shorter and thinner than Harry's. He's scrunching his brow in
weak recollection. "Has it been around the cabin often?"

Harry chuckles fondly and gets up to fetch their food. He first places a kiss to Louis'
forehead, firm and certain. "Think about it, haud mirum

*****

"My love, I can't possibly remember any kale ever being around the house." Louis is so sure
that his Dominus is playing some sort of mind game with him.

The man's smoothie came back glistening green and crisp from the apple traces. Louis would
surely remember anything that green. Since then, he's eaten an unsatisfying sandwich and
joined Harry for the short trek back to their hotel. The city was just awakening and it was a
beautiful sight to behold, people of such diversity inter-mingling for the sake of the darkest
hour.

"Haud mirum, I've bought it everytime we went into town." Harry tosses his empty cup into
the nearest bin and secures his arm even tighter around Louis. "Are you calling me a liar?"

"No, no." Louis replies distractedly, facing the path ahead in thought. He has a cold nose and
his fingers are nearly frozen off. How can people be out at this time?

"Let's get you back to the hotel." Harry sees the building in close proximity to them and let's
Louis walk ahead of him, arms still extended forward at all times.
Louis warmed his hands up by blowing into them in the elevator on their way up. He closed
his eyes when Harry reeled him in and fitted their bodies together, kissing his fringe before
letting him rest for a short time. Louis stayed awake thought, his fingers curled around
Harry's shirt buttons and he yawned often enough to tear up.

Their hotel room is just as they'd left it and Louis makes a beeline for the bathroom. He strips
off his shirt and shoes until he's bare-foot and shirtless. Harry turns on the kettle and checks
that it has sufficient water for tea while Louis finds his shorts and adjusts the thermostat to be
warmer.

The boy beams when Harry brings him a mug of warm herbal tea, sitting in the armchair by
the window across from his mate. "Thank you."

Harry winks at him in retaliation and gets Louis' feet in his lap. "Of course you're welcome,
haud mirum."

Louis let's the beverage cool down between his hands, looking out through the window
beyond the curtains into the street below. "I wonder what people do at this late hour."

"What they shouldn't." Harry shrugs when Louis rolls his eyes at him.

"Hardly." Louis looks back down at his drink, twirling the teabag's tag around. "They
probably lived this life from as young as possible, and then had generations before doing the
same thing."

Harry hums in agreement and takes a scalding sip from his coffee. He hates coffee but would
rather go tomorrow to buy tea than let Louis go without it so he can have it. "I think you're a
little more curious about it."

Louis scoffs but it's easily disproved to be true. "Maybe."

The Dominus smirks in a devious manner and he pinches Louis' shin in a way that makes him
giggle. Louis tries not to jostle their mugs too much as he straightens his legs, feet pressed up
against the back of the chair on either side of Harry.

"We can always go exploring, haud mirum. Enquire more information for ourselves." Harry
explains through a hoarse chuckle and a cough to clear his throat.

"Maybe we'll have to." Louis says for the sake of their baby. They're going to start a family in
an environment of a culture that neither of them are learned in. It terrifies them both to think
they might fail as parents. "Tomorrow night we'll take a longer walk."

Harry's burst of laughter is truly amused and it lingers in his eyes thusly. All his mate does is
pout, his lips licked and eyes turning into crystal saucers. The night sky was beautiful but
Louis will always prefer the view they had back at the cabin, raw and untouched.

When it grew late enough and more people were bustling about outside their room door,
Harry ushered Louis to bed. The boy was yawning an innumerable amount of times and
could barely walk without tripping over nothing. Eventually, it came down to Harry picking
him up and tucking him in under the covers before a chaste goodnight kiss was shared.

"Keep my pup safe, haud mirum." Harry said with his lips on Louis' bump. "While I keep you
safe."

Louis preened at the affection his baby bump got and silently requested another kiss with his
puckered lips. They couldn't hear the crickets from how high up they were and there were no
wild animals, harmless or not, wandering about trying to get home. Usually those sounds of
untainted nature were soothing to Louis especially during his pregnancy but now that they're
absent he has to bite his lip and try harder to fall asleep.
 Chapter 14

"I'm listening." Harry told the real estate agent that sat across from him at this massive oak
desk with little to nothing on it.

He was naturally speaking a lie to the balding, well-dressed professional because every two
seconds his troubled eyes would dart to where Louis was standing at the vast window looking
out at God knows what. The Dominus hadn't heard a word from him ever since they stepped
into this office and it bothered him. Louis had

greeted the agent and stood by the panoramic view rather than take a seat, a hand braced over
his covered baby bump.

"As you can see, Mr. St- uh- Dominus. The owners of the complex where you'll be living are
happy to have furnishings put in before you arrive." Mr. Spencer Larsson informed Louis'
mate.

Louis himself coughed to cover his giggle and thankfully the glass didn't capture a decent
reflection of him. Another facet of the city life that Harry disagreed with - hated rather - is
that everyone is addressed by their names. Where they come from, a Dominus is called such
as a sign of respect. It's an old tradition but customary nonetheless.

Harry knew by this suspicious laughter turned poorly performed foe cough that his mate is
not upset, only currently pretentious.

"They would?" Harry was surprised by this gesture of kindness.

"Yes." Larsson replied with a confident nod, opening up the folder on their future home to
hand Harry a card. "You can speak to them yourself."

"I think I will." Harry said ponderously, getting up from his seat. "However it will be to tell
them that their kindness is for naught. My mate and I will be sending our own belongings up
to Olympia."

Their meeting ends shortly after that. Larsson gives them the folder containing basic
information and photographs of the apartment they'll be moving into. It's promised to have
three bedrooms all as en-suites and a kitchen Louis' most excited for. There's going to be a
cosy fireplace for the winter and never-ending windows for the summer.

"How are you feeling, haud mirum?" Harry asks once they're out of the office block and he's
walking with Louis back to their hotel. It's a short distance and Louis insisted they leave the
car at the hotel.

"Great." Louis chirped, swinging the unit of where their hands are connected a little.
Harry stopped short to pull his mate closer to his chest and sets his fringe, brushing the
cherry-scented locks of hair back over his eyes after purposely covering them. Louis pouts
and Harry kisses that concern away in the middle of the sidewalk. The Dominus displays his
adoration for his mate by pecking his forehead and not letting Louis shrug him off.

"You push me away too often now, my lover." He observes when they're back on the path
again, keeping Louis near and ahead of him. "Why is that?"

"I-I don't know." Louis shrugs and apologetically bows his head to look at his shoes. "Baby
doesn't like lots of contact, I think."

"Don't worry, haud mirum. I fully intend to convince Baby that I'm the exception." Harry
loves to see Louis' smile so wide that it brightens all his features and brings the kindest
crinkles to the corners of his eyes.

An ice cream parlour is on their way back and Louis stops his Dominus forcefully to get a
sugar cone of bubblegum and chocolate. The two scoops are heavy and Harry has no faith
that Louis will survive in carrying them so when it starts to drip, he takes over.

"That's mine." Louis protests when Harry steals his treat just a few feet from the glass lobby
entrance of their hotel.

Harry smirks at his mate the way he does when he's been preparing a reply all his life. "And
you're mine so that fixes that."

Louis crosses his arms with a huff over his narrow chest and tries not to gape at his mate
cleaning up the leaking mess of his ice cream by use of his lips and tongue. It comes back to
him neater but that's not the point.

"Thank you." Louis snatches the snack back and shields it from Harry, not caring for the
remnants of Harry's taste left on his ice cream.

He also has too much pride presently to admit that blue and brown milky droplets are rolling
down his wrist.

In the elevator with light jazz music playing in the background, his Dominus surrenders to
the pity he displays for his overwhelmed lover. He takes Louis by the hand and in a dignified
manner, drags his tongue over the tracks of melted ice cream. Louis watches him in stony
awe and remarkable interest, the unspeakable look in Harry's eye being one of salacious
interest and amusement.

"My love." Louis can't seem to take his own back despite his efforts as Harry holds him
prisoner.

Harry delves into a profoundly fond smirk and he guides Louis down the carpeted hallway to
their room. After inserting the key card into the door, he finds a saucer for which is meant the
teacups. He puts Louis' ice cream on that saucer and cracks the cone in a clean cup, handing
both over to his mate after Louis' tucked in under the covers of their king-sized bed.

"Comfortable?" Harry leans over the edge and kisses Louis' forehead, pulling the fluffy
comforter up to tuck under Louis' sides.

Louis beams with a closed mouth and gets rewarded with a peck on his sticky lips. Harry
hands him the remote of the television and goes into bathroom to wet a flannel. He comes
back to Louis watching a romantic drama and wipes the clammy fingers of his mate until
they're clean down to his forearms.

"Come 'ere." Harry stripped off his shirt before anything else and climbed into bed behind his
mate.

Content to do as told, Louis balances his saucer and cup as he let's Harry slot himself in
behind him. He can lean back against his Dominus' bare torso and hum delightedly when his
dominant mate slips his capable hands under the covers and under Louis' shirt to caress the
humbling accomplishment that is his pup.

"Hmm." Harry kisses Louis' temple, behind his ear and further down to where his pulse beats
strongly. "You taste finer than anything edible, my lover."

Louis' giggles was both amused and embarrassed. "Should I be concerned that you might eat
me?"

"You should actually." Harry growled playfully and latched his teeth onto Louis' neck, a
broad smile to tame his features.

Managing to redirect Harry's attention or at the very least, lessen the intensity of his affection,
Louis continues to scoop away at his melted ice cream and watch the TV screen. He's lost the
plot already but the aesthetically pleasing landscape views are worth watching.

"I want to go to a bookstore later." Louis tells his Dominus randomly. "Can we?"

"We have a library at home, haud mirum." Harry isn't exaggerating. Where there's supposed
to be a tiny study in their lovely cabin, the Dominus has stacked and stored books over the
years.

"I've been through almost every one of your books." Louis informs him, setting aside the
dishes he has on the night stand. "By the way, what was your criteria for choosing those
books?"

Harry shrugs nonchalantly. "Some were gifts and others caught my eye. Why?"

"You know-" Louis crosses his legs between Harry's, knees resting atop his Dominus'. "-you
possess quite a few novels that we'll have to lock away before baby gets here."

"What do you mean?" Harry's brow furrows as he considers this information.

Louis looks disbelievingly at his Alpha mate. "You're telling me you didn't know about
the....naughty books in your collection?"

"No." Harry gasps and withdraws to look his mate in the eye, wanting to know more of this.
"Do I have naughty books in my library?"

"Yup." Louis' eyes have that particularly devious twinkle in his eye. Harry wraps his hand
around this sweet boy's neck and tilts his head back, kissing him to transpire the yearning he
always experiences with Louis.

"I think I'll look into this matter when we get home." Harry's lips curl against Louis', their
mouth still connected and their eyes closed.

"What for?" Louis whispers, timid and a little smile of his own teasing his lips.

Harry answers by pecking Louis' lips and effortlessly rolling them over. Louis giggles and
yelps when he's pulled under the broad structure of his brutish mate, looking up at him with
expectations rising. The Dominus dips down and peppers kisses over Louis' mark and moves
lower to his clavicle, nipping at the bone that protruded through papery pale skin.

"As your Dominus-" Harry's bare torso flexes as do the abs of his abdomen. Louis bites his
lip and reaches out to run his cold fingertips over the rippling muscle, pulling his mate closer
between his legs. "-it's my duty to satisfy you, haud mirum."

Louis chokes on a scream when he tries to suppress it and whimpers loudly when Harry's
presence is asserted between his thighs, warm hands running up his front to lock with his
own. The pleasure is hot and rampant in his body, back arched and legs wrapped around
Harry's head, small but high-pitched sounds tumbling from his slackened jaw.

Harry eats Louis out until he's crying and climaxed thrice, his body too sensitive to go on but
the Dominus ignores all please. He knows when his mate's body really cannot handle more
and now isn't then. With Louis' nails raking down his back, making him hiss and sink his
teeth deeper into the boy's neck, Harry crawls over to lay above Louis and enter his mate in
the sweetest way.

Louis makes the prettiest noises when he's over-stimulated and doesn't let Harry down with
them now. His eyes are wide and his jaw permanently gaping, frozen in a silent scream. He
locks his ankles around Harry's waist and tugs on the Dominus' hair when he comes the
fourth time completely dry, clenching around his mate's knot. Harry kisses him sloppily and
stretches his body open, forcing it to accommodate him and mould to fit him, as his knot
pops.

The more a Dominus knotted their mate during a pregnancy, the more secure the Alpha felt
that they were connecting with their lover and baby. Harry was no different and buried
himself in his mate as deep as his body could go, the covers pulled over them and blocking
out the world.
"You know, my love-" Louis played with Harry's hair while the Dominus rested his cheek on
his taut tummy, calloused fingertips massaging his hips and wet lips on his bump. "-I miss
playing games with you."

Harry slid his arms under Louis' body and turned his attention to the window, using his mate's
body as the finest pillow. "That's because I always let you win."

Louis gasped and thumbed over Harry's crater of a dimple. "You told me I won all on my
own."

"We weren't mated back then, haud mirum." Harry reminds him with a tender peck to his
belly button. "I was still trying to win your favour."

Rolling his eyes, Louis props himself up with all the pillows on their bed and uses his little
height advantage to start braiding Harry's hair. The Dominus was most content and
comfortable where he was lying with his mate, caressing the skin that protected his unborn
heir.

"Let's go out tonight." Harry suggests for the first time, watching the evening grow dark.
"Rather, let me take you and baby out."

Louis fondly gazes down at his partially asleep Alpha mate that's blindly rubbing his sides.
"What's your idea of going out?"

Harry answers in a murmur, his concentration slowly fading as he falls asleep. "I received an
invitation to the opening of an art gallery not far from here tonight."

Louis uses Harry's hair-tie to knot the end of his single braid that's travelling down the side of
Harry's face. "How did you get that invitation?"

"An old friend." Harry tries twice to sentence out fully, face turned in to nuzzle Louis' soft
tummy.

"Old friend?" Louis questions. He can't recall his Dominus ever bringing up old friends from
any part of his life.

"Hmm." Harry doesn't open his eyes even for Louis' concern. "She reached out to me just
yesterday, haud mirum."

Now Louis pulls hard on Harry's hair enough to wake the Dominus up fully. Harry winces
but doesn't make a sound and his molten green eyes turn dark when they look at his mate.

"What was that for?" Harry grits, not threateningly or cruelly. He's never rude to his lovely
bonded partner for life.

Louis doesn't care. He despises that he can't physically pull away from Harry due to reasons
but he sounds strict enough. "Tell me about your old friend."

Harry doesn't think anything of it. "I remember her vaguely from my younger years with my
family. Hers lived next to mine and we used to play together."
Louis' unbalanced hormone and pheromone levels are off the charts. He tries not to let his
Dominus how just how hard he's pinching the fabric of the sheets. "Why didn't you tell me
yesterday about her invite?"

"You were sleeping, haud mirum." Harry picks up on Louis' hostility and knows just how to
overcome it. "Are you jealous, my lover?"

His knot has gone down so quickly and when Louis makes to move off him, Harry pins him
down. A jealous mate made all sorts of twists in the taste of their scent and Harry delved into
the juncture of his neck to lick all of it. Louis huffed petulantly and squirmed to get the
Dominus off him but Harry held him down and started to snap his hips again.

"H-Harry, stop." Louis weakly protested, his abdomen clenching and walls squeezing another
orgasm from his mate. No matter how fervent his resistance was, his body always wanted his
Dominus.

"You know there's no need to be envious, baby." Harry let go of Louis' hands to grip his
thighs so they bruised and jerked his hips, pounding into Louis' warm body with the hot
squelch of slick and his growls to fill the air. "I'm yours."

Louis dragged his nails down Harry's back to leave it marked and Harry hissed out of feigned
pain. It hardly hurt but the more he satisfied this impulsive side of his mate, the better.
Harry's chest rumbled and he delivered a harsh blow to Louis' prostate, groaning when Louis
mewled just the way he adored.

"Listen to me." Harry spoke firmly, authority lacing his words.

He cupped Louis' behind off the bed and abused the stretched entrance of his lover, his come
and Louis' slick getting fucked back into him for a purpose. The Dominus pulled them up
with him into a seated position, throwing Louis' arms over his shoulders and thrusting
upward to meet the roll of Louis' hips.

"You are mine." Harry looked into Louis' eyes when he said it. "You carry my pup and have
my knot in this pretty little body of yours. My soul is yours and so is my word. You have no
reason to be jealous."

Louis was listening to him but had other priorities as well. His fingers grazed Harry's plump
lips and he rode his Dominus' thick c*ck like he was determined. It was only natural of him
to be jealous and Harry understood that, knew that by Louis kissing him with parted lips and
letting him grope his perfect bum that he was trying to make Harry focus on him.

Harry knotted Louis like that, his arms embracing his mate and Louis wrapped around him
like a vine. Louis came with a hiccup and sob, his body violently convulsing though it had
nothing left to release.

"I love you, my darling." Harry spoke after their breathing slowed. "My favourite place to be
is inside you but I do hope this jealousy of yours is over now."
Louis looked up from where he rested his head on Harry's shoulder, now ashamed. "I'm sorry,
my love. I had no right to be so-"

"Stop, haud mirum." Harry framed Louis' cheek and looked to his mate like he worshipped
him. "You had a right to be jealous. The fault is mine. I should have told you about this friend
earlier."

"No." Louis shook his head and hugged Harry tightly, settling on the Dominus' knot. "I trust
you and I love you."

Harry hummed approvingly and gave Louis' bond mark a kiss. "I must say, I admire your
prowess when you're jealous."

Louis blushed deeply and hid his face from his Dominus. "Don't say that when jealousy is
one of my lesser qualities."

"Nothing about you is lower or lesser than perfect." Harry bites his lip when Louis squeaks at
his bum receiving an encouraging pat. "Especially this particular feature of yours."

Giggles light up his mates features and Harry rocks them slightly as he buries his face in
Louis' neck. "I love you, Harry."

And somehow it felt like the most meaningful words he's ever heard. Harry squeezed his eyes
shut the confession in, not wanting to let go.

"I love you, my Louis." *****

It was the constructive comment of one florist that had them currently in a medical
professional's office. Louis had begged with Harry to bring him after the reminder of her
words about their precious pup nagged his subconscious.

"Don't be nervous, haud mirum." Harry took Louis' hand and kissed his wrist, lips pressed to
his steady pulse.

Louis quirked his eyebrow at the Dominus. He wasn't nervous at all but his Alpha mate
clearly is. To ensure no wounds to Harry's dominant ego, Louis pulls the man in between his
legs and burrows into his chest. His fingers curl around the lapels of Harry's jacket and he
breathes deeply.

"Do you think she was right?" Louis asks the question that is actually bothering him still,
seeking warmth from his Dominus.

Harry rubs Louis' back and relaxes his shoulders. "I think that I am this pup's father and you
its mother. If something was remotely uncertain, we'd know it."

Louis appreciated the assertion in his Alpha's tone and whined comfortable, nuzzling Harry's
neck where he settled. "You're right. I love you."
The doctor came in and conducted two types of exams to validate their results considering
this was a 'double check' routine procedure. Louis was nervous when the monitor of the
ultrasound scanner brought up a grey image of his womb, and teared up undeniably when
they pointed out the actual heir.

"That right there-" She pointed to a fuzzy section with her index. "-is your pup. Just one,
loves."

*****

"I love it here." Louis giggled and mutely clapped his hands together under the table when
they were seated.

Harry cooed at his adorable mate after pushing his chair in, giving Louis' forehead a gentle
peck and witnessing his blush. Their restaurant was dimly lit but the ambiance was beautiful.
Each table had a Japanese lantern illuminated with a wax candle, the chandeliers above their
heads giving off the perfect dose of electricity other than light.

Louis sat in his comfortable cushioned chair amongst some of the finest, wealthiest people of
this society. He couldn't care less for them however and picked up his leather-bound menu to
read the cursive titled food choices. Lana del Rey played in the background and Louis
discovered that her voice was flawless and stimulating to a degree of feelings that was a once
in a century experience.

"Thank you for bringing me here, my love." Louis smiles appreciatively across the
inextended surface area of their table, a golden thread for a cloth draped over it.

"Only the best for you, haud mirum." Harry held Louis' hand across the table, their fingers
laced and his lips briefly meeting the boy's knuckles.

"I have but one complaint." Louis held up a single, thin and pale finger.

Harry, in his charming black Armani suit and bow-tie, was smirking characteristically at his
lovely mate. "What might that be, my lover?"

Louis set the menu down and gestured to the gold script, lowering his voice greatly to be a
whisper. "I can't read any of this."

The Dominus laughed without reservation, influencing the heat in Louis' cheeks to rise faster.
He unbuttons the front of his suit jacket and settles forward in his chair, molten green
piercing through sapphire blue over one tiny lantern flame.

"I will help you all that I can." Harry then takes Louis' menu away and places it under his,
cracking the edge open on the wine list first.

"My love." The Dominus looks up and his precious Louis is pouting, so powerfully that he
can't deny him anything. "I can't have alcohol."
"Oh yes." Harry pretends like his unborn pup and his mate pregnant with that five month
developing foetus, hasn't been the only track of focus his mind has upheld for all that time.
"Starters then?"

A tray of freshly toasted garlic bread rolls lay between them and Louis used the displayed
saucer in front of him along with the little cubes of butter on a porcelain dish to feed himself.
Harry recites a few soup and salad options that are heavily Italian based but he hardly thinks
over anything before choosing a simple tomato soup.

"Would you like to order the main course now?" Harry asks him, not just yet calling their
waiter.

"Yes please." Louis crosses his legs under the table and nibbles on his warm bread, his free
hand framing the side of his baby bump. "I don't want to be interrupted later."

Harry raised an eyebrow at his mate without question and sorted through the selections of
chicken, beef and vegetable choices his mate might fancy. Louis listens to everything,
smiling as his Dominus races through fluent Italian in an accent that makes the language
desirable.

"What's the first one have in it?" Louis asks, swallowing his second bite of buttered bread. "I
really want something with creamy chicken."

His Dominus takes care of making a decision for him because Louis informed him that he's
not in the mood to be final in choices. Their dessert will be a slice of chocolate mousse cake
and Louis shamefully looks forward to it more than the actual food.

"When did you say we have to be at the art gallery?" Louis asks with his head down, dusting
some of the crumbs off him as glasses clink and cutlery scrapes plates around them.

"An hour and a half. Haud mirum-" Harry looks at his watch though he doesn't need to,
taking Louis' hand in his to look into those bright blue eyes. "-I don't want you to be insecure
about meeting my friend. I love you. I am yours in ways that nobody in this world can
replicate elsewhere."

Louis, feeling comforted deep down where doubt was bound to flourish, smiles a bit easier
and flexes his fingers between Harry's. "I know, my love. I love you. Thank you for
not....thinking of me as behaving absurdly."

"My lover, I could never." Harry tells him strictly, reaching up to pick some of the neglected
crumbs from the corner of Louis' mouth. "You must tell me if anything frightens or upsets
you. It is my duty to take care of you."

Biting his lip, Louis squeezes Harry's fingers and brings his Dominus' hand with his closer.
All of two rings, one sterling silver with intricate carvings and the other made of gold and a
giant black gem. Louis pressed his lips to the back of Harry's palm and sets his elbows on the
table.
"I never asked where you got these rings." Louis fidgeted with the jewellery on his Dominus'
fingers, uselessly picking at the tough skin around Harry's fingernails. "Where did you get
them?"

Harry chuckles as he watches Louis inspect the rings on his fingers that told stories of their
own. "I earned the silver one at my graduation and the gold one was from my brother."

Louis had his head bowed but his eyes flickered to peer up at his Alpha mate. "You never talk
about your brother very much but you seemed to have been fond of him once."

With a sigh that's not entirely frustration, Harry let's Louis strip him of his silver ring to slip it
on his own slender finger. "My brother and I were close. We aren't anymore."

"You said he chose to be a um-....Master." Louis whispered the last word before peeking at
his mate again. "Have you ever wondered what it would be like?"

"Yes." Harry makes room on their table when Louis' soup and his salad comes forward,
picking up his fork to stab a cherry tomato with the prongs. "However, that was long before I
knew you."

Louis hums as he considers this and stews over the thought, the delectable taste of something
as something as soup rolling down his throat. He causes no harm to the newly acquired ring
he has on when he stirs the contents of the bowl.

"Do you anyone who has chosen to be a Master too?" Louis has the perfect opportunity now
to flood his Dominus with these questions. "What's it like?"

Harry has an arm resting on the table, a permanent smug smile on his features from how
endeared he is by his mate. "I don't want to scare you,haud mirum."

Louis gasps softly as the landing of a feather and pouts. "I think I can handle it, my love.
Please?"

"Alright." Harry didn't look one bit as uncomfortable as he ought to have been, chewing
around his food with a closed mouth. "A Master never greets anyone, even his mate."

Amidst his focus on his food, Louis quirks an eyebrow. "You don't greet me either, with
words at least."

Harry's chuckle carries over the flame between them and the spark within them, leaning
effortlessly closer to his mate for a kiss. "A Master is not allowed to sleep with his mate
when the mate has done something disobedient."

Louis' spoon full of creamy soup pauses on its path to his mouth. He stares at Harry, a little
sympathetic for all the mates that had to deal with overly strict Alpha mates.

"Who decides whether they're being disobedient?" Louis enquires softly, nervous to hear the
answer.
"Their Masters." Harry responds solemnly, then becomes more resolved in addressing the
concern of his mate. "I would never do that to you, haud mirum. You are my mate, my
equal."

Louis can smile at that, relaxed and at ease knowing his Dominus can see reason in being
more modern in a respect. Harry was traditional but he was a down-to-earth humble man too.

"Thank you." Heat rises to Louis' cheeks under the attention from his Dominus, his smile
unsmotherable. "I love you."

He leans closer when Harry does to quickly connect their lips, pulling away before it
becomes socially unacceptable. Louis feels as if he's asked enough about such a touch topic
to swallow and returns to his food, abandoning the bread rolls. Harry helps him finish his
chicken dish that follows because dessert is something he and the pup he carries looks
forward to.

"Are you sure you won't get hungry later, my lover?" Harry asks after he's had his sirloin
steak and Louis is picking baby carrots off his plate.

Others have glanced their way but in lieu of their ways being much more subtle than where
they're from, no one really bothers to judge why a Dominus let's their mate eat so
haphazardly from him. Louis' school and Harry's training bred them to rely on primal
instincts while modernised society allowed those instincts to sink back.

"I'm not sure about that." Louis only allows Harry to have the sauce and mushrooms from his
pasta, keeping all the chicken cubes and strips for himself. "Baby might get hungry later."

Harry hums and finishes what his mate cannot, smiling to himself when their plates are taken
away and Louis continues to pick apart his roll of freshly baked bread. His Dominus is
gracious enough to allow him to have the bigger portion of the cake that soon come to them,
scraping the cream off the top when Louis frowns at it.

They skip catching a cab like Louis suggests after paying the bill and Harry drives them
under the moon into the more elite part of town. Studio apartments are above their heads and
up-market stores were surrounding them, each one with their own sparkle of expense.

The night was nowhere near as dark as it got in their cabin, with no streetlights and just the
moon itself to brighten the sky. Louis looks up at the light bulbs amidst the stars and knows
that it's something he's going to have to get used to.

Even at night the occupants of this district were alive and blissful, getting out and
accompanying one another to adrenaline-induced parties. Nobody slept in the city, nobody
considered the next person.
 Chapter 15

Louis followed Harry into the elite, prized art gallery that seemed to have caught everyone's
attention for the evening. Music flowed out of the medium-sized building with panoramic
glass doors that became the wall. It was easily to make out a decent crowd within the
property and all their champagne flutes.

"Ready?" Harry reaches over the center console to take Louis' smaller hand in his grasp and
squeeze it reassuringly.

"Sure." Louis returns his Dominus' kiss with one of his own. It's charming how they take up
so little space for so much affection.

Harry takes a chance to kiss under Louis' ear and nibble on skin. He chuckles when his act of
teasing gets Louis to giggle and move away as much as possible.

"Let's go." Louis felt the dampness on his skin from Harry's mild attack. "I don't want you to
actually eat me."

Triumphant and adoring laughter follows Louis when he tries to open his door but fails. His
Dominus has to get off first and walk around the front with a wink directed his way
somewhere before the monogram on the bonnet. He blushes and looks down at his lap from
the tilt of Harry's smirk meant all for him.

"Your shoes, haud mirum." Harry clicks his tongue, amused, when he realised his mate is
without footwear.

"Oh." Louis looks down at his socks on the SUV's carpet as if just recalling he'd popped off
his Vans earlier.

Harry stopped Louis from completing the task resheathing those discarded shoes on his own
feet and aided the boy instead to turn around in his seat. "Allow me."

There, parked on the side of the street amongst other expensive vehicles and in the midst of
people waltzing about on the sidewalk, Harry got down on one knee. He didn't care for
dirtying his pants or scratching his spotless shoes, just that he had the honour to do this. The
Dominus took Louis' shoes and slid them on his feet one at a time, a kiss for both place right
on his ankle.

"You didn't have to do that." Louis pulled Harry back up by both his ears and their very much
in love attitudes met in a sweet kiss under the stars.

Harry was undeterred by this comment and stood to his feet, picking Louis up by hugging
him around his thighs. "Yes I did."

Louis had to look down at his mate with a grin that's brighter than any moon, using Harry's
shoulders to support himself. "I love you, you know."
His Dominus engages in one more kiss before they're interrupted by the click of high heels on
tar and a sarcastic applause. The voice that follows is smooth and pleasantly feminine. "If
there were only one gentleman left in this damned world it would be you, Harry Styles."

Harry reacts slowly because he's got his very pregnant mate in his arms that he lowers to the
ground first. Louis thinks he'll throw himself into a reunion but is reminded that Harry's as
authentic a Dominus as there ever will be when the man encircles his waist protectively. His
Alpha mate turns to greet this stranger female still with a genuine smile of recognition and
joy.

Louis doesn't know her name but that's not necessary because she's beautiful enough to not be
forgotten. Her slender figure is wrapped up in a tight formal black dress that has a bold silver
zip running down the front. Brunette hair is tightly bound at the back of her head, high as
Hell black heels at the ends of her perfect legs.

She got closer and Louis saw that her eyes were chocolate brown and warm, but every vibe
she gave off was platonic. "It's wonderful to see you again, H."

"Likewise." Harry gave her a sufficiently timed hug but Louis felt no threat from this woman
so he was okay with their interaction. "Louis, this is Cassandra. Sandy, this is my mate
Louis."

Those new eyes fell on him and Louis was abruptly being hugged very comfortingly, her
fragrance of roses wafting through his senses. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Louis."

"The pleasure is mine." Louis smiles politely and reciprocates the embrace before they pull
away.

Thankfully for Louis' lack of other words to say, there is no awkward silence to follow.
Cassandra simply disengages him from Harry to loop her arm through his instead. It's not
forward behaviour and his Dominus doesn't seem to be alarmed, but Louis still nervously
chews his lip.

"I'm stealing your mate, H." She declares, guiding Louis away from their vehicle up onto the
sidewalk. "Come in and join us!"

Harry is left to lock up their SUV and hasten after them for the sake of ensuring Louis wasn't
in any risky situations. His mate seemed perfectly fine and at ease with Cassandra's excitable
ways, as observed from outside while they were just indoors. Harry tucks his phone and keys
away in his pocket before entering the air-conditioned environment scented with canvas
paper and potpourri.

Cassandra offers Louis a glass of champagne that he declines, making her sceptical. "Hate
alcohol?"

"Yes but-" He feels proud when she laughs. "-I actually can't drink alcohol."
"Oh." She processes what he implies by that shortly after her first sip. "Oh. Congratulations!"

Louis is roped into another one of her hugs and he gets to see Harry watching them over her
shoulder, his Dominus sipping from a glass of something amber. "Thank you."

"I always knew Harry wanted to be a father as early as possible." Cassandra walks him
through throws of people and smaller circles, her art work getting little notice by herself.
"How far along are you?"

"Um- Five months." He answers proudly, placing a hand over his baby bump that's shielded
with cloth.

"That's wonderful." She takes him to the set-up of their catering company after he never
suspected that she had this intention. "Can I have a bottle of water and one of those cinnamon
rolls you showed me earlier?"

Louis hadn't heard her request from the chef and his waiters because he's constantly scanning
the room for Harry. His senses were heightened because of him carrying such a strong pup,
and for that reason he could make out traces of Harry's scent in the air. It was like his
Dominus was soothing him without being there.

"Oh." He's a little lost for words when Cassandra hands him a small plate with a warm sugary
treat and bottle of chilled Avian. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." She dismisses his gratitude. Louis thinks he could really befriend this
woman, who surpassed the usually dishonest facade and turned out to be actually genuine.
"So tell me more about my old friend."

"Harry?" Louis appreciates that she walks at his pace and they stop in front an oil painting of
someone nude yet melded with the bright colour choice of red and yellow. "I feel like I
should be asking you this question instead."

"Okay, fair enough." Cassandra cracks her knuckles and waves at someone a distance from
them. She turns back to Louis with her hands folded together and lips pursed. "Does he still
choose to consume those peanut sweets by the dozen?"

Louis remembers every single shopping trip of theirs and smiles a little. "Yeah he does."

"And-" Cassandra stands with one shoe crossed over the other, making it a miracle that she
doesn't fall over. "-what about his snoring?"

"He still-" Louis stops himself when he realises what she's basing her question on. How
would she know about his snoring?

"Oh gosh I'm sorry." Cassandra drops her face into her hands. "I know what that must sound
like. We never.....- We were never more than friends."
Louis feels better, lighter in his chest hearing this from her. He doesn't like the path this
conversation has taken but Cassandra seems to be trying very hard and he won't ever
disregard that. "I wasn't- Okay, I was thinking that. Thank you for the clarification."

Cassandra screws her mouth up in an apologetic smile. "His family and mine were very
close. They used to have these big dinners and both families ended up staying in either
home."

At that moment when Louis is about to ask that very question, Harry makes an appearance.
The Dominus touches his shoulder then his arm slides around his back to settle on his hip. It's
automatic that Louis leans into his side and is relaxed by his Dominus' kiss to his temple.

"Excuse me." Harry cleared his throat and nodded in the direction of someone approaching
their meeting.

Cassandra was easily distracted by the handsome young man in a tuxedo and effortlessly
styled hair. She noticed Harry guiding Louis away from the paintings. "Stick around, okay?"

She got a brief wave from Harry and departing smile from Louis although the latter was
confused about why he was being ushered away. Harry had his hand on the small of Louis'
back, helping him wade through the people and unknown faces. They only stop to breathe
after they're back outside directly under the moon and stars, Harry placing his hands on
Louis' hips to turn him around.

"What's wrong?" Louis asks the man that's smiling goofily and resting their foreheads
together. "Harry?"

His Dominus took to tightening the hold on his hips, raising it to waist and caging him in
before dipping to connect their lips. Louis couldn't deny him at that and kisses Harry back
with as much fervour as the man offered to him.

"We're not staying here." Harry announced in the tiny space between their lips when he
pulled away, sliding his hand down to take Louis'.

"What?" Louis was thoroughly thrown overboard here. He was gently tugged along the
sidewalk and the people, drunk or otherwise, with no guidance. "My love, where are we
going?"

"I can always read you, haud mirum." Harry urged Louis ahead of himself and squeezed his
sides, growling playfully into the boy's neck. "I can tell you didn't want to be there."

"Harry." Louis pouted and insisted they halt for a bit, looking up into those predatorial green
eyes under the dim illumination of a flickering streetlight. "This isn't about me."

Harry smiles to comfort him, a dimple deepening on one side from his smirk that follows. "If
so then my pup didn't want to be in there so I'm taking you both elsewhere."
They start walking again, slower this time now that they're out of the gallery's vicinity, and
Louis is ahead of Harry where the Dominus can protect him. Harry tugs him to a pause when
they're in front of a tiny Indian take-away that suits his liking.

Louis still hangs off Harry's arm with both his hands clinging to it, endeared by this small
establishment's warmth and atmosphere. The take-away joint was less than busy inside, an
orange light cast down on a dozen or so tables. He leaned in to whimper tiredly and nuzzle
Harry's shoulder.

"What are we doing here, my love?" He asks softly, clutched possessively around his middle
by both Harry's arms.

"I don't have an answer other than spontaneity." Harry pats Louis' hip and let's his mate skip
ahead of him into the building.

They do the uncoordinated and unprecidated task of grabbing a menu from the counter and
sitting together at a small wooden table with floral table mats. Instead of separate meals and
considering they're being unpredictable, they share an order of the largest sub sandwich the
restaurant makes.

"Be honest with me, my love." Louis knots their fingers into one unit on the table and looks
Harry in the eye. "Why did we leave?"

Harry may have been unconventionally dopey before but he sobers majorly now, sighing as
he sits back and unbuttons his suit jacket. "I realised it was a mistake going there."

"How so?" Louis rests his chin on his laced fingers, crossing his ankles under the table.

"Cassandra is part of my past, a part I'd rather not revisit." Harry clears his throat as their
food arrives and his eyes grow questionably wide.

Louis giggles behind his hand, head tossed back as that laughter escalates into audible
amusement. Their food was huge and enough to feed an entire town. Nonetheless, Louis
picked out pieces of chicken, cheese and egg with his fork to nibble on.

"It's not a.....part where you two were-"

"No." Harry cuts his rambling off with a disguised frown and upward curl to his lip that was
hateful. "Despite the freedom that Dominus' are given at home, you are the only one I ever
made love to."

*****

Louis and Harry got back to their hotel room at an hour before midnight. The former went to
set the pot on boil for his decaffeinated tea and Harry stripped for a shower. Louis was
yawning as he watched the kettle light blinking at him, and dragged his feet to the shower
after his Dominus.
"Isn't this a pleasant surprise." Harry welcomed Louis into his shower, wrapping his mate up
in his arms and sharing the water's spray with him.

"I'm tired." Louis complained futilely. He closed his eyes while resting his weight on Harry.

"I know, haud mirum." Harry kissed his forehead and both eyelids before taking a sponge to
wash his precious better half from head to toe. "I'll take care of you for the rest of the night."

Harry stuck true to his word and while Louis was lazy about it, he scrubbed the boy clean and
carried him bridal style out of the bathroom. Louis was dressed in an old T-shirt with a hole
in the shoulder and shorts that left enough skin on display for the Dominus. His dutiful Alpha
mate made him his tea and tucked him in with sheets and all the pillows.

"Better?" Harry crawled up to him with a smile causing the corners of his lips to twitch. He
kissed his mate's hot, bitter lips and laid himself down between Louis' thighs.

"Let's go home tomorrow." Louis says after finishing his tea and settles down to comb
through Harry's lengthy curls.

The Dominus grunts consentually into his belly, holding onto both sides with his eyes closed
and scent relaxing the pup growing in him. "I miss home as well, haud mirum."

*****

They're all packed up and ready to bid adieu to the city until they absolutely must revisit it
again. Things start to go wrong at that moment.

When Louis first wakes up on his own at two in the morning to sever stomach cramps and
nausea he though it was food poisoning. Before he could make it out of bed and wake Harry
up, the ill sensation was gone and he could sleep again.

He woke up again when the sun was just coming up, gagging on the foulest taste in his
mouth. Helplessly, he could only grab the bin in time to upheave everything he'd eaten in the
last twenty four hours. Louis held onto his middle where it felt like someone had screwed an
iron belt to tighten around him.

Harry helped him by laying on the floor without his prosthetic and listening when Louis said
he didn't want to get back into bed. They slept together on the floor with one pillow and a
comforter.

All was well for a long time after that. Louis slept in late and Harry let him, guarding his
slightly overheated mate by never leaving his side. The Dominus wiped him down with cool
flannels and cloth multiple times but Louis was burning up. His mate whimpered and
squirmed in his sleep, always clutching the sides of his baby bump.

"Is that you, vegrandis mirum?" Harry asked Louis' belly with his lips pressed to it. He
wondered if the baby was causing all Louis' symptoms.
His unborn pup could not answer him but Harry hoped he lulled the over-active foetus to
sleep. That hope was flung out the window when Louis shot up, screaming bloody murder
with tears streaking his face and expression oh so pained. Louis was exhausted and it was
easy to tell with the darkness framing his eyes and the cold shudders he experienced.

"What hurts, my lover?" Harry pulled Louis onto his lap on the floor, listening to Louis' deep
breaths and rubbing the baby bump gently. "Talk to me, haud mirum."

"My baby!" Louis shrieked, craning his neck backward as he tried not to succumb to the
excruciating pain that was tearing him open. "M-Make it stop, I can't-"

The hurt was too much, the pain too unrelenting. It felt like someone lit a fire inside him and
let it run rampant on all his organs. There was a blade in his womb prodding constantly from
the inside out and Louis felt the stretch, the crack in his ribs from such anguish. Everything
turned black as he passed out from shock.

Harry had already dialled the ambulance because something was soaking into his boxers
from Louis. He feared the worst at the smell of blood and cupped Louis' baby bump,
growling helplessly into the unconscious boy's neck. He felt a nudge under his palm and upon
looking, lost all reason not to howl when he saw a protrusion in Louis' bump caused by the
strain of his pup reaching outward.

*****

Louis' been in the hospital in a private room for an hour now. He woke up exhausted and
malnourished but not in the mood to eat anything so the nurse had to provide him with a
glucose IV drip. Harry sat in a chair next to him, his inner Alpha shaken up with recent
events.

His mate was most concerned about their pup, ignorant of everything besides their little
family. It struck him like thunder that something might have gone awry.

"I can feel it." Louis was rubbing over his bump that appeared to the naked eye as if it had
grown in just an hour. "Something is wrong."

Harry lifted his head from where he's got Louis' pulse pressed to his cheek. "Haud mirum,
nothing is wrong."

Louis was trying already to not be pessimistic. His bleeding had stopped but the pain in his
mid section was just as powerful. "I hope so, my love."

A doctor joined them soon and she was young but very welcoming. Her name was Patty and
she pulled a few giggles from Louis actually asking him to shift his hospital gown so they
can do a scan Patty warned him that the gel would be cold and Harry stood up violently
enough to knock his chair over.

"Alright." She pressed the wand down somewhere low on his bump and it was beginning to
hurt. "You're hurting him." Harry growled, ignoring the squeeze he got from Louis' fingers
between his.
"I can't help it, Dominus. See this?" She pointed first to large grey area and then a distinct
white blob. Faint human features were noticeable. "That's your pup right there."

Louis was fawning over the beauty inside him that was taking energy from him and growing
into a healthy baby. Harry was far more aware of the confusion on their doctor's face. He all
but shook with rage at this point and could not take another second of naivety.

"What happened?" Louis asked when the image on the screen flickered, trying to sit up but
encouraged back down by his Dominus.

"I saw that." Patty was biting her lip and she took out something electronic from her pocket
to page another doctor. "This is......new."

Before Harry could demand she elaborate, another medical personnel came through the door.
He was elder and clearly Dominus himself. Harry greeted him with a stiff nod while Louis
shook his hand, slipping back into a tired state.

Harry looked at the monitor with the live image of their pup again and he frowned because
something about the white section had changed.

Patty briefed the new doctor with an old frame depicting the original ultrasound. Everything
was hushed and Louis exploded. "God damn it This is happening inside me and this is my
baby, tell me what's happening!"

Harry gave him a kiss on his mating mark for being so bold when it came it something so
important. Patty had stepped down from her duty here and let the other doctor take over.

"I apologise." He smiled kindly but shallowly. "I'm doctor Cornwell and my expertise lies
solely in special cases like yours."

Louis looked at Patty's colleague flabbergasted. "My pup is a special case?"

"Yes." Cornwell moved the ultrasound machine at an angle to make the image more visible.
He pointed to an even more specific portion of the white foetus. "That is a paw."

Harry heard his heart beating and then suddenly stop. His mate was confused. "A paw?"

"Yes." Cornwell was patient despite his Dominus status and gender role. "Your Dominus is a
wolf?"

"I am." Harry answered, his arms crossed over his chest and Louis' hand still caught in the
tangle.

"I have some questions for you." Cornwell flipped two pages on the metallic clipboard. "Is
your bloodline a pure one?"

"Yes."
"Name of that bloodline?" Cornwell scribbled speedily.

"Styles."

"How far back in the family tree can you go back before the first sign of doubt?"

Harry had to think about this one, albeit it didn't take him long. "Little over two hundred
years." Cornwell looked up from his clipboard to Harry's face. "That's old enough then."

"Old enough for what?" Louis questioned impatiently. He'd be tapping his foot and pacing if
it weren't for obvious restrictions.

Dr. Cornwell capped his pen and tucked the clipboard under his arm. He handed Louis a
sonogram printed before the flicker on the monitor. "Can you see the difference?"

"Vaguely." Louis answers him honestly, looking between the screen and his photograph.

"What your pup is attempting to do is something that hasn't been done in over a hundred
years." Dr. Cornwell made sure to look at Harry when he said the time. "A hundred years ago
birthing in wolf forms was forbidden, because a few years prior to that that process was
killing every mother that tried."

Louis gasps at the gory news. He glanced at the bump he was sporting and wanted more than
anything to keep his baby safe.

"Your baby is trying to switch forms in your womb." Dr. Cornwell stated it bluntly to make it
clear. "It's the reason for your expanded bump and recently the pain you've been
experiencing."

"What do we do about this?" Harry asks, running a hand through his hair and tugging angrily
on the curls.

"I want Louis to stay in this hospital for the remainder of his pregnancy." He says, pulling out
a small writing pad and clicking his pen to jot something down. "This behaviour on the part
of the foetus is unpredictable. Here, I can discourage that development without stunting his
growth."

Louis is on board for anything that will keep his pup alive and allow him an opportunity to
see his baby. "What....How did this happen after a hundred years?"

Dr. Cornwell asks Patty to take his note for him to someone before turning back to them.
"Your Dominus' genes are from a pure bloodline, the strongest genes to have. The possibility
of skipping a generation is very high so instead of a mate then experiencing this, it chose to
resurface now. Don't worry, Louis. I'll make sure you and your pup come out of this just
fine."

"Have you handled someone else's case like this?" The boy asked, half hidden in his Alpha
mate's chest while Harry wiped his belly clean.
Dr. Cornwell didn't answer beyond a short smile and stepping out into the hall.
 Chapter 16

Louis has been handling all of his ten days in the hospital under medically professional
supervision excellently. Harry made enquiries to have him transferred into a private wing
where there would be minimal hindrances. The Dominus was exceedingly proud of his
darling mate, who took every test in his stride and smiled every day.

Louis had experienced extreme highs and lows because of the hormones flooding his system.
He sobbed whenever he thought about everything that could go wrong and burst into ecstasy
when his Dominus reminded him that he was far from alone in this mating.

The Dominus spent every night in the hopsital with Louis. The chief of surgery had warned
him about breaking hospital policy but Harry was under too much pressure to oblige. He had
bags brought in from the hotel or newly purchased for Louis to change or himself.

However, Harry's least favourite day has to be today.

Louis has been throwing up everything he ate which forced his doctor to enable a glucose
drip into his IV. He was grouchy and tired which did nothing good for uplifting his mood on
the day that his family was supposed to visit.

As a mated couple meant to establish their own footing in the world, Louis begging Harry to
bring his family to him was forbidden. He was not allowed under any certain circumstances
to see them again because their generally warped societal view dictated that such an act
displayed fervent disloyalty to his Dominus.

Nonetheless, Harry made the call and Louis' family will be spending a whole hour with him.
He would do anything to make his emotional, unstable mate happier again.

"Are you awake, haud mirum?" Harry's knuckles caressed Louis' delicate cheekbone and
rubbed his side soothingly.

Their current position on the hospital bed had to look uncomfortable to any outsider. Harry
abandoned his prosthetic in favour of climbing in under his mate, dragging Louis onto his
chest and between his legs. Louis was safest there, protected by Harry's arms and relaxed by
the steady beat of his heart.

Louis mumbled something incoherent into the man's collarbone.

His hair was messy and he complained every hour that his breath was awful because of not
showering in two days under doctor's orders. He fell asleep under Harry's chin for thirty
minutes at a time before something nauseating rocketed through his frail body and he awoke
for a round of misery.
"My lover." Harry tilted Louis' head back by his chin, smiling at the familiar shade of oceanic
blue unveiled by heavy eyelids. He pecks Louis' nose. "Don't sleep if you can't."

Louis hid himself again in the shape of a tiny ball on Harry's chest and minded his IV that
was inserted in his arm. He couldn't help the tears that rolled down his cheeks onto Harry's
shirt. "But I'm so tired."

"Shh." Harry acted quickly to comfort his crying mate, massaging the especially annoying
muscle at the base of Louis' spine. "Hush, my love. Don't cry."

"But I'm hungry." Louis stretched himself out again, sniffling as he buried his face in Harry's
neck.

His Dominus held onto his forearm until after Louis stopped shifting, saving the IV needle
from destruction. He let that arm wrap around his neck too afterwards while Louis kept his
graceful baby bump protected between them.

"Oh love." Harry chuckled at Louis' antics, drawing the covers up to ensure that the boy was
properly insulated. "Solid food isn't an option right now."

Louis sighed shakily and nibbled mindlessly on Harry's clavicle. "They're putting sugar in my
veins."

"In a way, yes." Harry closed his eyes and kissed Louis' bond mark, a proud herald of his
beholding Harry's teethmarks and all their courtship content in one deep bite. "How does my
pup feel?"

"A little restless." Louis turned into a specimen of doe-eyed fondness when he spoke about
their baby, frown easing up and muscles relaxing. "A lothungry."

"Baby." Harry growled but it wasn't all playful or serious, a tinge of horrid sadness lacing the
sound. His mate asking for something he cannot provide broke his heart.

Louis knew how to uplift Harry when he felt low and looked his Dominus in the eye, small
smile on his pink lips and light mirth in his almost grey eyes. He takes the man's hand and
kisses Harry's lips. As he talks, their fingers become more and more entangled.

"Your pup says he loves you." Louis whispers against Harry's plump, suspiciously bitter lips.
"And he knows his Daddy is just doing what will keep him healthy."

Harry stares at his perfect pregnant mate for a minute after the boy says this to him. He
frames Louis' face and suddenly slots their lips together, moving them together and creasing
his brow in concentration. Louis is so precious, so gentle. He deserved nothing but total, utter
dedication from his Dominus.

Being reminded of the session when their doctor conducted four extensive examinations to
ascertain the gender of their pup was also enough to make knots tighten in his abdomen. A
male as an heir made every Dominus proud, the same way a little princess would. Harry was
just ecstatic to have his first-born so soon.

"My beautiful, beautiful mate." Harry kisses Louis' cheeks and forehead. "What did I do to
deserve you?"

"Well-" Louis went for sassy instead of sentimental and cuddled up to Harry again. "-you
kidnapped me."

Harry pinched his hip and sneakily wedged his arm around Louis, palm flat over the boy's
belly. "As your captor then, I believe I've done a decent job of taking care of you."

Louis giggles and it's the first time in over twenty hours that Harry's heard that wonderful
sound. "Was that a dirty joke, Mr. Styles?"

It wasn't his nature to gasp or be surprised. Harry merely smirked so prominently that his
dimples deepened and he made Louis blush intensely.

"How rude of you, my love." Louis swats Harry's pectoral but it feels like hardly a swipe for
the man. "You are forbidden from having such a naughty sense of humour with the baby."

"I hardly knew I had this sense of humour to begin with, haud mirum." Harry muses while he
insists that Louis become the smallest form he can whilst cradled against him.

Louis reaches up to nuzzle the side of Harry's neck and whine when the Alpha's chest
rumbled possessively. He enjoyed Harry's short but effective moments of utter dominance
where he lived up to his intimidating status. Those were usually the times Harry crawled over
him and protected him physically from any harm, despite the lack of any.

"We haven't-" Louis let's his eyes slip shut and mindlessly picks at the sewn fabric of Harry's
shirt. "-talked about the baby."

Harry makes a surprised noise in his throat that came from his wolf. "I disagree, my lover.
Our baby is all we've talked about."

"I mean names." Louis clarifies with a giggle. "Your son has to have a name just as beautiful
as he."

Harry won't admit to the helpless grumble his wolf made at the reminder of his pup growing,
developing. He presses his lips to Louis' forehead. "Have you thought of any names as yet?"

"A few." Louis replies, not half as harmless or innocent as he wants to come across. "What
about you?"

"I do have something to contribute." Harry offers quietly, withdrawing into doubt. "Just one
request, haud mirum."
"Don't tell me yet." Louis pushes himself into sitting upright and his eyes twinkle with
mischief. "Doctor said I could get in the tub today. Join me and we'll talk about it there."

Harry pretends to groan but his persistent kneading of Louis soft hips say otherwise. "Well, I
might have turned the most innocent creature I'd ever seen into a certain minx."

Louis gasps and hides his face behind his hands, laughing to himself as his cheeks heat up
inexplicably. Despite that, Harry gets into the bath with Louis because his mate and pup
asked that of him. The doctor advised that Louis mix rough salt into the bath water and Harry
took care of that before they got in, now feeling the unkind grains rubbing against his thigh.

His lovely mate sat atop his lap, more lounging like a contended feline. Shorter but tender,
shaven legs folded over Harry's lap while Louis' head rested gently on his hunched shoulder.
Smaller hands linked to daintier wrists were holding onto Harry's pectorals or fingers tightly.

"Tell me now." Louis whispers into the tranquility of their personal bubble, much too lost in
the feeling of being squeaky clean.

Harry lathered up a coarse sponge and dragged it over Louis' arm, letting the white soap suds
roll down into the water. He cleared his throat. "My grandfather's name was Rayleigh. He
meant a great deal to me."

Louis hummed after Harry's little speech. "Would you like me to let you name our son
Rayleigh?"

"Not entirely, no." Harry chuckled and worked smoothly over Louis' hip with the sponge.
"Possibly just his middle name?"

"Rayleigh." Louis pronounced the word without exaggeration, shuffling his way for securely
onto Harry's lap so his back fitted against the man's chest. "I'm okay with Rayleigh being his
middle name."

"Thank you." Harry grinned but it was smothered by the numerous kisses he peppered along
Louis' honeyed neck. "You have the honour of picking our pup's first name."

"We're a team, you know." Louis observes how Harry takes extra long rubbing over his taut
belly. "We'll make a shortlist."

"Alright." Harry consents, thumbing around Louis' slightly protruding belly button and
flattening his palm over the bump.

"Daniel?" Louis frames his pregnant front with both hands.

"No." Harry presses his lips against Louis' temple, dropping the sponge and covering Louis'
hands with his. "Sebastian?"

"No." Louis pouts. "That's a cat name."

"My apologies then." Harry chuckles and tries again. "Frederick."

"Freddie." Louis drags the syllables with a roll of his tongue. "I like it. James?"

"Too common for me, haud mirum." Harry protests.

Louis bends his knees so they peek out barely above the water and leans back against his
Dominus. "Eli or Elijah."

"No to the first, maybe to the second." Harry's arms surface from the water and he rests them
on either side of the tub, offering a throne of himself for his mate.

"Aryan." Louis offers animatedly, still holding on to his very pregnant bump reverently and
thinking about how long he's been waiting to pounce with that suggestion.

Harry pauses for a moment. The name is perfect for their little lion, something proud and
bold. "I like Aryan far more than Elijah or Freddie."

"Me too." Louis blushes, bursting into giggles when Harry seizes an opportunity to grasp him
around the waist and have the Dominus' face buried in his neck.

"I love the name, haud mirum." Harry's raspy breaths tickle Louis' skin. "Aryan Rayleigh."

"Aryan Rayleigh Styles." Louis corrected, fingers forced into lacing themselves between
Harry's and squeaking when his Dominus bit his bond mark. "H-Harry, what are you doing?"

Harry's tongue ran over the prominent scar and he pulled off his mate with a smirk. "Nothing,
haud mirum."

Louis raised a skeptical brow and refrained from squirming in Harry's lap when he began to
feel restless. "Will we have to get married when we move to the city?"

Harry was only partially shocked by the question, until he deciphered why his mate was
asking. Their courtship and bond followed old tradition in which mating rituals took
presidence over innovations by modern society.

A Dominus finds a mate, proves themself to their mate and they bond. The mate lost their
family name to bond with a Dominus. In modern times, they have come to understand that
marriage takes precidence over mating rituals. Bonded couples will either marry in common
law or live quietly without officiating anything.

"No, haud mirum." Harry clears his throat and murmurs his response into Louis' throat. "You
have my mark and I have you. There is no need for anything else."

"Oh." Louis hummed, appeased as he was. He disagreed with the concept of marriage that
was reversible and taken by people today in despicable lightheartedness.

A mating was far stronger, the way things were meant to be. Wolves mated as Alpha and
Omega and when hybrids developed, the Alpha and his mate. That custom stayed with
traditional communities to present day and moving to the city would be a breath of air that's
too fresh.

"Would you like to be married?" Harry asks when his mate is a little lost in thought. "I could
put a ring on your finger, make you wear all white for me."

Louis giggled and wrapped his whole hand around Harry's boney middle finger. "Nah uh."

"You could look so precious, haud mirum." Harry tried playfully to convince Louis though he
himself wasn't willing to stomach the attributes of marriage. "I love you so much, my lover,
that sometimes I fear you never really belonged to me."

"Oh no, my love." Louis unfolds one of Harry's fists and places it over his belly. "Is this not
enough to make you believe?"

"I believe now." Harry chuckles and his eyes soften to pure adoration when he traces the
contours of Louis' bump. "I put this pup in you."

"Harry." Louis groans and swats his Dominus' arm. "Don't say it like that."

Harry rests his chin on Louis' shoulder and studies one of the faint bruises on his mate's belly.
Their pup would kick relentlessly and often those sessions ended in harm being done to
Louis. It has since become uneven yellow or dull blue to heal quicker.

"My sincerest apologies, haud mirum." Harry said it to please his blushing mate but the smirk
donned by his facial features were unconvincing. "I've arranged for your family to visit today.
Are you excited?"

"Very excited." Louis brightens instantaneously at the mention of his family's visit. "Thank
you for arranging it. I know it's.....unconventional."

"I'd go against every law of the universe to please you." Harry proclaims with a fond nuzzle
to Louis' neck. "I'm sorry that they can't be with you for more than an hour."

"An hour is long enough, my love. I swear." The boy sloshes that water around them by
pushing himself upright. "My grandmother said she'll bring me her famous spaghetti and
meatballs."

"Did she now?" Harry listens to his Louis with an endearing smile, rubbing the boy's delicate
sides repeatedly with smooth strokes.

There was a little bit of a rumble causing Harry's chest to vibrate the way it does before his
wolf growls. The sound was alarming to Louis as it partially signalled distress on behalf of
his Dominus, and he craned his neck to look into those green eyes. Harry met his gaze with a
wry smile and wrapped his hand around Louis' neck, thumb brushing back and forth over his
bond mark.
"What's wrong?" Louis held onto Harry's steel wrist and asked softly. "Are you upset about
something?"

"Nothing of the sort, my lover." Harry tried to lie about it but their bond was much too strong,
allowing no false truths to travel between them.

Louis wasn't having any of it and he forced Harry's hand off him, turning around on his knees
and letting his bump rest between them. Harry enjoyed this position very much, too much. He
framed his mate's belly with both hands and bit his lip while Louis sat back on his calves.

"Tell me. I insist." Louis wrapped his arms stubbornly around Harry's neck, twirling the
man's chocolate curls around his slender fingers.

Harry sighs but it's far from annoyed and relents easily. A lapful of a beautiful mate he calls
his own is hardly something he can resist. "A Dominus despises moments when his mate
must spend time with others."

"Ah." Louis' cheeks heat up as he leans forward to press his forehead against Harry's, lips
quirked in a little smirk. "And you are Dominus."

"Yes." Harry keeps petting Louis' sides from the lost traces of the boy's ribcage down to his
perfectly smooth hips. "I am Dominus and that hour will be the most painful for me."

"No it won't." Louis argues sweetly, giving his Dominus' nose a quick peck. "You will be
with me the whole time."

Harry turns his face into Louis' neck and breathes traiterously slow, cooling the water
droplets already on his mate's skin. "That would be my highest honour at the time."

*****

Louis' family made haste in their trip from his hometown to where he was now, taking a mere
two hours of travel. He was just being encouraged by his persistent and caring Dominus to
not neglect the last of his sandwich when a nurse walked in.

"Your family's here." Harry whispers in his ear after giving the nurse a terse nod so she can
leave.

Excitement came bubbling to the surface and Louis leaned forward in his perch between
Harry's legs. Their immodest position was concealed by the bed's covers and his own quilt
draped over them. Louis' legs were crossed over Harry's thighs and the Dominus could sit
back against the pillows, taking an early opportunity to zone out.

His grandmother was the first to bustle into the private room and rush to his side. Nothing
about her had changed despite ageing a few more months. She still smelled like honey and
vinegar when she smothered his cheek with kisses and shivered a little with restrained tears.

"Ma." Louis missed his family so much that it was hard for him not to tear up.
"Oh, moonpie." His grandmother wiped away those stray flows of dampness and kissed his
forehead.

Harry may not have been happy to witness it but he said nothing, deepset eyes watching over
other things now. He had a grip of steel on Louis' waist, fastening their bodies together
because for the next hour he's going to be faced with a whirlwind of threats.

Louis' mother embraced her son and kissed both cheeks of his, while the boy's father did
hardly anything beyond pressing his lips to Louis' forehead. It's what Dominus fathers
became when they grew old in too traditional societies and Harry observed that now, vowing
to never let this tense relationship reach his own family.

Three generations of a bloodline fawn over Louis' sonogram photos and congratulate him
endlessly. Louis is subtle about not letting anyone have the chance to ask to see his bump,
mainly because Harry's arms are so unwielding and protective around his middle.

"Almost six months is a long time, moonpie." Louis' grandmother says from her seat beside
the bed. "Do you know the gender yet?"

"A boy." He answers, cheeks dusted with a light pink and all fondness for his baby.

Louis' fingers first lace themselves into their home with Harry's. That unit remains resting on
his taut belly, as encouragement he feels Harry lean forward so their bodies rest in a back-to-
chest connection. His Dominus was that comfort meant to encompass him, to mean more
than anything else ever could.

Harry hears Louis gush about detail concerning their baby except the reason why he's been
admitted to this hospital for the rest of his term. He doesn't question the boy either for the
sake of respecting their privacy.

"Any names then?" Louis' grandmother presses, half out of her chair with anxiety and
eagerness to hear an answer.

"We've actually just chosen a name." Louis bites his tongue after that.

He would like for it to be a surpise for his family to hear the name of his first born, their first
grandchild. However, beyond this day they will never see his baby because of societal
restrictions and the reminder makes Louis' heart heavy.

"Aryan." Louis forces himself to say, to inform his family of their little miracle's name.
"Aryan Rayleigh Styles."

"Oh, love." His grandmother clapped her hands together from sheer excitement. "That's a
beautiful name. He's going to be so perfect. Big and strong, yes."

*****

"Let me speak with my heir."

Louis giggled blissfully and laid back so that Harry may have access to his bump. Via their
most recent ultrasound that took place thirty minutes after Louis' family departed, they've
discovered that their pup has finally settled into human form. Little Aryan has created a lot of
space for himself to move in Louis' womb and therefore kept his parents in the hospital.

Harry lowered himself to be nearer to Louis' tummy, hiking the boy's hospital gown up past
his undies and bared all the taut, golden skin to his palms. It was his mate that was most
allowed to look at Louis this exposed and would obtain that honour as often as possible.

Both hands framed his beloved's baby bump, his fingers fanned out to secure either side. He
kissed Louis' protruding belly button twice over as a little gift of affection to his unborn love.
The presence of his baby always made Harry a little weak, reminded him that he was a father
and had to protect a family of his own.

If he closed his eyes and set his cheek on Louis' belly, he'd breathe deeply and inhale the
scent of his pup. He could sense his little one shifting around needlessly inside his mate. It
was a warm sensation that overtook his senses and made him most proud.

"Your pup is extremely well behaved." Louis comments with a fond smile, a hand combing
through Harry's curls one stroke at a time.

"Did you expect anything less, haud mirum?" Harry smirked and littered kisses over Louis'
belly. "I am very excited to meet this little one."

"As am I." Louis closes his eyes let's the feeling of Harry's arms around him, assuring lips on
his skin soothe him. "He....feels like a big baby."

"Does he?" Harry pulled himself up onto his mate's side so he could cuddle the boy. "Our pup
started out quite little, haud mirum."

Louis hummed distractedly and unconsciously squirmed in an effort to get comfortable.

Being on his side was taxing already while he was far from being in need of sleep. He took
Harry's hand and laced their fingers together to make one unit.

"My lover." Harry gripped Louis' hip with a strangled moan. "Try not to shift too much
please."

"Oh." Louis froze immediately but felt a flood of heat rising to his cheeks when he felt a
bulge where there can't be one at such an awkward time. "D-Dominus."

"Shh." Harry growled from an inner Alpha and tried to contain himself, the urges that were
reuining his self control. He would never ask his beloved to satisfy him. "Ignore me, haud
mirum. Try to get some sleep."

"I can't ignore you." Louis was stopped from rolling over and he huffed irritably, wanting to
do something about their situation. He hasn't had his mate's touch in this way for so long and
he's craving it by now. "Alpha, please."
"Nah uh, beloved." Harry gave his mate a kiss on his cheek, dangerously close to his mouth.
"Rest for me."

Louis whimpered and made a high-pitched whine that forced Harry's inner wolf to respond,
to growl protectively and possessively. The Dominus could smell the beginnings of Louis'
slick, sucking in a sharp inhale at the hints of sweetness. He slipped a hand lower to cup
Louis' bump, shield it. His chest rumbled with heated vibrations when a faint wet patch was
promised at the back of Louis' hospital gown.

"Dominus." Louis arched his neck, offering his neck with his bond mark for Harry to kiss
relentlessly. "Have me. I'm yours."

Harry was concerned about safety at the moment. He hesitated. "Right here, haud mirum?"

Louis' eyes were bright with hope and yearning for the edge his Dominus' attention gave him.
Harry's gaze was darkening with lust, undeniable fervour for his delicious mate.

"Please." Was all Louis had to mumble, his fingers extended to caress Harry's stubbly jaw.

Harry groaned as he gave in to mutual lust and drew the covers up, hiding them both under it.
All doubt flew out the window as he flipped up the back of Louis' hospital gown and felt the
dampness between his mate's cheeks, his fingers getting drenched in it when he investigated.

"My poor haud mirum." Harry's mouth connected with Louis' messily while worked
hurriedly to undo the string on his pants. "I've neglected you."

Louis let out a long, loud moan when he felt Harry sink into him. His slick dripped out of
him and lubed up his walls sufficiently for the path in, gasping breathlessly. Harry's growls
were endless and deep, his fist digging into the mattress over Louis' hip.

Harry fully sheathed himself inside his lovely mate, buried to the hilt in the warmest crevice.
He felt Louis' silky walls clenching around him, slick leaking out from their connection as his
c*ck throbbed desperately. A knot was not going to be difficult to make when he's so aroused
already.

The Dominus remained still at first, weighing down the blanket as his hips involuntarily
jerked to get deeper. He nuzzled Louis' neck eagerly and suckled lightly on the skin to leave
bruises around his bond mark. Louis felt like Harry's dream and all his wishes come true,
wrapped tightly around him to give him pleasure.

Louis' nails dug into the back of Harry's hand, ice travelling through his veins in the form of
racing horses and crashing waves of intensity. He wants to kiss his Dominus and so turns his
head to unite their lips, their connection maintaining the passion that rocked their sexually
charged atmosphere.

"A-Ah." Louis breathed raggedly into Harry's mouth. His Dominus started to move slow and
careful, knocking the air out of his lungs in broken exhales.
Harry was watching him fall apart. His intense green eyes stared down at him while Louis
whimpered and his lips quivered, unable to look away from his Dominus. Hips met his and
pulled away, leaving him to part his legs and let Harry pick one up to set on his hip. The
stretch was magnificent after that. Louis screwed his eyes shut and enjoyed each athletic
thrust aimed at his sweet spot.

Harry's length pushed into him and each time rubbed Louis' walls raw, the girth too wide for
it to accommodate. Louis bit his pillow to keep from screaming, failing once when Harry's
hand sneaked around him to grip his own ignored erection.

"Oh p-please." He desperately pleaded with Harry. His jaw clenched and his hand wrapped
around Harry's middle finger.

"Hush, my lover." Harry looked to make sure they were still alone, tightening his hold on
Louis' thigh before moving faster.

He was struggling to be gentle, pounding into Louis' body from behind with his face buried
in the boy's neck. Each thrust was met with Louis' lovely noises and enthusiasm. Harry
pumped Louis' length to make him climax first, his abdomen clenching from his rapidly
approaching orgasm. Louis felt so close that he stopped being quiet and let his body be
rocked with Harry's, sweat rolling down his skin.

They had to stop when the door to their private room creaked. Harry growled deeply to warn
Louis turned his arm around the boy to steel, stilling the boy's shuddering form.

Harry was breathless and wide-eyed, avoiding looking at the door. "What?"

"Dominus, I've come to check on your mate." The nurse politely requests, blinded by their
concealing blankets from seeing their indecency.

Louis is a mess of hormones lying in Harry's arms, restrained by his Dominus to keep from
rolling his hips back. He was so full, his mate's knot growing inside him to keep them locked
together.

"Check what?" Harry doesn't mean to be snappy but he came across as so because his mate
was on his c*ck and unable to move.

"Vitals." She was already moving around the bed to read the monitors, scribbling things
down on Louis' charts. "Your heartrate is a bit high, Louis. Something bothering you?"

"No." He swallows thickly and tries to stop panting, a blush rising to his cheeks as he realises
that nothing except a blanket keeps them from being found out.

"Everything else is fine." The nurse tells them with a smile. "I'll speak with your doctor and
see what's the plan. For now, get some rest."

She leaves them after ten minutes of double-checking her data. The door closes and Harry
hardly has time to breathe before Louis is on him. He's pushed back onto the pillows while
his mate climbs on top of him, undeterred by anything. Harry looked up into the
determination evident in Louis' eyes and had to kiss the boy, praise him for such passion.

Louis rode Harry to both their orgasms for a short time, making as much noise as he wanted.
Harry ran his hands all over Louis' body while he did, exploring and touching everything. He
kissed his mate hungrily and left his lips bruised, supported Louis' curved belly and cupped
his pert bottom.

Once his knot formed, Louis was satisfied with a little sigh and leaning against him,
wrapping his arms around Harry's neck. He kissed Harry's strong pulse. "Thank you for not
saying no."

"I did say no." Harry reminded him with a jovial chuckle, wiping the splatters off Louis'
tummy. "You are very skilled at persuading me."

Louis giggled and burrowed into Harry's chest. "I love you."

"I love you, haud mirum." Harry squeezed Louis' hips. "Mother of my pup and light of my
life. You were made for me."

"Maybe you were made for me." Louis walked his fingers up Harry's torso to his clavicle.

"Certainly, my lover." Harry chuckled and helped Louis snuggle into him, kneading the boy's
thigh as it rested on his hip. "Are you tired at all?"

"Why?" Louis pouted and looked up at his Dominus with a little glint in his eye. "Eager to be
rid of me?"

Harry actually had to laugh at that. "Haud mirum, the thought of a moment without you
makes me live a thousand deaths."

*****

"Home sweet home." Louis can't help but announce it as soon as he's back inside the cabin
his Dominus brought him home to.

It will always be his and Harry's home, where their love was nurtured and consummated.
Their pup will know this home better than their new one because this is where they'll always
truly belong.

His Dominus was carrying was Louis in his arms over the threshold of their little cabin like it
was their first night. He had a bunch of daisies in his hand from a patch outside in the forest
as they'd walked a few meters to get here. The boy had a dull ache in his lower abdomen but
hardly was it something to worry over he felt.

"Lie here." Harry put Louis down on the couch they've shared over many nights in front of
the fire.

"Why?" Louis tried not to let go of his Dominus when his back hit the soft cushion. "I want
to be with you." "Yes, beloved." Harry took Louis' hands and kissed them both. "But I have
something to do."

Louis sat up on his haunches when Harry went back to the door and pulled off a coat from the
rack, shrugging it on. "Which is?"

"I must meet with my pack." Harry comes back to him, worry dawning on his features as he
gives his mate a sure kiss on his parted lips. "Give me an hour, haud mirum."

"Alright. I'll miss you." Louis frames Harry's cheek and pecks the tip of his Dominus' nose to
send him off. He puts Harry's hand on his belly to feel the presence of his pup. "We will miss
you."

Harrry suffers a groan before he presses his lips against Louis' more firmly, then let's go.

For the time he is given on his own, Louis takes one bag at a time up the stairs. After two
however he gives up and sits down on the staircase, nibbling on an apple to soothe the burn
originating in his gut. He clutches his pregnant tummy and encourages his unborn pup to
relax.

"What are you up to in there?" He questions with a little smile, making himself a cup of
Rooibos tea.

Louis hums a quiet song from a distant memory to himself and his pup, popping in an old
movie into the box television set and sitting down to enjoy it. The warmth of the tea
cascading down his raw throat does little to ease the burdensome pain creating blistering heat
in his middle region, and Louis often catches himself groaning or fidgeting.

Half an hour into a black and white film, Louis' cup falls to the ground. He screams from a
stabbing taste of anguish in his lower abdomen and feels his mouth turn dry from it. The hurt
doesn't stop, only worsens to shocking strikes of electricity slicing through his insides until
they reach his exterior.

The cup shatters and flies all over the carpet, remnants of tea splattering onto worn out rug
material. He falls onto his side on the couch and curls into a ball, crippled by the excrutiating
pain. His nails rake down the length of the cushion and he clenches his jaws so severely he
fears a break in his teeth or cut in his gum.

He prays for the hurt to end, for him to at least be able to breathe without intense flames
erupting in his lungs. None of it works and Louis starts experiencing black spots in his vision,
failing to see the light or the furniture in his own home without concentrated aches resonating
through his frontal lobe.

One strained, shaky breath later Louis feels wetness in his shorts. He's too weak and reliant to
reach down and inspect it but it becomes so overpowering. The dampness grows to drenching
his shorts through, when he looks his head feels heavy and his thoughts scattered. He blacks
out completely before any aid comes.
Louis opens his eyes in short blinks and catches glimpses of small images each time. He feels
that he's being moved the first time and it's Harry's scent that allows him the pleasure of
relief, although it is short lived because everything goes dark again.

He makes a broken sound at the back of his throat when his eyes are unlidded again at the
backlash of gruesome agony, a shout tearing through his throat.

"Louis?" Harry sounds terrified for the first time since Louis has known him, driving like a
maniac down the hill. "How are you, haud mirum? What hurts?!"

Louis can't answer because he loses consciousness again, the pain too much to handle all at
once. He has his hand over his bump to protect it, but the hurt is travelling outward from
within.

The next time Louis opens his eyes is when he's being laid down in a gurney outside the
small medical center in their town. He's too exhausted at this point and can hardly taste the
air he breathes or see anything beyond his stinging tears.

"Take care of him!" Harry is shouting, made a raving lunatic by his mate that's suffering. "Do
whatever it takes!"

Louis is on a starched pillow with his clothes being cut off and he can't tell why. Harry is
hovering over him worriedly, protecting his mate though he has failed in saving him. The
doctors do an emergency ultrasound and discover that their pup is much too ready to meet the
world.

"No." Harry shakes his head when the doctor tells him, clenched fists at his side. "My Louis
cannot have our pup now!"

The doctor was in a hurry too. If they didn't conduct a caesarian now and remove a premature
pup, Louis and the baby won't survive. "Your pup has cut something inside your made.
Internal bleeding and lack of oxygen for the baby will kill them, Dominus."

"Is there no other way?!" He shouted, blood on his hands from Louis as he rakes them
through his hair roughly.

"I'm sorry, Dominus."

Harry kicked a chair in the doctor's office and it fell over with a splintered leg, prey to his
predatorial strength. His pup should not be born here,can't be born here. Once their baby was
born in this town, under the name of this territory, they could do nothing to take him away.
All newborns belonged to the land until after their trials and initiation.

"Save him." Harry muttered, his back turned to the doctor as rage burned through him. "Go!
Save my mate and my baby."
 Chapter 17

Harry's been left in the private room that Louis stayed in on his own. He went from sitting on
the floor to pulling on his hair with cruel strength while pacing. His inner wolf was driving
him mad, poking hot cylinders into the sensitive portions of his brain. It was breaking him.

His mate has been in surgery for half an hour and Harry feels like each second brings him
closer to self destruction. Suddenly all the pointless walking and relentless growling has no
purpose. He's been left with the sport of allowing his worry to fester, to bombard his system.

The doctors haven't been keeping him updated and Harry is an inch closer to barging into the
OR with each heartbeat of his.

Two hours.

Two entire hours do their unkind justice by him as they pass, until the first sign of life comes
from the other side of a giant set of double doors. The red light is still on, signalling that the
operation is still underwar. Harry can feel it though; he can sense the life of his baby being
brought into the world.

His Alpha senses turn into alarming flares and he falls against the wall on his side, relief
flooding him as the emotions rushing to him through his bond with Louis is reassuring. He
waits impatiently after that for anyone to come to him. There is no sign of a person coming to
him but Harryknows.

He's a father now. Another little life that is without proper sound mind and utterly dependant,
is going to rely on him for everything. Harry will carry home an infant that's premature by
two months but still going to be the light of his life through any and all darkness.

Harry crosses and uncrosses his arms over his chest, scenting every nonchalant and
disinterested passer-by. Then those doors open and the red light goes off, a neatly attired
nurse in her scrubs and hairnet walks out. She's the least of his concern because in her arms
in a little bundle, the softest white cloth functioning as a blanket and towel.

The Dominus loses the air in his lungs and the control of his senses for just that moment
when the nurse hurries along to him. She stops right in front of him when Harry's practically
heaving to inhale air and so tense he feels ready to explode. The baby in her hands is
concealed, hidden enough that Harry can only see a stretch of slightly blue skin peeking out
at him.

"Here he is." She announce chirpily, already extending her arms and Harry doesn't seem to be
in his right state of mind but he's fully capable of gathering the lovely creature in his
protection.
Harry's tongue is dry and his head feels extra light but his son in his security, in his arms. He
doesn't need anything but that to survive. There are still signs of amniotic fluid and blood all
over the baby that's just stopped crying by the way it squirms so relentlessly. Harry hasn't
seen the pup's face and he's madly in love.

"Your mate wanted you to see him before he got cleaned up." The nurse's smile sobers when
Harry looks at her. "The doctor who delivered him would like to see you both after Louis is
back in his room."

The Dominus can only nod curtly at her and gather the courage to finally move the blanket so
he can see his baby. Aryan is the most exquisite sight he's ever witnessed, fussing with the
captivity of his blanket and his skin so blue yet so flushed red. His eyes are squeezed shut
and his skin is wet with remnants of post-birth fluids but he's gorgeous.

Harry kisses the baby's forehead despite the wet surface and his son doesn't settle, only gets
more excited. Both his hands can secure the little one so well, keep him upright and safe.
Aryan is a tiny baby but that's only because he's born early. His lungs labour to breathe but
it's nothing so severe.

His father is reluctant to hand Aryan back, his shirt already stained and creased by the
presence of his newborn. The nurse insists and Harry is convinced that he'll have the baby
back soon.

His baby is gone and Harry feels like he's buried alive, the oxygen that once fed his lungs
now tied to pup and his mate. Neither was present and he felt utterly useless standing against
a wall with the fabric of his shirt turning crusty with drying dampness.

It took Harry two minutes to realise that his heart still felt suspended, and not entirely from
happiness. The thrill of seeing his first-born doesn't fade so much as it makes room for the
lingering worry that barrels to the forefront of his concentration. There it grows and festers,
expiring everything it touched.

At first it was concern which built to impatience and now developed into paranoia. There was
no word from the doctors about his mate when it's already been twenty some odd minutes
after the birth of his baby. Something had to be wrong and the emotion that welled in his
chest suddenly went flat.

He felt nothing and it ripped through his lungs like a grenade. All the feelings his mate was
experiencing, the anxiety and the love was gone. Their bond was one-sided and Harry heard a
low ringing in his ear from the emptiness. Anger rose to the surface and he was too blinded
with it, to stop himself from bursting into the unlocked OR.

It took ten seconds of arrogance coupled with violence for him to shove the security guard
that tried to stop him away, his strength outweighing anybody's. Those ten seconds produced
the one image he'll never forget in all his years.
"Dominus, you have to leave." A nurse was telling him with her hands on his chest that he so
rudely shoved away.

He was unblinking and brimming with terror, looking over everyone's shoulder at the
gruesome scene of his mate. Hands were on him again and he heard sickening cracks each
time he pushed them away, the scent of too much blood clouding his reason. He didn't care
who he hurt, who he killed if it came to that.

Louis lay unconscious on the bed he gave birth on, head lolled to the side. His chin was
pressing against his pale, nearly blue shoulder. Blood all but drenched his lower half, his
body too weak to have birthed a baby yet it did. Harry could smell it, he could only see the
horrific tragedy when such a wonderful baby came from it.

Grief was ripping Harry apart and he was reduced to a beast that mourned his beloved. He
knew Louis was alive by the weak pulse travelling through their bond but that wasn't strong
enough. Harry was not going to lose Louis, not when the boy was all he ever truly fought for
in his life.

Harry was a force to be combatted when guards tried to escort him out of the OR, but he
wouldn't go. He makes it out of the turmoil even though it follows him and his knees buckle
at Louis' side, crashing to the ground in a way that causes a crack in his prosthetic and bruises
his able knee. His hand reaches out and frames his lover's beautiful face, caught up in a
whirwind of heartbreak.

His hands shiver and his eyes burn when he touches Louis, his neck and his flat tummy.

"Louis, my love." He gets nothing but a small twitch, the parting of Louis' purple lips like he
was trying to say the Dominus' name even when in so much pain. "Come back to me, haud
mirum. Our son is here."

He becomes a weak man that's easily dragged out of the OR by three burly security guards,
the doors slamming shut when he lands on the ground outside. His hand is bloody as it falls
to his lap and he pulls on his hair, gruelling agony drugging his system.

Someone tries pulling him to his feet and Harry throws them against the wall when he's
standing. "Touch me again and I'll have your head."

Covered in Louis' blood, Harry retires to a dark corner of the waiting room where he waits in
pure misery. He can't survive without Louis, there's no chance of it. Just the thought makes
him want to tear his hair out and scream while his blood boils profusely in his veins. Surely
that pain can't be as bad as losing his beloved. Four hours go by with Harry a mess on the
ground, his one able knee now battered brought up to his chest. He hasn't experienced this
twist of himself before and it's a cursed breath of fresh air.

A hurt or lost mate becomes the death sentence to a Dominus, irrespective of how many
babies they managed to bring into the world. A Dominus could love their pups for an eternity
but what they needed, what their wolf needed was the affection of their mate.
*****

Louis is brought back after the nurses wash him up. He's exhausted by the way he looks and
smiles at his Dominus once their eyes meet. Their lips connect before either has a chance to
breathe and green is the most energetic, most feral. Harry kisses his mate with a passion that's
too ardent for so soon after giving birth.

"I'm sorry, my beloved." He apologises after withdrawing himself and pulling a chair up next
to Louis' bed. "How do you feel, haud mirum? Are you in pain? What can I do?"

All Louis does is smile in a way that's more indicative of his exhausted form than anything
else. His frail hand with crooked fingers and a slow pulse is held between Harry's protective
palms.

"I'm f-fine." Louis assures him in a croak, coughing in a tight spasm afterwards. "Promise."

Harry turns on the doctor that brought him in, the same one that dared to push him away from
his mate when Louis needed him most. "How dare you stop me from seeing him? What
happened to my beloved in that room?!"

His voice rose as did his simmering temper from tepid to rapidly boiling, ending in a weak
squeeze from Louis. The boy didn't want him straining himself when the Dominus had the
duty of now protecting their pup.

"Dominus." The white-haired but young medical professional was Dominus too and content
with combatting a volatile Alpha male. "Your mate suffered haemorrhaging after having your
pup, although it was to a mild degree and we took care of it."

Harry's inner wolf curled into a pained ball of discarded heartache and howled at the moon as
it hung above them, a dreary pale sphere in the sky. He sat beside his mate and leaned into
Louis so he could have their faces close together, nuzzling and affectionately offering sweet
words. Harry forgot other people were present even after the door closed upon their exit.

"My beloved." Harry tasted Louis' thin and ghostly lips in small pecks.

His mate was so radiant even though he was physically drained. Louis' bump was gone under
his thin hospital gown and he winced at the few movements he could make. Harry kissed the
boy's hand, each finger and his palm, before gushing about their pup.

"Did you see him?" Harry asks in a whisper, an enthusiastic smile plastered over his features.
"He's perfect, haud mirum. The most beautiful baby I've ever seen."

Louis is fond of the way his Dominus loves their pup, holding onto the man's hand. "He is
beautiful. Our beautiful baby boy."

Harry nuzzles Louis' dainty wrist and listens to his pulse, steady and healthy. "How do you
feel, my lover?" "Like I have no lower body." Louis jokes even when Harry frowns
confusedly.
Harry held his lips against the supple texture of skin behind Louis' ear. "I wish they'd have
allowed me to be with you."

Louis whimpers and angles his head towards his Dominus, their lips together but not in a
kiss. His eyes were closed and his body was engulfed in the undesirable torture of pain, the
last of his anesthestics wearing off finally. "I-I love you."

"My sweet lover. I love you." Harry shuts his eyes too, relying only on the scent of his mate
to soothe him. He growls in a manner that's comforting and protective.

"It-It was so s-scary." Louis chokes on the sob clogging his throat and he loses a few tears to
the grief he suffers. "I was- I wanted you with me. W-With us."

Harry rushes to comfort his lovely mate, cupping Louis' cheek in one hand and hoisting
himself higher to kiss away those dreadful tears. Each one touches his lips and he embraces
his lover so Louis cries softly into his chest.

"Hush, my haud mirum. You have me now, our pup as well. He's finally with us." The
Dominus looks into Louis' bloodshot blue eyes and smiles when the boy does, their foreheads
resting on each other's. "I'm never going to lose you."

Louis whines in a tone that requests affection and attention, which Harry gladly gives to him.
The Alpha kisses him deeply, their lips meshed together in a pleasant union. Harry feels
Louis' cold fingers encircling his wrists where they frame the boy's face and starts to feel the
fear ebbing.

The door to their private room opens and in comes the nurse. She has Aryan half conscious
but still powerfully wailing in her arms, the volume high and strong. Harry takes the pup
from her and affectionately kisses Aryan's cheek, smiling when the baby grabs onto his hair
with angry fists.

"He needs to be fed." The nurse explains when Louis gets to hold Aryan, caging the baby in
one arm and caressing his hairless head with the other. "He will have to nurse from you."

Louis hasn't started lactating at all during his pregnancy and it had to be induced in a quite
painful method during his labour. Harry was unaware and Louis was mostly exhausted
because of that stress. He nonetheless brought Aryan up to his chest and helped the baby
latch onto his already swollen nipple.

His pup had the chubbiest cheeks and tiniest appendages. Those stout fingers of his wrapped
Harry's long finger while the Dominus hovered over them protectively. His mate and baby
were defenseless against any threat now. Aryan often kicked his feet when he became restless
and Harry's thumb rubbed over the heel of his soft foot, kissing each little toe.

Aryan looked like a happy baby when those around him were familiar. His mother and his
father were people he knew, the voices and the scents. He drank all that he wanted to and his
little pouted mouth went slack instantly, sleep becoming him.
"He's going to be just like you." Louis teases Harry when the Dominus sits on the edge of his
bed, not at all willing to move away.

Harry looked at his mate in disbelief at first then a chuckle came from him, eyes light and
amused. "Why do you say so, my lover?"

Louis leans into Harry's side and fastens his baby in the crook of his arm, the scent of a
newborn filling his mind and easing him into a parallel universe of peace. His Dominus
kisses his forehead, temple and finally his lips. Harry is going to be clingy and affectionate
always with his mate now that his pup is here.

"It doesn't take much to make him fall asleep." Louis answers sweetly, a well of emotion
deepening in his chest. "That's just like you."

Harry's chest is in a permanent rumble, one that's protective and challenging to anyone that
came near them. He leans down to press his lips to Aryan's tiny nose, the ultra soft skin a
wonder to feel. The baby makes a little noise and his minute hand comes up to nudge Harry's
jaw.

The Dominus stays bent over so he can nuzzle into the baby hand that's gripping his nose
with no strength at all. Aryan yawns with his set of cherry, plump lips and Louis giggles at
him. Harry's mate supports the back of Aryan's head in his palm and cups the weight at his
bottom with the other.

"He is perfect, haud mirum." Harry proclaims, a proud father at heart. "My vegrandis mirum
is all I could ever ask for in a son."

"He was born too early." Louis reminds himself with a sad sigh. "Doctor said he's strong, that
he didn't even need help to breathe or process milk."

He kissed Louis sweetly and laid a possessive hand on Aryan's tummy. Their son was so
small that he mostly disappeared under Harry's palm. How he got this lucky he isn't sure.
Why did the stars above declare him fit to have the most beautiful baby boy?

"Dominus. Louis." Their doctor who delivered Aryan walked in with a clipboard and not too
thrilled smile. "May I speak with you now?"

"Of course." Louis was the one to answer him.

He got the vibe that something was wrong with his baby but prayed persistently that his gut
was wrong. Maybe not wrong but not entirely right either. Where there were thousands of
golden threads used to make his baby as perfect as he is, one amongst the majority was bent
or twisted too tightly.

Their doctor closed the door behind him and came to stand at the foot of Louis' bed, opening
the file he carried under the clipboard. "How are you feeling, Louis?"
"Fine." The boy replies honestly, feeling Harry's concern and stare burning into his side. "Is
something wrong with my pup?"

Harry makes a deeply sinister sound through his teeth when he hears that question. Reality
seems to take a dip and everything the Dominus was fretting over is resurrected. He stiffens
at Louis' side and awaits the verdict from their doctor.

"Your pup is healthy." He starts with, clicking his pen closed. "Extremely healthy for a
premature baby and we've put that down to him developing partially as his true form in your
womb."

Louis and Harry are pleased to hear compliments about their newborn baby. While Louis is
going along with each word from the doctor as it comes, Harry feels a deadline coming
along. It makes him nauseous.

"We ran some tests before we returned the pup to you, as is protocol when a baby is
premature." The doctor takes a deep breath and sympathy washes over his features. "Your
pup is blind."

The air in the room stops existing and Louis feels the tears start to flow already, a result of
the imbalanced hormones inside him. He covers his mouth to prevent an audible sob from
crashing through, looking down at his little angel. The angel given to him as a gift, the
responsibility he has now to this wonderful miracle.

"Blind?" Harry barked, sounding not at all pleased.

"Yes." The doctor prepares to recite his explanation. "If your pup were all human, we
wouldn't be able to tell but wolf pups are more straightforward. All their capabilities are
visible at birth. Your pup damaged his optical nerves during the time he was switching forms
in Louis' womb. I'm sorry, Dominus. There's nothing we can do."

The doctor waits for two seconds before leaving without a word. He'd come back later with
more news and tips. Aryan's little eyes were twitching under pale lids, the promise of an
exquisite colour hidden underneath them.

Harry got off the bed and walked to the door, then back again. He didn't know what to do or
to say. His inner Alpha was silent and of no help. The Dominus watched his mate closely,
battling to hold back his tears whilst rubbing Aryan's little hand. Their baby was so kind
already, so peaceful. How dare Harry be the one to pass down a heartbreaking trait to that
angel?

"Harry?" Louis called to him when the draft got too cold and he felt too alone. "Come back."

Of course the Dominus did. He rushed to Louis' side and sat down beside him, closer than
before. The man took Louis' face framed in his hands and pressed his lips to the boy's temple.
A tear almost made to the surface from him too but he denied it sanction.
"I love my baby." Louis whimpered through his sick feeling, holding a sleeping Aryan much
closer. "Please tell me-"

"I do too, haud mirum." Harry assured him with a hard press of his lips to his mate's. "This is
my son, my lover. I will love him forever. Nothing can ever change that."

Louis was reassured by his Alpha mate's promise to never leave and never give them up. His
life was sewn to Aryan's the way it was to Harry's now and he went where the baby did.

"Are you still happy?" Louis' one hand extended upwards to caress Harry's tightened jaw.

"Of course." The Dominus closed his eyes and leaned into Louis' hand with a little grumble
from his ribcage.

"Me too." His mate declares with a little smile. "I already love him so much. My little lion."

"Haud mirum." Harry says solemnly, his hand cupping one side of Louis' face to see those
divine crystal blue orbs. They're so tired yet so exotic anyway. "Our baby is born on this land,
in the old territory."

It only dawns on Louis what his Dominus means after he looks into those emerald eyes, the
purest green of them all. The realisation sinks into his heart and makes it weigh heavy, so
much so that his bottom lip starts to quiver and Harry has to kiss him to make it stop. Louis'
tears are tasted on the Dominus' lips and tongue.

"Harry-"

"It's alright, my lover." Harry pulls back and pecks Louis' lips thrice more, fervently. "I'll take
care of this. I'll do everything I can to keep our baby with us."

The old territory they were both born into and now Aryan is, was achingly traditional. Aryan
is a strong and beautiful baby that is without a doubt a Dominus in status. No premature mate
to a Dominus can survive without respiratory aids and medication. When Aryan turns into an
adolescent, he'll be sent out into the forest to survive all on his own. Louis can't allow that,
and neither will Harry.

Fortunately for them, the status determination will only be done at Aryan's nine month mark.
That gives them two entire months to find a loophole in tradition.

*****

Louis' paranoia has become chronic and unhealthy, over the period of three days.

Their doctor visits him regularly and Louis feigns a perfect sleep schedule when all he does is
stay awake watching Aryan. His fatigue is remarkably upsetting to Harry as his mate is now
half the weight and size he used to be.
When he helps Louis into the bath tub he can see the ribs at his torso poking through the skin.
His joints hurt from lack of calcium besides the supplements he takes to nourish his
breastmilk. His IV stand had to follow him everywhere because the glucose it supplied was
the only form of energy he had.

Louis can't sleep because he's petrified that someone will take his baby away. Harry spoke
with their doctor and found out that it's a common symptom amongst new mothers, one that
will only deteriorate once they're back in their home. Their nest is where Louis feels safe and
that's where he needs to take their pup.

"I'm scared, Harry." He confesses to his Dominus one night when they're wrapped up in each
other and Aryan is sleeping on Harry's chest. "Please don't let them take my baby away."

"I promised I wouldn't, haud mirum." Harry tells him again like he has thirteen times already.

Louis exhaled while hooking his chin over Harry's shoulder and shutting his eyes. His
Dominus' scent was soothing to his troubles and enveloped him in the warmth of love and
reliance. Harry held onto Aryan by cupping the baby's bottom in his giant hand, and wraps
the other arm around Louis' slender waist.

"There's no need to be afraid." Harry tells his mate, lips against the boy's temple. "It's my
duty to keep you happy and my pup safe."

Aryan cries and cries when he's left to sleep without his parents holding him through it. He
wails loud enough to disturb the whole private wing until Louis scoops him up and cuddles
him. Their stay at the hospital is over at last and Aryan still hasn't opened his eyes. He
recognises Louis' scent and Harry's touch, but won't let them see the colour of his eyes.

"Hello there, little lion." Louis hoists Aryan up into the air when the pup sneezes and lowers
him to the curve of his chest. "Are you cold?"

His pup stretches out and makes a soft, delicate sound. Louis kisses his reddening nose and
thumbs over his forehead. Aryan grabs hold of Louis' thumb and doesn't let go.

"Get in, haud mirum." Harry returns from his visit into town where he bought enough baby
clothes and essentials.

He helped Louis into the high-risen hospital bed and pulled the covers over his mate. Aryan's
mouth falls open and a little drool slides onto Louis' bare chest. Harry brings his lips to
Aryan's cheek and holds them there to feel the warmth of his little lion.

"I need you to get some sleep, haud mirum." Harry encourages his mate desperately. "You
haven't closed your eyes in so long."

"I'm fine." Louis said with a very unconvincing yawn.

Harry brings Louis home with their newborn pup cradled in the boy's arms. He opens the
door for them and ushers Louis subtly up the stairs to their bedroom. Aryan doesn't have a
nursery because they never planned to have him live here, which meant he'd sleep in a
basinette in their room.

"Where are you going?" Louis asked worriedly when Harry left him under the covers with a
dozing Aryan gripping his shirt.

"To the attic, haud mirum." His Dominus comes back to him and lays a kiss on his cheek. "I
will come right back to you."

"Alright." Louis returns the kiss and smiles weakly, snuggling into their warm bed sheets
with his pup in a circular cradle made by Harry's pillows. "Don't take too long."

Harry doesn't. He yanks the chain to the attic stairs and takes them on two at a time, coming
to rest at the freezing cold room. The box he desires lay neglected, damp and dusty in the
spot closest to a boarded window and the Dominus grabs it before racing back down.

The decrepit box will not be good for either Louis or Aryan if they were in contact with it, so
for two empty hours Harry sat outside in the hallway. He kept the door to their bedroom
gaping so that he could monitor his family while he dived right into the diaries and
documents of Dominus' before him.

*****

"What are you doing, my love?" Louis' honey-sweet voice came from somewhere above
Harry.

The Dominus looked up from his poor treasure of papers of ancient stationery to see his well
rested mate standing over him. Louis looked better already and wasn't carrying Aryan so their
pup is most likely still asleep, hence their low volumes. Harry held his hand out and Louis
took it, easily sliding onto the man's lap on the floor.

Louis has healed well and quickly. He was sore without a doubt but nothing stopped him -
not even Harry could - from doing anything he wanted. His loyalty lay with Aryan more than
any other aspect and his devotion was predominant.

"What are these?" Louis didn't touch any of the objects splayed out around him as he asked,
as there was writing in deep ink he couldn't understand scattered on each one.

"If a Dominus were to record each happening of his life, this is where he'd put it." Harry
explains, taking a break from all the reading to clasp Louis' delicate waistline.

"Oh." His mate sat back against his chest. "Have you found something yet then?"

That's where Harry gets giddy and terrified at the same time. His fatherly status and duty
dictates that he be brave about anything he fears. He kneads Louis' sides carefully and opens
his eyes from their hiatus, a devious curl to his lip.

"Just one."
Louis is intrigued and looks at his Dominus expectantly. "Tell me, my love."

Harry takes a breath and straightens his back, reaching over Louis' thigh to rub where his
prosthetic was creating uncomfortable friction against the stump of his leg. Louis shuffles out
of the way and unhooks the tabs of the wooden leg to remove it entirely. He sets it aside
carefully before prompting Harry to go on.

"He'll wake up at any moment." He threatens his Dominus with a raised eyebrow, working
his fingers over the faintest swelling that's surrounding Harry's crippled limb.

Closing his eyes again and letting the back of his head hit the wooden post on the staircase,
Harry groans extensively before responding. His inner wolf is excited by the prospect
presented in the records he's examined to no short standard, and the inkling of dominance is
starting to fester.

"The Dominus that controls a pack of more than thirteen pure blood-lines will have their
first-born, irrespective of gender or status, regarded as their heir. An heir must remain with its
parents so as to learn the traditions of the pack and its heritage."

Louis stops massaging Harry's stump and stares straight ahead at his Alpha mate with a
puzzled frown. He nudges and pokes at the Dominus' chest until those big, scary green eyes
open themselves up to him again.

"What....-" His voice trails off in fear and anxiety. "What does that mean, my love?"

Harry first gets to his feet. The floor is no place for his mate to sit post-labour when he's
supposed to be recovering. He clips on his prosthetic to aid his step and pulls Louis to his
feet, not ignoring the permanent crease of the boy's brow at every movement he made. Louis
was extremely sore yet still so mobile. It astonishes Harry.

"Simply-" Harry slides his hand into Louis' and leads his mate back into their bedroom where
the subtle scent of their baby overruled every other aroma. "-I must find thirteen bloodlines to
rule."

Louis actually giggles upon hearing that, stifling the amusement with his cupped hand over
his mouth. Harry is less jovial and helps Louis into bed without any other response.

"How are you going to do that?" Louis doesn't let Harry leave him, holds onto the man's arm
even after he's tucked into bed. "There are old packs in this territory, Harry. They'd never give
you a chance."

His Dominus growls at the thought of giving up. He looks at his infant son asleep on his
tummy, little hands and feet kicked free of his baby blanket. "I will just have to take it then."

*****

Their baby first opened his eyes two days after he was brought home from the hospital. Being
a five day old infant who opens his eyes and can't see anything different to when they're shut,
means only one thing. His cries turn to screeches when he notices that Louis or Harry isn't
near him, cuddling him.

Harry is napping on the floor by the fire - Louis doesn't know why he abandoned the couch -
and wakes up to hear his baby screaming like he's being hurt. The Dominus forgets about his
comfortable slumber and rushes to help Aryan, losing his breath when he sees that mirroring
shade of green hidden behind ghastly white.

"Oh my little lion." He picks up the pup and cradles him to quieten the agony of hearing
Aryan scream like this. "You are the most beautiful pup I ever did see."

Aryan settles into sniffles and clenching his fists in the air, tiny limbs flailing and voice
cracking as he came down. Harry was his dominant parent and relaxed the baby's anxiety
with small pats on his back after turning Aryan over. It's been uncovered that Aryan liked to
sleep this way, lazying on Harry's forearm with his limbs spilling over the sides.

"Louis." Harry goes on a search for his mate, that's always busy with one thing or the other
when he knows he shouldn't be.

He's staring into those spellbinding orbs that don't have enough of a glow but already possess
a million emotions that are too intricate for a baby. Louis is lying in bed upstairs leafing
through a novel with his legs splayed out to lessen the pressure on his bottom, and looks up
with a smile when his Dominus walks in.

"Hi." He greets with a little sniffle, that tone melting along with his smile when he sees
Aryan's eyes.

They're empty but brimming with intangible meaning. Both deep green crystals are seeking
out Louis but they can't see him, won't ever see him and it breaks Louis' heart. The boy
disregards his own discomfort in favour of scrambling towards the edge of the bed and
meeting Harry halfway.

"Oh." His fingers tremble like his bottom lip when he delicately caresses Aryan's back and
arm. "My poor baby."

Aryan starts fidgeting all over again and wants to go to Louis, wants to be protected by the
voice and scent he knew best. Harry sat on the bed while Louis cradled the baby and lightly
rocked him, kissing both spots just above the pup's disabled eyes.

Louis breathed in his pup's scent and hummed something sweet to him, feeling Aryan go
limp in his arms as the discomfort waned. The pup was asleep shortly after and Louis
awarded him a plush area on the bed next to him, still supporting the dozing pup while he
leaned across to kiss Harry.

His Alpha growled like he was surprised when their lips met. "Haud mirum, could I keep him
with me?"
Nodding with a short giggle, Louis carefully hands Aryan back to the Dominus. He knew
how much the man loved to fall asleep with the baby very near to him. "His eyes are so
beautiful. My lovely baby boy."

Harry grunted in acquiscience but said nothing, both mates looking down at the little balled
up creature in his arms. Both Aryan's feet fitted in Harry's palm and the baby's head fell onto
his chest, lips going slack once more. Their baby's eyes really were breathtaking, purest green
hidden behind a thin veil of silver.

That silver kept him from ever seeing this world. *****

"My little lion." Louis leans down to blow raspberries into Aryan's little bloated tummy.
"How do we feel today?"

His baby was wiggly and excitable today. They're in the middle of their tummy time on his
and Harry's grand mattress. Aryan was on his back in just a nappy, his little limbs kicking out
and knocking into Louis' hands or face. He was a very happy baby by the way he held onto
Louis when the latter came closer to him.

"That's a good answer, I presume." Louis takes Aryan's tiny fist and nibbles on his fingers,
laughing softly when the baby sneezes and grapples for something else to hold onto.

Aryan caught Louis' finger and held on tightly, little fingernails turning white with how hard
he squeeezed. Louis just finished shortening those microscopic cutips with his teeth, since the
mother biting off their baby's nails was more delicate than using any kind of clipper.

The pup's eyes were wide open and staring at the ceiling or darting across the room,
unforgiving in how it never gave him a glimpse of anything. Louis caressed Aryan's sides and
thumbed over the little one's belly button, smiling his brightest when the pup's fingers tangle
themselves in his hair.

"What's this then?" Louis frees his baby's hands from his hair and gently turns Aryan on his
side to inspect a few rashes on his unharmed, supple skin.

There are faint red patches on his baby's skin like odd rashes, a few sores littered around
those vulnerabilities. He pressed his lips against them and sensed that they were harmless,
reassured also by his doctor's orders. They'd disappear soon after Aryan's gotten used to
being in his own skin.

"Shall we go outside?" Louis had approximately ten to twenty minutes before Aryan nodded
off again. He'd like to utilise that time in getting Aryan familiar with their home.

Aryan doesn't make any sounds but his eyes follow Louis' voice and doesn't start to fuss
when he's lifted from the bed. He holds onto Louis' shirt at the shoulder, fabric fisted between
minute chubby fingers. Louis carries him, cradled between his crooked arms down the stairs
into the toasty vicinity of their blazing fireplace.
Harry went out earlier for reasons he didn't disclose to Louis, leaving his mate and pup alone
in the safety of their home to be just a few kilometers away. Louis made it out onto their
creaky porch in just his shorts cut from sweatpants and one of Harry's soft cotton shirts. He
supported the back of Aryan's head in his palm but the baby's cheek was against his
heartbeat, lips pouted and eyes shut.

"Welcome to the world, sweetheart." He kissed the top of Aryan's hairless head, looking out
at the tall trees and harmless little animals scurrying about from trunk to trunk.

The breeze was relaxed and the air it contained smelled just like the pure nature it blew
through. Only the cleanest earthy aroma travelled with it and reached Louis' senses, dropping
them all into a peaceful state. Nothing is like nature and nature in this form can never be
replaced.

Some rustling to his right caught Louis' attention and when he looked, a wolf that's as dark as
night and filled with mystery weaved through the bushes onto their land. Harry's wolf was
large and broad at the shoulders, an especially intimidating sight. He made his way over to
where Louis stood against the railing and raised his head, magical green eyes landing on the
little life form Louis held.

"He's been awake for a while now." Louis informs the Dominus, angling their pup so Harry
could see Aryan better.

Harry's muzzle grazed Aryan's elbow and the baby responded with familiarity. He reached
out, guided by Louis' hand, and grasped the silky threads of Harry's black fur. The wolf
huffed not ungratefully and stepped closer to allow his pup that privilege.

Aryan's vision was unstable and unreliable but he recognised his father under any
circumstances. He leaned into the wolf's stability from Louis' arms that were still embracing
him protectively. His fat baby arms easily

locked around Harry's snout below the wolf's jewel resembling eyes, pale white skin clinging
to pitch black softness.

Louis giggled and fondly observed Aryan's fragile form glued to Harry. He was still there to
protect his baby from falling or slipping, but it was a magical scene to witness anyway.
Aryan's head rested between Harry's deepset eyes, soft grumbles coming from the wolf when
his baby's cheek sat on his fur.

"He's almost asleep again." Louis is cautious about removing Aryan from Harry's body,
hugging the little one to his chest. "Come inside with us."

He's in the kitchen four minutes later making a cup of extra sweet tea for himself after setting
Aryan down for his nap, when Harry comes in. The Dominus' jubilance is palpable in the
way he kneels by Aryan's cradle first and thumbs over the pup's chubby cheeks with an
unsmotherable grin on his face.
Louis sits on the couch with his lime green mug of tea and Harry joins him just after that,
receiving a peck on those deep dimples. Harry brings Louis closer to him by throwing an arm
around his mate's narrow shoulders and tugging until he was positioned in his lap.

"So what were you up to today?" Louis asks, sipping from his beverage whilsts leaning into
Harry.

His Alpha was more interested in closing his eyes and kissing Louis' face, from temple to
jaw. "I gathered some information."

"Oh?" Louis set his mug down on the floor and folded his legs in Harry's lap, so thankful for
accelerated healing that allowed him to bend all he needed to now. "What did you find out?"

"There are seven packs in the world that control more than thirteen pure bloodlines." Harry
keeps his mouth pressed against Louis' cheekbone as he speaks. "Only one is in these parts."

Louis is listening intently to all his Dominus has to say, worried extensively as well as
hopeful. "How far away are they?"

"Too close." Harry sighs like he's been defeated and wraps his arms around Louis' waist. "I'd
have to fight a Dominus from a bloodline older than any other in this territory. Besides it
being a betrayal, he's already looking forward to meeting me."
 Chapter 18

Louis is spending his third hour of the day walking around near the fireplace with Aryan in
his arms. The baby loved being warm but fussed tremendously when it came to clothing.
Being already a month old, it was difficult not to blame Harry's rustic genes for causing such
a dilemma. As a solution to this, Louis let Aryan stay clothed in just his nappy whilst asleep
against his mother's shoulder, fine soft skin exposed to the delicate heat of the crackling
timber.

Harry finished preparing the onion soup Louis requested and took the garlic bread out of the
oven. It smelt divine all the way from where Louis was standing, humming a lullaby to the
faint snores of his baby.

"Haud mirum?" His Dominus called to him in a low volume. Louis' hearing has since
heightened now that Aryan sleeps away from him and the boy could pick up almost any
sound.

Louis padded over in his faded sports jersey and socks. He felt Aryan's tiny fists get a little
tighter on his shirt. "Hmm?"

His Dominus was smiling when Aryan came into view with his precious mate, reaching over
the counter to rub the baby's little foot. "I've forgotten what I was going to say."

Giggling but not estranged to the situation, Louis took one of Aryan's small hands in his and
gently rocked him. "He's asleep now. I think I'll put him into his crib now."

"I'll take him." Harry volunteered quickly. He was an avid fan of cuddling his pup, his
delightful heir.

Louis rolled his eyes fondly and handed Aryan over to his Dominus. He heard the baby
sniffle and threaten to wake up from his sleep when he was torn apart from the warm,
comforting chest. Harry gathers the baby up in his arms and drapes the pup over his forearm
the way Aryan is fond of.

His pup's lips became visibly pouted and he settled once again when he was lying over his
father's arm. Harry's hand curled around Aryan's thigh to keep him steady and the baby's
cheek rested on the crook of his elbow. The Dominus kept Aryan's limbs from injury by
securing them in his other hand.

"Smells wonderful." Louis compliments the food, dipping a chunk of crispy bread into the
soup. He feeds himself a bit and a touch of soup gets onto the corner of his mouth.

"Thank you, my lover." Harry leans in and kisses Louis where the soup was smeared. He
licked it off.
Together they sat on their little couch by the fire with a new movie on - one that they
purchased on their last trip into town. Louis had himself planted on Harry's lap where he
could both feed his Dominus as well as see to his dozing pup. Harry has one arm snaked
around Louis' slender waist, tugging his mate closer.

"Haud mirum, I have something to discuss with you." Harry straightens his back and Louis
puts the empty bowl on the floor. "Something important."

Louis caresses down the path of Aryan's chubby arm, hearing his baby sniffle and his little
nose twitch in his sleep. "What's wrong?"

Harry drums his fingers over Louis' hip. His mate had a bit more flesh on him now after their
baby was born, yet Harry seemed to love him even more. There was more to love anyway.
Sometimes at night he'd just bury his face in Louis' soft tummy so he slept so comfortably.

"Nothing is wrong, beloved." Harry shifts Aryan from his arm onto his chest, a large hand
covering the expanse of his pup's back. "Do you remember what I said about doing anything
to keep Aryan with us?"

"Yes." Louis answers solemnly.

The recent developments on their efforts to keep their family together have been
extraordinarily null. Harry's written to and visited the Dominus he means to overthrow, but
Louis hasn't heard a peep on anything. He's hoping that at last his Alpha mate won't deny
him.

"I have news." Harry clears his throat and allows Aryan's little, chubby face to be protected in
the crook of his neck. His doubtful green eyes unearth the nervousness in Louis. "Good and
bad, I'm afraid."

"Tell me." Louis urges desperately. His eyes grow wide and his heart beats just the tiniest bit
faster. "What is it, my love?"

Harry's dimple makes a curt appearance. "The Dominus does not want to fight. He is old with
no children and is willing to regard me as his heir upon his demise."

Louis' expression splits in two because of his wide grin. He kisses Harry's lips firmly with a
giggle and butterflies in his tummy. "That's wonderful!"

"Yes, however-" Harry pats Louis' hip and smiles just as terribly fond as Louis. "-he has one
condition for me. I cannot say no to it."

"What's the condition?" Louis' fears are reborn as a natural instinct. He worries for whatever
the intention might be.

"I must live under his roof." Harry repeats cautiously. "He insists that I train with his pack
and you live with me in their pack house."
"And-" Louis trails his finger down Aryan's back to feel the baby's intakes of air. "-what
about this little one?"

"Of course, he will stay with us." Harry frowns a little in confusion. "I don't think he will
separate my pup from me."

Louis clears his throat and folds his arms over Harry's shoulder, puckering his lips as he set
his chin on his Dominus. "Me neither."

Harry chuckles in a manner that causes his chest to rumble and for Aryan to make a pitiful
sound in his sleep. Louis cooes at his adorable sleeping pup and squeaks when his hip is
squeezed unceremoniously.

"What was that for?" Pouting naively, Louis meekly inspects the area of himself that now
feels bruised. His mate's growl was laced with silent innuendo and he nuzzled Louis' neck a
little roughly.

"You're too butch for me sometimes, Alpha." Louis' eyes crinkled at the corner from how
effortlessly his glee spread.

Harry set the record straight by patting Louis' hip and nipping at their healed bond mark. "For
a lovely little thing such as yourself, haud mirum?"

Louis' muted gasp of embarassment had his cheeks heating up to a light pink. "When did you
become so good with your words?"

His Dominus caught Louis' earlobe between his teeth and waited for his mate to whimper. "I
haven't touched you in a while. Too long, in fact."

"It's been long enough." Louis replied sassily, his efforts at climbing off Harry's lap ending
poorly. "I just had a baby. Your pup."

"You had my son and heir a month ago, haud mirum." Harry watched Louis get off the sofa
to return his plate to the kitchen, a salacious twinkle in his darkening eyes. "I will take care of
you, my lover."

Louis rolled his eyes fondly from where he was rinsing his dishes but no amount of masking
could envelope the blush colouring his cheeks. He let out a rush of air that whistled past his
teeth when two arms encircled

his lower middle. His Dominus' presence was all encompassing and possessed him wholly, a
pair of lips nudging his neck to gain more access.

"You're.....-" Louis licked his lips and curled his fingers against Harry's arms when the Alpha
pulled more on the neckline of his shirt. "-particularly affectionate today."

"I have the most extraordinary mate in the world who gave me my heautiful son." Harry
spoke gruffly. "I have every right to be affectionate."
Louis mewled involuntarily when Harry's teeth sank into his shoulder inch by inch, taking no
blood but leaving him paralysed. His eyelids fluttered before they closed and he breathed in
long drawls, a noteworthy bulge forming in the crotch that's against his behind.

"He's sleeping." Harry said about their son, indubitably implying that now is the ideal time to
be intimate. "What say you to letting me have you, my lover?"

Instead of verbalising a response, Louis spun around before drawing Harry's mouth to his. "I
say get on with it."

*****

Louis lay lazily on his front like a euphoric fantastical vision from the Gods. Harry had
draped a white sheet across Louis' back and behind to conceal it, but Louis' beauty was more
than what shone on the outside. Some sunlight made it through the curtains and made Louis
glow from within, the skin of his hairless legs also treated so delicately.

They had made love for two hours on their bed and Louis should be exhausted, sprawled out
on his back, but he was a gracious figure. He lay beside his mate with his feet up and his
belly more than a little bloated from how persistent Harry's knot was.

He hummed contentedly when his gentle Dominus caught one of his ankles and made room
for a nuzzle at the dip of his spine. "I can smell myself on you. In you, rather."

Louis gasped and swatted Harry's pectoral to chastise him for such a remark, but all that
ended up in is being tackled to the mattress. "Unhand me- Harry!"

Harry growled playfully into Louis' neck and tickled his mate's sides where he was soft and
vulnerable. "Say you love me."

"Of course I love you." Louis wiggled and blushed when he felt moisture in the sheets, more
dripping out of him. "You've ruined me."

Ever the loyal Dominus, Harry allowed his deft and skilful fingers to sneak their way into the
crevice of Louis' perky bottom. He investigated the wet, loose rim mercilessly with an
approving rumble. "And you've ruined me, my lover."

"Do you suppose-" Louis inhaled deeply the crisp air of the midday. "-we could be the same
at the old Dominus' house as we are here?"

Harry is tracing each knob on Louis' arched spine reverently. He is tempted to kiss each
vertebrae so that even the most vital essence of Louis' being knows how in love he is with his
mate. For now, Harry's will had to suffice with a few grazes.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked with more rough edging around the lisp of his words,
slurred by the pleasure still running through him.
Louis responded but not without blushing first, tugging his covers up to partially conceal his
face. The only thing perceivable about him is his brilliant blue eyes. "I mean, when we make
love."

Harry's mouth twitches into a little smug smile that deepens his dimples and makes him look
so terribly charming. His inexplicably strong arms cage in Louis' waist as he turns onto his
back, taking his mate with him. "I don't suppose mated couples everywhere are any different,
my lover. Each one of them loves their mate."

A pair of bubblegum cherry lips seek out the skin of Harry's throat to nibble on. "That is a
valid point."

His Dominus hums in agreement and starts to absentmindedly knead the tender flesh of
Louis' inner thigh. "I-" "Hush." Louis covers Harry's mouth with his hand whilst pushing
himself up off his Alpha mate's chest.

He listens to the silent cabin for a heartbeat before the muffled cries reach his ears and his
maternal instincts flare. Harry doesn't release him until he's earned a kiss from the lovely boy,
then pinching his pert bottom before watching him rush out of the bedroom. His admiring
and lustful gaze follows Louis' nearly bare form all the way out the door.

Louis finds their pup squirming restlessly in his crib, fussing with the sleeves of his onesie
and sniffling. "Hey there, my little lion."

Aryan settles into his mother's chest when Louis hoists him up into the air, silencing his
complaints with an affectionate kiss. The pup is cradled against Louis' shoulder where his
curled fists rest against familiar bare skin, whimpering because of the rubs to his twitching
foot.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Louis enquires after realising that Aryan isn't hungry. He sighs.
"Just like your father."

*****

Louis is at the stove trying to whip up something wholesome for dinner with the meat Harry
gifted him today. He remembers his Dominus begging to take Aryan out for a hunt and Louis
actually rolling his eyes. His pup would not be allowed in that awful wilderness.

Aryan now was with Harry in front of the fireplace, gurgling nonsense to his father and
confidante. Harry in return whispered little sweet nothings that Louis didn't pick up, only
giggled to himself whenever Harry got spit on his cheek. He chopped some peppers and
carrots for their supper of chicken stir fry, tummy rumbling after so many weeks of merely
snacks.

As the meal was left to sizzle, Louis wiped his hands on a cloth and got Harry's favourite tea
out from the highest shelf. He felt around for a bit, due to his vertical height disadvantage,
and pulled the glass jar down. Water boiled and he stirred the stir fry while listening to his
Alpha mate feign defeat by their pup.
Everything stopped when there was a knock on the door.

Harry stood from the floor and carried Aryan across their living space to Louis. After
ensuring the little one was secured between Louis' protective arms, he spoke.

"Go upstairs." He says softly, kissing Aryan's tuft of dark hair and Louis' lips once. "Who is
it?" Louis' palm cups the back of Aryan's head to keep it safe.

The Dominus shakes his head, snapping his attention toward the door when it is knocked
again. "I can't pick up a scent. Go upstairs."

He waited at the base of the steps for Louis to get inside their bedroom and lock the door
before going to answer their guest. There's a shirt over the back of the couch that he pulls
over his head - Aryan preferred bare skin contact and neither parent denied him that.

The door opens when Harry twists the handle and he's left standing as a barrier between his
home and this intruder. Although, the Dominus that is allowing him to take control over his
pack can hardly be considered an intruder.

"Stark Dominus." He greets the older authority respectfully and steps back to allow him
through.

A presently ageing man of fifty plus years, the Stark Dominus was still as fit as a young
Alpha. He was dressed formally with a coat over his suit and regarded Harry's home in
admiration. Once a Dominus became leader of their own pack, their bloodline came before
their status and had to be addressed as such. Joseph Stark was one such man.

"Your home is impressive." The Stark Dominus complimented. "I have been hearing words
from my men and decided to prove them wrong once and for all."

Harry offered up a polite smile and leaned back against one sofa, successfully hiding Aryan's
favourite plush toy. "What have they been saying?"

"Nothing you need to be worried about." Joseph replied, creases forming on his brow when
he picks up a delightfully subtle scent. "Do I smell a pup?"

"Yes." Harry can hardly contain his grin. He is very proud of his cherub baby and wanted to
show him off. "My mate is upstairs with him."

"Him?" Joseph is pleasantly surprised by this. "A male heir so early is rare and needs to be
appreciated more often."

Harry picks up Aryan's purple plush toy and toys with it fondly. "A daughter should bring
just as much pride to a Dominus."

"I agree." Joseph nodded mindlessly as his deepset eyes flickered to every thing that's part of
their chaotic home. "May I meet your mate and heir?"
As any new father would be, Harry became apprehensive. It showed evidently in his frown.
"Okay."

Harry left the Stark Dominus to his own devices downstairs while venturing up the steps to
Louis. His mate's scent was thicker, more tantalising on Harry's tongue, the closer he got to
the master bedroom. He let the door creak open when he pushed it and found Louis standing
by the window with Aryan.

"I have someone I'd like you to meet." Harry smiled encouragingly, taking his mate's hand.
*****

The Stark Dominus all but fell in love with Aryan's presence after twenty minutes with the
pup. He respected Louis' decision not to let him carry their baby just yet, as he was still a
stranger to the boy. Aryan liked him just as fast and often found himself reaching for the
golden lion pin attached to the Stark Dominus' lapel.

"Let me ask you then, Louis." They were seated at the decently sized kitchen island, Aryan in
a bundle of his own blankets to keep the cold out. "Do you think Harry will be a good
leader?"

Louis met his eye and went back to guarding his pup from any rash movements. "I believe
he'll be as good a leader as he is a father."

Harry's been busy at the stove to finish the food after Joseph was invited to stay for dinner
and insisted Louis be his company for the evening.

Joseph nodded and caught Aryan watching the glimmer reflect off his pin. Simply, the Stark
Dominus unhooked it before attempting to hand it over.

"Oh no." Louis took both Aryan's chubby fists and kept them from touching something
prickly. "We don't give him anything sharp."

With a reassuring smile, the Stark Dominus kept Louis' worry at bay. He took the pin back
and broke off the needle so that only the lion pendant remained, not even the hingle for the
pin or clip.

"This should be safer." Joseph puts the pendant in Aryan's fist and smiles at how enthralled
the infant becomes with it. "It's the symbol of my family. A golden lion."

Louis can't get the pendant out of his baby's possession without upsetting him. "Are you sure
you want to give him that?"

"Of course." Joseph clears his throat and sheds his coat, waking up to drape it over the back
of the couch. "He enjoys it far more than I do."

Harry comes to join them with three plates of food balanced on his arms. He sets one down in
front of each occupant at the table before seating himself. Aryan wiggles in his nest on the
table and Harry picks him up with all the covers taken with, holding his pup against his chest
with one arm.

"Dominus, I must commend you." Joseph says without picking up his fork. "You are one of
the finest men and Dominus' I have ever met."

"Thank you, Stark-"

"No, no. You call me Joseph or risk insulting me." He picks up his fork at last and is humble
enough to eat without reservation.

"Thank you, Dominus." Harry has the grace and respect to appear modest, disregarding his
food in favour of paying attention to Aryan.

"I understand that you have a brother as well." Joseph moves on from their topic speedily.
Harry goes stiff with tension. "Yes."

The Stark Dominus notices Harry's change in appearance, a restrained curled fist against
Aryan's back but not the hand that's squeezing Louis' knee. "Is he going to be a threat to your
claim as Dominus of a pack?"

"Possibly." Harry answers truthfully with resentment in his tone of voice. "He will be lit with
envy if I attain a position higher than his."

Joseph falls silent like everyone else at the table except for innocent Aryan who is forming
spit bubbles with his pink pouty lips. He watches them dribble onto his father's skin and finds
it almost as fascinating as the glistening pendant in his hand.

"He'll just have to deal with it, I suppose." Joseph continues eating, uninhibited or concerned
for this being another's home. "You'll have a pack to protect you then, Dominus."

Harry's eyes grow a little wide at being addressed as Dominus by an Alpha with higher
ranking. Louis stifles his amusement and makes a mental note to tease Harry for his
flabberghasted state later.

"I uh- I don't want your pack to fight my personal battle." Harry quickly recovers.

"No good leader does that, you're right." Joseph wipes his mouth with a napkin and stands,
along with Harry. "They're your pack now, Harry. You are welcome in our pack house as
soon as you're ready to move there."

Harry is tremendously thrilled and walks with Aryan to the door, chatting to Joseph while
Aryan's garbled sounds provide background noise. The Stark Dominus bids all three of his
hosts adieu before chuckling at Aryan's squeezed fist flailing his pendent around.

"This is yours now, little one." He tells the distracted baby. "Let it be what makes you a
strong, loyal Dominus."
*****

"Harry." Louis poked his Alpha mate's bare pectoral once, twice. He leans in close to the
sleeping Dominus and hisses. "Harry."

Without his eyes opening or lips moving more than a slight parting to breathe, there's no
answer. Harry's arms get a little tighter around Louis' hips while his mate is trying to remain
upright, his dozing pup in his arms. He puts that soft, chubby weight on Harry's chest instead
so the Alpha awakens.

"What-" Harry lowers his volume as soon as he takes in Aryan sleeping on his chest, bare
down to just his napkin. "Haud mirum, what's wrong?"

Electric blue eyes blinked impassively down at him. "What Joseph said is bothering me."
Harry sighs before covering a yawn and tugging Louis' wrist. "Come lay by me."

Louis relents easily by slotting himself into Harry's side and resting his head on the Dominus'
shoulder. This way, he could watch Aryan sleep and drool on Harry's chest. "Do you think
he's going to be a Dominus?"

"Of course." Harry curls his arm protectively around Louis. "He is a healthy specimen of a
young Dominus." "But-" Louis chews his lip. "-he's my baby."

"Yes." Harry kisses Louis' forehead firmly. "He is our son and he is only two weeks old, haud
mirum. Especially now since I've been allowed to train as pack leader. You'll never have to
see him leave us."

Louis tilts his head back a bit and connects his lips with Harry's. He whispers his words
against the Dominus' mouth. "Promise you won't let anything tear our family apart."

"I swear by all the stars in the sky and the blood in my veins."

*****

Moving into the Stark Dominus' pack house started the next day. Joseph sent three brutish
Dominus' to help with the physical storage but they were instructed to not set foot in Harry's
home. That's where Louis and Aryan were, and Joseph had a soft spot for that baby.

Louis packed boxes in the bedroom while Harry dealt with the kitchen and attic. Their
furniture and larger belongings would stay exactly this way, and they've promised each other
that they will visit this home every week. Aryan lay on his parents' bed, rolling around with
his toys and gurgling happily to himself.

By nightfall, all their necessities were carted to the Stark Dominus' home and they were
eating their last meal here in front of the fire. Louis made roast lamb and sat on Harry's lap -
as is tradition - while they ate. Aryan had been fed, burped and the pup was fighting sleep
until Louis nuzzled his tummy and kissed his nose, then the youngest fell fast asleep.
"This one time at school-" Louis tells Harry after their plates were abandoned on the sofa and
his Dominus chose to shamelessly grope his bottom. "-I got food poisoning from candy
floss."

"My poor haud mirum." Harry pulled Louis in under his chin. "How did that happen?"

"School family day or something, I can't exactly recall." Louis confesses, bubbly and amused.
"My teacher was so upset with me because our production was the next day."

"You were in plays?"

"Aha." Louis beamed proudly and turned to watch Aryan's little chest rise before falling.
"Nobody outside school faculty and students were allowed to attend."

"I can understand the reason behind that." Harry was secretly glad that nobody estranged was
allowed to witness his mate glow on stage.

"Of course you can." Louis jabbed Harry's chest accusingly. "You're a Dominus."

"That is correct. I suppose I have to share a story with you." Harry raised his eyebrow and
Louis laughed, all softened by the humour in his eyes and crinkles at the corners. "Well, I
have one about my earliest hunt."

Louis sipped from his tall glass of water and settled back into Harry's embrace. "Tell me."

Harry licks his lips and thinks back to the awful time. "I thought I had killed a stag and
dragged it all the way home before the damned thing woke up and ran off."

The laughter he heard from Louis was characteristically musical and unrestricted. His sweet
mate giggled uncontrollably at Harry's heinous retelling before apologising with a kiss. "How
did you not know the animal was still alive?"

"I thought I broke its neck but...-" Harry shrugged a little with a nervous glint in his eye.
Louis cooes at his Dominus' awkward nature. "You still sound pretty angry about it."

"Why wouldn't I be, haud mirum?" Harry cups Louis' posterior where it's so available to his
hands, squeezing firmly. "It's one of the nights I regret most."

This puzzled Louis. "Why? It was only your first hunt, my love."

"I became.....angry for the first time." Harry's eyes pinned Louis' and the trepidation coupled
with remorse all brewed in dark green. "I let that get to me and I allowed myself to be
controlled by violence instead of vice versa."

"Oh Harry." Louis reached up and framed Harry's face in both his delicate hands. He thinks
about how he's never once seen Harry get angry. "It's okay."
Harry kissed the inside of Louis' palm and moved to both his wrists. That was the night he
lost his leg because he chose to pick a fight with a wolf much older than he. His stupidest
decision marred his body and hindered his actions.

"When I got my prosthetic, I thought I'd lost my Dominus status." Harry whispered
nervously. "When I found out I hadn't, I felt like I had to prepare for a life alone. No
submissive wants to mate with a broken Alpha."

"Oye." Louis managed to smile without his breath catching. "You better not be insulting the
mother of your heir."

"Never." Harry drew in a long breath and winked. "In fact, I was considering a request to get
another pup from you."

Louis grumbles and hides his blushing face in Harry's neck. "You make it sound so
mechanical."

Harry's chuckle is audible and charming, his dimples making an appearance. "My apologies,
haud mirum."

"Perhaps-" Louis rested his forehead against Harry's, chewing on his cherry lip and looking
squarely into Harry's deep gaze. "-we can try."

He need not recover for more than a few weeks, as their biology has been altered through the
generations. Harry found solace in the fact that he could be intimate with his mate at this
time, the night before they leave their own home.

They made love through the night to the early hours of the morning, recounting every event
they've experienced together. The night they met replayed in their heads while Harry held
Louis on his lap, or their mating. It was a festival of senses and touches, all building up to
one climax before crashing over the edge.

Louis insisted afterwards, while they were exhausted, that they change the sheets and allow
Aryan to sleep with them. Harry was the one to do it and when they curled up in bed around
their beautiful baby boy, he made sure to hold the infant's hand. Louis slept whilst lying on
Harry's chest, only because that's where he was carved from when the stars wrote their story.
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