me, him, and the moon ☾ l.s.

twenty six - questions and answers

"He's a healer!" Louis's voice boomed, shaking the whole house. "He saved my life, and you have no reason to question him. He's been trained for this since he was a child -- of course he had the skills to tend to my injury!"

"Mr. Tomlinson, there's no reason to get upset," the officer argued -- a beta, who Louis was seriously considering tearing limb from limb. "If your omega will just answer a few easy questions for us, we'll be on our way."

Only two days had passed since the ordeal in the woods, and a few members of the council had taken note of Louis's seemingly miraculous recovery. Harry had been exhausted after healing both Louis and himself over such a short span of time, and he had taken a few days off of work per Louis's overprotective orders. Their suspicious behavior hadn't gone unnoticed, and now Louis was doing everything in his power to smooth over the situation and protect Harry's secret.

So far, it wasn't going too well.

The alpha crossed his arms over his chest, staring the shorter man down. "I was present and fully conscious through the entire ordeal. I don't see why my answers would be insufficient."

"Lou?"

Harry's sleepy voice tore Louis from his raging rant, and he whirled around. His mate stood at the bottom of the staircase, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Without a second thought, Louis closed the distance between them in just a few long strides, wrapping a protective arm around his omega. He kept his back squarely positioned toward the living room to shield the younger boy from the prying eyes of the officers invading their home.

"What's going on?" Harry whispered, his wide eyes studying angry ones before flicking nervously over his shoulder toward the living room.

"They're asking how you saved me. How you healed me," Louis explained shortly. "Everything is going to be fine. I'm taking care of it. I need you to go back upstairs."

"Mr. Tomlinson, we'd love to have a word with Harry about the whole experience," one of the officers interjected from the other room. "His healing skills are clearly much more impressive than the pack has given him credit for."

Louis ignored her. He squeezed Harry's hip, then patted his side in a silent instruction. "Go back upstairs, sweetheart. Lock the door, and don't come out until I come to get you."

Harry just nodded obediently. He pressed a quick kiss against Louis's lips before hurrying back up the stairs, avoiding eye contact with the officers waiting in the middle of the living room.

One of the officers moved toward the stairs as Harry left, protesting, "Mr. Tomlinson --"

"No!" Louis spoke firmly, blocking the stairs with his own body and staring the officer down with a cold glare. "Take a step back before I make you," he growled, his eyes flashing. He heard the door slam upstairs, and he relaxed slightly, still holding his ground.

"You're making this much more difficult than it needs to be, Louis," the beta officer spoke up again, his brow furrowed with frustration. "We don't need more than ten minutes with your mate, and then we'll leave you both in peace."

"He shouldn't have been in the heat of battle in the first place. He's a healer, not a soldier, and an omega at that." The words tasted bitter in Louis's mouth -- he hated the unfair stereotypes that cast omegas as weaker than alphas and even betas, but if he could play that card to his advantage, he would. "My omega is still very much scared and traumatized by the experience, and I will not tolerate any more harm or stress coming to him. Especially when I am perfectly capable of answering all of your questions."