the eclipse [sequel] ☾ l.s.

eighteen - even though i try

The metal walls enclosing the prison cells made Louis feel a bit claustrophobic, but he squared his shoulders as Liam led him down into the basement. His nose twitched, already picking up a familiar scent masked by thick, humid air.

They reached the bottom of the stairs, and the pieces fell into place: the scent, the pinpricks of uneasiness scampering over his arms, the instincts setting his every nerve on high alert.

Liam paused in front of the cell door, casting a nervous glance over his shoulder. "Louis, before we go in . . ."

"Open the door," Louis ordered, his voice low and unquestionable. "Now."

Liam blew out a breath, but he obeyed, pushing the large door open. The hinges creaked noisily like a screeching protest. Louis's blood was already boiling when he stepped through.

In the center of the cell, two chains keeping him contained, stood an all-too-familiar alpha.

Nick.

"They found him just outside of the town border," Liam was explaining from behind him. "He wouldn't say where he was going or what he was doing."

Already beaten and bruised, Nick still shot Louis a crooked smirk. "Nice to see you, Louis. Last time we saw each other, I think you were trying to kill me. Nothing ever changes, huh?"

Louis ignored his attempts at instigative small talk. He crossed the small room in just three long strides, getting up in the other alpha's face. "You've been lurking around here? Why?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Nick grinned. The smirk fell from his face when Liam stepped in and hit him in the stomach, his smug tone replaced by a pained groan.

"Tell me why."

"You can't guess?" Nick choked out between ragged breaths.

"I want to hear you say it."

Nick coughed again, but his lips tugged up into another cold smile. "You've got a pretty omega, Louis. You should remember that he was almost mine."

Louis was the one to hit him this time, punching him right across the face. The chains rattled, an echo of harsh contact in the small room. Nick spit a mouthful of blood onto the concrete floor.

"Touchy subject?"

"Ignore him. He's fucking obsessed," Liam muttered beside him.

Aside from the sporadic clanking of chains, the cell went silent for a few long seconds. As Louis processed the situation, he couldn't help asking himself the same question he'd been pondering since the witch first showed up at the pack's settlement: how did the witch know that Harry was here? There were fifty different packs that Harry's father could have joined, but she found Harry here. She knew without question that the Sons had a hybrid, but how?

Now, with Nick standing in front of him, Louis realized: Nick would rather put Harry in danger than not have him. After all, he had done it before.

"How did the witch know that he was here?" Louis demanded. "How did she know that the Sons had taken him in? How did she know to come here?"

"She asked me where to find him," Nick spat again, blood pooling in the gaps between his teeth, "and I wasn't going to lie."

Louis's eyes flashed. In an instant, he had his fingers wrapped around the other alpha's neck, his grip tight and unforgiving. He felt Nick's frantic heartbeat under his thumb. Liam's voice barely reached his ringing ears.

"Louis! Louis, don't --"

He squeezed the other alpha's pulsing throat harder, looking the other alpha in the eyes. He hated what he saw: fear. He imagined Nick putting that same look in Harry's eyes time and time again; he imagined every mark that Nick left on Harry's body, every nightmare he left in Harry's brain.