Trophy (L.S)

Six

He had heard the loud clang of his trap go off before he could smell it, the beta's fear, coming up through the reeds; and as soon as he bursted past the thick bramble to see for himself, he couldn't grasp the excitement, still in slight shock.

Harry shifted immediately, wanting to dress himself as quickly as possible so that he wouldn't scare his beta even more. As much as he wanted to communicate with the small wolf, he needed to get him home and safe first.

Liam grumbled from beside him, clearly unhappy. "Fucking not fair, Styles, I nearly had him."

The younger alpha shrugged as he bent down to pick up the cage, but the frightened beta inside snapped his jaws upwards, toward Harry's hand, and the man was surprised that the small wolf managed to draw some blood from his fingers.

With a sigh, Harry lifted the crate by its handle instead, but as soon as he did, a small body rammed into his legs, making him tumble to the floor; which had caused him to drop his poor beta onto the hard ground too.

Harry rolled over to see what exactly happened, and he quickly stood up to hold Liam back from going after the second beta before them.

Both of the betas wagged their tails before the bigger one licked Blou's muzzle through the bars. The alphas figured out real quick that they must've been friends, and that was when Harry kind of felt bad, because he was taking Blou away from his family, the field, and the only life he's known.

The blond wolf turned around suddenly with a disbelieved growl before he made a quick exit through the reeds; and Harry barely had any time to blink before he realized that his best friend decided to give chase.

Harry rolled his eyes before finally getting to pick up the trap again by its handle, his beta still pacing anxiously inside.

Crossing the field was easy, surprisingly, until he had finally reached the gate at the beginning of the fence.

A few alphas were standing there already, some with their own catches while the rest had given up. Harry noticed immediately that they gave his beta surprised glances, before giving the alpha a thumbs up, to congratulate him on his prize.

Harry hated it, the way the others treated the betas as if they were trophies to be won, yet he kept his mouth shut and politely nodded in return, waiting for the warning, and final bell to signal the end of the hunt.

As soon as both alarms rang out and the betas' den gates opened again, the remaining wolves, that had evaded the hunt, swarmed back into their safe place. It was quite the sight to see, and Harry was glad to see that the blond beta had been one of the few to return to his nest.

Liam had joined him not a minute later, his shoulders slumped slightly, a bit disappointed with himself; yet, he offered to help his friend carry the crate since Harry's future beta was snarling and pacing anxiously still.

Finally, the front gates opened and Albert greeted all of the successful alphas one by one as he checked to see which beta they had caught; an exchange of files being given, to let the men have all records of their new betas.

Once he reached Harry though, he became excited. "Well, well, well! Harry Styles, this's quite happy news," he exclaimed as he watched the two alpha friends load the trap into the bed of the truck. "You've caught ol' Blou, the beta you've been wanting all this time; I remember having you come around here everyday just to see him," he gushed.

Harry blushed as Liam snorted, the latter closing the lip of the trunk before walking around to get in the passenger's seat.

"Yeah, I knew all of his tricks, so he was quite easy to catch actually," he muttered, slightly embarrassed under the gaze of his father's best friend.

The human chuckled as he finally handed Harry his file, nodding in approval. "Just be sure to bring him back here regularly, so that he can see his mum and aunt; those three can never be separated for long," he finished as he started to walk back towards his house.

Harry nodded numbly, the buzz from the hunt having never left yet as he glanced down to the Manila folder within his hands.

"Oh, and Harry?" Albert called out again as he turned back around to face the young alpha. "Be patient with him, please. This's a whole new world to the poor beta; he's never been outside of the fence- so he'll be scared, he'll be angry, he'll be depressed. Don't force him into anything, alright?" The man finished with tears in his eyes, having watched the small beta grow up, and wanting the best for him.

The alpha nodded sincerely before walking around the truck to get into the driver's seat, starting the engine as soon as he did; choosing to ignore the pained howls of despair and heartache coming from the back of the truck.