Chapter Text
Louis had never been more confused in his entire life.
Just two days ago, he was living comfortably in him and his mother's two-bedroom home, halfway across the country. Now, he found himself in a town he had only heard his mother speak of briefly, and usually in conversations about how she wished to, "Never return".
Why would she willingly come back if she claimed she never wanted to come back?
Louis sighed, glaring out the window of what was apparently his "childhood home", as if he was old enough to truly remember any place he lived at when he was only months old. His mother had been very vague with him about the whole situation. Whenever he asked why they came back if she always warned him that they were to never come back to this town, she would answer with a simple, "It is what had to be done".
The most confusing part might be how Louis has seen approximately zero people. He has seen no cars or people, and if he didn't see various small houses lining a couple streets, he would have believed that they moved to a ghost town. With the constant expression of concealed fear on his mother's face, it wouldn't surprise him if this actually was a cursed ghost town that belongs on TV.
He turned away from the window, heaving himself up to go pester his mother with more questions, wondering if she’ll now answer any of them. He made his way down to the living room, confused when she wasn’t sitting in the thick brown armchair he had last seen her in.
“Mom?” Louis yelled out, panic seizing his chest when he received no reply. His mom would have told him if she was heading out, so there was no reason why she wouldn’t be here.
Louis ran through the house, panicking even more when his mother was nowhere to be found. He finally settled when he looked out the window and noticed his mother sitting unmoving on the grass, her gaze fixed on the thick woods behind their home.
His toes curled as he walked barefoot in the dewy grass, not liking the cold temperature against the soles of his feet. “Mom, are you okay?” Louis asked, worried when his mother didn’t even turn away from her mindless stare into the forest.
“Louis, you need to promise me something. You will never venture into those woods. Ever. I will explain everything in time, but you need to stay away until I tell you so. Got it?” Her tone was harsh, contrary to her typical gentle nature, and Louis was taken aback by the almost aggresive way she warned him in.
“I- Yeah mom, I can do that,” Louis replied, now even more curious to explore a place so off-limits to him. He sat next to her, resting his head on her shoulder. She adjusted her hand so it was against his cheek, pulling him closer.
“You’re my entire world. I can’t lose you, not after all this time,” She said, emotion thick in her voice.
“What do you mean? I’m not going anywhere,” Louis claimed, bringing a hand up to rub his mother’s back. “I’m always going to be by your side, you’re my best friend after all.”
He could have sworn that she whispered back with, “You’re not my baby anymore,” but he thought he could have only imagined that as she scooped her tiny son into her arms and held him as if it was the last time they could touch.
_____
It was two in the morning and Louis couldn’t sleep. After the weird afternoon spent in the backyard, his mother retired to her room quickly. When Louis checked on her earlier in the night, she was passed out, but even in her sleep a worried look was permanently etched onto her face.
He found himself standing in front of the glass sliding doors leading to the backyard, stare fixed on the pitch black forest in front of him. He didn’t even register he was moving until he was suddenly a foot away from a barely-visible entrance.
It felt like the woods were a magnet, and Louis was helpless to the internal calling he felt towards the place. His feet carried him through a non-existent trail, shockingly not stumbling despite feeling as though he wasn’t conciously moving his body. Suddenly, he heard a quiet noise of footsteps behind him, sounding too quiet to be human.
He didn’t even realize he had climbed up the tree until he looked down, staring with wide eyes at the dark ground, surprised he wasn’t struggling to see everything as much as he thought he should be. Below him, though, was what truly sent shivers down his spine.
A real life, black wolf stood at the foot of the tree he had taken cover in. It was sniffing insistently at the base of the trunk, then growled and looked upwards into the branches. Louis choked but kept his grounding on the thankfully stable branch he was perched on.
The wolf growled again, then quickly sprinted deeper into the forest, perplexing Louis greatly. He sighed in relief at the wolf’s depature, but remained in the branch to catch his breath. He wasn’t questioning why his mother was so adament about him not going into the woods now, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave just yet. A small voice in his head was telling him to stay, that this place was his actual home.
Louis knew he shouldn’t be listening to that voice, but he was helpless seeing as his body appeared to be controlled by that little voice in the present.
He began to adjust himself so he could start to get down from the tree, but as soon as he moved, not one, but three wolves leaped out from behind various logs and bushes, growling at him. Louis immediately stilled, not wanting to die. His uneasy breathing returned, and as he went to return to his previous postion, his foot slipped.
He fell at least ten feet right onto his back, the breath instantly knocked out of his lungs. He quickly shut his eyes, not wishing to see the wolves lunge at him with blood thirsty eyes. Instead of the wolves tearing him to pieces like he expected, nothing happened. After mentally assessing himself for injuries and not finding anything extremely pressing, he slowly opened his eyes.
A whine of shock fell from his mouth, and before he could even begin to wonder where that noise came from, the look he was given immediately shut off his inner thoughts.
In front of Louis stood three, extremely naked humans.
“Look what we have here boys, a trespasser. Reckon we should bring him back to the pack and let them have a go at ‘im?” A taller man with a buzzed haircut asked, not speaking to Louis. Pack? What the hell are they talking about?
“Wait, smell him. He has Jay’s scent all over him,” Another man asked, with dark hair falling down to his forehead.
“Jay? I thought she escaped away from here years ago after-” The first man was cut off by the third, previously silent one.
“I summoned her back. You know pack members cannot ignore an alpha order. She has unfinished business here…” The man, who Louis couldn’t see due to his limited view from the forest floor, trailed off. Louis thought he was dreaming. How could these people know his mother? She had never spoke of his birthplace, so he assumed she had nothing to miss here, and nobody that knew her.
He was very wrong apparently.
“Do you think this is her son then?” A voice said, causing Louis to whimper unintentionally. He didn’t need to see all three of them to tell that all eyes were suddenly on him.
“Zayn, sit him up against the trunk,” The third voice stated, and suddenly Louis felt arms seize him up by his armpits and rest him against the tree trunk of the tree he had just fallen out of.
Louis finally got a decent look at the three people in front of him, choking on his breath a little when he made eye contact with the tallest one with bright green eyes that seemed to sparkle even in the dim light the forest provided.With his new postion, a sudden burst of confidence overtook him, and he finally managed to ask, “ Who are you guys, and what happened to the wolves that were just here?”
The three men looked at each other and began to laugh. “Jay definitely hid that part of his life from him. Oh, this is absolutely beautiful boys,” The one with green eyes smirked, bringing his gaze back onto Louis.
“Don’t worry baby boy, we’ll handle you from here. We’ll tell you everything that your fugitive mother hid from you,” The man said, causing Louis to gulp.
It was decided then. Louis was fucked.