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It started with his older sister, Gemma, daring Harry to walk into the woods.
He knew she only did it because he had been hanging near her and her friend Rebecca(who eight year old Harry might have had a teeny weeny crush on), begging them to include him in their games.
“We’re twelve, Harry”, Gemma kept reminding him, “You’re only eight. We don’t want to play with babies”.
“I’m not a baby!” Harry protested, cheeks flushed red with humiliation. He glanced over at Rebecca, with her perfect blonde hair and gorgeous green eyes. She was smirking as she watched the siblings argue.
“Prove it then”, Gemma taunted him, encouraged by Rebecca’s giggling, “If you can go into the woods and stay there for ten minutes, we’ll let you play with us”.
“Yeah”, Rebecca joined in, giving Harry a teasing smile, “Go on. You’re a big boy, aren’t you?”
“I am!” Harry insisted but he couldn’t help but remember his Mum’s warnings.
From the moment he had been old enough to walk, his mother had told him to stay away from the woods that neighboured their town.
“You can play outside”, Anne would say, “But stay away from the woods. There are monsters in there”.
“I dare you then”, Gemma grinned, certain her brother wouldn’t actually dare to venture near the woods let alone step foot inside them. Despite their talk, her and Rebecca had never gone there either. "You have to go far enough into the trees so we can't see you".
“You promise you’ll let me play with you if I go?” Harry asked, biting his lip.
Gemma nodded.
“Yeah. If you can stay there for ten minutes, you can play with us”.
Harry took a deep breath before squaring his shoulders.
“Fine. I’ll do it”, he stated, walking towards the thick outline of trees.
He could hear Rebecca and Gemma whispering to each other as he walked away.
“He wouldn’t actually…?” Rebecca was asking and Gemma answered with a confident, “No way! He’ll run home crying, I bet”.
Giggles followed that statement and Harry was now more determined than ever to complete the dare. That would show Gemma! And maybe Rebecca would finally realise Harry wasn’t a baby and agree to be his Valentine. He could hope.
He took another deep breath before setting foot into the forest. It wasn’t so bad in here. The sunlight was filtering in through the leaves and lighting the dirt paths that were littered with decomposing twigs. He glanced back to see Gemma and Rebecca were giving him wide-eyed looks. Rebecca looked impressed. Harry gathered up his courage, gave them a wave and began walking deeper into the woods. Only about twenty steps in, the trees became denser, branches crowding together in a united attempt to stop too much light from entering the cool forest.
Harry could still pick his way through but it was getting a lot darker the further he walked. He finally stopped when he could no longer see the way he had entered. He could wait it out here for ten minutes. Easy!
Harry sat down on a flat tree stump, idly tracing the cool bark with a finger. He froze when he heard the sound of twigs cracking as if someone were walking over them. A quick look around showed him he was alone but he couldn’t shake off the feeling that someone was nearby. That somebody was watching him.
And then he saw it. A pair of electric blue eyes staring out at him from between the trees. When the owner of the eyes stepped into the light, Harry gasped. It was a large, grey coated, wolf. Those eyes stayed on Harry, who couldn’t even open his mouth to scream. Fear rushed through him as the wolf stalked closer and his heart was hammering painfully in his chest by the time the creature came to rest directly in front of him. Its mouth was open in a snarl, teeth sharp and poised to attack.
The wolf stepped closer, took a deep breath and then...froze. It blinked at Harry, who blinked back, heart in his throat.
Something wet was trailing down his cheeks and he realised with a start that it was tears. The sob, when it finally broke free, was quiet and shuddering. The wolf whined as if Harry’s crying physically pained him and before Harry could understand what was happening, the wolf had stepped forward and placed its head against the crook of Harry’s neck, nuzzling at the skin there. It's teeth grazed lightly over Harry's skin, causing a warm feeling to rush over Harry's small body.
The wolf whined again and pulled back to catch Harry’s gaze.
“Y..you’re not going to hurt me, are you?” Harry finally managed to ask and the wolf let out a soft growl that Harry decided to take as agreement. He wasn’t sure what possessed him to do it but he found himself reaching out with one hand, stroking it over the soft fur of the wolf’s head.
The wolf blinked at him for a few seconds before letting out a huff and leaning into the touch, silently asking for more. They sat there in comfortable silence for a few minutes, the wolf occasionally nosing at Harry’s hand as he continued to stroke its fur. Suddenly, it closed its eyes and its body went tense, a low growl building up in its throat.
Harry immediately stopped stroking.
“What’s wrong?” he whispered, wondering absurdly if the wolf could understand him.
The wolf growled again before opening its eyes and darting closer. It nuzzled into the crook of Harry’s neck again, sniffing him with a soft whine. Harry stayed still, not knowing what else to do but he jumped when he felt a rough, wet tongue give his cheek a quick lick.
“Eww”, he grumbled, reaching up to wipe the saliva off his cheek. The wolf let out a sound that could be considered a snort of amusement. Its blue eyes twinkled as it gave another lick to Harry’s neck.
Before Harry could grumble about it, the wolf turned away and, with one last look back at Harry, darted off into the trees as if answering some silent call.
“Bye”, Harry whispered into the empty air as he stood up, deciding it had definitely been ten minutes. He thought he heard an answering howl.
When he got back, he didn't tell Gemma or Rebecca about the wolf. He told himself they wouldn't believe him even if he did but another part of him just wanted to keep it a secret. It felt like a special moment the wolf had accorded only to him.
So, he kept silent as Gemma hugged him tightly, telling him how he'd been in there for fifteen minutes and that she’d been worried sick. Even Rebecca gave him a hug and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Half an hour ago, Harry would have been over the moon about it but now, he found himself thinking the wolf’s tongue felt nicer than her kiss. In fact, Rebecca didn’t seem that beautiful to him anymore. Maybe he had just gotten over his crush?
Still, that didn’t explain why he spent the night dreaming of a grey wolf with electric blue eyes.
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Surrounded by his pack in the house in the woods, Louis Tomlinson slept with the blissful knowledge he had found his future mate.