Chapter Text
"No. Absolutely not."
"Lou you have to at least think about it-"
"No. I've already made up my mind, Z. I'm not having him here whilst it happens. No fucking way," Louis protests.
He was sitting at his desk in his office, Zayn resting against the wall with one leg propped up and Liam and Niall leaning against the opposite wall.
"You can't just throw him out though, Lou. He's going to be upset, we both know he will," Zayn argues back.
"No, I agree with Louis. Having him here puts him in danger. Surely your alpha knows that, should want him to be safe? He won't be safe here," Niall sides with Louis, making Zayn growl at him.
"Of course I want him fucking safe, Ni. But I would also like my omega to be happy, and feel validated. Don't question my ability as an alpha," he says angrily, pushing his foot off the wall to stand up straight.
"Okay, everyone calm down, bloody hell. Zayn, stop baring your teeth like that at Niall, he's not a fucking threat," Liam interjects calmly, ever the level headed one. "What we need to do is hurry the fuck up and make a decision, because the longer we stand here arguing the more time we're wasting and the more time he's in danger."
"We're not arguing. I'm Alpha, I've told you what we're doing. One of you is taking him to the flat and is staying there whilst we deal with this shit. He's not staying here, no arguments," Louis says with am air of finality, glaring at the other three as if he's daring them to argue with him.
"For fucks sake, Louis! You're not even listening to anything I'm fucking saying! If he's here we can all protect him, if he's in the flat with one of us and something happens to that person he'll be all fucking alone! You won't be able to protect him if we send him away! We can't-"
"If he's here I can't protect him anyways, Zayn! Get that through your thick fucking skull! I can't protect him and you won't be able to protect him if we're dealing with all the shit we're going to be dealing with! He's an Omega, they'll be able to smell him. He won't last five fucking seconds. If I could have it the way I wanted he'd be here, with us, his two alpha's and his two beta's and he'd be safe and we could forget about all that shit, okay? We could have a nice fucking time, without all the stress of all...all this. But this is our life, and we have to deal with it. He's not staying here, and that's final. Like Liam said, we don't have time to waste, so stop trying to argue with me," Louis shouts, slamming his hands on his desk and standing up to show his authority as Alpha.
Liam and Niall roll there eyes at the two arguing alpha's, forever letting their stress show in the form of anger towards each other. They all know in five minutes they'll be fine with each other, but right now nothing would be able to make the two see straight.
"Why do we put up with them?" Niall groans jokingly to Liam, making the other beta smile.
"I know right, alpha's are too fucking complicated. But we love them so," Liam shrugs, Niall laughing quietly as he turns back to see Louis and Zayn still arguing.
"Louis, I'm not trying to be difficult I just- hi, princess, what are you doing up here?" Zayn says, voice suddenly a lot softer as the two alpha's and two beta's turn to look at the small boy hesitating by the open door.
The boy is clearly an omega, his frame, whilst not necessarily a typical omegas, was small in the way all omegas were, just not as curvy as most were. Which the boys constantly reassured him was okay and that he was still gorgeous, but he still kinda hated it. Instead of a small waist and wide hips, the text book perfect image of an omega, the boy was...more shapeless. Slender.
He had bright green eyes that showcased how he felt all the time, even when he didn't always want people to know what he was feeling. His hair was a beautiful mess of curls that always smelt of coconut, which his Alpha in particular always loved.
But the most telling sign that this boy was an omega was the four bond marks littering his neck. It had almost been a year, a whole year since they bonded, and the omega wouldn't have it any other way.
Harry fucking Styles, sweet, kind, and the perfect omega.
Right now he was was playing with the hem of his jumper, or well, Liam's jumper. He knew he wasn't allowed up here, and he knew he definitely wasn't allowed in Louis' office when they were having a meeting, but he could feel their anger through his marks, and he was scared.
"Um, is everyone okay?" he asks quietly, not wanting to make eye contact with them just in case.
"Sweetheart you know you're not supposed to come up here uninvited. We were having a private meeting, what do you actually need?"
Alpha. Alpha was talking to him. "I'm part of this pack too. I don't like being left out of important stuff," he says quietly, staring at his pigeon toes.
"This is exactly what I'm fucking talking about," Zayn whispers harshly to Louis before he walks over to their omega. "C'mon, pup. Let's go downstairs, you shouldn't be here."
Harry looks up hesitantly, green eyes mixing with Zayn's brown ones. "No. I want to know what's going on. I'm not stupid, I know about the deal tonight. You don't want me here, do you?"
Zayn sighs and looks round to the other boy's, not sure what to say.
"Darling, it's not because we don't want you here, it's for your own safety. We can't risk having you here, you're a weak point. If the guys find you they'll use you against us, and that might involve you getting hurt. One of the boys will go with you, you won't be alone again. But you can't be here, it's too risky tonight," Louis says firmly yet softly, not wanting to upset his omega.
"But-"
"Come on, babe. Let's get you downstairs, let the boys finish discussing the details. Get you a bag packed and everything. Let's go," Zayn says, placing a hand on Harry's back and guiding him towards the door before turning back to Louis. "I'll be back in a bit. Fill me in, yeah?"
Louis nods curtly and Zayn smiles, turning back to his omega, leading them outside and closing the door behind them.
"Fuck, maybe I shouldn't have said that," Louis says, angrily opening his laptop back up and scanning through his spread sheet. This was going to be a long fucking night.
-
"He doesn't want me here, does he?" Harry asks sadly, looking at his lap and swinging his legs.
Zayn had sat him up on the kitchen counter as he threw some snacks into a bag, passing Harry a chocolate milk from the fridge and telling him to drink it.
The alpha pauses in his packing, looking up to Harry and caressing his face. "It's not that, pup. He wants you to be safe, needs you to be safe."
"He said I was weak."
Zayn tries to push down his inner anger and focuses on making his omega okay. "He didn't say that. He said you were a weak point, which was really badly put. That wasn't a reflection of you, babes, it was a reflection of us. We love you, and would do absolutely anything to make you okay and safe." Alive, he doesn't say. "If people found out where to find you, they'd take you and we'd be fucked, and they know that. Louis' just stressed, he wasn't trying to upset you."
Harry ponders on that whilst Zayn continues raiding the cupboards for essentials for him.
"Do you want any of those nut bar things you like?"
"Um, sure. How long will I be gone for this time?"
Zayn tries not to get upset at Harry's tone. This is exactly why he doesn't want Harry to go to the flat. He feels like they're kicking him out, like he's unwanted here. And that's so fucking far from the truth. "I'm not sure, pup. Hopefully no longer than three days. But you'll have one of us with you, I'm not sure who yet, but you will have one of us, I promise. We're not kicking you out."
Harry nods and hops down from the counter when Zayn offers him a hand, bag of food in the other. They walk in silence up the first flight of stairs, finding their bedroom and entering.
"Sit there whilst I quickly get some clothes for you," Zayn says, pointing to the bed as he starts raiding through the Harry's section of the wardrobe.
"Can, um...Can you put, like, something from each of you in there?" Harry asks quietly, face red in embarrassment.
Zayn smiles fondly, grabbing a worn jumper from the hamper of each of the boys, knowing Harry wanted it for the smell.
Even if Liam and Niall were betas and didn't have the same strength of smell as the alpha's and omega, Harry still liked the comfort of being able to smell them.
"Z?"
"Hm?"
"Do you think Louis', like, mad at me? For going upstairs? And disagreeing with him?" the Omega asks in a small voice.
Zayn gives up packing nicely and just shoves a whole bundle of shit into the bag, zipping it up and chucking it next to the food bag before walking over to Harry and pulling him up into his arms.
The Omega sinks into the Alpha's strong arms, feeling safe there and able to shift off the bad feelings he was getting about everything that would be happening tonight and over the next few days.
"As if Lou could ever be mad at you, baby. You're not really supposed to go upstairs just in case you hear something you don't want to, and having an opinion is perfectly fine with us. We're not really into the whole "omega must do what alpha says with no objection" shit. And you know that. Sure what Alpha says goes, but you still get a say in it. I wanted you to stay here, to be honest, but Louis makes sense. As much as I don't want to agree with him, he's right. You're not safe here. Don't worry your pretty little head about these things, yeah?" Zayn says comfortingly, holding Harry protectively to his chest.
The omega relaxes some more and buries his nose into Zayn's neck, inhaling the scent there deeply. "Okay. I love you."
Zayn smiles widely, not caring if it makes him look stupid. "I love you too, pup. You wanna go see the boys now? See what's happening and who's going with you?"
Harry steps back from the huh reluctantly. "Am I allowed?"
Zayn smiles and picks the two bags up in one hand, firmly holding Harry's with the other. "Of course. You know even though you're not supposed to it's still okay, for you. And I'm taking you, so grumpy old Alpha can't get mad."
Harry giggles and grips Zayn's hand back. "Okay. Thank you."
As they ascend the next staircase Harry feels his heart rate increasing as he senses the anger and worry from Alpha.
Once they reach the door Zayn knocks and enters upon Louis' consent.
"Hey, so, I've packed him a bag of clothes and a bag of snacks and shit. You done with the meeting yet?" Zayn asks as he pulls Harry into the room, letting go of his hand to push him in by his back.
"No, we're all done," Louis says, shutting the laptop again as Niall and Liam file away whatever it was they were looking at. "You feeling okay now, pup?"
Harry looks up to his Alpha and goes straight into his arms, loving the way they incase his small body and he can now feel Louis' heart beat. "I'm sorry!"
Louis smiles and holds Harry tightly, the omega instantly calming him down as he focuses on what he needs. "Shh, you don't need to apologize for anything, okay? I didn't mean what I said in a bad way, I just-"
"I know, Zayn explained it to me. Who's going with me to the flat?" Harry asks quietly into Louis' chest.
"Um. I think it would be best if Zayn stayed here with me, so it's between Niall and Liam. Which one of you can work on this better from the flat?" Louis directs towards the beta's.
"Probably me, Lou," Liam says. "All my stuff is technology anyways and I can just work on it from the laptop. Nialls better at, um, combat," Liam says, not wanting to give away too much in front of Harry.
"Niall?" Louis checks.
"Yeah that's fine. I wouldn't really be able to do much from the flat, so send Liam. We'll be fine without him here," Niall confirms.
Louis looks down to his omega and strokes a hand through his hair. "That okay with you, baby?"
Harry nods. Liam is good. Liam can actually cook unlike the other three, and Liam is very protective. He'll look after Harry and make sure he's okay, and really that's all Harry needs.
Any of them would've been good though, to be fair.
"Okay, all sorted then. You'll probably have to leave in an hour? And take a shitty car, a posh one is too obvious. There's a nice one already at the flat incase you need a quick getaway or anything, okay?" Louis says, pulling out of the hug with his omega and pressing a kiss to his forehead.
"Yes, Alpha, that's fine," Liam says.
"C'mon then, let's go and relax for an hour. Last chance we might get for a few days," Louis says softly, slotting his hand into Harry's and leading the five downstairs to their huge bedroom.
Technically, this was Harry's room. The biggest and in between everyone else's. When they first bought the place they made sure they all had their own individual rooms so they could have alone time if they wanted, but no-one really slept anywhere else other than Harry's anymore. They all felt safer sleeping together.
"I need to fill Zayn in on what's happening quickly, you three get settled and then we can watch some TV or something, yeah?" Louis says.
The beta's and omega nod, watching their alpha's leave before turning back to each other.
"C'mon then, I wanna cuddle Harry," Niall says, pulling the giggling omega onto the bed and into his lap, Liam rolling his eyes fondly and getting in next to Niall, pulling Harry's legs into is lap and rubbing them softly.
"You feeling alright, angel?" Liam asks kindly. "I know there was a lot of shouting and angry alpha's, your headspace okay?"
Harry shrugs, curling into the two beta's a little. "I guess. Would be better if I could stay here and calm them down, but it's not really an option. I just wish we didn't have to deal with this all the time," he admits quietly. "Like, I know this is our life now and I love everything, but this part just sucks more than I would like."
Liam and Niall share a sad look. "I'm sorry, pup. I don't always like it either, none of us do. But it is what it is, yeah? It's how it's always been," Niall says comfortingly, quoting Louis' infamous quote/tattoo.
Harry nods and lays his head on Niall's shoulder, easily finding comfort as he shuts his eyes and falls asleep, not even waking when the two alpha's rejoin their cuddle party.
-
Louis was the leader of a gang. Always had been in a way.
When the five were in school, Louis was always being secretive about shit, until one day Liam stopped him and questioned him about it.
Louis told Liam everything, how his dad was a gang leader and Louis was basically second in command, and how his dad was close to wanting to give everything up so Louis was going to replace him.
Liam helped him, and they had decided to not tell the other two, (Harry was a couple grades lower than them and wasn't part of their friendship group yet) and so they had stuck to it until Harry came along.
They were in their last year of school when Harry came into the picture, Louis and Zayn 18, Liam and Niall 17, Harry just turned 16.
Harry was special, and they all knew it straight away. He'd come nervously knocking on the sixth form common room, asking for someone to help him with his photography project.
The omega had a few friends, Luke and Nick, the only two other omega boys in his year, but he quickly became part of the older boy's group as well.
The alpha's and beta's had already started to dabble in furthering their friendship into something more, all clearly feeling a romantic attraction to each other despite their years of friendship, but it wasn't until Niall spoke up about feeling the same way towards Harry that they properly started courting each other.
By this point Zayn and Niall were both aware of the gang, and had also become important parts of the team.
Liam was really good with technological shit, could hack into almost anything needed and could track someone down within hours.
Niall, whilst good at combat, was exceptionally good at tricking people. Playing the nice guy to get people to spill everything they needed to know without realising it.
Zayn was good fighting, was yet to lose against someone, and was specifically good with knives. You didn't want to cross Zayn Malik with a knife in his hand if it was aimed at you.
Louis was the leader. He made the decisions, he told people what to do, where to be, what was happening. Sure, he was Alpha in their pack, but he was also I'm control of the entire gang. Everyone who worked for them was under Louis' power, he made sure no-one thought twice about trying to over ride him. He'd been training for this his whole life.
And there was Harry. Sweet, precious, Omega Harry. They all knew they'd had to tell him at some point, but they also knew he probably wouldn't like it. It was after six months of courting, Louis and Harry were out on an ice cream date when Louis suddenly grabbed Harry's hand and ran to the car, slamming Harry's door and running to his own side, slamming his foot on the pedal and speeding away.
-
"Harry get down now," Louis shouted, speed dialling Zayn's number on the blue tooth speakers in the car.
Harry could smell something funny, and yet he couldn't quite place it.
"Louis what's happening? Why did we leave?" he asked quietly.
"Baby I'm telling you to get down, please! Just crouch down and hide in the footwell of the car, you need to. I promise I'll explain everything, I know it's scary but please get down," Louis pleaded, trying to hide the fear in his voice.
With shaky hands, Harry unplugged his seat belt and crouched down by the footwell, tucking his head under the dashboards as he wrapped his arms around his legs. "Louis please, I'm scared!"
"I know, baby. I'm so sorry, I'm gonna get you in a safe place as soon as I can. Just stay down there for me, yeah? You can do that for me?"
Harry nods, too scared to say anything else as Louis swears and swerves the car.
The phone stops dialling all of a sudden and Zayn's voice rings throughout the car. "Lou? What's wrong?"
"They were at the fucking ice cream place, Z. They knew we'd be there, how the fuck would they know that? Harry was there in plain fucking view of them!" Louis shouts.
"Shit. Shit! Where the fuck is he now?" Zayn says, suddenly a lot more concerned.
"We're in the car, but they're following us. I don't have any fucking weapons on me, Zayn. I need, shit, I need to get Harry away from this," Louis shouts again, swerving the car once more.
Upon hearing weapons Harry starts whimpering unwillingly. He know it won't help but he can't control it. What the hell is going on?
"Take him to the flat, Lou. I'll meet you there and stay with him, he can't come here. You need to lose those guys and when you do they'll come straight to the house. He won't be safe here. Can you do that?" Zayn asks urgently.
"Yeah, I can do that. We won't be long, please hurry!"
-
So yeah, it wasn't exactly the way they wanted Harry to find out, their main enemies finding their Omega in an ice cream shop and Harry having to go into hiding for a while, but it was what it was.
Harry had been scared that night, but with Zayn making sure he was okay in the flat and reassurance that everything would be okay, everything quickly sorted itself out.
And luckily Harry had accepted it for what it was. Especially when Louis explained they were the good guys and their job was to protect everyone else against the bad guys.
And it was hard sometimes, when Harry wanted to just live a normal life without all the stress and pressure from his life, but he wouldn't give it up for the world.
He became the most important person in the gang, in a way. He looked after everyone, making sure they were warm and fed, looking after their injuries and being a source of happiness. They all knew if it wasn't for Harry they'd probably be dead by now.
They tried to keep Harry away from it, for the most part, not wanting the omega to get caught up in all their shit, and never wanting him to be in danger. But sometimes that was easier said than done.
-
"Okay, so, you've got everything you need, yeah?" Louis asks, holding his hands on Harry's shoulders as they wait by the door
The hour was up and Harry and Liam were about to make the journey to their flat by the beach.
"Yes," Harry replies quietly.
"You're got clothes, pajamas, enough pants?"
Harry nods.
"You've got plenty of food? Your i-pad, your laptop?"
Harry nods.
"You've got toiletries? Soap, shower gel, shampoo? A clean towel?"
"We've got towels at the flat, but yes I've packed one anyways," Harry says with a giggle.
"Good boy. Okay, and you know you can call me whenever you need, yeah? And if I don't answer leave me a voice message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can, okay?"
"Yes, Alpha."
"Louis, he's going away for the weekend, calm down would you," Liam says with a laugh, standing next to Harry with all the bags in one hand, "he's got everything he needs, stop stressing."
Louis smiles at Liam and then back at Harry. "Okay, good. And you know to try not to bother Liam too much if he's working, yeah? Try and let him get on with it unless it's an absolute emergency."
Harry smirks. "Does being very bored count as an absolute emergency?"
Louis smiles fondly, rubbing Harry's ear. "No, cheeky boy. Okay take your top off."
The omega's eyes widen, looking round his other mates. "Um, why? I thought we had to leave?"
"You do, silly. I just need to scent Mark you and then you can go, okay?" Louis says softly, pressing a kiss to Harry's forehead before letting go of the Omega.
Harry blushes and takes his top off, leaving him bare from his hips up. Zayn wolf whistles, Harry blushing even more and Louis rolling his eyes.
"C'mere, then, baby," Louis says, holding his arms out for his omega.
Harry steps into them, baring his neck with Louis' bond mark showing to the Alpha as he sinks into the hold.
Louis starts by licking his bond mark, instantly making the omega whimper and whine beneath him, before nosing to Harry's scent gland and scenting him.
Harry's completely pliant under the Alpha's hands, and when he steps away Harry whines and steps closer to him again.
"Baby," Louis says with a fond laugh, "c'mon, you can't stay with me, I'm sorry. Lift your arms up for me?"
The omega frowns and tentatively lifts his arms up as Louis pulls his own jumper off and pulls it carefully onto Harry. "There we go, all done. You wanna say bye to Zayn and Ni?"
Harry nods, happy to be wearing his Alpha's jumper, and flings himself at Zayn, burying his head into Zayn's neck. "I love you."
Zayn smiles fondly. "I know, I love you too, angel. You gonna be good for Liam, yeah?"
Harry nods furiously, holding on tight to Zayn as he licks over his bond mark, placed slightly lower down than Louis'.
"Kissy?" the omega asks sweetly, pouting out his lips for Zayn as he laughs again.
"Baby you need to stop saying that," he teases as be presses his lips to his omega's.
Harry then, unwillingly, removes himself from Zayn's hold and jumps up at Niall, who catches him easily and holds him up. "I love you, pup."
"Love you too, NiNi. Promise you'll be safe when I'm gone?" the omega asks quietly.
Niall presses a kiss to Harrys temple and strokes a hand through his hair. "I promise I'll try, Hazza. You gonna try to be safe too?"
"Yeah, promise," Harry says earnestly, melting when Niall licks over his own bond mark too, his one on the other side of Harry's neck along with Liam's.
When he's done, he turns Harry's head back to their facing each other and presses a firm kiss to his lips, making Harry blush and whine again when Niall puts his down with a push towards Louis.
"C'mere then," Louis says softly, opening his arms up for his omega to bury himself into, which he does.
It's a bit too much for the omega, though, and he starts crying lightly into Louis' chest.
"Oh baby, it's okay, no need for tears, yeah?" Louis says sadly, smelling Harry's sadness through his own scent on the omega. "It's gonna be fine, Liam will look after you, yeah?"
"Want all of you!" the omega cries, holding on tightly to Louis' jumper.
Louis looks up to Zayn who looks concerned and points to his watch as if to say we don't have much time.
"Pup, it's all going to be fine, okay? I promise you. Just think of it like a nice date with just Liam, yeah? And you can always call us if you need to," Louis says, trying to console his distressed Omega.
"Go on, babe. Go with Liam, he'll look after you," Zayn adds, rubbing a hand up and down over Harry's back.
Harry nods and reluctantly steps back, waiting as Liam gives his mates all a quick hug and kiss.
"Stay safe, babe. Call us if something happens, yeah?" Zayn says, squeezing him tightly.
"Yeah, of course. Look after yourself whilst we're gone," the beta says as he moves to Niall and gives him a big hug too.
"We will, we can survive without you and Haz, ya know," Niall says with a laugh before pressing a quick kiss to Liam's lips.
"Sure thing, when was the last time one of you cooked dinner?" Liam teases back as his Alpha pulls him in for a final hug.
"Don't worry about us, Li, we'll be fine. You just look after yourself and Hazza, and keep in touch with us, okay? I love you," Louis reassures, stroking a hand through Liam's hair.
"I will, promise. I love you too, all of you. Okay, we really have to go now," Liam says to Harry, seeing the time ticking away.
Louis releases his beta, kissing Harry one last time, before sending them both on their way to the door.
Harry holds on tightly to Liam's hand as they walk alone to the car, feeling uneasy in the dark and far away from his other mates.
"Li, is everything okay?" he asks tentatively, wide eyes darting around at their surroundings.
Liam gives Harry a funny look. "Yeah, it's all good. Why wouldn't it be? You okay?"
The omega shrugs, dipping his nose to sniff Louis' hoody again. "Just have a bad feeling s'all. Can you lick your bond mark on my neck? Everyone else did and it feels wrong without you."
Liam smiles fondly as he opens the boot of the car and throws all their bags in before pressing Harry against the side of the car, trapping him there with his body. "You look beautiful, baby. You always do."
Harry whimpers again as Liam licks over his mark, just below Niall's, loving the way it makes him feel whole again.
Liam smirks, pulling back to press a short kiss to Harry's forhead. "C'mon then you minx, let's get going."
Liam opens the door behind Harry, letting him get in and buckling up his seat belt before carefully shutting it.
As he's about to walk round the side he hears a whisper coming from behind him, making him spin round to look in that direction.
He can't see anything, and it's a dark garage so it could just be something falling over, so he just leaves it, walking round the car and driving out.
"It's gonna be a couple hours, baby, so you should probably try and get some sleep. I'll wake you up if I stop to get some food, yeah?"
Harry nods sleepily, resting his head against the window and quickly falling asleep, snoring ever so lightly.
-