"MINE!"
At that, everyone went silent for a second, trying to absorb the news into their head; Levi, the Alpha of Shadow Corps Pack had found his mate.
The declaration shocked them all. Some were gasping, some grinned widely, and some were frozen at their place. Eren's emerald eyes widened in disbelief, and just like some other people in the room, he was frozen in place.
His mate.
He found his mate.
He knew he couldn't feel the strong pull towards his mate, at least not yet, not until he turned 18 where he finally became an adult wolf. But, even if it's just for a tiny little bit, he could feel the slight pull that tickled his heart and the faint of specific smell coming from his mate, Levi.
Still on Levi's embrace, the alpha started to deepen his hold toward Eren and inhaling the intoxicating scent from his new-found-mate as if he would die if he stopped his act, despite the fact that Eren was unmoving on Levi's arm.
Eren could feel himself whimpering because of the lack of respond to Levi. He realised he needed to do something for the sake of his weaken heart.
Slowly, Eren lifted his trembling arms to wrap it around Levi. He closed his eyes in content and started sniffing Levi's scent, pleased at the soothing feeling inside him.
"Mine," Levi repeated, now much calmer than before.
Eren wanted to say it back, to say that Levi was his, but then, he heard someone talked, "Wait, is it possible to have male mate for the Alpha? If the Alpha's mate is a male, how could they make pups that going to be the future Alpha for this pack? What will happen to our pack?"
It was Connie who asked innocently to the rest of the people in the room. Unfortunately, Levi was misunderstanding Connie's naivety as a mock toward his male mate.
The grip around Eren's body loosened. Levi was now glaring at Connie, showing his sharp canines, "Did you just make fun of this situation, Connie? Of my mate?!" He growled.
Connie's eyes went wide in realisation, "Wait, no, I didn't mean to make fun of anything. I swear! I was just—"
"Hey, calm down!" Eren immediately grabbed Levi's arm. Really, he thought he was the one with anger issue, who knew that the alpha also sharing the same issue with him? 'This must be fate!' Eren retorted sarcastically at himself.
Somehow, Eren's touch made Levi put his attention at the hand that was lingering around his arm. The canines were now disappear, the frown of his face lessen a bit, and this was Eren's cue to continued his talk, "We, I mean Mikasa, Armin, and I just want to explain to you about the trespassing incident."
"Then, should we all take a seat to talk about these intruders, that happened to be the survivors from Wild Titan Pack just as Farlan said earlier, or are we gonna talked about your supposed-to-be mate first, hm, Levi?" The handsome blond man with bushy eyebrows asked with amusement in his tone.
Ignoring the question, Levi dragged Eren to take a seat beside him, followed by Mikasa and Armin. Farlan stood next to the red haired girl with a pigtail, which she introduced herself as Isabel Magnolia; the other Beta of the pack and also Farlan's mate, while Jean and Connie excused themselves to guard the door.
After everyone finally seated –including Farlan and Isabel, courtesy of the Alpha—, Levi was about to speak up, but soon he was being cut off by the handsome blonde man, "I am Erwin Smith, the Alpha of the Moon Legion Pack and this is—"
"I am Hanji Zoe Smith, the Luna. But oh well, call me Hanji, okay? Okay!" The Luna introduced herself. She then pointed at Levi and continued, "Our pack is the ally of this baby munchkin's pack, and oh my goodies, you are too cute to be Levi's mate!" Hanji squealed at Eren.
Levi mimicked Erwin and Hanji, a distaste look on his face, "I am Levi Ackerman, the Alpha of Shadow Corps Pack, and this is my territory. So, you two need to shut the fuck up and let me talk first. Oh, and you are no ally to us, you are just merely a neighbouring pack."
Erwin chuckled and butt in after Levi, "Don't listen to him. He just happens to hate everyone in this entire universe. The truth is, our pack and his pack are working together, for almost everything, since years ago. So, about you three…"
"Ah, um, I am Eren Jaeger. This is my step-sister, Mikasa Ackerman, and my best friend, Armin Arlert."
"Wait, Mikasa Ackerman as in Levi Ackerman? Ackermans?! I thought Levi and his uncle are the last Ackerman," Hanji eyes went wide at the same surname, along with the rest of the entire people in the room, beside the Ackermans themselves.
"I am an Ackerman, probably that made the three of us the last Ackermans, no?" Mikasa simply replied. She then turned her head to Erwin, "More importantly, what do you mean about survivors? Do you know something about last night attack? What happen? Why they attacked our pack members?"
"Right, let's focus on that first. I'd like to explain it, if you don't mind me, Levi?" Erwin volunteered.
Levi only shrugged, he didn't talk much anyway, might as well let Erwin did the talk.
At Levi's approval, Erwin started to explain, "First, my deepest condolence for what happen to your pack. We only know what happened at the last minute when Alpha Hannes made a call to me, saying that his pack was being attacked by Armoured Colossal Pack."
"Never heard of them," Mikasa shook her head at the unfamiliar pack's name.
"That pack is bad, they are greedy, they are evil, and they are what we call the nightmares. They kill other pack members for the purpose of taking over the land and the fortune in it. No packs want to be involved with them, because even if we make an alliance with them, they will turn against us and stabbed us from the back."
"Then why don't the other packs gather up to destroy them?" Armin asked.
"After all these years, every werewolves end up being dead from their attack. You know what the old, ancient rule says about it?" Erwin asked back.
"The one whom able to take over the land and leaving no survivors looking out for help and tell the tale, deserve to live in peace and carry on with their life, along with what they gain at that time. Uh, that's a bit unfair actually, but—"
"But we always respect and follow the rules, unlike humans," Hanji murmured.
Erwin nodded and continued, "Believe me, as soon as I got the call, even though I am not that familiar with Wild Titan Pack, I immediately get my best men along with the addition from Levi's squad to go for help. But the last thing that we know, we are too late to help as the Armoured Colossal Pack already taking over your land, leaving no survivors."
He took a short pause only to eyeing the survivors carefully. He offered them a small smile, "We were wrong, though. There are actually survivors, you three. So, we are going to offer you something," At Erwin's statement, the trio focused more on the blond Alpha.
"Levi and I discussed about this, in condition if there are survivors. You could go get help, and might I imply that Shadow Corps Pack and Moon Legion Pack are willing to help you to take back your land, or, you could forget the past and join either mine or Levi's pack."
"And what's the catch?" Armin asked.
"Alliance. If we able to take back your land and help to build them back, you made alliance with us."
"Ah, you are talking about the gold mining in our land," Mikasa snorted.
"I am not saying we will take over the gold mining, it will still be yours. By making alliance with each other, we will become trade partner. Also, you will get the all the help and the backup you need from us and vice versa," Erwin clarified.
"What if we choose to join yours or Alpha Levi's pack? I don't think it will benefit any of you, right?" Armin asked again.
"We got more pack member, that's our benefit. And from what I see, not just an ordinary members," Erwin looked at the trio with smug look.
"Mikasa, I feel your power. Not as much as an alpha, but I know you are no less than a delta rank, you are important. Armin, you are smart without a doubt, you must be a sigma. You could help the pups as well as the subordinates and others who might need a bit more knowledge within the pack."
Erwin checked Eren out before he continued, "Eren, I could feel something unique inside of you, I don't know, maybe your wolf? Also, let's not forget that you're the mate of the Shadow Corps Pack's Alpha; you will help Levi rule his pack. Who knows, maybe you could change Levi into a less-grumpy Alpha?"
'My wolf? But I haven't even shift yet,' Eren thought to himself.
"What are you, psychic?" Levi scoffed at Erwin blunt guess.
Ignoring Levi completely, Erwin continued to talk with the trio instead, "If you choose to join one of our pack, I'm most likely going to bet that you will choose Levi's. Well, simply just because Eren will ended up staying beside him as his mate, and of course, Mikasa and Armin would decide to follow and stay with Eren, because I can see that you three are inseparable. Am I right?" Erwin asked.
"Oddly, that's right," Mikasa answered.
"So, what's it gonna be? Get help or stay? What do you say?" Erwin asked again.
"I say, let them take some rest," Levi rose from his seat.
Without waiting for Erwin's reply, Levi turned to Eren, "Jean and Connie will show you to your room. Go clean up and take some rest, you look exhausted. We will discuss this matter after you rested."
"Oh, you're not coming?" Eren asked shyly without realising what he just said.
'Oh no! Did I just say that? Abort mission! I repeat, abort mission! Mayday! Mayday!'
"Ah, I mean…" Eren tried looking for any excuses from his silly question earlier, but he only mumbled nonsense to Levi, which made him want to dig a hole and crawl inside, not coming back forever.
"I wanted to discuss something with Erwin first. Uh, you will be escort by Jean and Connie," Levi's voice was soft, if not stuttered a bit.
He really wanted to claim his mate right then and there, but he knew that there's something more important than that; he need to discuss with Erwin about the future plan if the trio going to asked them for help or ended up staying.
Seconds later, after Levi mind link Jean and Connie, the two immediately showed up and signalling Eren to follow them.
As Eren stood up, he heard Armin cleared his throat, "Um, should Mikasa and I go too, or…"
"Well, yes," Levi replied with his Alpha tone. It was so different from earlier when he spoke to Eren with tenderness in his voice.
Mikasa rolled her eyes, how would they know for sure if they should come with Eren if Levi only pointed specifically at Eren, not the three of them?
She was about to talk back at Levi, but as if Armin read her mind, he immediately tugged Mikasa gently from her seat and followed Jean and Connie, along with Eren to go to their room.
As they walked in silence, Connie eyed Eren with a sheepish grin, "So, you're the Alpha's mate, eh, Eren?"
"Um, how did you know about th—, uh, the mate thingy?"
Connie's eyes went wide in realisation, "Dang! Uh, I was just… we kinda eavesdropping? Don't tell Alpha Levi or he will kill us!" Connie beamed.
"You fucker, don't drag me into your problem!" Jean slapped him.
"Hey, we're all in this together, bro!"
"Don't bro me, dude!"
"I am not your dude, man!"
"I am— Oh, by the way, here we are," Connie stopped in front of the simple yet elegant wooden door. The trio, who was amused by the bickering earlier, also stopped in their track.
"This is Eren's room, the room in front of it is for Armin, and next from Armin is Mikasa's," Jean explained while he motioned his hand toward each room.
"Thank you Jean, Connie," Armin nodded thankfully.
"You're welcome. And uh, please don't tell Alpha Levi that we eavesdropped on you guys, pretty please?" Connie pleaded.
Both Eren and Armin nodded in unison. Mikasa only rolled her eyes, uncaring.
"Cool! We might get along really well! Gotta go, though. Later!" Connie waved at them, tugging Jean with him as they walked away.
Eren waved back. When the two were finally out of sight, he turned to Mikasa and Armin, "After you done showering, can we talk? In my room? I need to ask you something."
Mikasa and Armin's reply was a firm nod without questioning anything, before each of them went into their own room for a quick shower.
And so, thirty minutes later, the trio finally gather round and sat in circle on the bed of Eren's room and the brunette started discussing the matter that bothered him since the talk with Erwin in a hushed voice.
After a few minutes of secretive talked, Eren took a deep breath, looking back and forth to Mikasa and Armin, "So, that's that. Are you guys with me?"
Eren might not the strongest or the smartest compared to these two, but Eren was pretty much the leader of the trio since they were little, and no matter what, he was sure that Mikasa and Armin would always agree with him and followed Eren's lead no matter how silly it was.
Just like right now.
"Eren, are you sure about this?" Mikasa asked with concerned look.
"Are you guys with me?" Eren asked again.
"We are! But what are you going to do is not going to make any sense from every werewolf point of view! Seriously, it's such a ridiculous thought. Why would you do that? I mean, why would you re—"
"Then it settled. I'll go find Alpha Levi," Eren stood up. He paused for a second and turned to Mikasa and Armin with apologetic look, "I am sorry that we don't have a proper time to mourn the dead."
That, made Mikasa looked into Eren's emerald orbs with her glistening eyes, "A little too late to mourn, but believe me when I say I will never forget that day. It was such a—"
"Nightmare," Eren and Armin said in unison.
"Yeah, nightmare," Mikasa murmured.
There was a short pause from the three of them.
Eren cleared his throat, breaking the silence, "Well, here I go."
"Good luck," Mikasa waved her hand in a shooing motion. She won't hold Eren back anymore, since he looked so determined with his choice.
Armin tried to stop him, "Eren, let me tell you this. You. Are. Being. Stupid! Let me remind you that—"
"I'll see you guys later," Eren cut his blond best friend's off before he walked away from the room to find Levi.
He walked aimlessly for a few minutes, before finally met with Jean and Connie who were guarding the meeting room, just like earlier.
Eren ignored the confused look from the two guards as he made a bee line to the door and knocked slowly. No more than five seconds later, the door opened, revealing a slightly puzzled Levi.
"Eren?" Levi asked curiously. He could smell and feel Eren's presence from afar, so he knew that it was Eren who knocked earlier, but he wonder what did his mate doing here instead of resting on his room that Levi had provided.
"Can we talk? Just the two of us?"
Without further ado, Levi nodded and led Eren to an empty hall. Once they arrived, Levi spun around to face Eren. He stood there, unmoving, waiting for his mate to speak.
After a few moments of fidgeting as he stood there and tried to control his breath, Eren finally talked, "I need your help. I want to destroy all of them, the attackers, for killing everyone that I love, for taking over the land. But, now that I thinking any further, I can't take more people to death, surely we can't fight them without losing some of the members, it basically going to be a war between packs."
"And we can help you, just stay here. I discussed with Erwin, we already know the consequences, even some of our pack member have been told about this—"
"Plus—" Eren cut him off, "I don't think an alpha like you should be mate with me, there must be a mistake. You, the alpha, should think about your future pack. You can't be with me."
Eren stepped forward, determination clear on his face, but he couldn't hide the sad look behind it, "I can't give you what you need. You need a female mate beside you. So she could— I don't know, popping out pups for you and train them to be the future Alpha."
"I know there are many werewolves whom having a same sex person as their mate, but I don't think this ever happen to the Alpha and his mate. Besides, what would your pack members are going to say if they know that their Alpha is gay and can't give them the future Alpha's pups?" Eren asked forlornly.
As the Alpha stayed silent during the talk while frozen in his place, unable to let out any words to talked back, Eren finally ended it with a declare, "So, with that being said… I, Eren Jeager, reject you, Levi Ackerman the Alpha of Shadow Corps Pack, as my mate."
Eren let out a breath he'd been holding and flashed him a dejected smile, "I am sorry, Levi. This is for the best. I do it for you and your pack."
Then, he gave Levi a small peck on the pale cheek before he stepped back and started to walk away.
'Goodbye, my mate.'
—
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Chapter End Notes:
Things will get better, I promise. Also, I thank you for all the positive comments up until now, it makes me so happy and I will try to keep it that way! c: