A peck on the cheek.
It was Eren's first and last kiss to his supposed-to-be mate, or so he thought at that time.
Oh, how wrong he was.
He was making a dramatic closure by walking away without looking back at Levi, but his effort seemed useless when suddenly Levi moved from his spot and lifted Eren up, carrying him like a sack of potato as Eren squeaked in shock.
"Oh goodies! What are you doing? Put me down!" Eren gripped Levi's back shirt tightly to balance himself.
"Rejecting me for the sake of my pack? Telling me that I need female mate instead of my destined mate?"
"But, Levi—"
"You must've hit your head somewhere before, or you are just too stupid to learn about your own kind. Had Armin never taught you about it?"
"Hey, that's rude! Wait, I thought you don't talk much?"
"I don't, unless they are stupid people. Like Erwin and Hanji, and you."
"Excuse me?"
Levi glanced at Eren. He was quiet for a while, he then let out a loud sigh, "That came out harsh, sorry, I didn't mean to."
"Um, you are forgiven?" Eren was taken aback. Levi mumbled a small 'thank you' as a reply.
'What's up with his various emotion changes every time he talked to me?' Eren thought.
All of a sudden, Levi barked as they passed Jean and Connie who still guarded the meeting room, "Follow me, you two will guard Eren's room!" At the command, the two immediately followed the Alpha without questioning.
Shocked, Eren agape at Levi, "Hey, what do you mean by that? Hey, let me go!" He flailed his leg, trying to break free from Levi's grip. But Levi wasn't an Alpha for nothing, he still able to balanced Eren on his right shoulder at ease.
Once they arrived, Levi saw the room already occupied with Mikasa and Armin, sitting at the end of the bed and eyeing them in silence.
Levi set Eren down gently on the bed and turned to Jean and Connie, "Lock the door. Don't let them get out from this room no matter what," He ordered.
Eren gasped. He pointed at Levi with accusing look, "This is kidnapping. I want a lawyer!"
Levi stared at Eren and the mated pair beside him. Armin, looking guilty, raised his hand, "I kinda knocked him out before we got here. Don't worry, he's fine. He just needs some rest."
"I will ask doctor pack to check up on him," Levi said and excused himself.
The door shut closed, they could hear the clicking sound of the door being locked, and then quietness.
Mikasa look intently at Eren as the brunette copied her. They had staring contest for a while. Armin could only smile at the two. After three minutes, Mikasa gave up. She sighed in defeat and asked his step-brother, "So, what happened?"
"Kidnapping."
"Well, if I was him, I would definitely do the same thing," Armin shrugged. Mikasa nodded in approval while leaning at Armin's shoulder lazily.
"Who in the hell locked their mate?" Eren asked in disbelief.
"The one who reject them with nonsense. I mean, Eren, you do realise what would happen to the rejected mate, right? And let's not forget that he is an Alpha!" Armin fussed.
"So what if he's an Alpha?"
Suddenly, the door creaked open and Hanji appeared in the room, "Well, an Alpha's bound towards their mate is stronger than any other ranks. You might not feel it now, but once you've been mark by Levi, you will feel the same feeling just like he does."
"Luna?" Eren asked. The trio were looking at Hanji in confusion.
She waved at the title, "Oh, puh-lease, call me Hanji. Anyway, Levi told me about what happen. I know he said he's going to call the doctor pack for Eren, but look at this precious gem; he's all good and dandy, he's just confuse. So, Hanji come to the rescue!"
She hollered and braced herself, "Well, scoot over, guys! It's time for mate talks!" The trio immediately made a room for Hanji. Afterward, she jumped onto the bed and bounced a few times. Once she stopped bouncing and found a comfortable position, she giggled.
"Wow, you are one energetic Luna. I thought a Luna should be more, uh, composed and mature? No offense, though! I actually kinda like your attitude!" Eren flailed his arms as he talked.
"None taken! Erwin said I am a ball of energy, I guess he's right. Anyway, I come to talk to you about your rejection earlier, which, in my opinion, was a nonsense thing," She bopped Eren's nose with her index finger playfully.
"When you find your mate, he will immediately become your other half, and your wolf will depend on it. Their scent is intoxicating and their touch sends a shiver that tingles, in a good way. You will feel safe and sound, protected, and comforted around your mate. They will be the most beautiful person you've ever meet in your entire life. You can't love anyone as much as you love your mate!" Hanji beamed.
Mikasa and Armin who quietly listened to Hanji, hummed in unison, they completely agree with her, understanding the feelings.
Hanji smiled at the mated pair and continued, facing Eren with serious look on her face, "Now, imagine those feelings, but it will be ten times stronger on Levi, since he's an Alpha. The feeling of rejection would be unbearable for him."
Eren face scrunched up when he imagined them. Then, Hanji explained further, "What you did only killing Levi slowly. You might not realise it now, but you will get the same effect too, mostly when the heat kicking in."
"I haven't shift yet, so I haven't had my first heat either."
At that, Hanji gasped, "That's making it worse, Eren! Since you already found your mate, later when you get your first shift and the heat without your mate by your side, you will most likely not going to survive them! And by you, I mean your wolf inside you that will merge with your soul once you shifted!"
"I- I didn't know that!" Eren stuttered in panic.
"Unless your mate is already decease, or both of you agree to reject each other, then you will be okay even though it still hurt your wolf," Armin added.
"Why don't you two stopped me earlier?" The brunette protested.
"Eren, we already learn about this whole mate thingy from basic to advance since we are in our early teen. Plus, I did try to stop you earlier," Armin huffed.
"Yeah. Even if I try to stop you, no matter how hard I try, you will still going to Levi to reject him, am I right?" Mikasa crossed her arms.
"Ugh, alright, it's my fault! Now what I am gonna do? I rejected him, I am a mate-less werewolf now, and I am going to die soon, painfully!" Eren cried in frustration.
At the thought of him rejecting Levi earlier, Eren felt his heart clenched and started beating painfully, "Great, now I could feel the pain already. I won't get to live before long!" He whined dramatically.
"Oh, little one, don't you worry! Levi hasn't accepted your rejection, right? Haha, that shorty is in denial right now, he is such a wreck after being rejected by you," Hanji patted Eren on the shoulder.
"He hates me by now."
"Oh, come on! Levi is a tough guy, but I can see he already developed a soft spot for you. So, there will be no way in hell that he hates you!" She laughed it off.
Eren wanted to argue, but nodded weakly at Hanji's words instead, hoping that it was true.
Hanji smiled, now that this mate problem had been solved, she had something else that bugged her for a while. She took a glance at Mikasa, a big grin plastered on her face, "Anywaaay, Mikasa Ackerman?"
"What? Oh, if you are talking about my last name, well, I never meet with other Ackermans beside my parents. Werewolf family tends to have many relatives, so, we might be a distance family who live in different pack all this time," Mikasa explained.
"That's it? Well, okay then. Turns out the last Ackermans are not two, but three, just because. Not a cool story, but okay," Hanji shrugged.
The room went into a comfortable silent after that. Hanji played with Eren's dark chocolate hair locks for a while, when a tall middle age man barged in, "I wanna see Levi's mate who make him look like this, heh, I like his mate already!"
Hanji smirked. She nudged at Eren, "That's Kenny Ackerman, the Elder of Shadow Corps Pack. He is quite an asshole if you don't know him, but he's actually a good man. Well, if he ain't good, he won't be an Elder, right?"
She waved at Kenny and yelled, "Hey, Kenny! This cutie patootie is Levi's mate!" She pointed her index finger at Eren.
"Wait, your mate is a he?" Kenny shot a glance at Levi.
"What's the matter with that? If you are talking about the Alpha lineage, I will think about it later," The Alpha growled.
Kenny shrugged, "Well—"
Eren suddenly stood and cut him off, "An Alpha doesn't have to determine by bloodline, it's how about they become stronger to lead and protect the members! I learn about it, and believe it or not, there are actually a few Alphas all over this world who rule their pack without having any Alpha bloodline."
Kenny blinked once, twice, "Well, you are right, kid. So—"
"Ah! Kenny, they need to get some rest, actually!" Hanji suddenly spoke, "Plus, there's a lot to discuss! Believe me, this whole Levi-found-his-mate thing is more complicated than it looks! So, I'll see you at the meeting room in a minute?"
"Well, okay then. I hate being cut off every time I tried to speak, anyway. I'll be in the meeting room with Erwin and the Betas. Tch, werewolves nowadays, don't have such respect for their Elders," Without waiting for a reply, Kenny went out from the room with a soft click, leaving a giggling Hanji and a guilty-looking Eren.
"What was that, Hanji?" Levi asked.
"Ugh, long story, I'll tell you later at the meeting room so we could discuss it together with everyone there."
"Discuss about what?"
"About everything that concerns this trio, but well, mostly about your mate."
"Speaking of mate, I don't know that you have the knowledge about Alphas, but when it comes to mates, you suddenly get all zero knowledge?" Levi raised his eyebrows in bewilderment at Eren.
Eren's face heated up from embarrassment as he stuttered, "Ah, uh… Levi, about that…"
"Yes?"
"Hanji talked to me. What I did is very reckless. So, would you forgive me and give me another chance? I, uh, the three of us will also going to discuss about Alpha Erwin's offer back then at the meeting room," Eren explained. He played with the hem of the end of his shirt to cover his nervousness.
"Yeah, okay," Levi shrugged it off as if the rejection earlier was not a big deal, when in reality Levi was panic to death when Eren rejected him and ready to keep Eren locked forever in the room, not caring if the brunette would hate him for whatever the Alpha's about to do.
Eren abled to bring every emotion out in Levi's, even the scariest part that Levi didn't realise he was having it, which was dangerous.
But at least for now Levi felt relief for the rejection didn't happen anymore.
When Eren didn't get another replied for Levi, he played with the hem of the end of his shirt more and cleared his throat, "Okay, so, um…"
"Aaawkwaaard," Hanji giggled like a maniac, but thankfully she succeeded on breaking the silence. She then clapped her hands in realisation, "We also talked about Ackermans, well, might I say, not as juicy as mate talks, though!"
"Tch, if you also talked about Ackermans, Kenny might want to know. Is it okay if Hanji tell the people in the meeting room about the talk, guys?" Levi asked the trio and received a 'yes' as an answer.
With that, he added, "Alright, I need the three of you to get some rest. We will discuss some more once you are back in shape. For now, I wanna let the inner council know about what happen."
"Erwin and I need to go back to our land soon, but we will be back in three days. So, I guess you have three days to think about Erwin's offer, okay guys?" Hanji chirped.
Mikasa and Armin nodded at both Levi and Hanji. Eren still fidgeted nervously in his position, somehow he still felt bad for rejecting Levi earlier. He was acting recklessly and makes a fool on himself in front of his mate.
Just as Levi about to walk away, Eren called him out, "Levi, about the mate thingy…"
"As long as you're not rejecting me, you can take your time and we will talk about it later. You need to take some rest first. I bet everything that happens this less than 24 hours already exhausted you."
"Okay. Thank you, Levi!" Eren gave him a big smile. Surprisingly, Levi smiled back, even if it's just a slight upward tug on the Alpha's lips.
Hanji whispered before she left with Levi to the meeting room, "Be patient with Levi. He is an Alpha with many experiences, but when it comes to romance, he has none of it! But I can see he's already fond of you, sooo, you two will be fine!"
"B-but, I lack of experience in that field too!" Eren blushed.
"Even better, you two could learn together!" She winked at Eren and then waved at the trio, "Get some rest, my lovelies! Erwin and I will be back!"
Levi rubbed his temple in frustration before he dragged Hanji to the meeting room, leaving the trio to get some rest. This time, they didn't hear the door being locked.
Little did Eren know, Levi not only provided a comfy room for to get some rest, but he also asked the doctor pack –for real this time— to check up on Eren, along with Mikasa and Armin .
So, later that evening, Petra Ral; a petite beautiful woman with strawberry red hair a.k.a. the doctor pack visited each of the trio's room to check up on them, just as Levi requested.
Turned out Levi's concern wasn't really necessary. If the trio got any form of physical injury or exhaustion, then it healed already by their wolf's blood healing ability. That, or the trio was perfectly fine from the beginning.
Although they were physically fine, Petra begged to differ about their psychological well-being. The trio got a little state of shock from what happened with their own pack since their adrenaline rush now had long gone.
In the end, Petra had instructed the trio to take a full bed-rest for a day or two.
Of course, while Mikasa and Armin followed Petra's instruction immediately, Eren groaned in disagree. He felt completely fine, he was so sure that nothing was wrong with him. But Petra's menacing glare made Eren gulped and went to bed right after.
That's how the trio ended up on a full bed-rest. They can't even visit each other's room, since Petra already instructed them clearly not to leave their bed until Petra allowed them to. Even the Alpha didn't get to visit his mate, because apparently, Eren was on Petra's intensive care.
Finally, at day three, Petra gave them an okay to finally get some fresh air for real, not just an open window that let the air inside. But, instead of going outside, they ended up discussing about Erwin's offers at Eren's room.
Truth to be told, it wasn't a hard decision for them to make. In less than fifteen minutes, they already decided what to choose from Erwin's offers. And once the discussion continued from where it left three days ago, they will talk about it with the two Alphas, sometime around today.
Right after that, Mikasa and Armin decided to take a stroll around the castle, while Eren opted on looking for Levi. For what, he wasn't so sure. He just wanted to see the Alpha, as if it was a sudden urge, and it felt like his heart won't calm down until he met Levi.
Mikasa and Armin only gave Eren a meaningful smile before they parted ways.
The brunette went out from his room and once he stepped out from it, he met with Jean who happened to pass the hall where Eren's room located.
Without further ado, he asked the horse-face on Levi's whereabouts. Jean scowled at the nickname, but he showed Eren where to look for Levi anyway.
Eren immediately went to the direction where Jean told him. Apparently he was headed to Levi's room. After he was sure he stopped at the right door, he knocked excitedly with a giddy smile. But after a few seconds of knocking and waiting, his smile turned into a frown, because Levi didn't answer him.
He knew it was a bit rude, but slowly, he opened the door that lead into Levi's own chamber. He let out a huffed breathe once he was aware that the door was unlocked.
As soon as he stepped inside, he closed the door with a soft click. He was about to call the Alpha's name, but said Alpha already beat him first, "Eren?" Levi's sultry voice could be heard clearly, it made the brunette almost swoon from the sound alone.
Eren was about to apologize for barging in and intruding the Alpha, but everything was like in a pause once he saw what was in front of him.
There he stood, with only a small towel wrapped around his waist and upper thighs, and nothing else to cover his well-built body. A handsome face combined with soft-looking milky white skin yet Eren knew if he traced his fingers on that skin, it would felt rough, a good rough feeling. And his toned body, oh dear moon, it was so glorious. And, was that an eight pack?
Eren could almost felt his mouth watering and his legs were going to turn into jelly at the sight. It even get worse when Levi started to walked toward him, steel-blue eyes didn't even blink as he stared at Eren with the look that he couldn't describe from the Alpha.
He felt his heart beat harder than before, it almost jumped out from its original place, when he heard Levi called his name, now with a whisper, "Eren…"
Eren bit his lips nervously as he frozen in his place. He could hear himself gulped loudly once he felt Levi's soft and delicate touch from his pale fingers brushed his tan cheek.
The brunette could only stared at those hypnotizing steel-blue eyes as he screamed internally, 'Ooooohhhhh shiiiiit, I know I have this urge to see Levi ASAP, but my poor innocent soul isn't ready for thisssss!'
—
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Chapter End Notes:
I re-read the chapter and I was like; wow many mistakes spotted, but too lazy to fix it, I am so sorry! *cries*
I apologise if this chapter is like a filler chapter, it actually isn't though. I am kinda disappointed with how the rejection thingy just ended like this, but oh well... this is how it turns out, for now.