Chapter Text
One misstep and the alpha would catch me.
Darkness had settled over the forest near my home, the kind that made it impossible to see anything. I had to rely on my instincts to weave through the trees, but a dense layer of leaves and fallen branches carpeted the ground, threatening to trip me up with every step. But I kept going. I had to. I couldn’t afford to stop or slow down. Running at this speed was the only thing keeping me out of the alpha’s reach. If I stumbled even once, it would come to a fight, and he would have the advantage in this total darkness.
I can’t fall. I won’t fall.
Why had this alpha followed me here from the bar? What did he want? These questions kept running through my mind, yet I didn’t have answers to any of them, but his scent—a pungent mixture of determination and excitement—told me everything I needed to know. He wouldn’t stop until he had me in his grasp.
I gritted my teeth, enraged. Was he one of Zeke’s men? Had that bastard finally sent someone after me? If that were the case, I’d show him I wasn’t someone he could take out with ease. I would rip this alpha apart and send Zeke the pieces. I just had to make it to the cabin first.
“You’re fast,” the alpha said from behind me. He didn’t sound winded, even when he was running as fast as me. “But you’re not fast enough to outrun me.”
That hit a nerve. Seething, I dared to look back at him over my shoulder. I saw nothing in the darkness except for his eyes—yellow, feral eyes.
It can’t be. Not just an alpha, but a pack leader?
A root buried beneath the underbrush caught the toe of my foot, and I tripped and fell to one knee. I had half a second to realize what this meant, then I grabbed the dagger hidden inside my boot. I swung around, aiming to drive it into his stomach, but he was fast; too fast for me to keep up with his movements. He seized my wrist and twisted my hand to the side, the hilt of the dagger slipping out of my grasp. I had no time to recover. He pinned my arm behind my back and forced me to the ground. The side of my face skidded across the forest floor.
“You bastard,” I growled.
“Don’t act like you can’t handle more than this.” His chest came to rest on my back as he lowered himself over me. The weight of him pressed me flat against the ground. He said, in a smooth, deep voice, “You’re exactly like they said you would be, Levi. I’m impressed.”
I tried to squirm away from him. “Who the fuck are you, and how do you know who I am?”
“I’m going to let you up, then I’ll explain myself.” He tightened his grip on my wrist. “Don’t try anything, little one.”
“Little...?” My jaw clenched tight. I was going to kill him.
He ignored my anger and leaned back on his knees, lifting me to my feet as though I weighed nothing. I snatched my hand back, irritated, and brushed away the twigs stuck to the front of my jeans, all while inching my fingers closer to my front pocket. The dagger wasn’t the only weapon I carried. I just hoped he wouldn’t realize my intentions until it was too late. And if I wanted to take him down in one go, I’d have to hit him somewhere vital. That wouldn’t be an easy thing to do in these conditions.
I set aside any doubts as I slid my hand into my pocket. The cool bite of metal brushed against my fingertips. I let out a breath and snatched the throwing star without giving myself time to hesitate, whipping around and slashing through air.
What? Where the hell did he go?
“I told you not to try anything,” he said, his voice coming from somewhere behind me. The next thing I knew, he had me pushed up against the nearest tree. He gathered my wrists in one of his large hands and pinned them above my head. Rough bark scraped my arms. “Now we have to do this the hard way.”
The outline of his body was all I could make out. He was tall. I had to tilt my head back to look at his face, into those yellow eyes that confirmed he was no ordinary alpha.
“Tell me who you are,” I snapped.
“Are you in any position to be making demands?”
I brought my leg up, intent on ramming my knee into his stomach, but he blocked my attempt. I bared my teeth.
“You’re not used to it, are you?” he said, matter of fact. “Being overpowered?”
“Fight me fairly, and I’ll show you how easily I can overpower you.”
“Can you? You’re strong. I’m not denying that. But you’re not stronger than me.”
I jerked my hands forward, but his grip didn’t loosen. That pissed me off. “Are you going to stand there and talk all night? Or are you going to tell me what you want with me? Did Zeke send you?”
“I’m not with Zeke,” he bit out, “but he is why I’m here.”
“Make sense already, bastard.”
Out of nowhere, light burst around us as lightning snaked across the black sky. The clap of thunder that followed was so loud I winced.
The alpha tipped his head back. “There’s a storm coming. A bad one, from the looks of it. We need to find shelter.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
This time when lightning zipped down from the sky, my eyes found his face. For half a heartbeat the world was ever bright, and in those seconds, everything stood still. His features were sharp, precise, like someone had taken careful consideration and carved him out of stone. My gaze lingered on his lips, then traveled up the bridge of his nose, where our eyes met. A shock ran through me. They were no longer yellow. They had returned to normal, the color of them unlike anything I’d ever seen before. I couldn’t look away.
The world went black again. I breathed out a slow, shaky breath.
His eyes were green, a deep-sea green.
“You were heading somewhere,” he said, reminding me why I was in this position to begin with. The spell broke and my anger returned in one fell swoop. “Do you have a place nearby?”
“Why should I tell you that?”
He sighed. “I don’t want to have to hurt you. Just answer me.”
“How about you tell me your name, and I’ll guide you to a place we can talk?”
“Out of the rain?”
“What rain?” As I said it, water dripped on me from overhead. I cursed.
“That rain.” He let go of my wrists but pressed in close. His scent filled my nose. He smelled like something I couldn’t quite describe, like warm honey and the ocean breeze. “My name’s Eren Yeager.”
My eyes widened in shock. “Yeager... As in Zeke Yeager’s younger brother?” I darted to the right, using the flash of lightning to locate my dagger. I knelt down, snatched it up, and brought it down on his thigh. Or I would have, if he hadn’t stepped sideways at the last second. But the sudden movement caused the blade to swipe across his leg anyway. It cut him, but not deep enough to keep him down.
“You just don’t quit, do you?” He sounded annoyed. In the dark, I barely saw him raise his hand. “Don’t come. It’s alright. I’m okay.”
“Who are you talking to?” I turned my head to scan my surroundings. I couldn’t see anything. “You’re not alone.”
“Neither are you.”
I went to ask him what he meant by that, but then I smelled them—my pack. I must’ve been close enough to the cabin for them to pick up my scent of distress.
Eren stepped toward me. The sharp smell of blood stung my nose and made the hairs on my arms stand up in warning. “There doesn’t need to be a fight. It doesn’t have to come to that.” Another step. “I came here because we can help each other. Zeke took something from us both. Together, we can—”
“You’re right,” I said, interrupting him. “Zeke did take something from me, so why the hell should I trust his brother?”
“He’s not my brother.”
Lightning crackled through the air, and in the flash of white light, I saw his pack surrounding him. There were six of them in total, three men and three women.
“You’re outnumbered,” I said. There were seven members in my pack.
“I told you, it doesn’t have to come down to a fight. Zeke—” He clenched his teeth, hands curling into fists at his sides. A gust of wind whipped by us and carried his scent to me. Hatred turned it into something vicious. “My brother...” He paused, an evident strain in his voice when he continued. “He killed our father and took over his pack. I couldn’t accept that. Neither could the people you see behind me, so we ran away and formed our own pack. But Zeke didn’t like that we rebelled against him. Now he’s hunting us down, just like he’s hunting your pack down. He’s already killed two of mine. I don’t plan on losing someone else.”
“That doesn’t tell me what you want from me.”
“I want to form an alliance,” he said. “I want to kill him, but I can’t do it alone. He’s recruited too many people. You know that. That’s how he took out your pack leader.”
The memory of Erwin’s ravaged body came to the forefront of my mind. We had found him near the lake by the cabin, his throat torn open. Zeke had ganged up on him with several members of his pack, ripping him apart until he was unrecognizable, and I knew he was coming back for the rest of us. Who would he come for next? Hanji? Farlan? Isabel? Or would it be Petra? Or Nanaba? Maybe Mike? I couldn’t stand the thought of losing any of them. They were my family, and I would do anything to protect them. But how could I trust this alpha? How could I be sure that he wasn’t working alongside his brother?
I couldn’t be, which made this decision easy.
“An alliance won’t work,” I said, final. “I don’t trust you, and I never will.”
“It will work,” he persisted. “We have a common foe, a common purpose. You’re the leader of your pack, and I’m the leader of mine. If we say the sacred words under a full moon—”
I reared back when I realized what he was suggesting. “A Blood Promise? No. Never.”
A Blood Promise was forbidden and hadn’t been done for hundreds of years. If two alphas equal in strength recited the sacred words under a full moon and exchanged blood, their souls would be bound together until the promise had been fulfilled. And if one of them broke it, both of them would die. The sole reason so many alphas had done it in the past was because of the immense power they received from bounding their soul with another.
“It’s the only way we can be sure we won’t betray each other,” Eren explained, like I cared to listen. “If we don’t overthrow Zeke now, his pack will continue to grow stronger. What do you think will happen when he comes for you again? Another member of your pack will die. Are you willing to let that happen when you can stop it?”
“Enough.” Mike came to stand beside me, an enormous shadow in the darkness. “We don’t need you. We’ll get by on our own.”
The rest of my pack gathered around me, preparing for an attack.
For some time, Eren stood there in silence, his rage evident. Then he said, “Zeke will come for you again. And when he does, one of you will die.”
“Save your breath,” a woman said in a harsh tone. When lightning flashed again, I saw her standing next to him. She had sharp features and hair as black as night. “They won’t listen.”
It began to rain in earnest a moment later, but still none of us moved. The energy crackling between us was tangible. We were all poised for a fight, waiting for it to break out. Could we leave here without spilling blood? It seemed impossible.
“You’re the only one strong enough to be bound to me, Levi,” Eren went on, despite what the woman had told him. “The Blood Promise will work for us. And if you want to save your pack, you’ll reconsider.”
I squared my shoulders, ready for anything. “You’re wasting your time, Alpha. I won’t bound myself to the likes of you.”
He stepped forward, but the woman grabbed him by the wrist and said, “Let’s go.”
Silence, and then, “You’ll regret this.” That’s the last thing Eren Yeager said to me before he turned and disappeared into the night, his pack following close behind.
The tension didn’t ease for a long time. I kept thinking about Erwin. The way Zeke’s pack had left him... It was overkill, a message to the rest of us. Zeke wanted our pack to disband and join his. Instead, I rose to fill Erwin’s position as alpha, despite being the only omega in the pack.
“Do you think he was right?” I asked. “Do you think I’ll regret turning him down?”
Hanji answered. “No. You made the right call. We don’t know him. It’d be foolish to put our trust in Zeke’s brother.”
“But he’s right. Zeke will come for us again.”
“When he does,” Mike said, “we’ll be ready for him.”
I doubted that. Although Zeke preferred to travel with only six members of his pack at any given time, he had many more to call upon. If he came here with the intention to kill me, he would succeed, and this time around he wouldn’t make the same mistake as he did with Erwin. Under no circumstances would he give my pack a chance to regroup and choose another alpha. He’d take them by force.
“Now that Eren knows about this place, we should find somewhere else to stay,” I said. “It’s not safe here anymore.”
“That can wait until tomorrow.” Mike looked up at the sky. “We can’t do anything in this storm. For tonight, let’s return to the cabin.”
“Yeah,” Isabel grumbled. She kicked at a pile of wet leaves. “Let’s go home already. I’m soaking wet.”
“We all are. Stop complaining,” said Farlan in a stern voice that left no room for argument. She crossed her arms over her chest, sulking. “We’ll do whatever Levi says.”
They waited. I closed my eyes, wishing I knew the best course of action. Their lives were in my hands.
Erwin, what would you do in this situation?
No matter how hard I tried to fill his shoes, I couldn’t. Why had I asked them to make me their leader? Why had they accepted me without question? Hanji and Mike were better suited for the task, but now it was too late. They were my responsibility, and it was up to me to get us out of this mess.
“Let’s head back home for now,” I said at last, still wondering if this was the right decision to make. “We’ll stay there for tonight, but first thing tomorrow morning, we’re leaving.”
Isabel ran in the direction of the cabin without a word. The rest of them followed her not long after, eager to get out of the rain, but I stayed behind to make sure no one followed us.
“I can’t smell him anymore,” Mike assured me. He hadn’t gone with everyone else, always sensing my doubt. “He’s gone.”
“He’ll be back.”
“Yes, but we’ll be long gone by then.”
I turned to leave, but something made me look back. In the dark, I could have sworn I saw a pair of yellow eyes staring back at me. Then I blinked and they were gone.
“Levi?” Mike said.
I gave my head a little shake. I must have been seeing things. “Come on. The others are probably waiting for us.”
△
The next morning, long before the sun rose, Farlan and I were loading up everyone’s belongings into the back of Mike’s pickup truck. It was an old thing, but it had enough left in it to get us to where we needed to go.
“We’ll head west, put some distance between us and the Yeager brothers,” I said, thumping the side of the truck. The red paint was chipped and faded with age. “We’ll stay with my uncle until this whole thing blows over.”
“You think it will be that easy? That alpha seemed pretty intent on getting you to agree to a Blood Promise.” He crammed Isabel’s duffel bag behind two suitcases. “He didn’t strike me as the type of person who gives up without a fight, either.”
I turned towards the forest and remembered the determination in Eren’s yellow eyes. He wouldn’t give up. I knew that better than anyone, which was why we had to get out of here while we still had the chance. If I truly was the only one strong enough to be bound to him, he’d keep coming back. There were only four days left until the next full moon. “It won’t be easy,” I admitted, “but we’ll be safer at Kenny’s all the same. Once we get there, we’ll figure out what to do next.”
“Then we’d better get a move on. That was the last of it.” Farlan jumped down from the tailgate and slammed it shut.
“Go round everyone up. I want to leave as soon as possible.”
When Farlan disappeared inside the cabin, I walked around back, checking the area to make sure we were still alone. It wouldn’t surprise me if Eren instructed one of the members of his pack to stay behind to keep track of us. If he had, I’d have no choice but to send a message of my own. I wouldn’t be able to let them go back unharmed and hurting one of his would let Eren know I wasn’t someone to take lightly.
I scanned the backyard and smelled the air, but all the scents I picked up were familiar ones.
“Levi!” Farlan called, loud enough to startle some crows into flight. “We’re ready!”
“I’m coming!” I took a step back and that’s when I heard something out of place. I stopped, and listened. There was nothing now, just ordinary sounds of the forest: birds chirping, leaves rustling in the wind, the truck’s engine roaring to life, and then... A footstep followed by another. A twig snapped under their feet, whoever they were. I whirled toward the sound and saw nothing. “Come out,” I shouted, looking around, hoping to spot them. “I hear you. Come out and face me.”
“What does Eren want with you?”
My eyes darted to the sound of the voice, my eyes landing on a lone figure standing beside a pine tree. “Zeke,” I growled.
It was unnerving how still he stood. He didn’t move, just watched me. “Tell me what Eren wants with you.”
“Fuck you,” I shot back. By now the others had smelled him. I could hear them running towards us.
He smiled, unafraid. “So you’re who they picked to take over Erwin’s pack? How disappointing.”
“I’ll fucking kill you.”
“I don’t think so.” His eyes, yellow and cold, flicked in the direction my pack was coming from. They moved back to me. “If you don’t want one of them to die, you’ll tell me why Eren paid you a visit last night.”
“You mean you don’t know? I thought he was working with you?”
Zeke’s eyes narrowed into slits. “My patience is wearing thin. Tell me what he wanted.”
I reached for the sheath on my thigh, my right hand closing around the hilt of my dagger. And still, he never moved. “I’m not telling you shit.”
“Then I’m wasting my time here.” Without another word, he sprang out at me with unbelievable speed, knocking me backward before I could raise my hand. He pinned me beneath him, knocking the dagger aside, but his eyes were focused on something behind us. He waited, motionless, as if listening to something, then his gaze moved down to my face and he said, “We’ll meet again, Levi. You can count on that.” And just like that, he was off me. I sat up, fast and ready, but he was already gone.
The others reached me then.
“Are you hurt?” Isabel dropped to her knees beside me, inspecting my body for any injuries. There were none. “Who was it? Was it the alpha from last night?” When I stayed silent, she said, in alarm, “Levi, who was it?”
“Zeke,” I said thickly. “It was Zeke.”
And Eren hadn’t been with him.
They weren’t working together.