Chapter Text
”Don’t embarrass me,” Nile said as soon as the pair of them stepped inside the dimly lit room, brushing the dust off of their suits, snowy overcoats checked in in the room they had entered from.
Erwin fixed his bolo tie, chuckling. ”I wouldn’t dream of it.”
His friend sent him a quick glare as if he could sense his plans, but decided not to comment on it. ”I’ll introduce you to Pixis, then we’re even, got it?”
”Got it.”
The large room felt small as the two of them made their way through, all elbows and hands as they passed through the crowds of people, a myriad of scents lingering in the air, diffusing and mixing together into a sweaty haze until you couldn’t tell a single person apart.
The chandeliers were blinking overhead, crystalline lights reflected in the champagne flutes of the guests, bouncing off of their expensive jewelry and slicked back hair as they tossed their heads back to laugh, breaths smelling of alcohol and tobacco, the stench clinging to their skin and clothes so much one might think that was their natural scent.
Erwin wrinkled his sharp alpha nose, thick brows furrowing but he followed Nile dutifully and silently, not wanting to ruin the best opportunity he had, perhaps the only one he’d ever get, to stand in the same room as these great families.
Soon enough Nile glanced back at him, nodding towards an older man, an alpha based on his presence and lack of a bite or a collar, then clearing his throat once before tapping on his shoulder.
The old bald man turned around, a flask in his hand that smelled of stronger and cheaper liquor than they’d ever have the gall to serve at an event like this, his face creased from age and stress, causing his eyes to look crinkled as if he was always smiling, though his sharp gaze still betrayed his wit and coldness.
”Mr Dok, is it? It’s good to see you made it,” the man — Dot Pixis, Erwin knew — said, chuckling as if something was funny.
”Yes, I have to show my face around here sometimes, unfortunately,” Nile quipped back, causing Pixis to smile briefly before turning to face Erwin expectantly.
Nile gestured towards him, his posture stiff and uncomfortable as it always was. ”Mr Pixis, this is my old friend Erwin Smith.”
”Ah, so this is the Mr Smith I’ve heard so much about,” Pixis said, taking a chug out of his flask before extending his hand, ”it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Erwin shook his hand, bowing his head briefly. ”The pleasure is all mine,” he said, a strand of his pale golden hair falling over his eyes artfully.
”Yes, we’ve all heard the stories about you, it’s all quite impressive I must say,” Pixis said, taking another sip out of his flask, Erwin sparing a moment to wonder how he was still standing upright when the smell of alcohol on his breath alone was enough to have Erwin already swaying on his two feet just from the strength of it.
”It’s nothing quite so grand as to warrant your compliments, but I am glad to hear the tales have made it all the way here nonetheless,” Erwin said, a pleasant expression on his face that easily masked the myriad of thoughts swirling in his mind.
”You youngsters are always so humble,” Pixis laughed, ”I suppose that’s why you didn’t manage to secure an invitation on your own, huh?”
Erwin wasn’t phased by the comment, his demeanor slipping not for a moment as he and Pixis eyed each other in the manner of two predators sizing up their opponent. In the end, Pixis relented, sighing as he took another sip of his drink.
”I don’t know what you’re scheming by coming here, but you have caught me in a good mood,” he said with a slow shake of his head, ”come see me after the opening speech, I’ll introduce you to them.”
Erwin inclined his head before turning to leave without another word, nodding briefly to Nile as thanks before his friend scurried off as well, not wanting to involve himself anymore than he absolutely had to.
Erwin glanced at the watch on his wrist, seeing it was only some time before the speech and he hurried towards the kitchen, acting as if he belonged and none of the servants so much as batted an eye as he confidently made his way through the servants’ halls and all the way to the servants’ entrance at the back of the house as if he owned the place, pushing the old and rusty door open then stepping to the side as his companions passed through the doorway one by one until all four of them had made it inside.
”Took you long enough,” Hanji muttered, blowing hair out of their face as the group hastily got rid of their overcoats, stuffing them in some errant cabinet in the hall, dusting off the snow from outside.
”We don’t have much time, Pixis agreed to introduce me after the speech,” Erwin said, tapping his watch twice then running his fingers through his slicked back hair, attempting to fix his looks to no avail as the same errant strand fell over his eyes again and again.
Petra, a short and petite omega, clicked her tongue at his attempts, before wetting one fingertip on her tongue, using her spit to fix his hair. ”There we go,” she said with a smile.
Erwin nodded to her in thanks, sighing as the group of them finally started to make it out of the servants’ halls, rejoining the rest of the party as if nothing at all was amiss. None of them were on the guestlist, just as Pixis had commented, Erwin himself only having gotten an in thanks to a debt owed.
They all got their drinks and mingled about, not wanting to attract any undue attention. Erwin himself settled near Dot Pixis again, but didn’t attempt to speak to him, Petra soon enough positioning herself near him to mutter intel about the guests into his ear.
The event didn’t leave her much time to do so either, as soon enough a hush fell over the room, speech quieting down to murmurs and whispers, fingers pointing and gasps echoing as the main attraction arrived.
Erwin knew the Reiss pack would be arrogant enough to think it was them who garnered such awed expressions, that it was them who commanded such undivided attention, but everyone present was only in attendance for one thing and one thing only.
The Ackermans.
Erwin snatched a flute of champagne from a passing waiter, sipping his drink indulgently as he observed the group that had entered.
At the front of the small dais stood a short and budgy man, Rod Reiss, the likely next leader of the infamous Reiss pack that ruled Paradis. He was an omega, the same as all his clansmen, his neck and scent glad uncovered even after the passing of his alpha mate. All around him were stood some other less notable members of his pack, his brother and the current leader too sickly to make an appearance, though his mate, the leader of the Ackerman pack, was in attendance, a tall and frightening looking man with dark hair streaked with silver that betrayed his age.
There were many others as well, Erwin’s eyes scanning over them quickly before landing on the one he was there to meet, the purpose of all of his scheming.
”That’s him?”
”Uh-huh,” Petra clicked her tongue, pearl earrings swishing with the movement of her red hair, ”Levi Ackerman, the heir to the entire Ackerman dynasty.”
Erwin could scarcely take his eyes off of the man enough to continue his conversation with Petra.
He was short yet even through the looser fit of his suit Erwin could tell he was lithe and muscled, strong as evidenced by his broad shoulders, his hair dark as the night around them, his sharp eyes gleaming silver. He was scowling, though Erwin found it did not manage to sour his beautiful looks one bit, his lips soft and rosy as he sipped his drink, held in his pale and slender fingers.
”And he certainly has the pedigrees to prove it; he’s not from some distant Ackerman offshoot branch like his little cousins, no, he’s the only child born from the main bloodline.”
That did pique Erwin’s interest, scholarly man as he was. ”The only one, really?”
The Ackermans were known to be secretive about their lineage, each match made more carefully considered than the breeding of any fine stallion. Petra and Hanji had briefed Erwin of the rigorous genetic and personality tests done to determine the finest alpha and omega couples within the Reiss and Ackerman packs. No mere mortal was fine enough to carry the Ackerman pups, it seemed.
Or strong enough, he mused, eyebrows raising.
Erwin sipped his drink as Petra continued, proving his musings correct. ”Yup, the ever elusive ruling couple, Uri Reiss and Kenny Ackerman were unable to produce any surviving pups and Uri is well past his childbearing years now. Levi’s own father passed giving birth, leaving Levi as the sole option to match with the next Reiss heir.”
Of that, Erwin knew somewhat. ”But there’s no heir now, is there?”
She shook her head, sipping her drink without leaving even a single smudge of red lipstick on the rim. ”No, not a single one.”
Hanji circled back to them then, a fresh glass of wine in their hand. ”Intriguing, ain’t it?”
Erwin lifted his own glass to his lips, ”very,” he agreed, sipping his drink.
Soon enough after Rod Reiss clapped his hands together once to gather their attentions back to himself, beginning his grand speech.
”A hundred years have passed,” he said, voice booming all around the room even without a microphone in his hand, ”since the bloody civil war that shook our nation, that defined our nation.”
Feet shuffled around the room, drinks sloshing against the confines of the crystalline glasses.
”But from the ashes of that ancient betrayal we have risen, and we remember that strength and that struggle today!”
His bulging, fish-like eyes scanned the room, pausing on Erwin himself for a moment longer, lingering in recognition, unless he imagined it. But he knew he had not.
”The glory of our nation has not yet dimmed, the golden days have not yet passed,” he announced, Erwin rolling his eyes as he sipped his drink, ”thanks to the many unions formed by the Reiss and the Ackerman families throughout the years!”
At the mention of it, Erwin’s attention was swiftly drifting elsewhere again, Rod Reiss’ speech fading into the background as he once more surveyed the people beside him, the Ackermans standing out amongst the shorter and softer looks of the Reiss omegas, their statures much taller, leaner and all of them dressed in black as if they were at a funeral and not a grand remembrance ball. Their faces were more serious, stood about like bodyguards and Erwin supposed that was exactly what they were, at the end of the day.
The Reiss were weak, had always been weak, Erwin’s father had taught him much about the old families of Eldia, most of which were gone now. He knew the Reiss had never been much of anything at all, until their alliance with the much stronger and much greater Ackerman pack. It was the Ackermans and their might that had kept Paradis going for these past decades and there had never been any cracks in that shield before, no weak points in the armor that would leave someone like Erwin Smith a chance to strike against it.
Never before, until just now.
Looking at Levi Ackerman as he stood in the shadows of his pack, avoiding any attention to himself at all, Erwin could not help but smirk, sipping his drink as if he was already celebrating.
—
The celebration had barely started and Levi already wished he could simply leave. He’d been staring at the bottom of his champagne glass for several minutes now, first as Rod Reiss droned on about whatever they were there to celebrate and now as he tried not to listen to his mother’s complaints.
They were stood apart from everyone else, had stepped away from the dais as soon as Rod’s speech had ended, enclosed in their own trio as they always were, his mother Kuchel and uncle Kenny standing before him, backing him against the wall and away from everyone’s eyes, a shield between him and the rest of the world.
He was doused in their familiar alpha scents, the back of his bared neck only mildly itching from the exposure to all the different scents swirling in the air, dancing along the movements of the people all around. The vulnerability of it, of being exposed like that, was something Levi still struggled with, despite everything.
Briefly, he closed his eyes, inside his mind returning to the memories of his family’s teachings, recalling how he ought to behave, to never let his true nature shine through, no matter what.
If they find out they’ll…
Kuchel scoffed, briefly pulling Levi back into the present moment with a small jolt, his eyes snapping open, her earrings clinking as she shook her head, long dark hair spilling down the length of her back in a silky wave. ”And now they’re trying to mate my son to some bastard harlot,” she rolled her eyes, ”the nerve of that family, after everything we’ve done for them.”
Kenny seemed more amused by her tantrum than anything else, sharp eyes surveying the crowd gathered around the room, in his element as the leading alpha of their packs. ”She won’t be a bastard for long, Rod will have to acknowledge her now if he wants to rule after Uri.”
His words only seemed to infuriate Kuchel further. ”A bastard’s a bastard, I don’t care what her papers say.”
Levi sighed, having heard this same conversation a thousand times before. His mother wrapped her slender arm around him, smoothly scenting him.
”My darling son,” she whispered in his hair, ”I won’t ever let them have you.”
He opened his mouth to speak, yet missed his opportunity as Kenny clicked his tongue, nodding towards something behind their backs as if in warning. Kuchel and Levi knew to quiet at once, the three of them having long since gotten used to the secrecy shrouding their lives.
”Kenny, Kuchel, it’s wonderful to see you again,” they could hear Rod Reiss addressing them, Kuchel’s lips briefly pulling down into a disgusted sneer before she schooled her features, turning around to face him with a polite smile instead.
”Rod, it’s been too long.”
They greeted each other as Levi quietly stepped aside to stand by his uncle instead, neither saying a word. There were many other Ackermans present at the event, distant cousins and many more Levi couldn’t even begin to guess his relation to, all of them eyeing him and his family.
Ever since the sickness, tensions had been high within their pack, everyone displeased to see how the Reiss’ were handling the situation.
Rod’s omega scent was cloying as he talked with Kuchel, Levi gagging at it as he turned his back to him. He had always rather detested omegas who flaunted their status so openly, almost brazenly, without a care in the world.
Only distantly hearing the conversation happening behind him, Levi accepted a drink from a passing waiter as his empty glass was collected in turn, raising the full glass to his lips before pausing, eyes wide suddenly, as he registered exactly what was being talked about, the conversation suddenly snapping into focus again, crystal clear.
”— to myself, instead,” Rod finished his sentence, a stunned silence following his words.
”… Pardon?”
Even Kenny’s attention was piqued, the tall alpha stepping closer to his sister, all but looming over her like a shadow.
Rod’s smile on his greasy and puffy face made him look like a rat, one that wished to sink its claws into an unexpected prey. ”I’m sure such an agreement would benefit both of our families,” he carried on, unheeding of their shocked reactions, ”I have understood you don’t consider my daughter Historia pure-blooded enough, in which case the next suitable match for Levi from our pack would be myself.”
Kenny barked out a laugh, but Levi could only feel nauseous. The situation was precarious, Kuchel’s fury and disgust palpable in the air as her scent doused the room, yet it was Kenny who stepped in then, the only one with enough standing in the ever feeble Ackerman-Reiss hierarchy to laugh in Rod’s face.
”You must be joking, ol’ pal, if you think we’d ever take such an offer seriously,” he balked, clapping Rod on his shoulder and grasping it in a tight grip, as if in warning. ”I suggest you go study the family books again, and find Levi here a proper match before you insult us with your offers.”
The sickness had taken Rod’s partner too, but none of them had thought anyone would consider such a concept as to rematch Rod himself to Levi, even his bastard daughter might be a better prospect in that case.
Levi swallowed his disgust without saying a word as Kenny all but drove Rod away, Kuchel fuming even more now, it was a miracle she hadn’t spat right in Rod’s face after his suggestion.
”How I loathe that rat faced man,” she scoffed, disgust evident on her face as she shook her head.
”How dare he—” her lips twitched as she cut herself off but still Levi could almost hear what it was she wanted to say, the insult she wanted to hurl but could not, because they were still the Reiss.
Lowly omega.
Omegas or not, they were still the Reiss and she would always need to remember that. Before they were omegas, they were the Reiss.
As if hearing his thoughts, she looked at him with something odd in her eyes, though it was not pity, never pity. A conversation passed between their gazes, words they could only ever speak out loud in the safety of their own home.
You know I’m an omega too, right?
But you’ll always be an Ackerman first.
”The finest and the strongest, that’s what you are,” she said, muttering now, ”always remember that.”
Levi sipped his drink, not saying anything.
How could I forget?
—
It was tradition in their pack, dating back all the way to the inception of Paradis, that weak members were culled, so the pack’s reputation would not be sullied. Of course, Levi knew as well as the Reiss family themselves knew that that was only the surface level lie told to everyone else.
When her husband had been pregnant with her pup, Kuchel had not been worried. Nothing at all was amiss during the pregnancy, all up to the birth of the small baby everything had been as it ought to, everything gone according to the plans.
It was only as her husband had been rushed to emergency room after complications had arisen during the birth and Kuchel had been ushered instead to the waiting room for alpha mates that she had begun to wring her hands out of worry, biting her nails and chewing on her lips, all nasty habits she had tried before to get rid of.
”It’s alright, everything’s gon’ be just fine,” Kenny had reassured her, his arm wrapped around her as he pressed his words into her hair, ”how about I try and go see what’s going on, huh? You stay here, El, I don’t want you goin’ feral.”
She had nodded absentmindedly and so Kenny had gone, lightly whistling as he strolled down the hallway and into the room where his sister’s mate was being treated. The nurses and doctors were much too busy to even see him enter, they were screaming orders and barking doses for medicine all the while the nauseating scent of blood hung heavy in the air, Kenny’s nose wrinkling as he leaned against the wall by the door.
Kenny had been trying to figure out if the emergency had to do with the father or the pup, his forehead creased as he observed, but his question was answered soon enough as the pup’s piercing cry echoed around the room and he sighed out of relief as most of the personnel shifted their focus onto the father.
By pure luck, Kenny would later recall, another nurse had dipped into the room, needing the attention of the senior midwife, hastily muttering something about another emergency. The pair of them had left with a gust of wind as another, much younger and more inexperienced nurse had stepped in to replace her mentor. As the loud beeps coming from the machines hooked to Kuchel’s mate had drawn the attention of everyone else, the small pup had been handed to the newcomer, Kenny’s careful eyes watching as she had taken the child, carrying it off to the side to be cleaned.
Everyone else had been busy with the father, yet Kenny had kept his eyes on the young girl, looming above her like a shadow as she had laid the baby down, face paling as she slowly realized just what she had had in her hands.
Kenny, however, had realized just as quickly, the girl unable to get so much as a breath in to alert the others before he already had his arms around her neck, wrenching her head to the side swiftly, silently and without hesitation.
He had taken the small, bloody pup with one arm, dragging the young girl out with the other as he rushed through the hallway back to the room Kuchel was waiting in, eager and desperate to see her mate and pup in good health.
Kuchel had already been wracked with wave after wave of pain and distress, all of it echoing through the bond with her husband until she could scarcely think straight, her eyes were wide and alert as Kenny marched into the room, the smell of blood on his hands not enough to cover the scent of the baby he held in his arms.
Her baby.
Her omega baby.
At once Kuchel had understood the magnitude of the situation, her trembling arms extending as she wordlessly asked to be handed her child. Kenny complied without saying anything, dropping the nurse’s lifeless body unceremoniously on the floor, Kuchel’s ears ringing as she gazed down at her newborn son, the first omega to be born in their clan in decades.
”-el, are you listening?”
Like a wire snapping, the outside world came into focus once more as she looked up at her brother, his forehead creased and eyes cold.
Slowly, she had swallowed. ”What?”
”You need to take him out of here,” Kenny had repeated, ”they’re busy now treating your mate, but they’ll want to see the baby soon enough. You need to leave, now.”
Shock had been still coursing through her, turning her blood to ice as all color drained from her face and arms. She had shook her head slowly, unable to comprehend what her brother was saying.
He had grabbed her shoulders, not minding the faint rumble that escaped her chest at his sudden action, alpha instincts heightened as she gripped her baby tighter.
”Feelings cloud judgement, El, you know this!” he said, shaking her.
”You were in distress and going feral, the nurse brought you the baby and you left to return to your den,” he continued as he looked down at her without blinking even once, his grip on her tight as he hammered in her alibi.
”… what?”
”Say it, El, I need to hear you repeat it back to me,” he had said, shaking her once, ”you were in distress and going feral, the nurse brought you the baby and you left the hospital to return to your den.”
”I was…” she had attempted, Kenny nodding along encouragingly as she swallowed down her pain and shock, ”… in distress and going feral, and the— the nurse… brought me the baby and I left… to go to my den.”
”Good, now go!”
Swift like the wind, she had turned and all but ran out of the room and down the dark hallways, the lights blinking overhead like distant stars as she made her escape, clutching her baby tight, the small pup still purple and bloody from everything that had happened, only hastily wrapped in Kenny’s scarf to keep him warm.
The story had been told to Levi many times, hammered in again and again to make him understand the importance of keeping his mouth shut. If they find out…
Because in truth, it was not weaklings that were killed from their lines, instead it was always the omegas and not because they were inferior, much to the contrary, they were culled at birth so no one would ever be able to claim them, to control them. Omegas were stronger than anyone else, their powers more potent, more enhanced. To claim one would mean the ability to wield that power, the strength to topple nations. It was deemed best to keep such strength within their family only, never given to outsiders.
But it had not always been so. The civil war had been so long ago that the time before it was already lost to memory, to myth, to legend. No one was alive anymore who could remember how things had been before, when the great families had coexisted in peace in the time of Eldia, the tales of the nations of past passed along now only within the Ackermans, one of the only few great families left, after everyone else had been destroyed.
The memories as well as the resentment were passed from parent to child, it was in their blood almost, the faint recollection that things had been different, in the whispers they told each other remember, remember we weren’t always chained like this.
Before, their inherent powers were kept within their families through different means, but ever since their alliance with the Reiss, they had all but agreed to only produce alphas, to match each one to a Reiss omega.
Now, Levi tsked just thinking about it, in his mind still doubting that the Reiss would ever be able to kill even a single one of them if they ever decided to switch sides.
But this was what his whole life had been like. Keeping his true nature hidden, concealed, a secret, his closest family the only ones who knew who or what he truly was, all of them scheming and plotting at every turn to keep him from being found out.
Looking around at the room now, seeing all the other omegas in their leather collars or with their bitten necks, his own bared and unmarked and he had never known it to be any other way. He’d grown up as an alpha despite everything, raised by his mother and uncle, taught to go against his omegan instincts at every turn, his heats disguised as ruts, every little thing about his life monitored and kept under wraps, everything shrouded in secrecy lest he be found out.
It was a fragile system, Levi had come to find out, this alpha and omega business. If he, a singular omega, was found out then the whole thing would come crumbling down. And the longer he was forced to keep himself a secret, he just couldn’t help but wish someone would do it, that someone would just push the first domino down so the whole line of the pieces would fall.
”Mr Ackerman?”
Levi assumed whoever had approached them was addressing his uncle and as such he did not turn around, one hand in his pocket, the other leisurely swirling the liquid inside his glass as he stared at nothing at all.
It was only as the person cleared his throat that Levi deigned to turn around, biting on the inside of his cheek out of boredom.
”Yes?”
The person who had spoken was an old man, bald and ugly though smelling of alpha and Levi sighed deeply as he looked at him, eyebrows raised. He was sure this was one of the more important people at the ball, though Levi had never bothered to make it his business to recognize every person on the guestlist.
The man didn’t seem to mind his lackluster reaction, his oddly knowing smile never faltering as he gestured to someone standing behind him. ”I am an old friend of your late father’s, Dot Pixis,” he began, the name sparking a faint memory in Levi’s mind, knowing the man was indeed rather important, ”I was hoping to introduce you to a friend of mine — Mr Erwin Smith.”
Levi’s eyes moved from Pixis to his companion, his lips parting around a silent gasp as he craned his neck up to meet the man’s icy blue gaze. He was tall, very tall, his golden hair artfully styled and the cut of his suit accentuating his lithe waist and broad shoulders, doing nothing at all to hide his defined muscles or the very alphan strength imbued into every line of his body.
The man — Erwin Smith — offered his hand and for a moment Levi was unable to do much else but stare at it until he was able to snap himself out of his stupor and grasp it, shaking it while avoiding the man’s piercing gaze.
”Erwin Smith, pleased to make your acquaintance," he said, his voice pleasant yet deep in a way that had Levi’s toes curling, his tongue darting out to wet his lips.
”Levi Ackerman,” he muttered, quickly snatching his hand back to his side, discreetly wiping the man’s scent off of his hand.
He glanced around to see where his mother and uncle had gone off to, the pair of them usually quick to intercept anyone trying to meet with Levi, yet right then they were nowhere to be seen. Slowly, Levi turned his attention back to the two alphas.
Feelings cloud judgement, he repeated to himself, straightening his posture.
”I will leave you to it,” Pixis said as he turned to leave with a wave of his hand, Levi forlornly looking after him as now he was alone with this imposing man. It irritated him more than anything else, a prickling sensation in his body, having grown up used to seeing through the bullshit posturing alphas always did.
He tsked, a puff of breath stirring the dark strands of hair that fell over his eyes.
”I’m—” the man began, but Levi didn’t let him get much further.
”What do you want?”
A pause, then: ”pardon?”
Levi resisted the urge to roll his eyes. ”I’m sure you want something, what with needing to use that old man to sneak your way past my family. So what’s so important?”
”Perceptive, I like that in a man,” Erwin chuckled, his eyes soft, yet Levi could hardly bear to look at him.
”You can’t sweet talk me, I’ll tell you that for free.”
Erwin looked at him for several moments longer, something utterly unbearable in his eyes. Levi tore his gaze away from him, looking around only to spot several people milling about, counted four of them with a quick glance, all of them eyeing him and Erwin, all of them people Levi had never seen before. Quickly the prickling sensation in his body grew into unease and Levi took a step back, away from the alpha in front of him.
”If you’ll excuse me—”
”Levi—”
A strange tug in his belly as he heard his name fall from Erwin’s lips, and he turned to glare at the man from over his shoulder. ”What?”
As he looked at him, his warm, pleasant scent covering every inch of him as if it was just the two of them enclosed in that room, so close, Levi recalled all too well how he had always felt as though he was adrift at sea, bobbing up and down amongst the steady waves, lost and unsure where to find shore. All his life he’d felt that way, as though he was aimlessly wandering, his entire world built on unsteady ground, everything around him uneven and crumbling. Yet now, under that steady stare, it was as if something was calling him instead, something out there in the world was waiting for him, only he did not know what.
At length, he let his gaze fall down to see that Erwin had grabbed his hand in his haste to stop him from leaving, and Levi quickly yanked himself free, snapping himself out of the rabbit trap the alpha was attempting to snare him in.
”I was hoping to speak to you tonight—” Erwin began again, stepping closer, only he was once again denied the opportunity to voice his proposal as suddenly Kenny laid his hand on his shoulder from behind, having managed to return to Levi’s side.
”About what? What were you hoping to speak about with my little nephew?”
Erwin turned his body sideways to stare at Kenny, yet even then his composure never faltered.
”Kenny Ackerman, I’ve heard much about you,” he said, offering his hand.
”Likewise, Mr Smith,” Kenny all but snarled, two alphas showing off and Levi rolled his eyes, downing the rest of his drink in one go and placing the empty glass on the tray of a passing waiter.
”We’ve all heard about you here, heard all about your little exploits around Paradis,” he continued, stepping to the side so he was between Erwin and Levi.
Erwin smiled then, a cold look on his face, all of the warmth gone now. ”You don’t know who I am or what I want,” he said, Levi’s eyebrows raising as he listened to him.
Apparently knowing when to give up the game, Erwin gave Levi one last look, extending a small card to him with his name and scent on it. Levi took it even as Kenny attempted to block him, though he was unsure why, but the dusty yet pleasant scent of old parchment paper and wet ink was overpowering yet pleasant, all but dousing Levi as he held the small calling card between two of his slender fingers.
Erwin’s companions had gathered behind him, the rest of the partygoers apparently having gotten wind of their presence as suddenly all eyes were on them, Levi could spot at least a tall blonde with messy hair, a brunette beta and a redheaded omega as well as another beta with a mousy sort of feel to him before Kenny once again blocked him away from the rest of the world.
It was only as the rest of the guests picked up their gossip again that Levi knew Erwin had gone. They had scarcely even spoken, yet something about the interaction had unsettled him. He knew people wanted to meet him, were intrigued by him, yet none had ever succeeded before. And everyone else talked of Erwin as if they knew him, or knew about him, but Levi had never heard of him before. It unsettled him, left him feeling funny and a little crooked, as if something inside of him had been knocked loose at the very sight of this Erwin Smith.
It was only later, at their residence, that Levi felt as though he couldn’t breathe if he didn’t ask about it.
”He aims to drag you down, to drag us all down,” was all Kenny said to him as he sat at the kitchen table, scarfing down the food he had woken up the kitchen maid in the middle of the night for, pointing at Levi with his silver fork.
”Trouble is what he is,” Kuchel added, tucking Levi’s hair behind his ears as she passed him in the dining room, though his hair was much too short for it and fell over his eyes again right after.
”You saw the way people looked at him,” Kenny continued, ”him and his make-believe pack are nothing but anti-Paradis ruffians.”
Levi’s eyebrows raised at that, but he said nothing, knowing if he interrupted his uncle now then he’d never get to hear the rest of it.
”A legend he is, though an infamous one,” Kenny said, shaking his head as he stabbed his food with his fork, ”and now, apparently, he’s wanting to sink his teeth into you.”
Kenny raised his eyes to meet Levi’s. ”Figuratively speaking.”
He stood up from the table, chair scraping against the floor as he pushed himself up. He walked right over to where Levi was leaning against the antique dresser, looming over him. ”So we’ll have to slit the throat of that legend.”
Levi glanced over at his mother who was standing by the open window, smoking. ”We have to protect our family, Levi, to protect you.”
And back at his uncle, who was already smirking as he mimed slitting his throat with his finger. In his pocket, the calling card felt as heavy as a stone, the scent of wet ink still lingering on Levi’s fingertips. Inside his chest, there was an emptiness that he had never noticed before.
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