Instinct (Alpha Levi x Omega Eren)

A Glimmer of Hope

The children were already dead. Eren wouldn't be killing anyone. To simply bring the twelfth child up to the top of the tree, that's all it would take to make him human. He wouldn't have to endure the guilt, the anxiety, of his wolf form. 

"ARRGHH!" Eren screamed into his hands, bringing them from his face to the back of his head, digging his nails into his scalp. 

"Are you actually considering that maniac's offer!?" screamed Jean. Eren looked at him, he didn't know what to do. "It doesn't work Eren, the ritual isn't real! You are a werewolf, that is something that will never change, and you're just going to have to live with that."

Eren looked from child to child, most of them unrecognisable from what they used to look like. A child hung at the bottom of the circle still had its head intact, and it gave Eren the painful realisation that it looked like Armin. He could see its cold, pale skin, blond hair - now matted and dyed with blood. He was certain the child was once small and scrawny too, but you could no longer tell; the body mangled to nothing more than hanging strings of muscles and organs. It almost made Eren wretch. Did Armin see the child too? Is that what had frightened him to such a degree. 

He could have been up there. It could have been him and Armin, side by side, dead, hung up with only a few sharp sticks and rope. He would have missed this life. Armin would never have been adopted, nor gotten a job he enjoys. Eren would have died before he too found a job that accepted him for who he was, and he wouldn't have ever met Levi, who gave him hope. Hope, that one day his wolf form would be a part of him, instead of his murderous alter ego. 

He didn't need the ritual, he had friends to help him now. Levi, to control him. Armin, who knew all of his triggers. Hanji, who could maybe help come up with a medical approach to his curse. He would be okay. But these children, living their lives on the streets, alone, would never even have the chance to be okay. Marco had taken that away from them, all for his own greed. 

Eren decided he wouldn't profit from these children's lives, nor would he help Marco fulfil his own desires. He took a deep breath, deciding the only way to stop Marco, was with the fear they both shared. His body deformed into the monster he despised. He felt his mind go hazy, doing his best to fight the takeover of his wolf form. 

Marco must have felt the hostility wafting from Eren, for he too took his wolf form, but took a defensive stance beside the tree. Eren circled the tree, passing in front of Jean who had lowered the gun and was watching the two wolves cautiously. The rustling of the forest trees had lowed down to a soft hum in his wolf form, his ears focused on picking up the sounds made by Marco's footsteps. 

The tension in the air was snapped by Eren, who used his back legs to push him forward into a powerful sprint. Marco stayed in his position, his leg too injured to pull of a lunge forward. Eren leaped off the ground, his eyes focused on Marco's neck, his jaws aiming for his jugular. Marco stood back on his back legs, yelping briefly from the pain. He used his body weight to bring Eren to the ground below him, digging his claws into Eren's chest. Eren wouldn't let this turn out like the previous fight. He held off Marco's baring teeth with his own paws, desperately trying to think of a plan. 

The clanking of his chains against Marco's teeth reminded him of his time in the armoury, and his fight with Armin. He remembered what Armin had told him, "I think it's good to know your weaknesses, Eren. And now that the team knows as well, I'm sure it will benefit us to know. Just, keep it in mind when you're fighting."

He had a plan. 

Marco had lifted his head back up, searching for a hole in Eren's defence, and Eren gave it to him. He moved his arms apart for only a split second, but that was all the Marco needed to get through. Eren watched anxiously as Marco's jaws opened once more, revealing his blood stained teeth that reached for his neck. And then, like it had done during his interactions with Erwin and Levi, time slowed down for him. He let out an exhale of relief, but the gap between his neck and Marco's jaw was slowly closing. He used the last of his seconds to wrap his chains tightly around Marco's neck, and time returned to the world once more. 

He listened to the airless gasps from his enemy, and ignored them as he flipped them over, allowing him to used his body weight to tighten the chains further. 

"Don't you dare kill him," said a stern voice that didn't need to shout in order to be heard. Eren had managed to hear him clearly, despite being in his full wolf form. He obeyed, but continued to hold the chains down long enough to make Marco pass out. The wold under him struggled for a few more minutes, before finally closing his eyes, and fainting. Eren felt the rage leave him, and his body turned from wolf, to half-wolf, to human. He was covered in blood, fear, and pain. 

Levi limped over to Eren, and stood over him to observe the scene. Eren had won, against Marco, and himself. "He was a wolf that matched your speed, how did you make your time slow down?"

"With a wolf of that speed, I needed to be at the absolute brink of death for the power to kick in," said Eren, lifting himself off of Marco's body. Jean had run up, a pair of wolf-proof handcuffs in his hands, taking the opportunity to imprison Marco for life. "Why didn't you let me kill him?"

"The man is troubled, Eren. Death would give him more of a release than imprisonment. You don't need to worry about him, or anything he said anymore," Levi put his hand on Eren's shoulder, "When did you figure out that you needed to be on the absolute brink of death? When Armin fought against you, he only confirmed there needed to be intent of harm."

Eren pushed his hair back, wet from blood and sweat, "I kind of just took my chances, I guess." Levi looked at him intensely. He seemed like he wanted to argue, but the loss of blood from earlier must have weakened him into simply accepting the fact that Eren had risked his life on a mere chance of winning the fight. 

Instead, Levi turned around to address each team member, "Jean, drag him back to the van. Hanji, take a blood sample. Sasha, address Eren's wounds, and then Marco's once you have finished." He then faced Eren once more, "Eren, you remind me of myself back when we were at the lake the first time."

Eren felt his heart swell. He reminded Levi of himself? Strong? Strategic? Reliable? Eren leaned forward, "How so?"

Levi gestured down Eren's body, "Nude."

A/N:
I'm so sorry that I ended it like that but I couldn't help myself, I've been laughing for 20 minutes just thinking about how the readers are reading through this tragic, dramatic story that ends like that. 

Thanks to everyone who kept reading, despite my irregular uploads, I appreciate you all. I hope you guys enjoyed the story, because I definitely enjoy reading all your comments!

I'm not currently working on any short fanfics (im working on a different project but i want some shorter ones to do on the side) so if you guys have any fanfics or ships you want to see, please don't hesitate to message me!