Eren rolled over. A twinge struck his back, wincing he shifted position. His arm reached out. The bed beside him was empty. Not only empty, but cold. He sighed. Sitting up he looked around the familiar room. Levi had built this house with him when they came back to the proctor. They had decided to live outside of the stuffy confines of the mountainous cityscape.
The village had grown with their friends, their families, other packs that had come to live near them. Although far from always being peaceful, it was a lovely place to live. Eren tossed the blanket around his shoulders. The exposed beams of the bedroom ceiling always mad him feel as if he slept in the forest.
He got up, stifling a cry as his back twinged once more. He wasn't as young as he used to be. Chuckling to himself, he first checked the sliding door that led from the bedroom out to the wrap around porch, no mate there. This didn't surprise him at all. Slipping his feet into slippers, he padded out of the room.
Their bedroom was at the end of a short hall. Only two other doors were off of it, supply room on one side, with a laundry room on the other. Eren check both as he walked past. Still no mate. This hall opened onto the living room. Halfway across the circular space was another short hall, then another two feet from it, a final one was another two feet away. This was closer to the kitchen. Each hall marked one of the triplets rooms.
Eren turned toward the kitchen. He could see that the pillows on the couch had been freshly cleaned. The entire room was spotless. Levi hadn't been able to sleep at all last night. He always got this way whenever something big was up. If it involved the girls, it was even worse on their father.
Eren pushed open the door to the kitchen. It was void of his mate. The coffee pot was just finishing spitting out the dark brew. He grinned. Walking to it, he pulled a mug from the shelf beside it. Filling it with the dark liquid, he added some creamer before going to the sliding door.
There, leaning against the railing as the birds sang in the new day, was his lost mate. Levi sipped from the cup of tea in his hand as the smoke curled up into the chill of the morning. Eren hugged the blanket he had wrapped around himself a bit tighter. He pushed open the door. It was a bit of a struggle to get the blanket out without spilling his coffee. Levi eyed him.
Eren walked up to the shorter male. He wrapped his mate up against him, inside the blanket. He could feel the chill of Levi's skin. He kissed the slender neck. It had been eighteen years since they had to fight for their life, their children's lives. Eighteen years they had built a vast wondrous future for the packs under Levi's command, his protection. The land he watched over thrived with his insight. But today...
"I'm not ready." Levi insisted.
"It's not like they are going anywhere, love." Eren stated for the millionth time.
"It's not right!" Levi insisted. "She's too young!" He growled.
"You aren't giving her free regin of the land." Eren tried to soothe the man.
"They will be off doing things." Levi insisted as he clutched at Eren's free hand.
"All kids grow up." Eren pointed out.
In fact Erin and Levy, Armin's twin daughters had left the year before for college. It was strange without them over all the time. They came back on break, in fact they were home now. They came to support their friends. Eren rested his chin on Levi's head.
"Ariel didn't come home last night." Levi said.
"So, what did you do?" Eren tried to keep his exasperation out of his tone.
"I went out to find our daughter!" Levi snarled.
"Where was she?" he asked knowing full well Levi wouldn't be home if he hadn't found the girl.
"Swimming at the lake, with..." He growled. "... him!" He spat the word. Eren tried not to laugh.
His body betrayed him as it shook against Levi's back. "You know they are mates?" He found this funny as well.
He agreed with Levi that eighteen was too young to be set for life with one person, but Ariel and Pan had found their mates already. Ariel had practically been raised with hers. It turned out that Connie and Sasha's son was her intended all along. Levi was nothing but unpleasant about this. Not that he hated the boy, he just hated him being with his precious child.
Pan's mate came from one of the pack from Marley. They had crossed over wanting to be in the protection of the alpha prime and his glowing bright child.
"Do you think... Chiyo?" Levi ran a tired hand over his face.
"Someday, yes. She isn't concerned about it." Eren offered finishing the warm drink in his hand. He knew the power of the girl scared many away. One day she would find her mate, he was certain of it.
He sat the cup on the railing beside Levi's. He pulled the alpha prime into his arms. Levi leaned back basking in the warmth of his mate. He closed his eyes as the morning awoke around them. Eren held him tighter as he felt the other slip into sleep. This was something the alpha prime did often enough.
Eren didn't move. He shifted his feet to hold the weight of the shorter male. He watched the sun shift through the trees. He listened as the night creatures scurried off to bed, while the day animals poked their heads out of their burrows. Eren loved this time of day. When the girls had been younger he would run with his mate as they slept.
As they grew, Eren would wake them to join him for a morning run. It had always had a magical feel to it. He heard the door slid open behind him. He listened to the feet pad up next to him.
"Is he asleep?" Pan asked.
"Yes, he was up half the night searching for Ariel, then..."
"Cleaning everything in sight." She chuckled.
"As usual." They stood beside each other in silence.
Erne glanced over at his daughter. She looked so much like Levi that it blew his mind. Her eyes shimmered with the same color and shape of his mates. Her face was the same shape as well. Her long black hair shinned with the same silkiness. She was definitely Levi's child. The only thing she had of Eren's was his height. She was only a head shorter than he was. This of course pissed Levi off. He was now the shortest member of his family.
"Were you thinking..." Pan began
"... about our morning runs?" Eren smiled.
"I'm game!" another voice spoke behind them.
Chiyo was the perfect blend of her parents. Her eyes, each one held the same as the parent they matched. Her hair was lighter, more like Eren's but she was small like Levi. She only out grew her father by two inches. Yet she had the same walk as him, she fought like him as well. Eren smiled at her now.
"Dad's asleep." Pan pointed out.
"Toss him on the chair over there." Chiyo offered.
"No, he would only wake up to come hunt us down!" Ariel growled as she walked out. Although she looked like Eren, same eyes, nose, mouth, hair, her attitude was the exact same as Levi. The two butted heads often because of this. She scowled at her shorter parent.
"Why did you sneak out?" Eren asked.
"I didn't, I hadn't come home yet." She huffed. Eren smirked.
"Fine, but you knew he would worry." He offered.
"All he does is worry. It's not healthy!" She nearly shouted.
"I hope, after today, he will finally let me take some of his burden." Chiyo stated.
"You're still too young." Levi said, his eyes flicking open.
"That's all you ever say!" Ariel snarled at him.
"I can learn at your side." Chiyo laid a hand on her sisters arm as her eyes meet those of her father.
"I need to stretch my legs. Today is going to be bad enough!" Pan insisted.
She placed her hands on the railing, flipping her body over it, she landed as a soft brown and black wolf. Her head rose up as she howled out the challenge to her family. Ariel laughed. The girl was always up to doing something out of the normal. She flung herself over the railing as well. The soft near red brown wolf looked back at her father.
The alpha prime broke free of his mate. He didn't appear to touch the railing as he sprang from Eren's chest. The dark grey wolf landed beside his challenging daughter. His muzzle was growing white with age, but he was still a formidable wolf. His head lifted toward the new days sun. He cried out his own challenge to the two that remained on the porch.
Chiyo looked over to her father. She was wise beyond her years. Eren had, along with Levi, done all they could for her to remain as young as she could be. They had shielded her from so much, but she always found a way to know just what her parents protected her from. She was a powerful force in the healing lands. So many people flocked around just for a glimpse of her.
Now she took Eren's hand. It was almost too delicate to rest in his far larger one. He smiled at her as he tossed the blanket off of his shoulder. Eren had been the one to encourage her to learn her abilities. She had a love for him that defied the odds around them. She loved Levi just as much, but Eren had always been special to the wolf girl.
Together, they leapt toward the other members of their family. Eren's large brown wolf easily out massed those with him. Yet, Chiyo's golden wolf shined in the light. She had always needed to be protected. She stood out within her family, but none treated her any differently. She knew here, she would always be free. This was her home. She nipped at Levi's flank as they all playfully ran toward the trees.
In a few hours they would have to be back. They had a ceremony to perform. Chiyo was coming of age. She would take her place as the high priest of the pack. Even so, she would be under the alpha primes care. Her sisters would be sworn in as her guardians, along with their mates. There would be a months long traveling trip where the family would meet the packs on the outer lands, but all of that was still a few hours away.
Right now the family of five could run in the woods. They could be together as they had always been, not letting time creep upon them. They howled, frolicked, played with each other as they cemented the bonds that had glued them together for this long.
Eren padded up to the highest point of the mountain. He had often told the girls of their night plight as they ran away from the old proctor. Now he looked upon the land he had built with his mate. Levi padded up beside him. He leaned into the strong brown wolf. The girls came up, Chiyo taking in the strength of her parents, Pan centering herself between her sisters, and Ariel, lifting her head towards the day. She stood as defiant as ever.
Levi looked over his family, he knew their lives would be wondrous. He ducked his head under Eren's chin. They stood like that until they heard the call for the girls to come to temple. Darwin along with Rigor stood guard as the family emerged from the trees. Even the humans had a place with Levi's pack.
The end