Levi had been destroyed many times before, bruised and broken under the fists of countless Alphas. He'd felt the snap of his bones inside his flesh, blood in his mouth as his organs ruptured. More than once he'd lain in the dirt of the pit as they announced his opponent's defeat, looking at the ceiling with eyes that wouldn't focus, wondering if he was going to die. The Omega remembered thinking,

'Is this really victory? Does it taste like pain?'

Levi knew more than anyone what it was like to have muscles that screamed in agony, joints that protested the slightest movement, skin torn and ragged.

Never had the Omega's body been as beautifully wrecked as it was right now. Eren had tried to stop himself from biting Levi each time they came together, but when he felt the sting of the Omega's teeth in his own flesh he realized there was no way he could fight something that felt

so good,

even if they would feel the pain later on. Now they were both littered in bite marks and bruises, painting the skin of their throats in shades of purple and blue. Levi had a handful scattered across his wrists and the insides of his thighs as well, and when he moved he felt each and every one. Their skin was tinged pink, the blood that oozed from those bites spreading across it, mixed with scent and sweat and Levi's seed. They were filthy and wretched, Eren panting, shaking from exertion as he collapsed next to the Omega with a groan. He was still buried inside Levi, knotted together, but they'd both felt the heat pass, clearing from the air like smoke. Eren and Levi had mated over and over, knotting together again and again, and each time the Alpha was tied up inside him something dark swam through the Omega's chest. Something that craved the closeness, wanted it savagely, and that desperate need made Levi afraid.

Being afraid just made the Omega angry, fury at himself swirling inside. A heat was supposed to last around twelve hours, a few more if the Omega had suppressed or gone unmated for a long time.

It had been over twenty four by the time Levi's had abated. They mated, and when Eren swelled inside of him, locking them to each other, they slept, only to be woken by the surge of pheromones again when they separated. The Omega's entire being hurt in the best way, down to his very bones, sore and shivering where it had endured this relentless Alpha's attentions.

Everywhere but his mouth, an oasis of smooth, untouched skin the desert of savaged flesh that was Levi's body. His lips were not red, not swollen, not throbbing from unending kisses, not dry and cracked after merciless affection. Levi mourned the loss of these things in a way he had not known was possible. The Omega did not know you could miss an ache you had not felt before.

Eren's rut had passed too, the scent of Alpha and Omega still present as they always were, but muted now that the hormones were not raging inside them. The Alphas hands were tracing wearily across Levi's skin, seeking out the Omega even as he fought to stay awake, fingers clinging and grasping. Levi heard him mumbling incoherently as he had been doing periodically while their mating wore on. He wasn't even sure the Alpha realized he was talking. At first the Omega had struggled to listen, understand what Eren was saying, but then he realized there was no point. Each time he focused on the words they were things Levi didn't want to hear.

'So fucking pretty, so perfect, taste so good. So sweet, so tight, so strong. Please, fuck, yes, more. Need you, want you, make you mine. Levi, Levi, Levi...'

Then the Omega realized that wasn't quite right. They were not things Levi didn't want to hear.

They were things he wanted to hear so badly it terrified him, fear again, when he had not felt it in ages. Not even when he had planned to die. Weak.

This Alpha made him weak.

When Levi felt that now familiar shuddering feeling, Eren's knot releasing from inside, there was no rush of lust that crept up in its wake. Still the Alpha was rutting up against him, not trying to mate but seeking closeness, rubbing his face against Levi's skin as he growled softly at the Omega. Levi turned away from Eren, pawing blindly at the table beside the bed for his phone while the Alpha clutched at his back, nuzzling into the Omega's spine. Away. He had to get away from this Alpha, away from his skin and his teeth and his touch.

Had to get away before he was swallowed whole, nothing left of him but Eren.

When he knocked the phone to the floor in his struggles the Alpha lifted his head in a daze.

"You want water? Here, hold on." It was a couple of moments before an open bottle was thrust in front of Levi, but the Omega didn't take it, just stared at the water in a stupor. Then he leaned over and snatched his phone from the floor, trying to tap the screen on and find Hange's number through blurred vision. Why was his vision blurry? "Levi? What are you doing?" His voice was shredded when he spoke, full of gravel and sand.

"Heat's over. Gonna call Hange. Let her come get me." It was only as he felt something on his face and wiped at it that he realized he was crying. Eren must have heard it in his words because he was sitting up, putting the water down and trying to pull the Omega into his lap.

"Levi, come here." Levi had known this was coming, though he thought he'd have a little more time to get out of Eren's house before it started. When an Omega mated for the first time, their body was not used to the surging of endorphins. Serotonin and dopamine flooding their systems, hormones that had never been produced before rising and falling in the blood. After it was over everything drained out of the Omega at once, leaving the brain reeling at the lack of chemicals and stimulants. The first thing that happened was the soreness catching up to them, all the strain on their body hitting them at once. Then the tears came. It was strictly hormonal. Biological. Unavoidable.

That knowledge didn't make it feel any less shitty to weep like a child in front of this beast of an Alpha.

Levi dropped the phone on the bed to cover his face with his hands as he began sobbing in earnest.

For no goddamned reason.

The Omega had never hated himself more than he did in that moment. Not even as he stood over the corpses of Alphas, many of them prisoners just like him.

"It's just hormones. The heat, it-" Eren cut him off, and Levi stopped fighting as the Alpha eased his arms around him and lay them down together.

"Shhhh. I don't need a biology lesson. I know all about it, okay? You can't help it." Levi curled up into a ball, trying to keep himself quiet, failing. Kept his face hidden behind his palms. Wished he could disappear.

"Fucking stupid Omega bullshit. God, I hate it." Eren turned him over, tucking Levi's face into his chest and wrapping him up tight, pulling a blanket off the floor and spreading it over them.

If Levi could move, he would have been running. Fast, and far, until his legs gave out beneath him.

"I know. I'm sorry. But don't leave yet. I know you have to go eventually, get back to your life, but let me clean you. Feed you. It's past seven at night. Sleep with me until morning, then let me take you home. Don't just... don't just leave filthy and hungry and hurting and exhausted. Please, Levi. For me, if not for you." The Omega sniffed, willing himself to vanish into nothingness. When he did not, he forced words passed unwilling lips.

"I'm going to be hurting for days. You fucking mauled me." Eren let out a bark of laughter, tracing over the bites on Levi's neck with gentle fingers.

"I know I did. I'm sorry about that. But hey, you mauled me a little yourself. Didn't think Omegas did that." Levi felt irritation rise in him, sharp and vicious, and he welcomed the emotion. It was familiar, and he clung to it with all that he was.

"Forgive me, oh great Alpha, for not fitting into your fucking Omegan ideals." The Alpha kissed his dark locks, breathing in his scent. Levi fought down a shudder.

"I liked it. I liked it a lot. Never think that something is wrong with you because you aren't like other Omegas. It's better. You're better. You're perfect, Levi." All Levi could see in his mind were dead Alphas under his hands. Bleeding to death where'd he'd torn out their throats with his teeth. Choking on crimson spray, going limp as Levi gouged out their eyes.

"I'm not perfect." The Alpha behind him was playing with his hair, rubbing his hands over Levi's back, throwing his leg over the Omega to tug him in closer. His crying had eased back, tears now coursing silently down his cheeks.

"Me either, so close enough. Stay with me until morning."

Then you can run away.

Eren didn't say it, didn't have to. It filled the space between them like a fog, and Levi had a hard time breathing through it.

"I need a fucking shower if I'm staying here." Eren leaned down to kiss Levi's cheek, and the Omega flinched, remaining silent even as he screamed inside.

"Thank you. Gimmie a sec."

The Alpha rushed into the bathroom, and Levi heard him turning on the shower and adjusting the spray. His heat had ended, but there was no way he could walk yet, not after what Eren just put him through over the course of the last day. So Levi waited for the Alpha to return, cursing himself as he sat up and retrieved his phone to text Hange.

Levi: Heat's over. Home tomorrow. How's Erwin?

She didn't respond right away, so he sent a message to Marco, telling the Beta he was alive and well. Then he pulled up his contacts and texted the three Omegas he normally met with on Thursdays, Petra among them. It was Wednesday, and Levi probably wouldn't feel up to going out to meet them at the office tomorrow or any of the places they sometimes went, but they'd been to his house before. He gritted his teeth as he sent them a message inviting the group to his place the following night. Levi wanted to hide, wanted to stay in his home alone until these bites on his skin faded, until the scent of this Alpha was nothing but a memory.

But it was something the Omegas needed to witness. They were all so terrified of mating, like Levi had been, though for different reasons. His Omegas were scared of injury, of abuse. Levi was not afraid of pain. He knew it too well, all its nuances and forms, all the ways it could break someone. He just did not want to give up control, to submit to an Alpha. Now that he had gone through a mated heat, Petra and his other Omegas deserved a chance to look, to listen, to ask questions. To see Levi, covered in bites and bruises and the scent of an Alpha, and know that he was just fine. That he had wanted it. Was still well, and whole, and himself.

To help them understand that being with an Alpha could be something good. An ache that you welcomed. Something you chose instead of something you endured.

Levi needed to teach them something that he still had not truly learned, and he wondered if they would see right through him.

The Omega was grateful for the interruption of his thoughts when Eren came back into the room, brows furrowed as he looked at Levi's worried expression. He sat his phone back on the table and moved towards the side of the bed that the Alpha stood on, suddenly very aware of his nudity. It was ridiculous, Eren had just had sex with him over and over, had buried himself between Levi's thighs, tasted his skin, sank his teeth into the Omega's flesh. Now he wanted to cover himself, and he fought pink from his cheeks with all that he had. Tears still wet on a face that wanted to blush, and Levi wanted to yell out in frustration. Scream until his throat was raw. Eren did not seem phased by it, just picked Levi up in his arms and carried him into the bathroom, steam rising in the air from the hot water. Instead of trying to put the Omega on his feet, he disconnected the shower head from its cradle and let it dangle while he sat down in the tub, pulling Levi into his lap. Levi felt awkward, body going tense as Eren took the shower attachment in his hand and ran the spray over the Omega's skin, rinsing away blood and scent and everything else with gentle fingers. Then the Alpha tilted Levi's head back, putting a hand over his forehead to keep the water out of his eyes as he soaked those dark locks, scrubbing at them lightly.

"I can wash myself, you know. I'm not helpless." Eren ignored him, working shampoo into Levi's strands before rinsing it away.

"Shhhhh, just let me." The Alpha moved on, conditioning Levi's hair with more care than was necessary. The Omega was cringing under his touch. Not because he did not like it, but because he wanted to arch into it, relax into Eren's warm embrace. Rub his face against his neck. He wasn't in a heat anymore, he shouldn't want to writhe against this Alpha, shouldn't be craving those hands on his skin.

"Fucking Alphas."

"I know you can do it yourself, but I want to do it for you. I... fuck, I'm so sorry Levi." Eren's fingers traced over the bites on Levi's neck again, managing to make even a touch seem apologetic. "I was really rough on you, it looks like you were attacked by a fucking animal. I should have been able to control myself better than that, rut or no rut. Please, just let me take care of you. I need to."

Levi was silent, not sure what to say in the face of this Alpha's words. The Omega had bitten into Eren's skin too, over and over, couldn't have stopped himself if he'd tried. The Alpha would be wearing those marks around for a week, at least. Yet here he was saying he was sorry to Levi, full of concern, hands ghosting over the Omega's flesh like he would break. There were so many different things spinning through Levi's head that he could not pick out a single one, like colors all swirling together until there was nothing but black.

Once Eren had washed his own hair and rinsed both of their stands clean, he poured body wash over a bath sponge and began to rub it over Levi, his chest, his stomach. Used his hand to soap Levi's face with care. He lifted the Omega's arms and ran it over the undersides, slid it across Levi's throat, leaned forward to lather his legs. Passed the sponge gently between Levi's thighs, careful of his bite marks but scrubbing away what was left of his seed. Eren cleaned himself with much less hesitance, scouring roughly at his skin, quick and uncaring. After he was done he washed the suds away from them both, turning off the water and standing up. Then he tugged Levi to his feet and sat him down on the closed lid of the toilet. The Alpha handed him a towel, and Levi was grateful he didn't try to dry him. If Eren made him feel any more helpless than he already did, Levi might punch him in the fucking nose. Eren was dried off much faster than the Omega, Levi's muscles protesting every move he made as he ran the towel over his skin. The Alpha was back moments later with Levi's bag, which he deposited at the Omega's feet before pulling on boxers and pajama pants of his own.

"You need help dressing?" Levi scowled, shaking his head.

"No, mother, I think I have it covered." Eren laughed, running his hand through the Omega's hair absently before heading towards the door.

"I'll give you a minute."

When the Alpha shut the door behind him, Levi felt relief surge through his body. He leaned forward so far that he almost fell to the floor, head between his knees as he fisted his hands in his hair.

"Fuck."

Levi didn't bother getting dressed yet, just maneuvered himself as best he could to empty his bladder. He'd allow it to burst in his stomach before he let Eren hold him up while he pissed. When he was finished closed the lid again and sat back down, sifting through his clothes until he found some boxers and pajama pants. Hange could've packed any number of fucked up things, and he half-expected to find a woman's nightgown instead of his own sleepwear. He would have to thank her later for repressing her inner urges. Unlike Eren, he pulled on a shirt, eager to cover up every inch of skin that he could. Levi had just finished pulling it down when the door opened again, and he knew the Alpha would be carrying him back to bed. Fuck, Levi was so tired of being in bed, useless, unable to do anything for himself. He would be so fucking happy when his body started going back to normal.

When Eren picked him up and took him to the living room instead, unreasonable joy shot through him. He deposited him on the couch, and Levi found himself looking around suspiciously. It was insanely clean in here compared to when he'd been on this couch the day before. Everything was shining, free of dust, no dishes or laundry anywhere. He could smell the fading scent of disinfectant underneath the overwhelming smells of heat and rut and mating. Eren had cleaned in here while Levi slept, and something twisted inside the Omega at the thought.

"I'm guessing your tired of being stuck in a bed all day. Let me go get us some food, and we can eat in here instead. What do you want?" Levi wanted to say not to worry about it, that he wasn't hungry, but his stomach was now audibly protesting the thought. Other than the meal Eren had given him yesterday, Levi had not eaten anything substantial in over a week, and he was

starving.

"Anything. Everything. The food you brought yesterday was fine."

Eren disappeared into the kitchen, clanking sounds filtering into the living room as he heated up their food. He brought back a ridiculous amount of pasta and rice, piled so high on their plates that Levi thought it would topple off into the floor. They began to inhale their food, and when both of the dishes were completely empty, not a speck of anything left of them, he conceded that perhaps he'd been even hungrier than he'd thought. Eren took the empty plates back into the kitchen, and Levi listened to the water run as he washed them. When the Alpha returned he was looking at Levi with an expression so fond, the Omega wanted to strike out at him, wipe it from his face. Replace it with with pain instead. Something familiar instead of something strange.

"You want to sleep now, or stay up for awhile?" Eren looked just as exhausted as Levi felt, and as much as the Omega was tired of being cooped up in a bed, he would be asleep where he sat in a few moments.

"No, I'm fucking done. I need to rest."

The Alpha just nodded, but instead of carrying Levi he put an arm under his shoulders and helped the Omega stagger to the bedroom. His feet were a little steadier than he'd expected, and Levi thought he might be able to walk on his own when he woke up. When he collapsed into the bedding, he realized that Eren had changed the sheets, saw the dirty ones balled up on the floor nearby. Laying down on blankets that were clean, and dry, no oppressing heat running through him, no lust swimming in his veins.... Levi was more grateful than he'd thought possible. Couldn't stop the words from his mouth, even if they tasted bitter.

"Thank you, Eren." The Alpha was turning the light off and climbing next to him, and when he eased his arms around the Omega from behind, Levi wanted to push him away. Didn't. Fought the urge to push himself back into the embrace instead.

"I should be thanking you. I know you didn't ask for any of this, didn't want it, so it's probably wrong for me to be so grateful, but I am. I'm glad you were in that shelter. It feels like you were waiting for me. Like I was waiting for you. Telling you this is probably the last thing I should do, but not saying it seems deceitful. I feel like my whole life has changed, Levi. Because of you." Eren was right. It was the wrong thing to say, and Levi wanted to be miles away under the weight of those words.

"You don't even know me, Alpha." Levi felt Eren's arms tighten around him, fingers clutching at his skin.

"I want to know you. Give me a chance to. Please."

Levi did not say anything, and the silence felt like defeat to the Omega. One of Eren's hands moved up to Levi's hair, and they threaded through those dark locks slowly. He resisted it as hard as he could, but Levi was so exhausted, and he was tired of fighting. Those gentle touches eased him into sleep.

..................................

Sunlight was creeping through the windows when the buzzing of his phone pulled Levi into wakefulness, groggy and aching in a way he'd never felt before. He'd thought his hips had been hurting during the heat, but this was a whole knew kind of pain. Levi felt like he'd just spent hours in the pit fighting instead of in bed mating. The bites he wore announced their presence loudly with each small movement, as if to remind Levi of what he had done. The Alpha behind him had his face thrust into Levi's neck, hot breaths panting across the Omega's skin. One of his hands was still buried in Levi's hair, the other curled around the Omega's chest, a leg thrown over him possessively. Levi reached out and snagged his phone from the table, blinking the sleep from his eyes as he read the display.

5:32 AM.

Hange was just now texting him back, and with the strange hours she kept, Levi was not surprised.

Hange: VICTORY! You are officially laid! How was it? Are you alive?

Levi glared at the phone, Eren shifting behind him but not waking. The thought of facing the Alpha in the light of day made the Omega feel breathless in the worst way. He could not imagine rolling over, looking into those bright green eyes, seeing that fucking smile he knew was coming. Brighter than the goddamned sunrise, and just as inevitable. Levi couldn't take it, he had to get out of there.

Levi: I'm fine. Come get me, right now if you could.

Hange: Are you trying to sneak away without Eren noticing? I don't think that's going to go very well for you.

Levi: Just get your ass over here.

Hange: Ok, I'm coming, but I'm going on record to state that this is very shitty, even for you.

Levi: I'm a shitty person. Come on. Hurry.

Hange: Be there in fifteen. You're an asshole, and I'm telling Eren I argued against this course of action when I talk to him next.

Levi: Okay, bitch.

He set his phone down on the table, extricating himself carefully from Eren's embrace and shoving a pillow in his place. The Alpha clung to it, making a disapproving noise in his sleep, but his eyes remained closed. Levi threw his legs over the side of the bed, wondering if they would hold him up. He stood carefully, tentatively, and though his muscles were not happy about it they did not betray him just yet. Levi took wobbly steps to the bathroom to retrieve his bag, snagging his phone off the nightstand and heading towards the door. He paused in the doorway, eyes pulled back to the bed against his will. Eren was now troublingly restless, breathing going uneven, eyes darting behind his lids. Those chocolate locks were a mess, falling over his face, and Levi's hands itched to brush them back. His lips were parted, brows furrowing, and the Omega had never seen someone manage to look worried like that when they weren't even awake.

He lingered there, watching the Alpha sleep, and it was only when his phone buzzed announcing Hange's arrival that he realized he'd been staring for fifteen minutes.

Levi unlocked the knobs as quietly as possible, shutting the door behind him but unable to lock it again. No one would break into this house anyway, not with the scents that were filtering under the door, heat, rut, the smells of mating. He made the trek down the driveway, which seemed much longer than it actually was as he headed to Hange's car, instincts shouting at him to go back into Eren's house, climb into his bed. Let the Alpha bring him food, and water, fetch and carry for him until the soreness of the mating had passed. He fought them down viciously as he climbed into the passenger seat, Hange looking at him with a disapproving glare.

"You're being a fucking coward, Levi. Running off at the ass crack of dawn when you can barely walk. I know that Alpha in there would give his left nut to take care of you today."

"Fuck off, four eyes. Take me home. I can listen to your bitching there."

Levi looked back towards the doorway as Hange put the car in gear only to see Eren standing there, a hand clutching at his chest. Even from so far away, those eyes ripped Levi open. Then he glanced down to see his own hand right where Eren's was, clawing at his heart, trying to reach the ache inside.

When they drove away, Levi left pieces of himself behind. He did not know what they were, but he knew that it hurt.