Sparks |Levi Ackerman Werewolf AU|

The room fell deathly silent. Levi’s face never faltered when I said I killed a man; took away a living, breathing being. But the stare he always gave with eyes never changing. Oh that stare made me more uncomfortable then it ever had before. I fidgeted where I sat, twiddling with the hem of my shirt.

“Well?” I questioned in a small, nerves voice.

“Well what?” He retorted.

“Don’t you have anything to say? I just spilled out what I’ve been hiding. I murdered someone.”

“What? You want me to call you a liar? That you are in fact a rogue for committing a heartless act. That I should run you out, turn you into the cops or possibly even kill you right here and now. Is that what you want to hear me say?” I fell silent, my throat dry and my eyes trying to find anything but him. “Because I know damn well that’s not the case. You’re not a killer.”

“How can you be so sure? What part of ‘I killed someone’ don’t you understand? Regardless of the situation.”

“Enlighten me then brat but I can guarantee my opinion won’t change.”

“Because you’re damn good at your job right?”

“Tch, you were actually listening.” I rolled my eyes. What gave him the idea that I wasn’t?

“Do you want the whole story?”

“I don’t have anything else better to do tonight. Just quit stalling and spit it out already.”

“Growing up, my pack and I lived in a very small city out in the countryside practically on the other side of the country. The population never even reached 200 yet but we weren’t like one of those closed knit kind of communities. You know, where we all knew everyone and had no privacy. My pack lived just outside the main community, living on our own plots of land so that wasn’t a problem at all.” He seemed to be listening intently so I took that as a good sign to continue. “Anyway, there was this one boy a couple years older than me. Marcus. He…well he was one of the unfortunate ones who got dealt the wrong hand. There was something wrong with him from the start.”

“Chemical imbalance in the brain. He was born to be a rogue.” I gulped and gave a single nod.

“He grew up with loving parents who cared deeply for him. His mother, a florist who had an interest in botany and a father who was a successful family doctor. Regardless of his upbringing it couldn’t change what was to happen. After school I’d sometimes catch him down at the creek killing frogs. Stabbing them with sticks or crushing them under rocks. And he’d laugh about it. He found enjoyment in the act. But it didn’t stop with frogs. I’d find mice with their heads cut off, rabbits with their tails and ears missing. It was horrible.”

“That’s usually a first indicator.”

“When he got older he started stealing – later finding out his item of choice was bondage porn magazines – and peeping into girl’s windows with no care to the consequences he’d face. Knowing something was really wrong with him and concerned for the safety of my pack as well as the humans in the city I decided to keep a close eye on him. To be ready to interfere when I’d catch him in the act and confront him about the issue. Sadly, he took notice of this and interpreted it in all the wrong ways. He thought I was stalking him, obsessed with him which fueled his ego. During my sophomore year in high school he pulled me aside just as I was leaving school and started aggressively flirting with me who wouldn’t take no for an answer; practically had me pinned against the wall with his body hovering over me. I told him I wanted nothing to do with him, knowing what he was becoming, but every time I’d make a move to leave he followed my motions making it unable for to me get out of there.”

Levi stiffened ever so slightly. An involuntary reaction no doubt.

“As you can imagine this infuriated me and if it weren’t for the fact I was in a public area I would have changed so I did the only thing I could do. I kneed him in the groin. That bought me some time but not enough. He tackled me to the ground, pinned me, and forced his lips on mine.”

The corner of Levi’s eye twitched and a small growl rose deep from his chest but it went practically unrecognizable.

“There was no spark. No surprise there. Fate doesn’t give rogues a mate. He became delusional and was convinced we were soulmates. So I told him the truth. That I wasn’t his mate and never was going to be in the first place; that he was destined to be a rogue and would never find true peace and happiness or ever feel complete. I know it wasn’t the smartest thing to do angering him like that but I was upset and in fear for my life. If it weren’t for the last teacher heading out for the day…I don’t even want to think what he would have done.”

Levi shifted in his seat uncomfortably as he glared at the wall off to the side, refusing to look at me.

“Before he left I told him I’d give him a choice. Either leave by tomorrow morning and never come back, or I report him to my parents. They were the alphas after all and I’d do whatever is necessary to protect the pack.” Levi’s eyes drew back to me.

“Were?” Emotions I had struggled to move on from slowly began crawling back to the surface.

“Marcus heeded my warning. That night he and his parents left. They said there was a better job offer in a city a few states over for his father working in hospital and with Marcus starting college they thought it would be best for him. That’s what everyone in the pack was told but I knew the truth. Years went by and things were going great. I no longer had to worry about the danger that was Marcus and I was able to start a life for myself and enter college. I had big ambitions going for a master’s degree in humanities as it had always been something I was really interested in but my small town didn’t have what I was looking for so I had to move away to a safe city not inhabited by another pack and separate myself from my own. This didn’t bother me as much as it should simply because I had no desire to be the next alpha. Refused actually; just not my thing. Doesn’t mean I severed the connection.”

I took in a deep, steady breath but when I exhaled it came out shaky and unstable all while Levi’s eyes shifted around my figure in calculation.

“Five months ago during the holiday break I decided to pay them a visit. The closer the bus got the more I felt something wasn’t right. Blood was in the air and I was overwhelmed with the sense of panic and anxiety. Something was very wrong. I ran home and within safe distance I changed. The second I did my head was filled with cries of agony from the pack. It was then I knew something had happened to with my parents.”

My voice cracked as I tried my hardest to keep it together.

“I walked through their bedroom door…and there was just…blood everywhere. So much of it. My father’s throat was slit from ear to ear. He went quickly I imagined. My mother…she had it so much worse. Her wrists were bound from behind while she laid motionless on the bed, the buttons on her blouse ripped open and her skirt torn to shreds. Her body was completely mutilated. I was so caught up in my emotions that I never noticed his scent. Marcus was still in the house. I fought him off as best as I could, coming out with only a few cuts and a gash on the back of my head with a killer headache to go with it. I managed to knock him out with the hammer from the storage closet. He wasn’t going to be getting up anytime soon after that. I then had to make a very difficult decision.”

Levi narrowed his eyes in confusion.

“Like I said we were a small pack, only having four remaining members after Marcus and his parents left. We didn’t have anyone inside the police force, no medical examiner. The closest thing we had was my father. He was the forensic investigator. So to protect the identity of werewolves I…burned the house I grew up in…to the ground with Marcus still inside unconscious. Sometimes I can still hear his screams while he was being burned alive. I made it look like an accident. My father had taught me a few things growing up. Helps when your father had a job like he did. I left my house as soon as I could, unwilling and able to see some of my most precious childhood memories burn and crumble with the fire I had started. The remaining members of my pack helped with the process as best they could and the police never questioned whether there was foul play or not. They notified me as to what had happened and I played it off as devastating shock. Wasn’t that hard since I still was. There wasn’t much that still remained; their bodies being so charred up. I couldn’t do anything for my pack. With no one else to lead them they split up, going their separate ways either as settling as lone wolves or on the search for new packs to join. I still had no aspiration to be an alpha and there was no way I could lead my pack after that event. Especially when I was the one responsible.”

“That’s a load of shit.” Levi growled. The venom in his words caught me off guard. “You blame yourself for your parents’ death? You think you caused it? Did you hold the knife that killed them?” His voice raised with each question. “Tch, you’re not as smart as I originally thought.”

“If had stopped him from the beginning, reported him or something, none of it would have happened in the first place.” I snapped. “Instead I basically let him go with a verbal warning and a slap to the wrist! I made a stupid choice, a stupid mistake, and it cost me my parents’ life. That’s what I regret.”

“He was a rogue. Dangerous, unpredictable and fiercely determined. He was going to do it whether you did something about it or not. The only one to blame for the death of your parents is him. None of that is on you.”

“I still left him there to burn alive instead of taking him to the proper authorities. I didn’t let the law handle to situation. I didn’t contact you with the Survey Corps. I’m a criminal. How am I any better than him?”

“It was self-defense and justifiable. He would have killed you too believe me. Rogues can’t be saved from who they really are. They can’t be changed. A human who is too far gone? Lock them up without a problem with medical and psychiatric attention. But rogues are different. Us werewolves are stronger, more complex, are emotions run deeper. Throw insanity into the mix…you got an unstoppable force. Most of the time killing them is the only permanent solution. It’s you or them. That’s the world we live in.”

“So what would you have me do? How do you live without regret?”

“The only thing you can do. Accept what you have done and move on. What is done can’t be changed so there is no point in dwelling it. Like is said, it will eat you if you let it. You’re stronger than that.”

I hung my head to hide the single tear that trickled down my cheek. Revealing this secret and finally releasing all these pent-up toxic emotions was overwhelming. I had dealt with it on my own for so many months, all this regret locked up inside me, I had almost forgotten what it was like to feel…at ease.  

“For what it’s worth, killing him was the right choice.”