Leader of the pack 2: Protected

On the run

It was another week before the cart was prepared. Nils offered to lend them horses to pull it, but Levi snorted walking away from his friend. Nils shook his head as he turned around.

"Never did get that guy half the time." He muttered to no one in particular.

"Horses don't like wolves." Eren pointed out. Nils stopped. He turned his head to look at the alpha. Eren arched an eyebrow.

Nils snorted, spitting out a string of phlegm as he looked slightly thoughtful. "Guess I don't really think of him that way." He stated before trying to walk away once more.

"But you do see the rest of us exactly like that." Eren stated. Nils shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess I do." He looked back at the young man.

"I'm not going to apologize for it, but..." Nils placed his hands on the small of his back. He arched making his spine pop. He looked at the sky peering through the canopy of trees.

"I will be there to help, if ever you.." He paused again to look over at where Levi stood talking with Erwin and Marco.

"Or he, needs it." He turned to look back at Eren. "Guess I have a soft spot for the guy. His life has always been hell." Nils did walk away this time.

Eren surveyed the small clearing they were in. Darwin made sure they were down wind from the proctor, even if their little community was several hundred miles away. Eren had been a bit shocked to hear this, not realizing just how far he had traveled before heading out alone to reach the military group he found himself with.

The cart was well padded for the two humans. It had several hidden compartments that Darwin filled with their supplies, most was ammunition or various guns or knives, but there was bedding, food and clothing for them as well.

Each baby had a well padded bassinet like seat with safety straps to hold them in place. Under each was a box to hold food, clothing or diapers for them. Eren looked down to where his three daughters lay. Ariel was looking up at him as Pan was cooing softly while playing with her pink socked foot. Chiyo had her eyes closed. A tiny smile was on her lips as she felt the wind brush over her. Eren watched them as a feeling of pure love filled him.

"Man, I can't wait to get back to see Erin and Levy!" Armin muttered as he came up to his friends side.

"I'm sorry we took so long." Eren commented Armin shrugged.

"The others are taking care of them. Wait until you see how they've grown." He smiled.

"We move out as soon as it's dark!" Levi called. Eren glanced up at the sky. They had less than an hour before the sun was to set. He was going to miss this place. He smirked at the thought. Who would have guessed that.

Standing he picked up the quiet Ariel. Holding her body out along his arm, he cupped her head in his hand. Walking to a nearby tree where a birds nest was perched on the end of a branch, Eren lifted the baby up to see the small eggs tucked down inside, or so he thought. He was slightly surprised to see that the three little eggs had hatched. Tiny thin baby birds were huddled together.

"Bird." Eren told the infant. Her eyes turned toward the soft rustling sound as they flapped their wings getting closer together. When he heard the momma bird coming back, Eren backed away.

He cradled his daughter against his chest. Rigor looked over at him. Eren nodded silently.

"What was your dad like?" Darwin had asked him shortly after finding out Carla was Eren's mother.

The strong mountain man didn't look pleased at all with what Eren told him of his father, step brother or their life together. When he explained how his mother died, Darwin had ground his teeth together. Eren had watched him walk to a small tree. He smashed it to pieces with his bare hands. After that, the man never spoke of the girl again.