"Not yet. My scent never changes, so all Alphas respond to me the same. The test is if I find you as intoxicating as you find me," he explained. "Are you ready?"
"Fuck no!" Nie Mingjue said loudly. He took a step back to put even more distance between himself and Wei Ying. "If you command me to mark you right now, I might not be able to resist. As an Alpha, I have never before met a shifter who made me want to fall to my knees and bare my throat in submission from just their scent. Before you walked out here, I was sure that the last thing my pack needed was for me to take a mate. And now, with you standing here, I want to harness your spiritual talents and your battle skills. Which makes me no better than that rabid dog, Wen Ruohan."
"If you are my mate, the bond between us would be consensual and mutually beneficial. I'm not a Luna. You and your pack could continue however you want without me being a disturbance," Wei Ying said. "But you're the Alpha of the Stone Wolves. It doesn't matter to me whether or not you want to be tested. I'm happy to just leave Qinghe and be on my way."
"The rest of my pack would have my throat if I let you leave our territory without finding out if I am the next Xiandu," Nie Mingjue responded dryly.
Wei Ying looked at him, at the tense way he held his strong body, and the way he looked like he couldn't decide whether to pull Wei Ying in or push him away. A blind person could see how much this Alpha wanted him, but it was in exactly the same way that Wen Ruohan and Jin Guangshan did. The same way so many other Alphas who had crossed Wei Ying's path had wanted to keep him. At least Nie Mingjue freely admitted to the reason why.
"Let's go for a run, Nie Mingjue," Wei Ying finally said, when he couldn't think of anything else to say to ease the tension. "If that doesn't make you feel better then you can fight me. And if that doesn't make you feel better, then just imagine the satisfaction you will feel if it turns out that you are my mate. The anticipation always seems to quench the darkest desires. Maybe you will be the Alpha who can get me to my knees."
Nie Mingjue's gaze slowly travelled to the side of Wei Ying's neck again, but he managed to keep his voice steady when he said, "I was told that sex was not a requirement of the bond. If I am your mate, being on your knees is not something I would demand from you. At least, not in the bedroom."
Wei Ying almost doubled over in laughter.
"I was just teasing you!" Wei Ying cackled. "Thank fuck for that, by the way. Believe me, if I ever take my clothes off for you it's because I know exactly who you are and what you mean to me. Right now, I don't even know if you can keep up with me on a chase. Let's go!"
Wei Ying took off running, not waiting to see if Nie Mingjue would join him.
He weaved his way past various groups of wolves who ignored him and continued to snarl at each other. They were all too caught up in their training to be distracted. Near the outer edge of the training ground, he barrelled towards two Ice Wolves in human form who were sizing each other up, ready to begin sparring again. At the last second, before he collided with the more graceful of the two ethereal fighters in white, Wei Ying shifted his weight to one side.
From one second to the next, he changed forms in a blur of motion, as the air around the two of them rippled.
Wei Ying skidded to a stop in his wolf form, then he turned back and weaved his body around the legs of the shifter. He nuzzled at the fabric at the back of the guardian's knee until the young man turned, and crouched in front of him.
"Lan Zhan, I'm going for a run. If I get kidnapped by Blood Wolves before I get back, promise me you'll burn the place down in your need to find me," Wei Ying communicated happily.
Gentle fingers slid along Wei Ying's jaws as Lan Zhan cradled the wolf's face between the palms of his hands. He was no longer wearing his leather gloves so his hands were cold and soft, and felt really nice.
When Lan Zhan leaned over to get even closer, Wei Ying looked into his bright, golden amber eyes, and could see the reflection of his own red irises gazing back at him. He tilted his head to nuzzle Lan Zhan's cheek and couldn't resist sniffing at the small soft patch of skin not covered by the mask that tickled his nose. Lan Zhan's sandalwood scent made Wei Ying want to follow the path down the side of Lan Zhan's neck to the dip in his collarbone.
"Wei Ying," Lan Zhan breathed, so low that even Wei Ying's sharp wolf ears barely heard him. "Please. Be more careful."
"I'm always careful!" Wei Ying responded. But Lan Zhan was not in his wolf form so there was no point even arguing.
Instead, to reassure him, Wei Ying licked at the space between Lan Zhan's eyebrows. He tasted like salty sweat and a thin layer of dirt, and Wei Ying suddenly realized that this might have been one of the best ideas he ever had. Wei Ying licked him again, this time on his forehead and into the strands of hair at the front of his head. He licked his temple, the shell of one ear, across his hairline, then back to the middle of his forehead, and above one eyebrow. Salty again. Sweat and sandalwood and the chill of a crisp November day, and all of it was a reminder that this was Lan Zhan.
"A-Zhan!" The Gusu Beta's voice suddenly warned in a sharp quiet tone, which effectively broke Wei Ying's reverie.
A hand reached down to grip one of Lan Zhan's shoulders tightly. Wei Ying wanted to nudge it off, but before he could, Lan Zhan was already standing. Wei Ying looked up at the two nearly identical Ice Wolves, dressed in bright white, but neither of them was looking at him.
Nie Mingjue approached their small group, still in his human form. Lan Zhan sharply saluted the Alpha, but the other Ice Wolf only laughed at his friend.
Wei Ying took that moment to move closer to Lan Zhan's leg, and briefly drew the Alpha's attention to himself. He felt a little sheepish to realize that he had in fact only a few minutes ago been the one to invite the Qinghe Nie Alpha to run with him, only to now be caught acting like an eager pup. He hoped he hadn't embarrassed Lan Zhan in front of the two leaders.
"Sorry, Lan Zhan," Wei Ying apologized as he nuzzled at the white fabric of Lan Zhan's pants that hid his knee.
Lan Zhan didn't relax from his military salute until Nie Mingjue was standing right in front of him.
"At ease!" Nie Mingjue commanded.
Lan Zhan dropped his arm and clasped both hands behind his back, while Nie Mingjue looked down at Wei Ying and Wei Ying looked up at him. The Gusu Beta chuckled softly again.
"Da-ge, you're already having so much trouble keeping up with him," the Ice Wolf teased. "Maybe you're getting too old for this."
Nie Mingjue shot his friend with a look of pure irritation. "He's fast, a-Huan. You try to keep up with him. Join us on our run and we'll see which of us is getting old."
"Nice try, but I still need to refuse. The moment between an Alpha and the Sena should be private. A-Yao and I already decided that we would meet with you later before the Blood Wolves return to escort him away. Come and find us when you've chased him out of your system. Until then, be brave, Da-ge. What can one asena do to you with your warriors nearby?"
Wei Ying ignored the rest of the conversation as the two friends continued to banter. He wanted to run, even though he was still somewhat distracted.
"Lan Zhan, I'm sure that you could keep up with me. Do you want to join us?" Wei Ying asked while he turned his head to search for the tips of Lan Zhan's fingers.
He playfully licked and gnawed on each digit that his mouth could find, until Lan Zhan finally reacted by reaching down to scratch lightly along Wei Ying's muzzle.
When he didn't do much else, Wei Ying whined. "Is that a no? Lan Zhan, don't say no! Come and run with me."
Lan Zhan rubbed his thumb back and forth across the tip of Wei Ying's nose soothingly. It tickled, and it felt nice, and Wei Ying almost went cross-eyed trying to follow it. He grumpily had to accept though that this was the only apology or explanation that he would get. In response, he licked Lan Zhan's palm, so that Lan Zhan would know that he wasn't upset.
Nie Mingjue was still talking to the Gusu Beta. Wei Ying spent about a second deliberating whether or not he should wait, but since this was the Stone Wolves' territory, he figured that there was nowhere that he could go that the Alpha couldn't find him.
Instead, Wei Ying turned with one last sniff of Lan Zhan's wrist. And then he ran.
He made it as far as the city border before a large grey and black wolf with a white underbelly caught up to him. Together they followed a trail through a small field, then steadily climbed higher and higher up the mountain that overlooked the Unclean Realm to the east.
Once they were far enough away from human hikers, Mingjue indicated that he wanted Wuxian to follow his lead. Curious, Wei Ying was only too happy to go with him.
They stopped at a small clearing close to the edge of a precipice. In the distance, Qinghe's landscape was a fusion of modern stone buildings with green vegetation that were only marginally affected by the coming cold season.
"This is Qinghe, the city of the Stone Wolves. My pack has owned these lands before humans even first heard stories about shifters and spiritual powers. Nothing and no one will take it away from me. Not while I still have breath in my lungs to fight them," Nie Mingjue said as he looked out at the city below.
"Not while you are prepared to fight, but what about your brother?" Wei Ying asked. "As your Beta, will he be capable of fighting back the Blood Wolves if Qishan attacks the Unclean Realm again?"
"Why would Huaisang need to fight?"
Mingjue seemed to radiate surprise from every muscle in his body, as if he hadn't expected to have this conversation when he had agreed to the run. Sneak attack or not though, Wei Ying had never planned to let him off lightly. While they were surrounded by Nie Mingjue's men, Wei Ying had shelved his frustration, but away from the pack, he was ready to confront the Alpha.
Wei Ying idly pawed at a piece of rock in the ground before he met the Alpha's gaze and said, "I have no interest in being escorted to Qishan when the Blood Wolves come knocking on your door again in a few hours. I'm sure Wen Ruohan will be more than a little upset with you when he realizes that I'm gone. He's ruthless. He'll aim to eliminate you first. His mission these past few years has been to force a change in Alphas for all the main packs. He's been waiting to come back to Qinghe to finish the fight that he started."
Mingjue looked away and huffed out a breath of air. "Fuck. You know about that. Of course you would. I can't do anything to stop the Ice Wolves from disclosing information to you."
"You can make whatever decisions you see fit for the good of your pack, but I'm not your property to barter," Wei Ying said evenly. "Even if I were your mate, you wouldn't have any control over where I go or what I do."
"I meant no offense, Sena. The Blood Wolves tracked you here with barely enough time for anyone to discuss a course of action. I negotiated as best as I could."
Wei Ying shook his head in irritation. His red eyes glowed even in the early evening light as he focused all his attention on the larger wolf.
"You negotiated for your pack, but not for me. You would fight to your last breath to protect your family, but even as the Sena, I'm still an outsider to you. Worse, you said yourself that you don't want a mate. So I'm just an inconvenience that you can't wait to pass on to the next pack to deal with."
"Was an inconvenience!" Mingjue snarled. "I didn't know you were a warrior. I expected a female wolf who didn't know her place. I didn't expect you!"
Wei Ying took a step forward, and bared his teeth. "You're full of shit! A Luna is a warrior and a leader. If you didn't know anything else about me, you could have expected that at the very least. Even if I was what you assumed, you still didn't have the right to negotiate my release to the Blood Wolves without my consent."
"You were unconscious! The only advice I had to go on in such a short amount of time was the advice that I acted on. Do you really not understand that having spent time with you now, I regret ever meeting with the Blood Wolves in the first place?"
And that was the point of all of this. No amount of angry words would make a difference. What was done was done already.
"Why do you want me now when you didn't before?" Wei Ying asked. All the fight was slowly draining out of him leaving him frustrated and sad.
"You're fire and gunpowder," Mingjue responded with a low growl. "I don't want a Luna. I'm strong on my own and I don't need an added distraction. But, I also don't want another fight with the Blood Wolves. With you by my side, I can avoid both."
"If you are my mate, I will make you regret it so that you're never tempted to fuck with me again," Wei Ying said quietly. "Mark my words, Alpha. You won't survive my anger."
"I believe you," Mingjue said in a tone that sounded remarkably similar to one that his brother might use. "I'll remember to sleep with chains on my doors and to never be alone with you ever again."
"Good," Wei Ying said petulantly. But in the next instance, his tone softened and he tried to radiate calm into their mental connection. "Alright, enough running. Come here. Let's just get this over with."
Wei Ying took a step towards the other wolf.
The Alpha didn't flinch, but every muscle in him strained from his tense stance. He would never run from a fight, but this wasn't something he ever had to face before. Hope and fear warred in the depths of his deep hazel eyes.
Wei Ying more than anyone could understand this. He understood wanting something so badly that the idea of it soothed many sleepless nights. Yet, still being terrified to claim it, because of the realization that having it didn't mean that it belonged to you.
Wei Ying leaned forward, straining his neck and shoulder as he carefully nuzzled at the side of Mingjue's jaw. The action caused the larger wolf to relax in tiny increments so Wei Ying took a slow deliberate step forward, into Mingjue's space until their shoulders were almost touching.
He turned his head and nudged Mingjue's jaw with his muzzle to get him to move, but Mingjue didn't comply. Instead Mingjue turned his head and buried his nose into the side of Wei Ying's neck. Wei Ying allowed him a minute to do what he wanted, before he nudged him again.
"Stop being afraid. I won't hurt you," Wei Ying promised.
Mingjue whined reluctantly, and Wei Ying almost laughed. With a little more coaxing though, the larger wolf huffed out a small sigh and then sat back on his haunches.
"Fine," he groaned. "Just be quick. Everything inside of me knows that I should be fighting against this. I'm an Alpha, for fuck sake. I'm not meant to show weakness."
"Trust is not a weakness," Wei Ying countered.
Mingjue growled low and fierce in apparent disagreement, but he didn't respond with any more words.
He raised his head high, bearing his neck and throat to Wei Ying's mouth and the sharp pair of canines that were barely hidden. Tempted, Wei Ying wanted to tease him with a nip to his neck to remind him of who ranked higher in the wolf hierarchy, but the other wolf was already tense and on edge.
Giving over to the Sena's instinct, Wuxian gently buried his nose into the tuft of light grey fur at the base of Mingjue's throat and inhaled a deep breath of the wolf's scent.
Could a man smell like a mountain? This man did. Like earth and rocks and a crashing waterfall, powerful and fierce. Strong enough to break, strong enough to crush and to bruise. Wei Ying shuddered as he sucked in a sharp breath of air to clear his senses.
Earlier, he had threatened violence and he didn't often make empty threats. Especially not lightly, when he was soon going to be in danger just because of bad advice, arrogance, and assumptions. This man was strong down to his very essence, but he was still afraid of what Wei Ying could do to him.
In the end though, it made no difference.
"Don't worry Alpha," Wei Ying said, and even his mental voice sounded hoarse and affected by the overwhelming scent of the man. "You're not my mate, Mingjue. I'm someone else's problem now."
At Wei Ying's words, Mingjue seemed to collapse in relief. His large body slumped to the ground and he hid his face beneath one large paw. Wei Ying watched as the tension faded from him. When it was obvious that he was going to need a few more minutes, Wei Ying stretched out beside him and yawned.
"Is it always like that?" Mingjue finally asked. "I feel like I've been released from a chokehold that I didn't even realize had a grip on me."
Wei Ying laid his head on his outstretched paws and looked out at the view of the city below.
"Probably because you really don't want a mate right now. Convincing your wolf to accept a bond it doesn't want might benefit your human side but the animal inside of you would have been in pain," he explained.
Mingjue raised his head to look steadily at Wei Ying. "I'm going to assume that not everyone learned that lesson the easy way. I take it that there are Alphas out there who tried to force the bond even after being rejected."
"You would assume right," Wei Ying said. "Although, none of them got close enough to try more than once."
"I see. My Iotas reported all the scars that they found when you were unconscious. Bites, scratches, claw marks that would have taken weeks to heal, and minor fractures that seemed to be repeated injuries. They were from Alphas."
Wei Ying's upper lip drew back to bare his sharp teeth and his snout wrinkled as he growled low in his throat.
"Not all of them," he snarled. "I can take care of myself. Don't get any ideas, Mingjue. I'm not in the mood to spill your blood on your own land right now."
"I would never!" Mingjue responded in a tone so decisive that it reverberated through their shared communication.
Wei Ying relaxed his jaw and shifted his attention back to his folded paws. Mingjue leaned over and nudged his shoulder. Wei Ying ignored him, so he did it again. When Wei Ying continued to ignore him he did it again with enough force to topple Wei Ying sideways.
"Let's head back. My men will wonder where I am and I'm sure you'll want to get ready to leave," Mingjue said.
Wei Ying nodded. Then he rolled back over and climbed to his feet. Mingjue rose to his feet too and shook off the dirt from his fur before turning his head to look at Wei Ying again.
"You can have a selection of any of my men that you need. They will escort you safely out of Qinghe. I will deal with the Blood Wolves when they return. If any of them try to get to you while you're still under my protection, then I will remind them of what happened the last time they picked a fight with my pack."
"I don't need a selection of your men to get in my way," Wei Ying said with a huff. "I've been fine on my own this whole time. I'll accept a warrior or two to escort me to Qinghe's border, though I doubt that's going to do much. There were Qishan Kappas in your streets before I even made it into the Unclean Realm. Blood Wolves knew exactly where to find me, down to the exact street I was walking on. I wasn't the one who gave them that information."
"Let's go back," Mingjue said in response. This time his tone was terse. "I need to meet with my war generals."
The journey down the mountain was less exciting than the run up. The Qinghe Alpha opened up a communication channel to the other leaders in his pack. Wei Ying caught echoes of a loud discussion about doubling the Etas around Qinghe's borders versus concentrating the forces within the Unclean Realm itself, before he mentally shut them out.
When they approached the wards around the stone fortress, the two men shifted back to their human forms. Even then, Wei Ying allowed Nie Mingjue the space to think and plan without having to share his strategies.
A short distance outside the doors of the Mountain Hall, the Gusu Beta and the Lanling Omega waited for them.
"Da-ge," the Omega greeted as he stepped forward and bowed deeply. "I am so sorry that you weren't his match. It would have been fortunate if you were."
Nie Mingjue patted him on the shoulder to get him to rise. "A-Yao, it would have been easier, yes. But, that's no longer important anymore. Are all my men gathered inside?"
"Yes," the Omega responded. He made a face. "Being very loud and opinionated, just like you."
Nie Mingjue smiled at that.
"Good," he said. He turned his attention to the Gusu Beta who greeted him with a nod. "A-Huan, will you and your men join us?"
"They're already inside. They can stay, if what you need to discuss isn't too private," the Gusu Beta responded solemnly.
"Nothing is private from you," Nie Mingjue said to him in a gruff, quiet tone. "Not from either of you. I trust you with my life, Er-ge."
Wei Ying looked between the three of them. He couldn't argue with their evidently close friendship, but it still left him to silently wonder, What about when these strangers are gambling with my life?
Nie Mingjue turned and gave Wei Ying a sombre salute, full of goodbyes and regrets. Then, with a nod to their friend, he and the Gusu Beta strode off together, leaving the Lanling Omega with Wei Ying.
"You know, you never introduced yourself to me," Wei Ying said to break the silence.
The Lanling Omega ducked his head and kept his gaze lowered to the ground, but the tight smile that crossed his face, brought out mischievous dimples on his cheeks.
"How could I introduce myself to you, Sena? I am so low in status that to you I have no name," he said softly.
"Everyone has a name," Wei Ying corrected him gently. "And mine isn't Sena. It's Wei Wuxian. You can call me that. I don't care. People are just people."
"People are only people to someone with an honorific as prestigious as Son of Heaven, and Goddess of the Moon. There is no one above you to envy and no one below you to fear."
Wei Ying snorted a sound of wry amusement, colored by disbelief.
"Remind me of that when I'm faced with the ones who come at me with guns and knives, with claws and teeth, with their spiritual weapons drawn, and with jealousy clouding their judgment. Don't I deserve to be left alone to live my life too?"
At his sides the Langling Omega's fingers tightened into fists, but he kept silent.
"Even if you insist on being formal with me, tell me your name anyway," Wei Ying prodded. "I'll need something else to call you instead of just a friend of Nie Mingjue."
"When I become who I want to be then you can call me Jin Guangyao. Until then, I am Meng Yao," he finally said.
Wei Ying nodded. "Meng Yao. Thank you. It's good to meet you properly."
Meng Yao kept his head lowered but he raised his gaze to look at Wei Ying. Another hint of a smile curled at the corners of his lips before he inhaled a deep slow breath.
"We haven't properly met yet, Sena. You only know my name," he said softly. "But at least that is a start."
Choosing not to interpret that statement except at face value, Wei Ying nodded again and smiled at him.
"Then I hope we can become better acquaintances," Wei Ying said. He looked towards the door of the Mountain Hall and considered interrupting the meeting inside. But since that wouldn't really accomplish much he returned his attention to Meng Yao. "Please let Nie Mingjue know that I'll be leaving soon. He has an hour to decide on a plan. After that, I'll be on my way, with or without his protection."
"Leaving?" Meng Yao asked. It seemed to be what was needed to snap him out of his deference because he raised his head and glared with narrowed eyes. "Excuse my rudeness, Diànxià, but Da-ge put a lot of security measures in place here in the Unclean Realm the moment he found out that the Sena was in Qinghe. There is nowhere safer for you right now."
"Except that I'm trapped on a military base with hunters closing in," Wei Ying pointed out.
"Better to be trapped than dead," Meng Yao countered.
Wei Ying frowned. He didn't share that opinion. The idea of being caged, of no longer having the freedom to run or to fight, was akin to being slowly poisoned. He would personally prefer to be shot down in a second by a naive non-shifter, than be locked behind bars for the rest of his life.
Before he could open his mouth again to respond though, the doors of the Mountain Hall crashed open.
"Wei Ying!"
Wei Ying and Meng Yao both startled in surprise. Wei Ying looked around to see where Lan Zhan's voice had come from, so loud and insistent that Wei Ying's nerves all tingled in panic.
A snow white wolf came running out of the hall, down the steps and directly towards where Wei Ying waited. Behind it, the Gusu Beta still in his human form, followed at a more dignified pace.
Wei Ying immediately dropped to his knees and held his arms out wide as Lan Zhan's wolf form skidded into him and almost toppled them both. Wei Ying held on to him, still shaking from the intensity and the urgency that felt like it was rolling off Lan Zhan in waves. Lan Zhan whined and tried to lick every inch of Wei Ying's face, and Wei Ying let him do whatever he needed to do to stop shaking too.
"You scared me," Wei Ying said softly, into one of Lan Zhan's pointed ears. "You scared me so much. My heart can't take it."
He wrapped his arms tightly around Lan Zhan's neck and nuzzled his face into soft white fur. The scent of sandalwood and falling snow flooded Wei Ying's senses in a cloud of sadness so intense that Wei Ying felt like he was drowning in it.
"Are you trying to make me cry again?" he asked as he pushed against Lan Zhan's strong jaw with his forehead. "Why are you being like this?"
"He wants to go with you. I ordered him to stay."
The Gusu Beta's voice reminded Wei Ying that he had been whispering aloud. It was also a blatant reminder that he and Lan Zhan were wrapped around each other, with the Gusu Beta and the Lanling Omega as their audience.
Wei Ying lifted his head to look up at the two men who stood nearby and he felt himself flush. Both men were staring down at the two of them with varying expressions on their faces. Since neither he nor Lan Zhan could offer an excuse, Wei Ying decided to pretend ignorance.
Lan Zhan meanwhile was taking the opportunity of being given access to Wei Ying's lifted chin to lick at Wei Ying's neck, and at his throat, and then his collarbone. Instead of protesting, Wei Ying tilted his head to give Lan Zhan better access.
"Then I'm sorry for the trouble that my leaving is causing for your pack, and for the Stone Wolves," Wei Ying managed to say. "I could have just slipped away on the path back here, but that wouldn't have been polite."
Lan Zhan whimpered loudly at Wei Ying's words and he hid his face against Wei Ying's shoulder.
Wei Ying leaned over to nuzzle below his ear. Then, dropping his voice as low as Lan Zhan always did when Wei Ying was in his wolf form, Wei Ying breathed, "I would have said goodbye to you, of course."
This small addition to their interaction pushed Meng Yao to speak again, and he looked at the Gusu Beta then back down at Wei Ying and the wolf.
"Who is he, Er-ge?" he asked slowly. "All your men look so much alike that I can't tell them apart. You're so careful at keeping your identities secret outside of Cloud Recesses."
The Gusu Beta nodded in acknowledgement. "If even you can't tell us apart a-Yao, then the strategy still works well."
Wei Ying's fingers tightened a little in Lan Zhan's fur, but instead of commenting on the strategy of having all the Ice Wolves almost appear like clones while in combat uniform, he forced himself to smile.
"Is he an Epsilon?" he asked innocently.
The Gusu Beta stared at him for a second too long, seeming to have several things that he wanted to say, but then he hummed and nodded in confirmation.
"His instinct is to protect me," Wei Ying explained more for Meng Yao's benefit than the sharp gaze of the Gusu Beta who was silently studying him. "Wanting to guard me while being ordered not to, must be very difficult for him."
"I need him here with me. Especially if the Blood Wolves arrive with reinforcements. He is an exceptional fighter with a spiritual weapon that is unmatched, and a technique that only a few of us have the power to wield. I need him by my side," the Gusu Beta said. His tone was almost apologetic.
Wei Ying nodded. "Of course, Beta. I understand. You brought so few of your men with you that asking you to spare one would be selfish of me."
"It's not selfish to ask, Wei Wuxian," the Gusu Beta responded quietly. "Especially now, when I've –"
"Er-ge," Meng Yao interrupted with a deep bow to his friend. "I am trained well enough as a warrior to be of some help to your pack, while I'd only get in Da-ge's way if I worked with him. Why don't I just protect you, and this guardian can go with the Sena?"
"No!" That one word was final. It closed off all avenues of discussion. "Your safety is as important to me as any of my packmates. If you fight the Blood Wolves they will kill you without a thought. You might as well be the one to go with the Sena. He would do a better job protecting you than me."
The smile on Meng Yao's face widened as he rose from his bow and said, "Then I will go with the Sena, and you and your men can help to keep Qinghe safe."
Wei Ying stared at him. He didn't need a Lanling Omega to protect him, and he wanted Lan Zhan's company. He was perfectly capable of taking on a group of Blood Wolves, if only to take the focus off of Mingjue's pack. With how the conversation had evolved though, it seemed impolite to refuse the Gold Wolf's offer.
"Then it's settled. I won't sneak away once it's too dark to catch me, and Meng Yao will protect me from the pack of Blood Wolves who've been training all their lives for this opportunity," he said somewhat dryly.
Meng Yao bowed at Wei Ying then turned to the Gusu Beta. "I'll let Da-ge know that I'll be leaving soon as well."
When he walked away, he left an air of silence in his wake.
Wei Ying looked up to see that the Gusu Beta's light brown eyes were focussed on his guardian, who was paying no attention to his leader. Instead, Lan Zhan tilted his head and licked the tip of Wei Ying's nose a few times, until Wei Ying laughed loudly and hid his face against Lan Zhan's neck, away from the wolf's persistent tongue.
"I'm going to need a long hot bath after you're done with me," Wei Ying said, no longer making any effort to pretend to be quiet.
Lan Zhan huffed into the hair at the nape of Wei Ying's neck, and Wei Ying hugged him even tighter. His chest began to ache a little and he tried not to get choked up. He could kneel like this forever, he realized. Here, surrounded in Lan Zhan's scent, where he always felt so safe. He could stop fighting against the threat of the Blood Wolves and their Alpha's quest for dominance, and he could stay here with this guardian wolf and give up on a destiny that he felt obligated to play out. But even as Wei Ying considered it, he knew that he wouldn't. If only because Wen Ruohan wouldn't care that Lan Zhan was only an Epsilon and not an Alpha of his own pack.
"I'm sorry for his theatrics. He is usually very calm and focussed," the Gusu Beta said, reminding Wei Ying that he had again forgotten his presence. "I haven't seen him act like this since he was a child. You seem to inspire unusual behaviours in even the most stoic shifters around you."
"You noticed that too?" Wei Ying teased with a smile that he couldn't hide. "I have a magnetic personality. What can I say?"
The Gusu Beta took a step back and bowed at the waist with his arms extended in front of him.
"Diànxià!" he said with such reverence that Wei Ying squeaked out a sound of protest that was silenced only by Lan Zhan nipping sharply at an earlobe. "Today has been an exceptional experience," the Beta continued, this time slightly less solemnly. "I will leave you now to say goodbye to my Epsilon and hope that the next time I meet you, we can become friends."
"I think, if there was ever a pack that I genuinely wanted to meet, it would be the Ice Wolves of Gusu. The more I know about you is the more I respect you," Wei Ying said.
The Gusu Beta laughed softly as he turned and began to walk away.
"We have our flaws," he said with obvious amusement.
Wei Ying looked across at the snow white wolf in front of him. He stared into mesmerizing golden eyes that steadily held his gaze, and his fingers stroked gently through soft, clean fur. Lan Zhan was warm and cuddly in his arms and he began to silently lick at Wei Ying's cheek as if there were no words that could encompass his affection. Now that he was no longer so sad, his sandalwood scent was soothing and calm. Wei Ying wanted to fall asleep with his head on Lan Zhan's wolf. Other shifters had flaws. Looking at Lan Zhan, Wei Ying couldn't think of a single flaw that Lan Zhan showed so far.
"Lan Zhan," Wei Ying said softly as he leaned down to brush his lips against the top of Lan Zhan's muzzle. "Is it fair to be so perfect that you're unmatched, even by your Beta? You're so good, Lan Zhan, you make me want to be better."
"Ridiculous," Wei Ying heard as a whisper at the back of his mind in Lan Zhan's voice. It sent little shivers through his body and made his chest ache.
"Lan Zhan! Lan Zhan, I'll see you soon. Stay safe until I can talk to you again. Don't miss me too much. I think you did miss me a lot last time we parted ways, and I don't like you being sad. I'll be okay. I'm scrappy and you know, I'm something like a powerful shifter. I can take care of myself. Really, I can. I'll see you soon, Lan Zhan."
He bowed his back and pressed the top of his forehead to the base of Lan Zhan's throat like he had wanted to do all day. No one could see this, the Sena saying goodbye on his knees, in a submissive pose in front of a wolf that was neither an Alpha nor a Luna of a powerful pack, but Wei Ying didn't care. Lan Zhan was his friend, and to him they were equals anyway.
Lan Zhan slipped his chin off the top of Wei Ying's head and nudged Wei Ying's cheek with his nose. Then he licked the spot that he had poked. And he licked the side of Wei Ying's jawline. And then, very gently he tucked his head under Wei Ying's chin and nuzzled against Wei Ying's chest.
Wei Ying sniffled and hugged the wolf tightly around the neck one last time as he said, "Goodbye, Lan Zhan."
Then he rose from the ground, and brushed his clothes off. He gave the white wolf one last scratch behind the ear, before he turned and walked away.