The darkness rolled in with the sounds of talking, shouting, panicked voices. It brought with it a wave of nausea that made his stomach tighten, but it was such a long time since he had anything left to upheave that he ignored the feeling. He focussed instead on keeping his thoughts void of any secrets.
Each attack felt like it was ripping his mind apart, and as the pain built to its crescendo he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness.
"No, no, no. Not yet! Not yet, Wen Zhuliu! I'm so close to getting my answers!"
The pressure on his mind lessened as his torturer lost concentration and pulled back on the assault of spiritual energy. The screaming darkness immediately dissipated and he simultaneously choked on a mouthful of blood and tried to remember how to breathe again.
"That's it. Deep breaths, Tiānzî. This is not how we die." For all the pain, Zhuliu's voice was full of sympathy.
"Get the fuck out of my head, Blood Wolf," Wei Ying responded tiredly.
"Soon. You need to hold on for a few more hours."
Wei Ying's wolf form shuddered. "I don't think I have another few hours in me."
The russet wolf at his side nudged his shoulder in an act of solidarity that was intended to be interpreted as something else by the shifter who paced the room, muttering. When the man turned to look at them, Wuxian growled and snarled and tried to lunge for him. He missed by a few feet; restricted by the spiritual chains around his neck.
Wuxian looked over at Wen Ning, who was kneeling by his other side. The teenager looked even more unwell than Wei Ying felt. The manacles around Wen Ning's wrists extended into the links of smoke that kept the asena from shifting back into his human form.
"I'm okay," Wen Ning muttered, too low for human ears to hear, when he met Wuxian's concerned gaze. "Worry about yourself first."
Wen Ning's wolf form was being used like a battery. Though still trapped inside him, it was being drained of his spiritual powers by the shackles. If the wave of darkness was any indication, Wen Zhuliu was himself on the brink of collapsing from the prolonged connection to Wei Ying's core. Wei Ying knew that the three of them could only endure so much more before one of them had to be dragged away for days to recover. Then they might miss their opportunity.
"I'm worried about Wen Ning," Wei Ying admitted.
Zhuliu's four paws were physically chained to the floor beneath him so he had less range of motion, but he still struggled against the restraints at the mention of the youngest shifter in their group.
"He's willing to try. That's the most that we can ask of him after these few months," Zuiliu said confidently. "He thinks he has figured out how to hold on to the shift. Combined, we can succeed in setting him free."
Wei Ying mentally groaned. "Alright. Tonight then. Whatever it takes, Zhuliu. He won't have enough spiritual energy to try again, and he's already so afraid of doing it. If we don't set him free soon, his wolf will die. I can heal a damaged wolf but not a dead one."
"Even if he kills us instead," Zhuliu promised. "But we'll take this asshole with us if he does."
As if on cue, the muttering man strode back over to where the three of them were. Their captor. Dressed entirely in black, he was the same height and build as Wei Ying. His facial features even looked similar. If Wei Ying had met this man in a dark street one night, he would have almost thought they were related.
That was what Xue Yang wanted everyone to think.
In fact, having spent weeks with the man trying to extract all of Wei Ying's secrets, Wei Ying knew exactly what Xue Yang wanted in painful detail. To not just be mistaken for the Sena, but to become him in every possible way. Xue Yang had spent years hidden away in the Golden Koi Tower of Lanling as Wen Ruohan's and Jin Guangshan's shared secret. Everyone knew of Wen Zhuliu, not many knew of Wen Ning, but nobody had even heard a whisper about Xue Yang.
He was the first and the closest that Wen Ruohan had gotten to owning an asena. A black wolf with reddish brown markings and deep brown eyes, who could manipulate and enslave the mind of other wolves to follow his commands. A puppet master. A disappointment in too many ways. Painfully lacking. It was this pain that fuelled Xue Yang's madness.
In Lanling, he had slaughtered the Kappas on the west training field of the Koi Tower and commanded the Qishan Zeta who accompanied them to help him to incapacitate Wei Ying. Later when Wei Ying regained consciousness, Xue Yang realized that his dark command didn't work on him. He had devolved into more extreme methods to get the answers that he wanted regarding the Sena's abilities.
"Zhuliu, begin again!" Xue Yang shouted.
Wen Zhuliu's wolf form thrashed against the chains that held his legs, in a futile effort to retaliate. When he couldn't fight any longer he turned to the Sena in defeat and latched on to Wuxian's spiritual core with his teeth.
Zhuliu's entire body spasmed and trembled with the effort of enduring the force of it, but he silently nodded. Xue Yang raised his arms, and then a flood of spiritual energy pierced Wei Ying's skull like a turrent of nails. The array beneath them that had been drawn in Wei Ying's blood lit up in a bright glowing light of red that intensified to almost blinding levels.
Wei Ying silently screamed and screamed as nausea and darkness and a thousand voices ripped at his mind.
🐺
Wei Ying woke up with a start.
Already his claws were extended within the fingerless black motorcycle gloves that he wore on his hands. He stared at the long, sharp curve of each nail and groaned softly to himself. He didn't even need to look at his leg to see that he had accidentally gauged a path down his own thigh. It hurt, but the embarrassment was a bigger blow to his pride.
"Are you okay?" Wen Qing's voice called out from a few feet away. "Actually, don't bother even lying. I can tell that you're not."
Wei Ying remained silent. He concentrated on getting his breathing to even out and for his heart to stop racing.
Wen Qing rose from her bed on the other side of the hotel room, careful not to disturb her brother who was sharing the bed with her. She quietly walked over and reached out to grip one of Wei Ying's wrists. His claws were still extended so he had to angle his hand away from her so that he didn't accidentally scratch her too.
He sighed. "It's been over a year since then. This shouldn't still be happening. I have full control over my were-form when I'm awake now, so why do I still shift in my sleep?"
"You've been through a lot," she said as she looked him over. Her gaze zeroed in on his bleeding thigh and she made a face as he tried to move the leg away from her attention. "You might be an asena but even you need time to recover from trauma."
Wei Ying frowned. The claws on his hands slowly retracted and shifted back to its human form. Once that was done, he twisted his wrist out of her grip and turned in the bed so that his back was to her.
"You're so fucking stubborn," she said. "You'll get blood all over the sheets and then every wolf in a three mile radius will be scratching at our door trying to find out what happened to you."
"That's not how that works," Wei Ying said darkly.
She huffed out a sound of exasperation. "How does it work then? Tell me so that I understand."
Secrets. More secrets. Xue Yang had wanted Wei Ying's secrets for his own.
When Wei Ying first saw him he had assumed that Xue Yang had arrived at Lanling with the Qishan Kappas to escort Wei Ying to Nightless City. The bloodbath that followed had been a surprise. Unlike other shifters, Wen Zhuliu's, Wen Ning's, and Xue Yang's wolf form gave them the best access to their spiritual powers. They could do things as wolves that not even a shifter in human form could. Still Wei Ying knew that he could have won against Xue Yang. Wei Ying never had any limitations. Wolf or human, he was still Wei Wuxian.
He had hesitated in killing Xue Yang because of all the other wolves who were there. That hesitation led to months of torture, and being spiritually chained in a large room with Wen Ning and Wen Zhuilu, who were forced to be complicit in the act of restraining him.
It could have all been avoided, Wei Ying knew. Xue Yang would have died on that field. Wen Ning would have been safely returned to his sister. And, in the end, Wen Zhuliu wouldn't have information about Wei Ying that he passed on to Wen Ruohan once he was back in Nightless City.
"What happened to Lotus Pier while you were gone wasn't your fault," Wen Qing said as she examined his already healing leg. "Neither was what happened in Cloud Recesses during your recovery. It wasn't you or your abilities that caused any of it. You're not Wen Ruohan. You didn't do anything wrong."
But, he could have warned Jiang Cheng about the army that was heading for Yunmeng. And, he could have told Lan Zhan about the spy who'd gotten close to the Gusu leader.
Jiang Cheng. Wei Ying's insides twisted. Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan. I'm sorry.
He sucked in a sharp breath, and squeezed his eyes shut even tighter.
"How long until we get to Qishan?" he asked. "The sooner I get to stand before that tyrannical prick, the faster this will all be over. Jiang Cheng and the Storm Wolves will have Lotus Pier back, and the new Alpha of the Ice Wolves can return to Cloud Recesses."
Wen Qing sighed softly, but she still answered, "This is our last day in Pingyang and then we can go. I promised the Qinghe Beta that we wouldn't leave until we met with his Delta. Nobody has seen you in the flesh for over a year. I have to show proof of life or I'll be the next one fending off a pack of warriors."
"So fucking dramatic," he mumbled.
She poked him in the shoulder hard enough to get him to turn back around. He sat up in the bed and quickly looked over at the cot on the other side of the room to make sure that they hadn't woken Wen Yuan with all their talking. Satisfied that the toddler was still sleeping, Wei Ying returned his gaze to Wen Qing.
"Thank you," he said solemnly. "You don't owe me anything else, but you're still here."
She shook her head and smiled. "Don't think of saying thank you again. You saved my brother. You healed him. Because of you he can shift into his wolf again and not get lost to his feral side. Because of you he's safe with me. We don't owe each other, but we will see this through to the end. I'm tired of this war. I also want it to end, and I'm not even the one that's being fought over."
"Sometimes, Qing-jie," Wei Ying admitted to her very, very softly. "I wish I was never born."
She leaned over into the space between them and pulled Wei Ying into a fierce hug. She smelled like jasmine leaves. A clean, simple scent that defined her. While it didn't make him feel drawn to her in any way, he didn't feel unsettled by her either.
"Remember this, when you remember nothing else," she said to him. "You were not born for them. Somewhere in this world is someone who is the true meaning of your name."
A few hours later when there came a knock on their suite door, Wei Ying for some reason was vividly reminded of her words.
Both Wei Ying and Wen Qing were occupied with chasing Wen Yuan around the suite. The toddler had spilled his breakfast on nearly every inch of his clothes and they were in negotiations to convince him to stand still long enough to change. Wen Ning in the meantime was sitting on the couch with his legs tucked close to his chest, eating from a bowl of vegetable chips, while he watched the entertainment.
"Wen Qionglin!" Wen Qing shouted when the knock on the door came again. "Get up!"
Wen Ning peeled himself off his seat and slowly made his way over to the door.
"I'm going," he mumbled as he weaved around Wei Ying, who had finally caught hold of a-Yuan and was trying to strip the child faster than he could escape. "See. Nobody died, Jie. No need to shout."
Wen Qing threw her little brother a glare so sharp that Wei Ying almost felt it for him.
Halfway through the third knock, Wen Ning pulled the door open. The three of them froze in their various positions and stared at the visitor.
Dressed in the long coat of their combat uniform with its straps and buckles, opened to show a white shirt, slim white pants with a knife strapped to one thigh, and a white mask covering the lower half of his face, was unmistakably an Ice Wolf of Gusu.
For one maddening second, as Wei Ying looked over from where he knelt with his arms wrapped tightly around a-Yuan's little body and with Wen Qing sitting on the floor in front of him helping to change the toddler, Wei Ying got the sudden urge to try to hide under one of the beds.
"You're not a Delta from Qinghe," Wen Qing half accused.
The Ice Wolf took a step back and bowed deeply to her.
"I'm very sorry to intrude. I volunteered to meet with you instead," he said in his smooth voice. "May I come in?"
Wen Qing nodded and then looked over at Wei Ying to see if he had any objections. Wei Ying meanwhile, was too busy forgetting how to breathe. He had assumed that when the new Alpha of Gusu had disappeared from Cloud Recesses and later joined the Qinghe Alpha on their secret mission to infiltrate Nightless City, that he would have taken his Epsilon with him. Evidently, he was wrong.
"How are you here?" Wei Ying asked the shifter at the door. "There were all these covert reports out of Gusu that the Alpha left with one guardian and a handful of his most trusted warriors. Why would he leave his own Epsilon behind?"
"He didn't leave his Epsilon behind." The Ice Wolf took a few steps into the room, closer to Wei Ying and then he bowed again. "I am the Zeta of Cloud Recesses. The only one."
Both Wen Qing and Wen Ning were giving Wei Ying all sorts of confused looks, but Wei Ying just stared at the Ice Wolf in front of him.
"The Zeta of Gusu. Of course. He wouldn't leave his pack behind if he didn't trust you," he said.
When the Ice Wolf remained in the bow, Wen Qing climbed to her feet, lifted Wen Yuan into her arms and then gave her brother a look. Wen Ning was back to steadily eating vegetable chips from the bowl in his hand so it took him a second to notice his sister's gaze. When he did, his cheeks flushed a deep red.
"Just take it with you a-Ning," Wen Qing said, after Wen Ning began to look around for somewhere to abandon his snack. She looked down at Wei Ying as she continued, "We'll go for a walk around the hotel so that the two of you can discuss Nightless City. Don't take too long. Somebody might have seen him come in."
"He's an Ice Wolf. Nobody saw anything that he didn't want them to see," Wei Ying responded.
After Wen Qing, Wen Ning, and Wen Yuan left, the room felt very quiet when it was just the two of them alone together.
"Lan Zhan," Wei Ying finally said. "I would recognize you in the middle of a snowstorm even two miles away."
"Good."
Lan Zhan's voice was calm and even, but his wolf-colored eyes seemed to flash as he met Wei Ying's gaze.
Wei Ying rose from his knees and Lan Zhan stood up straight. The two just looked at each other, silently for a few seconds. Then, Lan Zhan took a step forward. Wei Ying immediately stepped back.
"Wei Ying."
Wei Ying didn't give Lan Zhan the chance to even say anything else before he turned away.
"Lan Zhan, you're the Zeta of Gusu now! So you're the one who will be leading the warriors of Cloud Recesses into Nightless City." He paused and then didn't know what else to say, so he just took a deep breath and said softly, "Fuck! Lan Zhan. You're not going to make this easy for me."
"Wei Ying," Lan Zhan said again, and Wei Ying's heart skipped a beat in response. "Tell me what happened in Lanling."
The room felt so small to Wei Ying with Lan Zhan standing so close. Like all the molecules in the air were concentrated around them, trying to push them together. Wei Ying wanted to keep his body turned away, but the moment he felt one of Lan Zhan's hands on his shoulder he immediately turned around.
Sandalwood and falling snow, and calm golden eyes, and a beautiful tenor voice, and this man who made Wei Ying's heart hurt.
I learned a lot, Lan Zhan. And one of the things I learned was how to be more careful with keeping my secrets, Wei Ying wanted to say to him.
"Lan Zhan, what do you mean what happened in Lanling?" he asked instead. "I met with Jin Guangshan, spent some time there, then left. Later, I met up with Wen Ning, and then Wen Qing. And my son! Lan Zhan, did you see my son?"
Lan Zhan was not going to be distracted though. His golden eyes seemed to search Wei Ying's soul and Wei Ying could just tell that whatever he found was disappointing to him.
"Don't lie, Wei Ying," Lan Zhan chided.
He took a step even closer to Wei Ying. Close enough for Wei Ying to feel weak enough to almost lean against him. So many people constantly invaded Wei Ying's space to get close enough to touch him. This man was the only person that Wei Ying ever wanted to stay near.
"Something happened to you in Lanling. I don't understand what it was. I met with the Alpha of the Storm Wolves. I tried to explain, but he was skeptical of me too. Then he left Lotus Pier two nights later with one of his Zetas and a team of warriors. I'm sure it was to find you. That was when the Blood Wolves saw their opportunity and attacked. That was how Lotus Pier was destroyed. I met with him again, and he was angry."
"Lan Zhan!" This time it was Wei Ying who couldn't resist reaching out to grasp one of Lan Zhan's shoulders. "What happened at Lotus Pier wasn't your fault. It wasn't Jiang Cheng's either. It was –"
"Because you didn't answer," Lan Zhan finished for him. "The Yunmeng Alpha explained it to me in his anger. You can hear us and communicate with us across any distance while in your wolf form. Not only me and not only him. Like little doors to every wolf and pack. But since that time in Lanling you've kept all communication channels firmly closed. That night when you didn't answer, he believed me that something was wrong."
Wei Ying looked away from Lan Zhan's beautiful, soul-searching golden eyes. "I was fine. It was nothing. I just didn't want to get you or him or anyone else involved. I didn't want to risk him rushing in to help me when I knew that I could get out of it myself."
There was silence again as Wei Ying finally released his grip on Lan Zhan and took another step back to separate them again. Lan Zhan was silent and as still as a jade statue. Sadness seemed to radiate off of him in waves, but the air was clean of his scent. And, although he was still, his eyes wouldn't meet Wei Ying's gaze.
"I understand," he whispered as if to himself. Then, "I became the Zeta of Gusu because I wanted to find you when you disappeared. I was relieved when Nie Huaisang informed me after so many months that you were safe. And I can see with my own eyes now that you are."
He reached into the inner pocket of his coat with a flash of blue light and then held out a few folded pieces of papers to Wei Ying. "This is the strategy for the Ice Wolves' attack on Nightless City. If we can help you in any way then my Alpha and I freely offer our assistance. Our plans are coordinated with Qinghe and Yunmeng. I've included those as well."
He bowed again and then turned away from Wei Ying before he began to quickly walk towards the door.
"Lan Zhan," Wei Ying called out and immediately, the other shifter stopped moving. "Lan Zhan, you said you became a Zeta for me. Don't you want to lead your own pack? Don't you want to stand against your warriors? We both know that you would win."
"I would be whatever the Sena needs, but so would any other wolf. I never wanted to lead my pack and, even now Wei Ying, it's not my right to try and contest the title."
Lan Zhan's words were sad and when he turned to look at Wei Ying his eyes looked like they were shimmering as he said very quietly, "Gusu already has an Alpha who is loved and respected. Huáng Shàng, it will never be me."
Wei Ying nodded, because it was all he could do while he fought against the lump of emotions that formed in his throat. It took a few seconds before he could speak.
"The Sena wants only what the wolf wants," he said. "Lan Zhan, I would never ask you to become an Alpha just for me."
"I know, Wei Ying," Lan Zhan said with his own nod of acceptance.
They stood like that again in silence, just looking at each other. Separated by titles and duties and by the expectations of all the shifters who fought in this war with them. And Wei Ying just wanted to run to him. He just wanted to drop to his knees, wrap his arms around Lan Zhan's white wolf, and go back to all the times when he felt that the safest place he could be was with Lan Zhan.
And then Lan Zhan was gone, as quickly and as easily as how he had arrived, and with the opening and closing of a single door.
Then the room just felt big and empty to Wei Ying without him.
— — —
Nightless City at night was a metropolis of dark high-rise buildings that were bathed in red spotlights. Indicative of the name, the city was a cacophony of activity. It was a city built with a majority population of shifters, and it was an amalgamation of many smaller packs who had been assimilated into the larger whole. In a city with mostly shifters, during the nighttime, wolves freely roamed the streets, shifting in and out of each form without fear and without judgement.
Built into the side of a small hill overlooking the city was a luxurious residence. It was the only structure around for miles and miles and could be seen from any building within the city below it. This was the Palace of the Sun.
Wei Ying pulled up to the main walkway of the palace on a red motorcycle with decals of black smoke that trailed realistically behind him. He skidded to a stop just in front of a large water feature which highlighted the Blood Wolves' belief of the sun's dominance over the sky, including the moon and all its stars.
Wei Ying took one look at it and huffed out an amused sound of disbelief.
He revved his engine repeatedly for a few seconds, even though he was sure that everyone inside the mansion were all sufficiently warned and prepared for his arrival. Then he carefully climbed off his motorcycle, proud of how little time it had taken to even learn how to ride one properly.
He had wanted to make an entrance.
Dressed in all black, including a leather jacket with ripped jeans and his motorcycle gloves, the only bright color he wore was the red polish on each of his short nails. The only jewelry was a silver chain cuff earring that he wore in one ear that was pierced at the helix and at the lobe.
At the front door, he was met with no resistance. Instead, shifters dropped to their knees with their eyes lowered and their heads bowed as he found a path between them.
He was walking towards the double doors of Wen Ruohan's throne room, escorted by two Etas in their human forms, when the yipping began. Like a chant, the sound rolled around and echoed down the corridors. Sharp and loud, high and low.
Wei Ying pushed open the double doors with both hands, and entered the room to a cacophony of howls that only got louder and more buoyant. The sound was almost deafening, and one corner of Wei Ying's lips lifted as he smirked at their antics.
The entire hall was packed with russet wolves of varying shades. All in perfect line formations. Rows and rows of howling animals with their muzzles raised, some with their eyes closed, and all with their throats exposed.
On the dais, at the far end of the room, a tall slender man dressed in a red and white business suit, held his arms wide open as he laughed. It wasn't even possible to hear him until Wei Ying got close enough to properly see his face. Then with a sharp hand signal, the wolves all immediately went completely silent.
"The Blood Wolves welcome you to the Nightless Sky, Wei Wuxian. We have waited many years to see you walk these halls to take your place by my side," Wen Ruohan said loudly.
Wei Ying was impressed, he'd give him that. He had no idea what to expect of the shifter who had torn the country apart, who had waged wars, and hurt innocent people, all in an obsession to become the most powerful Alpha.
He had expected someone larger, fiercer, stronger, but not this. Not a gorgeous, laughing, welcoming businessman who held his hand out to Wei Ying as soon as they were close enough to touch.
Ah Lan Zhan, Wei Ying mused silently as he was pulled up onto the dais and firmly against Wen Ruohan's body. Tight arms held him close. This might be harder for me than you would have hoped.
Wen Ruohan leaned his face against the side of Wei Ying's neck and took a long, deep drag of Wei Ying's scent.
"Do you have any idea how much I've wanted you?" Wen Ruohan asked.
Wei Ying sighed. "You burned down cities to find me. You slaughtered shifters and non-shifters. You tore packs and families apart in your selfishness. You hunted me relentlessly. Yes, I have a very vivid idea of just how much you wanted."
"And now you are here." Wen Ruohan laughed. "So when was I wrong?"
Wei Ying kept his head tilted away from him, but even with his scent hidden from Wei Ying, he was still intriguing. His aura was dark, potent, and more seductive than Wei Ying wanted to admit. The man was like every complex villain in every story. And it was both amusing and disappointing to Wei Ying that he immediately found him so charming.
"Come with me. Let me show you the city that I built to share with you," he said when Wei Ying was silent.
He released Wei Ying from his tight hold and instead laced their fingers together. Even that grip was firm, but Wei Ying allowed it, as Wen Ruohan led him off the dais down the pathway of the watching wolves and up some stairs, then onto a tower.
For as far as Wei Ying could see, Nightless City lay before them. And, even he had to admit that it was a city like no other before it.
Wen Ruohan stepped behind Wei Ying and wrapped his arms tightly around his waist again. He pressed his nose against the nape of Wei Ying's neck and inhaled. His lips were warm as he kissed a path from Wei Ying's shoulder up to the corner of Wei Ying's jaw.
"What is this?" he asked in amusement as he nuzzled against the chain of the earring.
"A reminder of what you did, to Wen Ning, and Wen Zhuliu, and especially to Xue Yang," Wei Ying responded, still looking out at the red lights of the city. "You made monsters out of children and then when they weren't good enough, when they couldn't make you happy, you tossed them aside and made a new one."
Wen Ruohan held his lips to Wei Ying's ear, as if his words were meant only for Wei Ying.
"Ah, my little broken boys. I hear you've claimed the final experiment for yourself. Wen Yuan, is he? You can keep him. I have no more need for cheap replicas when I have you now. The most precious of all. The most valuable. The only male asena ever in existence." His lips brushed the side of Wei Ying's neck again in a lingering kiss. "Standing here in my arms. Finally. You are where you belong."
As if he couldn't get enough of this addiction, Wen Ruohan breathed in the scent of the Sena yet again like a hit of his favorite drug, and then he mused, "How could I have ever thought to make copies of you? I see now why I failed over and over again. Looking at your radiance, smelling your alluring scent, being in your presence. Truly you are one of a kind. A god among us."
"I'm not a god."
Wen Ruohan chuckled. "Goddess, then. Empress of the moon. This world's beauty and grace. Heaven on Earth. As powerful as you are dangerous. An army and a weapon. Magnificent. Wuxian."
"And this is how you serve me?" Wei Ying pointed to the red city. "With death and violence."
"Yes," Wei Ruohan snarled in a dark tone. "By laying carcasses at your feet. By spilling blood in the streets. By proving that I am the greatest and that truly, nobody deserves you more than me. They are coming to try and take you from my arms, but you're here now and I will claim you as my mate in front of all of them."
They're not just coming, Wei Ying silently corrected, as he thought of the shifter with the spiritual ring of a lightning bolt, and the leader of the assassins dressed in white, and the wolf with a heart of stone. They're already here, ready to eliminate you. But will I allow it?
Wei Ying turned in Wen Ruohan's arms and studied his handsome face. He was around the same age as Jin Guangshan, with dark eyes and a seductive smile. Wen Ruohan immediately raised a hand to touch Wei Ying. His fingers hovered over Wei Ying's face as his thumb traced the curve of one of Wei Ying's eyebrows, and a cheekbone, and the soft arch of Wei Ying's lips as if he was spellbound.
"There is no one else for you but me," Wen Ruohan said. "No one else could compare."
Wei Ying held his gaze. "There is one more. In Gusu. He's stronger than he realizes, and more powerful than he admits."
"I've heard about him," Wen Ruohan considered. "I've heard of the Ice Wolf who searched for you when no one else even knew you were gone. Wen Zhuliu told me how you fought relentlessly to protect him from Xue Yang. So very careful to keep his identity secret. But he's not the Alpha of Gusu. If he was, you would have his mark on your neck by now. So, he never even fought for you. He doesn't even want you. He's not good enough, Sena. I am the only one left to choose."
He wasn't. As quickly as he had eliminated Alphas, he had created new ones. Alphas who were forged in war, who knew that to become Alpha in these dark times meant not only providing for their packs but being exceptional in combat to protect their families. But Wei Ying wasn't going to correct him.
Let him think he has already won, Wei Ying decided.
Unlike the old days, a battle of shifters was not an easily organized feat. There were too many cameras and eager non-shifters who would be interested to get a glimpse into the world of their counterparts. Too many skyscrapers of office buildings and condos to allow for free reign to form a proper fight circle in the streets.
In order for the true battle to take place, the opposing shifters would have to break the wards around the city, and make their way to the Palace of the Sun to face the Alpha of Qishan and his warriors.
It took a while.
Days passed that were filled with Deltas rushing in and out of the Nightless Sky hall to bring reports of the forces' progress. Nights passed that were interrupted by the sounds of wolf howls and growls, and sometimes even whimpers. Upsilons and Lambdas dragged bodies down the corridors at all hours, sometimes in human form and sometimes as wolves.
Wei Ying sat on the dais day by day beside Wen Ruohan like a caged animal, and waited.
And every night, while he was alone in his bed, half shifted into his were-form, he would silently, carefully, reach out to Lan Zhan's wolf.
"Wei Ying," Lan Zhan always whispered back.
Sometimes he was in the middle of a hunt, and sometimes he was busy debriefing his warriors on the skirmishes of the day. Whatever he was doing, the wolf would immediately stop and focus on the soft flutter against his consciousness. No matter how gentle or how careful Wei Ying was, Lan Zhan always felt the connection.
"Wei Ying."
"I really want to run with you," Wei Ying quietly admitted one night while in his wolf form, when he was too restless to lie awake, and he needed to stretch his four legs. "Lan Zhan, I miss you. War is boring when all I do is stand around like a priceless statue all day."
Lan Zhan was silent for a few minutes.
Then in response, suddenly all of the wolves in the entire Nightless City began to howl the Sena's name into the late hour of the night. Like the day that Wei Ying had walked into the Nightless Sky, the sound started like a murmur and got louder and louder, into a shout. An entire city this time, filled with wolves of many packs, all howling together.
"Too much, Lan Zhan! You'll give your location away."
"It's not too much," Lan Zhan said seriously, as Wei Ying groaned and laughed into their connection at the cacophony of howls. "Let him remember that you're important to all of us, not just him. And if you're not his mate, then we're coming to take you back."
"Huh? Lan Zhan, you'd fight him all alone for me?" Wei Ying teased.
"Yes, Wei Ying," Lan Zhan said firmly. "If you're not his mate then you don't belong with him."
Wei Ying's heart fluttered at those words, and he desperately just wanted to ask, If not him, then who do I belong with, Lan Zhan? Who do you think?
— — —
When the time finally came for Wen Ruohan to be tested, Wuxian allowed himself to be led into the center of the circle of Ruohan's warriors, where the Alpha waited for him. Ruohan wanted to show that not only was his pack strong, but that he had the Sena by his side and would soon have Wuxian bonded to him.
"This ends right now, Ruohan," Wei Ying said to him. "If I test you and you are not my mate then you'll call off your warriors and retreat from other packs' territories."
The large russet wolf turned his head to look at the black wolf by his side.
"You're right. This ends now, Sena," Ruohan communicated with amusement in his mental voice. "We've waited long enough. They're here."
Wei Ying looked around, but as far as he could see there were only Blood Wolves. He could smell the scent of the intruders on the wind though. There were a lot of them, moving fast, and all with the single purpose of getting to the Palace of the Sun.
"Let's just get this over with," Wei Ying said, and took a step even closer to the Alpha. "I think we have a big enough audience right now to sufficiently stroke your ego."
Ruohan shook his head and laughed. "The first thing I'll teach you as my mate, Wei Wuxian, is how to be respectful. Your pretty mouth can do so much more than say useless words."
"I'm the one who should be shown respect," Wei Ying pointed out. "I'm not your whore. I don't like private moments being on display. If you wanted a shifter to moan for you in public while taking your mark then there are plenty of people out there with that kink who would love to have the starring role in your fantasy. I'm not one of them."
Wen Ruohan laughed again, as if he was only ever amused by Wei Ying.
"We'll see at the end of this if your mouth still works well enough for you to speak," he said with a smile.
Wuxian leaned into the larger wolf's space and nudged at his jaw. The Sena allowed his scent to surround them, as it would help to reassure the Alpha that it was safe to show submission to the more powerful wolf. Some Alphas immediately displayed their throats, eager to be tested. Others, like Nie Mingjue, resisted to the last moment.
Ruohan didn't lift his head, nor did he sit on his haunches to acknowledge that he was lower in rank. Instead he rested his muzzle on the top of Wuxian's head, forcing the black wolf to bend his knees and lower his shoulders in order to nuzzle at the red wolf's throat.
Wen Ruohan's scent was of blood and metal. It reminded Wei Ying of a razor blade slicing against soft, smooth skin. Cold and painful to endure. So unlike the charming personality that the man displayed, his scent gave him away for how he really was. His ruthlessness came from somewhere deep inside where even his spiritual powers couldn't disguise it.
And somewhere deep inside of Wei Ying, the scent whispered to him like a dark siren's voice.
Wei Ying clenched his teeth and turned his head away. "You're not my mate, Ruohan," he said firmly. "Now let's just end this fucking war so that I can live the rest of my life in peace."
"You're lying!" Ruohan snarled. "I can feel it!"
Another Alpha. Another accusation. Another refusal to believe the truth. But, at least Wei Ying wasn't blind-sided this time. He had expected this Alpha out of all the Alphas to retaliate against the rejection. He had even accounted for it from the day he rode into Nightless City on his motorcycle.
"I'm not lying. I don't need to," Wei Ying said calmly as he stepped away from Ruohan's reach.
Ruohan stepped towards him. "You know who it is then. Is he here?" he asked threateningly. "Is he coming for you? Your Gusu warrior? Have you already fucked him and now you can't let him go, to accept the truth? You are the Sena and I am the most powerful Alpha. I deserve to have you!"
"You're not," Wei Ying said coldly.
He took another step back as the Alpha moved to circle him. The four war generals of the Qishan pack had been standing far enough away not to disturb their Alpha, but Wei Ying kept them in his sights as they began to approach.
Ruohan saw his Zetas approaching too as he diverted his attention to where they were converging before him.
"Find him!" the Alpha commanded his generals. "If you have to drag every Ice Wolf in Gusu in front of me, I don't care. I'll skin him alive for daring to even touch the Sena!"
At his words, Wei Ying felt the world grow cold around him, as fear and anger flooded his entire body.
"Just try," he snarled, but even that wasn't a satisfactory response.
From one moment to the next, Wei Ying shifted out of his wolf and into his were-form, and immediately gained the height advantage. Red eyes, sharp canines, deadly claws, and heightened senses. He moved with the speed and the strength of his wolf wrapped in the darkness of his spiritual powers.
With a loud growl of pure rage, he grabbed Ruohan's throat using only one hand and sunk his claws past the fur and into the flesh of the wolf's neck. And then he squeezed until he felt bones creak and an airway on the brink of collapsing.
Wei Ying felt almost lost to his narrow minded focus on destroying the wolf who was accusing Lan Zhan of all those unfair things, and who wanted to kill Lan Zhan for just existing. The darkness in Wen Ruohan was no match for the darkness in Wei Ying and he wanted to unleash every ounce of it on the red wolf.
Everything inside of him, wolf and human, shifter and asena, wanted to protect his white wolf, and Wei Ying didn't even try to fight against it.
Raised to his hind legs by the force of Wei Ying's grip, Ruohan struggled for breath, and thrashed as hard as he could. Wei Ying coldly watched as the light began to fade in the wolf's dark eyes and he calmly waited for it to go out.
He almost won.
Four large wolves crashed into Wei Ying from all sides. Teeth snapped at his wrist and at his face, forcing Wei Ying to release his grip from their leader or risk being maimed. Wei Ying turned his wild, iridescent red eyes to them as the four Zetas regrouped and came at him again.
"Beautiful. So beautiful. Just look at him," Wei Ying heard Wen Ruohan communicate to his Zetas, but he pretended not to hear it.
Instead he snapped his attention back to the Alpha as the wolf began to circle again.
Two Epsilons left the inner circle of the field and joined forces with the Zetas, which caused Wei Ying to quickly become distracted again. The seven wolves surrounded him in a ring of snarls, and growls, and bared teeth.
"Hold him down," Ruohan commanded. "I don't need him to be willing for me to mark him."
Wei Ying moved like a tornado.
His claws slashed through the air as he turned on his two legs, fast enough to bat away one of the Epsilons who leapt at him. The wolf crashed into the ground and whimpered, as another two leapt for Wei Ying's face. One of them connected with his upper arm and pain laced all the way down to Wei Ying's fingers as sharp teeth sank into flesh.
It was enough of a victory to encourage the other six wolves to pile on, and soon Wei Ying was on one knee panting as Ruohan snarled menacingly at him. Blood streamed down Wei Ying's injured arm and down one side of his face, but he still smiled tauntingly, with his fangs on full display. The other wolves had retreated to avoid the reach of his human claws. Off to one side, one of the guardians laid with a disfigured leg, and a war general hurried to leave the fray, to finally obey his Alpha's command to find the Ice Wolf.
Wei Ying watched as the Zeta retreated, and he marked him for death later.
"We won't win against you, Wuxian. You're not even fully shifted right now, and you've been holding your spiritual powers back. I know that you will fight to exhaustion if you need to," Zhuliu said calmly, from somewhere to his left.
Wei Ying again pretended not to hear as he kept his focus on Ruohan. He didn't even spare Zhuliu a glance, but he still felt the change in the air as the Zeta began to shift.
"You're wasting your time fighting him, asena," Wen Zhuliu said when he was in his human form. "This entire field of warriors can be commanded to attack, before the other packs even get here."
Another of the Zetas shifted to stand beside Wen Zhuliu. The two men took a cautious step forward and Wei Ying jerked his head to look at them. They immediately stopped moving. But in front of him, Ruohan pounced.
Wei Ying was prepared for the move. He hit the wolf so hard that he gouged a path into Ruohan's chest and blood sprayed from the wound as the wolf flew backwards and landed with a crack. A broken bone wasn't enough to stop the Alpha though, and Ruohan jumped to his feet and shook the pain off.
"It's done!" Wei Ying growled in a scratchy voice that was affected by his half shift. "It was done the minute I rejected you!"
Ruohan shook his head, but whatever he might have communicated was directed to his warriors. Wei Ying didn't bother to listen. Instead he used Ruohan's diverted attention to look over at Wen Zhuliu. Their gazes met across the short distance and held for a second too long.
Last chance, Wei Ying wanted to say to him, even though he didn't need to.
Wen Zhuliu and his packmates took a few steps towards him, but Wei Ying just turned around and ran.
He headed towards the middle ring of the fight circle and hoped that he could make it there before the other packs arrived or before the Zetas caught up. Sending out a wave of spiritual energy, he picked up on the trail of the Zeta that had been ordered to find Lan Zhan. The shifter would have no idea where to start, but even so, Wei Ying didn't even want the slightest chance of Lan Zhan being captured.
As he finally approached the wall of wolves he heard the outer ring of warriors begin to howl. It was the signal that the last ward that protected the Palace of the Sun and its surrounding areas had been breached.
A sea of wolves descended on the Qishan pack. So close. Brown, grey, and white wolves all crashed into the teams of russet wolves that waited for them. So close that Wei Ying could see them as he dodged and jumped over the wolves in his path.
He was halfway to the large outer ring when Wen Zhuliu caught him. The force of the spiritual energy that slammed into Wei Ying's back was weaker than the power of Zhuliu's wolf, but it was still enough to launch Wei Ying into the air.
He landed in a crumpled heap, silently cursing to himself as all the wind was knocked from his lungs.
He considered just lying there to regroup and would have done just that if it was only Wen Zhuliu. But a loud growl had him scrambling in the dirt. Ruohan had caught up too and he was beyond livid.
Wei Ying laughed with what little air he had left in his chest when his gaze met the feral glare of the wolf whose army of warriors surrounded Wei Ying now. There was no point even running anymore.
He turned his head to the side and watched the battle gain momentum as more and more wolves poured onto the field. From his very limited vantage point he tried to find the Gusu Alpha and the Qinghe Alpha in the crowd. They were supposed to have already infiltrated the Qishan fight circle to gain an advantage. But, Wei Ying didn't see any wolves who were large enough to be Alphas, and that made him silently curse again.
He wanted to look for Lan Zhan, but he didn't have time, and he didn't want to give away the Gusu Zeta's identity. So he forced his gaze to turn away from the pack of white and grey and brown wolves who were fighting their way through the outer circle.
Wei Ying turned his head to look at Ruohan, who was still snarling. Then he effortlessly shifted again, this time into his human form.
Strong hands immediately grabbed Wei Ying and hauled him to his feet, as the shifter said, "It's too late. The Gold Wolves are also here. Combined, we have enough forces to overwhelm the outside packs. You'll just watch everyone die now. "
It was Wen Zhuliu, with the other Zeta in human form by his side. They dragged Wei Ying closer to Ruohan and Wei Ying stumbled between them.
"Get him on his knees," Wen Zhuliu ordered. "Hold him there."