"Mo Xuanyu! There's someone asking for you at the bar!"
The man in question was sitting in the breakroom with his phone in one hand while he sipped from a mug of hot coffee. Slung over one shoulder was the obligatory rag worn by a good bartender, and on the seat next to him was his apron.
Wei Ying looked up sharply at the sound of his alias being yelled above the din of the large crowd of patrons in the front, and the television that was blasting a football match in the back.
"Still busy, like I was ten minutes ago!" Wei Ying shouted back with a huge grin. "If she wants to talk to me so badly she can wait!"
The three other bartenders in the breakroom all groaned in unison. They knew the routine though. Every night a different patron would catch a glimpse of their sexy bar owner with his inviting personality, and then they would each spend the night relaying messages and invitations to him until he finally made up his mind to talk to the person.
Ten minutes later, another of the staff walked in and shot Wei Ying a glare. Wan Chaoxing was a slim, beautiful woman with the smile of an angel. She was only two years younger, but she had a mouth that was much spicier than Wei Ying's.
"Tell the little whore yourself that you don't want to talk to her. I'm tired of being your mouthpiece!" she said as she slumped in the seat opposite of Wei Ying and slung her legs up onto the table. "I'm ready to pay her to go away. Can I borrow some money?"
Wei Ying laughed again and shoved at her ankles to get her to move her feet.
"Didn't Chen Xiaobo just lend you some money four days ago? Pay that back first before you ask for more," he told her.
She groaned and hung her head. "But you always have money! You walk around like you're poorer than a beggar, but you're selling this bar like the others before it, and it's still one of the most popular hangouts in the province. The team can barely afford to buy it from you! What are we going to do when you leave us in two weeks to move somewhere else? What are we supposed to do with all the broken hearts that you'll leave behind?"
"You'll be fine," Wei Ying said with a pat on her shoulder.
He stood up from his chair and rolled his head to loosen the aching muscles in his shoulders. All eyes in the room turned to look at him as he brushed the palms of his hands on his pants. The fingerless leather motorcycle gloves made a satisfying scratching sound against the fabric of his tight ripped jeans. He reached for his apron and secured it around his black t-shirt before he checked the time on his phone.
"Mo Xuanyu!" Someone else yelled from the front-of-house this time.
Wei Ying cackled gleefully. "Alright! Alright! I'm coming out now!"
He started to make his way to the open door that led to the seating area and the bar counter. Before he took more than a few steps though, he calmed his breathing and concentrated.
First he focused on discerning only her scent in the crowd at the bar. In the past ten years, since beginning his fully human life, it was one of the most useful parts of his were-shift that he had finally been able to control. Most shifters had an identifiable scent even in a sea of non-shifters. Hers was unfamiliar, which was a relief.
The next thing he did was to listen. Another useful ability. He heightened his hearing to the sharpness of his wolf form and focussed on blocking out the extraneous noises until he could pinpoint the sound of her voice. It was also unfamiliar. Light and high-pitched, and full of laughter as she kept up her end of a brief conversation with another woman who had also been waiting at the bar.
Wei Ying spotted her as soon as he slid behind the counter. He put on his most flirtatious smile, walked over to her end, and leaned in front of her to get her attention.
"Hello! I'm Mo Xuanyu, but I think you already knew that from the name tag," he said with a wink.
She stared at him as if she had forgotten how to speak as soon as she looked at him.
Wei Ying patiently waited for her to gather her thoughts. The illusion that he was using to hide his identity was one of his own talismans. It was strong. Not even his own son could see through it to identify him as Wei Wuxian, or as the Sena.
The idea was inspired by the half-masks that the Ice Wolves wore in public, but it wasn't sewn into any of Wei Ying's clothes. It was a tiny sigil that Wei Ying carved into the air every morning before he left his house, and it sank into the ruby of the small hoop earring that he wore in the daith piercing on his left ear.
"I…uh," she started and then stopped, before she finally managed to say. "I want whiskey. The most expensive you have behind there."
"Coming right up, pretty lady."
Wei Ying ducked down to check the shelves below the counter, and used the opportunity to take a deep breath.
Fuck. Whiskey.
He hated serving whiskey neat, which made no sense considering that for nine years out of ten, he had owned bars. Whiskey though. He pulled out a bottle of the most expensive one like she'd asked and stood up to pour it into a clean tumbler for her. As he served it to her he stared at the bright amber liquid.
"He told me my order would get your attention," the shifter said with the hint of a smile in her voice. "He told me that if anything could, it would be this, but he didn't tell me why. I would have preferred aged tequila, but he insisted that it had to be whiskey, and nothing else."
Wei Ying pulled the rag from off his shoulder and busied himself by wiping at a non-existent spot in front of her.
"Well whoever your Alpha is, he's not wrong," Wei Ying responded. "He is your Alpha, right? I can't imagine that your mate allowed you to walk into a bar to spend all night trying to get my attention by ordering expensive liquor. A bottle of baiju would have saved you some money, in that case."
She shook her head at him to let him know that he had guessed incorrectly, but when his gaze met hers again, she tilted her head curiously to the side and said, "Mo Xuanyu, I'm sorry for being so rude but I really have to know, why whiskey?"
Wei Ying smiled at her again, but he didn't answer.
Whiskey reminded him of beautiful, golden eyes. And beautiful, golden eyes reminded him of Lan Zhan. He missed Lan Zhan all the time. It was that simple. Only someone who'd stood in front of Lan Zhan long enough to take note, would understand the reference. And only someone who knew Wei Ying would understand why.
"Why don't you answer another question for me first, and then maybe I'll let you in on the secret," he said as he watched her drain the glass in one quick shot and handed it over. "If he's not your Alpha yet – and fuck knows what's taking him this long – is he your Beta then?"
This time she laughed as if she was enjoying the game.
"Yes!" she shouted a little too loudly. "Not my Beta yet though. He's the Beta of the Stone Wolves of Qinghe. It just sounds so good to hear his title, doesn't it? It rolls right off my tongue. I want to join his pack as a Delta, but Nie Huaisang said that my first task was to order whiskey only from Mo Xuanyu, and to deliver a message."
"Now you're killing me with curiosity. What's the message?" Wei Ying asked.
"Tomorrow morning at the coffee shop near the corner of Jingjiu road and Tiancun road, there will be someone waiting to speak with you. Don't wear your disguise."
Message delivered, she rose off her high stool then quickly bowed low. Once she bobbed back up she leaned across the counter so that she was close to Wei Ying's face again.
"Now tell me about the whiskey," she said.
Wei Ying smiled. "If you saw his eyes you'd understand. Let's just say, he is my favourite."
Her mouth fell open a little as she gasped softly, before she silently mouthed the last of his words. Obviously she hadn't expected that sort of answer to her question. Wei Ying had said more than enough though to someone who traded information, so he raised himself off the bar.
"Thank you for the message Delta," he said, still smiling. "Go back and tell the Qinghe Beta that I think he should be on a government watch list. Nobody else has found me in ten years, and one day, he's going to have to explain how the fuck he did it."
— — —
A short time after Wei Ying left his son with the Gusu pack, he also left Yiling. He wanted to be near to Cloud Recesses in case a-Yuan changed his mind about joining the Ice Wolves. He sold the house in Yiling and moved into a smaller one in Mo Jiazhuang, which was a quiet village just west of the Gusu pack's borders.
The families in the village were all non-shifters and Wei Ying quickly adapted to their simpler way of life. It made it easy to deal with the nightmares, and soothed his urge to run, on the nights when he was restless.
After some months at Cloud Recesses, a-Yuan returned to Wei Ying and spent the summer break as a ball of excited energy, full of stories that he was eager to share. It was great for Wei Ying to see his little boy so happy, but there was an obvious issue. A-Yuan wanted to constantly shift into his wolf form to explain many of the things that he was learning in school, and he wanted Wei Ying to shift with him.
"Baba! Please, just one time, and then I won't ask again!" A-Yuan pleaded more times than Wei Ying could count that summer. "Jingyi said that he doesn't believe me that I know the Sena! I just want to tell him he's wrong!"
"You can tell him without having proof," Wei Ying responded patiently each and every time. "You know you're not lying, little radish. Convince him that you're telling the truth."
Having a little red wolf running around at his heels when he went to the market was also extremely difficult for Wei Ying to explain. Especially since most of the villagers knew that Wei Ying didn't own a dog, and was supposed to have a son who was visiting him instead.
When Wei Ying left a year later to move to the capital of the province, closer to Yunmeng than Gusu, he opened his first bar. He spent a large part of his nights awake anyway, thanks to his insomnia, and he had a lot of innovative ideas that quickly earned the bar its reputation for being one of the best.
Three years later, while a-Yuan decided that summer break was a lot more enjoyable to spend with his friends, and he would see his father only during the winter instead, Wei Ying took the opportunity to impulsively relocate to Tingshan and opened his second bar.
Tingshan was not like Mo Jiazhuang where he had only needed to change his name to Mo Xuanyu to keep his identity secret. It was also not like Aijuan, the capital city located between two large pack territories and meant as a safe place for non-shifters. Tingshan was full of wolves who howled every night and showed up in groups, like university students, to the bars to relax and have a drink on the nights when the pack finished a hunt.
Tingshan tested Wei Ying's cultivation skills and his resolve to stay hidden as a non-shifter. But, the four years that he spent there also helped to mentally heal him and remind him of the reason why wolves preferred to run in packs instead of being alone. His new outlook on life while living there, was also just in time for one of the more difficult conversations that he had with his son.
"Did you accidentally bite one of your classmates?" Wei Ying asked one winter evening when he hadn't seen the human form of his twelve year old child for almost three weeks. "Should I be worried that you and Jingyi experimented, and now you don't know how to tell me about what you did?"
That got a-Yuan out of his wolf form in under a minute.
"Bà! I don't... No, okay?" he said as he turned three shades of red before hiding his face in the palms of both hands. "What kind of question is that, even?"
"Glad you know what I'm asking," Wei Ying said dryly. "Luckily, giving a mate your mark takes more than just a bite. It has to be done deliberately and with conviction or the bond could dissolve or eventually break. So, if I'm not going to have a child bride on my hands, tell me what's wrong then."
A-Yuan muttered in between his fingers. Wei Ying raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry, kid. I don't speak mumble," Wei Ying said.
A-Yuan sighed. Dropped his hands from his face. Picked at a loose thread at the hem of one leg of his pants, and refused to meet his father's eyes.
"I asked if it was okay to change my name," he said quietly. "Lan for my pack and Sizhui for my wolf. Jingyi is going to be Lan Jingyi and Hánguāng Jūn said it's to show that he's a member of the Lan family. He asked if I wanted to carry the Lan name as well, since everyone thinks I'm his son anyway."
"So it's come down to this. I'm going to completely lose my son to his wolf pack," Wei Ying said in a dark tone.
A-Yuan sighed again. "You're not going to lose me, Baba. Diē said only if I want to, and only if you agree."
Wei Ying took a long, deep breath. The truth was that he had expected it.
He hadn't thought the option would come up for a few years since most wolves waited until they had a position before committing to joining and becoming a full member of the pack. Most potential warriors had to challenge their Zeta before they were even considered to be true Etas. Usually none of this happened until a wolf was at least eighteen years old, especially when war wasn't pushing them to train and join younger.
So Wen Yuan, who was Wei Yuan when he was adopted, became Lan Yuan by the end of that year. Or, as he insisted on being formally called, Lan Sizhui, when he was talking to anybody but his father.
Three years later, now living in Moling, and coincidentally with one more successful bar sold, Wei Ying was finally no longer secretly hurt and upset by it.
Wei Ying was thinking of his son when he drove into the parking lot of the coffee shop the next morning. He revved the engine of his black motorcycle before turning off the ignition. Then, he pulled off his helmet with one hand, shook his messy hair out, and pulled his phone from the pocket of his leather jacket with his other hand.
Before he got off the motorcycle, he texted a quick message to his fifteen year old child, to remind him to be filial and to call his father on the weekend.
A few minutes later, with his helmet tucked under one arm, he stopped walking towards the glass door and laughed loudly as Lan Yuan texted back a shushing face emoji to indicate that he was in the middle of a class.
"No fucking way!" A voice called out, so loudly and so instantly recognizable that Wei Ying's head snapped up in complete surprise.
Coming out of the coffee shop with his own phone in his hand, a shifter stepped directly into Wei Ying's line of sight. The other man stopped and stared. He was dressed in a nice navy blue suit with a purple silk tie. He looked more like a rich millionaire than someone who visited local coffee shops before ten o'clock in the morning.
Jiang Wanyin. The Alpha of Yunmeng.
Wei Ying forgot all about his ten years as Mo Xuanyu, and as a non-shifter, as his jaw practically fell open. He was suddenly hit with the irrational urge to challenge the Alpha to a sparring match.
"Jiang Cheng!" Wei Ying exclaimed when his brain started to work properly again. "I thought I was meeting with Nie Huaisang."
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Jiang Cheng asked.
Wei Ying strode over to him, still not believing his eyes.
When they were kids, Jiang Cheng was skinnier than a twig on a tree branch. He could hardly run long distances without complaining about hurting one of his paws. When they were sixteen he filled out a lot more. Combat training and his desire to win against the pack warriors to earn the right to be Alpha, had kept him in great shape.
Now though, at thirty two years old, sixteen long years since they last saw each other and since he became the leader of his pack, Jiang Cheng had evidently grown into every aspect of being the strongest wolf in his pack. Even in his human form, his spiritual powers set a low hum in the air between them. It was tempered only by the amethyst ring on his index finger.
Despite all of that though, it made Wei Ying grin happily when he realized that he was still slightly taller than the Alpha.
"What are you doing in Moling, Jiang Cheng? You live all the way in Yunmeng," Wei Ying pointed out.
Jiang Cheng looked a little surprised at that reminder. Then he seemed to refocus his thoughts as well, since he looked Wei Ying over like he was inspecting him for damages. When he obviously didn't see anything to complain about, he glared at Wei Ying.
"Thirteen fucking years since the war! I thought you were fucking dead! You couldn't write? You couldn't reach out after it ended?" he asked angrily. He took a few steps forward until he was right up in Wei Ying's space and they were nearly chest to chest. "I was fucking worried about you! All the packs were worried about you! The only thing that calmed us down was that if you'd dropped dead, the entire world would have known."
Wei Ying held his ground in the face of all that fury.
"Back the fuck off!" he snarled as his own anger ignited in full force. "I fixed your problems and delivered you all from a war! A war that was started because you're all entitled, egotistical, shitheads who can't take no for an answer. You want to know where I was for the past few years, Alpha? I was living a life free of all the bullshit and politics!"
"We were family for years! We were pack! You decided to be a self-sacrificing idiot and leave Lotus Pier just because of one moment when I was being irrational, and what? I just lost the right to see you again, as punishment?"
"You blamed me for the Blood Wolves even coming to Yunmeng in the first place. As if it was something that I orchestrated. You didn't want me as part of your pack anymore!"
"Want you or not, you should have been there! By my side, like I thought you would be!"
He was close. Wei Ying saw the second he realized that he was standing too close. That he was an unmated, untested, Alpha standing in the presence of the Sena while their tempers were running hot and their heart rates increased. Wei Ying could control his scent but Jiang Cheng was used to being obeyed when he was angry, and he was used to letting his scent influence his subordinates. With anyone else, they would have cowered before him, tail tucked between their legs if they were in their wolf form. Wei Ying didn't cower to anyone. He fought against the Alpha's scent with his own.
Jiang Cheng sucked in a deep, sharp breath of the air between them, and then he immediately turned his head away.
"Oh fuck," he breathed. He almost sounded like he was in pain. "Fuck. Me. Is this what happens to everyone? If you're doing it on purpose, god, stop!"
He shook his head. It didn't seem to help. When their gazes met again Jiang Cheng's pupils were so dilated that his eyes looked like pools of darkness. He tried to take a step back away from the influence of the Sena's scent but Wei Ying reached across to stop him with a hand to the side of his neck.
"Might as well get it over with then," Wei Ying said calmly. "We're here now and I would prefer not to have this hanging between us. It will fuck with my head, and it will fuck with yours. I don't want it to get weird."
"And this is not weird already?" Jiang Cheng asked. "I don't think I ever really looked at you before and honestly realized that you're the Sena. When everyone was practically falling over their feet trying to kowtow to you, I thought it wasn't a big deal. You're just Wei Ying. Wuxian. But man do I fucking get it now. I understand what all the awe and wonder was about."
He groaned and shook his head again.
"And god, you smell too damn good," he admitted. "I want to stab myself in the face. Make it stop!"
Wei Ying took pity on him, and stepped closer, so that their bodies really were touching this time. He slid the hand at the side of Jiang Cheng's neck further up so that his fingers tangled in his hair and he used his grasp to coax Jiang Cheng to tilt his head back. When the full length of the Alpha's throat was visible, Wei Ying leaned in closer so that his lips hovered just over the dip in Jiang Cheng's clavicle.
Wei Ying hadn't done this in over ten years but he had improved the process even more. He stayed mostly in his human form. He didn't even need to shift his teeth or his eyes anymore. All he did was to heighten his sense of smell to its full range. Then he took a deep breath.
Bergamot and static. That was Jiang Cheng's scent. His firecracker personality. When they were children, Wei Ying almost couldn't stand to be nearby when Jiang Cheng lost his temper because of how much the scent used to sting his throat and make him uneasy. Now though, Jiang Cheng was an Alpha, and his scent was more refined. It was also more potent. There was an element to it that was more alluring now. More in tune with Wei Ying's own scent. He didn't smell bad. In fact, he smelled really, really good actually.
"Hmm," Wei Ying hummed low in his throat. "So, there's that."
He released Jiang Cheng from his hold and took a few deliberate steps back so that the air between them could become clear of their mingled scents.
When he didn't say anything else, Jiang Cheng's brows furrowed in confusion.
"There's what?" he asked impatiently. Then he continued, "Aren't you supposed to..." His words drifted off as his eyes widened in surprise, and he groaned, "No fucking way."
Wei Ying gave him an evil, wicked grin. "It doesn't have to be sexual, Wanyin. It just has to be an understanding that works for the two of us. If we need it to be, it could be something."
"You're disgusting." Jiang Cheng made a face. "Get away from me with your incestuous thoughts."
Wei Ying raised his hands as if in surrender. "I haven't seen you or spoken much to you in sixteen years," he teased. "Do you really still think of us as brothers? We aren't even related, to start with."
Jiang Cheng shoved him in the shoulder hard enough to make Wei Ying start to cackle with laughter.
"You're a sick little fucker! Stay away from me," Jiang Cheng growled. "Get your head examined. You're the most annoying person I've ever met in my life!"
"Which head?" Wei Ying asked innocently.
Jiang Cheng threw him a look of pure horror at the mental image. "For fuck's sake! Why are you like this? I take it back, you little shit. I didn't miss you at all! Tiān na! I'm going to need brain bleach. I'm never talking to you again for another sixteen years!"
They managed to get coffee and meet back at Wei Ying's house without Jiang Cheng either throwing up or murdering him.
At Wei Ying's house, they made a quick breakfast together in the kitchen, moving around each other like two people who grew up together and knew each other's quirks and habits. Like pack-brothers who hadn't spent half their lives separated.
Once they finished eating and talking about their past, about the last time they each spoke to Jiang Yanli, and about the ways that Lotus Pier had changed over the years, they retreated into the living room and sat on the couch, facing each other.
"You really haven't fully shifted in ten years?" Jiang Cheng asked gruffly.
"I really haven't," Wei Ying said with a sad little smile. "Eventually, I got used to not being my wolf. Now I stay too busy to find the time to do it."
Jiang Cheng searched his gaze. "Don't you want to though? Don't you miss it?"
"I miss it. Every single night. Some nights there's a voice in my head that makes me miss it even more," Wei Ying admitted. He shuffled restlessly in his seat, feeling as if he was never meant to be still for too long. "In the beginning I thought I would lose my fucking mind. I wanted to shift. Everything in me wanted to give in, but the idea of doing it used to make me feel sick to my stomach. I was fucked up. My heart and soul wanted it. My brain was terrified to do it."
He smiled again, but it was less sad this time. "I mean, it got better. I got better after maybe six or seven years." He shrugged. "I'm not weird about it anymore and that's a relief. I think I just needed to get away and not constantly be put into difficult situations. The war was shit for all of us, but I think I got the worst of it, being caught in the middle of the firestorm."
Jiang Cheng nodded sympathetically, in obvious agreement.
"You know what would have helped?" he asked. "Your mate. No, don't laugh. Isn't that the point of a soulbond? The Sena and the Xiandu share the only soulbond in existence. There's a reason for that. Maybe you needed him for times like that."
Wei Ying laughed anyway, and teased, "Yeah well, what are you doing tonight then?"
"Fuck off!" Jiang Cheng snapped, but once Wei Ying's laughter got even louder, he calmed down. "I'm not your mate."
"You don't want to be?" Wei Ying asked. "Too much work for you?"
Jiang Cheng gave him a look that became more thoughtful, the longer he stared at Wei Ying.
"You know who it is," he said quietly. "The voice in your head some nights. You fucking know, don't you? All this time and a whole entire war, and I bet you already know."
"What makes you say that?" Wei Ying asked.
Instead of answering, Jiang Cheng shrugged. "Fine, don't admit how long you've known, but at least tell me yes or no if you do. The whole world of shifters is waiting for the Xiandu. As your pack-brother, I just want to know, yes or no?"
Wei Ying huffed out a soft breath. "Yes. A whole entire fucking war, and yes, I found him before all of that. But it's complicated, of course."
"I don't give a shit what it is. You can figure it out," Jiang Cheng responded.
Wei Ying groaned loudly. "You're going to make this into a thing, aren't you Jiang Cheng? Don't make this into a thing. I'm fine where I am right now. I don't need a pack and I don't need to bother him. Let the world rest in peace in the wake of what I did to it."
"What do you mean what you did? Saved us from a massacre? From a batshit crazy madman who wanted to burn the world down so that he was the last wolf standing? I think for all our selfishness there isn't an Alpha out there who doesn't thank the Sena every night for how you stepped up to help us. We were helpless for years while he just kept getting more powerful."
Wei Ying groaned again, this time while he hung his head. "You know that wasn't all of it. You were there. You felt the darkness."
"Fuck that. Yes I was there. We pushed you to your limit," Jiang Cheng growled. "I can't convince you to do anything you don't want to, but I think it's time you stopped acting like a pariah."
"I commanded every Alpha's men to attack each other. I got so many killed. I was angry and upset, and I could have wiped your entire packs out."
"And it was war! But that was then and you're still you. Whatever you decide now, it's not because your hand is forced or your life is in danger."
Jiang Cheng closed the space between them on the couch and he stared at Wei Ying until the other shifter steadily met his gaze.
"You're powerful and fearless. You were born to be the strongest warrior on a battlefield of warriors. An asena. I spent twenty seven years of my life being jealous of how easily you excelled. That's all anybody sees when they look at you. Power and strength and natural talent. The Sena. But fuck it, you're also my gēge. You, Wei Wuxian, deserve to just be happy. If you know who your mate is, I think you should tell him."
"Ah, didi," Wei Ying said, feeling like his heart had grown two sizes too big. "With a speech like that, maybe you do deserve to be Xiandu."
"Fuck off. You never take anything seriously," Jiang Cheng growled as he gave Wei Ying a hard shove.
Wei Ying laughed loud enough to hide the knot of emotions in his chest that were finally loosening after thirteen years of pain.
When they fell into a comfortable silence again, Wei Ying looked over at Jiang Cheng with a wry smile.
"Three weeks. Give me some time to get everything settled here. Then I'll come visit your pack in Yunmeng and we can spend some time together. Maybe Jiejie will even join us if we ask her idiot husband," Wei Ying said.
"Three weeks. That's fine. You can get reacquainted with my pack, and remember what it's like to run and hunt with other wolves," Jiang Cheng said with a grin. "But in three weeks we can't meet up in Lotus Pier."
"Why not? It's still your territory isn't it?" Wei Ying asked in surprise.
Jiang Cheng shrugged and said, "In three weeks I'm going to be in Gusu. I have some business that I want to settle with the Alpha of Cloud Recesses."
— — —
Three weeks later with his human life unravelled and his alias as Mo Xuanyu mostly put to rest, Wei Ying checked into a hotel in Caiyu town, just on the very edge of Cloud Recesses.
Looking out his room window, he could make out the slopes of the Gusu Mountains in the distance.
In winter there were ski resorts open to non-shifters who were interested in high altitude skiing and snowboarding, but the warmer months were for the wolves. Some of whom travelled all the way from the western provinces to hunt in the mountains. The Ice Wolves' pack mainly kept to their gorgeous mountain estate with its sprawling sky blue and white buildings that were carved directly into the landscape. From a distance, and especially at night, Cloud Recesses looked like an ethereal city of glistening lights.
"Hey! Mo Xuanyu! Mo Xuanyu, come here and sit with us."
Wei Ying smiled to himself as he entered the large hotel dining room to a pack of ten hungry Yunmeng Etas who were all talking to each other at the same time.
He had put his Mo Xuanyu alias mostly to rest, but there were a few things that he kept. Like the name, and the disguise that he still activated in the mornings out of habit.
He didn't need to be Mo Xuanyu anymore, maybe not even with the Storm Wolves, but it made him feel comfortable to be able to sit and talk to the other shifters without feeling like they were picking their words too carefully.
Wei Ying had met up with the Yunmeng pack when Wanyin returned to Moling, and then he had spent two days hosting them and taking them sightseeing, before they had all left for Gusu. He hadn't spent his evenings by joining in their late night runs though, so he didn't want to seem more distant than necessary. He made up for it with laughter, exciting stories of his travels, plenty of free alcohol, and his willingness to always share his knowledge about non-shifters.
It had been a good two days, and Wei Ying wondered more than once how he had ever existed for so long without a pack. This pack felt so familiar to him, and the warriors with their loud shouts and wild laughter reminded Wei Ying of a home that he had loved, that was still carved into his heart somehow.
"Sit, before anybody else notices you." At one end of the table, Jiang Cheng lifted his chin to indicate an empty seat to his left. "All I've heard since we checked in today is how happy everyone is that you decided to come with us to Gusu."
"Yet instead of being happy, you look pissed off about that," Wei Ying said with a grin as he dropped into the seat and noisily pulled himself closer to the table.
Jiang Cheng's eyes narrowed. He definitely had something more to say, so Wei Ying laughed and gestured for him to speak his piece.
"Ten minutes where you're my pack-brother again, alright?" Jiang Cheng said as he leaned his head closer to Wei Ying.
This was going to be interesting. Wei Ying tightened his jaw to hold back a grin, and nodded in agreement.
"You're gorgeous. Sexy. Fuck, I don't know how to say it! Just that you laugh and the whole room wants to laugh with you. But you're also a natural born leader and you're good for morale. My men like having you around. Because, you encourage them, and you make them feel confident," Jiang Cheng said quietly.
"And because I'm powerful. And two days ago they watched me kick your ass in hand-to-hand combat, Alpha or not." Wei Ying laughed again. "Sorry. What was your point? Or were you just trying to tell me that you like me more, now that I'm all grown up?"
Jiang Cheng glared at him. "Okay yeah. Fuck you. Forget it. I'm not talking to you anymore."
Wei Ying's laughter simmered down into a smile.
"You compliment me but you still look pissed off. What am I missing?"
Jiang Cheng was still glaring, but he sighed loudly and said, "I just keep thinking about you as my Beta. You would have been fucking good at it."
Realizing how that sounded though, he shook his head. "I know that you aren't meant to be anybody's Beta," he corrected quickly. "I just mean that it would have been nice to have your support at that time."
"You had my support. I left Yunmeng to show that you had my support," Wei Ying said.
"If you had stayed, it would have meant more to me." Jiang Cheng shrugged. "Lan Wangji stayed. He even helped Lan Xichen to become Alpha. He knew his brother wanted it more so he has never challenged him."
Wei Ying's heart skipped a beat.
"Who?" he asked calmly.
Jiang Cheng opened his mouth to explain, but right at that moment a team of hotel staff carried over trays and trays of food to the table, and the Etas all began to applaud and cheer.
Wei Ying stared at the empty plate in front of him as enough food was laid out on the table to feed an army twice their size. When the entire table went instantly silent, Wei Ying finally pulled himself away from his thoughts.
The Etas all looked towards Jiang Cheng, as they waited for their Alpha to eat first. Their Alpha turned to look at Wei Ying instead.
It was a response that the Alpha or Luna of a pack only did to show respect to a visiting pack leader who was held in high regard, or to a shifter who was considered to be a superior.
"Idiot!" Wei Ying hissed as softly as he could. "I'm still Mo Xuanyu to them."
He quickly picked up his chopsticks though, when he saw the stubborn look on Jiang Cheng's face, and the pack of warriors continued to wait in silence. The closest thing was a plate of dumplings. Wei Ying snatched one piece up and quickly shoved it into his mouth. He turned to Jiang Cheng and made a show of chewing.
Once he swallowed, Jiang Cheng reached for a bowl of rice and then nodded at his warriors. Everyone immediately started talking again and reaching for plates of food.
Wei Ying waited until he was sure that most of the Etas were preoccupied with eating before he kicked a leg out under the table, into Jiang Cheng's direction. Jiang Cheng flinched and then began to laugh.
"Finish what you were saying about Gusu, before I drown you in your soup," Wei Ying threatened.
Jiang Cheng took his time piling food onto his plate before he was finally ready to speak again.
"Two brothers. Only the older one was his father's Beta. For some reason the Alpha at the time, wanted Lan Wangji to train to become the next Alpha, even though he's the younger of the two brothers. Sound familiar?"
Wei Ying shook his head in exasperation. "It doesn't sound familiar at all, you idiot. If you're trying to say it's similar to us then you're wrong. Otherwise you're the one who should have stepped aside so that I could lead the Storm Wolves."
"Anyway," Jiang Cheng continued. "Something happened at the beginning of the war. Something that made the Alpha decide that Lan Wangji should train to be the next Alpha and Lan Xichen should be Lan Wangji's Beta. But Xichen is older and the brothers are really close. After their father died, instead of challenging the warriors, Lan Wangji said that he didn't want to be the Alpha of Gusu. Lan Xichen had trained for years and deserved it more, so Xichen fought to become Alpha instead."
Something happened, Wei Ying mused silently. Lan Zhan, was I just a walking disaster, like a grenade through your life, ever since the day you met me?
"You don't have to look so conflicted on his behalf," Jiang Cheng said with a wry smile. "Xichen isn't ashamed to talk about it. When you meet him you'll realize that he's great for his pack. He was meant to lead the Ice Wolves."
"So the story ends well. What was the point of telling me then?" Wei Ying asked.
Jiang Cheng reached into his pants pocket, pulled out a small bottle of chili oil, and slammed it sharply on the table in front of Wei Ying.
"My point is that I missed you, and you could have fucking stayed like we always said you would," Jiang Cheng responded.
Then, under the table, Wei Ying felt a sharp kick to his leg that pushed his chair sideways from the force. He burst into loud laughter that got more than a few people's attention at the table.
"I missed you too a-Cheng," Wei Ying finally conceded with a wide grin. "You and your pack. I'm proud of you, Wanyin. I knew you'd be the best Alpha for them."
Jiang Cheng nodded his thanks with his own grin of happiness. Then he quickly checked the time on his phone and made a frustrated face.
"Eat faster!" Jiang Cheng shouted to Wei Ying, and to all the Etas sitting at the table. "I told the Ice Wolves that we would be there in the next three hours!"
— — —
Three hours later Jiang Cheng stood at the entrance to Cloud Recesses with Wei Ying at his side, and ten brown wolves of varying shades, stood obediently behind them.
Wei Ying's stomach was in knots, from all the anticipation.
No disguise this time. Just himself, Wei Wuxian as the Sena, waiting to properly be welcomed into the Gusu pack's territory by the Alpha. Not even Lan Yuan knew that Wei Ying was there.
Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan, Wei Ying's heart beat, the longer he waited. You better be here today. I came to visit you, just like you wanted me to.
"Thank you for your patience. I'm sorry for the wait," the Nu at the gate said as she finally allowed them in. "The pack often has meals together so nobody was allowed to come and get you. Sorry again."
Wei Ying smiled at the sentry as she bowed to each of them that passed by, in apology. She looked around Lan Yuan's age, and Wei Ying wondered if his son knew her name.
"Welcome again to Cloud Recesses, Storm Wolves!" a firm voice called out. An older man and two younger men walked over to them. The elder bowed to Jiang Cheng and then lower, to Wei Ying. "Welcome, Sena. If we'd known you were coming, we would have prepared a better reception. I am Qiren, and these are my two nephews, Xichen and Wangji."
Wei Ying forced every muscle in his body to focus on the Gamma first. He bowed to the elder shifter with as much deference as he would have shown to Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan. The position was usually held by the previous Alpha pair, or a shifter who the current leader considered to be like a parent.
"I didn't intend to be rude. My life is just a series of last minute decisions, and I live on the edge of chaos," Wei Ying explained.
Standing slightly behind Lan Qiren, one of the other two men laughed softly.
Finally, finally, Wei Ying looked over at the two of them. If it wasn't for the height difference which reflected their ages, and the dramatic shades of their pretty eyes, the two were almost identical. Dressed in crisp white shirts, and white pants, each with a knife strapped in a black holster against one thigh, their long white coats billowed in the gentle mountain breeze.
One smiling openly. The other not. They looked unreal in their ethereal, jade-like perfection. And Wei Ying could wholeheartedly understand why the entire pack wore an illusion whenever they left their home. Otherwise, in battle, it would be so obvious who to target first. Find the jades, kill them, and rule the Ice Wolves.
"Hello, Xichen," Wei Ying said with a smile to the Alpha of Gusu. Because he couldn't look at Lan Zhan yet. He just couldn't.
Lan Xichen stepped forward, and his smile got even wider. "Hello, Wuxian. Do we finally get to be friends now?"
"I think after thirteen years, yes, we can be friends now." Wei Ying laughed. "I'm just happy that I was finally introduced to you so that I can refer to you properly in my head."
"Do you think about me often?" Lan Xichen asked with a curious tilt of his head. "How interesting."
"Xichen."
The warning came from the other man. The one with the whiskey eyes that haunted Wei Ying's dreams. The man whose deep, unfairly sexy voice sent goosebumps prickling along Wei Ying's arms, and chased little shivers through his body.
Wei Ying still didn't look at him. He looked at Lan Xichen instead. Lan Xichen took a step closer to Wei Ying. Then another, that put him right into Wei Ying's space.
He was gorgeous. Powerful. He was the Alpha of Gusu, and he had earned the right of the title through training and combat. He was captivating, but he wasn't the wolf that Wei Ying wanted. He wasn't the one who had stayed with the Sena in that cave in the mountains all those years ago, and who had infiltrated every thought, every emotion, every decision that Wei Wuxian made since then.
Every breath that Wei Ying breathed had felt like a gaping wound in his chest, because he had to breathe each day for ten years without running to Cloud Recesses.
I want my mate, Wei Ying thought. I want my white wolf.
He reached for Lan Xichen and Lan Xichen stepped even closer so that their bodies were pressed together. Wei Ying wrapped one arm around his waist and slid the palm of his other hand against Lan Xichen's cheek, and then buried his fingers into his hair. He tilted the Alpha's head to one side and leaned in to press his nose against the pulse that danced in Lan Xichen's neck.
Eyes shifted to red, Wei Ying smiled while he heightened his sense of smell. His bonfire scent was a storm around them, wrapping Lan Xichen under its spell as he slowly moved his hand off Lan Xichen's waist to slide the top two buttons of the shirt wide open to give himself better access. He nuzzled against the base of Lan Xichen's throat for a few seconds. Then slowly, shamelessly, he pressed his lips to the soft layer of skin just above the dip in Lan Xichen's collarbone.
For a second, Wei Ying's senses were flooded by Xichen's calming, gentle scent. Xichen smelled like morning dew. That earthy scent of fresh grass and mist that reminded Wei Ying of early mornings when he was a child in Yunmeng. Like Wanyin's scent, it wasn't overpowering or unpleasant. It didn't make the Sena want to escape. Instead it was like the chords of a song. A little off-key, but it was a melody that could harmonize with Wuxian if they wanted to. Another possibility.
And then a wave of spiritual energy slammed into the two of them to separate them.
It was so strong that the air sparked like fireflies when it was unleashed, and a scent of ozone singed the atmosphere.
"Let him go!" Lan Wangji snarled.
Wei Ying pushed Lan Xichen far enough away from himself, just as another wave exploded like a bomb where the Alpha had been standing before. Surprised at the force of it, Wei Ying looked over at Lan Zhan.
Gorgeous and deadly, Lan Zhan was in a rage.
Wei Ying had never seen him like this before. Although his expression was ice cold, his golden eyes were like molten fire, and his skin rippled and shimmered as if he was barely keeping his wolf from tearing through his human form.
Gloved hands raised to chest level, he pulled his curled fingers away from each other until seven strings of spiritual blue energy glistened in the air. The look in his eyes said that he was fully prepared to release the deadly force of his Chord Assassination Technique. And, as everyone watched, he plucked at the strings in a beautiful melody that sent sharp, glinting shards of energy slicing through the air like glowing knife blades.
"Move!" Lan Xichen shouted, as he jumped and twisted in the air like an acrobat around the waves and waves of daggers.
Wei Ying stood perfectly still in the storm as the blades harmlessly curved around him. He stared at this jealous, angry Lan Zhan, and he smiled.
"Lan Zhan," he said too softly for it to be more than a breath of air. "Let's take this somewhere private. You're going to hate being so upset in front of everybody."
Just as Wei Ying thought, with his wolf so close to the surface, Lan Zhan heard Wei Ying's words and he snapped his attention sharply to meet Wei Ying's gaze. He took a step towards Wei Ying. Unfortunately, everybody else chose that moment to react to the turn of events.
Jiang Wanyin lashed out with Zidian, and the whip of purple lightning wrapped itself around Lan Wangji's legs like a python with its prey. Lan Xichen wrapped his arms around his brother from behind and in a low, soft voice, began to whisper gently into his ear. And Lan Qiren and the Storm Wolves formed a barrier that separated the Sena from the enraged Zeta.
Wei Ying turned and shifted from one step to the next. Human to wolf. Then still mid stride he twisted his large black body and looked back with glowing red eyes at the shifter who was being held captive by no less than thirteen warriors.
"Lan Zhan," Wei Ying said to him calmly. "Are you coming or not?"
Then Wei Ying turned away and started to run.
In the short distance he heard the sound of shouting and loud cracks like explosions in the air. Then a wolf snarled loudly and viciously to the sound of more shouting.
And then footsteps. Running. A wolf on Wuxian's trail. Following his scent along the winding paths of the mountainside. Climbing and sliding, and confident in his determination. Through trees and bushes. Fast and steady. As swift as Wuxian knew he would be. Catching up as Wuxian slowed. Close enough that they caught a glimpse of each other through the foliage as they ran, and ran, together.
Wuxian entered a small meadow in the midst of tall trees and he skidded to a stop, and turned just in time for Wangji to tackle him.
Wuxian went crashing sideways as the large white wolf barrelled into him at full force.
He twisted and snarled viciously as Wangji's teeth aimed for his throat. He avoided the attack, only for the next bite to connect with his shoulder instead.
It hurt so much that a small whimper escaped Wuxian's throat, and he almost bit his own tongue as he forced himself not to vocalize his reaction again.
Wuxian returned the favour by snapping his jaw around Wangji's flank until he thought he was going to have to break the skin to convince the other wolf to let go. When Wangji moved to get a better angle, Wuxian rolled against Wangji's legs to off-balance him.
Wangji toppled gracelessly forward over Wuxian and knocked the breath right out of the black wolf's chest.
He was heavy too. And still determined to get his teeth on Wuxian. It took a little bit of maneuvering, but Wuxian finally managed to get back to his feet.
He retreated from the white wolf, still snarling and growling low in his chest, but Wangji wasn't deterred by any of this show of aggression.
Wangji shoved at Wuxian's muzzle as if Wuxian's teeth were just a harmless prop. Then he nipped at Wuxian's ear like it needed to be chewed on.
Silently, internally, Wei Ying swore a string of curse words.
He gave up on snarling, since that clearly had no effect on Wangji. He tried to be smart instead. When Wangji released his ear he nuzzled at Wuxian's neck. Wuxian stepped back so he was just that little bit out of reach. Wangji growled at him and Wuxian did it again.
They played a short game of chase and retreat, and moved in a circle, backwards and sideways as Wuxian kept just that small amount of distance between them without running away.
When Wangji got tired of the game, he stopped playing.
He suddenly stopped advancing, stood still and stared reproachfully at Wuxian in silence. Wuxian nudged at his nose, but Wangji just stood there. Then Wuxian stepped towards him, cautiously, wary of sharp teeth, but Wangji just calmly watched him.
Wuxian stepped closer, close enough to slide the side of his neck along the side of Wangji's neck, and then he turned his head and sniffed at the back of Wangji's head.
Wangji let him distract himself while he gently began to nuzzle into Wuxian's shoulder as their chest and front legs pressed against each other. Wangji bared his teeth again after a few seconds and nipped at the side of Wuxian's neck, on his shoulder, and then at the curve of his jaw.
He tucked his muzzle under Wuxian's muzzle and licked the base of his throat and then his teeth grazed and nipped at that spot, before Wuxian had to growl at him to get him to stop before his legs went weak.
His scent was intoxicating.
Wei Ying had always loved how Lan Zhan smelled. Like safety and home. Wei Ying would have ran across far distances to chase Lan Zhan's scent, to feel like he was with someone who never expected impossible things from him. Lan Zhan had always smelled safe.
Not now though. Now his scent made Wei Ying shiver.
It was concentrated, potent, alluring, maddening. It filled the air, filled the space in Wei Ying's lungs, flooded all his senses until he felt like he was bathing in it. Drowning in it. It was overwhelming, and intoxicating, and provocative.
It was entirely, unmistakably Alpha, and the Sena craved it. Craved his mate. Wanted to hold on to him and not let go, never leave him ever again.
Wei Ying dropped into a crouch, and then lowered slowly onto his stomach. He whimpered as Lan Zhan followed him to the ground and curled around him, like they were meant to be two halves of a painting; one dark and one light. Then Lan Zhan nudged the corner of his jaw and began to lick the fur at the back of his neck.
The feeling of that hot breath sent tremors up and down Wei Ying's spine, and he tucked his muzzle between his front paws as he tried to stop his muscles from shaking.
"Lan Zhan," he said very, very quietly into the space between their two minds. "Don't do it if you don't mean it. I won't survive."
"Wei Ying," Lan Zhan said, like his heart was hurting too. And then…
And then he took a step back, away from Wei Ying. Further and further away so that the distance between them felt like a chasm. Until his scent no longer surrounded Wei Ying and the air was crisp and clean, and sharp enough to make Wei Ying want to howl in disappointment.
Wei Ying closed his eyes, concentrated, and shifted back into his human form.
He felt the ripple in the air as Lan Zhan also shifted, but Wei Ying couldn't look at him yet without wanting to reach out and grab him, and hold on tight, and beg him.
Wei Ying heard the sound of Lan Zhan dropping to his knees, and the gasp of horror that escaped his lips, and the way he sounded like he was choking around the syllables of Wei Ying's name again, before he gave up and pressed his face to the ground between clasped fingers.
Wei Ying still couldn't look at him though, until Lan Zhan said in a voice that sounded like it was being torn from his soul, "Huáng Shàng. I'm sorry."
Wei Ying felt like he'd been stabbed between his ribs and his body involuntarily flinched. Even after that, he steadily rose off the ground and brushed himself off.
Lan Zhan was kowtowing a few feet away, half buried in grass.
Wei Ying cleared his throat and said as lightly as he could, "Lan Zhan, you'll get stains all over your white clothes. They look expensive. I don't think this is what the designers had in mind when they tailor made this outfit for you."
When Lan Zhan didn't move from his position, Wei Ying knelt in front of him. Then he leaned over and buried his nose in the sea of soft black hair, and pressed his lips to the back of Lan Zhan's head.
"I'm not weak. I'm just as much a warrior as you. I can fight as hard and as fierce as two of Mingjue's men combined, and maybe three of Wanyin's," Wei Ying said. "I've fought off Alphas before. Even Zhuliu needed me to shift to my human form for Ruohan to get near me. I'm not weak, Lan Zhan. I just didn't want to fight you."
Wei Ying gently pressed his lips to another spot on Lan Zhan's head before Lan Zhan finally sat up.
They knelt in front of each other like two gods of war preparing to negotiate. Silent and entirely still for a few seconds.
Then Lan Zhan broke the silence in his calm, deep voice and said, "Wei Ying, I'm sorry. I didn't know that I could react like that to anything. I'm sorry it was so vicious."
Vicious. He hadn't even drawn blood with any of the bites. And if he had, Wei Ying wouldn't even be upset.
Wei Ying steadily held his gaze. What he really wanted to do was to wrap his arms around him, but now that Lan Zhan was back to being so untouchable, Wei Ying felt like the moment had passed.
"I reacted badly to seeing you too," he admitted. "I think that makes us even, Lan Zhan. There's no need to apologize."
"I wanted to show you my home when you finally visited. Not chase you across a mountain and force you to defend yourself against me," Lan Zhan said. And, this close, Wei Ying could see that the tips of his ears had turned a burning shade of red.
Wei Ying smiled, even though Lan Zhan's words sent the shivers fluttering through his body again, at the reminder of how close Wangji had gotten to sinking his teeth into Wuxian's neck.
"You can still show me your home," he said. "I like what I've seen so far. Tall trees. Soft grass. Fresh air. Big mountain. It's nice."
"Wei Ying. I'm serious."
Wei Ying's smile turned into a grin at the subtle hint of exasperation in Lan Zhan's voice. So sexy. So much fun to talk to, even now, when he was afraid that he had offended the Sena. So very Lan Zhan.
"I'm being serious too. I'd love for you to show me Cloud Recesses," Wei Ying said, still smiling.
Lan Zhan nodded. But then he lowered his gaze to the grass at his knees.
"Tomorrow," he said. "Tonight I will need to apologize to my brother. Attacking my Alpha is an almost unforgivable offense, in my opinion. One that, as the Zeta, I may not have forgiven. I should be expelled from the pack."
Wei Ying huffed out a breath and said, "I hope not! I'd have some very harsh words for him if he did that. I understand how grave it is of course. Fuck. It's bad. But there were extenuating circumstances."
"Were there?" Lan Zhan asked. His golden eyes focussed on Wei Ying again. Beautiful and intense, while another question hid in their depths. "Such as?"
Wei Ying looked away and swallowed to wet his suddenly very dry throat.
"I shouldn't have tested him in front of you," he admitted softly. "There's a reason the moment between an Alpha and the Sena is private. Other wolves sometimes get extremely jealous. They want me for themselves or no one can have me. It gets very messy and I know better than to do it."
Lan Zhan sucked in a sharp breath as his gaze seemed to emotionally frost over. He rose to his feet in a motion so graceful that Wei Ying almost didn't even see him move.
"Other wolves. Of course," he said in a low, husky voice that tugged like a hook in Wei Ying's chest. "I suppose I deserved that."
"Lan Zhan."
Wei Ying rose to his feet too, definitely less gracefully, but it put them at eye-level again. He reached out with his fingertip to touch the perfect curve of Lan Zhan's cheekbone, because, damn it, he just ached so much to touch him and this was what he could allow.
"If you need me to tell you that for me, you're not like other wolves, then you haven't been paying attention," he pointed out.
Lan Zhan's gaze shifted to Wei Ying's lips and then back up to Wei Ying's eyes.
"You deserve more than trees and grass and a mountainside," Lan Zhan said. "And I'm sorry that I reduced you to that, just like other wolves."
Wei Ying sighed as Lan Zhan stepped back from his touch. And as the Ice Wolf walked away, across the meadow, Wei Ying groaned low and frustrated into the quiet mountain air.
"I deserve you, Lan Zhan," he said. "Fuck. I want you."
Lan Zhan was already too far away to hear though. And Wei Ying didn't want to force him to do anything that he didn't want to do. Because he hadn't been the one to back away in that moment when Lan Zhan's teeth were at his neck, seconds away from claiming him.
Wei Ying knew how much willpower it must have taken to stop, and since he couldn't do it, it meant that Lan Zhan must have really not wanted to give Wei Ying his mark. Which made Wei Ying feel terrified and nauseous with panic.
As the Sena, he could fight armies of wolves all day if he needed to. But, he couldn't fight a mate who didn't want him. He couldn't trick Lan Zhan into bonding with him. Lan Zhan had to want the bond. And since the Sena and the Xiandu were zhiji and had a soulbond, he had to want it down to his core, to his soul, to the very last beat of his heart.
Wei Ying softly sighed again. He couldn't meet the rest of the Gusu pack like this. Not while his human form was still shaking from the adrenaline of what had just happened with Lan Zhan.
He shifted back into his wolf form as easily as taking his next breath.
A quick look around made him realize that, at the edge of the meadow, Lan Zhan was quietly waiting for him. He ran over, then nipped at Lan Zhan's fingertips until Lan Zhan reached down to pet the top of his head and scratch behind his ears.
"Lan Zhan, do you know the way back?" he asked.
"Of course. This is my home," Lan Zhan said confidently. "Follow me. Don't get lost."
So Wei Ying followed him through winding mountain trails, as the two of them made their way back to Cloud Recesses.