It was embarrassing, when compared to Wei Ying's history of traveling, just how quickly the journey was from Qinghe to Yingchuan by car. Even with rest stops, and detours, it still only took about eight hours from the Unclean Realm to a hotel just on the outskirts of the Yingchuan pack territory.
The car had barely pulled into the parking lot before one of the back doors popped open and Nie Huaisang flung himself out like a man who had needed to feel solid ground beneath his feet for a very long time.
"Fresh air!" he exclaimed dramatically. "I was sure that we were never going to make it, and were going to have to sacrifice Nie Qiuyue as tribute to save ourselves."
Nie Qiuyue extricated herself from the other side of the backseat. She sighed like a person who had been stuck in a car with someone who had spent the last few hours complaining. Then she calmly walked around to Nie Huaisang's side. As his guardian, and only being around a few years older, she was evidently very used to his nonsense while growing up with him, since she didn't even respond to his words.
Wei Ying exited the car next. His legs felt a little stiff but otherwise he wasn't about to complain. Then, from the driver's side, Meng Yao emerged and gave Nie Huaisang a quick smile that flashed his dimples.
"We should go in. It's chilly out here and I feel like I haven't slept in hours! Yao-ge, why don't you use Da-ge's money to get us some rooms. Reserve the best one for yourself for all the driving you just did! There's no point hurrying back when we just got here. Especially since we have no idea what we're going back to!" Nie Huaisang said with a wide grin, while tapping his folded butterfly knife against the palm of his other hand.
Meng Yao gave Nie Huaisang another quick smile and then he hurried away. Before he managed to take more than a few steps though, Nie Huaisang tapped Nie Qiuyue on the arm in a signal which obviously meant for her to follow, since that was exactly what she did.
Wei Ying watched their retreating figures for a few seconds before he turned to look at Nie Huaisang.
"I thought he was your friend," Wei Ying said quietly.
Nie Huaisang unfolded his knife and began to flip it expertly between his fingers.
"My brother is my friend," he said, still with a smile on his face. "And maybe you now. Yao-ge is a Gold Wolf of Lanling, and even if he likes to be around my family a lot, he is not a member of my pack."
Wei Ying sighed softly. "Is that why you followed me? You were following him? Do I need to watch my back around him too?"
"Wei Wuxian, with an aura like yours, I imagine that shifters throw themselves at your back all the time. And that's before they recognize that you're the Sena. I don't think you even realize what looking at you face-to-face means for us," Nie Huaisang teased.
Wei Ying gave him a silent, pointed look.
Nie Huaisang flipped his knife closed and then held it out in a gesture for Wei Ying to take it. Wei Ying did, and he immediately examined it. Engraved into the closed handle was a scene of two children playing together. The older of the two children secretly hid a knife behind his back.
"It's artistic so it doesn't give anything away, but I think I captured the memory very well," Nie Huaisang explained.
Wei Ying looked at him again, this time with a frown of confusion as he said, "Tell me why you don't trust him, Huaisang."
"Hmm. How to tell this little tale of mine," Nie Huaisang stalled. "Let's see. Jin Guangshan has a ridiculous number of children. So few shifters are born every year but he seems to have one in every lot. You would think he would take better care of them. Meng Yao was discovered when he was around eight years old, living with his non-shifter mother who was a prostitute, and who had no idea what to do with a son who kept attacking her clients. She left him with the Gold Wolves, and then a few months later she died."
"That's why he's an Omega, and why he's not much of a warrior. He wasn't born into the pack. They never trained him as one of them," Wei Ying realized.
"Yes, but he's the son of an Alpha," Nie Huaisang confirmed. "Although, as every shifter knows, becoming an Alpha or a Luna is not hereditary. It's the strongest wolf that leads the pack, as long as the wolf can win in a fight circle alone against a team of warriors. Obviously most children aim to be their parents' Beta. Meng Yao, with no pack training, never stood a chance against his other siblings. And then he met my brother."
Wei Ying could already see where this was going, but he just silently leaned against the car and allowed the other shifter the chance to continue the story.
"My brother was always meant to become an Alpha. You've met him. He didn't give anyone the chance to even consider contesting his claim. Even when we were children, he was a natural leader."
Wei Ying nodded. Nie Mingjue was strong like a mountain. Stubborn too. Unwilling to be distracted from his duties, even by the possibility of finding a mate. Even when power was a breath away from him, his wolf had still just wanted to lead alone.
"Jin Guangshan and his Luna visited the Unclean Realm to celebrate my sixth birthday with my father, and with the Alpha pair of the Storm Wolves and their children. He took Meng Yao with him," Nie Huaisang continued.
"I remember," Wei Ying said with a groan. "Jin Zixuan was there too. It was the first time my pack-sister ever saw him and when she came back to Lotus Pier, not even her mother could get Jiang Yanli to stop talking about the peacock."
"Well, the Alphas went out to have a training battle, and the Lunas went hunting together, so all the pups were left to play alone. My brother has alway been very protective of me, and since I was the only one in the group who hadn't shifted yet he was careful to keep everyone's claws and teeth away from me. But he had friends to play with who he hadn't seen in a while, and Wanyin was a new wolf so everyone wanted to impart all their knowledge onto him. I was left alone with Meng Yao to look after me."
"And his wolf attacked you," Wei Ying said softly.
Nie Huaisang laughed as if that was the funniest thing he ever heard.
"Of course not!" he chuckled. "My pack would have torn him to pieces while his father watched. No, Wei Wuxian, he's sneaky. If he clawed me it would have left a mark. Instead, he used his spiritual weapon to try to slit my throat. It felt sharp and thin, but it wasn't a blade. It was more like a wire wrapped around my neck. I thought my head was going to be severed from my body."
"How did you survive?" Wei Ying asked in horror.
"I shifted," Nie Huaisang said proudly. "And my wolf kept me alive. It wasn't a physical wound and he wasn't old enough or strong enough to do what he really wanted, but I was extremely hurt. I was barely conscious when my brother found us. Everyone assumed that the shift had put too much of a strain on my dantians and that was why I had spiritual lacerations all over my body. And they assumed I attacked him because I hadn't settled in my wolf form yet. He got praised for not shifting to fight back, but of course…"
"He couldn't wield his spiritual weapon in his wolf form," Wei Ying finished for him. "Why didn't you tell everyone what he did?"
"Huh? I don't know what he did. I don't know anything!" Nie Huaisang exclaimed with a hand to his chest. "It was my first shift and I almost maimed an innocent boy. Besides, I was six years old and I had finally shifted, so my family could stop worrying. In their eyes, Meng Yao had taken care of me through a difficult transition. Mingjue was just happy that he had me at his side and could finally train with me to hunt and to fight."
He laughed softly before he moved his hand and rested it on Wei Ying's shoulder as he said, "Meng Yao got what he wanted in the end. My Da-ge is his Da-ge now, and he's training on how to become a stronger warrior. With an alliance of the Lanling, the Qinghe, and the Gusu packs, who is going to stop him from challenging his pack warriors when the time comes? All he needs is the support of the Sena by his side when he faces his father again."
Nie Huaisang used his other hand to indicate the parking lot of the hotel where they were standing.
"I mean, look around. We're in Yingchuan. If it wasn't for Nie Qiuyue and me joining this little adventure, you'd be on the fast track to being delivered straight to Koi Tower with all the naivety of a fly to a spider's web."
Wei Ying reached up to grasp the hand that was still resting on his shoulder.
"Huaisang," Wei Ying said pleasantly. "You're a little shit. You could have warned me much sooner than this."
Nie Huaisang grinned widely as he said, "You're lucky my ass was going numb from sitting so long. I was prepared to watch the shock on your face when Jin Guangshan opened the car door and welcomed you to the territory of the Gold Wolves of Lanling. He's such a pompous dick in love with wealth that I'm not sure how his pack still even has shifter blood running through their veins."
"Yes, he sounds like someone I definitely don't want to be forced to meet," Wei Ying said dryly.
In the distance, exiting the hotel, Nie Quiyue walked towards where they stood. Nie Huaisang spotted her and waved happily. She didn't wave back, and Nie Huaisang laughed.
"I've bought you one more night of safety while my Epsilon and I are with you, but in the morning when we leave you'll be on your own," he said to Wei Ying quickly. "Maybe I can drag Meng Yao back with me, but that still leaves the rest of his pack to deal with."
Wei Ying groaned in annoyance.
"Because if Meng Yao is the way you say he is, then he's probably inside right now figuring out a way to let his father know exactly where I am."
"Definitely!" Nie Huaisang said with mischief still written all over his expression. "This place will be overrun by wolves in no time. But if word spreads that you're in Yingchuan all alone and defenseless, then…"
"Then the Blood Wolves will hear, and will leave Qinghe to find me, so your pack will be safe again," Wei Ying finished.
He gave Nie Huaisang a look of exasperation that was also a little bit amused.
"You are frightening," he said with a shake of his head. "How did nobody else manage to notice how conniving you are?"
"I don't know," Nie Huaisang said as he latched on to his guardian's arm as soon as she was close enough to him. "I sit in my studio and paint all day. I really don't know anything about anything at all!"
— — —
The next day arrived without incident, and in the afternoon Nie Huaisang saluted Wei Ying with a cheeky grin that showed he wasn't at all being respectful, and Wei Ying just laughed until Nie Huaisang relaxed his stance. Then Wei Ying waved pleasantly at both Nie Quiyue and Meng Yao and they all piled into the car and drove away.
Two more days passed and Wei Ying began to wonder if Nie Huaisang could be trusted about Meng Yao's motivations. If the Gold Wolves or the Blood Wolves were hot on his trail, Wei Ying expected to hear whispers of their arrival in Yingchuan. Then he would know that the Stone Wolves were no longer under attack and he could leave Yingchuan and slowly head southwest towards Meishan.
While there were a decent number of guests at the hotel however, none of them were other shifters. Which was strange. Wei Ying knew that being so close to another pack's territory meant that he should have at least seen a few of the Yingchuan Wang pack members, and been given an invitation to meet with their Luna.
Fuck it. I'm going for a run, Wei Ying decided as he stared at the stark cream colored walls of his hotel room.
Nie Huaisang had left him with a small overnight bag that included dark grey combat pants, mixed in with his one black t-shirt, his black hoodie, and his red scarf. Wei Ying changed into an outfit that incorporated all three colours and laughed softly when he found himself wishing that he had taken one of Lan Zhan's white half-masks to hide his face.
Once outside the building, he shifted to his wolf form in the parking lot, and then followed the busy streets until he arrived at the city center.
There were tourists everywhere around, all talking and laughing as they made their way towards the museums and parks that were their main destination. Wei Ying headed east out of the metropolis and eventually converged with more groups of tourists trying to get their fill of the old earthen walls of a past dynasty, before he headed north towards the southern bank of the Yellow River.
He slowed down to a walk when he caught the faint scent of a Xi just outside of the Yingchuan pack wards. Not wanting to be rude or to infringe on their territory, he diverted his path west towards the curve of the Jialu River. The watcher was still following him however, as her distinct rose-water scent wafted on the wind in her effort to catch up to him. Once he was a safe distance away from curious gazes, he shifted back into his human form and waited for her to stumble into view.
She had light brown fur and reddish black ears and she was slender. She looked closer to a coyote than a nearly full-grown wolf and for a second, Wei Ying wondered if she was a new breed of shifter.
When she began to shift, it was almost painful to hear. Each crack and break was such a distinctly sharp sound that Wei Ying wanted to reach out to her with some of his spiritual energy to make it a smoother shift.
"She survived," Wei Ying muttered in relief when the wolf was finally gone and a young woman in a light pink dress crouched in its place.
"Hey!" she shouted at him as if he hadn't been staring right at her. "Did you have to run so fast? I almost broke a leg trying to follow you."
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Wei Ying asked in confusion. "And why were you chasing me?"
She gave him a look of disgust as she began to massage her left calf with her fingers. When she didn't rise from where she crouched, Wei Ying wondered if he was supposed to offer his hand to help her.
She made it to her feet on her own a few seconds later, and hobbled over to him as if her leg really was injured from the chase.
When she was close enough, he reached out to her to indicate that he could give her some of his spiritual energy. She slapped his hand away with a resounding smack and then kicked him in the shin with her previously injured leg.
"What the fuck is wrong with you!" he shouted at her as she laughed.
"I know I'm pretty," she said. "But don't try to put your hands all over me. I already have a big, strong, Beta who wants to marry me soon. I don't need a pity fuck from someone like you, on a patch of muddy grass, just to get my dress all dirty."
She looked slightly older than him, but this didn't seem to translate into intelligence.
"Lady, nobody said anything about fucking you," Wei Ying said as he tried to massage away the headache that she was causing with her scent. "Who are you, anyway?"
"Wang Lingjiao," she said. "My mother is a Nu of the Yingchuang pack. You came this close to being shot by her and the other sentries. Lucky for you, I was told to prevent you from crossing into our territory so I made sure to chase you away."
"Told by who?" Wei Ying asked.
"Paid," Wang Lingjiao corrected, as she rubbed her fingers together. "A nice amount of money too. The Blood Wolves are very generous. It's why I'm going to marry Wen Chao and join the Blood Wolves' pack as their next Luna."
Wei Ying's mind scrambled to process this information.
"Are the Wen Betas in Yingchuan?" he asked her.
She made a face, and then shook her head emphatically before she said, "Wen Xu is dead. The Nie Alpha killed him in Qinghe two nights ago. Wen Chao got scared that he would be next so he left this morning to go into hiding. He didn't even spend a full day with me!"
"Then who paid you?" He took a step towards her, with his eyes glowing red. "Tell me who told you to look out for me."
"I did."
Wei Ying recognized the voice as soon as he heard it, even though the last time he had spoken to her she was in her wolf form.
Looking past Wang Lingjiao on the path that led away from the river, she stood with her arms cradling the baby that he had seen her with before. She was wearing bright red clothes, again with loose sleeves that were embroidered with the orange rising sun emblem, but this time she didn't have the teenage boy with her.
"Wang Lingjiao, thank you for your help," she said briskly, and then waved one hand to shoo the other woman away. "Go! Tell your Luna that I'll be there tomorrow to treat her injured warriors. In the meantime, make sure that none of your packmates leave your territory again this evening. The Gold Wolves who fought them this morning are still annoyed and are looking for them even now."
"Bossy fucking bitch," Wang Lingjiao muttered, loud enough for only Wei Ying to hear. "You wait until I'm your Luna. I'll chop your arms off so that you can't wave them about in my face."
Still she turned and began to walk away just as instructed. Wei Ying waited until she was definitely out of range to hear anything, and he watched her shift back into her wolf, before he turned his attention to the lady in red.
She was staring at him, and when his gaze met hers, her eyebrows arched in surprise.
"That's truly remarkable," she said in awe.
"What is?"
She slowly approached him and then stopped only when she could lean close enough to his face to stare at his eyes. Her own dark eyes narrowed as her gaze bounced from one of his red irises to the other.
"I suspected that might be the case. I heard that in the Yunmeng battle your eyes were red before you shifted, and I wondered if you could actually do it. Shift only parts of yourself at a time. You have a were-form, am I right?"
Wei Ying took a couple steps away from her and gave her a look that clearly meant that he thought she was quite possibly insane.
"I think I would know by now if I had a were-form," he said.
One corner of her mouth lifted into a smirk. "You do. I'm sure of it now. You should try it. I suppose it would take more effort and concentration since it's like a muscle you never knew you had control over. But you're an asena. No one knows quite how much you can do. Here. Hold this."
Before Wei Ying could respond, she reached over and shoved the baby into his arm. It was bigger and heavier than it looked and it immediately began to squirm. Wei Ying tightened his grip on it and looked down to see if there was anything he was doing to cause such a reaction. Wide honey brown eyes gazed up at him before it scrunched its face up and tears began to leak. It gasped, raised its arms, tensed its legs, and then it began to cry.
Wei Ying shifted his eyes back to the more acceptable silver grey colour as he wondered if he had frightened the baby. But, even that didn't seem to calm it. Next he tried to rock it without dropping it, and that startled it so much that it stopped crying and instead, jutted its lower lip out and sobbed softly.
"He's cold," the Blood Wolf said patiently. "Hold him closer so that he can feel your body heat."
"What's his name?" Wei Ying asked. Then realizing that he had missed an obvious question, he backtracked to ask, "Actually, what's your name?" Then, he gathered the tiny bundle of misery closer to his body and raised his arms so that he could bring it closer to his chest. "And before you answer either of those two questions, why should I even be trusting you? I can't tell if the hunters have been tracking you or me, or why we keep ending up in the same cities."
"Follow me."
Wei Ying held the baby to his shoulder as he carefully made his way over to where she stood waiting. Once he was close, she turned and began to walk back towards the main road and the nearest town. Wei Ying considered not being so trusting of a dangerous stranger, but the baby in his arms didn't even have a blanket to shield it from the chill of the wind, so for its sake he followed her retreating figure.
"His name is Wen Yuan and he is ten months old," she said, after they had walked for about five minutes in silence. "My name is Wen Qing. I am the Theta of the Blood Wolves of Qishan. And, as for why you and I keep ending up in the same cities, it's because I keep trying to find you, and the Kappas are trying to kill me."
"Why have you tried to find me?"
She sighed, as if she needed a moment to choose her words carefully.
"Wen Yuan is not my child. He's stolen. I stole him from my pack and I've been trying to figure out a way to keep him safe. From my Alpha. But it's too late now. The Kappas found me again, before I could explain all of this to you, and now they have my brother. So my only choice is to exchange this baby for him. The baby won't be safe anymore, but if the choice is between a ten month old baby that's stolen and my fifteen year old little brother, I am going to do what I have to. What I have to do, Wei Wuxian, is to hand this baby over to Wen Ruohan, even though there is nothing that he can do with him for another five years."
Wei Ying channelled his spiritual powers into a blanket of warmth that flowed from his palms, careful to not overheat the baby. Wen Yuan seemed to appreciate it because he immediately began to babble softly into Wei Ying's ear, and he rested his head on Wei Ying's shoulder and used his tiny fingers to pluck at the collar of Wei Ying's clothes.
"Stolen baby," Wei Ying reiterated. "Right. And you're giving him back in exchange for your brother. And, Wen Ruohan wants to do something horrible to him as soon as he learns how to shift. Why all of that?"
"Smell him," she said.
Wei Ying had been smelling the baby. With Wen Yuan so close it was hard not to notice his scent. It was very subtle and it was confused by his other baby scents like milk and lavender soap, but it was still a scent that was noticeable to Wei Ying.
"He smells like ashes. Like someone tried to set him on fire," Wei Ying said quietly.
She nodded. "Pups don't have a distinct scent, but Wen Yuan does, and I think it's because his parents tried to experiment on their own with him before he was born. When the experiment didn't work, his father didn't want him anymore, so he was abandoned to me. They could have killed him, and that's the reason why I ran away with him. I'm sick of dying babies, Sena. I'm sick of the part I play in it."
Wei Ying stopped walking.
They were a short distance away from a street market, and from the noise of the vendors and the patrons. The crowd around them ebbed and flowed like waves, coupled with the sound of traffic in the streets. But Wei Ying had heard her words and it sent a cold shiver down his spine.
"Explain." The word came out as a command as he reached for her arm with the tendrils of black smoke at his fingertips, not caring if there were any witnesses. "And it better be a good explanation, Blood Wolf. There are so few shifters born each year. What has your pack been doing to their children?"
She turned to him with her gaze lowered to the ground at his feet.
"I will tell you everything, Diànxià, if you promise to help me," she whispered. "I want my brother back and I think only the Sena can negotiate to have him safely released."
She led him to a hotel which was another fifteen minutes walk away. It was nowhere near the location of the hotel that Wei Ying had been staying at, but it was still on the outskirts of the Yingchuan's pack territory. Once they arrived, she led him straight to the elevator, then opened the door to the room that she had been staying in.
Wei Ying took a seat on the single chair across from the bed. He cradled the now sleeping baby into the crook of one arm again, while Wen Qing knelt on the floor at his feet with her head bowed.
"On the day you were born, every shifter in existence knew that the Sena was born. It was amazing and terrifying. The Sena was born in our lifetime. History is so lacking when it comes to the existence of asenas. As far as we know there has only ever been one asena before you and we only know that she existed and nothing else about her. But, there was no question that you were real. We all felt it. It was a shared experience. Every wolf-shifter before you, can tell you exactly where they were at the moment of your birth, and every wolf-shifter after you, is born with the knowledge that you are here in this world with us."
Wei Ying made a face, and muttered, "Yes, I know. I was there for that part."
"That part is important to an Alpha like Wen Ruohan," Wen Qing said quietly. "You see Tianzi, when you were born you were like a dragon descending from the heavenly realm. Wen Ruohan spent his life up until then training to become a powerful shifter. He was kicked out of his own pack and he joined many others before he found a home with the Blood Wolves. When he was old enough, he challenged the Alpha and all the warriors, and to make his point, he killed the Alpha pair and took the title. And then years later, you were born, and he realized that he was nothing in comparison to your power."
She raised her gaze to look at Wei Ying. "He wants you, and he is willing to have you in any way he can. He tried to take you from your parents when you were young, but they chose to die rather than to give you up to him. Afterwards, he realized that he had missed his chance to snatch you up, when whispers began to circulate that you were in Yunmeng as part of the Storm Wolves. His warriors weren't any match for the Yunmeng Alpha pair so he began to force smaller packs to join his own. When he thought he had enough he went after the Stone Wolves, because they have such fierce warriors."
"But Ruohan underestimated Mingjue. He had recently lost his father and he wasn't about to lose his pack as well. He wasn't so easy to fight," Wei Ying interjected.
"Yes, Wen Ruohan overestimated the strength of his own pack, but he had something else that he was working on."
Wen Qing reached up to lightly brush a finger against one of Wen Yuan's soft cheeks. Then she took a deep breath before she continued.
"A few months after you were born, Wen Ruohan found a little boy abandoned by his family. He was begging on the streets so Wen Ruohan took him into the pack as an Omega. I don't know what was done to the little boy, I wasn't there for the early ones, but I do know that the little boy wasn't able to shift until he was seven years old. When he did shift, he had an awful ability where he could latch on to a shifter's spiritual essence to weaken them, and even strip the shifter of their spiritual powers while in wolf form. To the point where the wolf was in so much agony that the shifter often died."
"Wen Zhuliu?" Wei Ying asked.
She nodded. "Yes he was one of the first experiments. Wen Ruohan wanted an asena for himself and when he couldn't find you he went half mad trying to figure out how to make an ordinary shifter into someone like you. But, how do you create a deity?"
"I'm not a deity," Wei Ying protested softly.
"Aren't you?" Wen Qing asked with a sad smile. "He tried for years on pups just before they shifted and either it didn't work, or many of the children didn't survive. He couldn't even replicate his results with Wen Zhuliu. He even tried on Wen Xu, but when he realized that he was at risk of losing his own child he gave up and decided to reform his method. When you were about eight years old, he found another little boy who was due for the first shift and he tried his new method on him."
Tears gathered in her eyes, and she swiped them hastily away.
"What happened?" Wei Ying asked. Then realization dawned. "Was it your brother?"
She nodded frantically.
"It was! A-Ning. He was so little and shy and he'd never hurt anyone. He'd been so terrified of shifting that every day he would ask me to explain to him about it, and if it hurt, and if I was sure that it was something he could control."
She sniffled, before she wrapped her arms around herself and took another long breath. "They came for him one night. It was a full moon, just like in the horror stories. His mother tried to hold on to him, but our father had volunteered him so he dragged a-Ning away from her. I spent all night crying and worrying, wondering if he would survive the shift. And he did! He shifted into a little red wolf with light brown markings and a white muzzle. He looked beautiful."
"What was wrong with him?"
She sobbed quietly as tears ran down her cheeks, but she was able to continue with her story through her tears.
"He was feral. Truly an animal with no consciousness. He couldn't communicate, he couldn't control himself, he was just a wild wolf who couldn't even recognize his pack. He attacked everyone. He killed our father and maimed another Iota. Nobody could get near him, to talk to him, or to even feed him. His mind was completely lost," she said.
"You got him back though, so what happened?" Wei Ying prodded.
"I got him back. I did! The leaders chained his legs to a post near his mother's house and every day I would sit near him and talk to him. One night, about a year later I was in my wolf form and I reached out to communicate with him. He was there, like a tiny, frightened voice in the back of his own mind. I had never heard him communicate before and I didn't give him the chance to disappear again. I immediately talked him through shifting back into his human form. He couldn't do it that night. I don't know why, but maybe he continued to try in that little corner of his mind. About five or six months later I woke up one day and went outside and my little brother was sitting there, leaning against a post and crying softly to himself. Since then, he has never been able to shift into his wolf form again. I have spent years trying to understand what went wrong, and to try and fix him."
In Wei Ying's lap, Wen Yuan opened his big brown eyes and stared at Wei Ying sleepily. Wei Ying lightly stroked a path from the center of his little forehead down to the tip of his button nose, over and over until the soothing motion lulled Wen Yuan back to sleep.
"What happened with a-Yuan?" Wei Ying asked softly. "What makes you think something is wrong with him?"
"I don't think anything is wrong with him. I examined him myself and he's perfectly fine, but I can tell from his scent that his parents tried to change him."
Wen Qing finally got off her knees and sat comfortably on the floor with her legs tucked up to her chest. Now that the most difficult part of the story for her was over, she seemed to quickly regain her poise and confidence.
"After Wen Ning there were no more successes in the children who were at the cusp of shifting. Most shifted normally with no changes to their spiritual powers. Some turned out to be non-shifters, but there was no indication of whether this had to do with the experiments. Eventually after a few disappointing years had passed, Wen Ruohan decided to target babies before they were born. He tried as soon as the couple reported that the woman was pregnant. He tried later in the pregnancy. He even tried during the delivery."
"Who were these heartless fuckers who were giving up their unborn babies to be experimented on by a monster? I swear on their children's lives that I'll hunt them until they're all dead," Wei Ying seethed.
"Many of the mothers died. A few of the babies did. We didn't have many to try on so there wasn't a lot to lose, but each death weighed on my conscience," Wen Qing said quietly. "I tried everything I could! I followed his exact instructions, and then I varied it. I tried to lessen the amount of spiritual energy that the Iotas used, and when that didn't work, I tried to change the intent behind the incantations. I drew and redrew the arrays numerous times but even that made no difference. As soon as the babies were born, alive or not, we knew immediately that we had failed."
"Of course," Wei Ying said with a sigh. "Because when an asena is born, every wolf knows. And when an asena dies, every wolf mourns."
He wanted to retaliate. He wanted to snarl, and howl, and leave this room, and run to Qishan where Wen Ruohan sat in the Palace of the Sun, and he wanted to tear the man's body apart with his teeth and his claws.
So much of Wen Qing's explanation felt to Wei Ying like it was his own fault. If he hadn't been born as the Sena then there would have been no Sena to emulate. If he had spent less time running and hiding over the past few years then there would have been less children to hurt. His parents wouldn't have been killed protecting his identity, and the large packs like the Stone Wolves, the Storm Wolves, and the Ice Wolves wouldn't have been under attack.
And Lan Zhan, Wei Ying thought. Lan Zhan wouldn't have lost his Alpha. He could have lived a quiet life without me stumbling into his cave, bleeding all over his land, and distracting him from his duties to his pack.
"You said that the Qishan Kappas found you and that they took your brother. Why would they come for him and not the baby? And why would Wen Ruohan still want Wen Yuan at all if there is nothing unusual about him?" Wei Ying asked.
Wen Qing shook her head slowly. "They don't really want my brother. He's a failed experiment. One of the Kappas took my brother to force me to work with them," she said. "They made a deal with Jin Guangshan and his large pack of warriors who also came to Yingchuan to find you. He is willing to hand you over to the hunters if they will allow him the chance to test if he is your mate before they drag you away to meet with Wen Ruohan. If you don't agree to test Jin Guangshan then they will take my brother to Qishan and I will need to hand over Wen Yuan as the next child to be experimented on when he is ready to shift."
"I assume that I can't leave then. That the door is locked, that the path outside is swarming with wolves already, and that Jin Guangshan and the Qishan Kappas are probably already standing at the door preparing to come in and get me."
"You can leave," she said carefully. "But, how will you run from a pack of wolves with a baby in your arms? They will always find you and it makes it so difficult when shifting is not a viable option. I've been running and hiding for days now, I can't do it anymore, and now that they have my brother I don't want to. So it's up to you. I can help you to escape, if you want, but then you'll be stuck with a baby and I won't get my brother back. Or, we can sit here and wait for them to come and see where that takes us."
It didn't even take that long for them to wait.
As soon as there was the sound of pounding knocks on the door, Wen Qing looked over at where Wei Ying and Wen Yuan sat together. The baby was awake again and sipping on a bottle of milk. Wei Ying was quickly learning how to feed him, and a-Yuan was making it difficult by trying to do it himself.
Wei Ying nodded, and Wen Qing immediately went to open the door.
Five men entered the hotel suite with rifles drawn and pointed at the occupants of the room. Wen Qing backed away from the door and the men ushered her closer to where Wei Ying was sitting.
"You will all need to come with us," the leader of the group said, but he kept his voice low as his gaze fell to the baby.
They were just standard Etas, not particularly high in rank. They were all wearing the same crisp khaki uniform of the Lanling troops and seemed embarrassed to have interrupted Wei Ying and Wen Qing with a-Yuan.
Wei Ying shifted Wen Yuan's weight in his arms and stood up to face the warriors. Almost immediately, the five men simultaneously dropped to one knee with their weapons at their sides and their heads bowed.
Wen Qing huffed out a short, surprised sound, but Wei Ying looked down at the kneeling men and took a deep breath.
"How am I supposed to follow you if you're down there?" he asked pointedly.
"Before we leave we just wanted to say to you that it is an honour to meet the Sena," the leader responded. "We're not here to harm you. On the command of our Alpha, we are to treat you with the respect of your title. We didn't realize that you were in here. We thought that we had been double crossed by the Blood Wolf, like the Qishan men were, when they were in the Unclean Realm. But it's you! You are the Sena."
Wei Ying sighed. "Get up. All of you! If I'm going to be dragged in front of the Alpha of the Gold Wolves, I'd prefer to do it sooner rather than later, and ideally before he invites all his children to be there."
The men rose and began to shuffle towards the door. Once he was close enough, Wei Ying handed Wen Yuan over to Wen Qing.
"You should leave," he said to her. "Find out where the Kappas are holding your brother and get him back. If I willingly meet with Jin Guangshan and then travel to Qishan, your brother and a-Yuan will both be safe. You won't need to hide anymore."
Wen Qing looked to the leader of the Etas who had listened to Wei Ying's words. The Eta looked between them doubtfully, but then he seemed to come to a decision, and he nodded at her.
"You can leave, Blood Wolf," he said with a sneer. "You're not needed anymore."
Outside, two metallic gold SUVs were parked near the front door of the hotel. Nobody seemed to notice them. The staff at the front desk and the guests in the lobby all slid their gazes away from the group of men with rifles on their backs, and the young man who they surrounded.
When Wei Ying got to the cars, one of the warriors held the door open for him, while the leader walked around to the driver's side. The other three men all waited by their car and watched to make sure that Wei Ying got in.
Wei Ying however, had no intentions of fighting, especially when he had just left Wen Qing and Wen Yuan defenseless inside the hotel. So, with a smile at the team of warriors he slid into the backseat and made himself comfortable.
Since he already knew exactly where they were headed, he mentally prepared himself for a long drive.
Five hours later when night had fallen and a light snow began to drift past the glow of all the city lights, the SUVs stopped in the winding driveway outside of an extravagant mansion. The door to the backseat was opened by another Eta dressed in the standard khaki uniform, and eight more warriors lined the path leading to the front entrance, all holding military rifles.
"Welcome to Lanling," the Eta said solemnly to Wei Ying. "Welcome to the Golden Koi Tower."
— — —
Wei Ying was exhausted, both mentally and physically.
Having spent days going from one high intensity situation to another, with not enough time in between to fully relax, the last thing he wanted to do was to get formally dressed up in a black suit in preparation for a private meal with the Alpha.
"Tell him I'm sick," Wei Ying protested with a groan. "Unless he wants to watch me fall asleep with food in my mouth, he's going to have to give me a few hours to sleep."
He didn't even wait for the Delta at the door to acknowledge the message before he closed the door in her face.
He immediately leaned against the door and faced the lavish bedroom that he had been informed would be his room for the length of his stay. Wei Ying was used to a childhood of wealth, having grown up on the massive estate of Lotus Pier, but everything about Koi Tower was built in opulence. He was fairly certain that the frames on the large king-sized bed were made of solid gold, and so was the toilet in the adjoining bathroom.
"Definitely the Gold Wolves of Lanling," Wei Ying mused aloud with a quiet little chuckle. "And there I was thinking that the name came from the color of his pack's fur."
A loud knock interrupted Wei Ying's thoughts and he moved away from the door to grasp the handle.
"Who is it this time?" he asked with evident annoyance.
There was no verbal response. After another few seconds of silence, there was another round of sharp knocks at the door.
Wei Ying wrenched the door open and glared at the two armed Etas who stood guard outside his room before he chided, "Why are you both here if you don't intend to be useful? Just tell everybody to fuck off until tomorrow morning."
"We're not your servants, sir," the braver of the two responded. "Keep your door open, if you don't want us to keep knocking."
"You just want to see me naked," Wei Ying teased.
He laughed as the second guard's face immediately flushed a deep shade of red, but he was distracted by the nudge at his leg when the wolf that had been waiting slipped by him to enter the room.
He quickly shut the door again, and turned just in time to watch as the golden brown wolf that was standing near the center of the room, shifted into a beautiful young lady.
She bowed deeply to him and said, "Wei Wuxian, I am Qin Su, originally of the Laoling Qin pack. I am here on behalf of my father to ensure that your stay here at Koi Tower remains comfortable."
Jin Guangshan had sent a Mu, the peace-keeper of the pack, to check up on him, and this made Wei Ying want to laugh again.
"Is your father the Alpha?" he asked her.
She nodded almost reluctantly.
"Is he upset that I would rather go to bed than spend time getting to know him tonight?"
"He's not upset," she said with an edge in her voice. "He's disappointed that you are not as enthusiastic to spend the night with him as he is to be with you."
"I'm tired. I want to sleep. I don't want to spend my first night in Lanling turning down unwanted advances from your Alpha. I'm sure that I'll be much better company for him in the morning," Wei Ying pointed out.
She crossed her arms in front of her chest as if she wasn't sure if she should be the one to have this conversation with him, but her voice was steady when she responded.
"You are the Sena and your mate will become the Xiandu. My Alpha doesn't believe that what you want should affect your decision to be with him tonight. When he bonds with you and you have taken his mark, you will be less hesitant in your desires towards him."
Wei Ying almost choked on his next breath as he snorted, "As soon as he bites my neck, I'll immediately want to suck his cock. Is that really what he thinks?"
She raised her gaze to glare sharply at him.
"Is he wrong?" she snapped. "My mother has always said that the experience of being marked by an Alpha is like nothing else. It clouds your mind and dulls your senses. You won't want anyone else but him, even if it goes against anything you believe you wanted before."
Wei Ying slowly shook his head and tried not to stare in disbelief at her as he said, "That sounds incredibly unpleasant. I think I'll pass on the experience for as long as I can, thank you."
He took a step closer to her and reached for her hand. There was no hesitancy in her grip as she easily allowed him to entwine their fingers together.
"What if I told you that you'd be more my type than he is?" he said quietly. "Would you spend your nights with me even if it's against the wishes of your Alpha, or your mate?"
Her gaze went soft and she nodded. "You are the Sena. If you want me, then even my Alpha has no power to oppose you. It would be an honour to be with you."
"All this talk of honour and power, and of me being the Sena. Don't you see my problem?" He raised her fingers to his lips and gently kissed them. "I want my mate to want me. Not my title and not my spiritual powers. I'm not just a weapon to use and throw aside when he gets bored. Your Alpha wants to spend his night with an idea, just like you do. He doesn't actually want me."
Her hand slid out of his and she dropped her gaze, but he smiled kindly at her until she looked at him again.
"You want me to go back and tell him that you're going to bed alone, and that you'll see him in the morning," she said.
He laughed softly, "Yes. Exactly. Could you please go and tell Jin Guangshan that for me, Qin Su?"
"Of course, Sena."
She backed away from him as if she was afraid to turn her back to him. When she got to the door, she knocked sharply three times, then she bowed deeply to Wei Ying again.
"I'll be back to escort you down to breakfast in the morning. You should definitely get some rest, since you've negotiated so hard for it."
She rose out of the bow with a quiet sigh. Then her gaze drifted over his body in a bolder move than he would have given her credit for.
"Whatever you believe about people's motivation in getting close to you, Wei Wuxian, I can assure you that you are gorgeous. The Alpha would have wanted you in his bed whether you are the Sena or not. And just like every other adult shifter in Koi Tower right now, he'll want to keep you here for as long as he can. Even with hiding your scent from us, your presence is still as comforting as sitting in front of a fireplace in winter. I can only imagine how tempting you are to an Alpha."
Wei Ying huffed loudly, and made an annoyed face. Qin Su laughed softly to herself. And then she opened the door and quickly left him alone.
"Wei Ying."
The words seemed to blossom out of the silence, formed from the faintest whisper, and Wei Ying almost swayed where he stood near the door, at the sound of it.
As soon as he heard his name, Wei Ying's heart began to beat faster and all thoughts of Jin Guangshan and his mansion of gold slipped from his mind. He closed his eyes and held his breath as he listened for the faint voice. It took a second but when it came again it was soft and distant, because of course, the wolf wasn't putting enough conviction behind the communication.
"Wei Ying."
Wei Ying turned off the lights in the bedroom in a daze, and stumbled over to the bed. He climbed onto it, still fully dressed, and concentrated on the connection. Since he wasn't in his wolf form he couldn't open up a proper communication channel. He could only rely on the wolf to reach out more.
"Wei Ying," Lan Zhan said softly. "I hope you're safe."
"Lan Zhan," Wei Ying murmured aloud, because damn it, he couldn't help but to respond to his name spoken in that voice.
Wei Ying clutched tightly at the sheets beneath his fingers and took a deep, sharp breath.
He bit back a curse of frustration. This was supposed to be impossible. Even with all the times that he had suspected it to be happening, and all the times that he had cautiously tested it between them and then convinced himself that it was his imagination, having it confirmed like this was still a surprise.
Shifters could only communicate to each other in their wolf form and only in close proximity to each other. Except, it seemed, for communicating with Lan Zhan. Until he met Lan Zhan, Wei Ying hadn't even known that as the Sena, he could bridge this gap. Now the little time that he had spent with Lan Zhan in Qinghe had caused the connection to strengthen enough to work both ways.
"Aiya! Why are you like this?" He groaned again and buried his face into a pillow to muffle his words. "Why do you have to be so amazing?"
"Who is it that makes you so restless? Is it the Epsilon in Qinghe that wanted to stay with you?" A voice asked with wry amusement as the door opened again.
Fear spiked through every nerve in Wei Ying's body, but it wasn't fear for himself.
The truth was that he couldn't explain the connection that he had with Lan Zhan, so he needed to keep it a secret. Just like Jiang Wanyin was the only pack leader who secretly knew that Wei Ying could open and close, and eavesdrop, on any shared communication while shifted. Little nuggets of information like that was what Alphas like Wen Ruohan wanted to know.
Jin Guangshan too. The same Jin Guangshan who was quickly striding over to where Wei Ying was lying in the dark.
Wei Ying climbed out of the bed, determined not to greet this man on his back under any circumstances. He took about three steps forward before Jin Guangshan was at his side. Jin Guangshan grabbed one of Wei Ying's arms in a tight grip and leaned in close.
"Do you have a lover, little Sena? Is that why you've been hiding in here?" he asked. "Is he making you ache for him, even while you're a guest in my territory?"
Wei Ying turned towards him so that his nose was a breath away from Jin Guangshan's cheek before he whispered, "You have a spy in Qinghe who has wriggled his way close to Nie Mingjue. Good for you. But if all he told you is that a guardian wanted to protect me, then he's not very good. I have Epsilons in every pack who would give up their lives to keep me safe."
"I'm not threatened by Epsilons, little Sena." Jin Guangshan laughed and then leaned in even closer to brush his lips to Wei Ying's ear. "Even if he has you pining for him in your bed at night. You can keep him or any other lover you want. My bed won't be empty. Yours doesn't have to be either. If you are mine then the bond would ensure that you come to me whenever I need you. And it would be unbreakable, as all wolves know."
Wei Ying shifted his eyes until the red irises glowed in the dark. Wen Qing had said he could do more, and likely had a were-form. Wei Ying wished he could test if she was right. He wanted his canines out and his claws extended. He wanted to growl and to snarl.
But he forced himself to keep calm.
"If I am your mate I won't be keeping lovers, and neither will you," Wei Ying said. "The Sena and the Xiandu are zhiji. That means that it's a soulbond. Think about that very carefully Jin Guangshan. As the Sena, once I take an Alpha's mark, his life is in my hands."
Jin Guangshan backed away from Wei Ying so fast that Wei Ying laughed.
"What?" Wei Ying taunted him. "Did you think you'd have me bound to you like a prisoner to do whatever you wanted with no repercussions?"
"You're lying. This is a ploy to keep me away from you," Jin Guangshan said.
Still chuckling softly, Wei Ying turned away from him. He raised one arm and snapped two fingers. Immediately the room was flooded with a red light that mellowed and faded into a pure white glow between them. The glow expanded, leaving shadows to writhe and undulate on the edges and against the walls, like tormented souls.
Jin Guangshan's handsome face was an equal study in awe and fear, as if he couldn't decide how to react.
Wei Ying looked him over. He was dressed in a black pinstripe suit with a gold tie and loafers with no socks. He looked like he was about forty-five years old but his boyish good looks made him seem distinguished. Wei Ying could see why he had so many children. He obviously thought that it was his right to populate the land with his offsprings.
A man like this would never understand having a true mate.
"I don't have to lie to keep you away from me. I have more spiritual power in my fingers than you do in your entire body," Wei Ying said pointedly.
Jin Guangshan took a tentative step closer to Wei Ying again. He reached out to cup Wei Ying's cheek in one palm. When Wei Ying didn't immediately reject the touch, he gently stroked his thumb back and forth over the smooth, soft skin.
"You are so exquisite and so arrogant. I had a lover like you once. A praying mantis. Magnificent and powerful in equal measure. Deadly." His tone was as soft and gentle as his touch. "I feared for my life every minute that I was with him, but god, he was so captivating. I know to be cautious around creatures like you now."
He stepped even closer, until he was almost pressed against Wei Ying's side.
"I don't care how dangerous you are, Sena," he continued softly. "I will have you in my bed. I will use you how I please."
Wei Ying was tempted to give in and put a stop to this. All he wanted was for them to both be in their wolf forms at the same time, to perform the test. He very nearly suggested that they shift so that he could get it over with.
But he was tired, and he really didn't feel up to exerting any of the energy required to go for a run. The fact that Jin Guangshan was suggesting to get hot and bothered in a sexual way was even less appealing.
"I'm going to sleep, Alpha," Wei Ying said with a cold smirk that didn't reach his red eyes. "So assuming you've finished implying that all it takes is a quick fuck to earn the right to be my mate and become the Xiandu, I'm going to need you step the fuck away from me. Move!"
Jin Guangshan stumbled half a step away before he even realized that he had obeyed. His eyes immediately widened in surprise.
Wei Ying shook his head and gave him a pitying look. How was this man still an Alpha, he wondered. Using his voice to command was a trick that usually only worked on subordinates.
"You're not as strong as you pretend to be, are you, Guangshan?" Wei Ying asked. "Too many nights spent doing other things instead of strengthening your core. Are you worth even being tested? I'm not going to waste my time if you've just been hiding behind your wealth to seem powerful."
"Still powerful enough to pin you down in a fight," Jin Guangshan sneered.
Wei Ying laughed. "I hope so, because if not, your pack will know. The last thing you want is your Omega realizing that you're not even strong enough to still be Alpha."
"Meng Yao is so starved of my affections that he does whatever I ask, even spying on the two people in this world who think he's worth anything," Jin Guangshan said.
When I become who I want to be, Wei Ying remembered Meng Yao saying. And he remembered that look that Nie Huaisang had given to Meng Yao's back when he had walked away.
"You don't even know your own son," Wei Ying pointed out quietly. "He'd choke you in your sleep and then pretend to weep over your dead body."
Jin Guangshan studied Wei Ying's face as if something was hidden there.
"Do you want my Omega for yourself, Sena?" he asked. "Is that what this is about? Someone younger. Someone you think is more worthy of being the Alpha than me. My pack is spoiled for choices if you're looking for strong, virile shifters to climb into your bed. There's no need to lick the bottom of the barrel."
He's envious of his own children and yet he keeps having more, Wei Ying mused silently. What kind of Alpha is he?
Instead of responding though, Wei Ying turned away from Jin Guangshan and snapped his fingers again. The light in the room immediately went out, leaving the two of them in darkness. It served as a firm indication that Wei Ying was done with their conversation.
Jin Guangshan stood silently in the dark for a few seconds before Wei Ying heard the sound of his footsteps as the Alpha retreated to the door. Only then did Wei Ying turn to face him. In the darkness, he knew that he had to look frightening with his iridescent red irises staring like two floating points.
"Youth is so imprudent. So impulsive. And you are the most arrogant of them all, aren't you, little Sena?" Jin Guangshan chided quietly. "Have a good night's rest. Tomorrow, I want you to meet me on the west training field an hour or two after midday. I'll be waiting there with my warriors."
Wei Ying exhaled softly. "Alright, I'll fight you," he said. "If you win then you'll be worthy of being tested as my mate. If I win, well you'll have bigger things to worry about, won't you?"
Wei Ying waited for the door to open and for Jin Guangshan to slip out of the room before he returned his eyes to their light grey color. He sucked in a few sharp breaths of air to calm his nerves, and stumbled his way over to the bed. He still didn't trust being anything but fully dressed in this house, so he climbed in again with his clothes on.
Closing his eyes, he tried to sense if he could find the communication channel that Lan Zhan had wedged open, but even shifters weren't capable of human telepathy, so he felt absolutely nothing.
Wei Ying. Please. Be more careful.
As he drifted off to sleep, Wei Ying found himself smiling at the memory of Lan Zhan's voice and the snow white wolf who had felt so solid, and warm, in his arms. And even though it was only a few days and Wuxian hadn't even spent any time playing with the white wolf, he missed him already.
"You worry too much, Lan Zhan," Wei Ying muttered into his pillow. "I hope I get to see you again soon."
— — —
In hindsight, Wei Ying realized that he had been too confident.
The thing that he regretted the most though, the thing that weighed on his mind, was not his confidence in meeting Jin Guangshan on the west training field the next afternoon. It was his regret that in the moment that he walked onto the field and looked around, he dismissed the figure in black standing beside Jin Guangshan and instead focused on the warriors in red.
On one side, Jin Guangshan stood dressed in the khaki military uniform of his pack. Behind him was a team of ten warriors who all stood staring unwaveringly straight ahead.
Beside Jin Guangshan stood a man dressed entirely in black, who looked Wei Ying over in a slow, scrutiny with a wide, happy grin on his face. He looked almost giddy with sycophantic glee and his dark gaze kept darting to Wei Ying's face and body, as if he wanted to memorize him.
Facing the Gold Wolves were five Blood Wolves.
Wen Zhuliu stood in the forefront. One of his hands held tightly onto the thick silver chains that led to their young prisoner. Wen Ning had manacles around his ankles and around his wrists that looked extremely uncomfortable and very restrictive. He looked down at his feet, even when Wei Ying tried to meet his gaze, and that made Wei Ying frown at the other Blood Wolves. There were three more of them. All three were Kappas, and Wei Ying recognized them as the lead hunters who had attacked him as a team in Qinghe.
He focussed on the Blood Wolves who had come to Lanling to retrieve him for their Alpha. He would deal with them in due time. First though, he had to fight the Lanling Alpha, so he tore his attention away from Wen Ning and the Qishan shifters, and he looked at Jin Guangshan instead.
"You brought guests. That's very confident of you," Wei Ying said to Jin Guangshan once he was close enough to be heard by everyone. "Thank you for joining us, everyone. This shouldn't take too long."
Jin Guangshan's eyes narrowed in irritation but he still inclined his head politely as he said, "The Blood Wolves invited themselves, little Sena, and they have refused to leave without taking you with them."
"Of course," Wei Ying scoffed, and glanced towards the Qishan Zeta again. "Well, it doesn't matter now. Let's just get started. You remember the terms of the fight?"
"I remember. If I win, I get you and a soulbond, and the means by which you can take my life. If I lose, then I lose you, and I lose my pack to you as well," Jin Guangshan summarized in a tight voice.
He took a careful step towards Wei Ying and stopped close enough to look him in the eyes.
"Asena, before we begin, there is someone you should meet." He indicated the man in black, standing behind him. "This is Xue Yang. He has been impatiently waiting to meet you."
Wei Ying looked towards the man in black, and he politely nodded in a quick greeting.
"Diànxià, it is an incredible honour to finally see you for myself," Xue Yang said with a deep bow and happy grin.
His eyes were like pools of ink as he rose again to face Wei Ying, and when he clapped his hands together to focus everyone's attention, the grin on his face only faded long enough for him to shout. His voice was sharp and commanding.
"Let us begin!" he said.