When they were close enough to Ruohan, the two men forced Wei Ying to his knees. Then lower, until his forehead was almost pressed into the ground.
Wei Ying closed his eyes and listened to the sound of Ruohan's wolf form as the Alpha approached. And he wanted to scream at him.
This shifter with his charismatic smile and the way he looked hungrily at Wei Ying. This wolf who would never stop, would never give up, until the Sena was bonded to him because he was convinced that this was his reward for being powerful. This man who had hunted him for years was the reason why an asena was even born.
The wolf's breath was hot as it curled against the back of Wei Ying's neck and Wei Ying forced himself to remain calm. This was going to hurt a lot.
"Wei Ying! No!"
Loud and sharp and filled with panic, in Lan Zhan's voice, the words exploded into Wei Ying's mind.
Wei Ying immediately slammed the connection shut, and then forced his body not to shake from the effort of it.
Don't look, Lan Zhan. Stay away. Lan Zhan, I'm so sorry, he chanted silently as he wished there was some way to communicate back to the wolf who was somewhere on the field watching.
Wei Ying didn't have time for another thought though, because Ruohan's mouth opened above his neck and then a searing pain sliced all the way down Wei Ying's spine as Ruohan sank his teeth in.
"Wei Ying!" Lan Zhan shouted, louder than ever before.
Lan Zhan's communication channel tore wide open from the force of his distress, but Wei Ying didn't have the mental capacity to slam it shut again.
Wei Ying's body felt like it was being dipped in acid and poisoned from within.
No other Alpha had ever gotten this close. No other had ever actually bitten a bond mark into the Sena. And even as a wave of spiritual energy rushed to the site of the wound to cleanse him of the incompatible mark, Wei Ying fought against it.
Just as he thought it was going to be removed before he had a chance to hold on to it, he felt the dark whisper of power that he had sensed in Wen Ruohan sink like a hook for a few seconds.
Wei Ying concentrated on the bond, and then he held on to it.
The dark whisps inside of Wen Ruohan were no match for the pitch black darkness that settled like a lake inside of the asena. Wei Ying wrapped Ruohan's essence around his mind like a thread wrapped around his fingers. He followed it to the center of Ruohan's core, to that part of him that made him a shifter. Half wolf and half human, the two sides merged together by spiritual energy to form one whole being.
The Sena unravelled the ties that bound the two forms into one.
And Wen Ruohan began to qi deviate.
Wei Ying lifted his face from off the ground and sat back on his heels to watch the horror of what he had done. Many of the surrounding wolves watched too, but the battle around them was so loud that one more screaming, howling, voice blended right in with the sound of other warriors dying.
Blood gushed from Wen Ruohan's orifices as he desperately tried to shift out of his wolf into his human form. He became a mangled mess of disproportionate limbs and fur, mixed in with grotesque features, as he writhed and crawled in the dirt, making a sound that was neither human nor animal.
Wei Ying stood up, and all the wolves around him backed away in fear.
"Wuxian. The warriors," Wen Zhuliu said.
Wei Ying looked over at him. Still in his human form, he was the only person who was still standing close enough to Wei Ying to be heard.
"Not until he's dead," Wei Ying responded. "The bond was weak to begin with so I could barely hold on to it before it dissolved. And you all fought for him. You all owe him your allegiance to the end. Even if he was a shitty leader."
Wen Zhuliu looked down at Wen Ruohan's twitching body and then he nodded.
"When this is over, Tiānzî, I'd like to ask a favor," he said.
Wei Ying wearily met his gaze again. "What is it?"
"Kill me," Wen Zhuliu requested.
Wei Ying stared silently at him.
"You killed Xue Yang when he begged you to. You swore to me that you would kill Wen Ruohan for what he did to us. Even Wen Ning asked, and you promised him that one day if he ever truly lost control, you would. So I'm asking you the same. Kill me, so that I don't become something worse than I am now," Wen Zhuliu explained.
"Do it yourself," Wei Ying said bitterly.
Then he strode over to Wen Ruohan's mutilated body and grabbed the creature by the throat with one hand. He shifted his other hand into his claws and gathered his spiritual power into a bright, crackling, light of red energy that obscured his fingers. With inhuman strength and speed, Wei Ying plunged his claws into Wen Ruohan's chest and pulled out his still beating heart.
"Mercy," Wei Ying spat out to the last remaining vestiges of the shifter. "Maybe if you had learned the meaning of that word you could have lived a longer life."
Wen Ruohan's body slumped over in death as Wei Ying held him.
The wolf form slid away and all that was left was a man in a red suit who once smiled and laughed at Wei Ying, and who had built a city where shifters would never have to hide away. Wei Ying looked at the serene human face and felt his chest squeeze with regret and pity. And he thought of a-Yuan. And he thought of Lan Zhan.
Lan Zhan had stopped communicating to him for a long while now.
"Fuck!" Wei Ying cursed, as he lowered Wen Ruohan's body to the ground, then quickly turned to look around.
The battle was still raging all around. The Alpha of the Blood Wolves was dead but they continued to fight anyway, too caught up in their anger to stop and consider what they were fighting for anymore. The russet wolves were joined side by side by golden brown wolves, two or three to every one enemy warrior.
Even combined, the Stone Wolves, the Ice Wolves, and the Storm Wolves were losing to the sheer size and numbers of the Qishan and the Lanling packs.
For as far as Wei Ying could see, wolves were locked in combat. None of them was Lan Zhan though.
Wei Ying shifted into his wolf form and then, instead of just opening up a communication channel to all the Blood Wolves, he reached out to them with a command.
"Stop!" he shouted. "Fall back!"
They immediately obeyed. All of the russet wolves backed away from their opponents as they whimpered and shook their heads. Then all of them turned, one by one, towards the middle circle where Wuxian stood. They all lowered onto their bellies with their muzzles resting on their outstretched paws.
And then the Gold Wolves attacked them.
One moment there was peace, and all the fighting had ended, and then the next moment there were whimpers and snarls as the Gold Wolves began to fight their enemies and their previous allies to get to the Sena.
Then all the wolves began to battle again. Some to protect the Sena, and others with their own agenda.
Wei Ying lost all patience.
He was the Sena. The master of the night sky. He ruled over darkness. He was the darkest whisper in the shadows, and the darkest light. And he was tired of being a prize in this game of war.
He shifted back into his were-form. Then he reached out with another wave of shadows and this time he blanketed the entire field. Darkness descended like a storm over everything. Once a confused silence fell and all the fighting had again ceased, Wei Ying weaved a path through the stumbling warriors, some of whom had begun to shift into their human forms.
"Lan Zhan!" he mentally called out. "Where are you? Lan Zhan, if you're dead I'm going to be very upset!"
In the dark, Wei Ying heard a shout of surprise, and insults. A human voice. It was quickly cut off and replaced by wheezing, coughing, gasps for air that got weaker and weaker until the struggle was no longer audible. It sounded suspiciously like Jin Guangshan. Like a dying man.
Wei Ying ignored it.
In the dark, he brushed by a figure in white. It wasn't Lan Zhan though. So he tried to sidestep the shifter, but the person grabbed his arm. Wei Ying turned his glowing red eyes to the hazy form in the darkness.
"The Gold Wolves came here to kill you, Sena. After what you just did to Wen Ruohan, now all the packs will have a reason to try. The warriors are all too frightened by the amount of power you've been displaying. It's one thing to know of a deity among us, and another to see your darkness."
"Let go," Wei Ying said in a choked voice. "I need to find Lan Zhan."
The Gusu Alpha's grip tightened. It had to be him. No one else would be brave enough to touch the Sena in his were-form. Not when he looked so terrifying.
"Diànxià, you and I both know that he would die to protect you. Is that what you want?"
Wei Ying clenched his jaw before he sucked in a sharp breath and snapped, "Don't call me that! I'm not anybody's Diànxià. All I want is to be left alone. Why couldn't what I wanted be enough? All you Alphas! I'm fucking sick of you by now!"
In the darkness more screams began. More shifters and wolves turning on each other. More deaths in the making. More fighting. More and more sounds as the darkness seeped into the pores of the Etas, poisoning them, darkening their thoughts to anger and rage, as they all began to fall under Wei Ying's control. More of them giving in to the blinding frenzy.
"You all want to fight so much. Go ahead then. Kill each other until there are no more shifters left in this world. I don't fucking care anymore," Wei Ying said.
At his other side another hazy figure grabbed his other hand. Larger and stronger. Wei Ying recognized him by his size.
"Look at what you're doing. You can command all our armies at once. You have the power to reach inside us to kill us from within. You wanted Wen Ruohan to be a better leader. Are you better than him right now?"
Wei Ying snarled in Nie Mingjue's face. "Look at you! Both of you! Didn't you know that Meng Yao wanted to murder his own Alpha so that he could take his title? Didn't you just turn a blind eye to him, and kept him as your friend, and trained him how to fight? All you Alphas. I wonder if you'll still be Alphas when your packs are all dead."
The Gusu Alpha released Wei Ying's arm and took a stumbling step backwards as if Wei Ying had punched him in the stomach. Nie Mingjue reacted by grabbing on to his friend.
"Wei Ying. There are too many of them," Lan Zhan said.
Wei Ying briefly closed his eyes at the words. So much quieter than they should be now. Somewhere on this massive field Lan Zhan was injured and fighting to protect him still. Probably fighting his own frenzied packmates and allies. And every muscle in Wei Ying's body just ached to find him, and hold him close.
Wei Ying focussed on the two figures who were now standing in front of him.
"I killed the Alpha of the Blood Wolves so his pack is mine by rights. And, I'm sure with Guangshan dead, Meng Yao won't waste any time claiming his title, so he'll be too busy to annoy me," he said. "If you want your packs back under your command, will you promise to leave me alone from now on? Do what you have to and convince the smaller packs to stay away."
"As you wish, Sena," the Gusu Alpha said. "But what about my –"
Wei Ying raised an arm to interrupt. The Gusu Alpha immediately stopped speaking. Wei Ying concentrated on the wolves and shifters who were still lost to the frenzy and he mentally reached out to all of them.
His black motorcycle gloves shimmered and solidified around his shifted fingers as he concentrated his powers through the spiritual weapon. With his index and middle fingers pressed together he carved a red array and sent it into the air, high above the field. It broke the spell of his shadows. The darkness began to retreat.
Once the surroundings were visible again, the shifters and the wolves all shook themselves off and looked around in a daze. Bodies covered the ground, blood dripped from the mouth and claws of the wolves, while the shifters in their human form pulled back on their spiritual powers once the danger had passed. A field of blood and death and injured warriors all looked around in shock at what they'd done to each other.
At least there was less horror than there could have been if the battle had continued for longer.
With the wolves all released from his command, and as their dark bloodthirsty frenzy passed, Wei Ying shifted back into his human form yet again. All he wanted was to get as far away as possible from the atrocity.
"Where is he?" he asked the Gusu Alpha in a tired voice.
"The last time I saw him he was headed towards you from that direction." The shifter pointed southwest. "His wolf form is strong but his Chord Assassination Technique requires him to wear his spiritual gloves. He may have shifted into his human form to be able to use it."
Wei Ying nodded and took a step towards the indicated direction but the Gusu Alpha grabbed his upper arm again.
Standing so close, Wei Ying turned his head to stare at the light brown eyes on a half-masked face that was so similar to Lan Zhan's, even with their illusion broken. Wei Ying had always seen through the cloning illusion of these two Gusu warriors anyway. He hadn't ever lied when he said that he could recognize Lan Zhan.
"This will hurt him," the Gusu Alpha breathed. "You're not the only one who cares about him. If you leave and disappear like you clearly want to, he will be devastated."
Wei Ying's heart fluttered at the words. He knew the Alpha was right. Lan Zhan would be sad. He would understand Wei Ying's decision like he understood so much about Wei Ying, but he would be upset.
Instead of responding, Wei Ying pulled his arm out of the Alpha's grasp and nodded, before he walked away.
He found his white wolf a short distance away.
Lan Zhan was lying in his wolf form on the ground, panting with exhaustion, but still alive and conscious. He perked up when he heard Wei Ying approaching and his keen gaze tracked Wei Ying's movements until they were only a few feet apart.
His white fur was covered in blood. Most of the wounds were evidently his, but a lot of it was clearly from the dead and injured Etas nearby. He didn't stand to greet Wei Ying and that was worrying, but Wei Ying didn't fault him for it. Neither of them were having a great day.
"Lan Zhan, did you take out half the Gold Wolves' army all on your own?" Wei Ying asked as he looked around.
The wolf's gaze didn't waiver.
Wei Ying chuckled tiredly. "I know. I know," he said as he waved his hand. "Wei Ying is so ridiculous and so shameless. Wei Ying talks too much and needs to listen. How many times did you have to tell me to be more careful? Look how many had to die before I finally understood what you meant."
Wei Ying's legs gave out as he got closer to the wolf. He dropped to his knees, sat back on his heels and hung his head in dejection. He wanted to cry, but even crying wouldn't be much of a catharsis for everything he had endured.
He reached over to Lan Zhan's wolf and hugged him tightly around the neck.
"You're injured," Lan Zhan communicated.
Wei Ying sniffled pitifully into the side of the wolf's jaw.
"You're injured, Lan Zhan," he said. "All I have is a flesh wound. It won't even take another few hours for my arm to be better, but here you are depleted of your spiritual energy, and covered in wounds."
Lan Zhan hesitated, seeming to need some time to accept that Wei Ying was in fact verbally responding to him, before he said very quietly, "Wei Ying, he bit you."
Even the tone of his mental voice still sounded upset.
Wei Ying tightened his arms a little more around the wolf and sighed. "He's not the first Alpha to forcefully want to mark me. But, don't worry about it, Lan Zhan," he said quickly. "It didn't even hurt that much, and besides it's gone now."
Lan Zhan's muzzle tickled the back of Wei Ying's neck as he tried to sniff out the Alpha's mark. When Wei Ying realized that this was what he was doing, he ducked his head below the wolf's chest so that Lan Zhan could inspect him better.
"See, Lan Zhan. All gone. He wasn't my true mate so I rejected the bond. It didn't even leave a scratch," he said softly.
In response, Lan Zhan licked a line across the back of Wei Ying's neck with his warm tongue. His wolf's hot breath cooled the area and made Wei Ying shiver. Lan Zhan's canines were very close to the flesh there. It would barely take him any effort to sink his teeth in.
Wei Ying's fingers curled into Lan Zhan's fur as he went very, very still and waited to see what Lan Zhan would do next.
"Are you okay?" Lan Zhan immediately asked. He moved to lick at Wei Ying's jaw instead. "Does anywhere hurt? We have the best Iotas in Cloud Recesses, who are trained to heal any injury."
Wei Ying laughed softly as little flutters blossomed inside his chest.
"Again, you should be more worried about yourself," he responded.
"I worry about you."
The words were gently spoken. Like a thought that flowed from one mind to the other. Wei Ying half considered that it came from himself instead of from Lan Zhan.
"I worry about you too," he said softly. "Your Gusu Iotas better be as amazing as you say. I would feel even more guilty if you end up with scars on your back because of me."
Lan Zhan moved his head so that his gaze could steadily focus on Wei Ying. His golden wolf eyes were so beautiful to Wei Ying that Wei Ying never wanted to look away from him.
"Come to Gusu with me and meet my pack," Lan Zhan said.
Wei Ying's heart stuttered, and he suddenly wanted to cry again. Of all the times to ask, Wei Ying wished it wasn't now.
"Lan Zhan, I can't go to Gusu," he whispered, not knowing how to explain. "I need space from all of this. I need time to myself to understand what I want instead of what everyone keeps forcing on me."
Lan Zhan was very quiet for a few seconds. And then, seeing that his silence was making Wei Ying even sadder, he gently nudged Wei Ying's cheek with his nose.
"I understand," he said.
Wei Ying wondered if he really did understand. He wrapped his arms around Lan Zhan's wolf form as Lan Zhan nuzzled at his neck, as drawn to Wei Ying's bonfire scent as Wei Ying was to Lan Zhan's sandalwood scent. Knowing how connected they were, Wei Ying wondered if Lan Zhan would really be able to let him go.
"Will it make you happy to be free, Wei Ying?" Lan Zhan asked.
Wei Ying sniffled and nodded. He felt weak and confused.
Lan Zhan tucked his muzzle under Wei Ying's chin, and Wei Ying turned his head to rest his cheek there instead.
"Then that is what I want for you too," Lan Zhan said simply.