Always you...

28. I don't want to fight but...

"I just don't fucking get it! What do they want now?", Zhan hissed, his form trembling with rage and Yibo sat stoically beside him, squeezing his mate's hand while he himself was raging inside. Leaving Han Yi's body to be found by the Lans was a statement. A warning by those cougars of what was to come. A lesser Alpha would have been shaken but Yibo was no coward and more than that he was fucking waiting to end the men who had put his firecracker through so much pain. His Zhan-Zhan had grown up without his parents, had been targeted all his life, had felt alone when all he deserved was love and care of his parents. Yibo knew Xiao Feng and Xiao Liu would have been great parents because the had been great people. If to save a stranger they had gone to such lengths, one could only guess what they would have done for their son. Yibo admired the couple for standing up to what was right and even on death's door they hadn't betrayed their principles. That kind of strength was what many people aspired to have but the quality was innate. Yibo wanted to put Xie Chong a decade full of misery to compensate for what his firecracker had been through. He wanted to finish off everyone who had had a hand in making his firecracker an orphan but there was just one thing that was holding him back from going out there and screaming battle over Xie Chong's territory. Yibo looked to his firecracker and all he could think about was keeping his mate and children safe, away from this chaos. Yibo still wasn't over what Huang Yifeng had done to his firecracker and now he had another enemy waiting on his doorstep, threatening Yibo's family. Yibo knew had to remove this threat and he had to be meticulous. He couldn't afford mistakes now when everything he lived for was at stake. "The Lan pack has had their hands full of troubles. On top of that when the news of Zhan expecting came out, it attracted a lot of attention. You guys have everything to lose here. This is exactly what Xie Chong wanted. Just think about it, Zhan. Xie Chong can take away your mate, your pack, your children away from you now. You have too much to lose and the cougar has everything to gain", explained Wu Xize and Zhan growled at the vampire's words. His head was pounding hard and Zhan buried his face in his hands, lost for words. "Zhan won't lose anything, Xize. The Lan pack will never let that happen", Xuan supplied and the Lan wolves hummed their agreement. Yibo saw the looks on his packmates' faces and he knew his pack would be at his side. His heart filled with pride and his gaze held respect and care for all of them. "Yibo will have all of us backing him", Talu joined in and Bai Li along with Tianyu nodded. "The numbers won't be an issue, Yibo. We will fight with you."  "I guess Xie Chong won't be expecting this. He thought he had planned this well. With Han Shuo hanging like a sword over our heads, he might have expected that your pack will not have support from others", Rong mused and everyone's eyes turned dark with the fact. "What do you want to do, Yibo?", Xize asked and saw the familiar glacial look in Yibo's eyes. The Lan Alpha turned to his enforcers and his arctic eyes communicated his intentions perfectly clear. "Pay a visit to Xie Chong's packmates. Warn them of what the Lans are capable of. I want the warning to be bloody."

Joining his mate in bed, Yibo covered Zhan with a blanket and massaged his firecracker's shoulders to ease the tension in them but all he got was a worried sigh in response. "Talk to me", Yibo whispered over Zhan's ear and Zhan turned in his arms, a deep frown marring his perfect face. Yibo brushed his lips over Zhan's forehead and found his firecracker staring at him with a lost look in his eyes. "I am scared", Zhan admitted on an exhale and Yibo brought Zhan closer to him gazing into those dark eyes. "Don't you trust me to keep you safe?", he asked and Zhan slowly shook his head. "It's not that. I know you won't let anything happen to me. But, I have heard how vicious cougars can be. They aren't sane. They don't just kill, Yibo. It's a fucking sport for them.  Yibo...if something goes wrong or someone gets hurt because of this, I will go crazy. The thought of you or anyone in the Lan pack getting as much as a scratch on them scares me. We are finally happy and the Lan pack has nothing to do-"  "Their Alpha's mate and pups are getting threatened and you think the Lan pack has nothing to do with it?"  Yibo said the words on a low growl, caressing his firecracker's cheeks, hating the fear on his mate's face. "Each and every wolf in this pack will fight to keep you safe, Xiao Zhan. They will do it because that is what a pack should do for their Alpha. They fought the Wens and Zhang Wei's men for you. If anyone insults you, they are the first to get offended. You can't expect them to stay back. This is your pack, Zhan. Fighting for you is their duty and their right." Yibo's words turned Zhan's eyes misty and he nodded while Yibo coiled an arm around his waist. "Your enemy is my enemy, firecracker. I will fight to keep you safe and I will fight to keep my pack safe. No wolf of mine will die at their hands, I promise you."  Bringing Zhan impossibly closer Yibo took a deep breath and let his firecracker draw comfort from him. "I will increase security around the perimeter. Until Xie Chong is killed, you will have to stay under protection, okay?"  Zhan hummed and Yibo gripped his mate tighter, his wolf restless because of the circumstances. They stayed that way for what felt like seconds to Yibo when Zhan's voice came. "What did you ask Rong and Xuan to do? I heard some of it. You mentioned a bar", Zhan asked and Yibo was visibly hesitant from giving the details to Zhan. "Please, Yibo. I need to know. I swear I'll go crazy if I don't have anything else to think about." Yibo studied his mate's face and let out a deep sigh relenting to Zhan's demands.  "I told them to rough up some of the men from Xie Chong's pack."  "That would be inviting them for a fight."  "That's what I want." Zhan's frown deepened and Yibo kissed Zhan's fingers easing his mate with his touch. "If I don't act now, Xie Chong won't back off."  Yibo straightened up propping up on his elbows and his eyes landed on Zhan's stomach.  "A fight is the last thing I wanted right now, Zhan. I want to spend all day taking care of you and my children but if I don't retaliate, Xie Chong will get braver. Cougars are known to be reckless, not much shakes them. If I let this incident go, Xie Chong will send me another challenge. This time it was Han Yi, the next could be someone else. I don't want that. Cougars don't usually get involved with our kind and Xie Chong has underestimated me. That needs to change."

The next day, Zhan and Yibo were in the Alpha's office discussing strategies for the fight with Haikuan, Wang Zi Teng, Xize and the other Alphas, their forms focused and serious. "From what I know, cougars are powerful fighters. They always attack in pairs and they are known to even take lion shifters down. They fight raw and dirty.  Their only shortcoming is that they are slow." Zi Teng's words caused Yibo's eyes to narrow as he studied the map of the woods surrounding the Lan territory. "We need to focus on breaking them up, then", Zhan said thoughtfully pointing to the lush trees in front of the glade. "If we somehow manage to separate them here among the woods, by the time they reach the clearing they will be slower and their strength will be halved. If the battle occurs on our territory, we have the element of surprise. We can use the territory in our benefit since we are familiar with it."  "We will need all our packs to train with each other and use the area. It will be better if we paired up", Bai Li suggested and Yibo nodded his head. "That-", Yibo's voice was cut off by the knocks on his door and Rong and Xuan entered the study. "Is it done?", Yibo asked in a cold tone and the enforcers nodded. "Five of his cougars were left in front of the bar Xie Chong's daughter runs. The men will relay the message to their Alpha."  Yibo's eyes gleamed with satisfaction and Zi Teng turned to the Alphas. "This will either make the cougar back off or he will hit us harder than before. It will be better if we prepare ourselves for an attack." The elder turned to Zhan and pinned the half-Alpha with a hard gaze. "You won't step out of the packhouse under any circumstances, Xiao Zhan. Do I make myself clear?", Zhan was about to make another suggestion but the gaze the older Wang gave him shut him up. The Wang bunch could be scary as fuck when they wanted to be. "Get used to it", Yibo whispered in Zhan's ear and Zhan bit his lip. Zhan could guess how the rest of the months were going to be. "Tell A-Qing, Wang An and Yubin to stay in the packhouse as well. The wolves can train at the clearing taking turns guarding the perimeter. But, I want a bunch of mean shifters guarding Zhan twenty four seven. No mistakes, Yibo." The underlying warning was received loud and clear and Yibo agreed to follow his father's instructions.  "Firecracker?", came the adorable call and Zhan smiled seeing his son holding a plate of fruits in the doorway. Yuan stepped into the room and pouted seeing the serious looks on everyone's face. "An-jie jie gave me this plate. She said my sister will be hungry", Zhan walked to his son to pick him up and frowned when Yuan stepped away. "Pumpkin?"  "Firecracker has to take care of himself and my sister. Yuan is getting heavy, you shouldn't pick me up." Tears burned Zhan's eyes from the words and Yibo came up behind his mate, taking Yuan into his arms. "Since our A-Yuan is getting so smart and is taking care of firecracker so well he should get a reward." The child's eyes lit up at the words and Yibo pressed a kiss to Zhan's head taking his hand. "Let's make Yuan's favorite food tonight. Everything will be our pumpkin's favorite and I will give him the new dinosaur toy firecracker got for you. How does that sound?" The six year old started bouncing and clapping in Yibo's arms bringing a smile onto everyone's face. At that moment, everyone forgot about the danger that was lurking around them. They smiled and laughed the entire night enjoying peacefully.