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Wei Ying was missing.
He was missing, and everyone except Jiang Wanyin and Lan Wangji seemed to add “and presumed dead” onto the end of the statement. Jiang Wanyin had reacted poorly the first time Jin Zixun insinuated that Wei Ying was probably dead. Jin Zixun had been lucky that Lan Wangji was close enough to Jiang Wanyin that he was able to clamp a vice-tight hand around his sparking wrist.
“Not here,” he hissed. For a werewolf, Wangji was not particularly prone to physical affection, and the touch-and-shock combination seemed to throw Jiang Wanyin off enough to distract him from his previous goal of disemboweling Jin Zixun.
The Jin were unfortunately as sturdy as any other werewolf, so it was unlikely that even Jiang Wanyin would actually kill him, but the intent had certainly been there.
Jiang Wanyin smelled like angst and frustration, and Lan Wangji could see the tip of his pointed ear twitch, his shift slipping. He always had an underlying scent of lotus and flowing water, but recently, Lan Wangji couldn’t help but notice something off about his scent. It was something familiar. Painfully familiar if Wangji allowed himself to linger on it for too long.
“Wei Wuxian is not dead,” Jiang Wanyin said firmly, voice underlaid with a growl. “He’s going to be found. I’m going to Yiling.”
It sounded less like the promise it was intended as, and more like a plea. Still, Lan Wangji desperately wanted to believe it as Jiang Wanyin turned and strode from the meeting, leaving a trail of the scent that Wangji had only ever associated with grief in his wake. Lan Wangji turned back to the meeting for only a moment. His xiongzhang met his gaze, and Wangji gave his alpha a nod. “I will accompany Jiang-zongzhu.”
“Why are you always protecting him?” Jin Zixun scoffed. Jin Zixuan elbowed him but it was in vain. Once he started talking, he rarely stopped. “You know he’s dead, right? Wei Wuxian? Jiang Wanyin needs to get that through his head.”
It was a fair question, really. Why was Lan Wangji always protecting him? It wasn’t that Jiang Wanyin needed the protection. He was perfectly capable of handling himself. Still, ever since he’d arrived in the Unclean Realm, Wangji’s instincts were to keep him close, to keep him safe. “We have no evidence that Wei Ying is dead,” he said, giving one more bow to his brother before he followed Jiang Wanyin’s scent trail.
The real answer, the one that he knew and didn’t intend to share with the likes of Jin Zixun, was simple. He was protecting Jiang Wanyin because it was what Wei Ying had always done. Aside from Jiang Yanli, Jiang Wanyin had always been the most important person to Wei Ying. Until Wei Ying returned to do it himself, Lan Wangji would stand in Wei Ying’s place and keep Jiang Wanyin safe.
He found Jiang Wanyin in the courtyard that was doubling as a recovery ward for any non-were soldiers. He was discussing quietly with Jiang Yanli, one of his hands clasped in both of his sister’s smaller ones.
“Jiang-zongzhu, Jiang-guniang” Wangji greeted, giving a deferential bow to them both. “Xiongzhang has agreed that I may accompany you once again.”
Jiang Wanyin stared at Wangji for a moment. There was less anger there than there might have once been. “Fine.” He leaned over to press his cheek to his sisters, scenting her one last time. “If Jin Zixuan bothers you —”
“I can handle myself, A-Cheng.” Jiang Yanli looked well, if a little tired. Her endless hope and support had raised morale considerably since her arrival with the Jins. She turned to Lan Wangji. “Keep A-Cheng safe for me, won’t you, Lan-er-gongzi?”
Lan Wangji gave her another bow, and Jiang Wanyin scoffed, heading towards the exit of the courtyard. Wangji turned to follow, but a deceptively strong hand landed on his arm as he did, and he looked down at it, and then up at Jiang Yanli’s face. “Jiang-guniang?”
Jiang Yanli waited until Jiang Wanyin was out of sight, and even still kept her voice pitched low. “Do you really think A-Xian is out there? Or is he just… chasing a ghost?” Tears welled in her eyes. “You’ll be honest, won’t you Lan-er-gongzi?”
Lan Wangji had spent days in his wolf form, searching in earnest for any trace of Wei Ying in any number of regions. He’d followed the scent to the edge of the burial mounds but could go no further without reinforcements. Then, there had been a sighting elsewhere, and he had moved on. “If he is out there, we will find him.” Wangji settled for the truth he could bear to give her. “I will take care of Jiang Wanyin, I swear.”
Jiang Yanli gave him a nod and a teary smile before turning back to her patients.
Lan Wangji thought about her question for a long time, even as he ran alongside Jiang Wanyin’s sleek grey wolf form. Were they chasing a ghost? What were they going to find if they did locate Wei Ying? Who would they find?
Giving into his wolf, Wangji allowed the thoughts to fade from his mind. For a few blissful moments he just allowed himself to run. Running was easier than thinking anyway.
--
The sex on these expeditions was an incredibly pleasurable, intensely terrible idea. They both knew it, too. One moment they would be staring forlornly at the fire burning between them, Wei Ying on both of their minds. He always was. An invisible, painful presence. In the next breath (and, not for the first time either) Jiang Wanyin was pinned beneath the bulk of Lan Wangji’s body.
It said a lot about the kind of wolf that they both were. Jiang Wanyin was an alpha, a sect leader, and yet every time they did this, Lan Wangji found himself staring down at the pale column of the alpha’s neck. It was almost as if Jiang Wanyin didn’t want to be an alpha, as if he was begging for Lan Wangji to just take it all away.
Lan Wangji would not. Jiang Wanyin knew this. Instead, Wangji pressed a featherlight kiss against Jiang Wanyin’s jugular vein, biting down with very human teeth just hard enough for Jiang Wanyin to buck up against him. He was particularly wanton tonight, a whine escaping from his mouth that would normally be held back.
He was falling apart. Wangji could see it, the others at the war council could see it, and very likely, if it was allowed to continue, their enemy would be able to see it.
Wangji had to hold back the angry snarl that threatened to rip out of him at the idea of any of the Wen Sect getting their paws on Jiang Wanyin. It surprised him, and he turned his head down, pressing his face into the crook of Jiang Wanyin’s shoulder and neck. He breathed in. Jiang Wanyin was safe. He had done that, for Wei Ying.
And maybe, just a little, for himself.
Their clothes were haphazardly discarded. As most werewolves, their garments were spelled anyway to resist both dirtying and tears, so neither of them cared. Jiang Wanyin squirmed against Wangji, his cock already hard and leaking. “Please.” Jiang Wanyin whispered.
The morning after the first time, Jiang Wanyin had been mortified at his actions. The rest of that particularly fruitless search had been spent in a flurry of red-cheeked glances and as they’d returned to Qinghe, Jiang Wanyin had ineffectively threatened Wangji if anyone found out about their… affair.
Lan Wangji did not feel the need to tell anyone. At least, not anyone here. He ached, desperately, to tell Wei Ying. I’m sorry, Wei Ying. He would say. I was taking care of him for you. It was complicated.
Jiang Wanyin, like this, begging for Wangji’s mouth and his hands and his cock, was not complicated. He was delightfully easy like this, in ways he never was in other situations. Like this, he was putty in Wangji’s hands, all too eager to touch and hold and even as Wangji tried to prepare him, he begged for more.
“I’m a fucking werewolf, Lan Wangji, fuck me already.”
Wangji should be gentle with Jiang Wanyin. It’s what Wei Ying would do: hold him gently and make him wait. Wangji was not Wei Ying. Wangji was tired, angry, sad, and fucking Jiang Wanyin seemed to be a relatively good reprieve for that.
He wasn’t sure what made this different, but he wasn’t ready to take his fingers out just yet, spreading them to stretch Jiang Wanyin further around them. “Soon,” he promised, kissing the inside of Jiang Wanyin’s thigh.
The first time they fucked, Jiang Wanyin had faced away, and Wangji had mounted him, fucked him hard enough that Jiang Wanyin had ended up face down into his bedroll, ass up for Wangji’s use. Tonight, though, Wangji had something different in mind.
Wangji dropped to the bedroll beside Jiang Wanyin, reaching to stroke his own cock with what was left of the oil he’d used to prepare Jiang Wanyin. “If you want it so bad, take it.”
It was phrased carefully, a challenge that Jiang Wanyin could not refuse. His gaze went from needy to hungry in a moment, and he eagerly settled over Wangji. This, at least, felt more correct for Wangji’s wolf, to be looking up at Jiang Wanyin, to let him have the power in the situation. There was a human part of him that never shied away from taking control, but ultimately, he was a beta, and submitting (in this strange, contrived way) to an alpha felt correct.
Really, he’d found himself into the best of both worlds.
Jiang Wanyin’s face was beautiful as he dropped onto Wangji’s cock. The fire flickered off his cheekbones, throwing a shadow in the shape of his profile across the half of his face not bathed in reds and oranges. His mouth was open, and his eyes were closed, squeezed tight as he took Wangji. It was going to be deep like this, and Wangji was certainly not small, but Jiang Wanyin did not complain.
If anything, the look on his face was bliss once the globes of his ass rested against Wangji’s hip bones. He breathed heavily there, his body clenching and fluttering as he relaxed around Wangji’s cock. Wangji gritted his own teeth, his hand rubbing gentle circles into Jiang Wanyin’s hips.
Once Jiang Wanyin began to move, Wangji was reminded why they did not do this when they were in Qinghe. Wangji was not particularly vocal, but Jiang Wanyin was, a string of curses and gasps and whines coming from his mouth as he braced himself and rocked his hips. A light sheen of sweat broke on Jiang Wanyin’s forehead from the exertion.
Pushing him back, Wangji offered both of his hands for Jiang Wanyin to brace against as he fucked himself against Wangji’s cock. He was such a mesmerizing sight that Wangji didn’t even notice his knot beginning to form until Jiang Wanyin’s eyes went wide on one particularly powerful downward thrust. He gasped, “Do you… did you… your knot.”
Wangji had not knotted with Jiang Wanyin before. It was unpredictable at best outside of rut, and usually, there was more of an emotional connection required for it to occur. Vaguely, Wangji realized that he was going to have to face that perhaps there was an emotional connection between them.
For now, Wangji just blinked up at Jiang Wanyin. “It is your choice, Jiang Wanyin.”
Jiang Wanyin, who had stilled, brought himself up again. For a moment, Wangji thought he might be climbing off. They could finish another way, Wangji’s knot would deflate and the event would be like any other time they’d fucked.
Instead, Jiang Wanyin bit down into his bottom lip and dropped himself back down with a shout. Wangji’s knot was mostly-formed, and Jiang Wanyin’s body was forced to stretch to accommodate it. Wangji let out a surprised gasp, his knot firming inside the tight clench of Jiang Wanyin’s body. Jiang Wanyin rose up, as much as he could, but the sharp tug at his rim brought him back down with a choked, “Fuck.”
Wangji brought his hips up, grinding his cock as far into Jiang Wanyin as he could, and reached forward to grip Jiang Wanyin’s own cock, bouncing delectably against his body. “Amazing.” Wangji whispered. He was so close, between the heat and the sight of Jiang Wanyin above him, wrecked, and the exquisite pressure around his knot. He’d never — there had never been a chance.
He did the best he could, grinding upwards and stroking Jiang Wanyin’s cock until he came with a groan and collapsed forward onto Lan Wangji’s chest, whimpering at the tug of the knot against his hole.
Wangji hesitated for a moment, stilling his hips. He was so hard and this felt so correct and every instinct in him was screaming for him to fuck into Jiang Wanyin. He has given himself to you, use him. Still, he waited.
“Lan Wangji?” Jiang Wanyin murmured against the side of his neck. “It’s okay, please, I want you to.”
“What do you want, Jiang Wanyin?” Wangji growled as he snapped his hips up. There wasn’t much travel, but every motion between the two of them dragged noises out of Jiang Wanyin and caused his body to tense and flutter around Wangji’s sensitive cock.
“I want you to come inside me, like this. I want you to fill me up.” Jiang Wanyin was nearly sobbing for it, and Wangji could feel Jiang Wanyin’s cock begin to fill again against his hip. “Please, Lan Wangji. Lan Zhan.”
Wangji’s vision whited out at the sound of his name, the one he heard so infrequently. For a moment the body above him was not Jiang Wanyin, but Wei Ying. Ever since he’d arrived, Jiang Wanyin had felt so right, so much like Wei Ying. Wangji knew it was wrong, but he allowed himself to revel in it, for the moment.
His orgasm was not a quick process, and Jiang Wanyin, having recovered from his first, was all too eager to milk it out of Lan Wangji, leaving Wangji a writhing, whining mess as Jiang Wanyin dragged himself against Lan Wangji’s oversensitive cock. He couldn’t pull out yet, his knot still full, keeping the come inside Jiang Wanyin.
Making it possible to —
Wangji did not allow himself to consider it. They were in the middle of a war and it was hardly the time to bring a pup into the world. Jiang Wanyin was in the midst of rebuilding his sect, searching for his brother. This was hardly the time
But, Wangji realized vaguely, his vision going in and out from a mix of pleasure and painful oversensitivity, they were well beyond that. Whether or not Jiang Wanyin was pregnant was outside of both of their control.
And so, Wangji allowed himself to revel in the soft kisses that Jiang Wanyin pressed against Wangji’s cheeks and jaw as they waited out his knot. I took care of him, Wei Ying. Wangji whispered, as futile as it was absurd. For you.
--
They found Wei Ying the next day.
With such a momentous occasion, the events of the night before slipped from Lan Wangji’s mind. Instead, there was much to understand: Wei Ying’s new, dark, dangerous cultivation style. The way he resisted pack bonding with Jiang Wanyin, much to both of their frustration. The conflicted, concerned look in his eyes every time he looked at either of them.
He was different but he was alive, and Wangji couldn’t bring himself to care about the deviations. All he cared about was that Wei Ying was here.
Which meant that he was not prepared when, a week after Wei Ying was found, the man in question strode uninvited into Lan Wangji’s room with Jiang Wanyin hot on his heels. Wei Ying’s eyes were flickering from grey to red and Wangji stepped back. Wei Ying did not, stepping forward and grabbing Lan Wangji’s hanfu in a two-handed, white knuckled grip. “When were you going to tell me?” He hissed.
Wangji’s eyes went wide. “Tell you?”
Something about his response must have appeased something inside Wei Ying because he let Lan Wangji’s hanfu go and stepped back, his eyebrows drawing together. “You don’t know.”
“I told you that.” Jiang Wanyin said, standing against the now closed door rubbing at the bridge of his nose. “In fact, I led with ‘the other father doesn’t even know yet.’”
“Yes but you didn’t tell me the other father was Lan Zhan.” Wei Ying turned around, crossing his arms over his chest.
Wangji closed his eyes for a moment, replaying the conversation in his mind. It took a moment, but finally, he turned his gaze to Jiang Wanyin, glancing pointedly at his abdomen.
Jiang Wanyin gave a nod, his cheeks impossibly bright. “I didn’t think…”
“We were distracted,” Wangji added, morosely.
“What could possibly be more distracting than a pup?” Wei Ying exclaimed, once more showing that volume control was not a particular strong suit of his.
“You.” Wangji said at the same time as Jiang Wanyin.
Wei Ying froze in place aside from his head, which swiveled back and forth between the two of you. “I don’t…” He swallowed hard. “I can’t even pack bond.”
“I don’t care.” Jiang Wanyin said. For a moment, he looked impossibly young. He looked vulnerable, like he was when it was just him and Wangji. “I don’t care, A-Xian.” Tears welled in his eyes. “You were gone. I was lost. And then I found you.”
Wei Ying stared at Jiang Wanyin and then turned to Lan Wangji. “And what’s your excuse?”
“I’m sorry.” Lan Wangji said, just like he’d practiced. “I was taking care of him, for you.”
Wei Ying let out a bubbling laugh. “So you both … because of me?” He scoffed and shook his head. “Ridiculous. You’re both ridiculous. You’re trying to tell me you put a baby in him for me?”
“If that’s what you want,” Lan Wangji said, nodding. “I would be delighted for Wei Ying to raise my child.”
Wei Ying scoffed again but Jiang Wanyin reached out to grab his hand, placing it on his abdomen. “I saw you, when it was happening. I closed my eyes and…”
“As did I.” Wangji said, surprised by Jiang Wanyin’s admission. But then, all of this was surprising. They had never talked about this, their shared love for this man. Really, it should have been obvious.
Wei Ying’s expression was open and confused as he stared down at his hand, pressed against Jiang Wanyin’s stomach. “I don’t… understand.”
“You’re so stupid.” Jiang Wanyin scoffed, rolling his eyes and surging forward to kiss Wei Wuxian. Lan Wangji watched, perhaps too eagerly, at the way their kiss looked like a fight, the way that neither of them wanted to give an inch and yet both of them wanted everything the other had to offer.
Wei Ying pulled away with a surprised sound and his eyes darted to Lan Wangji. “Jiang Cheng!”
He did not have an opportunity to say anything more before Lan Wangji took his own turn to kiss Wei Ying. His lips were warm and there was just the undercurrent of the spice he liked to add to his food. Lan Wangji had never liked spice, but perhaps for Wei Ying he was willing to learn. Here, Wei Ying was different, melting with surprise against Wangji’s body, letting himself be bracketed by Wangji’s arms.
When the kiss broke, Jiang Wanyin had moved close, glancing up at Wangji with dark, questioning eyes. Twisting slightly away from Wei Ying, Wangji pulled Jiang Wanyin close, kissing him softly as his own hand slid down Jiang Wanyin’s body to his abdomen, to the place where their pup grew. Their ill-advised, unexpected pup. Theirs to share with Wei Ying.
“Oh.” Wei Ying said, a little breathless. “I understand now.”
“Took you long enough.” Jiang Wanyin breathed against Lan Wangji’s lips.
Wangji laughed.