Always you...

27. They think they can...

"Alright, I will be there. Don't proceed on your own, Bai Li. Han Yi could have laid traps on the way. We are not familiar with that territory. We will need backup", Yibo cautioned and the Alpha on the other end reassured Yibo that he would wait for all the Alphas to join him. Yibo hung up the call and was getting up from his chair when Zhan waltzed in, a tired smile on his face. "Who was it?", Zhan asked as Yibo smoothed his hands down Zhan's side and Yibo answered. "Bai Li. They found the old house. It is on the outskirts and the Alphas are planning to go together."  "Finally!", Zhan responded and Yibo's brows furrowed seeing the dark circles under Zhan's eyes. Every day since the last two weeks Zhan was dealing with morning sickness and it was hard for his firecracker to keep food in his stomach. As soon as he ate, Zhan was running away throwing up his entire meals and the sight made Yibo really uneasy. "Are you okay?",he asked and Zhan smiled nodding his head. "I am. That herbal incense Aunt Luo brought seems to be working well. I am yet to puke my breakfast from this morning."  "Don't jinx it", Yibo said placing a finger over Zhan's mouth and his firecracker kissed his finger. "Chill. Li Xiao did warn me about this. It's not that bad anyway. It's all worth it", Zhan spoke patting his abdomen and Yibo rested his forehead over Zhan's letting out a deep sigh. "You are amazing."  Everything in Yibo was uncomfortable seeing Zhan suffering but his Zhan was dealing with everything like a champ. Li Xiao had told Yibo to not panic when anything happened but Yibo was failing miserably at the single task he was given. The doctor had been extremely thorough with his instructions yet, Yibo found himself getting nervous at every step of the pregnancy. He stayed up at nights going through his brother's notes and surfing the internet and it did nothing to ease his fears. Zhan had called him out on it several times saying that Yibo needed to stop panicking but it was easier said than done. "You do realize I am the one that's pregnant, right? You are supposed to calm me down not the other way round", Zhan teased with a smile and Yibo kissed Zhan's cheek humming. "I know. I am just having trouble seeing you this way." Zhan's eyes went soft at the words and he pulled Yibo into a hug swaying their bodies slowly. "It's alright. If I feel anything weird, I will let you know. When will you leave for Han Yi's house?"  "This afternoon. I will drop you off to Jiang territory with Zi Yi. She will take care of you and Zhuocheng will join me on the search."  "Take Xuan and Rong with you, Yibo. Don't worry about me just come back soon."  Yibo kissed Zhan's nose catching the underlying worry in the tone and nodded his head asking Zhan to go to their room to change. His firecracker gave him a smile and turned leaving Yibo behind. Yibo pinched the bridge of his nose reluctant to leave Zhan. These days, it was physically impossible for Yibo to leave Zhan alone. He had become so needy, it felt as if Zhan would disappear if Yibo left him alone. Yibo sighed out loud knowing he didn't have many options. It was important to catch Han Yi and his son and the sooner he did that, the sooner he could take care of his firecracker.

The car came to a halt in front of Jiang territory and Zhan greeted Zhuocheng who was getting ready to leave. Yibo came to Zhan's side and Zhan nodded his head at the hundreds of instructions he was given. "Keep your phone on at all times. Call me every hour and respond to the texts. Don't leave the Jiang house alone and if you need anything you tell Xuan about it. I mean it, firecracker. Don't-"  "I got it. I got it." Zhan burst out covering Yibo's mouth and Yibo's eyes narrowed. "I won't do anything to worry you, I promise", Zhan swore and Yibo pulled him close to himself breathing him in. "I always worry about you. Take care of yourself and Yuan take care of our firecracker and yourself. Don't be too naughty. Okay?"  "Sure, dad. A-Yuan will take care of firecracker. Promise."  Yibo dropped a kiss to Zhan and Yuan's head and got into the car while his entire body screamed his hesitation. "I will be fine. I have Xuan and Fan Xing with me. You take care of yourself. Hurry back." At Zhan's words some of the tension in Yibo's muscles eased and the Lan Alpha drove away. "Mi-er!! Mi-er!", A-Yuan sang as he ran towards the house and Zhan gestured at Fan Xing to follow the boy.  The young man followed Yuan running and Zhan turned to Xuan. "You should have gone with Yibo, Haoxuan. The last thing you wanted was babysitting me and Yuan", he started and Xuan shook his head turning his eyes away from Zhan. "It's fine. I could ask Rong to come here. I know you can't trust me with your son's-"  "Stop, right there", Zhan cut the enforcer off in a firm voice and Xuan shut his mouth. "Don't you dare say those words again, Haoxuan. If I trust anyone other than myself and Yibo to take care of A-Yuan, it's you. You need to stop beating yourself down.  None of what happened was your fault-"  "I didn't protect Yuan, Xiao Zhan. I failed at the one job I was given. Yibo trusted me to keep Yuan safe but I failed. Yifeng scared him, he will forever have those scars on his little hands. I am not meant for taking care of him. How can you trust me after that? I don't trust myself after all of this!"
Zhan saw the anger in Xuan's eyes and he felt unhappy for the man. "You can yell at me, Zhan. I know you want to. Punish me but the last thing I want is for you to forgive me, Zhan. I-"  "You have been Yuan's shadow for three years, Xuan. You would rather die than let harm come to Yuan. Am I wrong?", Zhan questioned and the enforcer pursed his lips refusing to give an answer. "I should thank you for keeping my son safe even when it caused you to get hurt, Xuan. Yibo told me that Yuan refused to leave you when you were brought unconscious to Lan territory. He was by your side shouting at the others to help his Uncle Xuan. My son needs you, Xuan. He misses you. You love him and care for him just like I and Yibo do. Yibo gave you time but I won't. Get your head out of your ass, Haoxuan. If I want to yell at you, I will. Don't go around presuming what I feel."  Zhan eyed Haoxuan and crossed the distance between them resting his hand on Haoxuan's shoulder. "After Yuan, you will get another niece or nephew. I hope you take care of him or her just like you have taken care of Yuan. Just like you will love and care for your own child one day. You will be an amazing father, Xuan. Cut yourself some slack. I am not saying this as your friend but as your Alpha. Thanks for everything you do for my son and I hope you keep doing it for many more years. I promise I will do the same for your children. My kids will need playmates, Haoxuan. Get to work."  Saying the words Zhan walked away and smiled seeing his son pull on Mi-er's pigtails. The  little girl came running towards him and jumped into Zhan's arms, giving him her billion dollar smile. Zhan watched Xuan from the corner of his eyes and saw the man making a call which Zhan hoped was to Jiyang. The Alpha talked for a while on the phone and as he hung up, Zhan's phone buzzed. Zhan unlocked his phone and found that it was a message from Jiyang saying, "Thanks, Zhan-Zhan."

"This place screams haunted, man", Tianyu muttered and Yibo saw Talu roll his eyes so hard, it was comical. "How about you stay here then. We can't have you pissing your pants now." Tianyu growled low at Talu's response and Bai Li had to intervene. "Can you guys behave for a second? What are you, kindergartners? When can we move, Yibo?", Bai Li asked on an exasperated sigh and Yibo told him to wait for a few more minutes. "Is everyone else here?", Chen Xu asked and Talu told the man about the Alphas that had reached the place. "Some of them were a little unnerved because Yibo was coming. Word out there is that Wang Yibo isn't friendly these days", Tianyu said softly and Yibo's brow arched. "When was I ever friendly?"  "Good point. Everyone is wary because of what you did to Huang Yifeng." "And what do you think?", Rong asked and Tianyu shrugged a shoulder. "I just think that ripping his spine out was a vicious thing to do."  "I can do it again." Yibo's lips curved into a dark smile saying the words and Tianyu looked away seeing the look on Yibo's face. "This asshole isn't sane, I'm telling you", he grumbled and the Lans laughed while Talu snarled at Tianyu. "You have always been a weak piece of shit. Grow some fucking balls, Tianyu."  Knowing the Alphas were soon going to get into a fight, Yibo gestured at Chen Xu and Bai Li to move.
The Alphas were careful as they moved, keeping their eyes all around and after walking for a few minutes they saw the house they were looking for. The two storey house sat in the middle of the forest and if not for the eerie silence surrounding the house, Yibo would have claimed the place was beautiful. "Something isn't right", Bai Li supplied and Yibo got the same feeling. Gesturing the men to surround the place, Yibo barged through the front door and immediately his hackles rose at what his heightened sense of smell detected. There was blood and it smelled like...Cougars.
"Did Han Yi piss the Cougars off?", Tianyu asked with a frown and Yibo shook his head his heart pounding in his chest. "Search the place. Bai Li, I need you to identify each scent in here. I need to go."  Yibo's only thought was to go near his firecracker and his urgency bled through his words making the others halt in their movement. "Why did the Cougars take Han Yi, Yibo?", Talu asked and Yibo turned to the Alphas with a grim face. "To send me a message."

Zhan was sitting with his uncle when Xuan suddenly came knocking on the study door. One look at the man and Zhan knew something had happened. "What's wrong?", he asked and Xuan led him out. Zhan made his way out of the Jiang house and Yibo's car came screeching in front of him the Alpha looking dangerous as he jumped out of his car. "Get inside", Yibo spoke coldly and Zhan got into the car at once taking a sleeping Yuan into his arms. "What happened?", Zhan asked when they left Jiang territory and Yibo told him what he had found. "What? Hang on. This doesn't make any sense. Why would they do this?"  "I have called Xize. This can't be a mere coincidence. They are planning something. I know they are. We need to increase security around the pack territory." Zhan had a lot of questions but he chose to keep quiet, trying to come up with a reason for this. Why would the cougars show themselves now? They had stayed quiet for two years. It just didn't make any sense to Zhan. They reached the Lan territory and found a lot of their wolves gathered in front of the iron gates. Zhan was about to get out but Yibo shook his head waiting for Xuan and Rong to take a look. Rong returned to Yibo's side and the look on the enforcer's face was grave. "It's Han Yi, Alpha."  Yibo got out of the car and Zhan settled Yuan into the seat before following suit. Just as his eyes landed on the body Zhan felt the sudden urge to puke. A dead Han Yi was lying on the ground with all of his organs out, the stench in the air nauseating. "It was them", Yibo deduced grabbing Zhan's hand and Xize's voice came next. "They are closer than we think. That's what they wanted us to know."  "What do we do now?", Xuan asked and a cold look descended over Yibo's face. "Tell everyone that Han Yi isn't a problem anymore. Don't disclose the fact that it was the cougars. These fuckers think they can threaten me...they need to be taught a lesson."