Chapter Text
The smoke from Lotus Pier still clung to the air, acrid and bitter, mixing with the salt of the lake. Bodies lay in heaps along the courtyards, their blood soaking into the earth that had once been his home. Wei Wuxian’s ears rang with the screams that had already gone silent, replaced by Wen Soldiers’ boots crunching over debris, by the low laughter of men who had won.
The Wens demanded tribute.
Gold, artifacts, blades—but most of all, an Omega. An unbonded, untouched Omega.
Wen Chao’s eyes landed on Jiang Yanli, his lips curving up into a smirk.
Wei Ying saw her freeze, shoulders trembling as Wen hands reached for her. Her face was pale, lips pressed tight, as though holding in a scream. Jiang Cheng’s curses blurred in the background as Wen dogs held him down.
Not her.
Not her.
Before he even thought, Wei Ying was stepping forward. His voice was steady, though his stomach twisted.
“Take me instead.”
The soldiers stilled. The air shifted. They turned their heads, greedy eyes dragging over him as realization set in. The infamous Wei Wuxian, the strongest Omega cultivator of his generation. A cultivation prodigy.
Wen Chao grinned, his head turning towards Wei Wuxian, Jiang Yanli forgotten. Wei Wuxian quietly breathed out a sigh of relief.
“Oh, this is better than we hoped.”
Jiang Yanli’s cry cut through the courtyard. “A-Xian! No!” She reached for him, but another soldier caught her wrist.
“It is fine, Shijie,” Wie Wuxian said quickly, forcing a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. His chest hurt, but he kept it light, the way he always did when she was looking. “You stay here, take care of A-Cheng. Help him rebuild the sect.”
Her tears blurred in his vision as rough hands closed around his arms. One of the soldiers snatched Suibian and tucked his sword into their belt.
Every Alpha he passed as they dragged him away flared their pheromones—hot, cloying, suffocating. He gagged, bile rising in his throat. His skin crawled beneath their attention.
The only scent he wanted, the only one that had ever steadied his heart, was missing.
The scent of Sandalwood.
His mate.
Lan Zhan.
The one who had looked at him with those golden eyes and made him believe, for a single breath, that he was not too much. That he was not broken. For a split second he had thought the heavens giving him Lan Zhan was a rare blessing, one that he would never take for granted, even if his Alpha hated him. His Alpha who avoided him the more he tried to get close. Who showed his disapproval and annoyance at every breath Wei Wuxian took. He ignored the sharp stab in his chest every time, putting on a smile that is meant for his Alpha only.
Still, better him than Shijie. Always better him. He would lay down his life for his sister.
As the Wen dragged him into the smoke and ruin, the stench of pheromones pressing down on him until he was sick, Wei Ying lifted his chin and laughed. It sounded sharp, cracked at the edges.
Behind him, a shout cracked through the air.
“A-Xian!” Yanli’s voice, breaking.
Then—
“LET HIM GO!” Jiang Cheng’s roar followed, raw and ragged.
Wei Ying twisted his head just in time to see his shidi thrashing like a trapped beast, Alpha pheromones surging out sharp and wild, colliding against the Wen soldiers in waves. The whole courtyard thickened with it — ozone, storm, snapping purple lightning.
“You bastards! Cowards! He’s not yours to touch! Let him go!” Jiang Cheng fought like a man possessed, spitting curses until blood ran from his bitten lip. His eyes locked on Wei Wuxian’s retreating form, wide with fury and terror.
Jiang Yanli clung to him, sobbing, terrified he would get himself killed — but Jiang Cheng shook her off, straining forward like a wolf on a leash. “A-Cheng, stop! They’ll kill you too!”
“I DON’T CARE!” he screamed, straining against the soldiers pinning his arms. “WEI WUXIAN!”
For a heartbeat, Wei Wuxian faltered. He’d never heard A-Cheng sound like that before — feral, breaking, desperate. His heart lurched.
But he knew he didn’t have a choice. So did Jiang Cheng. Their sister will remain untouched.
So, he forced a crooked grin over his shoulder, even as bile burned his throat.
“Take care of Shijie, A-Cheng!” he called, loud and mocking, though his voice cracked. “Don’t worry. You know me — I always land on my feet.”
The soldiers hauled him away. Jiang Cheng’s answering cry was wordless, torn from deep in his chest, an Alpha howl of rage and grief that rattled the courtyard.
Wei Wuxian clenched his jaw, laughing sharp and broken as the Wen dragged him into the smoke. But inside, he was already trembling, bile rising with every Alpha pheromone pressing against him. His heart ached for the bond he’d never have, for golden eyes he would never see again without disgust.
Because he knew the bond he longed for, was slipping further and further from his reach.
Lan Zhan.
If he hated him before, he would despise him now. Because after this… what else would he be but ruined? An object paraded for Alpha’s desires.