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A slow smile spread across Rei’s lips. “Vampire by marriage, remember?”

“Mn,” Yichen hummed as he leaned in for a kiss.

“Actually, he is feeling more vampire than fae to me because of Yichen’s regular feeding from Rei,” Kai interjected before Yichen could seal their lips together.

“You can sense that?” Xiang asked, but it was almost drowned out by Chen’s horrified cry.

“What? You swore you were going to stop that! It’s dangerous!”

Yichen dropped his face into Rei’s neck and moaned. “It was just a little love bite.”

“Wu Yichen!” Chen snapped.

Their didi lifted his head and glared at Chen. “Don’t judge! How long could you go between bites of your mate?” Chen’s mouth shut with an audible click of his teeth and bright color painted his cheeks. Yichen smirked at him. “That’s what I thought.”

Ronan and Aiden looked as if they were struggling not to laugh while Xiao Dan pinched the bridge of his nose. This clan was more than a handful and only growing worse with the addition of every new mate. Not that the mates didn’t bring many benefits to the clan, but they also made the new lovers reckless. That was not a good thing when they faced threats from the fae and Jiang Chong.

“Yichen,” Xiao Dan began slowly. “You know we don’t want to interfere with your time with your mate, but we are at war with a deadly opponent. If you become injured in battle and are separated temporarily from theoneperson who can supply you blood…”

Yichen extracted himself from Rei, jumped to his feet, and bowed deeply to Xiao Dan. “Forgive me, Shixiong. I was being selfish, not thinking about what is best for my clan and my mate.”

Rei leaped from the sofa as well and mimicked Yichen’s bow. “It’s my fault too, Xiao Dan. I shouldn’t have tempted?—”

He stopped talking the moment Xiao Dan held up a hand. “It’s okay. I get the picture. Just, please, refrain until after we can deal with the fae. We must consider everyone’s safety.”

“I think I may be able to get Leo to help Kai and Huli in their spying on the fae,” Junjie suggested to help move them away from more personal matters.

“Leo? Is he another shifter?” Ronan inquired.

Junjie nodded and smiled at the vampire king. “A cat shifter.”

“A very shifty cat shifter,” Xiang added.

“Really? A cat shifter? I’ve never heard of them,” Fox murmured.

“Neither have I,” Aiden whispered.

“I’ve seen a few, and those were over in Europe,” Ronan stated. “They are incredibly rare. Especially a pure-blooded one. Most would have only one shifter parent. Those offspring lacked the ability to shift and would usually pick up a few supernatural traits, like a slightly extended lifespan or superior night vision. Nothing to catch the attention of the humans.”

Junjie wanted to remind Xiang that they didn’t know Leo or his kind very well. It wasn’t right for them to pass judgment, even if Xiang seemed correct in assessment of the man who’d pretended to be a cat in order to get free meals and belly rubs.

But all of that was forgotten when the sounds of Erik’s cries reached his sensitive ears. He balled his hands into fists, fighting the urge to jump to his feet and find out what was wrong. It didn’t matter how he reminded himself that Meimei could handle this. Everything was fine.

Except it wasn’t.

Those weren’t Erik’s hungry cries or his frustrated cries or even his tired cries.

No, something had scared him and was continuing to scare him.

Junjie sat still for another three whole seconds before he jumped to his feet. It sounded as if Erik’s cries were growing louder. Was he more frightened, or was Meimei carrying him to Junjie?

“Shixiong—”

“It’s okay, Jun-Jun. Go see if Mei Lian needs your help.”

He glanced at Fox, Ronan, and Aiden, who could all hear the crying child. They had curious expressions on their faces, but were too polite to ask how the Zhang clan had suddenly gaineda child. He bowed his head to them and turned to leave, but Meimei zipped into the doorway holding a red-faced Erik. Bright tears streaked his chubby cheeks.

“Sorry, Junjie,” she exhaled. “I don’t know what happened.”