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“Leo? Leo, you still in there?” Rei snapped his fingers at the tip of Leo’s nose.

Kai made a tsking sound. “See what you’ve done. You’ve broken him. Junjie won’t appreciate us returning him broken.”

“I’m sure he’s not broken,” Moon said in an exasperated tone.

“Nope. Not broken,” Leo replied suddenly. “Brain just locked up. Mates, huh? Cat shifters aren’t much into mates.” He rubbedhis chin as his mind scrambled to come up with something to placate his companions.

Huli snorted and turned in his seat so that his shoulders were resting against the back of Kai’s seat while his legs were folded in front of him. One benefit of being short was that the fox spirit could squeeze himself into strange positions. “I’ve read the legends about fox spirits. We don’t do mates. We’re supposed to seduce and kill people. Steal their souls. And while that might sound like a lot of fun, nothing could ever make me ruin my shot at having Xiao Dan. He’s the most amazing human ever. I’ve lived a thousand years, and I’ve met a lot of humans. Wanted to kill most of them. But not Xiao Dan.”

And that was a horrifying speech.

By the lack of reaction from the rest of the car, they must have heard similar things from the fox spirit’s mouth.

“I believe what he’s trying to say is that if you’re lucky enough to find the person whose heart matches your own, don’t walk away from him. Treasure them always, because it is unlikely you will find another like him,” Kai stated.

“Isn’t that what I said?” Huli demanded.

“Not even close,” Rei muttered.

“Hey, if you’re not Junjie’s mate, that’s fine with us,” Moon cut in before Huli could continue along his bloody path. “I think at one time or another, we’ve all had those loose, no-strings relationships.”

Kai’s harsh whisper suddenly cut through the SUV. “You tie up your mates?”

“No!” Moon snapped.

“Sometimes,” Rei purred.

And that was more than Leo needed to know about Rei and Yichen’s sex life.

“The point I’m trying to make,” Moon pressed on, talking through clenched teeth, “is don’t lead Junjie on. We love him. He’s a sweet and caring guy, and we don’t want to see him hurt.”

Wow!He was actually getting the shovel talk. No one had ever threatened him like this over someone. Of course, he’d never stuck around long enough to receive the shovel talk, so there was that.

Both Rei and Huli shifted in their seats to pin him with very frightening “we can make it so no one finds the body” looks.

“We love Jun-Jun,” Rei said, enunciating each syllable.

“Whoa! Hey!” Leo put up his hands in front of him while pressing into his seat. “Jun-Jun is important to me, but neither of us is using the ‘M’ word. I think we’re focused on dealing with Jiang Chong and the fae right now while keeping Erik safe. I don’t want him hurt, either. Our expectations are pretty low right now.”

At least, he hoped they were. Junjie hadn’t hinted anything about Leo being his mate, and he was still making plans to return to China without Leo. However, the thought of watching Junjie and Erik board a plane and put an entire world between them was enough to make him queasy and his fingers cold.

“Fucking fae,” Kai grumbled as he sank lower in his seat. “Fucking Jiang Chong. Why can’t I just get rid of one of them? I’m a powerful dragon, feared by even some of the gods, but I can’t wipe out the fae.”

Moon reached across and patted the dragon’s slumped shoulder. “That’s because you’re a good dragon, and you don’t want to hurt innocent people.”

“Jiang Chong’s slippery too. I bet the gods would have trouble catching him,” Leo added.

“Besides, look where we are!” Moon hit the turn signal and slowed the SUV as they reached the brightly lit parking lot of the fast-food joint. Thankfully, there wasn’t a long line for thedrive-through at five in the morning. “Potatoes make everything better.”

Moon attempted to park so they could go inside to order, but Huli and Kai wouldn’t have it. Huli needed to see the talking box and witness how food was passed through a window. Poor Moon had to wrangle all their chaotic orders. Leo tried not to laugh too hard as Kai, Rei, and Huli attempted to order everything off the menu.

In the end, they had to wait for someone to bring out their many bags. Four bags were put aside while one was passed around during the drive home. The smell of grease, fried foods, and coffee permeated the vehicle even with the windows down. Conversation had ground to a halt. There were happy noises and the occasional urging to try something.

Leo sipped his coffee and met Moon’s smiling eyes in the rearview mirror. Of all the people in the car, only the two of them knew what it was like to be human, or at least pass for it. The elf, fox spirit, and dragon had largely been on the outside, but it was the Zhang clan that had brought them into something bigger.

But Moon surprised him with another thought. “I know cats are typically loners, but this is what it means to be in a clan. Enjoy.”

As Rei laughed at Huli’s expression as he bit into a breakfast sandwich and Kai offered Rei some creamer for his coffee, Leo had to admit he liked this a lot. More than he ever would have expected.