Page 33 of Two Thousand Promises

“Don’t come another step closer. This human is none of your business.”

“How about this trade: give me the boy, and I’ll let you keep the vampire and his soul? That’s more than a fair deal for the knowledge I gave you over the years.”

“No! You get neither! Leave here, or I will rip off all of your tails!”

The words were barely out of his mouth when a horrendous roar rent the air and shook the house. Erik’s whimpers turned into frightened cries. Huli chanced a look into the house to see a large Bengal tiger racing toward them, followed by Junjie and several other Zhang clan members.

Leo stopped beside Huli and roared again at Min, flashing enormous fangs. As Junjie stepped outside, Huli picked Erik up with two of his tails and lightly tossed the boy into his arms.

With Erik tucked away, he leaped across the pond to Min’s tree. Leo was right behind as they chased Min across the Zhang property and over the wall. It was tempting to keep pursuing her, but Erik’s cries seemed to tug on Leo, holding him back. The giant cat let out a final angry huff at the wall where Min had disappeared before turning to the house. Huli followed him to the garden where Junjie was still fiercely holding Erik as he continued to sob. The rest of the clan gathered around him, whispering reassurances.

As Leo entered the garden, he shifted into his human form and ran his hand along Erik’s shaking body.

“Shhh…it’s okay. Kitty Gege is bad kitty. I’m so sorry for scaring you. Everything is okay now. Me and Huli scared the other fox away.”

Huli shifted into his human form as well and waggled his fingers at Erik as the child lifted his head from Junjie’s shoulder to look at Leo and Huli. His crying stopped, and he reached for Leo. He transitioned from the vampire to the shifter, recovered from his scare.

With a relieved sigh, Huli turned to Xiao Dan, ready to demand to know where he’d been hiding. But he didn’t have the chance.

Junjie threw himself at Huli, wrapping him in a bone-crushing hug while a fractured sob broke from his throat. “Thank you so much for protecting Erik. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to him. He’s our whole world.”

Huli froze, his hands held out to his sides while the vampire clutched him like a boa constrictor seizing its prey. He stared over Junjie’s shoulder at Xiao Dan and soundlessly mouthed,Help me, but his evil mate just smiled.

Not one of the other clan members had ever hugged him. Junjie, though, had been the first to stick up for him besides Xiao Dan.

After swallowing hard, Huli patted Junjie on the back twice. “There, there. Erik is safe. Everyone here will always keep him safe. No one will ever get near the little boy.”

Junjie sniffed and released Huli at last. He hurried to Leo and Erik to coo and cuddle their precious kitten.

But Huli wasn’t free yet. The rest of the clan came to him one by one to pat him on the shoulder and offer supportive words. Ming Yu even pressed a kiss to his cheek and promised to make him some pork rib soup. His favorite! She knew what his favorite meal was.

The second he was alone with Xiao Dan, Huli had no words. Even Xiang and Chen had said nice things to him without even a hint of sarcasm.

“I’m so proud of you,” Xiao Dan whispered.

And those words from his mate lit a fire that started at the tips of his ears and ran across his face and down his chest.

“It’s all your fault,” Huli countered, wishing he could hide his face behind his tails.

“My fault? How is that possible?”

“I was looking for you, but I found Erik instead, and he called me Pretty Gege. He wanted to play with his truck and he likes my tails. And that boy deserves to have the bestest, fluffiest tail when he finally shifts.”

He was babbling. He knew he was babbling, but it felt like talking was the only way to get rid of the lump in his throat.

“Min offered to take Erik in place of my soul, but you didn’t hesitate to tell her off. You protected that little boy you don’t actually like,” Xiao Dan said, his smile growing wider.

Huli swallowed hard. So he’d heard that part, huh? “It’s not that I don’t like him. I just don’t like the times he gets more attention from you than I do. The kid is cute. Especially when he calls me Pretty Gege.”

Xiao Dan closed the distance between them. He cupped Huli’s cheek with one hand and a different heat spread through Huli’s body. Everything in him wanted to melt into his mate and never separate.

“Well, you have my complete and undivided attention now. What would you like to do, my beautiful, brave fox?”

Oh, he had ideas. So many ideas.

Chapter 12

Huli

---