It was a peaceful morning. Yin Yue just wants breakfast.
Yin Yue was halfway through his third spoonful of mushroom-and-root soup, which was warm, not over-salted, and free of emotional subtext.
Then the Elder stood up from the central fire pit and tapped his staff on a stone three times.
"ATTENTION!" he bellowed. "A sacred announcement for all present!"
Yin Yue paused soup halfway to mouth.
Please don't say it, he thought. Please let this be about rain, or crop rotation, or literally anything else..
The Elder spread his arms like he was presenting a divine prophecy.
"AS OF LAST MOONRISE," he declared, "CHIEF LANG ZHU AND YIN YUE ARE OFFICIALLY, FULLY, ENTIRELY MATED. MAY THEIR UNION BE BLESSED BY THE STARS, THE WOLVES, AND WHOEVER INVENTED MATTED FUR."
Yin Yue choked hard. The spoon clattered into the bowl.
Mi Mi squeaked. Shan Da clapped.
Feng Xia raised both hands in the air and yelled, "FINALLY!"
> 💥 SYSTEM 520:
🍲 SOUP STATUS: Spilled
💘 PUBLIC BOND STATUS: Announced (Loudly)
🧠 HOST INTERNAL SYSTEM: Crashing
Lang Zhu kept eating. Just calmly picked a sprig of thyme from Yin Yue's sleeve and placed it on his own plate like it was a love poem.
Yin Yue stared at him, wheezing.
"You knew this was going to happen," he accused.
Lang Zhu nodded. "He asked me for permission."
"AND YOU SAID YES?!"
"You were asleep."
"WHAT PART OF THAT IS CONSENT?!"
Lang Zhu sipped tea. Yin Yue buried his face in his hands.
The Elder clapped once more. "The official festival shall be held three nights from now. There will be drums. There will be stew. There will be dancing!"
"I'm not dancing," Yin Yue mumbled.
"You will be dragged," Feng Xia whispered gleefully.
> 💬 VILLAGE STATUS: Celebrating
💘 ML STATUS: Utterly Unbothered
🫠 HOST STATUS: Emotionally Stewed
After the announcement, Yin Yue didn't move for ten minutes.
Lang Zhu leaned over. Placed a hand gently at his back.
Whispered, "You didn't run."
Yin Yue, face still in his hands, muttered, "I tripped. Emotionally."
Lang Zhu smiled.
"You landed with me."
The village throws itself into planning the mating festival. Yin Yue is not consulted.
Yin Yue had survived many things:
An apocalypse. A river. A mating blanket.
He was not emotionally equipped for a silk sash with wolf-paw embroidery.
He stood stiffly on a wooden stool while Mi Mi fluttered around him with a measuring cord and a bolt of soft, gold-dyed fabric.
"This is abduction," he muttered.
Mi Mi smiled sweetly. "It's tradition."
"I didn't agree to this."
Feng Xia peeked through the curtain. "You literally kissed him in public."
"That's not legal grounds for costume theater!"
Feng Xia entered anyway, holding a roll of patterned cloth and a stack of hair ornaments. "Wrong. It's grounds for sequins."
Yin Yue groaned.
> 💥 SYSTEM 520:
🧵 Mating Robe Progress: 35%
🧠 Host Mood: Deeply Betrayed by Silk
💘 ML Location: Approaching Den. Danger Level: Ceremonial
The curtain rustled, Lang Zhu stepped inside and stopped completely.
Yin Yue mid-measurement, half-sashed, blushing furiously froze.
Lang Zhu said nothing. Just stared slowly from head to toe. Then took one slow step forward.
And said, voice low: "Stay still."
He reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind Yin Yue's ear. Brushed his fingers down the side of his jaw and stepped back again.
Feng Xia was grinning like he'd just witnessed an entire novella. Mi Mi fanned herself with a fabric swatch.
Yin Yue stared at the floor.
"Do you have to be here?" he muttered.
Lang Zhu said, "No." but he didn't leave.
Yin Yue said, "Are you trying to kill me?"
Lang Zhu said, "You look beautiful."
Yin Yue glitched. Mi Mi dropped a pin.
Feng Xia whispered, "Oh, he's so in love with you it's embarrassing."
> 💘 ML AFFECTION: Showing
🫠 HOST STATUS: Full-Body Fluster
🧶 Robe Progress: 60% and accelerating
Yin Yue didn't speak again until the fitting was over.
When he stepped outside into the fresh air, he was certain he'd cooled off.
Lang Zhu followed, said nothing but quietly offered his hand and Yin Yue took it.
No one was watching. Which, for once, made it even worse.
Because it felt real and it was.
The Elder insists that as part of the ceremony, Yin Yue and Lang Zhu must learn the traditional first mating dance.
"Absolutely not," Yin Yue said.
The Elder tapped his staff. "Absolutely yes."
"I can't dance!"
"You're spiritually mated."
"That doesn't give me rhythm!"
The Elder ignored him, shoving two flat stones across the firepit. "The steps are simple. Step, turn, draw the partner in. The movement symbolizes balance, union, and extremely public longing."
Yin Yue groaned.
Feng Xia, sitting on a log and pretending to help, sipped tea. "Just wait until the lift."
"There's a lift?!"
> 💥 SYSTEM 520:
💃 Mating Dance Status: Mandatory
💘 Public Display Level: Wedding Theater
🫠 Host Confidence: At Rock Bottom and Digging
Lang Zhu stepped into the clearing. Said nothing but offered his hand. Yin Yue stared at it like it was on fire.
"You're going to laugh at me," he muttered.
"I've never laughed at you."
"You've smirked."
Lang Zhu: "That's affection."
Yin Yue: "That's mental warfare."
Lang Zhu: "Take my hand."
Yin Yue did. The moment they touched, something changed.
Lang Zhu's posture softened but not his focus. He turned, guided, shifted his weight as if it was second nature. His other hand hovered just above Yin Yue's waist, never pushing, only offering.
Yin Yue followed. Awkwardly at first then less so. Because Lang Zhu always made space for him. Physically. Emotionally. Like it wasn't effort.. just instinct.
Step.
Turn.
Draw in.
Their palms pressed together. Their breath matched.
Yin Yue looked up and for one terrifying second, Lang Zhu wasn't the Wolf Chief. He was just a man.
Looking at him like he was the only person left in the world worth watching.
> 💘 ML GAZE INTENSITY: Max
🫠 HOST INTERNAL STATUS: Floating
🎶 DANCE SCORE: Disastrously Romantic
Yin Yue stumbled. Lang Zhu caught him and didn't let go.
"Again," he murmured.
Yin Yue's voice was quiet. "You like this."
Lang Zhu didn't deny it.
"You like touching me in front of everyone."
Lang Zhu smiled. "I like touching you."
Yin Yue swallowed and turned his head.
And whispered, "I'm going to fall."
Lang Zhu said, "I'll catch you."
The night before the mating ceremony, Yin Yue and Lang Zhu share a temporary ceremonial tent while the den is decorated.
Their den had been overtaken by decorations. Bows, blankets and bones carved with their initials.
Someone had hung dried berries in the doorway like spiritual mistletoe.
So now, they were in a temporary ceremonial tent smaller, colder, quieter.
One bedroll and one blanket.
Yin Yue lay awake, staring at the canvas ceiling.
Lang Zhu was next to him, close enough to touch, breathing slow and steady like he had no internal war happening at all.
> 💻 SYSTEM 520:
🛏️ Sleeping Arrangement: Dangerously Intimate
🧠 HOST STATUS: Sleep-Deprived and Emotionally Overclocked
💘 ML STATUS: Listening
Outside, the fire cracked low.
Somewhere nearby, Mi Mi and Feng Xia whispered about flower placement and "kiss timing."
Yin Yue closed his eyes tried to focus on breathing, on the rise and fall of Lang Zhu's chest and on the way their knees brushed whenever he shifted.
He whispered, barely audible: "Don't leave me."
Lang Zhu didn't move. But his voice came, low and certain, in the dark.
"I won't."
Yin Yue's eyes flew open.
"I didn't mean to say that out loud," he whispered.
"I know."
"I wasn't asking. I was... dreaming."
"I'll stay anyway."
> 💥 SYSTEM 520:
💘 ML PROMISE: Issued (Again)
🫠 HOST HEART: Not Surviving This One
🛏️ Shared Blanket Status: Emotional Furnace
Yin Yue turned onto his side. Face half-hidden under the blanket. Lang Zhu's tail curled lightly across both their ankles.
No words. No pressure. Just warmth. And the kind of steady presence that said: you're not alone anymore.
Yin Yue whispered, "Okay."
Lang Zhu didn't reply but his hand found Yin Yue's under the blanket and didn't let go.
The mating ceremony begins. The fire was enormous.
Petals swirled in the air, foxes drummed on hollowed logs, rabbits tossed herbs into the flames.
Everyone had gathered cloaked in color, fur brushed, faces bright with expectation.
At the center: Lang Zhu. Calm. Beautiful. Dangerous. Waiting.
And then: Yin Yue stepped forward.
In full ceremonial robes, mating blanket folded over one arm, hair braided down his back with silver thread.
He'd been fussed over for hours.
But now?
He was still, focused and ready well kind of.
> 💥 SYSTEM 520:
🧵 Mating Festival: Commenced
💘 Pair Status: Public, Permanent, Precious
🫠 Host Status: Braced for Emotional Detonation
Lang Zhu held out his hand and Yin Yue took it.
The drums shifted rhythm.
Step. Turn. Draw in.
Again.
Their feet moved in unison.
The crowd faded. Even the Elder's loud sniffles went quiet.
All Yin Yue could feel was Lang Zhu's hand in his. Lang Zhu's gaze on his face.
Lang Zhu's voice, low and sure, murmuring, "Don't look away."
"I wasn't going to."
"Good."
Because this was happening. This was real.
This wasn't a dream or a mistake or a misunderstanding made of rabbit meat and tail-brushing.
It was a choice. His choice. Yin Yue leaned in.
Said quietly, "I love you."
Lang Zhu smiled.
"Say it again."
Yin Yue kissed him. That was his answer. Soft. Steady. Full of everything he didn't know how to say.
The crowd roared. Howled they literally howled.
Foxes. Wolves. Bears. Birds. The entire forest echoed with it.
Yin Yue buried his face in Lang Zhu's shoulder.
"I hate that I love you this much," he muttered.
Lang Zhu held him tighter.
"I love that you do."
> ✅ Mating Ceremony: Complete
💘 Bond Level: Irreversible
🫶 Host Emotional Status: No Longer in Denial
📢 Village: Loud, Joyful, Extremely Invested
As the fire burned high into the sky, Yin Yue held Lang Zhu's hand and thought:
This is home.