Zhuang knew him so well, and in such a small amount of time. It gave Xias a warm feeling deep inside, which was odd considering how scared he was.
He turned to run down the hallway leading to Elder Shen’s office just as the front door crashed open. Xias slipped on the marble floor when he spun around. He slammed his hand against the wall to keep from falling.
Xias swallowed tightly as he stared at the man standing in the doorway. “He’s here.”
* * * *
Zhuang felt Xias’s fear like a burn along his skin. He gritted his teeth and growled as he stalked through the mansion, heading for his mate. He’d be damned if he’d let Osamu get to Xias now. Not when they were so close to having a life he had only dreamed of.
When a shifter jumped out at him from the shadows, Zhuang swung his fist as hard as he could, funneling all of his anger into the hit. He was already walking away by the time the shifter hit the floor. He knew not all of his enemies would be that easy.
When he heard Xias scream, Zhuang shifted, tore out of his ripped clothes, and took off running. He rounded the corner just in time to see Osamu dragging Xias out the front door. Zhuang roared as he put on an extra burst of speed.
“Xias!”
“Help, Zhuang, Osamu has me!”
“I’m coming, mate.”
He had just about reached the door when someone came at him from his left. He turned to look only to get slammed from the right. Zhuang grunted as he went tumbling into the bottom of the grand staircase.
He shook his head and then climbed to his feet. He flattened his ears back against his head and bared his teeth, growling. It was a threat, plain and simple. He would rip these two yahoos apart if they didn’t back off.
They weren’t alphas, but there were two of them. Zhuang was stronger and faster. He just wasn’t sure he could beat two of them. He did know he had to try because they stood between him and his mate.
Zhuang growled again, wanting to give them one last chance. It wasn’t their fault their alpha was batshit crazy. They didn’t have to die for him, and they would die. Zhuang didn’t plan on leaving any prisoners.
When they took a step toward him, Zhuang sprang into action, going for the throat of the closest man. Why they didn’t shift to fight him, he would never know. He jumped on the guy, taking him to the hard marble floor.
He bit at the man’s throat, but as he started to sink his teeth in, he felt the man tremble. Zhuang froze and instead of listening with his anger, he listened with his other senses. He smelled fear, but he also smelled determination.
What he didn’t smell was anger. Well, except his own.
He also didn’t feel an attack from the other man. The guy should have rushed him the second his attention was somewhere else. So, why hadn’t he?
Zhuang extracted his teeth and climbed off of the man he’d pinned to the floor. He took a couple of steps back, his gaze snapping between the guy on the floor and the one standing by the bottom of the stairs. Neither man moved.
Zhuang shifted in one fluid motion. He stood tall and looked down at the man on the floor, then to the man by the stairs. “Why are you here?”
Neither man moved or spoke, but the scent of fear increased, saturating the room.
“Answer me!”
The guy on the floor swallowed so hard it looked painful. “We were ordered to slow you down.”
“Me specifically or…”
“You, sir,” the one by the stairs said. “We were ordered to slow you down.”
Fuck a duck.
“Did Osamu give you that order?” he asked.
“Yes, sir.”
Zhuang started for the door. He doubted he’d have any more trouble from these two. He had a bigger target.
“Sir?”
