My Wild Beast-Chapter 100: Her First Step (3)

Atia threw his hands up and stalked off. "I’m out of here. I know already how this is going to go and I don’t want to stick around to hear my parents making love."

Nova’s mouth flopped open. "Atia!"

"What?" Atia smirked, his eyes twinkling as he made it to the latch in the rooftop of his treehouse. He paused before it. "Don’t act like you won’t."

"First of all... I am serious about this," Nova stated, then rolled her eyes at the look Atia gave her. "And how are we your parents? I’m pretty sure you’re older than me."

"He isn’t." Atia shrugged.

"You call him brother?" Nova reminded him, not that it mattered that much.

Yoa narrowed his eyes at both of them. Atia sensed his possessiveness kicking up a notch again, didn’t respond and hopped into the latch, and disappearing to his rooms below.

"Something I said?" Nova asked, looking to her Serakai, and he cleared his throat, stepping closer to her, hand grazing along her hip instinctively, like he couldn’t go without touching her for more than a few minutes.

"No, it’s me," Yoa sighed, and dragged his hand over his face. "I should tell you now... For the first journey of the moon after our mateship, the Serakai bond has been said to make us more possessive of each other."

He moved her hand to his chest where his heart began to thud calmer beneath her touch. "I know Atia is my brother and would never try to touch or take lux mea, but I cannot help this need to keep you closer, away from other males. This will pass. Mostly."

Nova released her breath and smiled softly up at him. It had been a little ridiculous to get jealous of Atia teaching her how to shoot, but now she understood, and wondered if she would act the same towards Yoa and females, or if it is just a beast thing.

Yoa set aside the bow Nova had been using and took her hand, pulling her into his chest before scooping her up into his arms. Effortlessly, he stepped off Atia’s rooftop, landing lightly on a thick branch below. Then, in a series of agile leaps between swaying branches, he carried her back to their own rooftop.

After setting Nova down on her feet, he assessed her again. "Are you sure you don’t wish to rest? You haven’t had much sleep."

"And whose fault is that?" Nova arched a brow at him, amusement twinkling in her gaze.

Yoa chuckled, his thumb grazing along her collarbone instinctively, the mark tingling under his touch. His gaze softened at the sight before he nuzzled his face into her neck and pulled back slightly, his hair entangled with hers as he gazed at her. "I know. And that is why I am checking in with you first." 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"You’re so sweet," Nova murmured before she could stop herself and leaned on her tiptoes to kiss him softly and stepping back. "And if I can’t use a bow right now, then I need to at least know how to defend myself. I’m only little compared to you lot."

Yoa released her with a smirk, then dragged some of the hides aside, along with the cushions from their little lovemaking nest the night before. He could hear and sense how restless and determined she was, needing to do something, make herself better so like what happened with Vulcan could never happen again.

It wouldn’t anyway. He would ensure that. But he would never deny his Serakai from being capable of defending herself, and causing havoc for others.

"Alright then." He motioned for her to come toward him.

Nova stepped closer, brushing damp hair away from her face, sweat glistening along her collarbone. Her Serakai mark glinting back at him and causing him to smirk even more.

"You need to learn how to move with your body, not against it," Yoa said, circling her like a predator sizing up its prey. "No weapons. No distractions. Just instinct and form."

"I’ve seen you wrestle Atia," she said, arching a brow. "I’m pretty sure he still walks funny."

Yoa grinned, flashing teeth. "I’ll be gentle."

She didn’t trust that smile. No matter how much they’d just proven their love and lust for each other all night long, that competitive glint in his eye made her both anxious and also competitive.

"Come at me. I need to assess you."

Nova hesitated, but stepped forward and swiped at his arm like a cat. He caught her wrist with ease, spun her gently and pinned her arm behind her.

"Too slow."

Nova’s eyes narrowed. She wasn’t that slow. He was just incredibly fast.

She twisted, and kicked his shin. He grunted at the impact but grinned at his vicious little mouse. The fight in her was making him feel hot.

"Better."

They moved again. She lunged, he dodged. He reached, she ducked.

Nova might not be some 7-foot towering wall of muscle, but life in the system and the city had toughened her. She barely remembered the self-defence class she took after a mugging years ago, yet she’d still fight—kicking, screaming, and biting if she had to.

Although, she didn’t quite see herself biting Yoa unless it was in some form of foreplay. Nova smirked and the distraction cost her. Yoa tackled her to the ground and held her captive beneath him.

They were both breathing a little heavier, though Nova’s muscles trembled, Yoa was barely breaking a sweat. His silky hair acted like a curtain to them, blocking out most of the sun. They gazed at each other, eyes flickering to a heat that was only for each other.

Yoa shook his head, and his eyes narrowed. "Try to escape this," he commanded quietly.

Nova gave him a ’are you serious’ look. To which he responded with a ’no bullshit’, stern expression. Then after silence thickened the tension between them, Nova tried to wiggle and get out of his hold. "You know I can’t," she huffed.

"And if it wasn’t me that had you pinned right now?" Yoa asked, his hands firm on her. "You wouldn’t hesitate."

Nova released a breath. "Or you could show me some moves. I think you’ve done enough... assessing. You big-ass pervy cat."

Yoa snorted at her use of language. "Show you my moves, huh?" He smirked, eyes flashing in heat but he doused out his desire and began showing her moves to be able to get out of this position she was in.

The lesson continued, and Nova tried again and again until she managed one of the moves, forcing her aching, straining muscles to force Yoa off her and get the upper hand. The moment she did, however, he outmanoeuvred her and she found herself restrained again. Yoa showed her a few more moves before they went through the sequence and their tangled limbs, and Nova’s heavy breaths, skin brushing against skin, bled into something a little more heated.

Yoa caught her ankle mid-kick and she fell against him, his hands gripping her hips. Their eyes met, her chest heaving against his, their breath mingling.

"Want me to stop?" he asked, his voice rough.

Stop the lesson, or stop what was already fluttering between the bond. The air grew thick with heat and his touch burned along her flesh, inciting a shiver down her spine.

Nova licked her lips, flushed and breathless. "No."

That simple word was all he needed to hear. His lips crashed into hers.

She groaned, wrapping her arms around his neck, their mouths moving in frantic, heated rhythm. His hands explored the curve of her back, sliding beneath her damp top to feel the slick heat of her skin. Her legs brushed against his, their bodies still locked in a mock-grapple.

Yoa pulled her against him, hand curling into her hair. Nova’s fingers slid along his bare chest, nails raking over his ribs as she pressed against him. He guided her down to the soft mats near the railing, the afternoon sun casting dappled shadows over them.

His mouth left hers to trail kisses along her jaw, her throat, nipping lightly at the skin over her bond mark — his mark. Nova gasped and arched into him, her body remembering exactly how well he knew her.

Their sparring turned into exactly what Atia stated it would earlier, but it was slow, intimate, but still intense. The bond sparked and pulsed like stars awakening behind closed eyes. The fire between them couldn’t burn out not until Nova’s body couldn’t take anymore.

Nova’s body hummed from the exertion of the bow, self-defence and the deliciousness that was Yoa. He leaned up on one elbow, brushing hair from her flushed face, his breath still ragged.

"I’m still going to carve you a bow," he murmured, voice like crushed velvet.

Nova grinned, dazed and pleased. "Only if you teach me how to pin you next time."

He smirked, eyes gleaming. "We’ll see if you’re fast enough, little mouse."

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Sprawled across Yoa, her limbs deliciously tangled with his, Nova sighed dreamily as the light breeze carried the earthy, salty and fruity scent of the jungle and the lingering musk of him.

He lay on his side, one hand splayed possessively across her stomach, his thumb tracing lazy circles against her skin. His chest rose and fell in a calming rhythm, and his gaze was steady on her face, still half-wild, half-awed.

Nova reached up and dragged her fingers through the mess of his dark hair, marvelling at how soft it was despite the tangles and wildness. "You never stop watching me," she murmured.

Yoa hummed low in his throat. "I’m making sure you haven’t vanished."

She chuckled, eyes fluttering shut. "That’s a bit dramatic."

"No," he said simply. "Not when I’ve already lost sight of you once."

His voice had gone quiet. She turned to look at him again and saw the flicker of something serious beneath the playfulness — that lingering fear from when he’d sensed her pain and come tearing back through the jungle like the world was ending.

Nova reached down, sliding her fingers into his and giving his hand a squeeze. "I’m okay. It was just a bit of overkill. Atia was very enthusiastic."

His lips curved into a small smile. "Atia should’ve known better than to give you a weapon made for a man twice your size."

"I think he did it on purpose. To test me."

Yoa snorted. "Or to get behind you."

Nova rolled her eyes, but she was smiling too. "You were jealous, and still are."

He didn’t even try to deny it, he’d already told her the bond would make him like so. "Of course I was. You’re mine."

Nova liked the way he said it — not as a possession, but as a truth carved deep into the bond between them. His. Her Serakai. Her anchor in this new, wild world.

Yoa shifted, propping himself up slightly, eyes narrowing as he studied her expression. "What are you thinking?"

"That you’re insufferably smug when you win."

"I always win."

"Exactly."

He grinned, lowering his face until his forehead rested gently against hers. His fingers wandered to her hip. "I’ll teach you to move like the jungle. Quiet. Deadly."

Her eyes darkened. "That sounds... hot."

"Good," he said, voice gravelly as he nuzzled the side of her neck. "Because I don’t plan to stop teaching you any time soon."

Nova’s giggles flittered through the jungle from where he rolled over her, peppering her in kisses. Those giggles eased into moans, and the jungle came alive again with their guardian and his Serakai wrapped up in each other and the moment.

Wind rustled the canopy, the sky above them just beginning to shift into gold. Yoa sensed something stirring in Tayun’s grasp but he didn’t know what it was. It could be the Akhlut or something more, but for now, he felt content, the island was safe, and his Serakai was safe in his arms.