My Wild Beast
Chapter 24: Gone

Chapter 24: Gone

It is for the best.

Yoa repeated those words like a mantra to keep his heavy feet moving away from where Nova went. He’d seen the way Vulcan, Ixana’s son, had looked at Nova before he snatched her away from him at the waterfall. Vulcan could be just as ruthless, or worse than his mother.

The eagle had used the other eagle as bait to distract Yoa from Nova’s position. It was ruthless and calculating to get what he wanted. For some reason, they wanted Nova, and Yoa suspected Vulcan wanted her for different reasons than his mother.

It is for the best. Nova would be safe; she was with her people now. Yoa’s steps paused as he backtracked his thoughts.

Vulcan was ruthless and calculating.

Like a lightning flash, Yoa’s instincts shot through him, urging him to return to Nova. He should have stayed by his little mouse’s side until she was safely with her people. Initially, he thought his beastly desires had been urging him to return to her and snatch her away like Vulcan tried. Maybe it had been a bit of both, grab her and the need to protect her until she was safely off this island.\\

If such a thing were possible. Nova was confident she would leave the island. She certainly did not look or smell like a member of a tribe from Isla de Tayun; she was an outsider through and through. Perhaps it was possible. But if there was land close by, why was Ixana and her small tribe of eagles still here?

Besides him, they were the ultimate predator, and a few times they’d fought over prey. Heck, he’d taken one of their own as a snack once, proving the ultimate dominance over the island. Ixana’s wings weren’t quite so pretty that year; she’d shed a few feathers and over-groomed.

Yoa’s smirk dropped when he heard the flapping of wings overhead and the sounds of smaller feet padding through the sand and dirt, then the leaves. Nova’s breaths were quick, panicked, and her heart racing. Yoa’s speed picked up, and his bones cracked before he could stop the transformation.

The black jaguar raced towards Nova’s direction, bursting through the leaves. She yelped, then sighed in relief when his fur retracted and he rose on two human legs. His hands gripped her shoulders, eyes roaming over her for any injuries she incurred in the last ten minutes of their separation. When he found none, those sharp, fiery eyes swept to the sky, searching for a threat.

Only the constant sounds of the forest remain. There was no other predator nearby including a certain winged pain in his ass. After assessing everything within a few seconds, his gaze fell back to the tiny mouse he held in front of him. "What’s wrong?"

Yoa’s gaze bore into Nova as he waited for her to fill the silence. She looked spooked and fearful. Did Vulcan try anything in the time he was away? No, Nova wouldn’t be standing before him now if that were the case.

"The resort..." Nova’s voice shook. "Chad... Bruce... The people... It’s gone. They’re all gone."

Saying the words aloud made it seem more real. Even though Nova had searched the beach like a mad woman, and could see there was no resort. It was completely barren. There weren’t any signs that the resort was there in the first place. Any prints in the sand were of sea birds and the small paths of recently hatched turtles.

At first, Nova believed she must have been at the wrong location but the Sacred Lands where Nova and Chad set up at that picnic, the lake, it was all the same.

The picnic... That was all gone too. Again, her mind resolved the impossible with a possible cause—the natives probably took everything. It was a sacred place after all.

Yoa frowned down at the little mouse, his hands instinctively rubbing her shoulders gently in comfort. Something he’s never done before. He looked past her like he might see this ’resort’ and her people.

"How could it be gone? It’s vanished like it was never there?!" Nova’s mind was spiralling on the edge of a mini breakdown. Yoa needed to come with her to the beach so she knew it wasn’t all in her head. If it wasn’t in her head, then it meant the resort really wasn’t there.

Nova took Yoa’s hand blindly and led him to where she’d run from in search of him. Like before, there was nothing in front of them besides the crashing waves and the calm wind sweeping across them.

"You are sure this is where the ’resort’ was meant to be?" Yoa asked doubtfully. The entire beach was empty. He’d been doubtful from the beginning, but Nova had been so adamant there was this ’resort’ and her people. He’d sensed no lie from her and presumed that they must have been settlers from elsewhere.

Nova’s lips trembled. "I’m alone..." she whispered, eyes wide. "How can this be?"

The idea of returning to the resort, to return to the comforts of her home were the only thing keeping her together. Like a pin removed from her body, Nova’s knees buckled, hitting the sand with a thud and she fell apart, staring at everything again, hopeless.

Yoa watched her with an amused expression, then focused on the beach again, his brows knitting together in deep thought. Why had she been so adamant that the resort was here? He knew every rock and crevice of this island. If there had been any new arrivals, he and Ixana would be the first to know.

Ixana, who had been obsessed with Nova from the beginning...

Yoa eyed his little mouse again, petting her head in comfort, though his movements might have been a little aggravating at first because of the weight of his hand pressed her head forward. He adjusted how he touched her, overly cautious and let his mind wander again. While she was crouched like this, calming her breathing, the back of her shoulders was going a little pink from the sun.

Focus. Yoa snapped his attention away from the delicious shade of her skin. Did Ixana and her clan of bird brains believe Nova was an Electa?

It couldn’t be possible... Yet her clothes... her skin... those dazzling eyes...

Without thinking further on it, he scooped Nova up in his arms, resting her against his chest, letting her sit on his arm again.

"Y-Yoa?" Her teary eyes met his, and she blinked, a few of the droplets splattering on her cheeks.

Yoa wiped a few away, and in a low, gravelly, commanding voice said, "You’re coming home with me."

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