My Wild Beast
Chapter 89: The Call of Tayun (10)

Chapter 89: The Call of Tayun (10)

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ Trial of the Ancient °❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

You must walk with caution, Yohuali.

What is sacred is not always safe.

What is feared is not always meant to fall to blade or claw.

Speak not with anger.

Move not with haste.

This trial is not measured by power, but with knowing when not to strike.

Yoa’s eyes slowly peeled open, the pain ricocheting in his body from all of his injuries. Zahul’s words pulsed in his head like a bad headache. He swore it had repeatedly been spinning in his mind all night, even while he slept.

It was the sixth sunrise, and Yoa couldn’t physically keep attacking it. With a strange calmness, he watched the beast from a high branch. It sniffed, paced, then suddenly froze. Its heads snapped directly to his location, a screech escaping it. Then it fled.

It fled from him.

Yoa’s tail swished along the branch, watching it retreat. It almost seemed like it was fearful of him. He’d shifted into his jaguar form to help with the healing process and preserve his strength.

At the silver ascent of the moon, Yoa had tracked it down again and watched lazily from another tree. He didn’t bother trying to attack and decided to assess it more, taking his time to really understand his foe. It was from this that he truly started to learn more about the creature.

On the seventh sunrise, Yoa continued to watch the seven-headed creature. It had yet to try and go across the border into Vohraki land, all thanks to the young jaguar, but his body was not in the best of states to continue distracting and fighting it. The Teju jagua reared back, all of its nostrils sniffing, and its tongue hissed at the base of the tree Yoa was in.

It hadn’t yet noticed him. His head tilted to the side, whiskers brushing the branch he lay on as he watched it with more intrigue. Its jaws snapped shut, growling at the base of the tree, glaring at it, and backing away. Yoa had marked the area instinctively the night before. _{f.r(e)e\webn.ovel.co\m}

His breath caught.

It hadn’t run from his claws. It hadn’t fled from fire, blade, or ambush. But his scent—it recoiled at that. Not just him as a boy, or even a warrior. No, it feared the jaguar.

He remembered a painting from the old cavern, deep in the jungle’s sacred root chamber—jaguar paws stamping earth, urinating at the edge of the riverbank. It was a claim. A warning. Some sort of spiritual shield. Not only did it fear the jaguar, but it despised its own reflection.

"The jungle knows its own," he murmured.

The final sunrise came.

Yoa rose before the light touched the leaves. Covered in ash, the stone beads tied to his hair damp with sweat and grit, he shifted into his jaguar form. With steady steps, he marked the trail along the Vohraki border—scraping his scent into the bark, dragging claws through soil, pressing his body against trees where the Teju had wandered.

When the creature returned, snarling and low, it stopped.

They stared at each other, though Yoa’s eyes lowered slightly to avoid going blind. Its sunlit eyes blinked, one after another, creepily on each of its heads. Its jaws creaked open, and he inhaled, expecting to be burned to a crisp.

But it did not advance.

It paced. It hissed. And then it turned, slow, hesitant steps leading it back toward the twisted roots from which it came.

Is it over?

Yoa collapsed shortly after. The trial had taken everything from him. Once again, he’d been proven that power and strength were not what he needed alone to pass the trial.

When he woke next, laughter bounced around him.

"You look like something that fell from a tree," Atia’s voice chimed through the haze.

"Or fought with a shark," Aiyana added, her brows pinched together in concern.

With a low groan, Yoa blinked away the grogginess, and stared at the leaves framing the blue skies above him. They must be high in the trees for him to gaze upon the bright blue skies like this. His back was cushioned by moss, and pain shot through every part of his angle, including a dull ache in his head. Yet, he was alive, and he’d passed the trial.

The familiar laughter of his friends grounded him. It was strange how he kept waking up in their presence.

Did they ever see Zahul? Does Vulcan know he passed? Yoa wished he could have seen the bird brain’s face after discovering not only was he alive, but had passed the trial.

"You okay, Yoa?" Atia leaned closer, his hair wild, eyes sharp with concern.

"Did you pass the trial?" Aiyana asked.

Yoa smiled faintly, the ache in his body answering for him. "Barely."

"I can see that," Atia smirked, though concern still shone from his golden-green eyes. "What happened to your hair?"

Yoa toyed with the frizzy, burnt strand, the one shorter than the others, the bead making the damage stand out more. "I played with fire," he deadpanned.

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Nova mirrored Yoa’s smile as he recalled what had happened. She still lay on top of him, overly aware of his injury, but mostly enjoying the feel of him beneath her. She reached up and brushed back some of his hair, and there, one small strand of hair had not grown like the rest.

Nova’s grin broadened as did Yoa’s in response to her dazzling smile. "Is this what I think it is?" She whispered in awe.

Yoa nodded.

"Why did you stop wearing your hair like that?" She wondered.

"Because it got ruined," Yoa stated simply with a shrug.

Nova tilted her head. "But you keep your hair down now?"

"I’m better at keeping it undamaged," came Yoa’s cocky response.

"Mmm." Nova’s fingers slid along his scalp as she pressed into him, her lips brushing against his. Yoa’s arms tightened around her, and he breathed in, closing his eyes to enjoy her sweet scent. His hand slid up to cradle the back of her head and threaded into her short, golden-brown locks.

"It’s a shame you didn’t get to see Vulcan’s expression fall," she murmured, then stilled, realising it was probably the worst timing to speak another man’s name while kissing him, especially after their recent ordeal with said man.

Yoa’s growl was immediate, his eyes snapping open with the heat of a thousand suns searing into her. "I hate the sound of his name leaving your lips," he breathed out, a whisper filled with danger, but not directed at her. He rested his forehead against hers, then sighed. "The Kairan must have grown bored and wouldn’t allow me that one little victory before that pompous peacock."

Nova chuckled at his amused yet grumpy expression. The small pout he made was the cherry on top, and she burst into a fit of giggles, rolling off him, yelping, followed by more laughter, eyes tearing up, and her stomach hurting from the little ab workout she’d had.

She glanced at her wild, beastly man and wanted to keep him in this mood rather than spiralling into thoughts about that overgrown pigeon. "Tell me... how many more trials were there? You were only thirteen when you faced an Ancient..." She said in awe again, unable to stop herself.

When she was thirteen, she’d been messing around in school with her friends and crushing over some surfer guy at least six years older than her. She and her friend ’stalked’ him, following him around school, hoping he didn’t catch onto the two girls trailing him. His name had been Reef, and it was only a few years later that she realised it was most likely not his real name, and he had no idea who she was.

So, waving at him and calling his name like they were old friends when she’d turned fifteen was utterly humiliating when he waved slowly and stared at her in confusion, and asked his buddy who she was.

"Mmmm, I’d much prefer talking about what has made my little mouse turn so red..." Yoa teased, his hands sliding to her wrists, fingers threading through hers and pulling her back on top of him until she straddled his thighs.

Yoa’s eyes darkened, growing more feline, with a low rumbling purr, and a slight nudge of his hips. Nova gasped at his hardness, her hands splayed out on his chest, steadying herself from the thrust. It might have only been a small movement for him, but he was twice her size and didn’t know his own power at times.

Breathily, Nova answered him, "Oh, I am much more interested in your stories."

That didn’t work, however. Yoa shook his head, eyes shimmering with intrigue and excitement. "Oh, I think your childhood stories are much more interesting."

"Believe me, they’re most certainly not," Nova murmured, her lips curled up slightly. It was clear he wanted to learn more about her, but she wasn’t done yet. His stories were so much cooler, and she couldn’t stop asking more about them, especially right now when all she could feel between her thighs was a third leg!

Yoa pouted again, purposely, then, when that didn’t work, he thrust his hips slightly again, knocking her forward and kept her there with his hands pressed to her shoulder blades. His lips trailed across her jaw and along her neck, teasing her.

"Tell me more about the metal beast that flew you to Tayun, then instead..." He commanded quietly, and oh-so seductively. This damned cat. Nova bit her lip. "I want to picture it."

Nova hummed, not quite able to respond just yet as she fell under his spell.