(Yaya’s POV)
We wrestled, with me trying to get a miracle core out of him, while he tried to get away. Eventually, I pinned him down, making him groan under me.
"Where are you hiding them, hm?" I asked, groping the scales on his hips.
His features softened in response. The frown between his sharp brows smoothed out, and his red eyes drooped a little.
The more I searched, the softer he got. Not his muscles; those stayed hard, but his expression.
With his chin tilted up, his red hair spread around him, and eyes half-closed in a way that made him look even more sensual. Seduction, he had it in spades, even if he didn’t know it.
He was a male who could tempt a nun, and make a devil worshipper kneel in prayer. Nivi said the novel praised him as a sinfully divine creature, meant to corrupt the souls of innocents. The heroine wouldn’t stop herself from admiring him, even if she was afraid of him.
Nivi mentioned how he would soften when the heroine’s cheerful personality rubbed off on him, or when she did something nice for him. It went against his cold-blooded nature, and was enough to capture many hearts, including Nivi’s.
I stopped my search and pinched his cheeks, then slapped them, to snap him out of his daze.
Did people mistake this for affection? Because it didn’t look like it to me. More like getting drunk on the mate mark’s effect.
The cold-blooded mark’s role was to amplify his protective instincts, so he would feed his mate, and make sure the mate survived until she gave birth. Since coldblooded had no protective instincts to begin with (toward their mates), it seemed to have taken a detour.
This delirious noodle, just look at him.
He blinked his eyes open, his pupils dilating as he gazed at me like I was a burden he had to carry. The frown returned as he brought his tail toward my lips. "Eat."
He thought I was famished for snake food, and because I didn’t stop babbling about eating him, he took my request literally. Stressed females were at risk of miscarrying, so he took extra care in filling my stomach, according to his cold-blooded logic.
"A full female, means a full, healthy clutch," he nudged his tail closer. "Eat."
I bit into it, sucking on the small wound I made.
A groan escaped his lips as his tail twitched, but he didn’t pull away, not until I flicked it away myself.
"I’m full."
His hand held his tail, flaccidly, with a face that screamed I had sucked his soul out and demanded compensation.
"Ah, my Noodle is back," I grinned, patting his cheek. "You went away for a moment there."
His eyes narrowed into slits. "I want to bite you. My fangs ache."
"Go ahead, try."
Another fight, and another pinning down of Kurus’s wrists above his head.
"How are the twins?" I asked.
He thrashed his hips, trying to free his tail, which I kicked away each time. Now that my condition had improved, the gap in our strength became even more apparent.
"Hidden," he panted. Sweat glistened on his skin, making his muscles more defined. "Like you asked."
I looked down, where his crotch was tented under his scales. "You are doing a bad job, Noodle. I can see them trying to peek."
He let out an inhuman hiss, his pupils shrinking into thin lines. "I will not fall for your tricks again. You are trying to lower my guard and get my miracle core. I will not let you."
And then I was ignored. He didn’t even blink, didn’t acknowledge my existence at all, as if I were nothing but air.
I snapped my fingers before his eyes. No reaction. I planned to use his tail for my own pleasure, but when I saw his blank stare, I let go of him to get ready to leave.
I used the basin of water by the mattress to wash my face and body, the coldness bringing me back to my senses.
Nivi had washed my clothes for me, and left them in the room. I put on the long sleeved shirt, the cargo pants, and the boots. I braided my hair, and wore the daggers on my belt, completing the look.
Noodle still tried to ignore me as he got to his feet (tail), but his priority to feed me was stronger.
"You ate little. You need more meat," he stated and began packing his things, ours. Mainly mine, my machetes, and the backpack. "We are leaving."
"Where?"
"Away from the warm-blooded nest. To mine. There are many snakes you can eat."
His hand rested on the door’s surface, but he paused, turning to face me. He told me to stay close, as there were many owl beastmen in the area. They were part of the aerial forces, a support unit for the eagle beastmen, who were the official guards of the Beast Kingdom.
Owl beastmen’s soundless flight made them perfect scouts.
They tried to kill Noodle when he brought me here. Nivi managed to get them to back off, but she’s not here anymore. Her new mate was mainly famous for his medical knowledge.
The reason why he wasn’t popular among the females, and why he couldn’t get a mate for so long, was his sickness. He tested many herbs and plants on himself, which left him with weakened organs, and a small amount of toxicity in his blood.
Even if the symptoms weren’t obvious, the females stayed away from him, until the heroine came along, and wasted a miracle core on him, which she obtained from a certain noodle.
I asked Noodle if he gave Nivi a miracle core, and he admitted that he did. Yes, that stinky Noodle, who refused to give me one, his own mate, gave one to Nivi. The betrayal was real. I could feel it in my bones. This reptile had some explaining to do.
He pushed the door open before I could confront him, and I followed him out into the open air.
The storage room was directly connected to the outside, a thick tree branch being the only thing under our feet. Far below, darkness still clung to the forest floor, but above, the first hints of dawn began to show.
The whole owl tribe, hung from the trees, connected by branches, and vines, with huts built into the trunks. The height made it difficult for ground predators to reach them. The storage room we were in was the furthest away from the other huts, to prevent Kurus’s kind from doing what they did best. Kidnap their females.
There were at least fifty pairs of eyes observing us. Each owl beastman occupied a branch, some perching on the roof of their huts.