So beast forms could do partial shifts like this?
Maya watched Caleb move forward with his snake tail.
His speed matched the other guys in their full animal forms.
Maybe he was even steadier.
The only sound was his scales sliding softly across the ground.
Maya looked at Caleb’s face, still flushed from his rut cycle.
She figured it out.
Going into rut when it wasn’t mating season probably had something to do with his sudden power jump.
When male beastmen broke through ranks, the energy in their bodies went crazy.
It could easily make them lose control.
Add his approaching rut cycle on top of that, and both things together probably broke his restraint.
Caleb was still in his rut period as he carried her.
His attention stayed completely on her.
The little female in his arms sat quietly against his chest.
Her long lashes fluttered like butterfly wings.
She looked totally sweet, lost in her own thoughts.
He couldn’t help slowing down his movements.
His arms tightened to hold her more safely.
Suddenly his tail tip hit a rock sticking up from the ground.
Caleb stumbled, and Maya quickly wrapped her arms around his neck.
Her warm breath hit his throat.
“Sorry, too many rocks. I wasn’t paying attention,” Caleb’s voice sounded rough as he looked at all the stones on the path.
“The ground is really bad here. You should keep your arms around my neck so you don’t fall.”
Maya looked down at the ground covered with scattered stones.
That stumble had almost made her lose balance, so she nodded and put her arms lightly around his neck.
Caleb could feel her fingertips touch the skin on his throat.
They were so soft.
The other beastmen following behind immediately gave him weird looks.
Hunter’s eyes went wide.
Was Caleb doing this on purpose?
But this was different from when Hunter deliberately picked rough paths to make their female uncomfortable during his runs.
What was wrong with Caleb?
Had the rut cycle messed up his brain?
He clearly thought Caleb’s clumsy tricks were pathetic, but he slowed down his pace too.
Sage frowned a little.
Worry flashed in his amber eyes.
Only Finn watched the pair ahead.
His purple eyes were dark as deep water.
Caleb felt all their stares.
Instead of stopping, he actually smiled slightly and held Maya even tighter.
Maya was completely clueless about the tension between the guys behind her.
She had bigger problems to think about.
Like what had happened to her storage space.
Yesterday it had been this tiny foggy corner, maybe fifty square feet.
Today she walked in and found three hundred square feet of rich black soil with a spring in the corner.
So what had caused her storage space to upgrade?
Maybe it was the blood she lost when that giant Aberrant beast bit her yesterday.
But she was pretty sure her necklace didn’t get any blood on it.
Which meant…
oh no, the kiss.
That completely random kiss with Caleb.
Maya’s face twisted at the memory.
Honestly, if she had to choose between getting attacked by a monster or kissing a future killer, she’d pick the kiss.
At least her lips weren’t covered in bandages right now.
Thinking about yesterday’s injury made her whole body shiver.
Caleb had been watching her the entire time.
He saw her shiver and immediately looked worried.
His smooth movement actually stopped as he softened his voice.
“Hey, you okay? Are you cold?”
Maya looked up at him, surprised by those intense red eyes.
Cold?
In this heat?
The sun was trying to cook them alive, and she was basically holding a walking air conditioner.
That’s what you get with cold-blooded guys.
“I’m fine,” she said, putting her storage space questions aside for now.
“How much farther until we can rest?”
Caleb looked at the path ahead.
His tail moved gracefully around the rocks on the ground.
“See those oak trees up there? There’s a stream just past them, with some big rocks for shade. We’ll be there soon.”
Maya nodded, but her brain was already jumping back to more important things.
Like whether she had somehow gotten healing powers with her storage space upgrade.
And then her eyes went right back to Caleb’s mouth.
Seriously, Maya?
Are you actually thinking that kissing the future bad guy could give you magical powers?
The storage space had definitely changed after the kiss, but that didn’t prove anything, right?
She was so lost in these crazy thoughts that she didn’t notice Caleb staring at her with curiosity.
Caught.
Maya’s heart started racing as she quickly looked away, her cheeks getting hot.
Get it together, girl.
This guy is going to be the villain later.
Just because he’s acting nice now doesn’t mean he won’t go crazy once their mate bond breaks.
Step one was finding Dad.
Everything else could wait.
But Caleb had seen that look, and the slow smile on his face spelled trouble.
Something changed in his sharp features, making them softer in a completely unfair way.
“Almost there,” he said, adjusting his grip on her easily.
His voice dropped low in a way that did nothing good for her heart rate.
He pointed toward the trees, where sunlight bounced off water and big rocks promised relief from the burning heat.
It looked like the perfect spot for a romantic picnic instead of a desperate refugee rest stop.
Caleb moved even more carefully, like she was made of glass instead of attitude and survival skills.
When he finally put her down on a warm boulder, Maya practically melted with relief.
Don’t get her wrong.
Being carried by a genetically perfect snake guy wasn’t exactly torture.
But the constant tension of being pressed against all those muscles while trying not to think inappropriate thoughts?
Exhausting.
The other guys shifted back to human form and found their own rocks.
The whole group settled down to rest.
Maya looked at the clear stream, and suddenly a bath sounded amazing.
Except yesterday’s water nightmare was still too fresh in her memory.
That Aberrant beast had turned a simple drink into almost dying.
She was still thinking about whether to go near the water when Caleb appeared beside her.
He moved with that smooth grace that should have been a warning but just made her pulse jump.
“Want to bathe? I’ll take you into the water. How about it?” he said quietly, close enough that she could feel his breath on her ear.