Maya looked up at Caleb.
C rank beastmen were strong fighters.
They could easily handle ordinary C-level Aberrant beasts.
Going into the water with him should be safe.
But yesterday’s scene kept replaying in her head.
When that Giant Anaconda attacked, Finn had hesitated.
Aquatic beastmen were supposed to be natural swimmers.
So why couldn’t he react fast enough?
That moment of delay looked like he wanted the Aberrant beast to kill her.
What if Caleb had the same plan?
The thought made Maya’s face go pale.
She looked toward the stream.
Finn had climbed out of the portable water tank and was floating in the shallow water.
His tail fin moved lazily through the water.
He looked relaxed, but something felt wrong.
Then she saw the empty tank sitting on the shore.
“I don’t need to go in the water,” she told Caleb, pointing at the tank.
“I can wash with that.”
Caleb looked at the tank and understood immediately.
Yesterday’s attack had scared her.
He didn’t ask questions.
He just picked up the tank, cleaned it carefully at the stream, filled it with clear water, then set it up in the shade.
He even put a soft piece of beast hide beside it.
Maya watched him work and felt warmth in her chest.
“Thanks. How about this deal? Help me get bath water five times, and I’ll give you one drop of blood. Sound good?”
She thought he would be happy.
Instead, his eyes narrowed and his face went dark.
What was wrong?
“Look, Jasper has to cook five meals for one drop,” she said quickly.
“Getting water is much easier than cooking, so five times for one drop is really fair…”
But Caleb had already turned away.
He walked to a nearby tree and stood with his back to her.
Maya’s words stopped.
Apparently even her offer wasn’t good enough.
Maybe she should make it three times instead?
No way.
If she gave Caleb a better deal, everyone else would want one too.
And if she used up all her blood drops before finding Marcus, she’d be dead.
Maya bit her lip and stopped thinking about it.
While the guys were resting, Maya quickly took off her beast hide dress and climbed into the portable water tank.
The cool stream water felt amazing after the hot weather.
She sighed happily.
Then she looked at her injured finger.
The wound was still red and swollen, with purple bruises around it.
She remembered what happened yesterday.
Maybe she had awakened some kind of healing ability.
It was worth a try.
Maya focused all her attention on the wound.
She tried to concentrate her energy there, imagining the cut healing.
At first, nothing happened.
Then slowly, she felt a warm sensation spreading through her finger.
The warmth felt gentle and soothing.
The scab started to fade right before her eyes.
The cut gradually disappeared.
Her finger looked perfect, like she had never been hurt.
She really had awakened healing powers!
Maya stared at her finger in amazement.
This changed everything.
Even if she had to leave these guys later, she could heal herself.
But she wondered how strong this ability was.
Could she heal bigger wounds?
She needed to practice more when she got the chance.
Her eyes moved to Caleb standing under the tree.
Yesterday after they kissed, her storage space had upgraded and now she had healing powers.
Maybe kissing him had triggered something.
If she tried again…
He was still in his rut cycle.
A kiss might help his mental soothing ability.
He probably wouldn’t say no, right?
Maya shook her head.
What if yesterday was just luck?
She didn’t want to make him angry for nothing.
Suddenly, huge wings beat the air above her.
Maya looked up and froze.
A giant bird was diving straight at her.
Its wings were huge, blocking the sun.
Gray feathers, sharp claws spread wide, coming right for her in the tank.
She screamed and tried to move, but the tank was too small.
There was nowhere to go.
“Maya!” All the guys reacted at once.
Hunter shifted into his lion form and jumped at the bird.
Finn jumped out of the water, splashing everywhere as he tried to stop it.
But they were too late.
The bird’s claws grabbed Maya’s shoulders and lifted her into the air.
Wind hit her face so hard she couldn’t see anything.
The other beastmen couldn’t fly.
They could only watch helplessly from the ground as the flying Aberrant beast carried her away.
“Sage!” Caleb shouted at the sky, his red eyes full of panic.
As soon as Caleb spoke, a white figure shot into the air.
Sage shifted into his beast form, moving incredibly fast to catch up with the steel-gray bird.
Maya fought through the pain and looked at the bird holding her.
Now she could clearly see it was a C rank Aberrant beast.
Its claws were sharp like knives, cutting into her shoulders until blood flowed out.
The pain made it hard to breathe.
She looked back at the white crane chasing them, feeling worried and scared.
She didn’t know if D- rank Sage could beat this C rank bird.
Sage flapped his wings hard and dove down.
His sharp beak aimed straight for the iron-feathered eagle’s left wing, which was its weakest spot.
Golden light surrounded his body.
He was clearly using up most of his mental soothing energy.
This attack was fast and strong, piercing right through the eagle’s feathers.
Blood instantly covered the gray wings.
The iron-feathered eagle screamed in pain and suddenly let go of Maya.
Maya felt her body drop, then she started falling toward the ground.
Her heart jumped to her throat.
Just then, a silver figure leaped up high.
Caleb’s snake tail stretched straight while his upper body reached forward, catching her safely in his arms.
When they landed, he used his tail underneath to soften the impact.
“Are you okay?” Caleb looked at the bloody marks on her shoulders, his red eyes full of worry.
Maya pushed through the shoulder pain and quickly nudged him.
“I’m fine! Go help Sage right now. Don’t let it fly away again!”
Caleb was C rank.
With his help, they could definitely beat the iron-feathered eagle.
Caleb stared at the blood flowing from her shoulders.
His fingers tightened slightly.
After hesitating for a moment, he turned and handed her to Jasper who had run over.
“Watch her.”
Jasper had the weakest fighting skills among them, so leaving him with Maya was the safest choice.
Jasper carefully took Maya, avoiding her wounds as he pulled clean beast hide from his bag to cover her.
“Just hold on. Once Sage gets better, he can use mental soothing to help with your pain.”
He watched Maya’s blood stain the beast hide red.
But she bit her lip and didn’t make a sound, keeping her eyes on the battle.
Something in his chest felt tight.
Maya nodded and looked back at where the beastmen were fighting.