Finn looked down at her and smiled cruelly.
“What am I doing? Letting you experience what suffocation feels like! Those things you said when I made salt were just to make me lower my guard so you could torture me more cruelly, right?”
Finn’s grip on Maya’s neck got tighter and tighter.
Maya’s face changed from red to purple-blue.
Her lips trembled and tears leaked from the corners of her eyes, sliding down her cheeks into her hair.
She wanted to explain, to say she didn’t do those things.
But her throat was choked so tightly she could only make weak whimpering sounds.
Just as her consciousness was about to slip away, someone grabbed Finn’s wrist with brutal force.
The grip was so strong it almost crushed his bones.
He was forced to let go.
Maya collapsed like a broken doll, falling to the ground and coughing violently.
She gasped for air with her chest rising and falling hard.
“Finn, are you crazy?” Caleb’s voice sounded ice-cold.
He stared at Finn with fury in his dark red eyes.
“You want to drag us all down with you?”
The interstellar beastman law was clear.
If a contracted female got killed by her own partner, all males with bio-neural contracts would suffer beast mark backlash and die from genetic collapse.
Finn didn’t look back at Caleb.
His eyes stayed locked on Maya’s trembling form.
The coldness in his gaze could freeze hell over.
After a few seconds, he yanked his hand back.
Without saying anything, he turned and walked away.
Caleb watched him disappear and frowned deeply.
He could understand Finn’s hatred.
Those ripped-off protective scales, all that daily torture.
If it were him, he’d probably lose control too.
But today’s Maya…
she really was different than usual.
He turned to look at Maya, who was still coughing.
She clearly wasn’t fully awake yet.
Finn probably used mental force earlier to keep her confused.
The tears at the corners of her eyes hadn’t dried yet.
She looked especially pitiful.
Caleb’s gaze fell on her hand lying at her side.
The wound from the necklace cut was still open, with red edges that looked angry.
He stayed silent for a few seconds, then somehow found himself squatting down.
She had treated his wounds before too.
He was just returning the favor.
He pulled out a tube of nano medical gel from his pocket.
Sage had given it to him earlier, but he hadn’t used it yet.
Caleb activated the gel’s healing function.
The silver-white liquid glowed faintly in his palm.
He reached out and stiffly lifted Maya’s hand, applying the medical gel to her wound.
The cool touch of the gel made Maya flinch slightly.
Caleb paused, then tore off a medical bandage strip.
He carefully wrapped it around her fingertip and tied it off.
After finishing, he looked at his hands with gel residue on them.
He suddenly felt uncomfortable and quickly stood up to leave.
But just then, Maya woke up and instinctively grabbed Caleb’s wrist.
“Wait…” Her voice was still weak, but her eyes had cleared up.”Thank you for saving me.”
Caleb’s expression remained cold.
“I just don’t want to suffer the mate bond backlash when you die. Consider this bandage payback for when you treated my wounds earlier. Now we’re even.”
Maya’s guilt deepened.
She knew Caleb had suffered severe mental damage from three days of torture.
He might not even be able to transform into beast form for a while.
She struggled to sit up, her neck still bearing red marks from being choked.
“I can give you mental soothing,” she offered quietly.
“It will help restore your mental strength.”
In this interstellar age, females mainly used physical contact with male beastmen for mental soothing.
The closer the physical contact, the stronger the neural repair effect for beastmen.
Caleb was stunned.
Shock flashed in his dark red eyes.
“You… want to give me mental soothing?”
Maya nodded and reached out to gently touch his arm.
“Relax.”
Her fingers slowly traced up Caleb’s muscular forearm, feeling every ridge and curve of his powerful muscles.
When she reached his shoulders, she used both hands to massage the knots of tension there.
The snake beastman’s breathing immediately became rapid and shallow.
His bronze skin grew hot under her touch, and she could feel a fine tremor running through his body.
“You’re still too tense,” Maya whispered, her voice soft.
She moved closer, close enough that he could smell her scent.
Her hands slid down to his broad chest, fingers spreading wide as they moved in slow, soothing circles.
God, she smells incredible, Caleb thought, his control slipping.
And her hands…
they’re driving me crazy.
Maya felt his heart hammering against her palm.
The heat radiating from his skin made her own temperature rise.
“Relax completely,” she murmured, not realizing how breathless she sounded.
“Let the mental link form naturally.”
Her palms moved lower, tracing the defined lines of his abs through his shirt.
Caleb’s breath hitched sharply.
His hands clenched into fists at his sides as his body responded involuntarily to her touch.
Caleb’s throat bobbed as he swallowed hard.
His dark red eyes became as deep as molten lava, pupils dilated with barely controlled desire.
“Maya…” His voice became hoarse.
A certain part of his body started having uncontrolled reactions.
Maya also noticed the change.
Her face turned red as if blood would drip out.
She pulled her hands back in panic. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
“Okay… that should be enough…”
Caleb jumped up and almost ran away.
After a while, he quietly came back.
Like a statue, he silently guarded Maya’s tent entrance.
His silver-white hair gleamed coldly under the starlight.
Only Maya’s steady breathing remained in the tent.
Maya woke up to a dry, itchy feeling in her throat.
As soon as she opened her eyes, her neck felt like it had been crushed by a vice.
Any movement caused sharp pain.
She remembered last night’s events but didn’t dare confront Finn about it.
Maya stumbled to the metal container with purified water and looked down at the metal mirror surface.
The blurry reflection showed her image.
She could only see some red marks on her neck area, but couldn’t make out the details clearly.
These beastmen were dangerous.
She had to speed up finding her father.
Even if ion storms were raging outside today, she had to leave.
She used purified water to rinse her mouth and wash her face.
The cool touch cleared up her foggy mind a bit.
When she lifted her hand, her fingertip touched the bandaged wound.
It had formed a thin scab.
The medical gel’s healing effect worked through the synthetic bandage.
It didn’t hurt at all.
A good idea flashed through Maya’s mind.
Maya steadied herself and walked to the center of the shelter.
She cleared her still-hoarse throat.
“Everyone come out for a moment.”
As soon as she spoke, several figures appeared in the clearing.
Sage, Caleb, Jasper, Hunter, and Finn coming up last.
All five beastmen looked at her neck at the same time.
Their expressions immediately became complicated.
Sage’s eyelashes trembled.
He unconsciously clenched his hands.
Jasper raised an eyebrow.
His green eyes moved between Finn and Caleb.
Hunter frowned.
His ice-blue eyes showed mixed emotions.
His powerful body looked even more imposing under the starlight.
Only Finn and Caleb looked down – one at the ground, one at his feet.
Their expressions were unreadable.
She waved her bandaged finger.
Her smile became more genuine.
“Caleb helped treat my wound last night. I’m going to reward him. How about this – whoever gives me medical help three times gets one blood drop from me. Deal?”
Not only did Caleb look stunned, but the other beastmen also showed shocked expressions.
Was she seriously going to break the bond with them?