Chapter 100: Her First Step (3)
Atia threw his hands up and stalked off. "I’m out of here. I know already how this is going to go and I don’t want to stick around to hear my parents making love."
Nova’s mouth flopped open. "Atia!"
"What?" Atia smirked, his eyes twinkling as he made it to the latch in the rooftop of his treehouse. He paused before it. "Don’t act like you won’t."
"First of all... I am serious about this," Nova stated, then rolled her eyes at the look Atia gave her. "And how are we your parents? I’m pretty sure you’re older than me."
"He isn’t." Atia shrugged.
"You call him brother?" Nova reminded him, not that it mattered that much.
Yoa narrowed his eyes at both of them. Atia sensed his possessiveness kicking up a notch again, didn’t respond and hopped into the latch, and disappearing to his rooms below.
"Something I said?" Nova asked, looking to her Serakai, and he cleared his throat, stepping closer to her, hand grazing along her hip instinctively, like he couldn’t go without touching her for more than a few minutes.
"No, it’s me," Yoa sighed, and dragged his hand over his face. "I should tell you now... For the first journey of the moon after our mateship, the Serakai bond has been said to make us more possessive of each other."
He moved her hand to his chest where his heart began to thud calmer beneath her touch. "I know Atia is my brother and would never try to touch or take lux mea, but I cannot help this need to keep you closer, away from other males. This will pass. Mostly."
Nova released her breath and smiled softly up at him. It had been a little ridiculous to get jealous of Atia teaching her how to shoot, but now she understood, and wondered if she would act the same towards Yoa and females, or if it is just a beast thing.
Yoa set aside the bow Nova had been using and took her hand, pulling her into his chest before scooping her up into his arms. Effortlessly, he stepped off Atia’s rooftop, landing lightly on a thick branch below. Then, in a series of agile leaps between swaying branches, he carried her back to their own rooftop.