CHAPTER 70: NOKARI - SERAKAI (3)

Nova released a long breath as she stared at Yoa, letting his words wash over her. They usually would have only ever been words, charming and romantic, to sway her heart, but they meant and felt so much more than that. In her world, Nova couldn’t rely on the words of others as their actions always bore themselves to her instead.

But this was Yoa. This wasn’t her world, and yet she felt it deep in her blood, like stardust dancing beneath her skin, woven with all the magic that pulled them together and made her feel, inexplicably, at home.

From the moment they’d met, there had been that undeniable attraction, but it went deeper than that. It was as if some invisible force had been working in the background, threading them together with each step, each breath, until resistance became impossible. When the time had come to return to her world, she’d hesitated. The word home felt foreign when she thought of her apartment—cold, empty and a long way from here. And when she’d finally taken those steps away from Yoa, it had felt wrong. Deeply, instinctively wrong.

Nova couldn’t understand it. But now, as she searched Yoa’s burning gaze, her body eased further into his embrace.

That foreign word Serakai that had graced his lips sounded so right. Even without knowing its meaning, she fell into it with complete and utter trust. And only now did she realise she’d never truly had that in any relationship before.

Serakai. Without needing Yoa to explain, Nova understood to a degree. They didn’t just belong to each other; they had been made for each other. Two halves to make a whole.

Yoa smiled, and it lit up his usually stoic features, making him look so much younger like the weight of everyone’s lives didn’t fall on him. He could see Nova’s acceptance, even if there was lingering confusion thrumming through the slightly dull thread of the bond that had yet to solidify.

That was something that would be rectified. Not today, though. The Nokari bond had just been forced on her, and she’d been through a lot. Now was not the right time.

Nova swallowed and spoke the thoughts swarming her mind. "And what is a Serakai?" She needed it confirmed, the words voiced to solidify it for her. "The eagles acted as though Vulcan committed a grave sin."

A deep-throated growl almost echoed around them in response to Nova’s words.

"He committed a vile sin."

It was then she actually took note of where they were. Her lips parted in awe.

They stood in a hidden cavern tucked behind the waterfall’s veil, where the roar of water softened into a hushed lullaby. Mist clung to the air like breathless whispers, catching the light in a way that made everything shimmer. Bioluminescent vines traced the stone walls, glowing in soft hues of blue and green like fallen stars woven into the cave’s skin.

Scattered across the smooth stone floor were pools, pulsing with an inner light, some glowing golden, others tinged with violet or silver, as though infused with stardust. Soft ripples disturbed the surfaces as if stirred by an unseen breeze.

It was otherworldly, and Nova couldn’t rip her gaze away from it. She turned slowly, the wonder in her chest blooming like a flower. And with Yoa beside her, the space felt dreamlike, like this space had been waiting just for them.

How had she not noticed the sound of the waterfall hiding them from the world? Or the cave that seemed to stretch on forever.

Actually... she knew how.

He was crouched in front of her now, eyes twinkling, patiently letting her drink in the sight around them instead of answering the rest of her question that had struck a tempest in his chest. Nova’s attention drew back to him and caressed his jaw, silently telling him to continue.

"Serakai means mate. We are bound to each other by the stars and earth. It is sacred, and I should have picked up on it sooner..." He trailed off, frowning, and she could tell he was internally cursing himself, thinking that what had just happened fell entirely on him.

Nova’s hand dropped and rested on his chest. Hearing the pounding beat of his heart, matching her own, calmed her. "Serakai..." She repeated, and he inhaled deeply like her speaking the word affected him. Perhaps it did because her heart rate fluttered in response. "And the sin..." She breathed.

Again, she just needed Yoa to say it, confirm it, and solidify it for her. There was still that irrational part of her that longed for Vulcan not to be an ass. That part of her needed to be stomped out.

"Vulcan knew you were my Serakai," Yoa fought to control his rising temper and the need to return to the Silver Feather flock and assassinate the peacock in his nest. "And he still took you, forced a Nokari bond with you. This is forbidden. Serakai is sacred. It is said we are made from a fallen star, split into two and our fate already forged ahead of us..."

Nova leaned into Yoa more, embracing his words.

"Nokari bonds can be broken if one of them discovers their Serakai. That is how formidable and sacred they are."

"Then how was it possible Vulcan formed this with me?" Nova whispered, guilt weighing heavily on her chest as she searched his eyes, her own blurred with tears.

Yoa pressed his lips to her forehead in a comforting gesture. "Because ours hasn’t been fully sealed yet," He murmured against her skin.

Nova peered up at him, letting the tears fall freely so she could see him more clearly. The soft hues from the glowing pools shimmered along his face, casting golden and violet waves across his jaw and cheekbones.

"And... the Nokari bond...?" She whispered, her voice breaking.

Yoa’s gaze dropped to her chest. He brushed a few feathers aside to reveal the faint feather-flame mark beneath her collarbone. His thumb lingered there, gently grazing it. His eyes burned into it like he could melt it off with sheer will.

"It will fade," he said, voice low and certain.

Nova swallowed hard beneath the weight of his intense gaze and nodded. "So a Nokari is someone’s chosen... mate and a Serakai..."

He looked back up at her, his eyes softer now, gentler, reverent. "A Serakai is the soul," he said. "The one you’re bound to, not by choice... but by fate. By the stars. You’re not just mine, Nova, and I’m yours. We were always meant to be."

Nova’s breath caught. Then, like magnets, their faces drew together, lips brushing, tentative at first, savouring the feeling and the taste of each other.

Yoa deepened the kiss, and her fingers slipped into his tangled mane of hair, pulling him closer. A desperate moan escaped him. He hoisted her up, and she automatically wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her. His fingers pressed into her thighs, skating upwards, leaving a trail of fire in their wake.

It was like they were picking up where they left off earlier.

Yoa’s touch was possessive. He was claiming Nova just as much as she was claiming him right back. He growled into her mouth, voice ragged with need. "You smell like smoke and feathers. His scent. I need to erase every last trace of him from you."

Their lips crashed together again as he walked them into one of the glowing pools.

It was deeper and warmer than Nova expected as the water rose over Yoa’s shoulders, and he adjusted her higher against him, keeping her above the surface as their mouths stayed locked in a heated, breathless kiss.

The water shimmered around them, glowing faintly gold and silver. Light danced across their skin, their shadows stretching long against the cavern walls, wrapped in the shape of their heated embrace.

Nova’s fingers trailed down the back of his neck, tracing the ridges of his spine. His body was a furnace beneath her, muscles taut and trembling with restraint.

He broke the kiss just long enough to whisper against her lips, voice hoarse and reverent, "Mine."

She answered without hesitation, her forehead resting against his, her heart pounding. "Yours."

Yoa peeled back her feathery outfit, tugging it up. Nova raised her arms, allowing him to lift them off, and he tossed them aside, his eyes exploring her body, lips trailing along her jaw as he pressed her gently against the side of the pool.

Her fingers traced the contours of his shoulders... then drifted lower.

He inhaled sharply, and she froze, eyes widening. She looked down, her fingers grazing over his injured side, before she quickly pulled back.

"I’m so sorry, I forgot!" She gasped.

Yoa’s head fell back slightly as a wave of dizziness rolled through him. Nova watched the colour drain from his face, and panic welled in her chest. She instantly cupped his face in her hands, her voice soft and urgent.

"Yoa... Yoa..."

His gaze met hers, clouded with pain.

"How about we rest instead?" She offered gently that guilt clawing at her chest again as she saw her... Serakai winced from the wound inflicted on him by Vulcan.

Heat and desire still pulsed between them, but so did fatigue and Yoa’s wounds. Like a bubble bursting, the moment shifted. Desire gave way to tenderness, to the deeper kind of closeness that came from simply making sure the other was okay.

Oh, they still wanted each other—desperately— but that had to wait. Nova climbed out of the pool behind Yoa and started assessing his wounds.