Not wanting him to hurt me any longer, I petulantly shoved my wrists towards the bars. The man roughly tied them up then turned his back on me.
"Let's go," he muttered. "I want to get far away from this place before sundown."
The men stomped back to the front of the boat and kicked the engine back to life. I glanced behind me, hoping to see Castor clinging to the metal. But he wasn't there. He was far back in the boat's wake, becoming smaller and smaller as we sped away.
As I watched Castor slowly disappear, I sank further into the fetal position, holding my tail to my chest. He was the only hope I still had, and I didn't take my eyes off him until he was gone. Nobody else in the world knew where I was. He was my only savior.
I won't let them hurt you. I'll follow wherever they take you.
I clung to the last words he said. Castor barely knew me. There was no intelligent reason for him to go through all this effort to save a stranger. Why did he care so much?
And why did being separated from him make my chest ache?
6
Castor
When our eyes met,I knew.
In my mad dash to reach the cage, I only had a brief moment to view my fated mate up close but that was all I needed. His long crimson hair flowed underwater even more than it did on land, and the matching crimson-red scales of his tail sparkled like gemstones. He appeared to be mixed race with both Black and East Asian features. He was younger than me with a toned body that implied he spent many hours swimming.
And he was absolutely beautiful.
But then he was ripped away from me.
I was furious with myself. I wished I was stronger so I could've stopped the humans from kidnapping my mate again. If only I had a few more minutes, I might've been able to chew through the steel bars and save him.
But there was no time to waste dwelling on the past. He was still on that boat, still in the humans' clutches. I promised I'd go to him, and I would. Beavers didn't break promises.
With a powerful slap of my tail, I propelled myself through the water. I swam harder and faster, pushing myself to my limit. It didn't matter that my muscles ached. Catching up with the boat was the only thing that mattered. The sight of my one true love trapped in that cage broke my heart and infuriated me, and I'd stop at nothing to rescue him.
It was nearing twilight. The sun broke open in the sky, painting it deep orange and purple. I was looking forward to nightfall because humans were afraid of the dark. No doubt they'd stop to rest for the night. That was when I'd catch them.
Wait for me, my mate. I'm coming.
* * *
My hunch was correct.As the twilight sky turned over to night and stars twinkled above, the humans veered the boat towards land. My heart picked up with excitement. Now was my chance.
For the past couple hours I'd been trailing the boat from a distance, both to keep myself hidden and because of the plain fact that I just couldn't match the speed of its motor. But now that the humans sloppily docked the boat on the shore, I had the perfect opportunity to catch up.
Ignoring my fatigue, I pushed forward. This was the final stretch. Once the humans went to sleep, I'd rescue my fated mate.
It occurred to me that I still didn't know his name. Probably something as beautiful as he was. It would be a wonderful surprise to find it out, but in the end, it didn't matter. As with every beaver shifter who found the One, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was my destined love. His name wouldn't make or break our future, it was just the icing on the cake.
I finally reached the shore and shook the water out of my thick pelt. Remaining in beaver form was my best bet. Not only was it easier to sneak around, but I doubted the humans could tell the difference between an animal and a shifter anyways. If I did get caught, I'd play dumb.
My beaver form also had a decisive advantage my human form lacked: my powerful front teeth.
The boat lay sideways on the rocky sand, haphazardly beached without a second thought. It was clear the humans didn't care much for their belongings. That worried me when it came to my fated mate. Did they see him as a living creature, or just a possession? What was their end goal for him?
Nothing good. I shuddered thinking about it.
The idea of sabotaging the boat crossed my mind, but it was precious time I could've spent rescuing my mate instead. I decided the latter was far more important.
My nose twitched. The air smelled acrid, like burning wood. They must've lit a fire to camp around. I hoped the careless barbarians didn't light the whole forest ablaze.
It was impossible not to notice them. The humans guffawed as they chewed their strongly scented jerky meat, and the orange flames glowed like a beacon through the dark trees.
