𝑀𝓎 𝑔𝒾𝒻𝓉 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝐸𝓌𝓎𝒶

Chapter Twenty Two

Tonowari had sent out a hunting group to go find Atèyo. It had been three days and they hadn't found him.

As Raya paced back and fourth in her pod she held her hand against her stomach.

She bent down and picked up Neteyam's bow and held it close to her chest.

She then heard a knocking at the entrance of her pod.

"Raya, we found him." Ao'nung said as he walked in.
"Let me see him." Raya said trying to push her way through him.
"Raya." Ao'nung said calmly. "He's dead."

Raya felt her heart sink deep into her stomach. She shook her head no. "He shouldn't be dead."

Ao'nung grabbed her hand. "Raya he went down with the ship, we found him tied to the railing."

Raya then remembered she had knocked him out and left him there, but someone else must've tied him up.

As they stood there in the doorway Ay'loik walked over to them.

"I heard they found him." He said as he leaned against the wooden pole.

Raya nodded her head. "He's dead."
"Yeah I heard." Ay'loik then took his hand off the pole and walked over to his sister.

"Don't worry. I found someone else we can use."
"Really?" Raya asked raising her eyebrows.
He nodded. "Me."

Raya shook her head. "Are you sure?"
He nodded again. "I love you, so much and I want nothing more than to see you happy. Besides it'll be completely painless."

Raya smiled and threw her arms around him and wrapped him up in a tight hug. "Thank you, brother."

He smiled at the fact she acknowledged him as her brother. "Of course, sister."

Ao'nung cleared his throat and caught their attention. "Do you realize that will cost you your life, right."

Ay'loik nodded. "I'm prepared to make that sacrifice. I've got nothing to live for except for my sister, but she needs her mate."

Ao'nung felt a slight pain in his heart when Ay'loik referred to Neteyam as her mate. Even though it was true, he still loved her more than anything. He wanted nothing than for her to be happy, and Neteyam did that.

Ao'nung looked up at Raya and saw her hand on her stomach as she moved it in little circles on her baby.

Neteyam's baby.

"Raya we can fly out tomorrow if that's what you want." Ay'loik said after a few moments.

Raya nodded her head. "I'll start packing."

Ao'nung watched her as she walked away, a small smile forming on his lips. Ay'loik looked at him and sighed.

"You love her don't you." He asked looking at Ao'nung.
"Yeah, yeah I do." Ao'nung looked down at his feet and smiled. "I just wasn't who she was in love with. But now the man she loves is gone, and I know it's wrong to think but I hoped that I'd get a second chance."

Ay'loik tilted his head and nodded. "Yeah that is kinda horrible to think about, but it makes sense. You love her so much, yet receive so little. You had your eyes on her while she had hers on another man yet you still did what you believed was right."

Ao'nung shrugged his shoulders and picked up Neteyam's bow, seeing Raya and Neteyam's carved initials. "I'll never forget the way she looked at me. But she looked at him with the same love and desire I have for her. Maybe we were meant to be, just not at this time."

He then set down Neteyam's bow and walked out of the pod. Ay'loik watched him walk out and pick up Neteyam's bow, realizing what Ao'nung was looking at.
——