Page 79 of Wild Life

I abandoned my towel and rounded the corner. I was stunned by what I found.

“Eli?”

Poaka lunged at him, baring his teeth. Eli snaked around him in time and rushed to me. His hug was suffocating.

“Maris. I’ve been looking for you for weeks.” I withdrew, but he refused to let go and held onto my arms as he examined me. “Are you okay?” he asked, his forehead wrinkled. His fussing annoyed me. I was like an experiment he was studying.

“I’m fine.” I shrugged away from his touch and met Aleki’s gaze. He was standing behind Eli, his face solemn like he was attending a funeral—the funeral of us.

“Thank God! You have no idea how scared I was when you fell off the boat, and then we couldn’t find your body in the water. The crew said there was no way you could’ve survived the impact. Everyone told me to give up hope of finding you, but I never did. I knew you were alive.” He pulled me in for a hug again and kissed me, aiming for my mouth, but I turned before he could make contact, giving him my cheek.

Aleki tensed at the interaction, and I prayed he noticed how sorry I was. Eli was all over me, way more than he had been before the accident, and it was far too dramatic, even for me.

I stepped back, putting some much needed distance between us. “I’m okay, Eli. You didn’t need to worry.”

He shot Aleki a judgmental glance, then glared at Poaka, who was on high alert with his tail in the air, ready to pounce as soon as Aleki gave him the signal.

“Your safety is the most important thing to me,” Eli said.

“I am safe—safer than I’d be anywhere in the world. Aleki took care of me.” I focused on Aleki as I said the words. He was my protector.

“What are you wearing?” Eli grimaced at my T-shirt, wet hair, and bare feet, while he was dressed in premium hiking gear.

“I mean, it’s all I had. My other clothes were wrecked.”

“It’s better than that, I suppose.” Eli cast a disdainful glance at Aleki’s loincloth, then grabbed my arm, urging me to follow him. “Let’s go. I can get you clothes on the boat.”

I wrenched away. “No. Let me go.” This was all too sudden. Now that I’d been presented with the chance to leave, I didn’t want it. I needed time to think. Time to breathe. Time to be held.

I ran to Aleki and wrapped my arms around his neck. His warmth encased me, and only then was it safe to inhale again. “Did you signal for rescue?” We had barely discussed it. I had never imagined he’d make the impossible happen so quickly.

“N-no,” he whispered against my head. His stutter had returned, and it killed me inside to know he was hurting—that I was hurting him.

I looked up at him. “Then how?”

He shrugged. “B-bad luck.”

Eli was eavesdropping. “I have been searching for you nonstop. I directed the search team here.”

I ignored him, my attention on the only man I cared about. “Aleki, I don’t want to leave. I want to stay with you. God, I love you.” My voice broke sharply as the harsh reality of being separated from him and Poaka, my family, barreled into my heart. I sobbed hard, panicking. “What do I do? Tell me what to do,” I begged. I was babbling and blurting words out faster than my brain could process.

Aleki leaned down and pressed his forehead to mine, holding me close. “Maris, I love you m-more than words can say. You’ll be b-back. Remem-ber? And I’ll b-be here, waiting for you.”

I nodded, committing his words to my mind. My heart. “I will be back,” I echoed slowly. It was all going to be okay. We’d be together again.

“She will not be back,” Eli barked, disrupting the sense of calm Aleki had blessed me with.

Aleki positioned himself in front of me, towering over Eli. “Shut. The. Fuck. Up.” His voice was clear and unwavering, stunning both Eli and me.

I pulled his arm. “Please. Don’t fight. Aleki, come with me back to Washington. We can be together forever.”

Eli scoffed, his disbelieving glare darting from Aleki to me. “We’re not bringing…this,” he spat.

Poaka grunted, reminding Aleki that he was ready for war.

Eli’s disgust burned my skin. “This is the reason you want to stay? Because you fell into his bed?”

“Shut up. Don’t talk about him like that,” I shouted, tears streaming down my face. I was angry and sad and anxious all at the same time, and his yelling was like a fist around my lungs.

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