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Tzidal pushed herself away from me and walked silently toward Lex. "Are you okay?" she asked, holding out a hand.
"Yes," he sighed, allowing her to help him up. His robes were grimy and covered in dirt with a small spatter of blood along the hem.
I shifted into my human and craned my neck around. A jutting hill made of rocks was situated in the distance.
"There," I said, pointing. "There might be a cave or crack in the surface that we can crawl into for the night, just in case there are any more were-wrack around."
I wasn't worried about Lex. He tricked and killed beings for food and, possibly, just for fun. He could take care of himself, but Tzidal...she had a much softer feel to her. She did have a few scars on one arm as if something had clawed at her and a purple twisting mark on the other that I had thought was a bruise, but it had been weeks, and it had yet to fade. Other than that, she was unscathed, free of the kind of violence that marked one's body and soul. And the last thing I wanted was for her to get hurt.
Tzidal looked rattled, but she held her head high as she padded over the small hill of rocks. Other than those few tears, she hadn't panicked or cried when the wrack attacked. She was calm. But I kept my eyes on her just in case. Omegas were fragile by nature, and I didn't want to neglect her should she fall apart.
"This is small, but you should fit," I said to Tzidal as I looked over a tight break inside the rock's surface.
"No, thank you," she said softly as she laid down, out in the open. "If under the stars is good for you, it's good for me."
"Omega." My voice was firm. "This isn't an offer. You need to sleep in here. It'll be safer."
"Then you sleep in there," she snipped. "I'm staying right here." She pushed her side into Lex's back, making him hum in approval.
"This isn't a request. Get your ass in there now!" I was exhausted, thirsty, and over the fucking attitude. I wanted a good night's sleep without worrying that she'd be carried off by a fucking wrack in the middle of the night. I didn’t feel like I was asking for too much.
"No."
"No?" I was shocked. Many Alphas had challenged me in my life, and I always won the better of them, but no Beta or Omega had ever dared to speak against me like this. I was convinced Omegas weren't capable of such behavior. "You can't defy an order from an Alpha."
"Why not?" She sat up and glared at me hard.
"It goes against your nature," I said, trying so fucking hard to stay calm.
"My nature?" She gave a bitter laugh, her eyes blazing. "We can absolutely defy you. We just choose not to."
"Why?" Lex asked as he propped himself up, his dark eyes wandering between us.
"Because Alphas are all a bunch of unhinged children, and Omegas aren't dumb enough to put ourselves in a situation where we might get killed for simply saying'No'. But I'm too hot and tired to put up with your Alpha-knows-best bullshit. I'm sleeping out here next to Lex and not in that snake hole. This discussion is over."
I could smell the faint scent of fear drifting off her and could hear her heart pounding hard in her chest from the effort she was using to disobey me. I wanted to pick her up, smack her ass, and fling her into the tiny cave.
Taking a step back, I tried to settle my wolf. "That's fine," I growled. "I hope a wrack comes and fucking takes you in the middle of the night."
"Me too," she spat.
"I hope it rips you to pieces and drops your corpse on the desert floor."
"As long as I don't have to hear you bitch anymore, that's fine by me."
A splintering roar ripped from my throat, and I jerked forward but stopped myself almost immediately. I instantly felt awful. I didn't mean to react like that, but I was too wound up. Tzidal's body shook at the sound, and I could practically see her wolf cowering to me. She slowly moved to bow her head, showing the back of her neck in an act of submission, but she stopped herself and, with obvious effort, pulled her head back up, looking me square in the eye.
"No," she whispered, her body trembling.
"Okay," Lex said, moving so he was between us. "Let's focus here. I know we're all tired and hungry, and we almost died, but let's not kill each other. There's no need to lash out." He spoke as if addressing both of us, but he kept his eyes on me. "Let's just get some sleep and move on in the morning. She can sleep between us. I'm sure it'll be fine."
Tzidal opened her mouth, but Lex held his hand up, stopping her.
"Things have to be pretty bad for me to be the voice of reason, puppy. Please let this go," he said in a hushed tone.
"Fine," Tzidal huffed, getting up and pulling Lex with her. She settled both of them right against several jagged rocks.
"I can't sleep there," I huffed.
