Chapter 176
The next time Tempest opened her eyes, she was shrouded in darkness.
For a moment she thought it was still night, but then she reached up and realized that it was only dark because her cloak was over her face. She didn’t remember doing that, but she must have.
She pushed the cloak away from her face and groaned in displeasure as the bright sun blasted her corneas. She snapped her eyes shut before slowly opening them until she was adjusted enough to look around at her surroundings.
She’d managed to sleep the entire night. Quickly she wondered if Gerax had the same luck.
Tempest pushed the cloak fully off her body but one second with the sun blazing down on her let her know that it was a bad idea. She grabbed the cloak and wrapped around her body, relishing in the instant coolness that she was feeling, as she turned and began looking for Gerax.
He wasn’t there.
Tempest didn’t see any of his belongings.
Panic began to swell inside of her chest.
What if he decided the journey was too dangerous without the help of an alpha male? What if Rynax and Aliq had somehow convinced him that she wasn’t worth all the effort that they were putting in. What if she were abandoned out here.
She turned to look down the way that they had come. There were different paths and alleys, all of which looked the same thanks to the cliffs on either side of her. There was no way she’d be able to make it back to the stronghold on her own.
Tempest turned in the other direction, she could try to make it to the human settlement but she didn’t know what kind of terrain or dangers were in that direction.
Maybe she would have to stay put and wait for Dron to come find her. Tempest quickly lifted her wrist device and checked his location. He was still a great distance away. It would be days until he got here. She wouldn’t last out here on her own for days. Last night there might not have been any predators in the area, but that wasn’t to say they wouldn’t start showing up the longer she was there.
Her breath was coming rapidly as she swiveled her head, looking from side to side, trying to decide what her next step should be. Go back, go forward, or stay put.
What Tempest really wanted to do was scream.
So she did just that.
"What! What happened? What’s there?" Gerax’s voice popped out of nowhere. At least that’s what it felt like to Tempest.
She clamped her mouth shut, cutting the scream short.
"Gerax? Where are you?" She questioned, looking from side to side, trying to locate him.
"I’m right here." He said and Tempest snapped her head up, looking backward she could see Gerax looking over the side of the cliff. Right above her.
The panic instantly turned into her feeling silly. She was ready to have a full blown meltdown for nothing.
"Why were you screaming? Is something there?" Gerax asked as he tossed a bag over his shoulder and started quickly scaling down the cliffface.
She answered when he was standing in front of her. Answered with a hug.
Tempest knew she wasn’t supposed to. Knew he wasn’t supposed to touch the omegas but like Rynax had said the night before. There was no law here. She wanted to hug him and if he would allow it she would.
"Oh...ummm." Gerax went deathly still. His hands out to the side while Tempest just wrapped her arms around him in a purely platonic way and pressed her cheek to his chest.
Gerax cleared his throat and Tempest pulled away. He didn’t immediately push her off but she didn’t want to push her luck.
When she looked up, Tempest noticed a slight tinge to Gerax’s cheeks. Not pink but like a dusty silver. He was blushing.
She laughed softly.
"What was that about?" Gerax asked before he stepped away from her and pulled the pack he was carrying off his shoulder.
"I was sharing my elation and appreciation with you. Spreading the love, as they say on my planet."
"Love?" Gerax stopped moving and looked up at her with a nearly sick look on his face.
"Don’t flatter yourself. Not that kind of love. There are many different types of love. Like love between a child and a parent. A person and their pet. Me and french fries. Love between friends. Not romantic. Don’t worry."
Gerax let out a breath, he was relieved. Tempest was glad for that. She didn’t need anyone else pining over her. Not after all this mess she was going through already with Rynax.
"French fries?" Gerax questioned. "The translator is just saying food. Is that what you mean?"
"Well it is a type of food. A potato, a tuber plant from my world, is cut up and then deep fried in oil. Salt and other seasonings can be put on top of it. It’s absolutely wonderful. I miss it." Tempest sighed.
Gerax shrugged his shoulders, "I don’t have any potatoes here but I do have this." He pulled out a small bag of jerky and another piece of meat that was wrapped up in a cloth.
The jerky Tempest was used to but the other meat was fresh, as if it had been cooked not that long ago.
"Where did you get this? What is it?" Tempest grabbed for the fresh meat, completely ignoring the jerky.
"Oh this is not my doing at all. I just went up there to get some. Rynax must have done what he originally set out to do. It’s Vorruk meat. You should be fine to eat it.
Tempest didn’t know what a Vorruk was, and she knew she shouldn’t care what the animal looked like, but she didn’t want to put something in her mouth and not know what it was. That’s how people accidentally became cannibals.
She pulled up her wrist device and typed in Vorruk. An image of something that looked remarkably like a boar popped up on the screen. There were a few quills going down its back, but besides that, it looked just like what she was used to seeing on Earth.
"Pig. Yeah, I can do that." Tempest didn’t waste another moment. She was starving.
She took a small bite first just to make sure it wasn’t disgusting. It was the opposite. Absolutely delicious. Tempest scarfed the rest of the meat down. Her stomach growled, and a case of the hiccups came on because she had eaten so fast.
"Good, I guess." Gerax smiled at her. He hadn’t even taken a bite of his food, and she was already done.
"Wonderful."
Gerax offered her his piece.
"Oh no, you have to eat. I’m okay for now." Tempest shook her hands.
"There’s plenty. More than we are going to be able to carry." Gerax offered her his piece again, this time she took it and proceeded to scarf that down too.
Gerax sat on the ground and started pulling more items out of the bag, he handed Tempest her water skin. She took a swig before she sat on the ground next to him.
"So..." She lead off.
Gerax looked at her and waited for her to continue.
"How are Rynax and Aliq holding up?" Tempest questioned not able to look up at Gerax. He’d see her shame if she did. She just knew it.
"Aliq seems to be just fine. He was still sleeping. Rynax, I’m not sure."
"Why? What did he say?"
Gerax sighed, "He wasn’t there. From what I could see he must have left sometime in the middle of the night. He’s supplies are gone as well."
Tempest closed her eyes and slumped down further. She wanted to bury herself under the dirt she felt so bad.
"So he’s left us?" Tempest’s voice was low. Gerax had warned her the night before that this was a possibility. She just was holding out hope that it wasn’t that bad and maybe Rynax would be a little more forgiving. Not that she felt as if she deserved it.
"I don’t know for sure that he’s gone, but right now it seems like he has." Gerax shrugged his shoulder.
Tempest thought about what Rynax must have been going through. She’d been through her share of heartbreak. Of rejection.
She remembered how broken she’d felt when she found out that her ex Sam had been unfaithful and rejected her for her best friend.
It was different because Tempest was supposed to be in a committed relationship with Sam, but she still could empathize with the feelings of being rejected.
"Do you think Aliq will still join us?" Tempest finally looked up at Gerax.
"I can’t say for sure but the fact that he came back to the den and has stayed I believe is a good sign. Don’t worry about it too much. We’ll figure it out." Gerax said softly. He was trying to comfort her.
She remembered a time when he was a cold, calculating man. Only concerened with the results of whatever tests he was performing. The man in front of her was much more than a scientist or chaperone now. He truly was her friend.
He shook his head and continued going through his bag, "You never told me what happened earlier."
"Happened?" Tempest tried to follow the sudden change in topic.
"Yes, you screamed. Nearly scared me to death."
"Oh...I thought you abandoned me too."
Gerax’s eyes widened. "Abandoned you? Never." He said it with such clarity, Tempest didn’t have a hard time believing him.
"Yeah, well, I woke up and didn’t see you so I started to panic a bit. I was trying to figure out which way to go. I don’t know my way back to the stronghold and I don’t know what’s to come. I thought about just staying put to wait for Dron to come for me. It all seemed like really bad options so I chose to scream out my frustrations."
Gerax face grew serious. "You will not go forward on your own under no circumstances. Even if all of us perish or something else happens, I want you to promise me that you won’t try to find the human settlement on your own."
Tempest was confused as to why Gerax seemed so adverse to idea. Not that she wanted to go off on her own, but still it was odd.
"I’m sure I’d be able to find my way eventually. I’d probably move much slower but I’d get there."
"This land is no place for an omega on her own."
Tempest rolled her eyes. Back to this omega’s being the weaker sex idea.
"Just because I’m an omega doesn’t mean I can’t—"
Gerax cut her off, "No! Promise me you won’t. I don’t care if you get lost a hundred times trying to get back to the strong hold, you go back."
The confusion must have been evident on Tempest face because Gerax continued.
"Aliq warned us of the humans not trusting the people of this world. They’ll see you as an outsider. With no protection..." He shakes his head as if he can’t even bare to continue with his thought, when he looks back up at Tempest she could see the fear in his eyes. "Promise me you won’t go forward on your own."
"Okay, I promise I won’t go forward on my own."
It didn’t seem like a hard promise to keep. Either way, she hoped she wouldn’t have to go on her own. She had her little crew. Minus Rynax.
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⏸ PAUSE■ STOP