Page 28

"Yeah, okay, I got it." I feel like I've been hit with a killer hangover, and honestly, I'm doing everything I can to keep myself moving on my own two feet. I don't want Airos to help me. I'm not gonna perpetuate any more wrong ideas about us.

Though the evening air has cooled a lot with the sunset, I can still feel heat radiating off the ground beneath my sandals. We're led past a gryph pen secured by nothing but a length of rope laid in a circle on the sand. The animals aren't tied up—they sit freeand watch us pass by, the firelight from nearby lanterns flashing across their pupils.

I smell food. It seems like the entire tribe has gathered in one area, and they're all seated in concentric rings around a wide pit filled with smoldering coals. As we approach, the chatter and laughter fade to silence and every pair of eyes turns to us. The weight of their collective gaze makes my skin tingle. Niah steps forward and addresses her people in their language, her voice carrying across the silent gathering. Behind her, Azin nods as he listens to her speech, and occasionally barks out a confirmation that draws murmurs and gasps from the crowd. There's a moment of silence so complete I can hear the crackle of the torches, and someone shouts something that sounds like a question. Niah's answer ends with the magic word that everyone seems to love—shalkek—and suddenly, the entire tribe erupts.

People leap to their feet, whooping and cheering. Someone somewhere starts playing a flute and a drum. Everyone is going absolutely crazy. It's like we've just brought home the gold.

"What have you told them?" Airos asks her.

"That you are the fated ones who will restore theShimatand save our people!"

Before either of us can get a word out, we're whisked to the edge of the fire pit and offered seats on cushions and small rugs. Men push away a layer of the coals to reveal something covered in charred clay in the middle of the fire pit. Somehow without burning themselves, they extract it and smack it stones. The clayshatters and releases a cloud of fragrant steam that immediately gets my mouth watering.

Oh my god. Barbecue.

Platters of hot flatbread, dipping sauces, rice, and what smells like caramelized onions are passed around and placed in front of us. Bowls are carefully filled with a milky-yellow liquid from leather skins and shared between people, but Airos and I are given bowls of clear water.

"What are the others drinking?" Airos asks.

"Fermented gryph milk," Niah tells him.

His eyes widen. "Please, I can't accept more of your sacred water. I'll take what everyone else is drinking."

"Shalkek must be given the honor of pure water," Niah insists, and then turns privately to me. "You especially must regain your strength." She then gives a command, and even more food is piled in front of me.

"We eat all of this and we're definitely on the hook for whatever they're expecting from us," I say to Airos, though it's already well on its way into my mouth.

"Eat first, think about it later," he concurs, tearing a piece of bread in half with his teeth.

I have no idea what the meat is, but it smells like lamb and is beyond tender from roasting in its own juices inside the clay shell. Honestly, it could very well be gryph meat and I wouldn't care. If there's one thing I know well, it's to always eat what's on your plate, and to get more if you can.

Following the example of the locals, I spread a bit of thick orange paste onto my bread and then use it to grab a big scoop of the steaming meat. Next to me, Airos looks like he's trying really hard to use restraint with his portions, but after seeing the way I'm eating, all attempts at keeping it civil go out the door. Both of us are going to fucking town on our food, shoveling fingerfuls of the succulent spiced meat into our mouths chased by chomps of bread and gulps of cool water. We both take a look at each other and all we can do is giggle. We're exhausted. We're a fucking mess. And even though we've managed to get ourselves into another predicament, we're alive.

The celebration continues into the night. Airos has managed to wrangle himself a bowl of the milk wine. The tribe's attention has moved to Azin and a group of men who are in the middle of performing some kind of play. It's becoming easier and easier for me to tell the difference between alphas and omegas. It's something I can feel by looking at someone, or even just hearing them speak. I find myself watching the omegas and how they are with the alphas. There are couples around, some pregnant, some with little children. I see the way they flirt, with playful secret caresses.

Back on Earth, I probably would've hated seeing that shit. It would've made me angry. I'd probably have wondered why they couldn't keep it to themselves. And though the discomfort isn't entirely absent now, it's everywhere I look. It's just the way things are here. Who cares if I take it all in?

So I do. I notice when some of them disappear from the crowd with their arms draped around each other and hands eagerly exploring beneath their robes. And then my imagination starts to follow these couples back to their tents. I can't help but think about the things they're doing with each other. The alpha's mouth, moving across his omega's neck as his mate strips the robes from his body. The first taste of his bare skin, the first time witnessing his naked body. The omega's hand, wrapping tightly around his hard, exposed?—

No, fuck this. I amnotthinking about this. Intrusive thought, intrusive thought.

But there's something that I can't ignore—a heat spreading down into my groin and through my cock. Precome is already dripping out of my tip and soaking the front of my underwear. And then there's something else that has me fuckingshook.

Jesus, I'mwet. Like how a girl gets wet.

I keep the reaction off my face, but I'm panicking inside.

You're an omega. This must be what happens when omegas get turned on.

But I'mnotturned on. My body is just acting up like it always has, an intrusive response that doesn't mean shit.

It's okay to be curious.

I'm not curious. I'm not fucking gay, it's just that I've been cursed with this omega body. It doesn't mean anything about who I really am. This is just how my body works here.

You know the same thing would've happened on Earth. You know it because you've gone through it a million goddamn timesbefore. It's okay to be curious.

I force myself out of my head by imagining myself sealing the thoughts up behind a giant brick wall. It's a technique I've used since I was a kid. Seal away the bad stuff. Everything that would get me in trouble.