It was midday when we took another moment to rest.

The zunoda had been lost, the last of its howls eaten by the jungle before the daystar had even lifted the blanket of night. All the same, I took a moment to tilt my face toward the sky, hoping to find any hint of the creature still lingering in the air. But once more, all I could smell was the omega. I snorted, trying to clear him from my nose, but to no avail. Rolec was the only thing I could sense.

The omega slid from my back, much to his relief. He gave one of his customary stretches, leaning this way and that, raising his arms above his head and lifting onto the balls of his oddly wrapped feet. If he still had a tail, I imagined it too would have been raised high above his pretty head.

I mimicked his motions, finding that the pull of my tense muscles made it a struggle. It also brought some relief that was much needed. All the while, the omega watched. With a tiny curl of his lips, Rolec stuck out a leg. He stretched long, almost into a squat, before he swapped legs and did the same in the opposite direction.

I studied the motions carefully as he repeated them, noting the way his legs tensed and relaxed beneath the tight wrap of his trousers. Then I copied him, feeling the same pull and release in my taut thighs and calves.

I mimicked every new motion the omega made.

When he bent at the waist, reaching toward his toes and laying his palms flat against the ground, my body did not agree. I hunched, but my palms came nowhere near the earth. I could scarcely reach my shins, let alone my toes as he had done. No matter how much I strained, I was only rewarded with a burning fire in my muscles and a sudden burst of laughter from the omega.

When he had regained his composure, Rolec moved on to another stretch, this one while seated on a rock. His legs were spread wide, and he leaned over again, reaching once more for his toes.

Maybe that position was easier?

Yet I quickly found it was not.

I still could not reach my toes, nor fold myself quite so low as Rolec somehow managed. Was it because he was so small? He had none of the muscles or bulk that I did. Where I was strong, he was lithe and flexible.

While I grew quickly tired of the stretches, the same could not be said of my watching the omega perform them.

I kept my breathing steady, trying not to picture Rolec twisting and bending in his provocative poses completely bereft of clothing. Unfortunately, it did not work. My mind had swiftly conjured the thought, and I could not so easily banish it from my imagination.

I closed my eyes, but that only made it worse. I could already feel myself brimming with unfulfilled need.

"I will bring you food," I told Rolec, standing suddenly and turning away before my straining trousers could betray me.

The omega does not desire to mate, I had to remind myself. I would simply have to tend to myself alone, as I had always done.

As swift as my feet allowed, I marched away from Rolec, though I kept him still within my peripheral.

We had stopped here for a reason. There were plenty of plants, heavy with their fruit. Better yet, there was more than just the oolma Rolec enjoyed. There were berries he had never tried.

Ignoring my own desires, I began to pick some deep-red berries, their cruel thorns poking and scratching my hands. But I did not mind. I would rather pick them than see the omega cut himself while trying to gather his meal. Further, the pain served to draw my mind away from warm holes and entangled bodies.

I filled my travel pouch to the brim, taking far longer than was actually necessary. By the time I turned about, the omega had wandered closer. His rock had been left behind, and he now stood a few paces away. His long fingers plucked a few oolma from the vine. I watched in rapt fascination as he brought one gently to his lips.

A twinge of jealousy coursed through me; how I wished that were me. The thought lingered, a distraction from my task, my duty. When he reached for another, my eyes finally settled on the bush from which he ate.

The leaves were wrong, too small and too round.

Seized by the sudden realization, I closed the distance between us, catching the omega by the wrist and stilling his hand. Rolec yelped, dropping the berry in his surprise. He did not pull away, did not struggle to break free of my grasp. The omega simply turned a startled look up toward me. Without thinking, I grabbed his chin, opening his mouth and poking a finger inside, hoping to find the berry chewed but unswallowed.

But it was gone, already eaten.

"They are not oolma," I explained, the heat in my voice directed not toward Rolec but rather the deceptive plant. "They are nuth. Used for purging the —"

Rolec began to tremble in my hold, his eyes having grown wide. His pheromones twisted alongside his expression, the scent laden with sudden fear. I released him, thinking first that I had frightened him with my actions. But Rolec doubled over himself, a hand coming to his mouth. Just as I had done, he shoved a finger into his throat, a horrible retching sound gurgling in his chest.

I found myself reacting on instinct once more, clasping his wrists and pulling his hand from his face. Rolec struggled against me now, words spilling from his glistening lips in rapid succession. He was frightened, desperate to purge the berry from his insides.

I held him firm, hoping to soothe him. He had misunderstood. "No, Rolec. Do not be afraid. They are not poison. The nuth cause only discomfort as part of the purge. They empty you from the inside out."

To prove this to him, I freed one hand from Rolec and reached for the bush. I plucked a berry, placing it into my mouth. Before even swallowing, the omega was shouting, trying to pull free. To stop me. Yet I had already eaten it. The edge of fear in his scent doubled, and Rolec shook, still not understanding. I was left to pick him up, and the moment his hands were free, the omega pressed them to my face, another stream of foreign words pouring from his mouth. His eyes, which had at first been wide, were now cloudy and full of too much emotion.

I set him gently upon his stone perch. Crouching beneath him, I offered the berry pouch.

"These are shurgat. They are safe to eat and are much sweeter than the oolma. My om-father often squeezed them into a juice." Just as I had done with the nuth, I placed one in my mouth. The omega was obviously hesitant but hardly needed coaxing. He accepted the pouch and began eating.

Because he trusts me.

Yet the sourness in his pheromones remained. Dropping onto my rear, I sat beneath him in the dirt and brambles. At this new angle, we were nearly on level, though Rolec hovered ever so slightly above me. I closed my eyes, bending forward so as to rest my forehead against his knee. When he did not brush me aside, hesitantly, I laid a hand upon his calf and traced gentle strokes along the soft material there. I already knew physical comfort was a risk, but it was all I had to offer him since words meant nothing.

He still trembled, but some of his earlier tension eased and his scent softened.

When a hand alighted atop my head, I stilled, bracing for the rejection. But it did not come. Fingers instead brushed through my hair just as they had done in the stream the day before. My eyes slowly opened, and I flicked my gaze toward the omega. He still ate, placing another berry into his beautiful mouth. Rolec chewed on the fruit, the fingers of his other hand drawing slow lines along my scalp. I shuddered, my eyes drifting shut again while a deep rumble grew in my throat.

It was replaced a moment after by an unsettled cramping in my guts.

The nuth was swift to ruin the moment.