“ i’ll sleep when i’m dead. “
“That’ll be sooner rather than later,” Derek hisses, and all but shoves Raleigh’s face down.
They’ve been running so long that Derek’s horse had keeled over and died. He was fine to follow on foot after until the days stretched into nights, and more nights, and when Raleigh’s horse died - Derek insisted they shift.
Despite their ability to heal, Raleigh’s paws had started to bleed, and then continued to do so, and even when they shifted back his feet had failed to stop. So, to make a camp it was, and now that they had that, fire low but still warm, Derek pushed for a lookout.
But not Raleigh as it.
“Just sleep,” he stressed, almost whines - doesn’t quite beg but it’s a close breed. “You’re going to fuck yourself up, and then if I fuck myself up, we’re both fucked up and then we’ll both be dead and free to sleep.” Claws extend: teeth bare, and his breath is rancid, knows it must be from the raw meat consumed on a last catch - “So go the fuck to sleep now, and we won’t have problems.”