Divided Territory

Chapter Four

Her breath was caught in her throat.

Her chest was too tight, heart too raw, blood too hot. She felt like her body had been shrink wrapped and stuck inside a burning furnace.

Her stomach rolled, blinding light shooting from her core and through the crowd. Her skin itched and nails extended, uncovered toes curling against the damp earth. Wind blew through her flimsy dress and caused her hair to puff up in the air.

Her nipples hardened, her legs trembled, her eyes flashed.

Matematematemate-

He was writhing on the ground, arms caked in mud, blonde hair coated brown with dirt and bloody bone protruding from his stomach.

He was stuck between forms.

Vicky could smell the acidic sludge of pine and stomach acid.

Little girls were being ushered away while their older siblings watched in horror and abject fascination.

"He's one of those made wolves." Someone stated, their voice clear despite the noise.

His arms were twisted, shoulders dislocated and hanging loose, bile seeping out from his ears; and he was making the most awful whining sound- vocal chords stuck somewhere in human stasis.

He didn't look like he was going to make it.

Vicky took a shaky step backward and the man practically burst into full-form, bones locking with an awful crunch and blood spraying out around him.

He didn't look like a regular wolf. Not even a regular shifter. He was large and twisted and a contorted mass of limb and fur. Like an experiment gone wrong.

Men started ushering their mates away from the scene, pushing them off with murmured warnings. Some moved more reluctantly than others. Some refused to budge. Some acted like they didn't even hear, jumping with shock as the man shuddered and bounced back into human-form just as quickly.

There wasn't time for a moment of silence before a man was shouting out amidst the throng. "He can't stay."

"Look at him." Someone else bellowed with a mix of disgust and pity. "He's shaking and snivelling like some sort of pathetic dog. You might as well put him out of his misery."

Vicky had been too busy staring at the man, her mate, in terror, that she'd not noticed the presence of Alpha Campbell. He was close enough to touch him, arm raising and claws extended like he was just about to deliver the finishing blow, slice the man's head from his bruised body.

Her legs were kicking into action before she could blink, common sense and self-preservation a long forgotten concern. Right now, she only had one coherent train of thought.

Bursting through the crowd with an undignified shout, she leapt in front of her mate, shielding his hulking form from the man who wished to take his life.

"No?"

Vicky swallowed and made eye contact with her alpha, ears ringing due to the volume of her scream. "Please don't kill him."

Alpha Campbell's eyes were hard when he flicked them towards his beta; Justin hearing the unspoken request and stepping forward to remove Vicky from the scene.

She caught the movement before it happened and tumbled back, foot catching on her mate's body and sending her sprawling over the top of him. A zing of electricity sparked at the contact and almost immediately, there was a hissing sound as the last of her mate's half shift faded away.

"Look!" She exclaimed in frenzy, tumbling off her mate's abused body and onto the floor. "He's fine."

She couldn't begin to explain the cool compress of relief that started at her temples and slowly dripped its way down to her feet.