Divided Territory

Chapter Nine

Please feel free to point out spelling/grammar mistakes- especially in previous chapters.

The thick, grey storm clouds had finished brewing over Vicky's head and were now dribbling a steady current of rain down her face and over her tense shoulders.

If the intensity of her scent wasn't enough to alert observers to her irritability, the scowl on her face would have definitely been enough to.

"Err..." Beth came to stand beside her, looking tentative. She had the tight facial expression of an uncomfortable teenager, words coming out in a stiff manner like she thought her presence was the reason for Vicky's bad mood. "Mum says we've got to make another delivery."

Vicky gritted her teeth and forced her head to bob down in affirmation before following after Beth. It was difficult to focus on working even though the job wasn't particularly taxing.

She was so mad, she wanted to track Christopher down and- 

No.

She didn't want to see him at all. 

She wished that she'd never met him, that she had somebody else's mark on her flesh, that- 

Who was she kidding?

She wished that Christopher's words hadn't triggered something inside of her, hadn't resignated with the side of her that understood his human principles. 

Her and Christopher didn't know each other.

To humans, that mattered. That really mattered.

Yet, what use was such a human principle when the very nature inside of them wanted to meld itself to another, regardless of knowing them or not?

The fact of the matter was, she felt betrayed by her own body and she felt betrayed by him. 

Mates were something to be cherished and prized, a precious gift to be enjoyed and relished. To find a mate was to find beauty personified, completion culminated, love perfected; but her own traitorous body had severed the connection with the man who she'd really loved, and forged one with another.

She was mates with a man who was worlds apart from her, and in that case, what was the bond except some contrived mass of chemical frequencies and biological signals? 

It wasn't the fairy tale that she'd grown up believing in.

"You can go find him if you want." Beth's voice was tinged with sympathy as they returned back to her mother's shop an hour later. "I know it can't be easy being away from him so soon. I can smell that you're freshly marked and I'm sorry I didn't say congratulations but you seemed upset to be working so I didn't want to make you mad and-" She cut off her rambling and started toying with the frayed edge of her jumper sleeve.

"No, I'm fine." Vicky shoved her hands in her pockets as they stopped walking.

"Are you sure? I mean, technically it's lunch time so you could sneak off for an hour or so. I heard that it's difficult to stay away from your mate for long."

She had to bite back a growl and force her tone into something nice when she responded. "I'm fine."

Beth looked confused as she nodded. "Well, okay." They lapsed into silence for a few seconds before the girl spoke again. "Am I annoying you?"

Vicky's cast her eyes down to the floor and some of the tension left her shoulders. "No." She said, wearily. "It's not you."

"Is it..." The girl trailed off. "I- Is something wrong with the made?"