The Fractured Beta

Chapter 4

Thea looks at the sky. The darkness is starting to roll in, as the day turns to night, the hot days turn to cold nights.

"I can't move you by myself"

She pauses and surveys his body again. She has actually started to get used to this one-sided conversation.

"I am strong, but not that strong. We will sleep here tonight and we will see your condition in the morning, then we can work it out from there"

She gently lays his head down.

“It gets cold and I want you to heal, so I will keep you warm”

Still receiving no response, Thea can only assume that he is fine with the idea. She shifts and lays her big body over and around his wolf as much as she can in an attempt to keep him warm.

She has never slept in such close quarters with anyone in natural form, but it doesn’t feel awkward. She is not sure about the male's thoughts on the situation, but as he doesn’t snap at her, she can only assume that it is fine.

Thea thought that sleep would evade her. She is a very alert person. Being in the presence of a stranger she would never usually sleep, but for some reason, even in this largely uncomfortable position, acting as a blanket for another, sleep comes quickly.

The wolf is already exhausted, with the warmth wrapped around him, the sound of her even breathing, her soft pleasant scent. He falls into his first relaxed sleep since he saw that, the thing that gives him nightmares. The thing he sees on repeat every time he closes his eyes.

As the sun rises slowly, rays of light fight their way through the bare branches of the trees, bathing the area with a soft light, cutting through that bitter coldness.

Two wolves lay, oblivious to it all. The two wolves who usually have so much trouble sleeping are comforted by their position, by the presence of the other.

Having a rare deep sleep. The brown wolf and the gray wolf, two such contrasting colors, shouldn't match at all, but the colours are somewhat harmonious on the duo.

The brown wolf's head has ended up perfectly over his neck, her face and his face are so close, their noses are near touching.

Thea slowly opens her silver eyes, slightly embarrassed of her position. She moves the smallest amount, the grey wolf stirs but doesn't wake. She breathes a sigh of relief before standing and slipping away to hunt for some more meat and collect some more water.

She comes back completely naked, walking into the clearing, a hare in one hand and saturated clothes in the other.

Green eyes drink in her stunning body. Not that he has seen many naked humans, but he has at least seen her. He knows that she is supposedly the best looking in the pack. Looking at Thea now, he knows now that the best looking in the pack does not mean the best looking.

"Good, you are awake"

Thea doesn't care about being naked, there is no modesty within a pack, there is no shame for a naked body, it is natural. She moves forward and checks on the gray wolf. Slender tanned fingers gently search the flesh wounds as she assesses the situation. The wolf watches as the woman gently cares for him, she touches him so gently even though he is built to endure pain.

"Looking much better, healing well, we will feed you and then you can see if you can move"

She sits down and starts giving him water and then feeding him ever so gently. Finally, she watches as he moves slightly.

"Can you move? I am not rushing you at all, but I am not sure if and when these hunters will be back and I want to get you somewhere safe before I go back to my pack"

The grey wolf lifts his head at her words, his green eyes looking at her.

"Don't worry, I will still look after you, my alpha is rather umm……… possessive, if I stay out too long he will send out a search party and that won't end well for either of us"

The grey wolf's eyes narrow slightly as he looks at her face. He is not good with human emotions. Is that fear or sadness that he sees?

"Okay, let's start with small movements and you can help me out with something. What is your name? I will go through the alphabet and you can move when I get to the right letter"

The gray wolf slightly nods, luckily he does actually know how to spell his name. It is the only word he knows how to spell.

"A...B……."

The wolf scratches at the right letters, breathing a sigh of relief as he finishes. Spelling is not his strong suit, he can only hope she doesn’t ask him to spell anything else that requires more than a nod or a shake of the head.

"Okay Sam, nice to meet you. That is much better than calling you Wolfy"

Sam tilts his head questioningly. Thea laughs. Her beautiful laugh is filled to the brim with joy and happiness.

"It was a joke I wouldn't really call you that"

She pats his head, treating the large animal as a house dog.

"You look so cute when you do that"

Thea checks all his injuries again, they are healing at a much faster rate now. She nods happily before shifting and helping him to his feet the best she can. She needs to be in natural form to lift such a weight in such a way. Thea may be large for a she wolf, but she is still substantially smaller than him.

She leans him against the tree while she shifts and puts on the clothing that is torn and heavily creased from the water and drying in such a way.

Thea supports Sam on the side of his bad leg, acting as his crutch as she wraps her arms around his waist and helps him walk.

"There is a cabin up ahead. It is abandoned. I will leave you there to recover. You will be safe"

At their slow pace it takes half the day to reach the cabin. The cabin is nicely hidden in the foliage, the only angle that it can be seen without knowing it is there is from the water and a boat is rare in these parts.

It is situated on a small lake, the natural beauty of the area is astounding, but the best bit is that it is relatively unexplored and untouched.

Thea doesn't tell him that this is her cabin.

An old recluse lived there once. When she was a young pup she got desperately lost trying to get away from Trey and ended up coming across this old man. They became friends after she helped him out of a tough situation and when he died, the cabin became hers.

She has never brought anyone else to this place.

Thea gathers some food and water, making sure he is comfortable while looking furtively at the clock.

"I have to go"

Thea has already pushed the limits of Trey’s tolerance. She gives Sam a kiss on the large head before running out the door.

"I will be back later tonight, I promise. You will be safe here"

Sam watches her leaving figure as she disappears, the residual heat on his head, the soft feeling of her lips on his head leaving him completely stunned. He has never received a kiss at all.

He looks around the cabin after staring at the door for a long time. There is not much room in the small cabin for the large wolf, but it is bathed in her scent, so he is somewhat comfortable even if it is a strange place.

Thea bathes in the lake for a long time, scrubbing any scent of another wolf off her before finding one of her secret stashes of clothes and heading back to the pack.

As soon as she walks through the door of the pack house, she is gripped by the neck and thrown against the wall.

Trey's handsome face is twisted in a hideous look, his eyes as black as night as he looks in the silver eyes he has been missing desperately. He needs to know exactly where she is at all times.

His nose run up and down her, breathing in every square inch of skin. When he is finally satisfied that she doesn't smell like anyone else, his eyes turn back to their standard blue colour. His grip on her throat remains but his expression is gentle and his voice is coaxing. If it wasn't for the death-like grip on her neck, one would almost think he was a good guy.

"Have you had s*x Thea?"

"Why would I have s*x?"

"Do I need to check?"

Thea's face is indifferent, her silver eyes are cold, not showing a flicker of emotion.

"How would you check? It is not like I am a v*rgin"

Trey growls his anger only rising with her words, increasing his strength on her neck, her oxygen slowly cutting off, but she doesn’t flinch at all, looking straight back at him with steely determination.