Guardian Shifter

Chapter 2

Emi's POV

"We're here Emi," John announced from the front seat. I thanked him for the ride and apologized for any trouble the reporters gave before hopping out.

"You can go on home I'll be here awhile," I added before closing the car door. He waved his fingers and drove off.

Walking into the park- the ranger smiled and nodded his head towards me. It was so weird having other people nearby, interacting with them. They were literally everywhere I turned as if privacy didn't exist.

I walked for about 2 miles before I slipped from the trail following my own path. Once I reached a clearing far from the trail, I set my bag on the ground slipping my clothes off and shifted into an Andalusian mare.

I closed my eyes, feeling the transformation take place. It was painful, but it was worth it if I got to shift shapes.

I picked up my bag between my teeth and trotted farther away from the park and into the woods. I dropped my bag in a bush and started sprinting through the trees as fast as I could.

I felt so..... free. It felt as if I hadn't run in ages, since my move to the city. I would've moved somewhere with more space, but the hospital insisted I was close by.

I came to a huge meadow, noticing a few other horses. A male stallion trotted me, lifting his head up from the grass to me. I guess they don't see many new horses. I bowed to him, gesturing that I wasn't a threat.

I sat there grazing for awhile, but something caught me off guard. In the distance, I could hear the pounding of hooves and paws. Suddenly, men on the backs of horses came pounding their way into the meadow plowing through the fields, towards us. The herd, lead by the stallion ran in a different direction. I ran towards the men reared an bucked stomping my hooves in the way. I neighed, threatening them not to come closer.

"Get that damn mare she's in the way and the Mustangs are getting away!"

I attempted to run, but one guy threw a rope around my neck. I reared and bucked even more. They pulled on the ropes so hard I was sure I'd have marks on my neck when I'd shift back.

I turned my attention back to the herd. They were all rounded up to.  I snarled at him, while he gave me a crooked smile in return. How kind.

They pushed us violently towards a farm. I started to protest- I didn't want to be pushed into this drama after just getting out of one of my own. Once we were in the corral they separated the mothers and foals into one section and the stallions and unmated mares in the other, well I was the only unmated mare in the herd so I was surrounded by stallions.

They started loading the herd into trailers. The foals and mares in one and of course me and the stallions in the other. I was getting scared, where were they taking us?

After a while, the trailer came to a stop. They started unloading us putting us in an even smaller corral but this time I was in with the mated mares and foals. We were at an auction- or a rodeo?- it was probably both.

They roped one of the mares and her foals, she had twins. Twins were rare in the horse community.

The men took her and her foals to the middle of the arena, the foals struggling under the ropes, their mother was trying to get back to them the calm down. The man pulled out his whip.

I ran towards, them rearing my front legs up in the air, making them back away, but the man with the whip wasn't afraid to back down. He whipped me hard on the side of my chest. I sucked it up and started again, which only lead to more and more whips and beatings.

From the crowd, I could hear gasps and screams. Some people were trying to tell the man that was beating me to stop but he wouldn't listen. I wasn't going to give up either. I reared and stomped my feet I snapped my teeth at him. The man holding the foals ran away. And the man beating me let go of the mares rope so luckily they were out of the way.

There was a group of men and women that came over the this 'snake' pulling him back

"Alpha Max, that's enough! You shouldn't be doing this to such a beautiful creature. She was just protecting her friends!" One of the girls protested. They look to be around my age.

The rustic smell of pine and pollen surrounded me, making my chest feel all fluttery with the reminder of home. The island.

"Alpha Blakk. What do you think your doing? Having your beta female tell me what to do!" He replied, challenging what seemed to be the beta's alpha.

"She's right though, Alpha Max. You shouldn't be doing this to an animal, especially not one of this much beauty. She was just protecting the others!" Blakk said.

"This 'thing' is my horse, so leave alone so I can auction this beast off."

I snarled in his direction, not liking the word beast. He raised the whip in the air threatening me, but I stood my ground.

"Fine, then I'll buy her." Alpha Blakk said.

"You can have her the beast, she isn't useful for me, she's broken now. Look at her."

"Broken because of you," Blakk muttered.

I looked through the crowd, next to the Blakk's beta female there was-Jacob? Why was he here?There were 2 other people next to him- probably a couple.

Blakk came over to me patting my neck, sending sparks where his hand was. The woody smell of the outdoor's, a bit like cinnamon, flooded my senses. He accidentally patted one of the fresh wounds, making me wince.

"Parker STOP! You're hurting her!" Jacob said, Blakk, or Parker, stopped patting his hand on my neck, lifting his hand off it. He had a worried look on his face noticing the wound and how it left blood on his hand. He glanced at me concerned.

"Hurry Jacob- get me a halter and lead." He commanded, a sense of sure authority in his voice. He was a true Alpha. Jacob came back to with a halter and lead rope. Parker, whose last name I learned is Blakk, grabbed them walking back over to me. He unhooked the halter ready to put it on me.

The fear was coming from me in waves,  and I knew he could sense it.

"Hey its ok, I'm not gonna hurt you girl. Come here." I walked towards him slowly, gaining trust in him with every step as I noticed his relaxed posture, his hands up in surrender.

"Good girl, I'm just gonna put this on you so we can take care of you, ok?" He slipped the halter on my face. It felt uncomfortable at first but I got used to it. He didn't even use the lead rope and I just followed him.

"Good girl, come one baby girl." Parkers voice was angelic.

He saved me from being exposed for being a shifter and getting killed. There were sparks that erupted from my body, as he helped support me up.

I looked away before he could say anything or get a good look in my eyes. I was too tired to get up onto the trailer- and when I lifted my foot I lost balance and fell from exhaustion. I gave a whimper. I tried to lift myself up but I collapsed once again. The darkness was pulling me into the black dreamless void.