Not My Choice

II

I had managed to sleep on and off for a few hours before I heard the guards coming back. They didn't glance at the young man that was still unconscious on the floor of his cell.

The two guards stopped just outside of my door, causing me to slowly sit up. Keeping myself calm, I lock eyes with the meanest looking of the two and smiled. My reaction startled him. Shaking his head, he growls softly at me before unlocking the door. Both men entered and stepped towards me. The one that I had smiled at grabbed my arm, yanking me roughly from the cot.

Biting my lip to keep from crying out as pain shot through me, I stumbled after him as he all but dragged me from my cell. As we started up what looked to be a very large set of stairs, I felt my wolf focusing on him. She could sense that something wasn't right with him. Without warning, I felt a bolt of energy rush through me and into him. I knew that he wouldn't fell a thing, but I almost wished that she had left him be.

After all, he was part of the ones that were holding us here against our will, and it would be a good guess that he had been one of those that had almost killed the young man that I had healed just hours before. However, I had taken a solemn vow to heal and save as many lives as I could, no matter whom they belonged to. He didn't say anything as he threw a door open and continued to drag me through the house. I only had a slight chance to look around before we headed through a large wooden door. The room was pretty dark, with only one chair to be seen.

And sitting on that one large chair sat the most dangerous looking man I had ever set eyes on in my short life. I knew just by looking at him, exactly who he was; Derek Rambo. Every shifter in the world knew who he was. He had been born an alpha and had taken over his pack at eighteen, making him the youngest alpha in our history.

He managed to turn a very weak, small, unheard of pack into the largest, second most feared pack around. And then, everything changed. No one knew what happened, but Derek went rogue. The rumors that floated around said that he had tried to kill the king or something. But as I stood in front of the infamous rogue, I was having a hard time seeing the man that everyone talked about.

Maybe it was the healer in me, but when I looked at the most feared man known in the supernatural world, all I saw was a man who had been broken and hid it well behind a mask of rage and anger. I felt my wolf still as a set of cold, hard eyes the color of the deepest sapphire's locked with mine. As I held his gaze, I knew that I should have looked away but I couldn't. He nodded once, and the guard let go of my arm, leaving the room quickly and shutting the door behind him.

Suddenly, Derek's lips curved up into a small smirk and it dawned on me that he had been the rogue that I had saved Sawyer from. My eyes widened and his deep laughter filled the room. "Welcome to my home Julian Black." He spoke as the room finally became quiet again. I felt a small spark of panic shoot through me, but kept it hidden. "Why am I here?" The question fell from my lips before I could even think about speaking.

"You are here because I would like for you to join me. There is one thing that I don't have among those gathered around me; a healer." His eyes sparkled as if he knew that I had been planning on hiding that tidbit of information from him. "I have been watching you ever since my spies told me about a young girl that had temporarily joined a fourth pack."

My shoulders stiffened as I felt myself glaring at him. "I would never turn my back on my family, my friends." Derek sighed as he just shook his head. "I'll give you three options, and we'll go from there. How does that sound?" His voice was hopeful but I remained silent. "Your first option, Julian, is to become my mate. With you by my side, and my power running through you, you would be the most powerful healer ever heard of."

I scoffed as I crossed my arms. "If you had watched me closely, you would know that power does not appeal to me. And as being your mate, I'll pass. I'm waiting for mine to show." His eyes seemed to harden a bit more, but he continued as if he didn't hear my interruption. "Your second option is that you join my ranks as a healer, always going with the groups on raids, making sure that my men do not die." I glared harder at him, somehow managing to bite my tongue. "And your third and final option is death.

"I cannot have a healer that holds as much potential as you in the hands of my enemies. It would make things rather difficult for me, to say the least." He sent me a smile, thinking that the threat of death would have me crumbling. But I was made of sterner stuff; after all, I had been born the daughter of a beta, hadn't I?

I suddenly smiled at him, startling him a bit. "If those are my options, then I gladly chose number three." Surprise filled his eyes before he quickly pushed it away. "You would rather die than to be by side and help my men?"

"No," I was surprised at how calm my voice sounded, even though I was shaking inside. "I would rather die than betray those that I love." We just stared at each other, his face not giving anything away. "Well then," Derek spoke as he stood up, "I guess that I have to take what I want." Before I could even blink, he lunged at me, his hands gripping my shoulders as his eyes bore into mine. "Julian Black," he spoke, his words cold, "I hereby bound your life to mine. For as long as I am alive, you will do as I command."

I could feel faint shackles clamping around my mind as his words settledover me. Watching with eyes wide as his fangs tore into the heel of his hand,blood rushing down his skin, I knew without a doubt that I was in deep trouble.Derek pressed his bleeding hand to my mouth and I knew that nothing I could dowould get me away from him. My lips part and the warm blood quickly fill mymouth, causing me to gag. He held his hand there until the bleeding stopped andI had swallowed enough to make the shackles become complete. I was now boundwith the most ruthless man alive, and completely at his mercy.