CHAPTER TWO

   DEREK

      “Let me go.” She struggles against the straps that won’t bulge no matter how hard she moves.

      Watching her in amusement, I imagine her naked - no, half naked. Her in only bra and panties, hands tied to her back while I…

     I clear my throat again. Reason, Derek.

     “Why should I?”

     “I don’t know who you are or where the fuck I am or why I’m tied to this chair like a fucking animal.”

     Sitting up, I smile. “Out there, 30 feet to your left, there are two guards patrolling. Same to your right. There are more ahead. Sitting across from me is already mercy enough. The most you’ll get before you are taken out of your misery in a very miserable way.”

     She falls quiet, breath quickening. I assume she must be visualizing her death in the hands of wolves whose senses are not corroded by lust like mine. They won’t give her a second look before tearing her apart.

     Rising to my feet, “If you want to live, I’ll give you an option. You don’t have to take it.”

     Hands clasped behind me, I battle reasoning as I walk quietly around the room, chewing on the options I’m about to give her which are both based on my personal interests, one more than the other. I stop right in front of my chair.

     “I will not harm you and you can be delivered safely to your pack,” I pause, hesitating. “If you agree to sleep with me. “Or, I hand you over to the wolves who prefer to be in their wolf form than human form. Your happy ending is in your hands.”

     Giving her a choice feels stupid, but I’ll never stoop so low to the point of having her without her consent. I want her. The restlessness that has invaded my head since I saw her in the woods is enough witness to that. And, I’m not letting her go without having her. She just has to make that decision herself.

      She bursts out laughing, head thrown to the back. It is a lengthy laughter that makes my stomach clench but I endure until it stops and her face is straight again. She looks directly at me.

     With enough venom to kill a wolf fledgling, she spits, “I will rather die!”

     Her words are like fuel to my wheels and i lunge forward and grab her neck. First mistake. She stiffens. And when her throat bobs under my grip, I know I’m not letting her go.

     “Hmm, my pleasure,” I say roughly.

ISABEL

      Half of the times I got into trouble with the bullies in my pack, it was because I said some rude shit. Other times were because I am a weak Omega that could easily be picked on. Honestly, I try to make the good decisions. Luna says never to listen or talk back when they start picking on me, but keeping quiet makes me feel like the stupid bitch they call me. They say so many hurtful things and I just find it hard to not lash out. But when you’re weak and outnumbered, keeping quiet is the most helpful thing to do. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself lost in an unfamiliar woods running, thinking you’re being chased.

    The wolf sinks his claws into the skin of my neck, the pain of each claw distinct from the other. Warm liquid trickles down my neck and I know better than to struggle.

     Are all the southern wolves like him? Big, strong and scary? I have never met one but I’ve heard stories of people they tore apart with their claws and I’m about to be one of those unfortunate people.

      The smell of engine oil and metal fill my nostrils in this dark room, giving me a vague idea of where I might be. A garage?

       His nose flares as he looks down at me, barely making any effort and, yet, killing me. His head blocks out the light and all I get is a silhouette of his face. His shoulders are wide and his frame towers over me. I can’t pretend that I’m not scared even though something about the way he holds my neck satisfies me.

     All I have to do is choose life, sleep with him and get out of here. I am 25 years old. I am not a prude. I have had sex twice before with Gideon, one of my bullies and  member of my pack who lied to get into my pants the first time and I still gave it up to him the second time. For my foolishness, I’ll let this big, bad wolf kill me now. In my defense though, I liked him and he treated me nicely – or pretended to – until he slept with me.

      The wolf’s grip tightens around my throat and my lips part. I can’t die now, not without finding my parents’ killers and bringing them to Justice. My bullies, too, I need to punish them for chasing me into the woods of the enemy. My spirit will not rest if my head is put on a spike in display for those assholes. I will toss in the grave hearing them laughing and making fun of me – If I am given the decency of a grave.

       “Any last words?”

       Well, my last word is being tightened around my neck by you, asshole.

      In defeat, I nod slowly, mouthing wait.

      Pain rings in my ear as his hand leaves my throat and I cough, drawing in as much air as possible. Hell, that was painful. He pulls back and retreats to sit on  the small wooden chair that disappears under his large frame.

       “Good girl.”