By Choice Or

Author's note: I originally intended this story to be Laurie and Michael's story, and although it is that - it has grown a bit more complicated than I planned, and so I am now a little worried that it is not really suitable for this site, having said that though here is chapter six, I hope you enjoy and thank you for reading me x.

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Laurie sat and watched in horror as Michael strode out of the room, and then with a low-voiced sob she wrapped her arms around herself in a self-protective way.

'He'd abandoned her!'

Iris put her hand on her arm and tried to reassure her, but Laurie could not even open up enough to receive her comfort.

"Her mate - the one she had given herself over to - body, mind and soul... Michael had betrayed her and abandoned her, and she had never felt so alone, and vulnerable in all her life.

She withdrew into herself, and fought to regain her emotions, her own self and her own inner strength.

Iris looked across at Trudy, openly showing her worry for her sister, and her aunt after a quick all-seeing glance, gently shook her head.

"Leave her be for a little while," she advised softly. "She has been through a lot already and must come to terms with it all."

Iris gave her arm a gentle squeeze, and then with a sigh she moved across to sit with James, where they began a low-voiced discussion.

It seemed like hours later when the door suddenly opened and Michael strode back in, with several men behind him.

He looked around at them all and scowled almost as though he despised them all, and Laurie felt the first stirrings of anger. How dared he look at her family that way - as though they were beneath even his contempt!

"You are to be split up!" he informed them in a cold hard tone, and Laurie's anger increased.

"You will stay with me, Laurie," Michael declared holding out his hand to her.

His arrogance was the final straw and her anger snapped inside her. He obviously expected her to just meekly take his hand and walk out without resistance, was so confident that she would just do as he instructed; that when she stuck them behind her back and glared at him, it was as though she had just slapped him, his reaction was so obvious.

"I will not," she spat out. "I have been thinking about all that has happened and I have made a decision of my own."

"Oh?" his eyes narrowed dangerously and the people around them all shuffled back a little.

"Yes, the men here seem to think they can evoke a bonding with me, and I have decided to let them try."

"Laurie! You can't mean that!" Iris exclaimed stepping towards her sister. "You know that you can't..."

Laurie smiled reassuringly at her sister, and reached out to hug her tight. "I know what I am doing," she whispered quickly to her. "Trust me!"

There were several low-voiced murmurings going on, and an air of excitement filled the room.

But Michael looked angry. He looked livid... he looked absolutely devastated.

The emotions flickered across his face fast and furious, and he clenched and unclenched his fists several times, as he fought to regain his composure.

"You would bond with one of the men who kidnapped you?" he demanded stiffly.

She lifted her chin, and glared up at him. "I would bond with a mongrel, if it kept me away from you!"

He stepped back away from her and the colour drained from his face.

"If that is your choice - then so be it!"

He turned his back on her and looked at the others in the room, before settling his eyes on James and Iris.

"You will come with me!" he decided, pointing at Iris.

James stepped in front of her and folded his arms across his chest. "Not without me - she won't!"

Again, Michael clenched and unclenched his fists a few times, and a pulse on the side of his neck began to throb visibly, the colour that had drained from his face when Laurie had so brutally rejected him, the colour flooded back and deepened alarmingly.

Just how many people in this room were going to defy him today?

He glanced at Trudy, but dismissed her immediately. Even his uncle had had trouble with her - so Michael was not even going to attempt to 'bully' her.

He was honest enough with himself to realise that that was what he was trying to do. To lash out and try and hurt Laurie - in the same way that she had just hurt him.

He allowed the feelings to rush through his system, using the raw emotions to power his alter ego, and the people around him all stood transfixed as they saw for the first time just how powerful Michael could be if he wanted to be.

Outside there was the sound of vehicles coming to a halt in the drive way, and Michael realised that he was out of time, and options.

"Very well then," he muttered under his breath, as he pulled his self-control together and around himself, allowing the power surging through him to diminish, and then fade away.

He turned back to Laurie.

"You have made your choice - to allow these men to try to evoke the bonding." he raised his brow and a low snarl escaped as she nodded defiantly.

"I have."

"Then I will see this completed before we leave you here."

The colour drained from her face this time, and her mouth drop open a little.

She stared at him in mortification and the colour flooded back into her face. "You can't... mean that!" she stammered.

His dark eyes began to glitter and his lip curled at the corner making him look truly sinister. "Oh, but I do, Laurie," he whispered softly - almost intimately.

She almost bottled out at that point, bonding was a very intimate act, it was a physical act as well as an emotional act, it was supposed to occur naturally between two people, and this experience was going to be anything but natural, having witnesses was bad enough, but to have Michael standing over her, watching and assessing her actions and her emotions.

It was just too much, too humiliating; so that for a moment she thought that she could not go through with it - not with him there.

But that smile, that glint in his eye, the cold hard mockery and contempt of the man.

She lifted her chin and glared at him, allowing her hatred for him at that moment to shine through.

"Very well, then - if that is

your

choice."

She turned to Bill's men and threw back her shoulders. "You wanted to try to create the bond with me," she spat out angrily. "Well now you have your chance... but it will be one chance each, and only one!"

Bill's men stepped forward eagerly, jostling at each other as they tried to be the first one to get to her.

But Bill stepped in front of her, and held up his hand to stop them in their tracks.

"If this is going to be done, then it will be done properly, and not like a pack of animals!" he snapped out loudly.

"Laurie... you know that you can't do this," Iris tried to intercede with her sister again, but Laurie cut her off with such a scowl that Iris had never seen on her face before.

"I am so tired of people telling me what I can and cannot do," she said, her voice thick with raw emotion. "I am an adult and I will suit myself from now on!"

She stormed across the room to a sofa just in front of the heavily curtained window, and dropped down.

She felt better, more confident now that she was out of the thick of that group; she sat up a little straighter and tugged the hem of her tunic top over her knees primly.

"Very well, Bill, I will accept the attentions of the first suitor, but he alone will sit beside me, I will not have this be the entertainment of everyone else - so everyone else can just keep their distance!"

Ben as the eldest was the first to step forward, but Laurie already knew that she was going to block and then reject both of the brothers, even though she had to pretend to be receptive. She realised that their blind hunger for power made them dangerous, and so she could not even afford to pretend to let them have it.

No, she had her eye on one of the cousins, one who had never managed to meet her gaze, and seemed to hunker over in a dejected fashion.

Ben strode across and stood over her for a moment, as if to show her how tall and strong he was.

She looked up and met his gaze. "Sit down, Ben - or else I shall get a stiff neck from staring up at you."

He grinned and flopped down beside her. "You had better get used to being around stiff things, or else I am not worthy of being the pack leader some day!" His guffaw was a rough and crude as everything else about him.

Nope, he definitely was not going to do!

He continued to chuckle at his own joke, and Laurie smiled a little smile.

Ben saw the smile and needed no more encouragement, as he leaned across and grabbed her arms to pull her towards him.

"Gently," she snapped, putting her hand up to his chest to hold him back. "I bruise easily, so treat me gently please."

He looked frustrated for a moment, but Laurie smiled encouragingly and leaned into him.

"Shall we see if we are compatible?" she whispered and she lifted her chin to invite his kiss.

He obviously did not need another invitation, as his lips found and crushed hers, forcing them apart, so that he could thrust his tongue into her mouth and half way down her throat.

His hand found her breast and again his eagerness made him rough and her poor flesh began to bruise.

She allowed his attentions for a good few minutes, and then pushed him back again, and her face had a look of stern regret.

"I am very sorry, Ben, but I am afraid that I am not the one for you, and you are not the one for me... we are just not compatible."

His face turned red with anger, and he started to grab her.

"Enough!" Bill roared and Ben sat back with a startled whimper.

Mark was the next to try and Laurie made short work of him too, and although he was obviously disappointed, he was nowhere near as aggressive as Ben had been - much to Laurie's relief.

Bill also looked annoyed, but he knew that with so many independent witnesses there, that he could not force the issue.

He sighed and shrugged his shoulders in begrudging acceptance and looked to the other men in the room.

"Well if not a son, then maybe one of the nephews can achieve it," he muttered under his breath.

There were five of them; and all were eager to try to succeed where the sons had failed, and Laurie looked at them a little apprehensively.

The first three were as bad as the brothers with their aggressive attitude, but again they had no choice but to accept her rejection, which she quickly gave.

But the fourth was the quiet and shy Iain, who only walked across at his uncle's command.

"Sit down beside me, Iain, and let us talk for a moment?" Laurie invited gently.

He sat down with a little grunt, but kept his eyes on his hands which were resting on his knees.

"What do you want to talk about?" he asked awkwardly.

"Well... what do you like to do with yourself... do you have a job, what about your parents are they alive - do you live with them; do you have siblings - brothers I think someone said?" she floundered on.

He gave a short snort at her jabbering and looked up at her in surprise.

And as their eyes briefly met, that was when she did it.

"Oh!" she gasped loudly and sitting back slightly. "Oh... My!"

Iain looked away quickly and the colour flooded his cheeks.

And Laurie grabbed his arm. "My mate - my beloved!" she crowed out in delight, and making sure everyone heard her.

"Done!" Bill declared triumphantly. "She is of our pack now, and hopefully will birth many females in the future; and thus reinvigorate our pack."

Iain began to shake his head. "But I did not..."

"Ssshh," Laurie whispered leaning in to him. "We'll work it out when we are alone later." she promised and after a second, he nodded in reluctant acceptance.

She kissed his cheek and gave his arm a little squeeze, before standing up and holding out her hand to him.

"Come along then, and let us accept our families' well wishes for our future, together," she said brightly, and once again he nodded in hesitant acceptance of the situation.

'Perhaps is could be a good thing,' he thought hazily to himself. 'He would be the first in a long time to bring a female to the pack, and with that would come a certain amount of power.'

They walked across to the others, hand in hand, and Michael gave a little snort of disgust and turned his back on them resolutely.

His uncle chose that moment to enter the room, and seeing the look on his nephew's face, stopped short.

"What has occurred?" he demanded.

"My nephew and the girl are bonded." Bill Frawnings declared triumphantly. "She is of our pack now and as pack leader I say what becomes of her - I have that right!"

Iris rushed across to her sister and began talking to her earnestly, and whilst Laurie was so distracted, Michael had the painful leisure to study her and 'her new mate'.

Their hand holding had lasted only until they reach this end of the room, and perhaps it was Iris who had forced them apart, but neither of them looked unhappy about that.

Indeed, Iain - once away from Laurie did not seem to want to even look at her, as his uncle slapped him on the back in a congratulatory manner. Not once did he show any kind of feelings towards her.

He turned his back towards them all and allowed his pack leader and then other members of his pack to gather around him to congratulate him.

Michael still could not quite believe that this had happened. It was like a nightmare that he had not even thought to have.

He had been so sure that he and Laurie would be together, so certain of the outcome that he was totally unprepared for these events, and how his feelings surged through him.

Uncle Mathew stayed silent for a while as he studied the people in the room through narrowed eyes.

Finally, he sighed, and as he met his nephews' eyes briefly there was a world of empathy and commiseration in Mathew's that Michael had never seen before.

"Very well then," he said loudly. "What is done is done, and now we need to move on."

He took his nephew's arm and looked to Trudy and James. "You three can be kept together as long as you promise to behave yourselves."

Trudy's shoulders went back and she opened her mouth as though to argue, but James stepped in front of her. "We will not cause any problems during the journey," he promised.

Mathew looked hard into James's eyes and then finally nodded. "Good enough for now - collect your wife and make your farewells, as we shall be leaving in just a few moments."

Trudy decided not waste any more time arguing with him, but walked quickly across the room to her nieces, where the three of them engaged in a low-voiced urgent conversation, which only ended when James joined them.

The black cars that were parked outside were ominous to say the least, and Laurie shuddered as the chill night hair touched her flesh and she hugged her arms around herself.

She stood looking so forlorn that all Michael wanted to do was to scoop her up and carry her away with him. To hold her tight and tell her that everything would be all right - that he would always take care of her.

But he could not do anything like that, had no right to do any of that - not anymore.

He was still totally shocked by how quickly things had changed between them, how quickly she had turned away from him and rejected him.

"I think that I will err on the side of caution with you," Uncle Mathew suddenly said. "I have decided that the three of you can travel in separate cars."

"But you promised we could stay together!" Trudy snapped in outrage. "Already you are reneging on your promises!"

"I promised to keep you together, and we will all go to the same place - at the same time, but I will have you all in separate cars to keep you all pliable..." his voice dropped and he fixed his steely gaze on Trudy. "And please do not mistake this for a request or a discussion."

Trudy's shoulders went back and she glared up at him.

Mathew allowed her a full minute of impotent rage, before reaching out suddenly and literally scooping her up.

"What do you think you are doing?" she snapped struggling violently.

Mathew signalled to the man standing beside the nearest car, and he pulled open the back door.

With a single stride Mathew propelled Trudy towards it, and then practically threw her into the vehicle and then stepped back as the man pushed the door closed.

Aunt Trudy sat banging on the glass and the language she was yelling out caused a few of the men within earshot to turn pale in shock.

Mathew smiled a little, but then turned to the others.

"Now, I want the girl - Iris in the second car, and the man James in the rear car, and I want them there within two seconds or... I am going to start baying for blood!" Mathew roared out loudly.

As people started to scurry around he turned to his nephew. "Michael you will travel with me in the front car."

And with that he strode towards that vehicle - confident that his orders would be obeyed.

His confidence was not in error either, as Laurie stood and watched in horror as her family were bundled into those vehicles and moments later began their journey - away from her.

All she wanted to do right then was curl up and cry.

But she thrust her shoulders back and smiled up at Iain.

"I could do with a little fresh hair," she declared brightly. "Will you join me for a little stroll around the ground - my love?"

She held her hand out to him and he hesitated looking across at his uncle.

"Yes, you too take a little walk... get to know each other a little better." He grinned suggestively and Laurie had a sudden urge to slap that smirk right of his face.

She turned away so that he would not see her look and began to walk casually away.

He would he either follow - or he wouldn't, and right now she could not strum up enough energy to try to coax him anymore.

Iain certainly was going to be hard work.

She heard a crunch and a then a grunt and his hard hand curled around her upper arm.

"Wait for me then," he laughed, trying to sound playful.

Laurie knew that he was still feeling awkward about the whole thing, and so she stopped and reached up suddenly to kiss him on the mouth.

Back in the shadows of the big house, she heard a lewd chuckle, and her lips tightened as she pulled back again.

"Come on then let's take a stroll around the grounds of the house, and stretch our legs a little bit."

She felt his hard, calloused hand as it tried to find hers, and with a little smile up at him she obliged.

There was not much alone time to be found around the outside of the house though as every few steps they seem to run into one man or another.

It was impossible to engage in any intimacy, whether it be conversational, or physical; and she could feel that even Iain was becoming a little frustrated.

It took them nearly half an hour to get back to the front driveway, since they had walked so slowly, and the estate was surprisingly quite big.

They stood together in the front driveway looking out to the road, and as she looked up at him, she thought that Iain was working up the courage to kiss her.

The sudden sounds of voices in the hallway had him grunting in frustration as he turned away from her again.

She could hear Bill talking to his sons, and realised that they were about to come outside.

"Why don't we walk down towards the road a bit," she said softly enough that only Iain would hear.

"Okay?"

She took his hand and they began to walk slowly away from the house - and its inhabitants, and Laurie could feel the eyes burning into her back. She knew that they were watching them together, and she realised that it would not take them long to recognise her pretence. She knew that she was on borrowed time and feared what they might do if she was discovered in her deception.