Chained by Choice [Marked 5] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove)
Marked 5
Chained by Choice
Dr. Billy Carrigan has been the physician devoted to serving the needs of his pack to the detriment of his social life. JP has always marched to the beat of his own drum. Together, the two of them have to survive an accidental wolf attack and a rushed courtship in order to make mating work
Despite his crush on one of the surgical techs, he’s never had a chance to ask him out. Luckily, JP asks him out instead.
JP has always marched to the beat of his own drum. Because of his oddities, he wasn't sure if the awkward but endearing doctor was even interested but when he blurts out an invitation for a coffee date, he's pleasantly surprised when Billy says "yes".
One fateful coffee date leads to an accidental wolf attack by one of Billy's patients and then to a rushed romance as Billy tries to convince JP that most wolves are as harmless as lambs. Only time will tell if Billy will convince JP to be chained by choice or if he will be the only wolf in the pack who can't get his mate to be his.
Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Contemporary, Paranormal, Vampires/Werewolves
Length: 36,037 words
CHAINED BY CHOICE
Marked 5
Jana Downs
EVERLASTING CLASSIC
MANLOVE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Everlasting Classic ManLove
CHAINED BY CHOICE
Copyright © 2014 by Jana Downs
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63258-423-6
First E-book Publication: October 2014
Cover design by Sloan Winters
All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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DEDICATION
To my wonderful readers. You’re the reason I do what I do.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
About the Author
CHAINED BY CHOICE
Marked 5
JANA DOWNS
Copyright © 2014
Chapter One
“Steve seems to be more stable today,” Dr. Billy Carrigan said, adjusting his notebook on his knee. He entered his notes for today’s appointment into a Word program. “He’s making progress.”
Their Alpha, Mustang, nodded his head, the grim set to his mouth easing just a little bit. “He still isn’t sleeping.” That was a concerning fact to Dr. Carrigan as well, but there wasn’t much he could do other than dope him until he was immobile. Grayson Gambler, Alpha Mate and sweet submissive, bit into his bottom lip. The Alpha’s Mate was too close to the situation to be calm about it. Steve Justice was his friend from his frat house days, after all.
Billy cautioned himself to be patient. “I know. I’m going to do a sleep test on him later on this week. But his new wolf might not react well to medication. I’ll come out to your house again on Tuesday.” He entered the day into his log. Since he had both a job at the local hospital and a traveling medical practice he needed something besides his superior intellect to keep tract of his appointments.
“What’s the likelihood he’ll be able to maintain a stable shift, Billy?” Grayson asked, smoothing his hands down his blue jeans.
“I really have no way of knowing that.” Billy adopted a more apologetic tone. “I really wish I could pinpoint a window of recovery. He should be able to maintain his human form at some point. However, he might not ever be able to shift into his feral form without a partial shift or a slip in the shift happening. It will depend mostly on his determination to make his new life work.”
Steve had been turned wolf against his will. An Alpha from a neighboring pack had kidnapped and tried to sell off their freshly turned werewolves as submissives to other packs. To turn a human into one of them, one had to follow some very cruel actions.
An act of submission and a joining were usually things to celebrate. However, when it was forced the results were suitably horrifying. Billy pitied the humans that had been so horribly treated.
Mustang reached over and squeezed the back of Grayson’s neck even as he spoke to Billy. “Will you come out tonight? I know it’s strange but your presence seems to calm him.” Steve had switched forms a dozen times already this week. Every time left him as exhausted as the last and surlier than the time before.
Maybe I can squeeze in a fifteen minute appointment before my shift on the ER floor started. His other shift started at eight p.m. and lasted until midnight. Those were his volunteer hours. Anything after hours, he went to them. Sometimes the schedule was a bit much, but that was the reality of being the only Circle-certified doctor in town. “I’ll fit it in my schedule.” He would make it work. He always did.
* * * *
&n
bsp; “JP, I’m going to need you to come into work tomorrow,” Justin said.
JP adjusted the phone on his ear as he slid his textbook into his messenger bag along with his laptop. “What time?” Tomorrow was supposed to be his one day off a week, but it appeared that he wasn’t going to get it, yet again. He couldn’t remember the last time either his surgical technician internship or his job at the pizza restaurant hadn’t called him in. He rubbed his tired eyes and sighed. “You’ve got to give me a break at some point, Justin.”
“What time does your last class get out?”
“Four.”
“Can you come in then?”
JP nodded, realized Justin couldn’t see, and mentally berated himself for the action. “Yeah. I’m not staying all the way until close though.” He couldn’t handle another day going to bed at one a.m. “I’ll stay until ten.”
“That’s fine. I won’t ask you to stay for prep. I know you have an eight a.m. clinical the next day.”
Well, at least he finally remembered that. JP had tried to explain a million and five times that he sat in on surgeries at eight, which meant that he was required to be at the hospital by six a.m. Going to bed at two or three and getting up at five was awful and led to daylong exhaustion.
“All right. I’ll see you tomorrow after class then.”
They hung up and he pulled his bag up on his arm. He still had a paper he needed to write, but he supposed he could get that done this weekend.
He zipped up his hoodie and popped his ear buds in. Immediately the thumping techno beat pulsed in his ears. The stress seemed to melt away as he lost himself in the rhythm of the bass.
He reminded himself one more time that this frantic life wouldn’t last forever. He just had to make it until graduation and then he could settle into semi-normal hours in his chosen profession. Then he could finally get some real rest and an apartment that didn’t have sirens whipping by it multiple times a night.
It was a nice dream. Too bad it seemed far away most days.
The bus arrived and JP wasted no time in getting on board. It was crowded this time of day, so he ended up having to stand.
He looked forward to the procedures he was assisting on. Dr. Carrigan was doing an amputation this afternoon. While holding someone’s severed limb was nightmare inducing for most, it made JP really excited.
The fifteen-minute bus ride to the hospital from the university wasn’t bad. It was better than taking the bus from his apartment, a forty-minute stretch that went through the unsavory parts of town.
He mentally went over the procedure as he rode. Muscles, nerves, blood vessels, bones would all be snipped, cut, and filed for the betterment of the patient. Not to mention it was one of the coolest procedures he’d witnessed. Well, that and heart surgery.
His stop came and he hopped off with an extra kick in his step. He was always in a much better mood when he was thinking about his chosen field. All the stresses that went with his juggling two jobs would be worth it as soon as he graduated.
He hurried into the front of the hospital, eager to get started for the night. He waved at a few of the nurses he worked with. He didn’t have time to chitchat but he wanted to be friendly. This was the hospital he really wanted to get a job at when he graduated. As much as he complained about the area, he really loved this sleepy Colorado town.
He beelined to the elevator and pressed the button to carry him upward.
A shadow came over him and he looked up to see Dr. Carrigan standing beside him. He smiled.
Dr. Carrigan was a strange doctor. He seemed to do a little bit of everything around here including a private practice on the main floor, one off site, and a surgical wing that was exclusively his, though most of his surgeries were on the main surgical floor and were shared with other doctors.
JP usually got included in those surgeries, so he figured he had a good chance of being chosen as one of Dr. Carrigan’s coveted team members at the end of his schooling. That would guarantee he would get on the additional surgeries where he used his special team. The pay and benefits were supposedly out of this world.
“Good afternoon, JP,” Dr. Carrigan said, smiling at him. Dr. Carrigan always seemed warm. A lot of doctors either seemed like they were nursing god complexes or were so painfully socially awkward that it was impossible to feel anything but unease when they spoke with him. Dr. Carrigan was so incredibly normal that it was impossible not to relax in front of him.
“Good afternoon, Doctor.” JP smiled. “I’m looking forward to this afternoon’s surgery.”
“Oh?” he asked. “Amputations are never my favorites.”
JP frowned. “Why not?” He always thought the procedure was cool.
Dr. Carrigan shook his head. “Well, the operation is rather exciting I suppose, but oftentimes the patient is very unhappy with the results. I usually only use it as a last ditch effort. I feel like I fail when I have to amputate.”
The elevator dinged, admitting the both of them. Dr. Carrigan pushed the button for their floor and then sat back against the wall to wait. He was an incredibly kind man. JP had admired that about him from the start. He’d spent a good amount of his time as a student admiring Dr. Carrigan for his finer qualities. He deliberately looked at the closed door instead of the good doctor. He didn’t even know if the man was gay, forget interested.
“I suppose not having any interaction with patients takes that element out of it for me,” JP said. That’s it. Keep the subject neutral and easy. There’s no reason to dwell on how delectable the man looks in a lab coat.
Dr. Carrigan turned his head and their eyes met. He had incredible grey-blue eyes. “You’re quite right. You’d have no need to think of anything other than the procedure. I think that’s why I stay out of surgery if I can help it. Patient interaction reminds me that they’re people.”
JP felt his cheeks darken. It felt curiously like a reprimand. “Sorry,” he muttered.
“No need to apologize, JP,” Dr. Carrigan reassured. “It’s just something to think about when you’re holding onto a person’s organ for me. They are people first. Procedures second.” He winked. “Though they can be quite fun.”
Everything inside him relaxed. Dr. Carrigan wasn’t angry with him. He was just having one of his famous teaching moments. He looked up and their eyes met again. A fission of awareness shot through him once more. Stop it.
Dr. Carrigan’s eyes dilated and his nostrils flared. “JP?”
He couldn’t shake the intense awareness. He swallowed. “Yes?”
“Would you—”
The elevator doors slid open to admit more staff. The spell broke between them.
“Would you care to walk with me to the OR?” Dr. Carrigan asked.
Disappointment washed over him but he smiled anyway. “Sure thing, Doctor.”
* * * *
That had been close. He’d been dangerously close to asking JP out on a date, a highly inappropriate, highly unethical date. And if he could convince his cowardly tongue to speak up again he would ask him out properly. The violet-haired surgical tech had been all he could think about for longer than he cared to admit.
The little human had a very magnetic quality and an equally curious and kind spirit, though he was analytical enough to keep both out of the OR when necessary. He’d been impossible to miss on day one of clinicals with what had then been aqua-blue hair that was almost the exact shade of his eyes. Though, if Billy was honest with himself, he much preferred this current shade of violet purple. Given his own strict adherence to traditional dress and hair colors, he should’ve been repulsed by the quirky man who only came up to his chin whenever they stood side by side.
The elevator dinged for their floor and they stepped out in unison, arms brushing as they passed through the narrow doorway. The scent of human and some off-brand bodywash that had some sort of coconut in it wafted up to tease his nostrils. JP had switched it recently from one that smelled mintier. He wasn’t complaining about the switch
.
“Hey, Dr. Carrigan?”
“Yes, JP?”
“Do you want to grab a coffee after the procedure?”
Billy startled, his gaze snapping to the younger man. “Excuse me?” A lovely shade of primrose stole over JP’s cheeks. That might be the most adorable thing I’ve seen.
“Um, never mind. It was inappropriate to ask.”
“No,” Billy said. He didn’t want JP to think he’d overstepped himself. “I was going to ask you the same in the elevator before we were interrupted. I thought it would be a good opportunity to talk about your future since you’re graduating and see if you’d like to sit in on a few more procedures at my practice.”
He wanted to kick himself in the shins. He always reverted back to work conversation when he was nervous. Not for the first time, he wished that he was one of the more Dominant members of the pack. If he was he wouldn’t have this problem.
As a delta, he had the unfortunate disposition of being dominant when it came to the submissives of the pack but not aggressive enough to really do all the ridiculous dominant things that went along with anything higher in the hierarchy than gamma. He was too logical to pull a caveman and throw his chosen lover against the wall and fuck him just because his lover defied him. He’d much rather talk it out.
He sighed. His curse and his blessing was his ability to reason and always had been. His parents had high hopes that one day he might be an Alpha of a pack for that reason but as soon as it became apparent he lacked the aggressive “it” factor that hope had quickly faded.