Bound by Passion (The Alliance Book 4) Read online

  BOUND BY PASSION

  Brenda K. Davies

  Copyright © 2019 Brenda K. Davies

  All rights reserved.

  Distributed by Smashwords

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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  BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR

  Books written under the pen name Brenda K. Davies

  The Alliance Series

  Eternally Bound (Book 1)

  Bound by Vengeance (Book 2)

  Bound by Darkness (Book 3)

  Bound by Passion (Book 4)

  Bound by Torment (Book 5) Coming 3/27/20

  Hell on Earth Series

  Hell on Earth (Book 1)

  Into The Abyss (Book 2)

  Kiss of Death (Book 3)

  The Edge of the Darkness (Book 4) Coming 2020

  The Road to Hell Series

  Good Intentions (Book 1)

  Carved (Book 2)

  The Road (Book 3)

  Into Hell (Book 4)

  The Vampire Awakenings Series

  Awakened (Book 1)

  Destined (Book 2)

  Untamed (Book 3)

  Enraptured (Book 4)

  Undone (Book 5)

  Fractured (Book 6)

  Ravaged (Book 7)

  Consumed (Book 8)

  Unforeseen (Book 9)

  Forsaken (Book 10)

  Relentless (Book 11) Coming 2020

  Historical Romance

  A Stolen Heart

  Books written under the pen name Erica Stevens

  The Captive Series

  Captured (Book 1)

  Renegade (Book 2)

  Refugee (Book 3)

  Salvation (Book 4)

  Redemption (Book 5)

  Broken (The Captive Series Prequel)

  Vengeance (Book 6)

  Unbound (Book 7)

  The Coven Series

  Nightmares (Book 1)

  The Maze (Book 2)

  Dream Walker (Book 3)

  The Fire & Ice Series

  Frost Burn (Book 1)

  Arctic Fire (Book 2)

  Scorched Ice (Book 3)

  The Kindred Series

  Kindred (Book 1)

  Ashes (Book 2)

  Kindled (Book 3)

  Inferno (Book 4)

  Phoenix Rising (Book 5)

  The Ravening Series

  Ravenous (Book 1)

  Taken Over (Book 2)

  Reclamation (Book 3)

  The Survivor Chronicles

  Book 1: The Upheaval

  Book 2: The Divide

  Book 3: The Forsaken

  Book 4: The Risen

  CONTENTS

  Books by the author

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Epilogue

  Where to find the author

  About the author

  CHAPTER 1

  “How are we supposed to find anything here?” Lucien asked as he lowered his feet from the dashboard to survey the quiet town they’d entered.

  Saxon studied the adjoining storefronts they passed. Most of the stores were brick fronts with red or gray weathered signs announcing a feed and grain store, lawyer, yoga studio, pharmacy, market, veterinarian, and a doctor. The businesses were all shut down for the night, though a few lights remained on in what he assumed were apartments over the stores.

  No streetlights illuminated the winding, dark, country road, but as they drove further, a bar with all its lights on lit the sidewalk and part of the street. The bar stood separate from the rest of the buildings, which was a good thing judging by the noise of the music and the shouts of the crowd. The sides of the bar were clear of any trees, but woods surrounded the back of the building, and despite the wintry January night, a group of smokers stood on the deck there.

  The snow piled high on the sides of the sidewalks didn’t deter a group of young kids scrambling over them in their eagerness to get to the bar. In the driver’s seat, Logan slowed the SUV as they crested a hill and left the town behind. Moonlight shone off the icy sheen coating the snow as more countryside came into view.

  “Small town,” Declan murmured.

  “Pull over,” Lucien said. He sounded like he’d rather deal with a thousand Savages than one small town.

  Logan guided the SUV to the side of the road and put it in park. From the seats behind Saxon, Asher leaned over to study the countryside. “Is this where Kadence sent us?” he asked.

  “This is it,” Declan said. “We passed the town sign before driving down what I’m assuming is the main section of town.”

  “Is that all there is to the town?” Asher asked.

  “How are we supposed to know?” Lucien asked. “We’ve never been here before either.”

  “Someone’s testy tonight,” Asher muttered, and Lucien turned in the passenger seat to scowl at him.

  “We have no idea what we’re doing here,” Lucien said. “Other than looking for some log cabin, and I’d guarantee there are about a hundred of them in these boonies.”

  “Still not a reason to be a dick,” Asher replied, and Saxon stifled a laugh when Lucien looked like his head might explode. For a second, he thought Lucien might jump over them all to strangle the hunter.

  “Enough,” Declan said from beside him.

  Lucien continued to glare at Asher who pretended not to notice as he stared out the windows.

  “Kill the lights,” Saxon said, and Logan turned off the headlights.

  The tick of the cooling engine was the only sound in the night as Saxon stared at the field next to him. Strings of wire ran across the tilted wooden posts stretching over the earth. On the other side of the road, an embankment led into the woods. Wind buffeted the SUV, shaking it as it howled over the land.

  The idea of exiting the vehicle and stepping into the chilly night was about as appealing to him as having his toenails ripped out, and he doubted he was alone. They were all dressed similarly in jeans and shirts with jackets that hid the weapons stashed inside their interior pockets. Most of them wore boots, but Asher had opted for sneakers. Even with the jackets and boots, they weren’t dressed for these elements.

  “Is there any information about the town on the map Kadence gave us?” Saxon asked.

  Declan pulled out the map and laid it flat on the seat between them. He tapped the big red circle Kadence had created on upstate New York. The Catskill Mountains ran through the center of the circle, and there was no denying they were in the mountains when another blast of wind rocked the vehicle. He hated the bleakness of winter, but there was something especially desolate about this night and place.

  “We’re on the edge of the location she circled,” Declan said. “The town is about fifty square miles, possibly more.”

  “So we’re supposed to find a cabin out here,” Logan said and waved his hands at the windshield. “How many do you think there are?”

  “I can find them on my computer,” Declan said. “It will take some time, but I’ll track them down tonight.”

  “Maybe she sent us here because she’s trying to kill us,” Lucien murmured.

  “Maybe she’s trying to kill you, and who could blame her? But she likes the rest of us,” Logan replied.

  “Especially me,” Asher said.

  Lucien gave them the finger. “Fuck you both.”

  Turning, Saxon leaned over the map to study it. In his mind, he saw Kadence spreading it across the table in the library as everyone gathered around her.

  Kadence pointed at the circle in New York. “Here.”

  “And what is here?” Declan inquired as he spun a lollipop between his fingers.

  “A log cabin.”

  “And what is so special about the cabin
?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Behind her, Ronan folded his arms over his chest; tension emanated from him while he watched his mate. Saxon leaned back on his heels as he surveyed the other marks on the map. Instead of circles, these were pen lines etched onto the map. Each mark had a date written beside it that went back almost three weeks.

  He pointed at the first mark and date; it was only fifty miles away, and the date was Christmas. “What are these?”

  “That’s when I first started seeing markers,” she said.

  “Markers?” Killean asked.

  “Yeah.” Kadence turned the map toward her. “Here”—she pointed to the first dot on the map— “there’s a church with some of the most beautiful stained-glass windows I’ve ever seen. And here”—she pointed to the second marker—“there’s a bakery with a pink pig on top. I saw the actual town sign for this one.” She pointed to the third dot.

  “That was when I realized the snippets of visions I was receiving during my dreams were from different towns. I researched what towns had things like what I was seeing and learned the exact locations.”

  “Why?” Logan asked.

  “Because I knew they were leading me somewhere; I just didn’t know where or why I was seeing them.”

  “Why didn’t you come to get me to help you with them?” Nathan, Kadence’s twin brother, asked.

  Nathan had his arm around Vicky, his very pregnant mate. Vicky’s twin, Abby, her mate, and their mother and father were arriving tomorrow to stay until Vicky had the baby, which could be any day now.

  “Because they were coming to me in dreams, and I didn’t know when I was going to have them,” Kadence said. “Plus, they were short scenes with one vividly detailed thing that stood out when I woke up. And, like I said, until I saw the town sign, I didn’t know what was happening. Once I realized the dreams were trying to lead me somewhere, I searched for the pig and the church, but I didn’t know where they were taking me… until, last night.”

  “And what happened last night?” Simone asked.

  “It came to an end.”

  “And how do you know that?” Killean asked as he ran a hand through his short, dark brown hair. It had taken some time, but his hair and eyebrows had grown back after being burned off almost seven months ago.

  Kadence’s fingers played across the marks on the map as she spoke. “Because my dream last night had a sense of finality to it, and I knew this is where the visions have been leading me.”

  Saxon studied the circle in New York. “And what did you see in this last vision?”

  “The town sign, and then it switched to a cabin in the center of a clearing. Light shone from the windows of the cabin, and it had a farmers porch. The interlocking logs of the cabin were a light wood color, and there was a large, snow-covered field behind it.”

  Like a million other cabins in the world. Saxon kept the words to himself as he studied the map and then Kadence. She had to know trying to find a cabin in the mountains would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Granted, it wouldn’t be a huge haystack as they had a general location, but she was the only one who knew the exact appearance of this cabin.

  “And why is this cabin important?” Nathan prodded.

  “I don’t know,” Kadence said. “I only know something has been guiding me to this town. Why? I have no idea. What’s there? Not a clue. There could be another bunker Joseph established to hide out in before he died, it could be a group of Savages, it could be vampires, or it could be nothing.”

  “You don’t believe that,” Ronan said.

  “No, I don’t. There’s something there; I just don’t know what.” She bit her lip as she stared at the circle. “Once we get to the town, I might—”

  “I think it’s best you stay here,” Ronan interrupted.

  Kadence turned toward him, and Saxon could see her gearing up for an argument, but Ronan spoke before she could. “We have no idea what is up there; it could be something dangerous, and I don’t want you involved.”

  “I’m already involved in it; I’m the one who saw the cabin.”

  “And someone else can find it,” he said.

  “But they won’t know what it looks like.”

  “I think you’ve described it well enough.”

  Saxon clamped his mouth shut against the snort of laughter he almost released. One thing he’d learned since Ronan and Kadence became mates was not to interfere in their relationship. Ronan was usually pretty in control, but anything having to do with Kadence could push him to a breaking point.

  “I have not,” Kadence said.

  “Someone else will find it,” Ronan insisted. “Besides, the baby is going to be here soon, and you don’t want to miss it, do you?”

  Low blow, but Saxon had to admire Ronan’s use of the baby to derail her. They would have fought over this for hours, and Saxon could see it resulting in them being sent out to find this cottage without Kadence’s knowledge. Ronan would have paid dearly for it, and Saxon would have preferred to be locked in a room while someone blasted disco for twenty-four hours than be in Ronan’s shoes, but Ronan would have sent them.

  “The baby,” Kadence murmured as she turned to Vicky and her brother. “I could probably find it in a couple of days.”

  “Don’t worry,” Declan said. “We’ll find it. Won’t we, Lucien?”

  Lucien rolled his eyes. “Yeah, it should be easy to locate a cabin in the mountains.”

  “It won’t be any problem at all,” Saxon lied.

  “We’ll come with you,” Asher said and waved a hand at Logan who nodded.

  “Be careful. I didn’t see anything bad there, but….” Kadence shrugged as she held up her hands in a helpless gesture. “But I don’t know what’s there.”

  “We’ll be fine,” Saxon assured her

  And now, sitting in the middle of nowhere, he wished he was sleeping in his bed or preferably someone else’s. He hated the cold, and this place looked as inviting as Antarctica.

  CHAPTER 2

  “How many cabins with farmers porches do you think there are in this town?” Lucien asked.

  “More than I care to know about,” Logan said.

  “We’ll find out later,” Declan said.

  Asher folded the map and tucked it away. “Maybe we should have agreed to more help.”

  “No,” Saxon said. Ronan and Killean had offered to come too, but they needed them at the compound. “Until we know if we have a mole, we can’t afford to have too many fighters away from the compound. There are too many women and children there to risk it.”

  “Especially since this could be nothing more than a wild goose chase,” Lucien said.

  “Doubtful,” Logan murmured.

  Saxon agreed; he didn’t know what drew Kadence here, but it had to be something significant.

  “It’s been over six months since Joseph died; don’t you think if there were a mole amongst us, his followers would have found and attacked us by now?” Asher asked.

  “There’s a reason the Savages kept finding Killean,” Saxon murmured, but he agreed with Asher.

  After Joseph’s death, Saxon assumed his followers would scatter and become disorganized, but that hadn’t been the case. Whenever they encountered Savages, the bastards were still grouped together and lethal in a way they hadn’t been before Joseph started organizing them.

  Which meant someone else was pulling the strings now, and Saxon suspected there had always been a more significant player behind the scenes. Maybe that player was the strange being Killean encountered when he infiltrated Joseph’s camp to get Simone back.

  He said he suspected it was an ancient-turned-hunter because of the creature’s eye color, but the hunter elders had spent months pouring through their history in search of such a thing and come up with nothing. However, that didn’t mean a turned hunter hadn’t happened before Kadence; it might not have been documented, and an ancient-turned-hunter who became a Savage would be a powerful enemy.

  “Once we know the location of all the cabins, we should split up and go to them,” Lucien said. “It will go faster that way.”

  “Are we all going to walk?” Logan asked.

  “There was a car rental place in the last town we went through. We’ll go back there tomorrow, rent some cars, and start searching. Hopefully, we’ll be out of here in a day or two.”