Fate Bound (Fate Bound Trilogy Book 1)

by Madeline Freeman

She glares at him for a moment longer before releasing him. “What have you done to me?”

  Xander smiles. “I’ve made you better.”

  Simone returns, another red cup in hand, but this one doesn’t contain water. My teeth burn, but I do my best to ignore the smell of blood. When Simone hands Marisol the cup, Marisol stares at its contents. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

  Xander positions himself directly in front of her, forcing her to look into his eyes. “I suggest you drink it if you want to live.”

  For moment, Marisol looks like she’d like nothing better than to throw the cup across the room, but then her expression goes blank. It seems her transition to hybrid hasn’t given her protection against Xander’s compulsion. Her irises turn red again and she brings the cup to her lips.

  “Good. You drink that, then sit there like a good girl.” As she greedily gulps down the blood, Xander jumps to his feet and rubs his hands together as he approaches me. “It worked.”

  “I see that,” I say. I nod toward the ropes around my forearms. “You ready to untie me?”

  He shakes his head. “Not even close.”

  “That was the deal,” I growl through clenched teeth.

  He shrugs. “Unfortunately for you, I don’t know yet if this hybrid you made can make more. But I know for a fact you can. You’ve got work to do before I can let you go.”

  Before I can answer, Xander turns and lets out a whistle. Moments later, the rest of his companions enter the room. “We’ve had a success,” he says, motioning toward Marisol. “Now I need you to bring me more wolves.”

  The guys rub their hands together eagerly while one girl smiles. Only the blonde, Simone, looks at all uneasy. Still, she joins the others as they make their way toward the back corner of the room. The fact that they need to leave this space—and possibly the building—is both comforting and distressing. On the one hand, it’s possible they don’t have more weres—more former members of my pack—imprisoned on the grounds. On the other, I have no way of knowing how long it will take them to find more weres for me to turn.

  “That’s your master plan, then?” I call, louder than is strictly necessary, before the other vampires are out of earshot. “You’re going to make me turn more weres into hybrids? When does it end? Do you want to turn them all into what I am?”

  Simone and two of the guys pause and glance back at us, their eyebrows raised with interest. Do any of them know what Xander’s end game really is? Or are they on his side out of self-preservation only?

  “It’s no concern of yours,” Xander says. He waves his hand dismissively at those who have stopped to listen, but they don’t immediately move on.

  “I guess you’re right,” I say, taking advantage of my opportunity. The more time Xander spends talking with me—the more time his minions are listening—the fewer weres I’ll be forced to bite. “It seems you’ve got everything figured out. Force me to make hybrids—submissive ones you can control. But what if that doesn’t work? Or what if you mess up and make me turn a wolf who’s not so easy to compel? Or what if one comes across her alpha and his commands override yours?”

  Xander shakes his head. “You’re just trying to distract me, and you’re trying to confuse them. You dogs can break away from an alpha, and if I have to compel all of them to do so before you bite them, so be it.” He turns to his companions. “Go—get more weres and bring them here. Now.”

  Before any of them can move, a crash reverberates through the room, emanating from the door in the back corner. Xander curses. He points toward the source of the noise. “Go check it out. Simone, grab the new hybrid. I’ll take care of this one.”

  He strides toward me and I gulp, not sure exactly what he intends to do, but the wooden door in the corner splinters and cracks and six wolves charge into the room. My heart swells when I see the one leading the group. The markings on his coat are unmistakable. Jack. He came for me. I knew he would.

  The vampires hiss as the invading weres lunge at them. Xander obscures my view of the fight as he crouches in front of me, his fingers skimming the ropes binding me to the chair. He glances over his shoulder and his muscles tense. I’m sure I know what’s going through his mind. Obviously he’d like to get me out of here, away from my rescuers, but if I can’t break through these ropes, there’s no way he’ll be able to. An internal struggle plays itself out across his features for a few fractions of a second before he darts into the fray.

  Kyle and the other vampire guy square off against Lillie, Sawyer, and Angela. Dakota and Duncan snap their jaws menacingly at the female vampire with short hair. Jack runs for me, but Xander blocks him.

  Simone struggles to pull Marisol to her feet. Xander’s compulsion must be strong, because Marisol can’t manage to make her legs support her weight. With a frustrated growl, Simone bends down and loops her arms around Marisol’s thighs, shouldering her like a bag of potatoes.

  She’s going to take Marisol away to who knows where. I can’t let her do that—there’s no telling what these vampires might make her do. “Jack! Get Marisol!”

  He’s distracted by my words for only a split second, but it’s long enough for Xander to land a solid blow across Jack’s muzzle. He’s knocked off balance and Xander exploits the moment of weakness by kicking Jack in the ribs. I shout, rage bubbling inside me. I want to tear through these ropes and rip off Xander’s head for daring to hurt my half.

  Jack is doing his best to get back to his paws, but it’s clear Xander’s blow knocked the wind out of him. Xander’s fingers curl into claws and I know what he intends to do as he closes the distance between himself and Jack. I need to alert someone to what’s about to happen, but my mind spins and I can’t find the words. As Xander raises his hand in preparation to strike, a scream rips itself from my throat. I don’t want to watch what will happen next, but I can’t look away.

  As Xander brings his claws down toward Jack’s chest, a blur appears from out of nowhere and knocks him over. Xander crashes to the floor, his eyes wide with surprise as they fix on his attacker.

  Luke.

  “Don’t mess with my little brother,” he snarls. In a flash, he lunges toward Xander. A shriek of pain is cut short and a moment later, Luke stands, blood soaking his tee-shirt, Xander’s disembodied head suspended from his hand by its hair.

  The other vampires freeze as the scent of blood reaches them. Then, without hesitation, Kyle leads the others in retreat. Sawyer and Angela give chase, but I shout before Lillie, Duncan, and Dakota can follow. “A girl named Simone has Marisol. You need to get her—they made me—” I squeeze my eyes closed. “She’s a hybrid.”

  There’s only a brief hesitation in Dakota’s step before she nods and leads Duncan back out the way they came. Lillie hovers awkwardly until Jack shifts to human and beckons for her to follow him. She shifts, too, and offers a watery smile as she makes her way toward me.

  Jack is at my side in a moment and he begins pulling at the ropes, growling when they don’t break.

  “They’re Kevlar,” I explain. I lift my chin toward the bin beyond Marisol’s kennel. “There might be something in there to cut through it.”

  Wordlessly, Luke starts for the box.

  Lillie crouches beside Jack, her fingers brushing the blood-soaked fabric of my shirt and the red-stained ropes holding me in place. “What did they do to you?”

  The corners of my mouth twitch. “Nothing that hasn’t been done before. Believe it or not, being stabbed isn’t nearly so bad after you’ve already been through it.” I try to smile, but my lips can’t quite make the shape. I wiggle my fingers, and Lillie takes the hint and curls her hand around them. “I didn’t expect to see you on the rescue team.”

  “She wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Jack murmurs. He strokes a finger down my cheek, his eyes dark with emotion. “Sorry it took us so long.”

  My eyes prickle and I blink in an attempt to keep the tears from falling. I want to tell him it’s okay, but the words won’t come
. I lean forward as far as I can and Jack makes up the rest of the distance, pressing his lips to mine.

  We pull apart only when Luke clears his throat beside us. “These should work,” he says, holding out a heavy-looking pair of shears. “I recommend you save the reunion for when you’re back in wolf world.”

  Jack cuts through the cords around my right arm first, and as soon as it’s free, I reach for Luke’s arm. “Thank you.”

  He presses his lips into a tight line and nods.

  “Those vampires made you make another hybrid?” Lillie asks as Jack continues freeing me.

  I nod. “I’m still not entirely sure why, but yes.”

  Jack cuts through the last of the cords and scoops me into his arms. I think I could probably walk, but I’m glad he’s not making me find out. “Let’s worry about that later. First, let’s get you home.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  I was missing just over two days, but when we make it back to the enclave, it feels like I’ve been away much longer. Jack wants me to get straight to bed to rest and recover from my ordeal, but I refuse. I can’t just lie around—not when there are still so many unanswered questions. Jack only relents when Luke points out they need any information I can give them about what Xander and his cronies were up to.

  I’m stationed on the couch in Jack’s living room with a quilt over my legs. Every time I try to take it off, Lillie gives me the evil eye and tucks it back in, so I eventually give up.

  As the adrenaline from the rescue ebbs, hunger grows in the pit of my stomach. While Jack heads into the kitchen to make me some food, Luke swipes a mug from a cupboard and slips out of the house for about ten minutes. He returns just as Jack settles a tray loaded with eggs, bacon, toast, and fruit across my lap. Under his brother’s watchful eye, Luke places the mug in the upper right corner of the tray.

  “Don’t worry—I didn’t kill anything,” he mutters, his eyes sliding to Jack.

  “Thank you,” I murmur. While the breakfast-for-dinner Jack prepared looks and smells wonderful, I’m getting to know myself well enough to be sure it won’t be sufficient to satisfy all my body’s needs after what I went through. I’m glad for Luke’s presence—for the fact that he anticipated my need and didn’t make me ask.

  Lillie pulls her feet up onto her chair and slips them under her thighs. Although she tries to keep her face neutral, her nose wrinkles when I take a sip from the mug. The blood has an effect on me immediately, replenishing a measure of my strength as soon as I swallow it. But I’m the one who fights to keep my face impassive at the taste. It’s from a deer—something I should be used to by now. But after tasting human blood, it’s all I can do not to frown at the flavor.

  Jack waits until Luke takes a seat before speaking. “Xander was the one in charge of everything?”

  I swallow a bite of eggs. “Yes. From what I could tell, the others mostly didn’t want to end up as test subjects.”

  “Any idea why he wanted to make more hybrids at all?” Luke asks. “I’ll be the first to admit, the two of us were never close, but he never struck me as the kind of guy who longed to have an army at his command.”

  I close my eyes for a moment as images of Xander brandishing a knife flash through my head. “He said something about being sick of being policed by weres. Maybe he thought if he had some hybrids on his side, they could keep the werewolves from bothering him.”

  Jack sighs. “We’ll never know exactly what he had in mind.”

  Luke pulls back his shoulders, his posture defensive. “Would you rather I’d let him kill you?”

  “I didn’t say that.” Jack crosses his arms over his chest. “Thank you, by the way.”

  Luke cups his hand around his ear. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

  Lillie and I exchange glances and she hides a smile behind her hand. “So, what’s our next move?” I ask. As entertaining as it is watching the brothers bicker, we have more important matters to attend to. “We have to find Marisol, right?” My throat tightens and I struggle to swallow around the lump that’s formed there.

  “That’s the sire bond you’re feeling,” Luke murmurs. “It’s stronger when you accept responsibility for a vampire you’ve created. As I’m learning.”

  My stomach flutters at his words. Does he feel the same protectiveness for me that’s brimming inside me for Marisol? I have an overwhelming desire to make sure she’s safe. Is that what caused Luke to venture to the outskirts of the territory and offer assistance to the wolves, despite the fact he expected to be treated like a prisoner?

  Jack studies Luke out of the corner of his eye before speaking. “As much as I’d like to believe she’s like you and doesn’t pose a threat, the fact is we don’t know that for sure. And if the witches catch wind that another hybrid exists—and that you had a hand in making her…”

  I nod. “Yeah, it won’t be good.”

  I’m finishing my meal when there’s a knock at Jack’s door. Dakota and Duncan enter, and I can tell before they speak that the news isn’t good.

  “We lost her,” Dakota says, not meeting Jack’s eye.

  “Head to the meeting house,” he says, his tone even. “Lillie, go with them. I want you to coordinate a set of search parties to be on rotation until Marisol is found.”

  The three weres nod and exit, leaving me alone with Jack and Luke. “I should probably go, too,” Jack says, lifting his chin toward the door.

  “I’ll come,” I say, pulling the blanket off my legs now that Lillie isn’t here to insist I keep it on.

  He shakes his head. “You can get back to your alpha responsibilities tomorrow. Tonight, you should rest.” He strides to my side and holds his hand out to me. “I’ll take you home on my way.”

  I raise my hand but hesitate before slipping it into his. Although I’m probably safer here in the enclave than I am anywhere else, the idea of going to my empty house is unsettling. Since Cassandra’s arrival, Lillie has been spending most nights at Maggie’s house to help with overnight care. After what I just went through, I don’t want to be alone. “Would it be okay if I stayed here tonight?”

  Jack drops his hand and kneels so he’s at eye level with me. “Always.” He leans in to kiss me before raising himself back to his full height. “I won’t be gone long.” He strides toward the door, pausing briefly to address Luke. “Can you keep her company until I get back?”

  “Sure,” Luke says quietly. His eyes linger on Jack until he disappears behind the front door. He’s silent for a few moments before turning to me. “Congratulations, by the way.”

  I raise my eyebrows. “For what?”

  “You know.” He waves his hand toward the door. “I don’t know what the right thing is to say to someone who’s found her half.”

  Heat creeps into my cheeks. I’ve moved beyond feeling embarrassed by the idea, and I’ve accepted just how important Jack is to me, but for some reason, having Luke talk about it makes me uncomfortable. “Um, thanks.”

  “I’m happy for you. And Jack deserves something like this—something good.” His gaze drops. “He’s had more than his fair share of bad.”

  I get the feeling he wants to say more, but he doesn’t go on. Part of me wants to ask, but another part wonders if I need to know. Jack doesn’t like to dwell on the past, and it’s not my place to make him. I clear my throat and stand. “I think I’ll get to bed.”

  Before I’ve taken more than a couple of steps, Luke is at my side. He slips an arm around my waist and helps me toward the hall. “Don’t worry—I’m not going to try anything,” he assures me as he pushes open the bedroom door. “Earlier today, when I was dealing with Xander, Jack had this look in his eyes that I haven’t seen in… well, in about a century.”

  We reach the bed and he helps lower me onto the mattress. “Really? What was the look?”

  Luke pulls the sheet and blanket across my body as I lean against the pillow. “Like he was seeing his brother.” He smooths the comforter before turning toward the
door. “Goodnight, Ava.”

  “Goodnight,” I say as he exits the room.

  I sigh, relaxing my muscles. It’ll be good to sleep in a bed, and even better to be snuggled next to Jack. There are dangers to take care of, but they’ll still be there tomorrow. We need to find Marisol, and we need to make sure there aren’t any more vampires like Xander out there who want to create more hybrids. But I’m confident we can figure it out.

  I’m still awake when Jack slides into bed beside me. He drapes his arm across my waist and buries his face in my hair. I’m convinced he thinks I’m asleep for a solid minute before he speaks.

  “You know we’ll find her, right?”

  My lips twitch and my eyes prickle. “She didn’t ask to be what I am.”

  “You didn’t ask to be what you are.” He pulls me closer to him. “Xander’s gone. Marisol’s probably just scared and confused. But once that passes, she’ll come find you. We’ll figure out a way to explain to the witches’ council what happened, and they’ll realize you’re not at fault.”

  I run my fingers along his bicep. “You sound so certain.”

  “Certain? No. Optimistic.” His hand skims up my body until it cups my face. “The only thing I’m certain about is us.”

  I shift until I’m on my side. The waning moonlight slanting through his bedroom window highlights the planes and valleys of his face. “I feel the same way.”

  I lean forward tentatively, and when he brushes his lips against mine, the last of the tension and fear I was holding on to fades away. I’m still worried about Marisol and concerned that there might be others out there ready to take up Xander’s cause, but I also know Jack will do everything in his power to keep me safe. Our troubles didn’t end today, but when we wake up tomorrow to face them, we’ll do it together.

  ###

  If you enjoyed Fate Bound, please leave a review—reviews are critical in helping a book succeed. Please let other readers know what they can expect from Ava and Jack’s story!