Bound by Blood (Cauld Ane Series)

by Tracey Jane Jackson

  “Aye.”

  She frowned up at him. “Why don’t I believe you?”

  He smiled. “Are you hungry?”

  “A little. But first, I’d really love a shower.” She slid her legs off the bed and pushed herself up, grasping Kade’s arm when she felt unsteady.

  “Careful,” he said as he wrapped an arm around her waist. “Let’s start with food.”

  “Seriously?”

  He smiled. “Fruit and cheese are perfect in the middle of the night.”

  Sam grimaced. “I heard cheese gives you nightmares.”

  “So will your mate if you refuse to eat.”

  Sam giggled. “Fine.”

  She ate as much as her stomach could take at three in the morning and then insisted on a shower. She rose to her feet but still felt dizzy.

  “I’ve got you.” Kade took the brunt of her weight as he guided her into the bathroom and set her on the toilet lid. “I think a bath might be safer.”

  Sam smiled. “Maybe you’re right.”

  He filled the tub and then helped her with her nightgown before lifting her into the cool water.

  Sam sighed. “This is heaven. Thank you.”

  He knelt beside her. “Would you like me to wash your hair?”

  Sam reached out and stroked his cheek. “Nothing sounds better, but first, I’d like you to tell me why you’re worried.”

  He grimaced. “I need to learn how to control my emotions.”

  “No you don’t. Baby, tell me what’s going on.”

  “I don’t want to add stress to your recovery.”

  Sam snorted. “It’s far more stressful knowing you’re dealing with something heavy and not talking to me about it. I’m here to take part of the burden away, or did you miss that part in mate training?”

  He sighed.

  “Now, tell me who’s on the Council and what it is to begin with. Then you can fill me in on the rest.”

  He pinched the bridge of his nose.

  “Kade,” she admonished. “You’re either going to tell me or I’m going to “listen” to you. I think you’ll feel better if you tell me.”

  “You’re a wee stubborn wench, aren’t you?”

  She cocked her head. “Aye.”

  He chuckled. “Well done.”

  “Thank you. Now tell me.” She handed him the shampoo. “You can wash while you talk.”

  He chuckled and squeezed the soap into his palm. “The Council is made up of elders of the Cauld Ane within not only our clan, but a few others in Scotland. Con, Brodie, and I are on it, along with Max and Niall MacMillan, who you’ll meet soon, I’m sure. Also, Angus and his father, Stuart, and ten others from five of the larger clans in the country. Individually, we deal with our personal clan business, however, when it comes to Cauld Ane issues, the Council comes together and I make the ultimate decisions.”

  “So, you’ve had a Cauld Ane issue, then?”

  “A few.”

  “Like?”

  “The Fraser family for one, my mother for another.”

  Sam frowned. “Your mom’s a Cauld Ane issue? How does that work?”

  “She kept vital information from her laird and king, committed adultery that produced an illegitimate child, and lied to our people, among other minor infractions; however, the list goes on.”

  Sam sat up, the water sloshing around her. “How is that anyone’s business outside of her family?”

  “It’s complicated.”

  “Then un-complicate it.”

  “Rinse,” he directed, and she slid under the water quickly.

  “All rinsed…keep talkin’,” she ordered as she wiped water from her face, but quickly pressed on her stomach. “After you get me some more cheese, please. Wow, I’m starving.”

  He left her briefly and returned with the food platter. “This is why you need to eat every two hours.”

  He set a cracker in her mouth and she hummed in appreciation as she chewed. “This is so good. Everything feels…I don’t know…so intense. Like this is the best cheese I’ve ever had in my life and this water is the most amazing temperature, ever.” She lifted her hand, the soapy water sliding down her arm. “And my skin. It’s flawless. The scar I got from Home Ec is gone and my nails actually look healthy.” She looked at Kade. “Do I look different?”

  He shook his head. “You’re as beautiful as you were. Just in stereo.”

  She giggled and opened her mouth for another treat. She swallowed and sat up in the tub. “Thank you. Now, tell me about your mom.”

  He stood and leaned against the counter. “My mother was joined to the Laird of Gunnach, which is a job within itself. But not only was my father laird of our clan, he was also king of the Cauld Ane, and that meant she had obligations to fulfill, including giving birth to an heir and being the perfect spouse.”

  “Why do I have visions of Henry the VIII and his propensity to kill women who didn’t do what he wanted them to do?”

  Kade sighed. “You’ve hit the nail on the head, love. My father may not have killed my mother for her indiscretion when he found out about it, but he more than likely tried to drive her mad. According to the elders of the Council, there were rumors that his true mate was murdered by one of his rivals, and I suppose it’s possible that he might have gone a bit mad as well.”

  “But no one thought that would be good information for you to have?”

  “Hence my dilemma.” He crossed his arms. “So many people were attempting to either shelter us or deceive us; I’m having a difficult time sorting out who had good intentions and who didn’t. On top of trying to work out why my mother did what she did.”

  “I guess her actions are somewhat understandable, right?”

  “I don’t know.” He frowned again. “Her adultery alone is a beheading offense—”

  “What?” Sam gasped. “You can’t be serious! Beheading?”

  He raised his hands. “Don’t worry, I have no intention of beheading my mother, but had she been discovered by the Council while my father was alive, she would have been. Now it’s up to me to decide what to do, and it’s a thin line between showing mercy and showing weakness.”

  Sam added more water to the tub. “What are you going to do?”

  “If you’d asked me yesterday, beheading would have been too good for her. I’m a little calmer today.”

  Sam bit her lip. “Your poor mother.”

  “Don’t let your heart bleed for my mother, Samantha.”

  “Only if you promise not to let yours harden.”

  “Samantha.”

  “No, Kade. I get that she did some pretty awful things, and I’m not saying you have to be her best friend. I’m not even saying you have to have a relationship with her, but if you hate her, it’s like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies.”

  He stared at her for several seconds. “I don’t know what I feel about her, but I don’t think I love her enough to hate her. She wasn’t the most nurturing.”

  “Oh, honey, I’m sorry.”

  He shook his head. “Don’t be.”

  “So what’s the next step?”

  “We have made the decision to exile our mother.”

  “What?” Sam sat up again. “To where?”

  “We’re working on that.”

  “Where do you typically exile your dissidents?”

  “Pohnpei.”

  She frowned. “Italy?”

  “No, Micronesia.”

  “Micronesia?” she exclaimed. “You can’t be serious. Isn’t it tropical and really warm there? You send your people to a place where they’re sure to die?”

  He shrugged. “They have air-conditioning there, and I have it on good authority there are some wonderful missionaries who will help them mend their ways.”

  “Kade!” she admonished. “You can’t do that to your mother…I’m not sure you should do it to anyone, but definitely not your mother.”

  “I know. This is why the dilemma is even more confusing.”


  “What does the rest of the Council say? What do your brothers say?”

  “Brodie wants her beheaded, Con wants her to stay here and for us to deal with it privately, Max agrees with Con, but he usually does. Niall will do what I decide. Angus is concerned about Fiona, so he’s not objective. The older men want her exiled to the surface of the sun.”

  “Wow.” Sam sighed. “Why does Brodie want her beheaded?”

  Kade grimaced. “My father was abusive to say the least, and my mother wasn’t much better. With me and Con, she’d try to calm my father’s rages, although many times it just added fuel to the fire, but at least she tried. However, Brodie, for whatever reason, got the brunt of her anger. Con and I did our best to protect him, but it’s difficult to do when you’re a child. Brodie was often bruised or worse, emotionally raw. Now his go-to emotion is anger.”

  Sam held her hand out to him. “Come here.”

  Kade pushed away from the counter and knelt beside the tub.

  Sam cupped his cheek. “I’m so sorry your parents were less than what you deserved.”

  He smiled. “Thank you, love. Honestly, I haven’t given it much thought in a long, long time.”

  “But it’s coming to the surface now, isn’t it?”

  “Aye.” He sighed. “For all of us.”

  Sam pulled the plug on the bath and then stared up at him. “If I cheat on you, will I be exiled to Micronesia?”

  “That will never happen.” He scowled. “You cheating, I mean.”

  “Very true. And just so you know, if you cheat on me, no one will find your body.”

  He slid his hand behind her neck and covered her lips with his. The kiss quickly turned heated as she slipped her hands into his hair. Kade broke the kiss and Sam tried to catch her breath.

  He lifted her out of the tub and wrapped a towel around her. “I will never cheat on you, Sam. It would be a physical and emotional impossibility.”

  She slid the towel from her body and let it drop to the floor. “Prove it.”

  “You should rest.”

  “I will. After you take me to bed.”

  He frowned. “I don’t want to overtax you.”

  Sam smiled and slipped her hands under his T-shirt. “I need less of the talky-talky, baby.”

  Kade grinned and lifted her off the ground. Sam wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him while he carried her to the bed.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  “INTERESTING,” FIONA MUSED as she read out loud from the ancestral book that Kade had confiscated from their mother.

  “What?” Kade asked. He sat in the great room of his ancestral home with Sam on his lap. It had been two days since her full conversion and was the first day she felt “normal.” They still had much to talk about with regards to the Council and other decisions weighing heavy on his mind, but Sam had insisted they take some time to process all the information before revisiting the discussion.

  For now, his mother was securely settled in a small home in Edinburgh to await her appeal to the Council. The rest of the family was gathered around the large fireplace and they had already put a dent in several bottles of his finest from the wine cellar.

  “If one mate is an empath,” she read, “they can communicate telepathically even without touching.”

  “Aye,” Kade confirmed. “We found that out by accident.”

  Sam grinned. “You weren’t quite prepared to have someone read your thoughts, were you?”

  He chuckled. “Not in the least.”

  “What I don’t understand is how I was able to do it as a human,” Sam mused.

  Fiona stared at the book. “It says here that some of the natural gifts humans have are similar to what we experience as Cauld Ane’s. For instance, the gifts of discernment and prophecy fall into the empath category.” She glanced at Connall. “That means you’ll be able to speak thoughts with your mate when you find her.” She wrinkled her nose. “I’m so jealous.”

  “How come?” Sam asked.

  “Angus and I can speak if we’re touching and we know if one or the other is upset, but I can’t talk to him across the room, let alone across an ocean.”

  “Would you rather your mate be an empath or a healer?” Brodie asked.

  Angus raised an eyebrow. “Yes, which one, Fi?”

  Fiona sighed. “I love that you’re a healer, sweetheart. Don’t get me wrong…I just wish I had sexier abilities.”

  “Like?” Connall prodded.

  “I’d love to be able to make things fly around the room like Brodie.”

  “No you wouldn’t,” Brodie said quietly.

  “What are your abilities now?” Sam asked.

  “I haven’t really thought about it. According to the book, my abilities are closer to human than Cauld Ane, so until I have gone through the conversion, mine won’t fully manifest.”

  “It’ll be interesting to see what happens, eh, Fi,” Connall said.

  She snorted. “I just hope it’s not psychometry…it’s so boring. I want something sexy. Like being able to start a fire with my mind.”

  “Payton has psychometry,” Brodie said. “And there’s nothing boring about her.”

  Kade stiffened. Brodie tended to be a little defensive when it came to Payton.

  “What’s psychometry?” Sam asked.

  “The ability to know something about someone by touching an object they own,” Fiona explained. “Pay says she doesn’t really get much when she does it.”

  “Or, it could be she just doesn’t gossip,” Brodie pointed out.

  Fiona rolled her eyes. “Calm down, big brother. I’m not saying Payton’s not perfect.”

  Brodie stared at her, a mixture of irritation and amusement on his face.

  “Now, if I could just figure mine out,” she continued.

  “Keep reading,” Kade directed. “You might find out something more. And I personally think your ability to learn and retain information’s pretty amazing.”

  Fiona grinned. “Thanks, Kade.”

  Sam kissed his cheek. I hope we can excuse ourselves soon. I want to see what else my new body can do…preferably naked.

  Kade glanced at Sam, whose face was passive.

  Minx.

  She grinned.

  “You two really should get a room,” Fiona complained.

  Sam blushed and Kade turned a warning glance on his sister.

  “Sorry,” she said, and leaned against Angus.

  “Now that I’m settled, Fi, you and Angus are free,” Kade said.

  “I know,” she said.

  “What’s the matter?” Connall asked.

  Fiona shuddered. “I just don’t know exactly what’s going to happen to me.”

  Angus kissed her temple. “There’s no rush.”

  Fiona snorted. “We’ve been waiting a long time. I don’t want my fear to stop us from finally bonding.”

  “It’s not really that bad,” Samantha said. “In the moment, it’s painful, but I have a feeling the change will go easier on you. You’re already halfway there.”

  Fiona’s face lit up. “Oh, Sam! Yes. I hadn’t thought of that.”

  Kade smiled at Sam. She was simply perfect.

  I am not.

  He kissed her fingertips and focused on his sister. “So, the question is, when and where do you want the party to be?”

  Fiona leaned forward and raised an eyebrow. “After the bonding, I want an actual ceremony. Not just the parson writing in the book. I want to be married at Old High and I want you to pay for it.”

  “Fi!” Angus admonished. “I am quite capable of paying for our wedding.”

  She squeezed his knee. “That’s not the point. My brother is the reason we’ve had to wait so long, and I’d like him to make it up to me.”

  Kade chuckled. “It’s the least I can do.”

  Fiona smiled. “Good. I’ll find out when the church is free and we’ll go from there.”

  Sam yawned and laid her head on Kade’s s
houlder.

  “Tired, love?”

  She nodded. “Absolutely pooped.”

  “I think I should get Sam upstairs,” Kade said.

  “Oh, yes.” Fiona sighed. “I’m sorry, Sam. I’ve monopolized Kade’s time, and you must be exhausted.”

  “Nonsense,” Sam said. “This was an important conversation.”

  “And now it’s done.” Kade stood with Sam in his arms and gently set her on the ground. “Good night, all.”

  Sam hugged Fiona and then Kade led her upstairs. Once inside their bedroom, he closed and locked the door. Sam giggled and clapped her hands. “I seriously thought we were going to be stuck down there all night.”

  “I thought you were tired,” he said.

  Sam snorted. “Not in the slightest. I just wanted you all to myself. Now, let’s talk about your shirt.”

  He glanced down at his fitted T-shirt. “What about it?”

  “Why is it still on?” she asked as she slipped the buttons on her own, revealing a piece of lingerie he’d purchased for her weeks ago.

  He yanked his shirt off and rushed her. She was so shocked, she let out a squeal and started giggling uncontrollably as he dropped her on the bed and began to tickle her.

  Her face, free from pain and full of joy, was more of a turn-on than her removing her clothing. He leaned down and kissed her, quickly divesting her of the rest of her clothes.

  * * *

  A strange buzzing interrupted Samantha’s dream. By the time she realized it was her cell phone, the buzzing stopped. Snuggling closer to Kade, she thought to ignore it and find out who called in the morning, but then it began again. She rubbed her eyes and focused on the screen. It was her father.

  “Daddy? What’s wrong?”

  “I’m sorry to call so early, button. Can you come home?”

  “Yes.” She sat up, her blood running cold. “What’s happened?”

  Kade stirred next to her.

  “There’s been an incident and your brother’s been shot,” her father said.

  “Shot? What kind of incident?”

  “We think it was a robbery attempt at the Abercorn store. He managed to get to his panic room and call the cops.”

  Kade sat up and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her back to his chest.

  Her pulse started to slow. “Is he okay?”