Magic Bound Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Magic Bound (The Alpha Legacy #3)

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  There's More!

  The Dragon Born Trilogy

  The Abnormals Underground Series

  The Alpha Legacy

  Book 3

  By Holly Hook

  Magic Bound

  The Alpha Legacy #3

  By Holly Hook

  Copyright Holly Hook 2018

  Chapter One

  "I'm not looking forward to this." Cayden keeps both hands on the wheel of the SUV as we crawl through a fresh layer of snow. Armies of flakes collide in the night, burying the tire tracks of other brave souls.

  I grip the front passenger seat, detecting every slip of the tires. My vision catches the depth of the ditch even in the dark. Ten feet. Too bad being a werewolf doesn't give Cayden any extra control over a vehicle in these conditions. All it's doing for me is showing me how screwed we are.

  Some way to spend our first day of holiday vacation. Hunting for a captured girl wasn't on my bucket list.

  "We could have run out there in wolf form," I say. "At least the snow wouldn't have—Cayden, crap!"

  The back end of the SUV goes out, swinging us toward the ditch. Cayden's hand scramble around the wheel as he compensates. We get back on the road.

  "Bad idea to go in wolf form," Everly says from the back. "We're not even in our territory anymore. And being in the SUV blocks our scent from reaching the Savages."

  We left the Breck city limits minutes ago. And now, surrounded by all the tall, snow-covered trees and the boulders from the mountains, we're in unclaimed territory where our rules don't apply. Any pack of Wolves may attack us, just as we can attack any who breach our borders.

  And according to Leonora, Alesha from school came out this way with Matt, a turned Savage Wolf we drove out of Breck two months ago. She spotted them at a gas station. Though Matt hasn't returned to town, people have seen him hanging around just outside our territory. Ryan from the Drama Club saw him talking to his friend Ted when he went to Moe's Station outside town. Others have spotted him around hiking trails, never close enough to ask questions. But no attacks have been reported.

  Until now.

  "You said Matt took Alesha down a trail into the woods?" I ask Leonora.

  She sits beside Remo and Everly. "I didn't follow. I've seen the Savages out in the woods a few times since October. They look at me and my parents like they're just waiting for us to venture out."

  She smells of metallic fear. And she should. Leonora's family might be into witchcraft, and she may have a silver dagger imbued with wolfsbane on her belt, but she's still human and vulnerable. I know the real reason she's come along and it's Remo. Though Cayden's adopted brother pretends he and Leonora have nothing going on other than business—Leonora's family used to help hunt Savage Wolves, after all—I've seen otherwise.

  "Leonora shouldn't leave the van," Everly says.

  "She deserves to be here," Remo tells her. "Her family knows things that can help."

  "She won't get a spell set up in time to deal with a pack of Savages."

  "I know what I'm doing," Leonora says.

  I fear the same, and judging from the way Cayden's shoulders rise, so does he. While he hasn't pushed me away again, the pain and worry remains in his eyes. He's stopped talking about Wyatt and his parents and that worries me. Since Matt, Cayden has carried his burden as alpha in silence. And I'm part of the reason why.

  The tension remains.

  And as his mate, some of that falls on me. And I'm glad I can take some off him.

  "If Leonora wants to be here, that's her right," I say, "so long as it's okay with Cayden. She knows the risks." I speak more for him than anybody.

  Cayden nods. "We need all the help we can get."

  I'm eager to see what Leonora can do. While Aunt May and I got her to admit to doing witchcraft, and that her family has spent a lot of time helping werewolf hunters—including my mother—I've seen none of her tactics yet. She might not know more about the hunter side of my family than I do, thanks to her parents telling her nothing, but she has to know magic.

  Cayden rolls down the windows. "The cold makes scent less detectable." He drives us towards the gas station where Leonora spotted Matt leaving with Alesha. The lights are on, inviting terrified drivers to stop and take a break.

  "I smell them," I say.

  Cayden brakes, sliding at first, and then pulling into the parking lot of the station. Ted's Station and Eatery. No one's here right now. It doubles as a snack food place and a restaurant. Lights shine inside as it's still open, and a single woman wipes down a counter. Then I spot Alesha's convertible parked on the side of the building, already covered in snow.

  "She hasn't come back," Leonora says. "And yes, they left before the winter storm started."

  "Well, if you rode your bike, it would have had to be before the storm started," I say. "I smell Savage Wolf. If that's Matt, he deserves to smell like rot."

  "I smell it, too," Cayden says. "You caught it before I did." He stares at me with wide hazel eyes. A question burns in them. Once again, I'm better at something werewolf-related than the rest of the pack. And no one, not even Leonora, knows the explanation.

  "How close?" Leonora asks.

  "I don't know." I roll down my window and sniff again. The wind has died for now. Only big flakes tumble down, forming shifting curtains. "The weather isn't in our favor."

  "If we can smell the Savages, they can smell us," Cayden says. "Get out. That girl's life depends on it."

  We all leave the SUV, Leonora first. She adjusts her belt with her silver dagger, a wicked-looking one she stole from her father's magical supplies. A leather bag hangs around her shoulder, stocked with whatever magical things she brought. I smell candle wax and a variety of incense.

  "You ready?" I ask.

  She nods. "Ready."

  Darkness lingers under the trees. I expect a scream, but a snake of dread curls in my gut. I know what Matt would do to Alesha. Why did she go into the woods with him?

  Then again, she's the one who pushed Olivia into dating him.

  And after the scare we gave her, I feel like we owe it to her to save her friend.

  "I tried to yell to her," Leonora says as we stand there, surveying the woods. "But she rolled her eyes at me."

  "Does Matt know you're associated with us?" Everly asks, rough and all business.

  "I don't think so. He's never been in the Grocery. And Brie and I don't hang out at school."

  "It's safer that way," Cayden says. "If you want, stay here. Lock the doors and duck."

  "Then what was the point of me coming?" she asks.

  "Leonora might be able to help us afterwards," Remo says.

  "So I'm the medic?"

  Cayden nods at her. "Yes."

  I hold back the eye roll. "It really is dangerous. Cayden's right." I walk a line between making them both feel better. It's not easy. "I mean, it's your decision, but we'd rather have you stay here."

  "I'll stay close to her," Remo says.

  "That works for me," Leonora says.

  Cayden sniffs the air. "The scent's coming from behind the store. No blood. Hurry. We might get Alesha out of here alive."

  "Should we go as wolves?" I ask.

  "Not yet," Cayden says. "It's clear Leonora will follow us. We can't leave her."

  We bolt behind the building. My heart races. If Alesha doesn't end up dead, she'll end up infected or traumatized from something else entirely. Matt was already vile before turning. Now maybe he wants a mate. Savage Wolves won't care about her say on it.

  Cayden and I lead the way into the trees. Snow crunches under our feet and betrays our presence. I link my hand with Cayden's and pull my loose coat over me. It brushes my bare skin. If there's anything I've learned since turning, it's that clothes get ruined easily while shifting. But that's the only way to deal with the Savages.

  Next to me, Cayden adjusts his long coat, too.

  "We're twins," I joke.

  He smiles. "That would be gross, wouldn't it?"

  "Ew. Just a little," I say.

  "Hey," Everly says. "Do not put disgusting thoughts in my head. And we need to focus on the rescue."

  It's the first time she's joked with me. Maybe things are changing.

  I stop when the new smell hits me.

  "Brie?" Cayden asks.

  "I smell fear. And look at the ground." The metallic smell hangs in the air as I point.

  My vision isn't like an eagle's, but it's improved since turning, even at night. The soft grass at our feet makes the snow bumpy. But in some spots, the powder's flatter than others.

  "I don't see it," Cayden says.

  "Footprints." Keeping my voice at a whisper, I point at the ground. "Someone flattened the grass here before the snow fell."

  "I see them," Remo says, appearing at my side.

  "It's all snow," Leonora says.

  A choked sob floats through the trees ahead. "Somebody untie me!"


  "She's up here," I say, trudging ahead. "We need to shift."

  "Not yet," Cayden says. "She's alive. We need to free her while in human form."

  Cayden's influence sweeps over me like a wave of power. He has a point. But I can't stay back. Tree trunks and pine smells surround me as I charge ahead, Cayden at my side. None of us speak. Leonora makes enough noise with her footsteps I fear the Savages will hear her, but I don't smell them. Alesha might be alone and waiting.

  "Anybody!" she shouts.

  The flat, white expanse of a big clearing peeks through the trees ahead. I pass an ancient, broken-down car sitting just off the trail. Its rusted-out headlights stare as if warning us back. We must have left the gas station at least a mile behind.

  The metallic smell—and another sob—hit me again. Alesha's losing hope. I want to shout to her but that might alert Savages in the area. A deer darts through the trees, crunching sticks. To my left, a group of rabbits dart into the snow. They're making it hard to focus.

  "Don't go into the clearing yet," Cayden says. "I don't like this."

  But he darts ahead, towards the edge of the trees.

  "Not again," Everly says.

  Despite his scars, Cayden's still impulsive. Still wanting to act on his own. I follow, pumping my legs to keep up, but Cayden, the alpha, still moves quicker than I do. He has to save someone. And he will so long as the thought of Wyatt and Remo torment him.

  Cayden stops and ducks under some thick shrubs, peering into the clearing.

  I follow and duck down beside him. "Stop it," I hiss. "We need to stay—"

  But Cayden holds out a hand and stops me. Wiping away the powdery cold, I blink water from my eyes. We peer into the huge clearing. A blanket of snow covers the ground, white against darkness, though the almost-hidden footsteps lead to the center. And a large wooden post rises from the ground.

  And tied to that post is Alesha, hands above her head. Long, platinum blond hair hangs in her face. She stomps her feet and faces the ground. Salt meets my nostrils, carrying the essence of terror and despair.

  But no one else lingers in the clearing.

  "Already," Cayden says.

  "What do you mean?" I scan the trees as the others burst into the clearing, Leonora last.

  "He'll do the mating ritual. If he hasn't already."

  "The what?"

  "Thought it was just a rumor until now. It only works on other werewolves or the infected. The Savages tie someone up. First, he'll infect her. Then the rite will start. And then, well, I don't want to say it."

  "That's—"

  "Disgusting," Cayden says.

  I rise. "What are we waiting for?" Her clothes are intact and I smell no blood or rotten wood. She's not infected yet. My instincts would fill me with rage if she were.

  Cayden grabs my arm and pulls me back down. "We can't act without—here they come."

  But then a new scent hits me. Branches part on the other side of the clearing, and three men step out. One of them is the hulking form of Matt. He walks with a long coat on. I glimpse bare shins between the coat and his boots. Following him is a guy in a hoodie who I recognize as one of the Savage Wolves who tried to take our territory before I got turned. He's a young guy, maybe college aged, and walks beside Matt.

  The third man has neat, dark brown hair and a beard. Middle-aged, he wears a black robe decorated with red lines on the sleeves and at the base. He carries a leather sack that reminds me of Leonora's.

  "A warlock," Leonora hisses.

  My head spins. "Then they're ready to do the rite." I pull against Cayden, but he keeps me in place.

  "Rub these on you. Mask your scents," Cayden hisses, ripping pine needles off the shrub. "Now!"

  He's right. If we attack now, Matt will see us coming. He's a challenge even with the whole pack on him. I rub the needles on myself. Leonora does the same while Everly and Remo do likewise. I can no longer smell them.

  Even from a hundred feet away, I spot his mean gait and the greedy way his fingers grasp a leather-bound book.

  "It's the mating ritual, all right," Cayden says.

  Alesha continues to face the ground. She doesn't see the three guys coming up behind her. But I smell them now. Rotten wood and other decay disperse through the air, filling the surrounding space. And another smell, a human one, joins them. The warlock. He smells like a mixture of money, sawed wood, and some of that incense Leonora carries.

  "What now?" I ask. Cayden might know even if he's impulsive.

  "We have to wait until Matthew's distracted. Then we attack."

  "I don't want to wait that long," I whisper. But I know it's our best chance.

  Matt, the other Savage, and the warlock all circle around Alesha, facing her. She looks at Matt first and then at the warlock. After taking a sharp breath, Alesha bursts into uncontrolled sobs. She probably thinks she's in some Satanic ritual.

  The tug hits me, begging me to cast off my coat and shift. I grip the tree to stop it, focusing on the texture of the bark. The snow falls harder, coating Alesha's hood. Matt grips his coat. But he hesitates. That's not like him. The warlock waits as well. So far, they've showed no signs of hearing us. We're undetected.

  "What are they waiting for?" Remo asks.

  Maybe Matt's human side hasn't completely switched to Savage mode yet. But I doubt that. Even as a normal human he was Savage.

  At last, Matt pulls off his coat, revealing his bare backside and giving Alesha a view. She stops crying, stunned as he stands in the cold in nothing but his skin and a pair of boots. Matt tosses his coat to the snow. I can imagine his grin.

  I want to kill him.

  We can't wait any longer. He's distracted. If we hurry, we can kill him before he shifts.

  Cayden shakes his coat off and reveals his bare chest.

  Letting go of the tree, I cast mine aside as the freezing air wraps around me. The explosions of pain and the cracking of joints follows as if my wolf side wants to hide behind a layer of fur. The world spins and I glimpse Cayden's bare form, all perfect, chiseled, and beautiful, as he crouches to vanish behind black fur and red highlights. The sounds of popping and shifting flesh fill the air. One last wave of agony sweeps over me and threatens darkness, but the trees stabilize and I stand on all fours, covered in blond fur.

  Alesha screams as more popping and snapping sounds in the clearing.

  We have seconds to act. Matt or no, we can't wait. Protecting Alesha is our mission.

  I'll rip out Matt's throat. And with four of us, we might.

  Cayden growls beside me in the form of a black wolf. Remo, the large blond, does likewise while Everly, a smaller version of Cayden, bolts into the clearing.

  I follow.

  Matt stands in the form of a huge wolf, bigger than any of us. Alesha focuses on him, pulling against the ropes that bind her wrists while the warlock opens the leather book. She opens her mouth, but nothing comes out.

  I charge the huge wolf while the other Savage, still in his hoodie, backs away and pulls at his clothes.

  Leaping over Matt's long coat, I sink teeth into the back of the huge wolf's neck. His flesh is thick and his muscles thicker. I dig as I draw a growl from Matt, but he's annoyed, not pained. He bucks me off with one thrust and I fly into the snow, rolling toward the warlock.

  Not far away, the other Savage pops and snaps, changing shape. I roll away from him in the snow, breathing in icy powder. A book snaps shut. Wolf growls fill the air. Blood. I roll to a stop and pick myself up, tensing and ready to leap on Matt. I bolt past Alesha's stomping feet and across red-spotted snow to where Remo, the big blond wolf, leaps on Matt.

  The other Savage, a light gray wolf with sharp brown eyes, leaps between me and them. I skid to a stop. He's not as big as Matt, but bigger than me. Curling skin back, he reveals two rows of sharp teeth.

  He wanted to help do the rite on Alesha. He would have watched it with glee. Rage fills my heart and I circle the Savage, keeping eye contact as the warlock's steps back away. Cayden leaps on Matt, too, but he's far away. The Savage circles, too, and growls. I return it as the warlock comes back into view.

  Everly snaps at his legs, but he holds up a burning cloth bag of herbs.

  The Savage stops and sniffs, wrinkling his nose. I snap at him, but then the smell hits me. Acrid and revolting, like burning garbage, it invades my lungs and sucks the strength from my limbs. The Savage does the same. The world tilts and I struggle to stay on my feet. I can't even attack.