Bound by Fate (Cauld Ane Series Book 10)

by Piper Davenport

  2021 Piper Davenport

  Copyright © 2021 by Trixie Publishing, Inc.

  All rights reserved.

  Published in the United States

  Bound by Fate is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  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 book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Model

  Joe Adams

  Photographer

  Golden Czermak

  Cover Art

  Jack Davenport

  CONTENTS

  Copyright

  Acknowledgements

  Back Blurb

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Epilogue

  The Bride Price

  Reading Order

  Book List

  About Piper

  Jack

  You’re a butt. But you were right about this book, so you get all the credit. I love you.

  Brandy

  You are the best Ziggy on the planet!!

  Thanks for keeping the timelines and characters straight. You are a godsend!

  Gail

  You are a scholar and a saint, and I ADORE you!

  Mary

  Thanks for always being available to read! Even last minute. I appreciate you so much!

  Carrie Marie

  Oh my lord, how awesome are you? Thanks for always catching the weirdest shit!!!

  Trudy

  You know how I feel about you. You are the BESTEST!

  Christina R.

  Thanks for the last-minute pinch hit!

  18+ for language and sexual situations…

  Isla Gunnach

  I am the daughter of royalty. A princess, if you will. But I have no interest in a prince to vanquish my dragons. I’m quite capable of doing that all by myself. I am, however, looking for my equal. A man who doesn’t simper at my feet, or try to use me to get to my father or my uncles.

  The problem is, when such a man crashes into my life, I find him to be insufferable and infuriating.

  Arric Mann

  I’m a nomad. I have no family, no home. Just a series of tragedies that have shaped the man I have become. When I find myself drawn to Scotland, I am propelled into a world I am not prepared for. One of ancient lore and fairy tales.

  But I also find her. And she is about to ruin the last semblance of sanity I have left.

  For my Cauldaniacs

  You people are crazy and I hate you just a little bit.

  You are the reason I wrote this damn book, so I hope you love it as much as I do!

  Yes, I’m aware this is the exact same dedication as the one in Bound by Sight…

  and that’s because you’re still the reason I wrote this damn book, and I still hate you just a little bit.

  Isla

  I STARED AT my mother in horror as she held up some ancient, white lace dress that should have been burned at the stake in Salem. “No.”

  “Baby girl, your daddy’s great grandmother wore it on her special day.”

  “Oh, of that I have no doubt,” I ground out. “Big fat no way in hell.”

  I was less than a week away from my twenty-fifth birthday, a significant day in our culture as it meant the identity of my mate would be revealed. The Cauld Ane celebrated it much like a sweet sixteen or a Quinceañera was celebrated in other parts of the world and Mum had been planning the party for a year.

  “Isla,” Dad said, his tone one of warning.

  “No, Da. I promised I’d look at it, but that is hideous.”

  “She’s right, Con,” Mum said, and dropped the monstrosity back into the box.

  “And our girl isn’t a traditional girl. You’ll just have to deal with it.”

  “I wore it,” my older sister, Chelsea announced from my doorway.

  “And you looked beautiful,” Mum said quickly.

  Chelsea raised an eyebrow. “I looked like the ghost of an old timey librarian.”

  “You did not,” her mate, Henry, argued.

  They’d been bound for almost eight years now and had three children.

  “Oh my god, love, I did,” she argued. “My boobs were barely contain—”

  “Och! I’m not standing here and listening to my baby girl talk about her…lady bits,” Dad said, and walked out the door.

  Chelsea grinned. “Works every time.”

  “I quite like talking about your lady bits,” Henry said, and I bit back a laugh.

  “You need to be nicer to Daddy,” Mum admonished.

  “He’s far too attached to this celebration, Mum,” Chelsea said.

  Mum smiled. “Well, there is that. But Isla’s his last bairn.”

  Chelsea and I glanced at each other and burst out laughing.

  “Oh, suck it,” Mum retorted.

  Mum was American and when she tried to use a Scottish word, most of the time it came out very, very wrong. The thing was, Mum could do a very convincing Scottish accent when she concentrated or was into a second glass of wine. I mean, she’d been with my father nearly forty years, but she said she wanted to hold onto her roots for as long as she could.

  “You could always alter the dress, LaLa,” Chelsea suggested, running her fingers over the silk. “Or would the fabric fall apart?”

  “Auntie Charlotte knows a lot of costume designers,” I said. “I bet one of them would know.”

  Mum’s sister, Charlotte, was an amazing actress and ever since she co-starred with Thane Allen in the phenomenally successful film adaptation of The Bride Price, she’d found herself cast in a lot of period pieces.

  “She’ll be here for dinner,” Mum said. “So, you can ask her then.”

  I clapped my hands. “Yay.”

  Mum’s phone rang and she answered immediately. “Hello, my darling bestie sister.” She laughed. “No, sister wife still doesn’t apply because neither of us is willing, nor physically able, to share our mates.”

  I glanced at Chelsea and we both rolled our eyes.

  “Really?” Mum said with a grin. “Yes, babe, of course. They’re always welcome. Okay, see you later.” She hung up and grinned. “All your cousins will be here tonight.”

  “Wait, I thought Liam and Phin were in Switzerland,” I said.

  Mum nodded. “They’re coming home for the games.”

  Gunnach Pharmaceuticals hosted a special charity competition similar to the Highland Games. Every year, some of the world’s strongest men would come to compete in old-world tests of strength and endurance. We’d raise a ton of money for causes like juvenile leukemia research, but I suspected the contestants mostly competed for bragging rights.

&nbs
p; Chelsea and I had grown up volunteering at the games, and I always looked forward to them, but this year I was especially excited. For two reasons.

  First of all, this would be the inaugural year of the women’s division at the Gunnach Games. Until recently, strongman competitions around the world had been just that. Competitions for strong men. But some event organizers, like the people within my uncle’s organization, felt it was important to open the field of competition to all. Not only to women, but to amateur competitors as well. The Gunnach games were about inclusivity and giving everyone a moment to shine, no matter who they may be. Well, almost everyone.

  My uncle had one strict rule when it came to approving competitors. No Cauld Ane allowed. Given our increased strength and ability to heal, it would simply be unfair to compete against humans. My father and uncles screened everyone very thoroughly. Not that it was that difficult a task. Cauld Ane were easy to spot, and by now my family literally knew everyone with a drop of Cauld Ane blood within their family line.

  The second reason was a tall, muscular Norseman who made all our hearts flitter.

  “Right, the games,” Chelsea breathed out. “That means Thor.”

  “Thor.” It came out as more of a whimper, and we both fell onto the bed in laughter.

  Thor Olsen was a Nordic god. Literally. He was from Norway and had a huge following on social media. Dark blond hair, clean shaven which showed off his square jaw and blue eyes. He was six-foot-nine and his muscles had muscles, having recently just won a lifting competition by lifting over a thousand pounds. He’d also guest-starred in several episodes of Swords of Fire. The only two episodes I watched. I’m not proud to admit it, but Thor was the other reason I was looking forward to the games.

  I was partial to blonds, but the truth was, I might feel differently in a few days. I’d be twenty-five years old. Of binding age and able to recognize my mate. Of course, every Cauld Ane girl fantasizes about having her mate revealed on the day of her ár mökunar. Like Cinderella meeting her prince on the night of the ball. But the truth is, it could be years, even decades, before I met him.

  For now, though, Thor Olsen was a good fantasy. One I shared with my big sister Chelsea. She and I were close, but we didn’t have a whole lot in common, especially now that she was bound and settled into life with her mate. I was much closer to my cousin, Catriona. We were born two months apart, both surprise babies, and her mother, Payton, was one of my favorite people on earth.

  “Okay, you two, I’m going to take this dress and hide it from your father,” Mum said.

  I hugged her tight. “Thanks, Mummy.”

  “Of course, honey. We’ll go shopping next week and find something else.”

  I leaned back to meet her eyes. “You’ll go shopping with me?”

  “Well, no. Payton will take you,” Mum retorted, and walked away.

  I laughed. This is why Payton is one of my favorite people. Mum hated to shop, but Payton loved it, so she always took us for retail therapy whenever we asked.

  I glanced at my phone. “Cat’s joining me for a ride. Do you want to come?”

  My sister smiled. “Rain check.”

  “Your sister and I have plans, lass,” Henry said, and my sister blushed.

  “Okay,” I said, hiding my disappointment, and choosing not to acknowledge his secret meaning, as he and Chelsea left my room. I loved my sister, but I wondered if I’d ever stop being the ‘pest.’ We were ten years apart, but sometimes it felt like a lot more. We had nothing in common. I loved horses and dogs, she loved shopping and anything that didn’t ‘shed’ or ‘smell.’ Hard to escape the muck when your father was a vet. But now she was with Henry and he fulfilled all her wants and needs.

  In truth, I’d always been closer to my big brother, Callum, but I suppose that’s not really a surprise. Big brothers and little sisters tended to have tighter bonds.

  I shook off my melancholy and changed into my riding gear, then headed down to the barn to meet my cousin. I arrived to find Cat already there, chatting with Ahearn.

  “Hi, cuzzie,” she said, hugging me.

  “Hi. You got here fast,” I observed.

  “A ride with my elusive best friend and cousin? I was motivated,” she retorted.

  I grimaced. “I know, I’ve been so busy.”

  “The Games. I get it,” she said. “But I have you now and I plan to take advantage.”

  “Dinner’s not until six, so I say we ride down to the water and back.”

  Cat grinned. “Aye.”

  Ahearn led my Friesian gelding, Hershey, out of his stall, already tacked up and ready to go. “He got out again last night, my lady.”

  “The original escape artist,” I said, smiling “We should have named him Houdini.”

  “Aye, ’tis true,” Ahearn confirmed.

  It didn’t matter what we used to confine my horse the sneaky wee bastard managed to get out of it. We’d done everything short of deadbolting his stall closed. We still had to be careful in case of fire. If, god forbid, something like that happened, we wanted him to be able to get out.

  Hershey whinnied to me as I approached. “Och, my beautiful boy, you’ll always be my favorite, eh? But you need to stay in your stall.”

  He nuzzled me and I kissed his muzzle before checking the girth, then leading him to the mounting block. Cat and I mounted up and turned our horses toward the water, riding in silence for several minutes.

  “Do you feel weird?” I asked.

  “Yes,” she said. “So strange, love. It feels like my body’s buzzing.”

  “Oh my god, me too,” I breathed out. “I feel so unsettled.”

  “Mum said this is normal the closer you get to your ár mökunar,” Catriona said. “She also felt a similar way close to her bonding with Da.”

  “It’s so strange having a mum who was human before her bonding. Her experiences are so much more different than mine.”

  “You know you can talk to mine about anything,” I said.

  “Oh, I know. And I do.”

  She chuckled. “We’re lucky with our mums. We can swap whenever we want.”

  I grinned. “This is so very true.”

  “Do you think our mates are close?”

  I shrugged. “I have no idea, but this buzzing… it didn’t start until a few months ago, so I really hope I’m not going to feel like this forever.”

  “Aye. It’s a bit annoying, eh?”

  “Aye,” I said.

  She grinned, tightening her reins. “Race ya.”

  I let out a squeak as I dug my heels into Hershey, and we flew to catch up to Cat.

  * * *

  Once back at the barn, I decided I wanted to brush down Hershey for a few minutes of quiet before what would inevitably be the craziness of family dinner. Just like my mother, I’d been obsessed with horses most of my life, and this was my safe place whenever I needed calm. Cat had ridden her horse home, so it was just me and my equine best friend.

  “You were so good today,” I crooned to Hershey. “You are the most perfect horse in all the world.”

  He nickered, craning his neck to nuzzle me. I chuckled, running the brush over his neck, and dropped my head to his whither. “I wish you could live forever,” I whispered.

  “I had a feeling I’d find you here,” my dad said, leaning over Hershey’s stall.

  “Hi, Da. Are you hiding from the dinner preparations?”

  He chuckled. “If I were in America, I’d say I plead the fifth.”

  Hershey nickered, and shoved his nose into Dad’s neck.

  “Traitor,” I whispered, and Hershey looked back at me. “Don’t look at me like that. You’re mine, no’ his.”

  Dad chuckled. “He knows.”

  Dad slipped inside the stall and ran his hand down Hershey’s leg. “How’s his foot doing?”

  “It’s good,” I said. “The abscess has resolved, and he was great on the ride today. Of course, if he stopped escaping his stall, he wouldn’t get abscesses
to begin with.”

  Hershey nickered as Dad stood, smiling and studying me.

  “What?” I asked, running my hand down Hershey’s neck.

  “I’m so proud of ye, love. You have no idea.”

  I blushed. “Dad.”

  “You’ve always been my sensitive lass,” he said. “You’re an empath just like me which makes you feel everything at a deeper level than most Cauld Ane.”

  I nodded.

  “So, tell your da how you’re doing, sweet girl.”

  “I feel like there’s an electric current running through my body.”

  “Don’t be frightened by that, Isla. You’re close to ár mökunar, some things will seem strange until you’re bound.”

  “Does everyone feel like this?”

  “Yes. Empaths even more so.” He smiled.

  “For how long?”

  “Until you meet your mate.”

  “So, you felt like this too?”

  “It was worse for me, lass. I had to wait a long time for your mother.”

  Hundreds of years to be exact.

  I smiled. “Do you think I’ll have to wait that long?”

  “God, I hope so,” he admitted.

  I rolled my eyes. “Are you going to give me the same amount of grief as you gave Chelsea? Or, more accurately, Henry?”

  “More.”

  “Da!” I growled.

  “You’re my baby girl, Isla, you’re going to have to deal with it.”

  “Well, you better give Callum his due when he finds his mate, or I’ll accuse you of being sexist.”

  “I am sexist,” he said. “When it comes to you and your sister. You’ll do well to remember that.”

  “Promise me you’ll be nice to whoever he is.”

  “I’ll be as nice as I was to Henry.”

  “No,” I argued. “Don’t do that. You were horrible to Henry.”

  He grinned. “I don’t remember it that way.”

  Hershey nudged me and I grabbed a carrot from my back pocket, feeding it to him.

  “We should get back up to the house,” Dad continued. “Your mum’s going to need help.”