MAGIC BONDED
In this savage why choose romantasy, fated mates, dark obsession, and pack devotion ensnare one broken heroine in a ruthless game of survival, longing, and revenge with three lethal dragon shifters.
I'm captured by dragon shifters.
They say I'm their fated mate.
If they discover I'm magical, I'll be put to death.
I reject them, but they don't take no for an answer. It doesn't matter how they soften my heart or make my body sing. The rule of The Six is absolute. If I don't keep my secret, then Drisella will kill them. I can't let that happen.
I have to get back to the wolf shifters who've protected me all my life. I've learned what The Six are planning to do and I must warn them.
Ancient Fae magic has awoken inside me. A little piece of the fabled Fae King's grimoire demands to be let loose and I can't control it.
The secret of my past is remembered. A decades-long plan has started that the parents I never knew died for.
The Six are coming for us. My dragon mates are in danger. I must control the untamable magic locked inside me and take down the most powerful beings to ever have lived.
Read if you like:
🐺 Why-choose/reverse harem romance with three protective alpha wolves who each bring something different to the relationship
🔥 Enemies-to-lovers tension where suspicion and mistrust slowly burn into devotion
⚡ Hidden magical powers and ancient Fae magic that could reshape the world
💔 Trauma recovery romance where love becomes the key to healing deep wounds
🌙 Shifter world-building with soul bonds, mate connections, and pack dynamics
✨ Magical systems featuring ley-lines, golden magic, and power that responds to emotion
👑 Enslaved heroine breaking free from her chains and discovering her true strength
🗡️ High fantasy stakes where personal choices affect the fate of entire worlds
💫 Found family themes and the healing power of belonging after a lifetime of isolation
🔥 Steamy romance balanced with deep emotional connection and character growth
⚔️ Political intrigue and dangerous spy games with deadly consequences
🌟 Strong heroine who refuses to be saved and insists on saving herself
Content notes: This book contains mature themes, steamy romance scenes, references to past trauma, and fantasy violence. Intended for adult readers. Check trigger warning on the authors web site.
CHAPTER ONE
Vomit-inducing adrenaline pumped through my veins, and my heart pounded so hard against my sternum that each beat echoed inside my skull. Fear clutched at me, refusing to let go. I put everyone I loved at risk if we didn't make it to my little mountain shack.
Time had distorted in that awful way when every heartbeat might be the last. Each moment dragged and sped by, stretched thin with dread and yet gone in a blink. Desperation clung to my mind, thick as the scent of moss and crushed pine.
My stomach twisted, threatening to reject my last meal. I whispered a healing spell, clinging to the hope that magic would steady me, and it did, mercifully. I shuddered as the urge to vomit faded.
I buried my trembling fingers in Eike's fur, pressing my face into his thick ruff to shield myself from the bite of twigs as we thundered through the forest. Each branch that snapped against my cheek stung, but focusing on Eike's warmth kept me holding on. I tightened my legs around his enormous frame, trying to ignore the ache in my thighs as he carried me toward the mountains and the tiny, one-room shack I used to test my magic.
Eike wasn't just hiding me for my own safety. Esoti's guards had attacked us inside our own borders, a direct violation of every law, and every wolf, every shifter, was in danger. My brothers could be fighting for their lives as Eike bound from boulder to boulder. The only thing Eike could do was get me away and hide me. At least until it was safe to return. If anyone discovered the truth of my magic, it would mean instant and brutal execution. For everyone.
The shack was remote on purpose. Esoti's guards would never make it this far into the outer edges of Wolf Territory and was the perfect place for me to hide away. Only a shifter matching Eike's formidable strength and agility could reach this place in such weather.
Eike was at my eye level in his wolf form. If I hadn't known him all my life, hadn't trusted him as my brother, his sheer power would have rendered him terrifying. He ran with the lethal grace of a creature once crafted from ancient magic and used as a weapon against violent Fae warriors.
Magic was my secret friend, an anchor I trusted to catch me when the world spun out of control. For an instant I remembered the first time the wolves discovered my magic, years ago, when I stumbled lost through the forest: a child with no memory of where I'd come from. Alerick's father, Kendrick, could have killed me on sight. He was Alpha and tasked with the safekeeping of his pack, and finding anyone with natural magic meant instant death. Most would have done that, but Kendrick was a benevolent leader. Fate smiled on me that day.
I shivered, recalling what little I'd glimpsed of Esoti's castle, the twisted malice in the eyes of those “blessed” by him, or any of The Six for that matter. Their magic warped the minds of humans. It left them cruel, inhuman. Monsters in fine clothing.
Esoti ruled over the wolf shifter territory and would stop at nothing to track me down if he learned of my existence. Alerick and the others couldn't leave Serafine, not now. She was their mate, the fragile and broken slave who'd suffered untold agony at Esoti's hands. Thinking of Serafine conjured a fierce, protective ache in my heart. She was magical, powerful, and yet so lost.
I'd learned that ancient magic was locked away deep inside her by death magic and her parents had died to place it there, and I swore I'd do anything to uncover the secrets buried within her.
I distracted myself from Eike's relentless pace by reciting each word of the spell I'd used to identify Serafine's magic. Each magic has an essence, its own distinctive flavor. Hers was old and ancient in a way that made my heart race with curiosity and faint dread. I remembered the night Sedric called me to the Alpha's office, the way I'd felt tugged toward her as soon as I'd stepped through the door.
If Esoti's servant hadn't interrupted my remembering spell, I might have learned what her essence was. It was clear that Esoti wanted what was inside her. Serafine and my brothers were in great danger and the only way I could help was to unlock the truth behind her magic.
Eike’s body bunched and stretched with each impossible jump up the steep face of the mountain. I locked my arms around his thick neck until my muscles ached, the world spinning with every leap. My stomach kept dropping from my throat to the pit of my belly. Each time he soared upward and landed with impossible smoothness, ice scraped along my lungs. The air turned to needles, stabbing at my skin with every shallow inhalation. My fingers had gone numb, my back frozen under my heavy cloak. Only Eike's body heat kept my front from turning to ice. Shifters ran hot, which was a blessing in this frigid place.
We finally landed on the narrow ledge my secret shack on the mountainside was built on. I slid from Eike's back as he Changed, the shift unleashing a crackle of magic that tingled along my skin. The electric scent of ozone filled the freezing air, sharp enough to make me sneeze.
Eike reached to steady me when I wobbled. After so many hours clinging to his back, my legs were rubber and my thighs howled with exhaustion. Cold bit at my hands, rendering them almost useless. A brisk wind curled around us, threatening to snatch the warmth from my bones. I shivered and clutched my coat tighter.
“Are you okay, Anise?” Eike's concern threaded through his voice as he held my elbow.
I forced my muscles to cooperate. “I'm good. Thank you, Eike.” I managed a weak smile. His attentive care reminded me that even in the face of wolves fiercer than nightmares, Eike had a gentleness to him that was perfect for Serafine.
The petty part of me longed for a mate who would love me the way my brothers loved Serafine, but I knew my own truth. I wasn't a shifter. I didn't have a destined mate out there. I was only human, with just enough magic to ensure that I was a constant danger to those I loved.
“I'll help you set up inside,” Eike said.
The shack's roof was rimmed with delicate frost, icicles dripping from the eaves. The windows were blank and black. On the outside it looked neglected, the sort of place lost to time. But inside would be as I left it. Familiar and comforting, and a fire would chase the cold away soon enough.
“You don't have to, Eike,” I told him, shaking off the last of my hesitation. “Everything's the way I left it. Get back to Serafine. She'll need you more than I do.” I tried to sound braver than I felt.
A biting wind whipped around me, making my nose run and my eyes sting. I squeezed his arm, desperate for one last moment of warmth. I hated to let go, but I steeled myself. “You need to go back now. There's no telling what Esoti is up to.” I lifted up my wand clutched in my tight grip. “Besides, I can look after myself.”
My wand was the only thing I'd been clutching that night Kendrick found me. The only thing from a past I could not remember. Long and as delicate as a twig, it looked as though the wood had grown into itself. Vines twined down to form a handle like bark, little leaves and round berries, hundreds of soft animal faces peeking out. Some looked friendly, comforting. Others, like the dragons with their wicked claws and cruel eyes, looked like they had stepped straight from my nightmares, yet it was beautiful and delicate. Not only had Kendrick let me keep it, he'd also given me magical texts the wolf shifters had acquired over centuries to help me hone my magic.
Eike's brow furrowed as he weighed my words, hesitating. “Only if you're sure.”
I smirked to hide my nerves. “I'll stay out here until you leave,” I threatened playfully, knowing he'd cave to my comfort.
His sigh was half-resignation, half-affection. When my teeth started to chatter, he pulled me into a hard, enveloping hug, pressing a kiss to my cheek. Nudity barely registered. Not after a life spent amid shifters, nudity meant someone cared enough to shift and protect. Too many clothes had been shredded in all those quick changes over the years.
“Take care, Anise,” he said softly. “I'll come back to get you as soon as it's safe.”
He Changed and leapt off the ledge into darkness. Part of me mourned his absence, the warmth he took with him vanishing instantly, but another part appreciated the comfort of solitude in this place.
I didn't mind the isolation. The shack was filled with books and magical equipment, and often I escaped here to practice. Here, secrets stayed secrets. There was no one around to discover them. I stifled a shiver at the thought of coming face to face with a dragon shifter but there was a mountain range between my shack and the dragon’s stronghold. Panther territory butted against the farthest section of wolf territory and the wastelands, and there was no threat of them finding me here.
None of the shifter territories had much to do with each other. That was the way The Six intended it. Fractured, isolated, kept apart so each shifter clan would not unite or threaten humans, or so we were told. I knew better, though. It was another way to sow division, another tool of rule and control enforced by The Six.
I remembered the one time the Alpha dragons visited Wolf Territory. Damon, the prime, had a presence that stole the air right out of the clearing. His skin was pale as polished ivory, his hair darker than midnight, and his eyes missed absolutely nothing. I’d hidden from him, terrified he might see straight through me and discover my magic.
There'd been something tense in the air when he and his pack brothers spoke with Alerick about the wolves going missing along the borders. The whole interaction was stiff, guarded. The dragons kept their secrets. I sensed more. A silent unrest. Damon's gaze had searched every corner, as though he expected to find something or someone that belonged only to him. My fear lifted only when they left, dragging their overwhelming aura with them.
I shivered, casting a quick lighting spell so I wouldn't trip over the rocks scattered across the ledge as I made my way to the shack. Inside, the air bit with cold, but I coaxed a fire to life in the hearth with a whisper of magic. Soon, warmth began to seep through the small room as I swung a pot of snow over the flames and set lanterns burning. Everything in the shack was as I'd left it, apart from a film of dust on the old table, chair, and shelves. The air was heavy, tinged with stillness and the faint scent of earth and smoke. I busied myself, tidying the simple furniture, stepping outside to shake dust from the bedding, then darting back in from the cold.
Every task helped me push away the gnawing worry over what might be happening in the village. Alerick, Jarom, and Eike were the strongest Alphas in generations. They could handle whatever threat came for them.
While here, I'd try to understand why Serafine was bound by death magic and reveal what was inside her that was so important to hide. To sentence someone to reanimate after death time after time was not done lightly, and I shuddered knowing Serafine had faced that horror daily.
I settled into the creaking wooden chair and curled into its comfort, steeling myself. I gathered the tiny sparks of ambient magic that pooled in the shack's corners and reached into my own well of power.
I pictured the scrying spell in my mind, focusing my intent. At my will, an opaque ball of light formed and hovered in the air before me. The light pulsed softly but flickered. It needed more magic. The light bloomed then snapped out. I shifted in my seat, licking my lips and focussing.
We needed answers my magic could provide. My skin prickled with an uneasy mixture of fear and responsibility, but I would walk that line between control and catastrophe if it brought me a step closer to the truth.
I pushed further than I'd ever dared, reaching past the usual edges of my magic, deeper and deeper until sweat trickled down my brow. The air around me thickened, heavy with the force of rising power. I plunged into that unseen well inside me where my magic dwelled, sinking until I found a golden light flickering there that—hadn't been there before.
For a heartbeat I hesitated, every sense on high alert. This magic wasn't mine. Its essence rolled over me: pure, impossibly old, and wise in a way that left a profound ache of yearning. The hair on my arms stood on end.
The magic's signature, the feeling of it, was shockingly familiar. Identical to what I'd sensed woven deep inside Serafine. My mind reeled in disbelief. It couldn't be. How could it exist inside me, all this time, without my ever sensing it? Why now? Why had it lain dormant, hidden so completely, only to erupt at this moment? I'd prided myself on knowing my own power, and yet this was like finding an undiscovered heartbeat in my own body.
Stunned, I reached for the magic. The instant my metaphorical fingertips brushed it, heat and power blazed outward. Energy whipped around my body, snapping through and out of me in wild, crackling waves. I cupped my hands around the trembling sphere of magic. It vibrated, desperate for release, yet stubbornly anchored within me, refusing to budge.
Just like Serafine.
I shut down the urge to reach deeper because Esoti would feel this much power and he would come. My eyes snapped open. The air before me shimmered as the scrying ball revealed a new scene. One I hadn't asked to see. High above the snow-capped mountains, a massive black dragon unfurled its wings and soared. Its long, sinuous neck stretched as its onyx eyes scoured the wild darkness below.
Its scales melted into the night, visible only when the moon's glow highlighted the curve of its massive body. It swept beneath the clouds, racing above the jagged peaks blindingly fast. Then, as if guided by some hungry urge, it angled toward a small ledge and a weathered wooden shack perched in solitude.
Gods that was... that is... My shack.
A terrible beat of wings battered the air. Wind slammed under the door as the dragon in my scrying ball passed overhead.
It knows I'm here.
I bolted for the door, wand clutched tightly in my hand. It was a weak weapon against a dragon, but it was all I had. I staggered outside, cold slapping my face as the dark shadow swooped down through the clouds.
I had to run. Had to hide. There was only one other place in this mountain hideaway I would be safe. If I made it to the storage cave, I'd lock myself in. The dragon would never find me within the rocky tunnels beyond.
I fled, drawing quick magic around me and weaving an invisibility cloak as I ran, hoping it would buy me the seconds I needed. My lungs burned with icy air. A blinding rush of wind whipped past me and the ledge trembled as the dragon slammed onto the rock, claws gouging stone and sending debris flying. Its massive, angular head lowered and slitted yellow eyes locked onto me, unblinking.
He could see me.
How could he see me?
My heart pounded as panic scrambled my thoughts. I spun away from him but my feet slipped on the loose gravel. My skirts tangled around my legs and I tripped. His claw grazed my outstretched hand, the contact electrifying, before I caught my balance and bolted. The sharp, acrid scent of ozone snapped against my skin.
One glance over my shoulder and my blood ran cold at the male in human form. The shifter had Changed. This wasn’t any dragon shifter. He was Damon. The Dragon Alpha. Naked, powerful, and impossibly handsome, his gaze found me and clung. His eyes gleamed in the night, as if nothing in the world existed but me. His nostrils flared and his jaw clenched. Every inch of his towering form radiated power and danger as he stalked toward me.
Cold dread pooling in my gut. He'd sensed my magic. That was why he was here. He was going to slaughter me, eat me, tear me apart limb from limb, as was his right to do.
I staggered away from him, slipping on the ice. Panic was the last thing to sheer through my mind before the earth spun away beneath me and I tumbled into darkness. With a snap of ozone, Damon's black dragon descended on me.
TRIGGER WARNING
This book contains content that may be triggering or distressing for some readers. Please be advised that the story features:
High heat, explicit sexual content, group/pack sex, and sexually charged scenes (including intense mate-bond compulsion).
Scenes of violence, including graphic magical and physical battles, injury, blood, and death.
Frequent references to past and present trauma, including childhood trauma, captivity, torture, and the psychological aftermath of abuse.
Depictions of magical and physical imprisonment, slavery, enforced binding, and loss of agency—including references to soul-enslavement and magical collars.
Scenes of torture, pain, and forced magical compliance, including non-consensual use of magic on oneself and others, and the magical/physical repercussions of forced shifts and bonding.
Content surrounding parental/ancestral sacrifice, ritualistic violence, and the lasting impact of generational trauma.
Emotional distress, panic attacks, dissociation, and references to mental/emotional suffering from both villains and fated mates.
Murder and mass death (on and off-page), involving both villains and secondary characters.
Power imbalances, manipulation, and coercion (magical, emotional, and physical), including moments of dubious consent under magical compulsion.
While the primary relationships are ultimately consensual and built on mutual devotion, the story depicts situations of extreme stress, magical compulsion, and the consequences of trauma and survival.
Please use caution as needed. If any of the above themes or content are distressing, you may wish to prepare yourself or skip sections. Your wellbeing comes first.