Burning Desire (Snake River Prison Camp Book 3)

  BURNING DESIRE

  Snake River Prison Camp Series - Book 3

  JULES TYLER

  Burning Desire

  Copyright © Jules Tyler

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  For Kati, you will always be my Candi.

  Never forget, submissive does not mean weakness.

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  Where do I begin? There are so many people that I need to thank!

  First and foremost, I have to acknowledge my family. You never complain and you’ve always made sure I feel encouraged to lock the door and put to words the thoughts in my heart. Thank you for being the support that I need at home so that I can embark on this crazy journey.

  To Liz and Britt, the women that I always have when I need them the most. Here’s to many years of girl’s nights and cocktails. You helped me become the woman I am today.

  My Idaho girls: Kati, Amanda, Courtney, and Kater, who knows where I would be without you? I am forever blessed to have you in my life. Thank you for being my sounding boards when I need you to be.

  Laurie, thank you for encouraging the muse when she’s being an uncooperative jerk. You antics are greatly appreciated.

  To my author besty, Grace Brennan, we’ll hit those goals together. Go big, or go home, right?

  To Jessica and the Dark Unicorn, thank you for being my swag girl for all of my signings! Without you my life would be much less majestic.

  My Tribe Squad girls! We laugh together, cry together, and lift each other up. I love each of you. Thank you for being the voice of reason when I’m running on low and ready to quit. Without all of your guidance, I would not be where I am today in this industry.

  I need to give a BIG shout out to the other women in my life who have done so much more behind the scenes for this book as well. Susan of Wicked Women Designs, you’ve managed to work with my crazy personality and give my books life. Without you these covers would be nowhere near the caliber they have been. Your support and friendship is one that I treasure.

  Summer of Red Pen Revolution, it’s like they’re my words butt better, right? Thank you for cleaning up my commas and grammar. Also, thank you for being a fantastic friend. You take good care of me. Here’s to our future success!

  Samantha from Blogging, Books, and Babes: You’re always going to be an amazing cheerleader. Thank you for letting me vent and cry when I need to.

  Leigh from Irish Ink, thank you for saving me from having to format this myself! Lord knows I would’ve made a gigantic mess without you.

  Last, but definitely not least, my readers! Wow, I cannot thank you all enough for your support and reviews. This journey would not be nearly as satisfying without you. Thank you for all of your help, kind words, and for reading the words that are so near and dear to my heart. You are all amazing. Stay strong and love hard.

  Chapter One

  Elijah sat in his seat, staring at the fire as everyone discussed Isabelle and Alicia’s list of shifters that would be willing to come and help when needed. Elijah felt like he was at a loss for words; too much shit was going on around here. He felt like eyes were trained on the back of his head at all times these days, and finding out about those cameras had not helped. He felt violated in ways he never imagined he would experience, especially here at the camp.

  “What do you think, Elijah?” Jasper asked from across the fire.

  “Sorry, what was the question?” Elijah asked, shaking the fog from his head.

  “Wow, spacey much? I was talking about calling in some of our family crews and packs for help, if we need the extra numbers,” Jasper explained.

  “Oh, yeah. That’s a good idea. I don’t know if my sisters or Pa would come, though. But it’s worth a shot,” Elijah forced a smile. He knew his sisters and Pa would come in an instant if he called. Considering how he had left things with them though, it was a long shot that he would actually call.

  Jasper and Duke exchanged a knowing look before going back to discussing the plan while Elijah got lost in his thoughts once more. Thinking back on the day he left, he felt a twist in his stomach. His mama had been gunned down while she was in wolf form out roaming the bayou in Louisiana a few weeks prior to his departure. The police covered it up as a hunting accident. Given the type of ammunition that had been used and the amount of bullet wounds Mama’s poor body had though, it was unlikely that it had been an accident at all.

  Elijah took this job as a way to try and track down who had put those bullets in his mama, but he hadn’t had any luck. He remembered standing with his family at the small funeral they had in town, going through the motions that day. He knew what he was going to do the minute the memorial was over: the one thing that he was good at doing at twenty-two years old. He was going to run. He already had the job lined up, and his bag was packed and sitting on the back of his Triumph waiting for him; all he had to do was get on it and never look back.

  He remembered his youngest sister sobbing into his Pa’s chest on the front porch as he pulled away. Elijah knew he would never forget that look of disappointment written on his Pa’s face when he pulled away. His sisters had asked for one more day with him, saying it wasn’t right to leave the day of the funeral, but Elijah and his wolf couldn’t take anymore of the sadness in the house. It was suffocating him. They all needed to grieve on their own terms.

  “You good, Elijah?” Duke clasped a hand on Elijah’s shoulder, concern written all over his face.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking about home is all,” Elijah said as he gave a sad smile. Only Duke knew the truth about what it was like for him when he left home.

  “It’s gonna get worse around here before it gets better. Are you gonna be able to stick it out with us, brother?” Duke’s honest question grabbed Elijah’s attention. He wanted to know if Elijah was going to turn tail and run.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Ya’ll are my people. My pack. I couldn’t leave you if I tried. My wolf would drag my happy ass back here in my sleep,” Elijah huffed a laugh.

  “Good, because we’re gonna need you.” He paused, giving a sincere smile before continuing, “We’re all headed in for the night. You gonna put the fire out?”

  “Don’t I always?” Elijah wagged his eyebrows.

  Duke chuckled as he responded, “Good night, Elijah.”

  Elijah smiled to himself as he stood up and unzipped his jeans. Something about peeing on the fire every night was like a little victory dance to his wolf. Maybe it had something to do with marking his territory in a small way? Right as Elijah assumed the position, he heard two sets of footsteps coming up behind him. Tucking himsel
f back into his jeans, he walked in the direction of the sound.

  “It’s okay, Okami, we’re almost there,” a woman’s tired voice came from down the dirt road.

  As Elijah picked up the pace, the hackles on the back of his neck raised in warning. Someone was in his territory. It was time to protect. Elijah let off a warning snarl as he came to a stop in front of a short, curvaceous woman who looked like she had seen better days. He could smell the sweat and dirt the clung to her. Making note of her backpack and the GPS she carried, he glanced over to the red and white husky, whose tongue was lolling out of his mouth and was panting heavily.

  “Who are you and what are you doing here? This isn’t the place to be taking a midnight hike, if you catch my drift,” Elijah relaxed a little, trying to sound kinder to the woman.

  “My name is Candace, and this is Okami. We’re here looking for Alicia.”

  Chapter Two

  Elijah stared at the woman in front of him and drank in her appearance in the moonlight like he was a man who hadn’t had a drink in the middle of the desert. She was on the shorter side, curvy with her chocolate brown hair drawn up in a ponytail, wisps of hair falling into her beautiful brown eyes. She wasn’t his usual type, but something about her was pulling him to her like a magnet. Mate. Elijah shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.

  “Stupid wolf. Shut up. She is not our mate. Just because she has two legs and lady parts does not make her our mate,” Elijah muttered under his breath.

  “I’m sorry, did you say something?” the woman, Candace, asked as she canted her head in confusion.

  “No, sorry. I have to tell you though, we don’t much like strangers roaming around in our woods at night,” Elijah said, eyeing her suspiciously, trying to gauge whether she was friend or foe.

  “Understandably so. Could you please tell me where I can find my friend? I tracked her phone to here, and I need to make sure she’s okay. I haven’t heard from her in a couple of weeks, and I’m getting worried that something may have happened to her.” She smiled shyly as she cast her eyes at the ground and postured herself to show him her neck.

  Smart mate. Knows who the alpha is, the wolf inside of him mused. Elijah found himself trying to figure out why the woman would know to do that.

  Sighing, Elijah headed towards Duke’s cabin and cast a final glance over his shoulder at the woman, “You should know I can hear a lie. So far you’ve been telling the truth, but if I hear a single lie come out of your mouth, not even my warden can save you from me.”

  He watched as the blood drained from her face as her dog stood with his hackles raised and growled a warning at him, placing himself between Candace and Elijah. Elijah hated threatening anyone, especially strangers, but after the way things had been going around here, he didn’t want to risk letting his guard down too far with people. For all he knew, this was some sort of trap, but the woman sounded sincere when she said she was just looking for Alicia and that they were friends. He wouldn’t pretend that he didn’t notice the tears welling up in her eyes when she said she was worried about Alicia.

  Knocking on the door, Elijah turned and waved Candace closer, “I’m sure she’s still awake, so let’s see if she recognizes you.”

  “She’d better. We’ve only been friends forever now.” Candace gave a teasing smile before pointing at the ground in front of Okami, directing him to sit.

  Duke opened cracked the door open and glared at Elijah, “Dude, do you have a death wish? It’s not just me in here anymore. I’ve got my mate back and we’ve got needs. You better be dying if you’re interrupting naughty time.”

  Elijah pointed over his shoulder, “This woman just showed up looking for Alicia. Says they’re friends or some shit.”

  “What’s her name?” Duke narrowed his eyes at Candace, trying to read her like she was a book instead of a person.

  Candace cleared her throat before speaking, “My name is Candace, Alicia calls me Candi.”

  Duke’s expression softened before he opened the door enough to reveal Alicia standing behind it, “Is this her, babe?”

  Alicia ran from the porch to Candace’s side and scooped her up in a hug as Okami wagged his tail excitedly, “What on earth are you doing here? You’re supposed to be home where it’s safe!”

  “I wouldn’t necessarily call home safe anymore,” Candace’s eyes welled with tears for a second time.

  “What do you mean?” Alicia’s eyes grew round with shock.

  “Two guys in military uniforms came by last week and asked if I had seen you recently. I told them you had been out of town on business. They didn’t give me a business card or anything, so I didn’t think anything of it. Figured they must be from the task force and were doing a follow up with you or something. When I went to check on the house a couple of days ago it looked like it had been ransacked. I was worried they had abducted you or something so I went home and packed a bag and grabbed the cell phone tracker you gave me for my birthday last year. I was hoping I would find you here,” Candace explained.

  Alicia smiled gently and embraced her friend again, “You knew I came to Idaho to see Duke, didn’t you?”

  Candace sniffed, “I had a feeling. It was the only thing that made sense about why you had been gone so long without checking in with me.”

  “Yeah, cell service sucks hairy balls up here. Plus things have been super crazy around here, and I didn’t want you coming out here and getting caught up in it.” Alicia knelt down to pet Okami.

  “I was worried you were going to say that. What’s going on, Alicia? Why were those men looking for you? Why are you back together with Duke? Why are you surrounded by…” Alicia interrupted Candace’s rambling questions, “Let’s start with an easy question; do you want a drink?”

  Taking a deep breath, Candace nodded and followed Alicia to the cabin.

  Elijah looked at Duke with a confused look written on his face, “Military garb?” “Sounds like there is more players involved here than we thought. Get some rest, Elijah.

  I’m going to get some more answers,” Duke said, clapping Elijah on the back as he followed the girls in the cabin and closed the door behind him.

  Elijah looked up at the moon and shook his head. There would be no sleep for him tonight after what he had just heard. Shedding his clothes on Duke’s porch, he imagined his gray furred wolf body and felt his body shift slowly into his animal form. Raising a howl to the moon, Elijah took off at a run. Sometimes being a wolf was easier than being a man.

  Chapter Three

  Candace listened to the wolf singing outside, resisting the urge to shift into her own wolf form. The wolf’s song was so similar to her own that it was almost as if it was calling to her soul. Something in her soul felt drawn to it, as though the wolf was calling to her. A shiver ran down her spine as Okami whimpered at her feet. She sipped on her coffee and Bailey’s. Neither of them had been on a run in several days due to the events that had lead them to Idaho, so she made a mental note to make sure they ran in the morning once they got some actual sleep.

  “So are you gonna go first or am I?” Alicia yawned as she sunk down next to Duke on the couch in the living room. It was strange to Candace to see the man in front of her for the first time. Candace had been friends with Alicia for so long, but when Alicia was in the task force she was always too busy to visit. There had been many late night conversations about this man, good and bad. Now he was sitting in front of her, snuggled up to her best friend like the last few years had never happened. Something about that didn’t sit right with her; bonds couldn’t be that strong, it wasn’t possible.

  “I guess you are because I still don’t understand why you’re up here in the first place,” Candace shrugged, taking a big gulp of the spiked coffee to try and help her mind focus.

  “Valid point. A few weeks ago Duke called me in the middle of the night because the warden up here, McKinzy, had been attacked by another dragon shifter named Cole. Yes, McKinzy is a dragon, stop making that
face.” Alicia smirked when Candace clapped her previously open mouth shut, “Anywho. I came up here to do some digging because we think that the people that Duke and I were tracking down a few years ago are behind it. We think there’s more than just them behind it now, we’re pretty sure that there is actually two groups either working together or simultaneously to either hurt her or watch her. We still aren’t sure on motives yet either. So, yeah, that’s the short version. Now tell me about the house and how you got here.”

  “You’ve always been good at condensing a bad situation into a simple story,” Candace huffed. “When I got to the house and noticed things had been tossed around, I went to your safe. I wanted to make sure the thumb-drives you had from previous clients and their security programs, as well as the details of all of the missions you had been on, were still there. Whoever went through your house didn’t do a very good job if that’s what they were looking for because everything was still there. I made sure to grab everything from the safe and put it in my purse. I even grabbed the Glock and the picture of you and Duke that you had kept in there.”