Captured - Cara Wylde Page 0,16

to the center of the gathering and dropped Isabel unceremoniously. She yelped and tried to cover her nakedness with her hands. Jax stepped forward and nodded in satisfaction.

“Tie her up.”

“My pleasure.”

Thorn gazed at me from behind Jax. He didn’t seem to like where this was going, but it wasn’t like I cared. Soon, he was going to see that torturing Isabel would make him feel better, would help him process our brother’s death and the grief it had left us with. He needed one taste of the bitch, and I knew he’d get addicted.

I grabbed Isabel by the arms, and she fought me. She kicked her legs and screamed, which only made her look more helpless and vulnerable. As she struggled, her beautiful breasts bounced enticingly, making me wonder how they were going to bounce when I’d finally push my cock inside her, over and over. Her screams activated the pack. Women and men started yelling profanities at her, spitting at her, and throwing everything they could get their hands on: dirt, leaves, twigs. When a small, sharp rock hit Isabel in the belly, Thorn stepped up and calmed down the crowd.

“Enough! This is about Chase. This is about your Alpha. Show some respect.”

They settled down. I tied Isabel to a tree – hands behind her back, tied her ankles, too. Jax had chosen the closest tree to the funeral pyre, and I knew there was a good chance she was going to feel the lick of the flames. I wanted her to feel the pain. I wanted her to hurt as much as we did. As we gathered around in silence, Jax said a few words about the one we had lost.

“Chase was the youngest of us. We all remember how carefree and easy-going he was, how he believed that the world was generally good, and how he never harbored any ill feelings toward anyone. He forgave easily, gave us, his brothers, more chances than we probably deserved. He was the good one. The kind one. He was the one that made this pack better and stronger. He was patient, he was gentle, he loved the simple things in life – to wake up early in the morning and go for a run before the sun rose, to jump into waterfalls from the highest cliffs he could find, to spend his nights under the stars.” His voice choked, and he took a minute to recover. “Chase Woodward, you will be dearly missed. Without you, we are not the same. We will never recover. Rest in peace, little brother.”

I heard Thorn cry a few feet away. Jax looked at me, a question in his dark eyes. I shook my head. No, I couldn’t speak. Earlier, I’d thought I could say a few words, but I couldn’t. It was impossible. Thorn was just as broken as I was. Our mother stepped forward and hugged Jax. She was diminutive compared to him – old and shriveled. She’d been tall, lean, and strong in her youth, but time hadn’t been kind to her, and neither the loss of her husband – our father, our Alpha. She held on, though. For us. Now that Chase was gone, I truly didn’t know how she was going to survive. She couldn’t speak either, she was crying so hard. She turned to Thorn and me, nodded, and we went by her side. She took us in her arms and cradled us gently. I felt like a pup again. A few minutes passed, and the males, females, and pups in the pack said their goodbyes. Once that was done and we were all ready, Jax, Thorn, and I each took a torch, lit it, and then lit the funeral pyre. We stepped aside.

Flames enveloped Chase’s lifeless form. He’d died in his wolf body, which meant that even in death, he was stuck in it. The air soon filled with the heavy smell of smoke and burnt fur.

I threw a glance at Isabel. She was crying silently, her eyes fixed on the flames. Her skin had gone red from the heat, and that made me feel a little better. She was close enough to the pyre that if the wind decided to pick up, her hair would’ve caught fire.

Good.

We should have burnt her along with Chase.

Five

Thorn

I was a mess. I kept wiping my tears and blinking my eyes fast to stop them from falling. I didn’t want them to see me this weak. I was their Alpha. Jax and