Captured - Cara Wylde Page 0,22

up!” he cut me off. He was so angry his large scars seemed to pulse from within. “You humans are all alike. You never do anything. It’s always someone else’s fault. I bet that’s exactly what your family thought about my brother. They were just hunting animals, right? How could they know it was a person they killed?”

That was like comparing apples and oranges, and my family’s hunting would have been bad even if their targets had been only regular beasts. But he already knew that, and he didn’t want to hear it.

Nothing I could say would make a difference, so I decided to keep my mouth shut instead. He wasn’t happy with that either. “Why so quiet? You were moaning like a whore not a minute ago.”

I flinched, unable to deny his accusation. He pursued his advantage, walked up to me, and grabbed my arm, squeezing it so tightly I knew he’d leave yet another bruise.

“You’re not so special, bitch. You’re nothing but a hole to fuck. Remember that. Reid’s going to have fun with you, and once he’s done, he’ll toss you away like the trash you are. You’re not going to win this battle.”

The fatigue and anguish of the past day finally got to me, and the words spilled from my lips before I could stop them.

“I’m not fighting any battle. I just want to be left alone.”

“That’s not going to happen either. You’ll pay for Chase’s life with your own.”

He’d have undoubtedly continued to spit insults in my face, but at that exact moment, my stomach let out a loud growling sound. It was so out of place it was almost funny. Here I was, about to have my throat torn out by a furious werewolf, and my body was worried about the fact that I hadn’t eaten.

As it turned out, it must have been my lucky day. With a disgusted huff, Jax let me go and dumped me back onto the ground.

“I’ll send Thorn with some food and water for you. But don’t think this is over.”

On Jax’s lips, the words Reid had said when he’d left sounded even more threatening. And as I watched him leave, I knew I couldn’t stay here any longer.

I had to escape this place, no matter what. I had to convince Thorn to let me go. If I didn’t, Reid and Jax would kill me. I was sure of it.

Seven

Thorn

When Jax asked me to feed the human, mixed feelings assaulted me. The day before, we’d only given her a piece of hard, stale bread. She was already so thin that a gust of wind could’ve sent her flying, and it wasn’t in our interest to starve her. On the one hand, treating her to a proper meal was the right call. I knew that Jax hadn’t thought of that when he’d asked me. He’d probably thought I would find some old bread again, maybe some leftovers in my kitchen, and throw them in her cell. No, I’d had time to think the night before. There was no reason for us to behave like savages. But on the other hand, I couldn’t possibly go to the females of the pack and ask them to cook for the prisoner. In theory, I could, because I was one of their three Alphas, but in practice… I didn’t want them to feel humiliated. So, I grabbed some ingredients and put together a sort of meal that could, maybe, pass for a nutritious lunch: veggie rice with a fried egg on top. The Beta males in the pack were charged with going down the mountain regularly, to the closest resort or town, and fetch food and medical supplies. Even though we were werewolves, no, we didn’t only eat meat. These days, most of us didn’t even hunt and feed in wolf form anymore, as we’d gotten used to the wildlife on our land, welcomed it and cared for it. We preferred to feed ourselves as humans, with human food. Reid still hunted, though. It was his choice, and I tried not to think about it. After all, we were beasts.

I took the food to the caves before it got cold. I made sure to grab a bottle of water, too. I found Isabel curled up in her usual spot, the dirty towel wrapped around her body. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw me, which meant that she feared my brothers. I sniffed the air. Alcohol. I remembered seeing Reid drink