Captured - Cara Wylde Page 0,26

I’d known I’d have visitors, I would’ve at least picked my clothes off the floor.

“Where’s the bathroom?”

“There’s no bathroom. There’s a toilet behind the house. I’ll take you. Let me find you some clothes first.”

I started rummaging through the only wardrobe in the room. I knew I had some clothes some of my exes had forgotten when they’d moved out in a hurry. I pulled out a pair of jeans and an old blouse with yellow flowers on the sleeves and collar, and threw them at Isabel.

“They’re too big.”

I shrugged. “Can’t help you with that. All female wolves are taller than the females of your kind.”

“Okay. I’ll manage.”

I found a pair of boots that seemed to be in her size, and rummaged further for socks. I couldn’t find any, so I just decided to give her a pair of mine. It was better than nothing, and she was going to appreciate them later in the cave.

“Well? Aren’t you going to try them on?” I asked when I saw she was just standing there, her arms full of garments, not making a single move to get dressed.

“Is it okay if I change in the bathroom?”

I sighed exasperated. “There’s no… Ugh! Nevermind. Come on.” I opened the door, and she followed me diligently. I pointed at a wooden construction at the back of the cabin. It was smaller than the shed where I kept my tools. “As I said before, it’s a hole in the ground, but I tinkered a bit last fall and turned it into something quite comfortable. You’ll also find a bucket of fresh water and a basin. There should be a clean towel in there, too. Make it quick, yeah?”

She nodded. “Yes. It’ll only be a few minutes.”

She ran to the toilet on her tiptoes, careful to avoid any sharp rocks. I looked at her and shook my head. She was getting to me. How? Why? I could only hope that I was showing so much interest in her and her wellbeing simply because she was something new and exciting. We didn’t get much excitement in our village. The best days were when the Betas came with the supplies they’d grabbed from a resort or town, and we gathered around a campfire so they could tell us all the gossip they’d heard. I went back inside and went to look through my kitchen cabinets. Maybe I could throw something together quickly, and once she was back, we could share a meal.

Minutes passed. Five. Okay, she couldn’t have been done in five minutes. Ten. Fifteen. Twenty.

“That’s not right.”

I stormed out of the cabin, crossed the distance between the back of the house and the toilet, and knocked. Nothing.

“Isabel?”

But I was lying to myself. I knew she wasn’t there anymore. My nose had caught the scent of her absence. I threw the door open, and sure enough, Isabel was gone. She’d crawled out through the window at the back, knowing full well that if she’d sneaked through the door, I would’ve seen her from the windows of my house.

“Fuck!”

Eight

Jax

Why was she still alive? We should have killed her that very night, along with her despicable family. She was nothing but a disruptive presence. After I’d witnessed Reid drunk and all over her, I had to get out and clear my head. I shifted and went for a run. And as I ran at high speed, the trees flashing by as I hit the ground with my heavy paws, I started to feel hungry. I could have gone back to the village, but I didn’t want to. Besides, I was hungry for blood. Fresh, hot, rich blood. I sniffed the air and caught the scent of a young deer. For the next half hour, I was focused on the scent of the animal, on its movements, anticipating what its flesh would taste like on my wolf tongue. I chased it eagerly, let it know that I was there, that I was the hunter who had decided it was going to be my prey. The more it tried to run from me, the more intoxicating its scent became, laced with fear and apprehension. It was what I was looking for, what I needed – to force the adrenaline into the animal’s system, so I could feast on it along with its blood and flesh. When I was in distress, like I seemed to be in the past few days, I needed to get high. Warm, terror-laced blood got me so high that