Captured - Cara Wylde Page 0,4

I couldn’t watch this too, and covered my face. I heard her cry and her dying gurgle, and felt like I was choking on my own blood, just like her.

Please, God. Please let this be a terrible nightmare. It can’t be real. It can’t be happening.

But it was. Oh, it was, because not even my most horrible dreams devolved into something so dreadful.

I’d had my differences with my family, but I hadn’t wanted this.

The wolves didn’t care about that. I waited for them to kill me too, hoping that would at least end this horrible torment. But they didn’t.

One of them nudged me with his snout, but I couldn’t move. I stayed like that, waiting, holding my breath, willing them to get it over with.

And then, I heard another sound and there was a vibration in the air, something that reminded me of the waters of the Black Diamond Lake. Without meaning to, I opened my eyes, just in time to witness the most unlikely sight ever.

The huge black wolves that had just massacred my family shape-shifted into three, massive men.

I’d never seen anything like it. The way their bones snapped looked painful, but somehow, it also seemed fluid, like a mechanism that was flowing just the right way. It was almost beautiful. But beautiful or not, it didn’t change the fact that it was impossible and even more terrifying than what I’d just witnessed. And they all decided to come to my side, surrounding me from every angle, overwhelming me.

The wolf who had killed my mother shot me a glare that was just as vicious as his fangs. “Stand up.”

Even if he was now speaking, the words came out as a growl. “Wha-what… are you?” I heard myself ask, still unable to move. “Are you wolves? Are you men?”

Another of the creatures laughed, but there was no kindness or amusement in the sound. “Both.”

And as I looked into his eyes, I somehow knew I wasn’t going to wake up from this nightmare anytime soon. In fact, my torment had only just begun.

Two

Jax

I was chopping wood when it happened. I dropped the axe and doubled over in pain. It felt like an invisible knife had been plunged right through my heart. I fell to my knees, breathing heavily, trying to control myself, but it was futile. The pain… The pain didn’t fade.

“It’s not real,” I mumbled. “It’s not real, this isn’t happening.” And then the invisible knife stabbed me again, and I knew… I knew my brother was gone.

Chase was dead.

I threw my head back and howled at the sky. Two other howls rose above the cabins, the trees, and the mountains, and I knew that my two other brothers, Reid and Thorn, had felt it too – the moment Chase’s soul had left his body. I howled again, and they howled with me. Reid must have been out, hunting, and God knew where Thorn was. I recognized his voice, and it sounded like he was far, far away, maybe at the south border of our land. We each gave three long, pained howls, then I jumped to my feet. Forgetting about the axe and the firewood, I removed my clothes in a hurry, almost tearing them to shreds. Naked, I rushed into the woods, shifting as I ran, my bare feet turning into huge, heavy paws as they hit the ground, my body bending forward and falling on all fours. My vision sharpened, and my nose took in all the scents of the forest, looking for the only one that mattered – my dead brother’s scent.

I was going to avenge his death. I was going to find his killers and make them pay for what they’d done to him, for taking him away from our pack. We were the Woodwards. We’d lived here for generations, owning these woods and these mountains, building our homes at high altitudes, away from prying eyes. We were wolf shifters, and even though we despised humans, we’d never hurt a single one of their species. The humans, instead… They’d been hunting wild beasts for too long. We’d stayed out of their way for too long, thinking they would simply go away. Not anymore. They’d taken one of ours, this time. The show was over. They had to pay. They were scum. From this day on, the Woodwards would not allow them to step foot on our land anymore. The time for justice had come.

Reid and Thorn joined me in minutes. In our wolf forms,