Captured Read online

  Eva Brandt and Cara Wylde

  Captured

  Primal Obsessions

  Copyright © 2020 by Eva Brandt and Cara Wylde

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book and on its cover are trade names, service marks, trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publishers and the book are not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. None of the companies referenced within the book have endorsed the book.

  Cover art by Emma Griffin. Cover is for illustrative purposes only.

  First edition

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  Contents

  Captured

  1. Isabel

  2. Jax

  3. Isabel

  4. Reid

  5. Thorn

  6. Isabel

  7. Thorn

  8. Jax

  9. Isabel

  10. Reid

  11. Jax

  12. Isabel

  13. Thorn

  14. Isabel

  15. Jax

  16. Isabel

  17. Reid

  18. Jax

  19. Isabel

  20. Thorn

  21. Jax

  22. Isabel

  About the Author

  Also by Eva Brandt and Cara Wylde

  Captured

  My name is Isabel, and I was born in a family of killers. For their crimes, I must now pay a terrible price.

  The brutes come for me after dark and tear apart everything I’ve known. I scream, cry, and crawl at their feet. It’s all in vain. They spare my life and take me as their slave, as their plaything, and when they get bored of me, they’ll throw me away.

  Jax, Reid, and Thorn. The wolves of the Woodward Pack. When they claim me, I feel whole again. Is it insanity? Is it obsession? I taste blood and tears in their kisses.

  They’ve taken my freedom, claimed my soul, and yet… I’m not sure I want to escape.

  Authors’ Note: This is a full, standalone dark romance story with no cliffhangers, and a happily-ever-after. Please be advised that it may contain situations that are triggering to some, profanity, and a lot of steam.

  One

  Isabel

  “Donald! Finally! I thought you were never going to get here! What took you so long?”

  My uncle extended his arms, a wide smile on his sharp, weathered face. My father laughed and went to hug his brother. “Sorry about that, Harry. Traffic’s been a beast.”

  “They’re here now, Harrison,” my aunt fussed. “Stop being a bad host.”

  She shuffled toward me and my mother, and kissed our cheeks. The scent of her expensive Italian perfume clashed heavily with the sight of the wild mountains that surrounded us from almost every direction. Standing in front of our summer home in a black cocktail dress, she looked as out of place as I felt.

  “Welcome, Georgia, Isabel,” she said. “Oh, Isabel, look at you. You’ve grown so much since I’ve seen you last. Why, at this rate, by the time we meet again, you’ll have started a family of your own.”

  I forced a smile, although I didn’t appreciate the dig at my romantic life. I didn’t appreciate any of them, period, and I hated the fact that my parents had dragged me on this horrible trip. But my university classes had just ended, and my father had refused to let me stay home, despite my trying to convince him otherwise for one whole month.

  “You’re going and that’s final, Isabel,” he had said. “And you’ll be pleasant. Don’t forget, we still pay your tuition.”

  I hated them so much, but I consoled myself with the fact that I’d graduate soon. Hopefully, once that happened, I’d be able to get a job. Hell, I’d even take flipping burgers over this clusterfuck.

  But for now, I had to grit my teeth and bear it. “Hi, Aunt Melinda. You look well. Did Rich and Emmett come too?”

  I had no desire to talk to my awful cousins, but they had their uses. If I brought them up, chances were that their mother would get distracted and stop talking about me.

  It worked – and it didn’t. My uncle answered in her stead. “Oh, yes. They’re inside, getting ready.”

  The expression on his face made my stomach turn, and I knew what he was talking about. My father guessed too because he laughed. “Gotta love the enthusiasm of the young.”

  I didn’t say anything. I didn’t think I could have spoken to save my life. I just allowed my mother and my aunt to guide me into the house, feeling exhausted.

  They’d already started gossiping about the latest scandals that had shaken our immediate circle of friends, but I paid them no heed. I wondered how long I’d have to endure this before I could make my escape for the night and lock myself in my room.

  Outside, I could hear the sound of male laughter. “Which ones are we taking today, Dad?”

  “Well, you know what I always say. You can’t go wrong with a Remington.”

  “I’m personally fonder of my old Ruger 77. But you boys can try out the other rifles. Take your pick until you find the gun that best works for you.”

  “You think we’ll see any bears?”

  “Haven’t heard of any sightings lately, but I could be wrong. Anyway, I had other plans for today. Some pretty nasty wolves nearby. I reckon it’s time to get rid of the infestation.”

  I wanted to cover my ears so that I wouldn’t have to listen to them, but I knew better than to think it would work. This disgusting thing always happened whenever they came here, and it followed me no matter where I went.

  This house was a summer residence our family shared, built by my father and my uncle when they’d been younger, before I’d even been born. Massive and luxurious, it was situated in the Appalachian Mountains, next to a beautiful lake. The locals called it Black Diamond Lake, because of the stone formations that occasionally popped out from the water. On moonlit nights, the stones seemed to glow, giving the lake an almost mystical feel.

  When I’d been a child, before I’d understood how things really worked around here, I’d liked to go swimming in the beautiful, peaceful waters. I’d felt as if I was a princess, with magic dancing at my fingertips.

  But I wasn’t a child anymore, and I now realized there was no magic here. This house was actually hiding something deep and foul. While on paper, it was supposed to be a holiday home for us to relax, in practice, it was more like headquarters, allowing the male members of my family to indulge in their hunting habit.

  A lot of the land here belonged to my family, but the nearby forests didn’t. Half the time, they didn’t care. They didn’t care about hunting season either. If someone spotted them, my father just paid them off and got away with it. The only evidence left behind was the stuffed animals that adorned each and every one of our homes.

  I stared at the massive deer head mounted on the wall and felt like I was going to be sick. This had been such a bad idea. I should have never gone along with what my parents had wanted. I should have ignored the threats and stayed at home. They wouldn’t have cut me off. They couldn’t afford the scandal.

  God, when was I ev er going to learn?

  “Isabel?” my mother called out. “Are you all right, honey?”

  I looked toward her and realized that at one point when I hadn’t been paying attention, my mother and my aunt had both turned toward me. I suppressed my disgust and did my best to not show how much the conversation outside had affected me.

  “I’m fine. I’m just a little distracted. Long days at school. You know how it is.”

  “Of course, dear,” my mother answered. “Do you want to go lie down? It’ll be a while until your father comes back. We’ll come get you when dinner is ready.”

  If I hadn’t been so upset about this whole, dreadful day, I might have been tempted to hug her. Instead, I offered her a tiny shaky smile. “Thanks, Mother. I’ll do that. I’m sure I’ll feel better later.”

  That much was true, at least. Over time, I’d grown more or less used to my family’s habits. I still despised them, but I was better at hiding it. I’d only confronted them about it once, when I’d been fifteen and still clinging to the illusion that I could get them to see sense. My father had laughed in my face. That day, he’d killed a whole family of bears, including the cubs. Their bodies were now stuffed, corpses to be used as decorations.

  I hadn’t tried again.

  Judging by Aunt Melinda’s expression, she wasn’t fooled by my attempt to remain calm. Even so, she didn’t say anything about it – not to my face. When I turned away from them, I heard her whisper something to my mother. “You have to do something about that girl, Georgia. She just has the weirdest ideas.”

  “It’ll get better once she’s married. I’m sure…”

  I didn’t wait to hear the rest of the conversation. I made a beeline for my room and burst inside like a whirlwind. Tears already streaming down my cheeks, I collapsed on my bed, face down.

  The expensive Egyptian sheets felt like gravel on my skin. I wanted to scream. I wanted to claw my eyes out. I wanted to run away and never come back.

  But I was trapped here, unable to escape. Some days, I felt just as dead inside as those stuffed animals, only pretending to be alive for my family’s amusement.

  “If I don’t get out of here, I’m going to lose my mind,” I mumbled under my breath.

  Hell, maybe I’d already lost it, since I’d started talking to myself.

  With some effort, I managed to drag myself out of bed and into the bathroom. I slid out of my clothes and turned on the shower. As I stepped under the stream, I willed the water to wash away the filth left behind by the memories.

  It didn’t work, but I didn’t expect it to. The resentment and disgust would always be there, a festering wound that was poisoning me alive.

  By the time I got out of the shower, I felt even more tired than before, and I had a pounding migraine on top of that. I looked into my wardrobe and extracted an outfit at random. I got dressed on autopilot, relying on the instructions my mother had hammered into my head since I’d been old enough to walk.

  When I was done, I stared at myself in the mirror, feeling like a puppet on strings. Why had I come here? Why couldn’t I escape? Why was I so afraid of them?

  An explosion of noise coming from outside startled me from my thoughts. First, there was the sound of an approaching jeep. Then, male laughter again. My cousins’ cheers reached me even through the closed French doors of my balcony. “Hell yeah! That was awesome!”

  There were moments in life when you knew you shouldn’t do something, but you just couldn’t help yourself. Today, that was exactly what happened. My body moved of its own accord. I got up and made my way to the balcony. And as I walked outside, I saw it.

  My family was coming back, and their hunt had been successful. They were currently busy unloading a dead wolf from the car.

  It was massive, bigger than any wolf I’d seen before. Its fur was jet black, reminding me of the Black Diamond Lake. For a few seconds, there was something beautiful and majestic about the sight of the animal, like the magic I’d imagined I could find in the water. And then, I blinked, and the beautiful sight of the magnificent beast turned into a grotesque spectacle.

  The body was mostly in one piece. Of course it was, because my father wouldn’t want to damage his trophy. But there was blood splattered all over its black fur, and as my family struggled to carry it out of the truck, it spilled over their hands. Congealed clumps of dark scarlet landed on Emmett’s face, but he didn’t seem to mind. His face was flushed, but it was because of triumph and not just exertion.

  “This is the best catch we’ve had in ages. I can’t believe our luck.”

  “I know,” my father said. “Good job at spotting it. Your aim was impeccable.”

  “He got lucky,” Richard grumbled. Was he jealous? It almost seemed like it. “I could have sworn that thing heard us when we approached.”

  “Well, it doesn’t matter now,” my uncle replied. “Come on. Let’s take it to the workshop.”

  With that, the four men carried the massive wolf into the taxidermy workshop. I went back to my room, feeling even worse than before.

  Please, God, help me survive this.

  * * *

  Dinner was excruciating. All my family could talk about was the amazing hunt. Oh, they weren’t rude to me, but that just made it even worse. Emmett and Richard greeted me politely and then decided to regale me with the tale of their bravery.

  “You should have seen it, Isabel,” Emmett said. “It was the largest fucking wolf I’ve ever run into in my life. It must have weighed as much as I do.”

  “Didn’t even know wolves could grow that big,” Richard offered. He’d gotten over his jealousy pretty quickly and was now just as enthusiastic about their success. “I wonder if we can go back to look for more. I want to get my hands on one of those fucking beasts too.”

  “Don’t swear at the table, boys,” Melinda chastised them with an indulgent smile. “And there’s plenty of time for you to hunt more and for Isabel to see today’s creature. We’ve only just arrived.”

  I hated her. How could she encourage this disgusting behavior? How couldn’t she see how wrong it was?

  “Plenty of time, right,” I said between gritted teeth. I stabbed a potato on my plate with such viciousness the porcelain almost cracked. “I look forward to it.”

  The sarcasm went over my father’s head, or maybe he just decided to ignore it. “Happy to hear it, Isabel. I was actually thinking of starting to teach you a few techniques too. After all, there’s no rule to say you can’t learn how to hunt if you’re a woman.”

  I stared at him in horror, unable to believe my ears. My father wasn’t exactly a strong supporter of feminist ideals. I didn’t like his attitude, but the one good thing that had come out of it was the fact that he’d never shown interest in involving me in the family hobby.

  Apparently, he’d decided that was going to change.

  Hell no! It was bad enough that I had to witness it and couldn’t do anything about it. But to actually kill these animals with my own hands? I’d rather die.

  I must have said at least some of that out loud, because my father narrowed his eyes at me. “You’re assuming I’m going to give you a choice. You know better than that, Isabel.”

  Awkward silence fell over the dining room. I bit the inside of my cheek so hard it bled. “Father, be honest. Do you really think I can shoot a gun? I’m more likely to blow my head off.”

  “It’ll take time, but you’re an excellent student,” he replied, waving his hand. “I…”

  He didn’t finish the sentence. The sound of a crash cut him off. After that, everything happened so fast.

  We barely had the chance to put down our cutlery and look toward the source of the noise. The next thing I knew, three massive wolves were bursting into the dining room.

  They rushed straight through the heavy wooden door, sending wood splinters flying all over the place. That alone would have been scary, but within seconds, it became obvious that wood splinters were the least of our concerns.