From Mother to Monster

From Mother to Monster


GINGER

My heart was thumping so hard I could feel it in my toes as I watched the stare down between Lincoln and Zelda take place. Never had he raised his voice to her before, not once in all our years. She was probably gonna have a heart attack.

I mean, I remember him being angry when we were young and arguing with her about things that she made him do, but that’s as far as it went. He never threw tantrums or called her names the way I’d seen a lot of the more spoiled Alpha children from the other packs do when they were upset. No. Even as a youth, Lincoln had a quiet way about him, a silent fury that would radiate in everything he did when he was mad, but as an outsider, you wouldn’t even know it unless you took the time to look into his eyes. There, he carried a ferocious energy, fire and darkness and all the things that probably made him perfect for that Academy Ghost always talks about. Back then, he never would have even dreamed of shouting at his mother.

But here…now…he’s shocked her into a stupor.

After a tense moment in which I actually thought I could differentiate everyone’s breathing just on the strength of their inhales alone, Zelda finally spoke. “It wasn't me. I didn't order this. How could I? I didn't even know she was coming."

That's right. She didn't.

However, Lincoln brushed if off, unconvinced. "It was you."

Zelda laughed shortly, placing a hand over her chest where her heart might pump if it weren't dead, then taking on an almost comical expression of innocence as she continued to deny her involvement. "How could I possibly? I have been here all this time." With a quick glance down at the lamb head, she said, "And where on Earth would I get a rotten lamb's head anyway?"

"From the freezer. In the garage. Back at our house," Alpha Mario supplied in a bored voice, speaking up for the first time as he cut into his food. "The same place you keep all the bad meat you make Ginger eat."

Zelda's face twisted into a sneer. "I don't---make---her eat anything!"

"You did," Mario insisted. "At least twice a month."

"Wait a minute-" Rafael interrupted with a growl "-what am I hearing?" His head swiveled in Zelda's direction. "You fed her rotten meat on purpose? Was there a reason she couldn't choose to simply go hungry?"

Zelda opened her mouth. Closed it. Said nothing. Looked away.

"She did that too," Lincoln informed him. "Even though she served as their maid. For free."

Zelda snapped, "She already owed way more than she could have ever paid back."

Lincoln chuckled darkly, tilting his head back to glare at Giselle. "Well, if that's true, then she's not the only one."

"Lincoln, please!" Zelda whined. "Can we just skip to the part where she goes home with her uncle?"

I frowned, the reality of having to leave Lincoln in order to even see my home suddenly felt like a fist closing around my throat. A few minutes ago, I thought I wanted that. I thought I needed that. But now...
My head snapped up and I cast my gaze his way, panic striking me in my chest as I realized...I might not even be given the choice to stay. According to Common Pack Law, which is the law governing all packs equally, the law that all Alphas and Betas are charged with upholding - my being unmarked, unmated, and still under the age of twenty, puts my fate in the hands of the Alpha. The Alpha...of my natural pack. The Thunder Wolf Pack. That decision would fall on the shoulders of my uncle, whom may or may not be, my only living blood relative.
Shit! I don't know?! I don't even know if he's the only one!
How can I say no to going home when there is just so much that I have to learn about myself. A wealth of things that I was cheated out of ever knowing! Like what my mother sounded like, or what my father laughed like. When did they meet? How did they meet? Did they...love...each other? Would they have loved me?
What would Lincoln say if I told him I needed to go? Would he hate me? Would he move on from me?
Holy hell. I was getting a headache.
I glanced up only to find that Lincoln was already looking at me and the sad dark of his normally wild green gaze was like a promise of future pain.
Turning away, he spoke to Zelda, "She told me about school, mother." He shook his head, his jaw pulsing with tension. "The way you were keeping her was bad enough, but to prevent her from school? You do realize it is a crime to prevent an Alpha's offspring from completing school, correct? Under the Common Law, I have the right to arrest you right now and see you delivered to Circle City for a hearing." He shook his head and she gaped at him. "You should have just allowed her to move into the packhouse like I suggested in the first place."

He suggested? He did? I didn't know that.

Would life here have been any different if I hadn't been made to serve Zelda and her clone with my every waking breath?

No. Probably not. She would have found a way to get to me.

Zelda spoke from between her teeth, "This...is not a conversation that we should be having in front of our guests, Lincoln. Truly. Have you no shame?"

Lincoln laughed, "Oh, I most certainly do, and I'm looking at her."

Zelda jerked backward as if she'd been slapped, then stood and growled out, "I am not listening to any more of this. And I will not be eating this...thing. I...am leaving."

"Sit. The. Fuck. DOWN!" Lincoln yelled, causing a few at the table, including myself to flinch in surprise and Zelda to cower back into her chair.

She whimpered, reaching a hand out to Lincoln in which he promptly ignored. "How can you treat me this way, Lincoln? I am your mother! You are my son! I love you. I-”

“You love me? Do You?” Lincoln chuckled and Zelda’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Not sure if that’s a blessing or a curse. You loved Ginger once too, mother, and lit certainly didn't take much for you to piss that away."

"Lincoln-" Zelda began again, exhausted.

"You want to leave, mother? You want to be dismissed?" She nodded and he smiled, dimples deep and mischievous. "Fine. You answer this one question for me, and you can leave." Again, she nodded. Lincoln lost his smile. "What changed?"

"Changed?" Zelda repeated softly.

"Yes. What...changed? What turned you from mother to monster? What happened that made you hate her enough to feed her rotten meat and whip her whenever she ? The girl that you loved...what changed that had you wishing she was dead?"