Worm Food

Worm Food
MAX

Yvette practically leaps out of her seat as the rest of the car erupts into laughter, her eyes swirling with her wolf as hatred heats her gaze. “Corlys was strong and noble wolf!” she screams. “And his sacrifice should be appreciated! Not scorned!”

With a deep chuckle that I simply cannot hold back, I reply, “What sacrifice is that, Yvette? His life for no one’s? And noble? Please…Corlys was a fanatic! His words and beliefs were just as toxic as the poisons he created in that lab!” When Yvette simply yawns as if bored I see red, wanting to punish her for her contempt as well as the atrocity she committed this morning. “And because he is unable to answer for his crimes, you alone will be punished for them.”

“What?” Yvette snaps, her fangs slashing out as she half stands and poses to attack me. “You can’t do that!”

With a grin, I reply, “I can do any little goddessdamned thing I want, Yvette. I am the fucking Alpha. Now. Sit. The. Fuck. Down.”

She complies begrudgingly, lifting her chin with a howl of laughter as she says, “At least that Shiftless bitch is worm food. I can weather the storm happily bearing that knowledge.”

Crazy fucking bitch.

More than one growl rumbles through the vehicle at her statement, but mine is the one that sets a tremble in her bones as I lean in closer to her and sneer, my eyes heating until I know they’re glowing bright with my order. “You must not quite realize just how long that storm is about to last, Yvette. You see, Corlys is guilty of much more than just a few beatings. He was responsible for multiple poisonings, countless acts of treason, conspiracy to commit treason, conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping, torture, trespassing on my fucking estate, the list goes on and on.

“All of that is yours now. Your sacrifice to make. And…by the time you see daylight again it will be as a newborn pup.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

“That’s not fair,” she hisses, finally looking nervous. “I was never in control of any of that! In fact, I was wholly against all of the torture and the violence. I recommended he simply poison the girl and be done with it, not drag it out into all that. I suggested she receive a clean death. Not a brutal one. You cannot charge me with his crimes, it simply isn’t right!”

“A lot of things aren’t right,” I murmured with a shrug. “Meh.”

“Please Max! I have cared for your family for over fifteen years! Sweated and slaved! How can you justify such a thing? Was the girl truly that skilled in bed that you would punish me for her death this way? The death of a whore?”

Anger simmers within me at her dismissal of my angel’s worth. At her labeling of her. A girl so undeserving of that title that I am nearly tempted to tell Yvette who Blanca truly is.

Instead, I restrain myself, putting a pin on this moment for later, when I return to the prison to possibly torture this woman and opt for a much more civilized form of aggravation. Truth. 

With a wily smirk, I sit back and say smoothly, “Oh, that’s right, I guess I can’t charge you with Blanca’s murder after all, because in order to do that…she would have to be dead and…she isn’t.” Yvette frowns so deeply that it almost appears as if her lips are melting from her face for a moment and, all I can do is laugh, “Blanca is at the hospital, I carried her in myself after I beheaded your traitor of a boyfriend. Your psychotic boyfriend, might I add. With any luck, she has made a full recovery.” At least, I hope.
“What?” Yvette cries out. “No!”

“Yes,” I reply sternly, my eyes flaring with anger when I see how devastated she is by this news. “You see, young Alfred here-” I tip my chin in his direction “-one of Corlys’ favored students, finally saw his teacher flashing his true colors and decided to save her life, placing himself between a raving lunatic and his Shiftless victim.”

“No!” She hisses, glaring at the back of Alfred’s head. “Stupid boy! She was supposed to die!” Her gaze is panicked as she turns back to me and says, “She’ll corrupt you, Max! Just like that other one did your brother! Be rid of her!”

“What other one, Yvette? Who? What was the girl’s name?”

But she ignores me, clambering on, “You can’t allow her to live! You must kill her! She will ruin you! Why, just look what she’s done already! Your mother promised that I-”

“My mother-” I interrupt her, my voice cold “-would banish you for what you did today! My mother had no idea who you really were. So do not ever speak of her to me again. Her name is lost to you. Is that clear?”

“But Max-”

“No!” I growl out, snatching her by the throat with an iron grip so that I can pull her in close enough to whisper my next words. “My mother and her promise to you are the only reason why you are heading to the prison and not stretching your neck under the blade, and don’t you ever forget it.”