Chapter 124: My wolf.
Leilani.
"No... no!" Chalice stuttered, her face turning into a bright shade of pink. She glared at me for a very brief second before she turned to Zevran and gritted out; "My nickname isn’t Candy and I don’t know why Leilani here keeps calling me that."
Maybe I was just twisted or maybe I had fully embraced my villain arc because as soon as I heard her words and saw how terribly she was struggling for words, I felt satisfied. So satisfied that a wide smile cracked my face.
"I never knew you hated that name this badly," I said again, chuckling when her gaze went from dark to pleading in an instant. She cried;
"I don’t know what you’re talking about!"
"Oh, no you do!" I answered gravelly, flashing her a smile despite the way her parents glared at me with open contempt. I added; "You do... but don’t worry, I’m too ill to argue with you right now, so you’ll just have to wait until I get your present."
The way she nearly fell to her knees gave me all the satisfaction that I needed... and more. She turned away from me to drape an arm around Zevran, but as soon as she touched him, he shrugged her off and turned to me, his eyes thinning in suspicion.
He seethed; "Leilani, what are you after?"
And for the first time, I couldn’t hide it. I didn’t even want to sugarcoat it. I simply drawled; "Your downfall."
Mom and Chalice gasped, and while Dad and Zevran looked like they were about to have constipation, Jarek was obviously entertained. He leaned against the wall, smiling as he took in the scene with keen interest.
Sometimes, he’d whistle when I said something he liked, and other times, he’d simply nod, as if telling me to go on.
"Leilani, don’t be stupid!"
That was Chalice, the whore. The two faced bitch who has made my life nothing but a living hell. I smiled at her but for some reason, she didn’t return the smile. Instead she cowered behind her father, with tears pooling in her eyes as she glared at me.
"You don’t have the power to bring down my fiancés so stop with your half-assed threats."
"I may not easily bring them down, but you..." I let my voice trail off, watching as she frowned before turning away from me totally. "Also, you don’t want to know how stupid I can be, do you?"
My tone held a tinge of mockery... or warning; and she instantly guessed it because she then clamped her mouth shut and lowered her lashes, trembling slightly when I wouldn’t stop glaring at her.
For the first time since the Big Bang occurred, Chalice looked at me with pleading eyes, tears spilling from her eyes as she turned to Father and cried;
"Let’s go and see Kael. Forget about Leilani please."
"You’ve not told me why she keeps calling you Candy!" Zevran seethed just as Father spat too;
"Why do you seem so afraid of her?"
"Because, Mr Blackthorne and Alpha Stormborn, your woman here seems to have a sweet tooth." Jarek butted in, whilst draping his arm possessively around my shoulders.
I watched Zevran as his eyes followed Jarek’s hands. I noticed the way his frown deepened when I— the firecracker— leaned impossibly closer to Jarek and placed my hand over his chest.
Just then, Jay glanced at me with a soft smile, his eyes glinting with mischief as he raised his head to meet Zevran’s gaze and drawled; "Maybe you should get to know your woman very well before your wedding. I heard she loves tons and tons of candy."
Chalice’s face crumpled again, and goddess, it took everything in me not to laugh at her.
Seeing her like this— so lost, so frightened— made me extremely giddy, and maybe you all would call me a witch now, but it was the cutest thing I’ve seen today.
At Jarek’s words, everyone turned to Candy— I mean Chalice— and she instinctively dropped her head, mumbling under her breath;
"Let’s go!"
I then made a mental note to text Agnes as soon as we left this place because I needed my ’present’ for her to be complete by the time of her— their— wedding. And I needed to see just how she would react to everything I had in store for her if something as minor as this was capable of getting so deep under her skin.
Seeing as I had nothing left to say to them, I made to walk away but as soon I brushed past father, he grabbed my wrist firmly and spat darkly in my face; "The next time you try to bully Chalice in my presence..." he seethed, but before he could finish, I clucked my tongue at him, whilst meeting his gaze with one just as dark and menacing.
"Or what, papa bear?" I snarled, "...you will tie me down and ask strangers to beat me to death? Or will you.. will you drain me clean of my blood? Or perhaps, ask the triplets to kill me?" I said slowly, hating the way my voice became thick with emotions as I said those words, and hating myself more for letting those terrible memories rush into my head at a time like this.
Father’s face crumpled slowly, and before he looked away, I saw shame in his eyes— shame as bright as day. Well, he wouldn’t know real shame until I taught him one.
However, just as fast as his face fell, he quickly regained his composure and drawled; "Dare me."
"Dare me too," I answered coldly, "...then you’ll find out the hard way just how mad my wolf can be."
I spat, almost laughing in his face when he gasped as if in surprise.
"You—"
"Oh, you didn’t think I was still wolfless did you? You thought it was one of those days where you’ll hit me and I’ll simply let you? You must be joking!" I hissed, and I saw the effects my words had on him
His face contorted into an ugly frown, his eyes thinning before he clamped down harder on my wrist. I wished there and then that the stupid weird strength I’d woken up with earlier today would return... but it didn’t.
His hold was getting tighter... it was crushing my bones, making it hard to breathe.
Frustrated, I cried out in pain and twisted my arm, screaming; "Let go of me, you bully!"
And then—
The next thing I heard was gasps. Several gasps. Everyone gasped as they stared at me weirdly. Even mother looked like she’d just seen a ghost.
A frown formed on my face as I turned around to cast one last glance at Father, but to my utmost surprise, he was sprawled on the floor with his hand twisted in a weird angle and his face twisted in a way that depicted that he was in so much pain— not like I cared.
It took me a moment to understand what just happened, and when it did, I smiled, for I knew that my prayer was answered; though it came with a price: it came with everyone staring at me like I was a monster.
Like I was a freak.
Guess, I could live with that.
However, before anyone could talk, Jarek came over to pick me up. Like hell, he didn’t even hold my hand this time, he literally carried me bridal style out of there.
Chalice was the most stunned amongst everyone. Her mouth hung open in shock, and I... seizing this opportunity let my feet brush against her dress, staining it as Jarek walked past her.
She screamed out in frustration and anger, her already bright pink face reddening even more as she pointed at me. "You did that intentionally. Didn’t you?" She yelled, but I could only smile.
And then I slapped my hand over my chest, as if surprised, before muttering; "I’m so sorry, Candy!"
She groaned.