First Lesson (V)

This time, Cinder attacked Raul slightly below the first attack while Max still chomped down at the same spot.

He had not liked the feel of the first bite so he wanted to try a slightly different angle. He tiled this head a bit and used more force, immediately feeling satisfied when he could feel something hard underneath.

"Down," he heard his Alpha commanded and he reluctantly let go.

This time, he had some chewy bits in his mouth and he started munching but stopped when he saw the fist in front of his face.

"No," his Alpha said and touched his mouth.

Max whined a bit.

No?

"No," his Alpha's voice was firmer and Max reluctantly spit out that piece in his mouth.

It was such a small piece.

Why not?

He almost swallowed it, too.

The taste wasn't that great but it wasn't that bad either.

Max looked at his Alpha, feeling a bit aggrieved and wanting to whine more - but that thought went out of his mind immediately upon seeing his favourite snack in his Alpha's hand.

Cinder threw the meatball at Max, who deftly caught it in his mouth and ate happily.

"Good boy," Cinder stated, emphasizing the reward.

Max was happy.

So his Alpha didn't want him to eat the piece earlier but gave him this instead.

This was far better than that chewy bit anyway.

Raul, seeing a piece of his thigh on the ground, was as frozen in his heart as his body was.

He knew he was going to die.

But his death was slow, long, and painful.

He was already in intense pain from the broken dick, and now, he's slowly being eaten. No, bitten.

At that moment, he remembered all the stories of torture that the King of the Underworld did to those who betrayed him or who dared to make a move on him.

Buried to the neck, then syrup being poured over them so as to attract the ants.

Being buried alive.

Not to mention, skinning a human and hanging the skin like a trophy.

Raul realised then that the King must have told Ice to make his death slow, and painful.

He was jealous of his subordinates that managed to die quickly.

His was slow torture. Full of pain. Full of misery.

Worse, he could do nothing.

"You're doing well, but make sure your shin is at a 45-degree angle," Ice's voice cut through the air, "As well as your arm, as you sprint forward."

"Yes, Father," Cinder replied and got back into position.

After experimenting a few more times, Cinder found that he preferred the 3-point start.

He didn't have to waste time taking out his knife - which also made him have to shave off some seconds of speed and was not in the optimum position. With the knife already in his hand, he only needed to get out of position once he reached his target.

Which was when he didn't need the speed anymore, anyway.

He needed to figure out another way to give Max the hint when to attack as giving the verbal command would be detrimental if they were sneaking up on someone.

The element of surprise would be gone.

So, he sat down, crossing his legs as he pondered on this issue. He stared at Raul, who was still managing to stand up despite his two legs being so torn up that one could see the bone peeking through.

Surprisingly, Cinder did not feel repulsed by the sight and found it fascinating instead. Perhaps it was due to the fact that the damage was done by his own pet, and he was proud of it.

The cuts he had made on the man's chest were shallow, as he did not want to kill the guy. He did not have a good enough grasp of the human anatomy to make sure that his strikes did not cause death.

Though the man would probably die of blood loss soon anyway.

Ice could see the serious look on Cinder's face and knew that he was thinking of something deeply. Thus, he didn't say anything more but walked over to Raul silently.

Fyre followed, of course.

She tilted her head and looked at her son's handiwork.

"It's not bad," she said, with a small smile as her fingers ran over all the wounds on Raul's chest.

Ice nodded in agreement.

"If he had used more force, it would have been a killing blow," Ice stated, "Though some would have been slightly difficult as he would need to cut through bone."

"Shall we put him out of his misery now?" Fyre asked.

Raul felt he could kiss her at that moment.

Yes. Please.

Let him die.

Then the pain would stop.

Seeing Ice purse his lips, Fyre kissed him on the cheek, "I know, I know. It's hardly enough considering what he had done but it's Cinder's first real outing."

Ice sighed and ran a hand through his hair, showing how agitated she truly was.

"Fine," he finally said as he agreed with his wife.

Today's outing was truly too easy. There was hardly any fight and his bloodlust wasn't truly fulfilled.

Still, he understood what his wife was saying.

It was easy for Ice to forget that Cinder is only seven years old. Though he wanted to desensitize his son with such violence, it had to be done properly so that he wouldn't turn out to be too cruel - or, if introducing it too early would mean he would get nightmares from it.

This was why the deaths so far had been the quick and easy type, rather than the gory and violent type.

Except for Raul.

Even then, there was no sound or the normal reaction of a person in pain. So the effect was less.

Like watching a horror movie without the sound on, makes the scene less scary.

"You're such a doll," Fyre said, taking Ice's face in her hands then proceeded to give him a deep and passionate kiss - which, naturally, Ice returned as well as he held her close to him with his hands around her waist.

Raul was whimpering internally.

Could they just kill him already?!

✿ Author posts on WN and neovel ✿

"Come on, son," Ice said, breaking Cinder from his thoughts.

Max was lying down with his head on Cinder's lap, and Cinder was absentmindedly scratching him behind the ear as he was thinking. Hearing his father's voice, Cinder blinked and looked up.

Fyre bent down and ruffled his hair, "It's getting late. Your grandparents would be worried if we take you out too long."

At that, Ice scoffed, "More like they'd be giving me the third degree for doing so."

He already got an earful after he told them that he had taken their grandson out.

"They know?" Cinder asked in surprise.

"Yes, of course," Fyre replied, "They would be in a panic if they find you missing, wouldn't they?"

"Then what's the point of me sneaking out?" Cinder asked in a huff, getting up.

Ice snorted again, not perturbed by his indignance, "Well, if they caught you when you sneaked out, you wouldn't be worthy of the outing now, would you?"

Cinder shrugged, thinking his father had a point.

Then, he looked at the warehouse again.

The man that he had been using as attack practise was lying down, his eyes closed. Obviously, already dead.

Other than the injuries that he and Max had given him, Cinder couldn't see how he had died. Actually, if it wasn't for the injuries, one would think that he was just asleep.

Not that he really cared how the man had died. He was just curious.

Ice didn't say anything either.

If his son asked, he would tell.

If not, he wouldn't venture any information either.

"When can we do this again?" Cinder asked as he followed his parents obediently.

"Soon," Ice replied.

"How soon is soon?" Cinder asked.

"Soon enough," Ice replied.

"That doesn't say much," CInder complained.

"It says enough," Ice replied.

"Hardly," Cinder argued.

"Sufficient," Ice replied.

"Inadequate," Cinder countered.

"For you, not for me," Ice replied, this time, accompanied with a snort.

Fyre rolled her eyes at this exchange. Sometimes, her husband can be such a baby, deliberately dragging the thing along just to tease his son.

"There are other dens to clear up," Fyre told him, "But we need to space it out for you. Once every two days."

"But they can escape at that time!" Cinder retorted.

Ice immediately appeared beside Cinder and whacked the back of his head, "Watch your tone. That's your mother you're speaking to."

Cinder rubbed the back of his head and apologized, "Sorry, Mother."

Ice nodded in satisfaction.

Cinder can talk back to him, but he'll hang his son by his legs if he was ever rude to his mother.

"They won't escape," Fyre told him.

"How come?" Cinder asked.

"Because your mother only said that you need to space it out," Ice replied, getting on his motorcycle.

Cinder pouted as he realised what his parents meant. He grabbed Max and stuffed him into the backpack while thinking that his parents had all the fun.

He couldn't wait to get older.