Page 23 of The Wolf and the Chimera (The Witch and the Cowboy #3)

Ryder

Elle elbowed me in the ribs and jumped out of my arms. My breath hitched, but not with pain. Fear overwhelmed me, and across the snowy, icy terrain, I lunged for my mate.

I could still smell the smoke from the flames that had overtaken Elle’s yacht. The dying screams of her parents echoed in my mind.

Lee and Imogen Riley were dead.

A trick, I thought. This has to be a trick.

Elle raced toward her parents faster than I had ever seen her move, but I caught up to her in a few strides, gripped her waist, and tugged her behind me. I snarled at the witch—Circe—who now stood only a few feet away. Just like Elle’s, her magic smelled like jasmine and pulsed in the air.

Elle’s father, tall, lithe, and golden-skinned, reached for the blade strapped to his thigh, and I snarled. His wife, a blonde, blue-eyed woman dressed in the same all-black material as him, reached for his hand and shook her head.

Elle beat against my back and cursed with vitriol I had never experienced from her. I didn’t care. My wolf didn’t care.

This is a trap.

“Get your hands off my daughter,” Lee Riley spat. His scowl was downright wolfish.

Elle bellowed and thrashed, but I didn’t take my gaze off the man before me. I didn’t trust that any of this was real.

If it were fake, it would crush my Elle .

“Ryder?” Kieran asked. “Aren’t they who we came here for?”

Without looking at him, I growled. My wolf didn’t care for his actions to be questioned in front of potential enemies.

“Easy there, Alpha,” Circe purred, “or I’ll turn you into a pup and keep you as a lapdog for the next millennia.”

My words were garbled by my elongated canines. “You smell like her. How am I supposed to trust that this isn’t a trap? That those are really my mate’s parents?”

Circe’s saccharine smile dropped. “I am not Medea.”

Elle’s breath caught, and I braced myself for the sorceress to unleash herself upon us, but nothing happened. Circe chuckled.

“See?” the magical woman asked. “That wretch has no place in my realm.”

Were we really safe from the sorceress?

I squashed the hope in my heart. Even if we were, it only proved Circe’s power. If the ancient witch was capable of exiling the sorceress, the gods knew what else she was capable of and what kind of illusions she could concoct.

“Elle’s favorite color is purple,” Imogen said quietly. Her tired, blue eyes bored into mine. “She loves reading, anything from history to science to romance novels. She prefers a night light, though she doesn’t like to admit it, and she talks in her sleep.”

Against my back, Elle sobbed, and Imogen stepped closer. My fear and worry cracked, not only because of how well this woman knew Elle, but because of the love shining in her eyes. I glanced at Circe, whose gaze was cunning and cold.

Powerful or not, the witch couldn’t have faked such maternal devotion.

With a shaky breath, I let Elle go.

?? ?

Elle

As soon as Ryder released me, I barreled into my parents’ arms and wept. My heart ached so violently, I wondered if it would burst from my chest. I inhaled my dad’s cologne and wrapped myself in its familiarity.

Despite that I stood in a different dimension, I had returned home.

The word prompted me to glance over my shoulder, at the werewolf who tracked my every movement. Though I had railed against him, he had only been trying to protect me, like he always did.

Something about needing him to protect me irked me more than usual. My own weakness prickled my skin, but I shoved down the feeling. I should’ve been grateful to have someone as strong and devoted as Ryder to protect me.

The sky could’ve fallen, and I still would have been Ryder’s first priority.

Even now, his body was stiff with the effort to stay back and let me have my moment with my parents.

Where you go, I go.

“Mom,” I said and swallowed. “Dad. This is Ryder.”

I couldn’t bring myself to call him my mate. The label was still too foreign on my tongue, but I wanted him in this moment with me.

I wanted him by my side.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Dad said.

Though his face didn't match his words, Dad stuck out his callused hand. Placing his other hand on the small of my back, Ryder didn’t hesitate to shake it. He murmured a greeting to my mother, but she surprised usby pulling him into a hug.

“Thank you for keeping her safe,” she said.

As the two people who loved more fiercely than anyone I had ever known embraced, my heart squeezed. I gestured for the other werewolves to join us, and they did, though they eyed Circe cautiously. The witch studied us all with an impassive expression.

“This is Kieran, Bo, and Melanie,” I told Mom and Dad. I smiled at Kieran. “They’re my pack.”

“As heartwarming as this is,” Circe said and crossed her arms. “We have business to attend to.”

Without offering further information, she turned on her heel and walked toward her towering castle of ice.

I wanted to argue. I had just been reunited with my parents after believing them to be dead.

Mom, however, offered the slightest shake of her head.

I remembered the witch's power and assauged my frustrations by studying my parents.

My living, breathing parents.

We followed Circe, and I studied the castle’s artfully crafted towers and domes. Columns surrounded the building and upheld its massive structure. Centaurs, lions, Pegasi, and wolves were carved into the broad expanses of the eave.

The bluish-white structures glittered under the sun that now poked through the clouds. The storm had ended as soon as Circe arrived.

Was the ancient witch powerful enough to determine the weather in her realm?

As we walked through the double doors, warm magic tingled against my skin. My soggy shoes, running tights, and thin shirt dried. Power buzzed in the air, and the wolves growled.

“What was I supposed to do?” Circe asked. “Let you drip water all over my home?”

“It is made of ice,” Ryder grumbled.

Though a smile tugged at my lips, I elbowed him in the ribs. Mom looked over her shoulder and eyed us with interest, and I stiffened. For so long it had just been the three of us. I wanted Ryder beside me, but looping someone else into our circle was awkward.

Instead of meeting Mom’s gaze, I studied the glacial entryway.

In the broad hallway, artwork adorned the walls, and despite being made of ice, the floor was not slick.

We journeyed deeper into the castle and passed a courtyard, separated from the interior by more towering pillars.

Now that I was dry, the cold had abated, and I wondered how the castle held its shape in the comfortable temperatures.

As we approached a bend in the hall, a musky scent hung in the air, and the werewolves halted and growled. Ryder jerked in front of me with his claws out, and Kieran, Melanie, and Bo surrounded me. My parents faced us with confused expressions that mirrored my own.

“What is that scent?” Kieran demanded.

“It’s musky,” I muttered.

Ryder arched a brow. “You can smell it?”

Around the corner, something snarled.

Circe sighed. “Please try not to fit the stereotypes and fight like cats and dogs. My pets won’t bother you if you don’t bother them.”

“It’s safe,” Dad promised. His dark eyes glittered. “I wouldn’t bring my daughter to a place that wasn’t.”

Ryder and the other wolves hesitated, and I gently grasped Ryder’s arm. Odd smell or not, we desperately needed to learn whatever Circe knew.

“C’mon,” I said. “If Dad says it’s safe, then it’s safe.”

Ryder grumbled something under his breath but relented. After retracting his claws, he grasped my hand, and we followed Circe through an archway and into a domed room.

As I met the amber gaze of a monstrously large male lion, my breath caught in my throat.

Ryder squeezed my hand, and the other wolves pressed closer to me.

The beast lounged on a red velvet chaise and studied us for only a moment before lowering his head to rest on his paws. His golden mane gleamed.

Three other lions prowled around the room, each of them large and muscular and utterly bored. Next to a burning fireplace, one yawned and exposed its huge teeth.

Melanie’s blue eyes shone with power. “Why are there lions everywhere? ”

“The legends are true,” Bo said in his quiet, deep voice. “You really can turn men into beasts—permanently.”

Circe chuckled. “Oh, honey, these beasts aren’t men—I turn those nasty creatures into pigs.”

Though I hadn’t expected the ancient witch to be a damsel, her power alarmed me.

Aside from the lions, flames burned in an icy fireplace without melting anything.

From the domed ceiling, in the center of the mural that depicted ancient battles and winged creatures hung a ball of orange light, which glowed like a miniature sun.

“Your power,” I whispered. “It’s strong enough to rival that of the sorceress.”

Circe rolled her eyes and walked toward the chaise. She shooed the lion, and he bounded off the furniture with a groan.

“The sorceress,” Circe mocked. “Such a ridiculous title she gave herself, but my niece always had a flare for the dramatics. Please, sit. We have much to discuss.”

With a snap of her fingers, two ornately crafted chairs appeared across from the chaise, as well as another couch.

Ryder led me to the corner of the couch farthest from Circe.

Rather than sharing the chaise with the witch, Melanie, Bo, and Kieran squeezed onto the couch beside us, and my parents claimed the two chairs.

I tried to ignore the way my father eyed the gap between us.

What did he expect me to do? Sit on his lap like a child?

After our time separated, part of me wanted to, but the stronger part of me insisted on not showing weakness in front of Circe.

Luckily, Circle launched into the discussion without preamble.

“With my aid,” she said, “you can destroy Medea before she destroys the world.”

“How?” Ryder insisted.

Circe arched a dark brow. “I had forgotten how impatient shifters are.”

Shifters, I noted, not werewolves .

“There really did used to be more than just werewolves?” I asked. “Were chimeras once more than mere vessels for powerful beings? For the sorceress?”

Despite Circe’s assurances that Medea couldn’t harm us here, I couldn’t bring myself to speak the sorceress’s name.

“What?” Kieran asked.

“There are other shapeshifting creatures?” Melanie asked.

“Elle,” Mom said, “how did you learn that?”

“She snuck into the Sovereign’s library,” Circe said and smiled. “A brave thing to do for a girl with no control over her magic.”

Dad’s gaze flashed to Ryder. “You let her do what?”

I bristled. “He doesn’t let me do anything. I’m an adult.”

Even though having to say so makes me feel like a child.

My guilt and frustration battled. I didn't want to be short with Dad after just getting him back, but every time he treated me like I was made of glass, my skin crawled.

“Lee,” Mom chided.

“Why didn’t you tell us what you learned?” Kieran asked.

I winced, but Ryder didn’t shy from his brother’s gaze.

“I wasn’t sure I could trust you,” he admitted. “I’m sorry.”

“As fascinating as this mortal family drama is,” Circe said, “the answer is yes, there used to be far more shifter species long ago. Before the—”

“How did you know they snuck into the library?” Kieran interrupted. “If you’ve been trapped here, how could you have known that?”

Magic pulsed, and red light flickered in Circe’s eyes.

“Interrupt me again, false heir,” she warned in a voice booming with power, “and I’ll have fresh pork tonight for supper.”

Kieran paled, but Melanie cringed and lifted her hand.

Circe sighed. “Speak.”

“What do you mean by false heir?” the she-wolf asked .

My gaze shot to Ryder, who stared pointedly ahead with a clenched jaw. Kieran quirked a brow at his older brother.

“You really think I don’t know?” he asked him. The younger werewolf faced his friends. “I’m not the next Sovereign. Ryder is.”

Even stoic Bo gasped, and Melanie cursed.

“Does Lyall know?” Dad demanded. Fear widened his eyes. “If he does, you’ve placed Elle in great danger—”

“Ryder didn’t place me in anything!” I argued. “My whole life is danger.”

Dad shook his head. “He never should’ve taken you to that power-hungry sadist’s home.”

“ Lee,” Mom cautioned.

I expected Ryder to argue or defend himself, but he was frozen in place. Anger burned in my veins, and I had the strangest urge to bare my teeth.

“He’s been doing everything he can to help me,” I growled, “since you left!”

Silence descended over the sitting area. As Dad’s face fell, I wanted to snatch back my words, but I couldn’t—not when they were the truth.

“Why didn’t you find me?” I whispered. “Or-or if you found a way to survive the wolves’ attack, why did you send me away?”

“Because I saved them,” Circe said. “I risked the wrath of my father to reach into the mortal realm and bring them here.”

“We never would’ve left you willingly,” Dad said.

“Never,” Mom promised.

Their words were a balm to my tattered soul, and I dove across the sitting area to pull them both into a hug. After a few deep breaths in their embrace, I pulled back and returned to my seat beside Ryder. He studied Circe with a skeptical eye.

“Why help them?” Ryder asked. “Why risk yourself for a couple of mortals?”

“Because their role in this is not over,” Circe replied and lifted her chin. “Not until Medea is dead.”