Page 9 of The Wolf and the Chimera (The Witch and the Cowboy #3)

“What happened when Kalli found her mate?” I asked.

Ryder threw himself on the small couch in front of the monstrously large bed that was the centerpiece of the room.

Guilt that he had insisted on sleeping on the uncomfortable-looking, green velvet couch, while I slept in the fluffy, white bed still gnawed at me.

Asking for two rooms, though, would’ve raised suspicion, and sharing a bed was entirely too intimate.

Ryder scoffed and stared at the ornate chandelier overhead. “Isn’t it obvious?”

The guy who had pulled me out of my fear in the gym was nowhere to be seen. A cocky, hard-edged mask concealed Ryder’s emotions.

“Tell me how it happened,” I said softly.

I sat beside him and waited. When he spoke, his voice was rough.

“When a new Sovereign is appointed,” Ryder explained, “a celebration is thrown here, for all wolves to attend. Lyall was appointed when I was only four, but I still remember how excited I was to come here—to the estate of the Leader of Wolves.”

Dread pooled in my stomach. When he paused, I took his hand and waited for him to continue.

“Recognizing your mate is instant,” he said. His eyes met mine. “I don’t know what it was like for you, but for me, I felt like I’d been struck by lightning. That’s how impossible it was to ignore.”

I nodded. As soon as I noticed Ryder, everything—even the suffering of my own parents—faded away. It wasn’t a moment I was particularly proud of.

“That’s how it was for Lyall and Kalli,” Ryder said. “One second, my dad’s arm was around her shoulder, and her hand gripped mine. The next, Lyall tore her from both of our grasps.”

One moment, young Ryder had been a part of a loving family. The next, his mother had been stolen from him by the same magic that now tethered him to me.

It was no wonder Ryder showed no particular excitement over finding his mate.

“That’s terrible,” I whispered.

Ryder snorted. “Try telling that to everyone there. The whole festival turned into a series of congratulations for the newly formed happy couple. Dad couldn’t take it, so he went home, but I stayed for a few weeks.”

I couldn’t hide my surprise, and Ryder smirked.

“I know,” he said and gestured at the fancy décor that surrounded us, including ornate bookshelves and finely crafted armoires. “Even back then, I didn’t exactly match the aesthetic, and I begged to go home. I thought…I guess I thought if I left, Mom—Kalli would come with me. She didn’t.”

“Did she visit?” I asked.

Ryder shrugged. “If she did, I don’t remember it.

She got pregnant with Kieran pretty quickly, and Dad told me it was hard for her to travel with a small child.

It didn’t matter that I wasn’t much older than a toddler myself.

I came back here a few times, but I was too young to go alone, and it made Dad too sad to come with me.

Besides, even when I was here, I wasn’t really with her.

Kieran was always there, and Lyall never left the room.

That day in my dining hall? That’s the first time we’ve been in a room together without the Sovereign since she left. ”

“That’s terrible,” I said with vehemence. “She should’ve done more for you. You deserve more.”

My heart broke for young Ryder. He clearly hadn’t been born with rough edges. Those had been chipped into him by the people who were supposed to love him the most.

Ryder pulled his hand from mine and ran it through his dark, tousled hair.

“Yeah, well,” he said, “there’s not much to do about it now. But I don’t trust her. She stopped being my mom a long time ago.”

“What about Kieran?” I asked carefully.

“What about him?” Ryder snapped.

I sighed. “He’s young. I think he only lashes out at you to get your attention.”

Not unlike how you lash out at your mother, I thought.

“He’s young,” Ryder agreed, “but he’s already ruined. Lyall’s made sure of that.”

“Really?” I pressed. “Because I don’t think you know him well enough to make that judgment.”

Anger and hurt marred Ryder’s handsome face. He recoiled like I had physically struck him.

“Was that your point of digging up my past?” he asked. “You made me whine about my mommy issues so you could call me out for being a jerk to my kid brother, who you also don’t know?”

I frowned. “Of course not—”

“Morally Superior Elle,” Ryder continued, “always calling out the rest of us for failing to be as righteous as she is.”

He stood and stormed toward the door. Anger swelled in my chest. I couldn’t believe I had almost kissed this guy.

I couldn’t believe I had wanted to.

“Where are you going?” I demanded.

“Out,” he snapped. “Stay here. You don’t need to be wandering around this place alone.”

“ Wandering?” I repeated. “What am I? A lost dog?”

He looked over his shoulder at me.

“No,” he said with a hateful twist of his lips, “that’s me, remember? I’m the stray you got stuck with—the one you’re trying to fix. Let me tell you something though. It’s not going to work.”

With that, he threw open the door and stormed into the hall. Growling, I flung a pillow, but it smacked harmlessly against the closed door.