Page 116 of The Wolf and the Chimera
My other form settled under my skin with a warm buzzof power. Dangerous hope flared, but I closed my eyes and searched for that other presence in my mind—the dark cloud of power and anger that had haunted me since I was a child.
I couldn’t find her.
I couldn’t find the sorceress.
Before I knew it, tears trailed down my face, and I pulled Ryder into a hug.
“She’s gone,” I whispered. “The sorceress isgone.”
Ryder stiffened and pulled back. In the slivers of sunlight that poured through the towering branches, his amber eyes were bright, like liquid pools of gold.
“The claiming,” he said. His gaze flickered to the mark on my neck. “I guess even half of oneisenough to keep her at bay.”
“You really can’t feel her?” Kieran asked.
I shook my head and grinned. Melanie let out a whoop then clasped a hand over her mouth and cringed.
She cursed. “I forgot—there will be patrols nearby.”
The reminder of the dangers that still loomed brought me back to earth.
As Ryder led me to the edge of the pool, my mind raced.
“The Sovereign can’t know you’ve overpowered the sorceress,” Bo said in a low voice.
Ryder nodded. “If he finds out, he’ll know there won’t be another excuse for him to drain Elle of her magic. His ruse will be up.”
“He’s desperate for her power,” Kieran said and shivered. “I don’t want to find out what he’s willing to do to get it.”
As unsettling as that was, another thought stole my attention.
The sorceress had been the one to tell me my parents were alive. She had led me straight to Circe’s realm.
Why?
Why lead me into the heart of her enemy territory?
Ryder growled and tugged me behind him. “I smell company coming.”
In defensive crouches, the werewolves surrounded me. Ibristled, and Ryder reached back to squeeze my hand.
“He can’t know how strong you are, remember?” he whispered.
“We need an excuse for being here,” Bo said, “and fast.”
I floundered. “In this timeline, we’ve only been gone hours, right?”
“That’s what Circe said,” Kieran replied.
I tugged at the collar of my shirt. “Then I should hide my new mark.”
Ryder growled, and I shot him a glare. I wasn’t ashamed of it—I was trying to find a way to explain this to Lyall without raising suspicion.
“It won’t work,” Melanie said. “After a claiming—even half of one—a mated pair’s scent intermingles. It’s not something you can hide.”
Part of me reveled in the permanence of our intertwined scents, but the rest of me panicked.
“Does anyone,” I said. Heat burned my cheeks, “halfway claim someone?”
