Page 43 of The Wolf and the Chimera
Elle gaped at me. “Freya?”
I opened my mouth, but words escaped me. It didn’tmatter. From the hurt on Elle’s face, she didn’t need my verbal confirmation to know the truth.
I had never told her Freya and I used to be more than friends.
“Melanie,” Bo chided.
The pink-haired werewolf grimaced. “Sorry. Really, I’m sorry, Elle—”
“It’s fine,” Elle promised.
Her fake smile returned, though it wasn’t as convincing as usual. Her lips stretched too tightly across her face.
“You were saying, Kieran?” Elle prompted.
My brother hesitated then quickly launched back into the discussion about Lyall. I wanted nothing more than to talk to Elle privately but figuring out Lyall’s motives and how they affected Elle’s safety were too important to walk away from.
“He wouldn’t take you in just to piss her off,” Kieran said. “He’s not petty. He’s power-hungry.”
“He somehow figured out how to drain her magic,” I mused. “I wonder if he found out how to store it too.”
“Maybe,” Bo agreed. “It looked like it was going into that black container.”
“But why?” Melanie asked. “What could he do with her magic?”
Elle paced across the tiled floors of the weightlifting section of the gym.
“I don’t know,” Elle said, “but I might know somewhere we could look for the answer.”
She focused on Kieran.
“Remember when I ran into you?” Elle asked him. He nodded. “I was hurrying away from the library. I had just been exploring the shelves and the next thing I knew, the Keeper was ordering me out and warning me not to return.”
I growled. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”
Elle scoffed. “I guess neither of us tell each other everything, do we?”
Anger and shame swirled inside me. Melanie chuckled,and I glared at her. The she-wolf didn’t hide her amusement.
“My point is,” Elle continued, “there’s something in there she didn’t want me to find. Maybe it has something to do with why Lyall wants my magic.”
“It’s a good theory,” Bo said, “but the library is heavily guarded, not to mention, it’s filled with a million secret passageways and archives. No one knows how to navigate that place except for the Keeper.”
“We would need time to search it,” Kieran agreed, “on a night when the whole pack is distracted.”
Melanie grinned. “And lucky for us, that night might just be tonight.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“It’s the equinox,” Bo explained. “Lyall throws a huge bonfire for it. Everyone—including the Keeper—is required to attend.”
“But,” Elle protested, “how will we sneak into the library if we’re required to go to the bonfire?”
“We can take turns sneaking away,” I suggested. “And report back on what sections we covered. That way, no one is gone for long enough to raise suspicions.”
“Exactly,” Kieran said. He gestured toward Elle and me. “Who’s going to question anything about a mated couple sneaking away from a party for a little while?”
Anyone who really knows us would.
