Page 99 of The Wolf and the Chimera
“Why?” she asked and traced her fingers over the planes of my face. “Why couldn’t you forgive me?”
“I did,” I promised. “Frey, I forgive you—”
“I’m all alone,” she whispered, “just like you wanted me to be. I wassosorry, but you still ensured I was all alone.”
“No—” My voice cracked. “No, Frey—”
As Freya ripped her hands off me, her nails sliced across my cheeks. Flames surrounded her, and she cackled like a madwoman.
“Liar!” she declared. Rage twisted her smile into something foreign. “You’re just likehim!You’re aliar.”
Freya charged me again and shoved me with her small but strong hands. I backed deeper into the abyss.
“You hurt the women you love,” she spat. “You have no forgiveness. You grew up loved, and it still wasn’t enough for you because you’re a cold, jadedliar!”
Her fists pounded against my chest, but I didn’t try to fight back. Hurt and fear and agony paralyzed me. Freya grabbed the collar of my shirt and pulled me closer. Though I was taller, she peered down her nose at me. Flames flickered in her eyes.
As Freya’s words hollowed me, something wet and hot spilled down my cheeks. She shook her head in disgust.
“You have no right to be Sovereign,” she declared. “You are no better than Lyall. You’reworse.”
Freya shoved me, and the floor bottomed out. Cold, bitter wind howled in my ears and ripped the screams from my throat. As I fell and fell and fell, Freya’s words echoed in the darkness.
You are no better than Lyall.
You’re worse.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Elle
As exhaustion and pain weighted my very bones, I wanted to sink into the sand beneath me, but something niggled the back of my mind. I wasn’t alone—something wanted me to get up.
Irritation that wasn’t mine kept me from slipping into unconsciousness. An image of a black wolf danced behind my eyes.
Ryder.
Circe’s challenge rushed back to me, and I stood on shaky legs.
Four shaky legs.
While I dug my paws into the sand, my hind legs stretched and straightened. My wings draped across my shoulders, pulling me left and right. A growl echoed in my mind, and my chimera took over.
Giving into her innate balance and strength, I faced my parents. Their mouths hung agape, but pride shone in their eyes. There was no time to bask in it.
I approached the stone imprints and pressed my paws into them. Heat flared under my touch, and my parents grinned, then disappeared in flashes of light.
The stones shifted under my feet, and magic raised my hackles. Soon, the towering walls of the maze were replacedby total and complete darkness. Cold seeped into my bones and stole the breath from my lungs. I tensed, waiting from an unseen attack, but nothing happened.
The nothingness was overwhelming.
I couldn’t see my own feet or paws or hands or hooves. The cold overtook me so completely, I was formless. I became a mere whisp of chilled air in an endless, dark tundra. I couldn’t feel the ground beneath me. The weight of my solitude and my nothingness was crushing.
My beast rumbled.
Not alone,I thought.I’m never alone.
In the darkness, a creature with glowing red eyes, brilliantly golden and silver fur, and leathery wings approached me. Strength shone in its graceful movements, and death loomed in its huge maw.
