Page 102 of The Wolf and the Chimera
She had been grateful for the spell, just like she had been grateful when that werewolf drained me of my power. She didn’t care if I had to perish to contain the sorceress.
She wanted to be human.
Fine,I decided,then she can die like a human.
I decided I hadn’t very much liked life, and that I was ready for it to end—that when she called on me, when shefinally needed my strength, I would withhold it from her. From us.
Her rage at the Minotaur’s challenge, and the smugness in his face had cracked my control. When the girl worried for Ryder, it had pushed me over the edge. I hadn’t wanted him to watch me die, but I wouldn’t help her again. After so many centuries in the darkness, I couldn’t.
She had left me alone and unloved and caged. Though my people could pass down memories, I had forgotten what it meant to be a chimera.
I didn’t want to learn.
She was me and I was her, but I hated the girl for hating me. I hated her for locking me up and forsaking me—for blaming me for the sorceress who hounded us both.
That hatred had broken me in a way that couldn’t be fixed.
Upon that realization, I tumbled out of my chimera’s consciousness. I fellinto my own body with a gasp and touched my tear-stained cheeks.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. Sobs wrenched out of my raw throat. “I’m so, so sorry.”
I reached out to the beast—no, not a beast but achimera—and waited. She studied me for an endless moment.
“I thought I was better,” I said, “I thought I hadn’t let hate rot my heart, but…but I just turned it on you. On us. And I’m sorry.”
Hesitantly, my chimera rubbed her head against my palm. Her golden fur was soft against my skin. As we touched, a connection formed between us. Her awareness and mine merged. I sensed the softness of her fur and the warmth of my palm at once.
“Wow,” I whispered.
My chimera purred, but I sensed her agreement as much as I heard it.
As we stood there, surrounded by sorrow, the truth of our situation struck me. All this time, I had hated her—partof myself—and it had only bred more hatred. After surviving a hunted existence, I had thought myself unlovable, and my chimera had grown to believe the same.
She wasn’t just my animal form, but my reflection.
Suddenly, her serpentine tail didn’t seem so monstrous, and her hooves didn’t look so strange. She wasn’t a freak of nature, but a force to be reckoned with.
And she wasn’t prey. She was a predator. She was a creature fearsome enough to ignite the sun. She was powerful enough not only to protect herself, but also her pack.
We both were.
“I promise,” I whispered, “no more cages. No matter what.”
As my chimera pulled back to meet my gaze, magic warmed my skin, and light flared. The world became awash with yellow and orange and red. Warmth filled my heart, and something jagged smoothed in my soul.
Together,I realized.We’re finally all put back together.
Through the darkness, we had found the light.
In my mind, my chimera rumbled.
When the light finally receded, I stood on lush green grass. For miles, the swaying fields sprawled around me, interspersed only by trees and a distant pool of water. The sun reflected in its blue depths and mirrored the cloudless sky above.
Amid the earthen smells, Ryder’s scent hit me like a ton of bricks—woodsy and fresh and mine.
Ours.
With the sharp eyes of my chimera, I spotted him easily. He laid on a shorter patch of grass near the water. His face was a mask of serenity.
