Page 65 of The Wolf and the Chimera
The spine-tingling power was as recognizable as a reflection, but it wasn’t coming from me.
Did she somehow escape?
Did coming here free Medea?
The torrent of sleet paused, and sunlight heated my skin. I lifted my face. In front of an icy castle, an achingly beautiful woman approached. She wore a loose, ivory gown that trailed behind her. Colors glinted off her shiny, midnight hair, and her eyes glowed red with power.
Just like mine do when I use my magic
She smiled. “Welcome, dear chimera. I’ve been waitingfor you.”
Circe.
Behind the mystical woman, the glacial doors of the castle were thrown open, and my heart stopped.
As my parents barreled toward us, I scrambled out of Ryder’s arms and raced to meet them.
Chapter Nineteen
Ryder
Elle elbowed me in the ribs and jumped out of my arms. My breath hitched, but not with pain. Fear overwhelmed me, and across the snowy, icy terrain, I lunged for my mate.
I could still smell the smoke from the flames that had overtaken Elle’s yacht. The dying screams of her parents echoed in my mind.
Lee and Imogen Riley were dead.
A trick,I thought.This has to be a trick.
Elle raced toward her parents faster than I had ever seen her move, but I caught up to her in a few strides, gripped her waist, and tugged her behind me. I snarled at the witch—Circe—who now stood only a few feet away. Just like Elle’s, her magic smelled like jasmine and pulsed in the air.
Elle’s father, tall, lithe, and golden-skinned, reached for the blade strapped to his thigh, and I snarled. His wife, a blonde, blue-eyed woman dressed in the same all-black material as him, reached for his hand and shook her head.
Elle beat against my back and cursed with vitriol I had never experienced from her. I didn’t care. My wolf didn’t care.
This is a trap.
“Get your hands off my daughter,” Lee Riley spat. His scowl was downright wolfish.
Elle bellowed and thrashed, but I didn’t take my gaze off the man before me. I didn’t trust that any of this was real.
If it were fake, it would crush my Elle.
“Ryder?” Kieran asked. “Aren’t they who we came here for?”
Without looking at him, I growled. My wolf didn’t care for his actions to be questioned in front of potential enemies.
“Easy there, Alpha,” Circe purred, “or I’ll turn you into a pup and keep you as a lapdog for the next millennia.”
My words were garbled by my elongated canines. “You smell likeher.How am I supposed to trust that this isn’t a trap? That those are really my mate’s parents?”
Circe’s saccharine smile dropped. “I amnotMedea.”
Elle’s breath caught, and I braced myself for the sorceress to unleash herself upon us, but nothing happened. Circe chuckled.
“See?” the magical woman asked. “That wretch has no place in my realm.”
Were we really safe from the sorceress?
