Page 83 of The Wolf and the Chimera
She gave me an icy look, and I softened my tone.
“I’m too old to just hear how great I am,” I murmured. “There’s too much at stake. I need honesty.”
“Okay,” Mom agreed. She met my gaze in the reflection. “Whatever you’re resenting your father for, you need to let it go.”
“Why is this turning into a conversation about Dad?” I asked.
“Because,” Mom said, “he has not slept well since the three of us were separated. If you want honesty, honey, you need to give it in return. Icing him out after so long waiting for you…it’s killing him.”
As I mulled over her words, silence stretched.
“I don’t want to rely on everyone else to protect me anymore,” I admitted. “I don’t want you guys or my friends or my-my Ryder to risk themselves to save me again and again without me having any way to save them.”
Mom released a soft breath. “What happened that day on the yacht is not your fault, Elle.”
But I lost my pendant.
I had worn it that night I snuck out to go to that beach party.
I opened my mouth to confess the full, ugly truth, but like a wave of energy, Dad swept into the room and flashed me a grin. My unspoken words sank like stones in my stomach.
“I brought you dessert,” Dad said and handed me a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries.
As I smiled in appreciation, guilt gnawed at me, but I shoved it into the back of my mind.
“So,” I said and met Dad’s gaze in the reflection, “does Circe have any decent books here?”
Dad’s face lit up, and he launched into a run-down of all he had read, which inevitably led to debates about our favorite books and authors. Like putting on a broken-in boot, slipping into the past was easy. For a small pocket of time, I didn’t think about the sorceress or my inner beast or my amber-eyed werewolf.
Part of me, however, tracked the minutes and hours I spent in that chair. No matter how easy it was to tuck my problems under the rug, they would come to light eventually. Judging by the way Dad’s eyes flitted to mine then quickly away, he also recognized this temporary ease between us was just that—temporary.
???
Late that night, I returned to the room I shared with Ryder. Dad had once again offered to let me stay with him and Mom, and like a coward, I had considered it.
But I didn’t want to be a coward anymore.
Besides, my inner beast missed her mate, and so did I.
When I reached for the door handle of our room, he beat me to it and wrenched the door open. I breathed in his woodsy scent and drank in his hulking form. Wildness shined in his amber eyes, and his shoulder-length hair was askew, as if he’d run his hands through it a dozen times.
“Hi,” I said quietly.
For a moment, I thought he might complain about how I had ignored him earlier or chastise me for spending hours with my parents. I steeled myself.
His lips tugged upward. “Hi, Ellie.”
The tension in my shoulders dissipated, and I pulled him in for a hug. His strong arms wrapped around me and pressed me closer. Beneath my ear, his heart thudded.
When he eventually pulled back, he gave me a slight push on my shoulders and turned me in a circle. His smilebroadened.
“Your hair looks pretty,” he complimented.
Like a school girl, my face heated. He led me into the room, and I gathered pajamas to change into for bed. As I did so, I realized something.
“Tomorrow,” I said, “I want to tell you all about my training.”
While he made the bed, he released a soft laugh.
