old dogs and new tricks

For a moment, the petulant child that Chimera had once been rose within him, rearing up and growling within his mind. It would be so easy for him to just walk on by the woman and pretend that she didn’t exist. She had left him and Siren to their own devices and hadn’t been much of a mother at all. The pair of them had essentially grown up feral with no one to guide or shape them. Everything that Chimera was today was because of his own grit. That being said… without Deathbelle, he wouldn’t have come into being at all. Without her, there would have been no Siren and thus no Albion and Scylla. He wouldn’t have been alive to build his empire or his family. So, in the end Chimera supposed that he owed her something.

The brutes pale pink eye rested on the defeated form of his mother. As she spoke his name, the woman’s ears tucked against her skull. Chimera wondered what was going through her head. It was no secret that she’d been ousted from Ashen by her own daughter. He’d seen neither hide nor hair of the woman since he was a child. For all he knew, she was dead. That thought hadn’t bothered him. There was too much to worry about. Too many others to care for. Dwelling on the past was a waste of time. In his mother’s simple reaction though, it seemed as though this was exactly what she was doing.

Now, Chimera could hold a grudge. It was rare that a wolf gave him reason to do so, however. He could definitely hold a grudge against the woman standing before him, but she had been wronged just as he and Siren had. Hannibal had left them all and that had broken her. It had shattered their family. If he ever saw Hannibal again, he would kill him. Deathbelle though… it looked as though she’d done enough damage to herself in the years that she’d been alone.

Deathbelle complimented him and the giant man’s mismatched ears swiveled forward to catch those words. All that he had ever wanted as a child was her love and attention. He had wanted her to recognize how strong and smart and superior he was to other wolves. Her approval wasn’t necessary anymore, but it was nice to hear. Maybe it was the women in his life that had softened him, but Chimera didn’t have it in him to rebuff this broken fae that had given birth to him.

Stepping forward, Chimera wrapped one foreleg around his mother and drew her in close to his chest. “You’re forgiven,” was all that he said aloud. He continued to hold her though for as long as she needed, though if she tried to pull away, he would hold her more tightly, not quite ready to let her go himself. If she cared, there was so much to tell her. She had so many grandchildren. His queens had heard of her, but had never met her. If Deathbelle wanted, there was a whole life ahead of her.


"Chimera Klein"