I'm leaving for good this time.

As I watch the bear disappear behind the top edge of the steps, I tell myself that was the last straw.

It's time to admit my mistake.

I should never have come here.

I should go home to my father.

We should figure out a solution together.

So, I'm leaving.

But with my newfound strength, I decide there is no way I'm leaving without some answers. Which is why I find myself marching down a hall I know I'm prohibited from entering, toward a door I'm not allowed to open, to a woman I'm forbidden to touch.

When my eyes land on the golden glow still seeping from beneath the entry, a reckless smile spreads against my cheeks.

I feel wild with abandon.

And I like it.

Cole is nowhere to be found as I push my way inside and lay my eyes on the sleeping woman one last time. Her magic calls out to me just as it had before, tempting, magnetic as it pulls me closer. The longer I stand in the doorway, the more mesmerized I become. My brain turns to mush as my thoughts blend and fuzz, leaving bland awareness behind. The minutes tick by. I find that I'm leaning over her, not really sure how or when I moved from the door to the bed. My hand stretches for the shimmery film glowing just above her skin.

But I stop just before making contact. The magic whispers to me, urging me to touch her, to shift closer, to give in. Yet something deep in the back of my mind stops me, the memory of what happened last time, how my magic poured freely into her, how I lost control of myself.

"Who are you?" I whisper.

Cole's mother?

Sister?

I search for some familiarity in her face, but there's no resemblance. Her golden skin, her sun-kissed hair, everything is entirely opposite Cole's moonlight hues. And just as before, her features appear fluid, shifting every few seconds, pulsing from young to old, so one minute she looks sixteen and the next she looks thirty and the next fifty. Always beautiful, always refined, always glowing with an inner light. But also clouded by the magic.

"Why doesn't he want me to go near you?" I murmur. "How much do you know about magic? What could you teach me?"

Her power tugs at me, hinting that I can find all the answers if I just move a little closer.

Would she have answers for me?

Could she be the reason I was meant to come here all along?

I don't find out.

Something yanks on my skirt from behind, throwing me off-balance so I fall backward, landing hard against the ground. The pulling continues until I'm rolling across the floor, closer to the door.

"Cole!" I shout.

But when I turn, it's not him ushering me away. The snow leopard with the golden eyes tears at the bottom of the skirt with its sharp teeth.

"Stop," I order, tugging on the chiffon, trying to free myself. It rips noisily, but before I have time to stand, the leopard just takes another chunk within its jaw and keeps stepping backward, carrying me away.

"Let go," I try again. It pauses, watching me with those eyes that are too intelligent to be anything but human. "He doesn’t want me here," I whisper sadly. "He doesn't want the real me, only part of me, and that's not enough anymore. I just came here to see if I could find any information about the magic one last time before I leave."

The leopard shakes its thick head, then steps forward, pressing its forehead into my palm until my fingers gently rub its downy fur.

"I'm sorry," I murmur, not really sure why I'm apologizing. Cole gave up on me. Not the other way around.

The leopard steps back gracefully, giving me room to stand. I take one last look over my shoulder toward the woman, but I realize there are no answers here, only more questions, and I don't have the patience to stick around and search in vain any longer. So I roll to my feet, despondently looking down at the shredded edges of my skirt. A small part of me thought about keeping it as a token of an evening that started out so beautifully. But I don't think I want to anymore.

When I reach the end of the hall, I try to turn right, back in the direction of my room. I need to change. I need to plan. By dawn, I want to be gone.

But as I take a step, the leopard growls underneath its breath and leaps in front of me, blocking the hallway. I try to walk around the massive animal, but it's faster than me and easily cuts off any path I try to take.

"I don't want to see him," I say, because I know exactly where it's trying to take me. But it whines and bares its teeth in a frustrated sort of way. And then a new set of paws yank at me from behind, pulling on the skirt, and I turn to see the wolves. They grumble with the leopard, whining and growling as they pull me toward the left, toward Cole's bedroom.

I cross my arms in protest, but there's little else I can do as they use their jaws to forcefully pull me in a direction I really don't want to go.

I could use my magic.

But I don’t want to hurt any of them. Not when I'm sure they're just following their misguided hearts.

And the closer they drag me toward their king, the more my underlying fury mounts, until I'm almost anticipating seeing him, just so I can yell and scream about what a beast he really is. The halls fade as I imagine the confrontation, pulled into the depths of my own thoughts as I formulate the perfect words to say.

I hate you.

You’re a jerk.

What is your problem?

What else could I possibly do to make you trust me?

How could you just abandon me like that?

How could you leave?

Why can't you just accept me for who I am?

I'm not sure I'm even going to give him time to answer. I just want to make him listen to what I have to say for once. I just want him to sit and suffer beneath my wrath.

I'm so full of stifled aggression, I almost don't notice when we walk right past Cole's room. The door is closed, and I turn my head, looking back over my shoulder as they lead me away.

"Wait," I command. They don’t listen. "Wait, where are we going?"

I know they couldn't possibly answer.

I know they are animals. I know I shouldn't expect anything.

But still, the silence just adds to my frustration. Another set of questions that go unanswered. Another time when what I want doesn’t matter at all. Another incidence where I'm being pulled and yanked instead of politely asked and invited.

"Stop!"

I dig my heels into the ground and pull against their jaws, wincing as the sound of shredding fabric echoes across the hall. But they get the point. Finally, the wolves and the leopard pause, looking up at me almost apologetically, and they let go, taking a step back, giving me space.

I breathe for a moment.

Do I really want to do this? Do I really want to scream and yell at him? Do I really want that to be my goodbye?

Yes.

Yes, I do.

Rage back, I square my shoulders and turn around.

But at the exact moment that I take my first purposeful step toward Cole's room, a sound stops me. Stills me. Quiets the fury.

Whimpering.

At first, all I notice are panting screeches, gentle, high-pitched squeals.

I turn back around.

The wolves and the leopard are watching me, and in their human eyes I see despair, but they aren't the ones making the noise.

It goes quiet.

I look toward the end of the hall, searching with my ears.

A soft, unnerving howl reaches me, mournful as it stretches on and on, lonely and somehow exploding with silent grief.

My soul is lured by the sound.

My feet move, pressed forward by my heart.

Another howl cries into the night.

I stand in an open doorway, just barely making out the silhouette of a single wolf weeping to the moon. He lies curled around himself, wrapped in the blankets of a warm bed, gaze focused out the window.

I've never seen him as a wolf, but I know it's Cole.

My anger vanishes the moment his broken eyes land on mine, and he howls once more into the night. I don't understand what he is saying, but I understand the shattered silver shards his irises have become, and I understand the utter loneliness in his call.

I step closer.

He watches me but doesn’t move. Something in his expression is so defeated, so beaten down and overwhelmed, like he has nothing left to give, nothing left to fight.

I know he doesn't deserve my affection or my comfort, not after walking away from me tonight, not after leaving me alone. But I give it to him anyway, because I want to, because there's no one else who can, because my heart urges me to go to him even if my mind does not.

I crawl beside Cole on the bed, holding out my arms. He howls once more, but as he sets his head gently on my lap, the sound gives way to a whimper. And I realize he's crying. Drops of water stain my skirt as he curls closer, furry body wrapping warmly around me until we’re both hugging each other. The downy gray of his coat melds with the silvery diamonds of my skirt until I'm not sure where I begin and he ends.

And we stay like that for a very long time.

Until his silent tears stop falling.

Until we drift peacefully to sleep.

And when I wake the next morning with the sturdy arms of a man wrapped around me, I know nothing will be the same. I know we crossed some line in the middle of the night. I know we've both changed.

I'm not at all surprised when I turn around still locked in his embrace and find those stormy eyes already watching me.

"I want to see your magic," Cole whispers, voice just as soft as the barely risen sun. "And after that, I'll tell you whatever you want to know."