CHAPTER XXI
Wolf and Winter
I. Callisto & Shelba — The Quiet Unraveling
Malfoy Manor — Guest Wing
Late Night
The manor was silent.
Snow pressed gently against the tall windows.
Callisto sat on the floor beside the bed rather than on it. Black sweater, loose red curls falling over her shoulders. The emerald necklace rested against her collarbone.
Shelba lay half-curled against her thigh.
The puppy’s breathing was slow. Calm.
Callisto traced her fingers through the black fur absentmindedly.
“You don’t know anything about bloodlines,” she murmured softly.
Shelba blinked up at her with those ice-grey eyes.
“You don’t care who my father is.”
The puppy shifted closer.
Callisto exhaled slowly.
“For the first time,” she whispered, “something chose me without expecting anything.”
Her voice was quieter now.
“I didn’t get to choose my name. My blood. My history.”
Shelba placed her head against Callisto’s chest — right over the wolf-and-serpent pendant.
Callisto’s fingers tightened slightly around the chain.
“But I chose you.”
Her eyes softened — not weak, not broken.
Human.
“And I will not let anyone turn me into something I did not choose.”
The fire cracked faintly.
Shelba’s tail thumped once against the floor.
For the first time since learning the truth—
Callisto allowed herself to feel grief.
Not rage.
Grief.
And Shelba simply stayed.