Page 15 of Claws for Celebration (Hollow Oak Mates #3)

LUCIEN

T he garden behind The Hollow Oak Book Nook had been designed with privacy in mind, surrounded by tall hedges and ancient oak trees that created a natural sanctuary from prying eyes.

Moonlight filtered through the canopy overhead, casting silver patterns across the small space that Lucien had claimed as his own refuge during the more difficult days of running a business while maintaining his shifter duties.

Tonight, it would serve a different purpose entirely.

"The wards here are stronger," Moira observed as they stepped onto the stone pathway that wound between carefully tended herb beds. "I can feel them. Like a protective bubble wrapped around this entire area."

"I reinforced them for privacy," Lucien said, noting how naturally she'd begun recognizing magical signatures. Her awakening abilities were developing at an unprecedented rate. "Some conversations require absolute discretion."

"And some revelations require space to run if things go badly?"

The perceptiveness of her question caused him to be filled with affection and apprehension in equal measure. "Something like that."

Lucien moved toward a small grove of trees at the garden's far end, where a wooden bench sat beneath spreading branches that had shielded him during countless transformations over the years. His panther paced restlessly beneath his skin, eager to finally show their mate the truth of what they were.

"Lucien," Moira said softly, "whatever you're about to show me, I want you to know that I trust you. After everything you've done to help me understand what's happening to me, I trust you completely."

Her words carried weight that went far beyond simple faith in his character. She was offering him something precious and fragile, the kind of trust that could either bind them closer together or shatter irreparably depending on how she reacted to his true nature.

"I hope you still feel that way in a few minutes," he said, pausing beside the bench. "Moira, what I'm about to show you isn't just a magical gift. It's what I am, fundamentally. Part of my essential nature."

"Are you trying to scare me?"

"I'm trying to prepare you." Lucien studied her face in the moonlight, memorizing the curious intelligence in her brown eyes, the determined set of her jaw, the way she'd unconsciously moved closer to him despite his warnings.

"Shape-shifting isn't like casting spells or weaving ward-work.

It's a complete transformation of physical form. "

"Shape-shifting," she repeated, and he heard the moment when theoretical knowledge became personal reality. "You're a shifter."

"Yes."

"What kind?"

"Panther."

Moira was quiet while processing this information. "That explains so much about how you move. The way you seem to appear and disappear without making sound. The predatory grace that should be alarming but somehow feels protective instead."

"And how do you feel about that? About what I am?"

"Curious," she said honestly. "And maybe a little nervous, but not because I'm afraid of you. Because I'm afraid of what this means for everything I thought I understood about the world."

Relief flooded through him at her measured response. No horror, no revulsion, just scholarly curiosity mixed with understandable apprehension.

"Wait here," he said, moving toward the cluster of bushes that provided adequate cover for transformation. "And Moira? Don't run. Please. No matter what you see, remember that it's still me."

"I won't run," she promised, settling onto the bench with her hands folded in her lap like someone preparing to witness something momentous.

Behind the natural screen of foliage, Lucien stripped quickly, folding his clothes and setting them safely aside. The cool mountain air felt good against his skin, and his panther practically purred with anticipation of finally being seen and accepted by their mate.

The transformation took him like a familiar embrace, human consciousness merging with predatory instincts as his body shifted into the sleek, powerful form of a black panther.

Enhanced senses flooded his awareness: the night sounds of small creatures in the underbrush, the scent of Moira's lavender soap mixed with the fear-tinged excitement that spoke of adrenaline rather than terror, the way her magical signature had grown stronger and more complex since her awakening began.

When he emerged from the bushes, padding silently across the moonlit garden on velvet paws, Moira's sharp gasp was the only sound that broke the evening quiet.

"Oh my God," she whispered, her voice filled with wonder rather than fear. "You're beautiful."

The panther preened at the praise, powerful muscles rippling beneath midnight-black fur as he approached her with careful deliberation.

He was large even for his species, built for strength and stealth in equal measure, but he moved with exaggerated gentleness to avoid triggering any latent prey responses.

"You're huge," Moira continued, her scholarly fascination overriding any instinctive caution. "How much do you weigh in this form?"

The practical question made his human consciousness laugh, though the sound emerged as a soft chuff from the panther's throat. Even faced with impossible transformation, she wanted data and measurements.

"Can you understand me when you're like this?"

He nodded once, the human gesture looking strange on the big cat's elegant head.

"And you're still you? Still Lucien, just in a different shape?"

Another nod, though that was a simplification of the complex relationship between his human and panther aspects. Both sides of his nature were equally real, equally fundamental to who he was.

Moira leaned forward slightly, studying him with the intense focus she usually reserved for ancient manuscripts. "May I touch you?"

The question sent electricity racing through both sides of his nature. His panther wanted her hands on his fur, wanted to feel her acceptance of what they were. His human consciousness craved the intimacy of being touched and acknowledged in his true form.

He approached the bench slowly, placing himself within easy reach while giving her space to change her mind if his proximity became overwhelming. The scent of her growing excitement mixed with lingering nervousness made his enhanced senses tingle with awareness.

"Incredible," she breathed, extending one trembling hand toward his massive head.

The moment her fingers made contact with his fur, everything changed.

The mate bond that had been building between them since her arrival in Hollow Oak suddenly snapped into sharp focus, no longer a subtle pull but a blazing certainty that connected their souls with chains of magic and destiny.

His panther roared silently with recognition and triumph, finally touching the other half of their existence.

She was his mate. Not just attraction, not just potential compatibility, but the cosmic completion that shifters spent lifetimes searching for. Fate and magic had conspired to bring her to Hollow Oak, to awaken her dormant abilities in the one place where their connection could flourish.

Moira gasped, her hand stilling against his fur as her magical senses apparently picked up some echo of the profound connection that had just solidified between them. "What was that?"

He couldn't answer in this form, couldn't explain the significance of what had just occurred. Instead, he leaned into her touch, rumbling with the deep contentment that came from finally being fully accepted by the person who mattered most.

"You're purring," she said with wonder, her other hand joining the first as she stroked the thick fur along his neck and shoulders. "I can feel your heartbeat. Feel how warm you are."

The intimacy of her touch, the way she explored his transformed body with gentle reverence rather than fear, made his human consciousness ache with emotions too complex to process.

Love, gratitude, fierce protectiveness, and beneath that, the desperate need to shift back to human form and pull her into his arms.

"I should let you change back," Moira said softly, as if sensing his internal struggle. "You probably can't stay like this indefinitely."

He stepped back reluctantly, already missing the warmth of her hands in his fur. The transformation back to human form was more difficult this time, his panther reluctant to give up the closeness they'd just achieved.

But eventually he stood on two legs again, naked in the moonlight and more vulnerable than he'd ever been with another person. The cool air raised goose bumps across his skin, but it was the intensity of Moira's gaze that made him feel truly exposed.

"That was," she began, then seemed to lose her words entirely.

"Overwhelming?" he suggested, reaching for his clothes while trying to maintain some semblance of dignity despite his state of undress.

"Incredible," she finished. "Absolutely incredible."

As Lucien pulled on his shirt with movements made clumsy by the emotional aftermath of revealing his true nature, he fought the urge to confess everything.

To tell her about the mate bond that now burned between them like a beacon, about the Council's expectations and the growing supernatural threats that her awakening was attracting.

But looking at her face, seeing the wonder and acceptance that had replaced fear, he realized she was already processing more than most people could handle in a lifetime. Adding the weight of destined partnerships and supernatural politics would be too much, too soon.

"Moira," he said carefully, "how are you feeling about all of this? The magic, the shape-shifting, learning that nothing is what it seemed?"

"Terrified," she admitted with characteristic honesty. "But also relieved. Like I've finally found the missing piece that explains why I never felt like I belonged anywhere else."

"And us? How do you feel about the fact that I've been hiding what I am since the day you arrived?"

She considered her words with the same precision she brought to academic analysis. "I understand why you didn't tell me immediately. If someone had started our first conversation with 'Hello, I'm a shape-shifting panther and you're a witch,' I probably would have left town that same day."

"Probably?"

"Definitely." Her smile was soft and tinged with something that might have been affection. "But now that I know, I'm glad you trusted me enough to show me."

As they stood in the moonlit garden, surrounded by the protective wards that had witnessed his transformation and her acceptance, Lucien found himself hoping that her openness would extend to the other truths that would inevitably come to light.

Because hiding his shifter nature had been simple compared to the challenges that lay ahead. Soon, very soon, she would need to understand not just what they were individually, but what they could become together.