Page 19 of Claws for Celebration (Hollow Oak Mates #3)

LUCIEN

T he emergency Council meeting had been called for two AM, which meant leaving Moira sleeping peacefully at the inn with promises that he'd return before dawn.

The intimate night they'd shared had settled something fundamental in his chest, but it had also raised the stakes exponentially.

Now that his heart was fully engaged, the thought of losing her to supernatural threats made his panther pace with barely contained aggression.

"The perimeter breaches are accelerating," Elder Varric announced without preamble as the five Council members gathered in the moonlit glade. "Three more incursions since yesterday, all testing different sections of our defensive grid."

"Shadow creatures?" Maeve asked, settling onto her usual boulder with the fluid grace of a lioness preparing for hunt. Her short black hair was still damp from what had probably been a hasty shift back to human form.

"Shadow creatures, rogue spirits, and something new that my scrying can't quite identify," Varric replied grimly. "They're being drawn by the magical disturbances emanating from the Shadowheart Codex, but there's coordination to their probing that suggests external direction."

Lucien's protective instincts sharpened. "External direction from what?"

"That's what we need to determine. But first, we need to address the more immediate crisis.

" Varric gestured to a collection of runestones scattered across the ancient stone table, several of which glowed with ominous red light.

"The binding circles that maintain our concealment wards are showing signs of structural failure. "

"How bad?" Elder Bram asked, his usually pristine appearance showing signs of strain. Dark circles shadowed his pale eyes, and his perfectly trimmed beard looked disheveled.

"Bad enough that I've detected several human hikers in the past week who came dangerously close to stumbling through the Veil," Miriam reported. "I've had to redirect three separate groups using minor compulsion magic, which is exhausting our secondary defenses."

"The circles were designed to be maintained by Shadowheart blood magic," Varric continued. "When Elara's family departed Hollow Oak, they left behind stabilization spells that have held for over a century. But those spells are finally weakening beyond our ability to reinforce them."

Lucien felt his heart sink as the implications became clear. "You're saying Moira is the only one who can repair the town's protective barriers?"

"I'm saying her awakening bloodline magic is already trying to repair them," Varric corrected. "The question is whether we can guide that process before the barriers fail completely."

"And if they fail?" Lucien asked, though he suspected he already knew the answer.

"Hollow Oak becomes visible to the outside world," Bram said with characteristic pessimism. "Government investigations, media attention, supernatural hunters. Everything we've worked to prevent for generations."

"Not to mention the shadow creatures and other hostile entities that are currently being held at bay by our wards," Maeve added. "If the barriers collapse, every supernatural threat in a hundred-mile radius will converge on this location."

"Which brings us to the immediate tactical situation," Varric said. "Lucien, I'm assigning you to full-time protection detail for Miss Marsh. Stay close, monitor her magical development, and be prepared to evacuate her if the situation deteriorates."

Relief and terror warred in Lucien's chest. Spending more time with Moira would normally be a dream assignment, but not under circumstances that painted a target on her back. "What about regular patrol duties?"

"Suspended until further notice. Your only responsibility is keeping the Shadowheart heir alive and functional." Varric's pale eyes reflected the weight of decisions that could determine their community's survival. "If we lose her before she can stabilize the binding circles, Hollow Oak falls."

"No pressure," Lucien muttered, earning a sympathetic look from Maeve.

"There's more," Varric continued. "My scrying suggests that whatever entity is coordinating the attacks has specific knowledge about Shadowheart capabilities. This isn't random opportunism. Someone or something is deliberately targeting Moira's magical awakening."

"Any theories about who?" Lucien asked, his panther already cataloging potential threats and planning elimination strategies.

"Several, none of them pleasant." Varric began gathering the runestones with careful precision. "For now, focus on protection. Keep her close, keep her safe, and watch for any signs that her magic is being influenced by external forces."

As the Council meeting dispersed and members began making their way back to town through forest paths known only to supernatural residents, Lucien found himself taking a longer route that would allow him to check the eastern perimeter where the binding circles were reportedly showing the most stress.

What he discovered made his blood run cold.

The ancient stone circles that had protected Hollow Oak for centuries were still there, but massive cracks ran through several of the standing stones like lightning frozen in granite. Worse, the spaces between the stones showed shimmering distortions that spoke of dimensional barriers wearing thin.

His panther could scent the otherworldly taint seeping through the weakened wards. Old magic, twisted by malevolent intent, probing for weaknesses with the patience of something that had all the time in the world to achieve its goals.

"Damn," he whispered, running his fingers along one of the largest cracks. The stone felt cold and brittle, as if centuries of magical reinforcement were simply evaporating.

A sound behind him made every predatory instinct snap to attention. Lucien spun, claws extending automatically as his enhanced senses detected movement in the forest shadows.

"Easy there, hunter," a familiar voice called out. "Just me."

Callum Cross emerged from the tree line, the massive lion shifter moving with deceptive casualness despite the tactical gear that marked him as Council security. His shaggy brown and gold hair caught moonlight as he approached the failing stone circle.

"Couldn't sleep either?" Lucien asked, retracting his claws with conscious effort.

"Varric asked me to do a secondary assessment of the eastern perimeter." Callum gestured toward the cracked stones with obvious concern. "Wanted a fresh perspective on how bad things really are."

"And your assessment?"

"We're completely screwed if your mate can't figure out how to channel her bloodline magic into stabilization work." Callum's blue eyes, flecked with amber from his lion, reflected grim determination. "These barriers have maybe two weeks left before total collapse."

"She's not technically my mate yet," Lucien said automatically, though the correction felt hollow given how completely he'd claimed her in his heart.

"Right. And I'm not technically a lion." Callum's grin held feline amusement. "Brother, you've been walking around with 'mated male' written all over your body language since the day she arrived. When are you planning to make it official?"

"When she's ready to understand what that means," Lucien replied, studying the dimensional distortions that made the air shimmer like heat waves. "She's processing a lot of impossible information right now."

"Fair enough. But you might want to consider accelerating that timeline.

" Callum moved closer to examine one of the larger cracks, his expression growing serious.

"Mate bonds provide magical stability during crisis situations.

If she's going to attempt large-scale ward work, having that connection fully established could mean the difference between success and magical burnout. "

The observation hit uncomfortably close to concerns Lucien had been trying not to acknowledge. "You think she's not strong enough to handle the binding circles on her own?"

"I think she's incredibly powerful, but completely untrained.

That's a dangerous combination when dealing with centuries-old protective magic.

" Callum's voice carried the authority of someone who'd dealt with magical crises before.

"The mate bond wouldn't just ground her emotionally.

It would give her access to your shifter stability during the most difficult parts of the work. "

"And if I push too hard and she runs?"

"Then we're back to being completely screwed, just with different timing." Callum's honesty was both brutal and appreciated. "But Lucien, from what I've observed, that woman isn't the running type. She's the type who digs in and demands to understand exactly what she's dealing with."

As they made their way back toward town, following patrol routes that skirted the weakest sections of Hollow Oak's failing defenses, Lucien found himself wrestling with possibilities that could be devastating or life-changing.

Claiming Moira as his mate would solve several immediate problems. It would provide the magical stability she needed for complex ward work, satisfy his panther's increasingly urgent territorial instincts, and create a bond that would make protecting her infinitely easier.

But it would also bind her to Hollow Oak permanently, ending any possibility of returning to her old life. She would become not just his mate but the community's guardian witch, with all the responsibilities and dangers that role entailed.

"She deserves to make that choice with complete information," he said finally.

"She does," Callum agreed. "But she also deserves to make it before circumstances take the choice away from her entirely."

By the time Lucien returned to the bookstore as dawn was breaking over the mountains, his mind was made up. The conversation with Moira about mate bonds had been a good beginning, but she needed to understand the full scope of what was happening around them.

The shadow creatures, the failing wards, the expectation that she would become Hollow Oak's primary magical defense against threats she couldn't yet imagine. All of it.

And if she chose to accept the mate bond that would amplify her abilities and anchor her to this community permanently, he wanted that choice to be made with eyes wide open to both the benefits and the costs.

His panther purred with anticipation as he let himself into the bookstore, already imagining Moira's response to learning that her quiet research assignment had actually been a cosmic homecoming orchestrated by forces far older and more powerful than academic curiosity.

Soon, very soon, there would be no more secrets between them. For better or worse, she would know everything.

And then they would face whatever came next together, as mates and partners and the supernatural guardians that Hollow Oak desperately needed them to become.