Page 33 of Claws for Celebration (Hollow Oak Mates #3)
LUCIEN
D awn was breaking over Hollow Oak when Lucien woke to the most profound sense of completeness he'd ever experienced.
The mate bond hummed between him and Moira like a living thing, carrying not just her emotions but the steady pulse of her magical signature intertwined with his own.
She lay curled against his chest, her mahogany curls tickling his chin, and for the first time in fifteen years, he felt like he truly belonged somewhere.
"Good morning, mate," she murmured against his throat, the word carrying new weight now that their bond was fully established.
"Good morning, beautiful," he replied, pressing a kiss to the top of her head while marveling at how naturally he could sense her contentment mixed with lingering soreness from their claiming. "How are you feeling?"
"Different," she said honestly, sitting up to stretch with unconscious grace. "Like I'm more myself than I've ever been, but also like I'm part of something larger. Is that normal for new mate bonds?"
"I wouldn't know," Lucien admitted, running his fingers along the claiming marks on her hip that had already begun to settle into permanent scarring. "You're my first and only mate. But it feels right, doesn't it?"
"It feels perfect," Moira agreed, then paused as golden threads of magic began dancing around her fingertips. "Lucien, look at this. My power isn't fighting me anymore."
The magical energy that had been chaotic and destructive just days ago now flowed with controlled precision, responding to her conscious will rather than overwhelming her with uncontrolled surges.
More importantly, he could feel the magic through their bond, understanding its nature and intensity in ways that would allow him to provide support when she needed it.
"The mate bond is stabilizing your abilities," he said with wonder, watching as she created intricate patterns of light that would have been impossible when her magic was unstable. "I can feel what you're doing, almost like I'm channeling the spells myself."
"And I can draw on your panther's natural magical resistance," Moira replied, demonstrating by pulling power that should have made her hands shake but instead felt perfectly controlled. "It's like having an anchor that keeps me grounded no matter how much energy I'm channeling."
They spent the morning exploring their new magical connection while sharing breakfast and coffee in his small kitchen.
What had once been a solitary routine now felt wonderfully domestic, filled with casual touches and shared glances that spoke of permanent partnership rather than temporary attraction.
"I should probably check on the grimoire," Moira said eventually, though her reluctance to leave their intimate bubble was evident in her voice. "Six days until the Convergence, and we still don't have a clear plan for preventing disaster."
"We'll figure it out together," Lucien assured her, the mate bond allowing him to offer comfort with complete sincerity. "But first, I want to research something. The way our magical signatures are interacting reminds me of historical accounts I've seen in the Council archives."
They made their way to the destroyed bookstore, where cleanup crews had already begun clearing debris and securing the building. The Shadowheart Codex sat undamaged on Moira's usual table, its leather binding seeming to pulse with awareness as they approached.
"Does it feel different to you?" Moira asked, settling into her chair with careful movements that favored her newly claimed hip.
"Yes," Lucien said, studying the ancient tome with enhanced senses that now included magical perception borrowed from their bond. "It's not just responding to your bloodline anymore. I can feel it recognizing our combined magical signature."
As if responding to his observation, the grimoire's pages fluttered open to reveal text that addressed both of them directly.
The mated pair approaches. Blood magic strengthened by shifter bond. The binding may be reshaped rather than simply unlocked.
"Reshaped how?" Moira asked aloud, leaning forward to study the elegant script that appeared even as they watched.
When Shadowheart power flows through claimed mate's stabilizing influence, the ritual's purpose can be redirected. Prison becomes permanent banishment. Key becomes lock rather than liberation.
Lucien processed the implications. "It's saying that our mate bond might allow us to use your bloodline magic to strengthen Seraphina's binding rather than break it."
"But how do we know this isn't another manipulation?" Moira asked with justified skepticism. "The grimoire has been lying to me since day one. Why would it suddenly start offering helpful solutions?"
"Because it's not offering anything," Lucien realized, studying the text more carefully. "It's just stating facts about how mate-bonded magic works. The choice of what to do with that information is still ours."
Before Moira could respond, the rebuilt front door opened to admit Elder Varric carrying an armload of ancient texts that looked like they'd been pulled from the Council's most secure archives.
"I brought research materials," the elder announced without preamble. "Historical accounts of blood magic practitioners who achieved stability through supernatural partnerships. If you're going to attempt magical working of this magnitude, you need to understand the precedents."
They spent the next several hours poring over accounts that painted a picture of mate-bonded couples whose combined abilities had reshaped magical history.
Blood witches who'd used shifter bonds to channel continent-spanning protective barriers.
Fae enchanters whose dragon mates had allowed them to permanently seal dimensional breaches.
Even a necromancer who'd worked with her vampire mate to establish peaceful coexistence between living and undead communities.
"The pattern is consistent," Varric observed as they compared different historical accounts. "When blood magic is channeled through a stabilizing supernatural bond, the practitioner can achieve levels of control and precision that would be impossible alone."
"But the risks are also amplified," Lucien noted, reading about a Celtic witch whose failed attempt at continent-wide warding had killed both her and her selkie mate. "If there is an issue during the major magical working, both partners can be lost to magical feedback."
"The alternative is watching ancient evil break free during the Convergence," Moira said pragmatically. "I'd rather risk both our lives trying to prevent apocalypse than guarantee supernatural catastrophe by doing nothing."
As afternoon stretched toward evening and they continued researching precedents for their situation, Lucien found himself marveling at how naturally they'd fallen into partnership.
Where he approached problems with tactical analysis, Moira brought scholarly methodology that ensured they didn't miss crucial details.
Where her academic background provided historical context, his Council training offered practical application of supernatural theory.
"Look at this," Moira said suddenly, pointing to a passage in one of the oldest texts.
"A Roman blood witch named Livia used her mate bond with a Germanic shifter to permanently banish a shadow entity that had been terrorizing trade routes.
The ritual required both their life forces, but the banishment was so complete that the entity never found a way back to the mortal realm. "
"Permanent banishment rather than imprisonment," Lucien mused. "That would solve the problem of future Shadowheart descendants being manipulated into releasing whatever Seraphina trapped."
"But it also means using enough magical energy to tear open dimensional barriers," Varric warned. "Miss Marsh, your power is considerable, but attempting something of that magnitude could easily consume you entirely."
"Not if she's channeling it through our mate bond," Lucien said with growing conviction. "The historical accounts show that bonded partners can share the magical load, preventing any one person from being overwhelmed by the energy requirements."
"Here," Varric said suddenly, pulling a particularly ancient scroll from his collection. "This is exactly what you need to see. An account from the Archivum Mysticum about dimensional banishment techniques."
He spread the scroll carefully across the table, revealing text written in multiple hands across several centuries. "Look at this section, documented by a Council observer during the Third Realm War."
Lucien leaned closer to read the faded text.
"The Convergence approaches when dimensional barriers grow thin.
Ancient binding weakens whether Shadowheart magic reinforces or abandons it.
But mated power offers third option: complete dissolution of prison through controlled dimensional breach.
Entity banished beyond all realms, never to return. "
"A controlled dimensional breach," Moira repeated slowly. "Using our combined magical signatures to open a permanent doorway that banishes the entity to... where exactly?"
Varric pointed to another section of the scroll. "According to this scholar's notes: Beyond the Void. Where consciousness cannot exist and power dissolves into nothingness. No return possible from such banishment."
"It's offering us a way to end this permanently," Lucien said, though his protective instincts recoiled at the magical risks such a working would entail.
"No more imprisoned entity waiting for future manipulation.
No more Shadowheart descendants bearing the burden of maintaining ancient binding spells. "
"But potentially killing both of us in the process," Moira added with the kind of unflinching honesty he'd grown to love about her. "Are we brave enough to risk everything on the chance that our mate bond is strong enough to survive dimensional magic?"
"Are we brave enough not to?" he countered, the question hanging between them as they contemplated choices not only about her own fate but the future of the supernatural world.
As evening light faded outside the damaged bookstore and they continued planning for magical working that could either save everyone or destroy them both, Lucien found himself grateful that whatever came next, they would face it as true partners united by bonds that went deeper than duty or obligation.
The mate who sat beside him, her golden magic intertwining with his darker energy in perfect harmony, was worth any risk the future might demand.
And if their love proved strong enough to banish ancient evil permanently, their story would become the kind of legend that gave hope to supernatural couples for generations to come.