Page 23 of Collar Me Crazy (Hollow Oak Mates #8)
SONYA
T he walk back to town felt longer than usual, November wind cutting through Ryker's flannel shirt that she'd kept wrapped around herself like armor. His scent clung to the fabric, making her wolf-claimed heart ache with every step.
She understood his fear. Really, she did. After what they'd shared, after the way he'd looked at her like she was his salvation and destruction rolled into one, of course he was terrified. But understanding didn't make his renewed distance hurt any less.
"There you are," Freya called as Sonya approached Bloom & Blossom. "I was starting to worry when you didn't show up this morning."
"Sorry. Had something to take care of." Sonya pushed through the shop's door, grateful for the warmth and the familiar scent of herbs. "What do you need help with?"
"Actually, I was hoping to pick your brain about something." Freya gestured toward the back room where several people were gathered around a table covered with books and papers. "We've been comparing notes about the magical disturbances, and some interesting patterns are emerging."
Sonya followed her, recognizing most of the faces around the table.
Cora and Callum sat side by side, their usual easy intimacy subdued by worry.
Kieran had his arm around Freya's waist, his hazel eyes sharp with concern.
Emmett and Katniss occupied the far side of the table, while Lucien and Moira had claimed the chairs closest to the research materials.
"What kind of patterns?" Sonya asked, settling into an empty chair.
"Tell her what you told me," Freya said to Cora.
"It's about the timing of the ward failures," Cora began, consulting a handwritten list. "I've been tracking them against significant moments in our relationships, and there's definitely a correlation."
"What kind of moments?" Sonya asked, though she suspected she already knew.
"First kisses, first intimate encounters, official matings." Callum's voice was grim. "Every major milestone in our bonds corresponds with a spike in magical disturbances."
"But here's the thing," Katniss interjected, leaning forward. "The pattern isn't consistent across all couples. Some milestones barely register, while others cause massive fluctuations."
"Which ones cause the bigger problems?" Sonya asked.
"The ones involving the strongest alphas," Emmett said bluntly. "My bond with Katniss, Callum's with Cora, and now..."
"Now whatever's happening between you and Ryker," Moira finished gently. "We're not trying to blame anyone, but the evidence is pretty clear."
Sonya nodded, her mind already working through the implications. "So the more powerful the shifter, the more their mating affects the magical infrastructure."
"That's our theory," Lucien confirmed. "Which brings us to the real question. What do we do about it?"
"Have any of you considered that maybe we're looking at this backwards?" Sonya asked, an idea beginning to form.
"What do you mean?" Freya asked.
"I mean, what if the bonds aren't causing the problem?
What if they're revealing it?" Sonya pulled one of the research books toward her, flipping through pages until she found the passage about the Void.
"Look at this description again. 'It feeds on magical chaos, growing stronger with each barrier that falls.
' What if it's been here all along, just waiting for enough power to manifest? "
"You're saying the mate bonds are like... bait?" Kieran's expression was skeptical.
"I'm saying they're a power source. The Void feeds on magical energy, right? And mated pairs generate a lot of magical energy. So instead of the bonds causing the Veil to collapse, what if theVoid is using that energy to break down the barriers from the inside?"
The table fell silent as everyone processed this possibility.
"That would explain why the disturbances started small and have been building," Emmett said slowly. "It's been feeding gradually, growing stronger with each couple that completed their bond."
"And now it's strong enough to actively attack the protective barriers," Cora added. "Instead of just feeding off the ambient energy."
"But if that's true," Moira said, "then completing more bonds would just give it more power to work with."
"Unless we find a way to cut off its food supply," Sonya said. "Or redirect that energy toward something else." Her hope was evident to everyone, but she didn’t care.
"Like what?" Callum asked.
Before Sonya could answer, a clear vision overtook her.
Threads. Seven of them, bright as comet tails, weaving from each couple into the outer fabric.
Not fraying. Not rotten. Strong. The strain lay not inside the threads but at the edges, where a dark lattice pressed in like a web, siphoning luminescence.
It drank at every bright junction, not to break the threads but to gorge on the spillover.
Darkness pouring through cracks in reality, but not random cracks.
Deliberate ones, carved by something that understood exactly how to exploit the weaknesses in Hollow Oak's defenses.
The Void wasn't just feeding on the magical energy from the mate bonds—it was using that energy like a scalpel, precisely cutting through the barriers that kept it contained.
Sonya gasped as the vision faded, finding herself gripping the edge of the table while concerned faces stared at her.
"What did you see?" Moira asked urgently.
"That we have been blaming the wrong thing." Sonya turned so the whole circle could hear her. "The bonds are not the fuse. They are the fuel The Void is hoarding until the Veil is too thin to hold. It is not love that breaks us. It's hunger."
"Hunger for what?" Freya asked.
"Our power. Our connections. Everything that makes us strong." Sonya's voice grew steadier as understanding crystallized. "Whatever this thing is, it's not random. It's intelligent, and it's been planning this for a long time."
"So what do we do?" Kieran demanded.
"We stop giving it what it wants," Emmett said grimly. "Cut off its food supply."
"How? By breaking our bonds?" Katniss's voice carried disbelief. "That's not exactly reversible."
"No," Sonya said quickly. "Breaking the bonds would probably make things worse. The energy has to go somewhere, and a severed connection would create exactly the kind of magical chaos this thing feeds on."
"Then what?" Cora asked.
Sonya looked around the table at the seven people who'd found love despite impossible odds, then out the window toward the sanctuary where Ryker was probably still building walls—both literal and metaphorical.
"We figure out how to use our connections as weapons instead of just power sources," she said finally. "And we do it fast, because I don't think we have much time left."