Page 26 of Collar Me Crazy (Hollow Oak Mates #8)
RYKER
R yker pulled his truck into the alley behind the Silver Fang Tavern, the engine ticking as it cooled.
Through the windshield, they could see the main square where people were slowly returning to their normal routines after the restaurant incident.
But Sonya sat rigid in the passenger seat, her hands clasped so tightly her knuckles had gone white.
"Tell me," he said, shifting to face her fully.
"The entity isn't random. It's called the Void, and it's been planning this for centuries." Her voice was steady, but he could see the tremor in her jaw. "It exists in the spaces between worlds, feeding on magical energy that leaks through dimensional barriers."
"Okay. That explains the attacks, but?—"
"No, you don't understand." She turned toward him, brown eyes intense with urgency.
"The mate bonds aren't causing the Veil to weaken.
They're giving the Void enough power to break through.
Every couple that's completed their connection has fed more energy into the magical infrastructure, and this thing has been drinking from it like a parasite. "
Ryker felt his wolf stir uneasily. "So the bonds are the problem."
"The bonds are the solution." Her voice turned sharp with frustration. "But only if we complete the eighth one properly. Only if we trust what's happening between us instead of fighting it."
"Sonya—"
"You're not the destroyer in the prophecy, Ryker.
You're the key to saving everyone." She reached for his hands, her touch warm against his cold fingers.
"Your bloodmoon heritage makes you sensitive to dimensional barriers.
You can feel where the Void is weakening the Veil, guide the other couples into the right alignment. "
Ryker pulled his hands away, his wolf beginning to pace beneath his skin. "You're asking me to believe that everything I've been told about myself is wrong."
"I'm asking you to believe that prophecies aren't instructions.
They're possibilities." Her voice grew desperate.
"I saw two futures, Ryker. In one, we complete our bond in fear and chaos, and the Hollow uses that energy to tear reality apart.
In the other, we synchronize with the other couples and create a barrier strong enough to banish it forever. "
"And if you're wrong? If I really am the thing that destroys everything?" He shook his head, his voice turning harsh. "My pack died because people were afraid of what I might become. What if they were right?"
"They weren't right. They were terrified." Sonya's tone turned fierce. "Fear made them see a monster where there was just a scared child. Don't let that same fear make you into the thing they imagined."
"You don't know what you're asking me to risk."
"I know exactly what I'm asking." She moved closer, her hand finding his cheek. "I'm asking you to trust me. To trust us. To believe that love is stronger than prophecy."
Ryker wanted to lean into her touch, to let her certainty wash away the doubts that had plagued him since childhood. But the weight of responsibility pressed down like a physical force.
"What if completing our bond gives the Hollow exactly what it needs? What if your vision was wrong, or incomplete, or?—"
"Then we'll face the consequences." Her thumb traced along his jawline. "But I won't watch you destroy yourself trying to prevent a future that doesn't have to happen."
"Sonya, I can't?—"
"You can't what? Can't trust your mate? Can't believe you might actually deserve happiness?" Her voice rose with frustration. "Or can't admit that running away is easier than fighting for something you want?"
The accusation hit like a slap. "I'm not running away. I'm protecting people."
"You're protecting yourself from getting hurt again." She pulled back, eyes flashing with anger. "You'd rather live alone and miserable than risk caring about someone enough to lose them."
"That's not?—"
"That's exactly what this is." Her voice turned cold. "You're so convinced you're going to destroy everything that you won't even try to save it. And you know what? That kind of self-fulfilling prophecy might be exactly what dooms us all."
Ryker's wolf snarled at the challenge in her tone. "Don't lecture me about destiny when you've known me for two weeks."
"I've been seeing you in visions for months. I know you better than you think."
"Visions can be wrong."
"So can fear."
They glared at each other across the truck's cab, the air thick with tension and unspoken feelings. Ryker's hands clenched on the steering wheel while his wolf pressed against his control, demanding he claim her, protect her, prove to her that she was wrong about his cowardice.
Before either of them could speak again, the truck's windows began to rattle. Not from wind, but from something deeper, a vibration that seemed to come from the earth itself.
"What the hell?" Ryker straightened, his supernatural senses immediately on alert.
Outside, people in the square began pointing at the sky. Ryker followed their gaze and felt his blood turn to ice. Cracks were spreading across the air itself, black lines zigzagging through reality like breaks in glass. And through those cracks, something dark was seeping into their world.
"It's starting," Sonya whispered. "The Void's making its move."
Shadow creatures began pouring through the cracks—twisted shapes that moved like smoke but struck like solid matter. People screamed and ran as the entities descended into the square, their forms shifting and writhing as they sought living hosts.
"Get down," Ryker ordered, but Sonya was already moving.
"I need to see where they're coming from," she said, closing her eyes and letting her seer abilities extend. "The main breach is near the fountain, but there are smaller ones opening all around the square."
Through the windshield, Ryker could see the other mated couples emerging from various businesses, their supernatural abilities flaring as they prepared for battle.
Callum's lion form rippled beneath his skin while Cora's hands blazed with silver fire.
Emmett and Katniss moved with coordinated precision, his wolf instincts guiding her enhanced human reflexes.
"I have to help them," Ryker said, reaching for the door handle.
"Wait." Sonya grabbed his arm. "In my vision, the Void was specifically targeting us. It wants to corrupt our bond, use our energy to tear bigger holes."
"Then we stay away from each other."
"No. That's exactly what it wants—our separation, our fear, our refusal to complete what we started." Her grip tightened. "We fight this together, or we lose everything."
A shadow creature slammed into the truck's hood, its form writhing as it tried to find purchase on the metal surface. Its eyes—if they could be called eyes—fixed on Sonya through the windshield with hungry intelligence.
Ryker's wolf exploded outward, protective fury overriding every other consideration. He shoved the truck door open and launched himself at the creature, shifting mid-leap.
His clothes shredded as his body expanded, auburn fur rippling over muscle as his frame grew to fit his wolf's massive size. When he hit the shadow creature, he was seven feet of snarling predator with fangs designed to tear through supernatural threats.
The entity dissolved under his assault, but three more immediately took its place. Around the square, the battle was intensifying as more couples joined the fight. But for every shadow creature they destroyed, two more poured through the growing cracks in reality.
Ryker wheeled toward the truck where Sonya sat with her eyes closed, her seer abilities clearly working to track the Void's strategy. A cluster of shadow creatures was moving toward her, drawn by her magical signature.
His howl echoed across the square—a sound of rage and territorial fury that made every supernatural in hearing distance turn toward him. This was his mate they were threatening. His pack. His territory.
And he would burn the world down before he let anything touch her.
The bloodmoon wolf that prophecy had feared was finally awake. And it was pissed.