Page 31 of Mate Night Snack (Hollow Oak Mates #2)

KATNISS

T he Council chamber beneath Miriam's inn felt like a war room, all nervous energy and barely contained tension.

Maps covered the long wooden table, marked with red pins showing rogue pack sightings and defensive positions.

Katniss sat at the far end, her injured arm in a sling, watching the debate unfold with growing frustration.

Three days had passed since Ashwin's attack, three days of defensive positioning that felt like trying to catch shadows with a butterfly net.

"We need more patrols on the eastern ridge," Elder Bram was saying. "If they're using the old mining trails..."

"More patrols just give them more targets," Maeve interrupted from her position by the door. "We're spreading ourselves too thin as it is."

"Then what do you suggest?" Varric asked.

Katniss rose from her chair, ignoring the way the movement made her wounded arm throb. All conversation ceased as she moved to stand at the head of the table.

"We're going about this all wrong," she said.

"Excuse me?" Elder Bram's eyebrows rose in obvious disapproval.

"We're playing defense against someone who's had thirty years to perfect his offense. We're reacting to his moves instead of making our own still." She gestured to the map with its scattered red pins. "We're chasing ghosts while he picks off our people one by one."

"What are you suggesting?" Varric asked.

Katniss took a deep breath, feeling the weight of what she was about to propose settle on her shoulders like armor.

"I'm suggesting we give him exactly what he wants."

The silence that followed was deafening.

"Absolutely not," Emmett said, his voice cutting through the quiet like a blade. "Whatever you're thinking, the answer is no."

"It's not your decision to make." The words came out sharper than she intended. "This isn't about protecting me anymore. It's about protecting everyone."

"Perhaps you should explain your idea," Miriam said carefully.

"Ashwin wants me. Specifically me, with my seer abilities and my connection to this community.

He's been circling us for weeks, testing our defenses, looking for the perfect opportunity to strike.

" She met each pair of eyes around the table.

"I say we give him that opportunity. On our terms, in a place of our choosing, with every advantage stacked in our favor. "

"You want to use yourself as bait," Varric said. “I thought we already covered this.”

"We did and no one could agree, but after what happened, this is the only way.

I want to end this. Once and for all." She pointed to a location marked with ancient symbols on the map.

"The Hollow Stone. It's sacred ground, protected by wards older than the town itself.

If we can draw him there, force a confrontation on ground that favors us. .."

"We could finish him," Callum said slowly. "It could work."

"It could get her killed," Emmett snarled, his protective instincts flaring so strongly that Katniss could feel them through their bond like heat from a furnace.

"I'm already a target," she pointed out. "The only difference is whether I'm a target running scared or a target with a plan."

"The difference is whether you're alone and vulnerable or surrounded by people who can protect you."

"I won't be alone. That's the point. Instead of him picking the time and place, we control everything. We choose the battlefield. We set the terms."

"This plan assumes he'll take the bait," Elder Bram said disapprovingly. "What if he sees through the deception?"

"He won't. His arrogance is his weakness. The idea that we might actually set a trap for him? It won't occur to him until it's too late."

"And if you're wrong?" Emmett asked quietly.

If she was wrong, she'd be delivering herself into the hands of a monster who'd spent decades perfecting ways to break seers.

"Then we improvise," she said simply. "But doing nothing isn't an option. Every day we wait is another day for him to plan, to find new ways to hurt the people I care about."

"The Hollow Stone does have advantages," Maeve said thoughtfully. "The ancient wards there are specifically designed to contain dark magic."

"I could work with the earth magic," Callum offered. "Lions have a connection to the stone circles."

Katniss felt hope flutter as the conversation shifted from whether to attempt the plan to how to make it work. But when she looked at Emmett, his expression was carved from granite.

"This is insane," he said flatly.

"This is necessary."

"This is the only way forward that doesn't involve more innocent people getting hurt." She moved closer to him, lowering her voice. "I can't keep living in fear, waiting for the other shoe to drop. I need to take control of my own story."

She reached for his hand with her uninjured arm, lacing their fingers together. "I'm not asking you to like this plan. I'm asking you to trust me enough to make it work."

She felt him struggle with it, his protective instincts warring with his respect for her autonomy.

"If we do this," he said finally, "I want every possible protection in place. Ward stones, backup plans, communication spells, the works."

"Of course."

"And I want to be close enough to reach you in seconds, not minutes."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"And if at any point you feel like the situation is going sideways, you run. No heroics, no last stands, just run. Promise me," his storm-gray eyes held hers with desperate intensity. "Promise me that if things go wrong, you'll choose survival over victory."

If it came down to her life versus the safety of Hollow Oak, the choice was already made.

"I promise to be as careful as I can be," she said instead. "And to trust you to keep me safe when careful isn't enough."

It wasn't the promise he wanted, but it was the one she could give. He studied her face for a long moment, then nodded slowly.

"All right," he said. "Let's plan a trap."

Around the table, the conversation shifted into tactical mode. Katniss listened with half her attention, the other half focused on the weight of what she'd just set in motion.

She was going to face Ashwin. Deliberately, willingly, with full knowledge of what he was capable of.

It was terrifying. It was necessary. And despite everything, it felt like the first proactive choice she'd made since arriving in Hollow Oak.

For better or worse, she was taking control of her own story.

Now she just had to make sure it didn't end with her death.