Page 1 of The Right to Bear Claws (Hollow Oak Mates #6)

ELIAS

T he October mist clung to Moonmirror Lake like a living thing, curling around Elias Vane's boots as he made his pre-dawn patrol through Hollow Oak's quietest hours.

Three-thirty in the morning was when the supernatural town finally settled, when even the most restless spirits found peace and the ancient fae enchantments hummed their lowest. Perfect timing for a bear shifter who preferred shadows to sunlight.

Elias adjusted his tactical vest and swept his silver gaze across the crescent-shaped lake, cataloguing the familiar sounds of water lapping against the dock, an owl calling from the direction of the Council Glade, the distant rumble of Rufus Tansley's snoring from above the Hollow Mercantile. Everything normal. Everything safe.

His bear stirred restlessly beneath his skin, a sensation he'd grown used to over the years.

At thirty-four, he'd long accepted that his destined mate was either dead, living far from the Blue Ridge Mountains, or simply didn't exist. The Vane clan had stopped asking when he'd settle down, though his brothers still shot him pitying looks during family gatherings.

A splash echoed across the water.

Elias froze, every nerve snapping to attention. Fish didn't jump this late in October, not with the temperature hovering just above freezing. His enhanced hearing picked up the subtle wrongness. It was not the clean splash of a diving animal, but something heavier. Something struggling.

"Son of a—" He cut himself off and broke into a run toward the sound, combat boots eating up the distance along the lake's edge. His night vision cut through the darkness, searching the rippling surface until he spotted her.

A woman floated face-down twenty feet from shore, platinum blonde hair fanned around her like spilled moonlight. Her flowing dress, some bohemian thing in deep jewel tones, billowed around her unconscious form as the lake's gentle current tried to drag her toward the deeper center.

Elias didn't hesitate. He stripped off his vest and dove, the shock of October water hitting his system harshly. His bear roared approval at the protective instinct driving him forward, powerful strokes cutting through the lake until he reached her still form.

The moment his hands touched her shoulders to turn her over, the world exploded.

Mine.

The recognition slammed through him with the force of a freight train, his bear's bellow of triumph nearly overwhelming his human consciousness.

Every cell in his body knew her, claimed her, needed her with an intensity that stole his breath.

The mate bond he'd given up hoping for snapped like a steel cable, binding him to this unconscious stranger with supernatural certainty.

Focus, you idiot. She wasn't breathing.

Elias fought through the haze of mate-recognition and hauled her against his chest, swimming one-armed toward shore with desperate efficiency. Her skin was ice-cold, lips tinged blue, but her heart still beat against his ribs, thready and weak, but present. He'd found her in time.

By the time he dragged them both onto the rocky shore, his hands were shaking.

Not from cold, but from the effort of controlling his bear's demand to shift, to claim, to mark this woman who belonged to him by supernatural law.

He'd never experienced anything close to this intensity, this bone-deep certainty that she was his other half.

But she was also dying.

"Come on," he muttered, rolling her onto her back and tilting her chin up to clear her airway. Water streamed from her mouth, and he began chest compressions, counting under his breath while studying her features in the pale pre-dawn light.

She was ethereal in a way that made his bear pace with appreciation.

Delicate bone structure, full lips currently too pale, skin that would probably be porcelain when she wasn't half-drowned.

A silver pendant in the shape of a crescent moon rested against her throat, the only jewelry she wore.

But it was her scent that made him dizzy with want, even waterlogged and mixed with lake mud.

Night-blooming jasmine and something otherworldly, something that whispered of dreams and distant places.

"Come on," he repeated, pressing harder. "Don't you dare?—"

She convulsed, lake water erupting from her lungs in violent coughs that had her rolling to her side.

Elias supported her shoulders, one hand automatically rubbing her back as she retched and gasped, fighting for breath.

When she finally stilled, chest rising and falling in steady rhythm, he nearly collapsed with relief.

"That's it," he murmured, gathering her unconscious form against his chest. "I've got you now."

But as he lifted her, something cold and unnatural brushed against his consciousness.

Not her scent or warmth, but something else entirely.

Something that clung to her aura like smoke, whispering of nightmares and forgotten fears.

His bear's protective instincts went haywire, torn between claiming his mate and getting her away from whatever darkness shadowed her presence.

She'd brought danger to Hollow Oak. He could feel it.

Elias pushed to his feet, cradling her against his chest as he retrieved his tactical vest with one hand.

She weighed next to nothing, but the way she curled instinctively toward his warmth made something fierce and possessive unfurl in him.

Mate or not, threat or not, she was under his protection now.

The fastest route to help was the Hearth & Hollow Inn, where Miriam Caldwell would be awake preparing for the breakfast crowd. The widow had seen enough supernatural strangeness over the years to handle one more emergency without asking inconvenient questions. At least, not immediately.

His long strides ate up the distance between the lake and Main Street, where Hollow Oak's charming collection of businesses sat waiting for dawn.

The Griddle & Grind Café showed warm light in its windows—Twyla Honeytree never slept normal hours—but Elias avoided the fae-blooded woman's sharp eyes.

She'd take one look at his unconscious burden and start planning a wedding.

The inn's front door opened before he could knock.

"Land sakes, Elias Vane." Miriam Caldwell stood in the doorway wearing a sensible robe and her signature half-moon spectacles, silver hair perfectly arranged despite the hour. "What have you brought me now?"

"Found her in the lake," he said simply, shouldering past her into the inn's cozy warmth. "She's breathing, but she needs somewhere safe to recover."

Miriam's sharp brown eyes took in his soaked clothing, the woman in his arms, and the protective way he held her. Something knowing flickered across her features. "Room three. It's got the best view of the lake, and the wards are strongest there."

Elias climbed the narrow stairs two at a time, hyper-aware of every breath his mystery woman took against his throat.

Room three was small but comfortable, decorated in Miriam's signature style of handmade quilts and antique furniture.

He laid her gently on the bed, then stepped back before his control could snap entirely.

She looked impossibly small against the white pillows, blonde hair spread in damp waves around her shoulders.

In sleep, her features held an innocence that made his protective instincts roar, but he couldn't shake the sensation of wrongness that surrounded her.

Something had happened to her before she'd ended up in the lake. Something dark.

"She'll need dry clothes," Miriam said from the doorway, arms crossed as she studied the scene. "And probably a doctor, though I'm guessing that's not what you want to hear."

"No human doctors." The words came out rougher than intended, his bear's possessiveness bleeding through. "Whatever happened to her, it wasn't normal. I can feel it."

"Can you now?" Miriam's tone was carefully neutral, but her eyes sparkled with interest. "Well then, I suppose you'll be wanting to stay close. Make sure she's safe when she wakes up."

It wasn't a question. Elias nodded, already pulling a chair closer to the bed. Nothing could drag him away from his mate, not when she was vulnerable and whatever had tried to claim her might still be hunting.

"I'll fetch some clothes and tea," Miriam continued. "Something to settle nerves and help with shock. You should probably change out of those wet things before you catch pneumonia."

But Elias was already settling into the chair, silver gaze fixed on the steady rise and fall of her breathing. "I'm fine."

"Stubborn bear," Miriam muttered, but there was affection in her voice. "At least tell me, do you know who she is?"

"No." He reached out without thinking, brushing a damp strand of hair from her forehead. Her skin was warming under his touch, color returning to her cheeks. "But I'm going to find out."

And then he was going to find whatever had put her in that lake and make sure it never threatened her again.

The thought surprised him with its violence. Elias had always been protective, but this was different. This was the kind of territorial fury that could level mountains and burn forests. This was what happened when someone threatened a bear shifter's mate.

Even if she didn't know she belonged to him yet.

"Well," Miriam said softly, "I suppose we'll have our answers soon enough. She's starting to wake up."

Elias's attention snapped back to the bed, where violet-blue eyes were fluttering open for the first time. The most unusual eyes he'd ever seen, like amethyst shot through with silver. They were unfocused, confused, but alive.

And looking right at him.

He leaned forward in his chair and whispered, "You're safe now."