Page 10 of The Right to Bear Claws (Hollow Oak Mates #6)

KAIA

T wo days of careful courtship had turned Kaia's world upside down in the most wonderful, terrifying way possible.

She stood at the inn's kitchen window, watching Finn and Thorin Vane argue good-naturedly over the proper way to repair the front steps that had been perfectly fine yesterday.

What should have been a simple repair had somehow required extensive consultation, multiple trips to the hardware store, and increasingly creative interpretations of basic carpentry.

It would have been transparent if it wasn't so endearing.

"They're trying too hard," Miriam said fondly, joining her at the window with two cups of afternoon tea. "But their hearts are in the right place."

"I think it's sweet," Kaia admitted, accepting the steaming mug gratefully. "I've never had people who cared enough to be overprotective."

"And how do you feel about their big brother?"

The question made heat creep up Kaia's neck.

Elias had been a constant presence these past few days, but never overwhelming.

He appeared at mealtimes with perfectly reasonable excuses, walked her around town when she mentioned wanting fresh air, and somehow materialized whenever she was struggling with particularly dark thoughts.

Always helpful, never pushy, and absolutely devastating to her carefully maintained emotional walls.

"I feel like I'm in trouble," she said quietly.

"The good kind of trouble?"

"The caring-too-much kind of trouble." The admission slipped out and Kaia pressed her fingers to her lips as if she could take the words back.

Miriam's smile was pure maternal satisfaction. "About time you admitted it."

"It's not that simple." Kaia moved away from the window, restless energy driving her to pace the small kitchen.

"There are things about me, about what's hunting me, that could put him in danger.

The dreams are getting worse, Miriam. Stronger.

And the thing in them... it's not just after me anymore.

It's interested in everyone I care about. "

"All the more reason not to face it alone."

"Or all the more reason to leave before I get someone killed."

The words hung in the air between them, heavy with implication. Miriam set down her tea and fixed Kaia with the kind of stern look that had probably corralled decades of stubborn inn guests.

"Kaia Monroe, you listen to me. Running away doesn't solve anything except making you miserable and alone.

You think that creature hunting you is going to give up just because you're not here anymore?

You think it won't find ways to hurt the people you care about even if you're halfway across the country? "

"At least they'd have a chance without me around."

"They'd have a better chance with you here, where the town's protections can help and where people who care about you can watch your back." Miriam's voice gentled. "Sweet girl, you've been running for so long you've forgotten what it feels like to stand and fight."

The kitchen door opened as Elias entered, tool belt slung around his hips and sawdust clinging to his flannel shirt. He took one look at Kaia's face and his expression grew concerned.

"Everything all right?"

"Fine," Kaia said quickly, then caught Miriam's knowing look. "Actually, no. Not fine. But I don't want to talk about it."

Elias studied her for a moment, then nodded. "Want to not talk about it somewhere else? I was thinking about checking on the Halloween decorations around town. Could use a second opinion."

The casual invitation was exactly what she needed—a chance to get out of her own head without feeling pressured to share feelings she wasn't ready to examine. "That sounds nice."

Twenty minutes later, they were strolling down Main Street, where the business owners had gone all out with autumn decorations.

Carved pumpkins glowed from every storefront, their faces ranging from traditional triangular grins to elaborate artistic masterpieces.

Orange and gold garlands draped between the street lamps, and someone had convinced the local ravens to cooperate in the seasonal display, their sleek forms perched dramatically on fence posts and rooflines.

"It's beautiful," Kaia said, pausing to admire a particularly intricate jack-o'-lantern outside the bookstore. "I've never seen a town that took Halloween so seriously."

"It's an important holiday here," Elias said carefully. "The barriers between worlds are thinner, which means more supernatural activity. But it also means the community comes together to celebrate what makes us different."

"And this year you get to deal with whatever's hunting me on top of the usual festivities."

"Kaia." Elias stopped walking, turning to face her with that steady silver gaze that seemed to see straight through her defenses. "Whatever you're thinking, stop."

"You don't know what I'm thinking."

"I know that look. It's your 'I should disappear for everyone's good' face. You've been wearing it more often lately."

The fact that he'd learned to read her so well in such a short time should have been alarming. Instead, it made something warm and precious settle in her chest. When was the last time someone had paid enough attention to recognize her tells?

"Maybe you'd be safer if I did disappear," she said quietly.

"And maybe I'd rather face whatever's coming with you than wonder if you're safe somewhere else."

Kaia stared at him, searching his face for signs of doubt or obligation, but found only quiet certainty.

"You don't mean that."

"I've never meant anything more." Elias stepped closer, close enough that she could see the silver flecks in his eyes, smell the cedar and mountain air that always seemed to cling to his skin.

"Kaia, I know you're scared. I know this situation is overwhelming and dangerous and nothing like what you'd choose for yourself.

But running away won't solve anything. It'll just mean you're facing it alone. "

"I've always faced things alone."

"You don't have to anymore."

The words were a promise and a plea rolled into one. Kaia felt her carefully constructed walls cracking under the weight of his sincerity, the genuine caring in his voice that suggested he meant every word.

"I care about you," she whispered, the admission torn from somewhere deep in her chest. "More than I should, considering we've known each other barely two weeks."

Elias's expression softened with something that looked like relief. "I care about you too. More than I probably have any right to."

"We're both idiots."

"Probably." His mouth curved in that rare, genuine smile that transformed his entire face. "But at least we're idiots together."

He reached up as if to touch her face, then seemed to catch himself, his hand falling back to his side. The aborted gesture made her pulse skip with awareness of what might have been.

"This doesn't solve anything," she said softly.

"No," he agreed, his voice gentle. "But it gives us something worth fighting for."

That night, the dreams came darker and more harsh with whispers that knew her name.

Kaia found herself standing in a twisted version of Hollow Oak's town square, where the Halloween decorations had morphed into something sinister.

The carved pumpkins leaked black ichor instead of candlelight, and the cheerful orange garlands writhed like living things in a wind that carried the scent of decay.

"Getting attached, are we?" The familiar hollow voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere. "How disappointingly predictable."

"Stay away from them," Kaia said, surprised by the steel in her own voice. "Whatever you want from me, leave them out of it."

"But they're the key to your cooperation." The shadow entity materialized from the darkness between buildings, its form more solid than in previous encounters. "You've grown powerful, little dreamwalker. Strong enough to serve my purposes. But you've also grown... sentimental."

"I've grown smart enough to recognize a predator when I see one."

"Have you? Then you'll recognize the truth in what I'm about to show you."

The dreamscape shifted, showing her flashes of possible futures.

Elias trapped in nightmare versions of his own memories, his bear form twisted into something monstrous.

Miriam's kind eyes turned vacant and empty.

The entire town of Hollow Oak consumed by darkness that fed on their fears until nothing remained but shadows and screaming.

"This is what happens if you continue to resist me," the entity said conversationally. "Your power will continue to grow, and my influence will spread through your connections. Everyone you touch, everyone you care about, becomes a potential vessel for my hunger."

"You're lying."

"Am I? Look closer, little dreamwalker. See what your love is costing them."

The visions intensified, showing her Elias writhing in the grip of nightmares that felt more real than waking.

His silver eyes turned black with terror as creatures made of shadow and hunger tore at his consciousness, feeding on his protective instincts and turning them into weapons against himself.

"Stop it," Kaia gasped, trying to close her eyes against the images.

"I will, when you accept what you are. When you stop pretending you can have a normal life and embrace your purpose as my anchor.

" The entity moved closer, its presence making the air thick and hard to breathe.

"Halloween night, little dreamwalker. Choose to serve willingly, or watch everything you love be consumed by the darkness you've brought among them. "

Kaia woke screaming, her hands clutching at the anchor stone around her throat as the last echoes of hollow laughter faded from her consciousness.

The pendant pulsed warm against her skin, grounding her in the physical world, but she could still feel the creature's presence lingering on the brim of her awareness.

Only ten days until Halloween. Eight days to figure out how to protect everyone she cared about from the monster that lived in her dreams.

Ten days to decide whether her growing feelings were worth the risk of destroying everything she'd found in Hollow Oak.