Page 25 of The Right to Bear Claws (Hollow Oak Mates #6)

ELIAS

T he void around them began to shift, darkness taking shape into something far more insidious than physical walls. Elias felt the change like pressure building behind his eyes, and his bear's protective instincts surged as Tobias's presence grew heavier, more focused.

"Now then," the entity's voice echoed from all around, "let's see what fears your mate's brave rescuer carries in his heart."

"Whatever game you're playing—" Elias began, but the words died as the emptiness around them filled with images that made his stomach clench.

The Vane Construction compound materialized, but not as he'd left it. This version was cold, sterile, filled with his father and brothers going about their work without him. Their movements were more efficient, their laughter easier, their entire dynamic improved by his absence.

"Interesting," Tobias mused, his voice carrying new notes of satisfaction. "The black sheep of the family. The son who never quite fit, who chose shadows over sunlight, silence over leadership."

"That's not?—"

Magnus appeared in the projection, but this version of his father looked relieved, unburdened. "Always worried about you, Elias. Always wondering when you'd stop skulking around the edges and become the leader we needed you to be."

"He doesn't think that," Elias said, but uncertainty crept into his voice as more figures joined the scene.

Thorin, shaking his head with disappointment. "Could have been clan leader if he'd wanted it. Instead, he chose to hide in the Night Guard, pretending that avoiding responsibility was the same as being mysterious."

Finn's laugh was cruel in a way the real Finn's never was. "Remember when we used to make excuses for him? 'Elias just needs time to find himself.' Turns out what he found was a taste for playing protector to things too broken to save."

"Stop," Elias growled, his bear snarling beneath the surface.

"Oh, but we're just getting started," Tobias said with obvious delight. "Show him what his precious mate really thinks of her supposed rescuer."

The scene shifted to the lakeside where he'd explained mate bonds to Kaia, but in this version, her expression was pitying rather than interested. Dream-Kaia shook her head with gentle condescension.

"You really think I need someone who hides from his own family?

Someone who's so uncertain of his own worth that he spent thirty-four years avoiding any position where he might have to prove himself?

" She sighed with the kind of patient disappointment reserved for children.

"I needed someone strong, Elias. Someone confident enough to lead, not someone who follows from the shadows. "

"That's not what she said," he protested, but the words felt hollow even to his own ears.

"Isn't it what she thought, though? Deep down, when she looked at her options?

" Tobias's presence pressed closer, suffocating in its certainty.

"A mate is supposed to be an equal partner, not a project to fix.

What exactly do you bring to her life besides good intentions and protective instincts any alpha could provide? "

The question hit something raw and vulnerable in Elias's chest. What did he bring to Kaia's life? He wasn't a leader like Thorin, wasn't charming like Finn, wasn't wise like his father. He was just... steady. Reliable. The kind of man who fixed things quietly and asked for little in return.

"That's right," Tobias whispered, sensing weakness. "You're ordinary, Elias Vane. Pleasant enough, useful in your way, but hardly the kind of mate a powerful dreamwalker deserves. She needs someone extraordinary, someone who can match her gifts with achievements of his own."

The projections around them multiplied, showing him scene after scene of his perceived inadequacies.

Every time he'd chosen to work behind the scenes instead of stepping forward.

Every moment he'd let others take credit for his contributions.

Every decision to support rather than lead, to protect rather than command.

"Face it," dream-Kaia said with cruel clarity. "You're not hero material. You're a supporting character in other people's stories, including mine."

For a moment, Elias almost believed it. The weight of lifelong insecurities pressed down on him, all the moments he'd wondered if he was enough, if his quiet strength was actually weakness in disguise.

But then he felt Kaia's real hand in his, warm and solid and absolutely trusting.

Not the projection Tobias had created, but the actual woman who'd chosen to run toward danger to protect the people she loved.

Who'd trusted him enough to share her deepest fears, who'd looked at him like he was the answer to prayers she'd never spoken aloud.

"You're wrong," he said quietly, his voice gaining strength with each word.

"Which part, exactly?" Tobias sounded genuinely curious.

"All of it." Elias straightened, feeling his bear's confidence merge with his human understanding.

"You think being a leader means being in charge, being the loudest voice in the room.

But real leadership is about knowing when to step forward and when to step back. When to speak and when to listen."

"Pretty philosophy, but?—"

"I chose the Night Guard because someone needed to protect this town when everyone else was sleeping.

I chose to work behind the scenes because the work mattered more than the recognition.

" His grip on Kaia's hand tightened, drawing strength from their connection.

"And I chose to court Kaia slowly, carefully, because she'd been hurt by people who rushed her into things she wasn't ready for. "

The false projections flickered, losing some of their solidity as his conviction grew.

"She doesn't need me to be perfect," he continued, addressing the twisted version of his mate directly.

"She needs me to be present. To see her strength when she can't see it herself, to stand with her when the world gets overwhelming, to love her not because she's extraordinary—though she is—but because she's mine. "

Dream-Kaia sneered. "Such modest ambitions for such a supposedly devoted mate."

"Modest?" Elias laughed, the sound carrying his bear's deep satisfaction. "There's nothing modest about loving someone completely. About building a life where both people can be their truest selves without fear or shame or the need to prove anything to anyone else."

"You think that's enough? Quiet devotion and steady presence?"

"I know it is, because it's what she's been searching for her entire life.

" The false Kaia began to waver as truth cut through Tobias's illusions.

"Not someone to fix her or complete her or prove she's worthy of love.

Someone to witness her strength, to celebrate her gifts, to remind her that she belongs exactly where she is. "

The projection family crumbled next, revealed as hollow constructions built from his own doubts rather than any reality. His real family loved him exactly as he was—the quiet one, the steady one, the one who got things done without needing fanfare.

"And as for being ordinary," he said, turning his attention to Tobias himself, "you're right. I am. I fix things, I protect things, I show up when people need me. But you know what's extraordinary about that?"

"Enlighten me."

"It's real. It's honest. It's the kind of love that lasts because it's built on truth instead of grand gestures or desperate need.

" Elias felt power flowing through him, not the flashy, destructive kind, but the deep, unshakeable strength that came from knowing exactly who he was and why that mattered.

"Kaia doesn't need rescuing, Tobias. She needs someone who believes in her ability to rescue herself. "

"And you think that's you?"

"I know it is. Because I've watched her fight for weeks now, watched her grow stronger every day, watched her choose hope over despair again and again.

" His bear's roar built in his chest, ready to be released.

"She doesn't need a hero. She is one. She just needed someone to remind her of that fact. "

The void around them cracked like glass, Tobias's carefully constructed psychological warfare shattering under the weight of genuine self-acceptance.

Where there had been darkness and twisted projections, golden light began to seep through.

Not blinding or harsh, but warm and steady like morning sunlight.

"This is impossible," Tobias snarled, his voice losing some of its otherworldly certainty. "Mortals don't overcome their deepest fears so easily?—"

"Because they're not fears," Elias interrupted, feeling more confident than he had in years. "They're doubts. And doubts disappear when they're faced with truth."

The golden light spread, revealing what looked like a small clearing in an endless forest—a pocket of safety where the normal rules of the dream realm held less sway. Kaia was staring at him with wonder and something that might have been pride.

"How did you do that?" she whispered.

"I stopped fighting who I am and started fighting for who we are together." He squeezed her hand, leading her toward the safe space his self-acceptance had created. "Come on. We need to regroup and figure out how to get home."

"This isn't over," Tobias's voice followed them, but it sounded more distant now, less certain. "You can’t hide in here. I am ancient, powerful?—"

"You're alone," Elias called back without turning around. "And that's the difference between us."