Page 17 of The Right to Bear Claws
"I was a child," she whispered, horror creeping through her consciousness. "I didn't know what I was agreeing to."
"A promise is a promise, regardless of age." The shadow-figure began to circle her, and with each step, the dream landscape grew darker. "You've delayed long enough, gatheredenough strength to serve my purposes. On Halloween night, when the barriers between worlds grow thin, you'll fulfill your oath."
"No." Kaia straightened, drawing on reserves of courage she didn't know she possessed. "I choose who I serve, and it's not you."
"You think your little charms will protect you? Your bear shifter guardian?" The thing laughed, a sound like breaking glass. "He can't follow you here, into the realm where I am strongest. Here, you belong to me."
The dream square began to shift and writhe, buildings melting into impossible geometries as the creature's presence grew stronger. But instead of the paralyzing fear she'd felt in previous nightmares, Kaia found herself thinking of Elias's steady strength, Miriam's maternal protection, the way Twyla's eyes sparkled with mischief and care.
"You're wrong," she said firmly. "I don't belong to you. I belong with them, in Hollow Oak, with people who care about me without asking for anything in return."
"We'll see about that." The shadow-thing's voice turned vicious. "When Halloween comes, you'll remember who you really are. And you'll come to me willingly, or watch everyone you've grown to care about suffer the consequences."
The dream shattered like glass, sending Kaia tumbling back toward consciousness with a scream trapped in her throat. She jerked awake in her inn room bed, heart hammering and skin slick with cold sweat, the echo of hollow laughter still ringing in her ears.
But she wasn't alone.
Strong arms encircled her immediately, pulling her against a chest that smelled like cedar and safety. Elias's voice rumbled against her ear, low and soothing, anchoring her to the waking world with the solid reality of his presence.
"I've got you," he murmured, one hand stroking her hair while the other rubbed gentle circles against her back. "You're safe. It was just a dream."
"Not just a dream," she gasped, clinging to his flannel shirt like a lifeline. "It was real. He was real. And he knows about Halloween, about the town, about you."
Elias's arms tightened around her, and she felt rather than heard the protective growl that vibrated through his chest. "Tell me everything."
So she did, pouring out the terrifying encounter while he held her steady, never once making her feel foolish or hysterical. By the time she finished, pale morning light was creeping through her window, and she realized they'd spent the entire night talking through her fears.
"I made some kind of bargain when I was young," she said finally, exhaustion making her voice small. "I don't remember all the details, but I promised to serve as his anchor to the physical world. And now he's coming to collect."
"Whatever you promised him, you were a child. It doesn't count."
"What if it does? What if on Halloween night, I can't fight him anymore?"
Elias pulled back enough to meet her eyes, silver gaze fierce with determination. "Then we make sure you're not fighting alone. Hollow Oak protects its own, Kaia. All of us, together, against whatever's coming."
The conviction in his voice made her believe, for the first time since the nightmares began, that maybe she really could win this fight. That maybe, surrounded by people who cared about her, she was stronger than the shadows trying to claim her.
"Thank you," she whispered, meaning it more than any words she'd ever spoken. "For staying. For believing me. For making me feel like I'm worth protecting."
"You are worth protecting." His thumb brushed across her cheek, wiping away tears she hadn't realized were falling. "You're worth everything, Kaia Monroe. Don't ever let anyone tell you different."
As dawn broke fully over Hollow Oak, chasing away the last shadows of her nightmare, Kaia allowed herself to believe it might be true.
9
ELIAS
Dawn had never felt like such a fragile thing.
Elias sat in his truck outside the Vane Construction compound, watching the first pale light of morning creep across the mountains while Kaia's revelations echoed in his mind. A childhood bargain with a shadow entity. Halloween night approaching like a deadline. His mate caught between worlds by promises she'd been too young to understand.
His bear prowled beneath his skin, desperate to charge back to the inn and stand guard over her sleeping form. But Kaia had finally drifted off around six, exhausted by her nightmare encounter, and Miriam had shooed him away with firm instructions to get some real rest himself.
Instead, he'd driven straight to the family compound, needing the grounding presence of his clan before he lost his mind entirely.
The workshop was already alive with activity when he entered, his brothers moving around the space with the easy efficiency of people who'd worked together for decades. Thorin looked up from the blueprints he'd been reviewing, taking in Elias's rumpled clothes and drawn expression with shrewd eyes.
"Rough night?" he asked.
