Page 38 of The Right to Bear Claws
"The nightmares are getting worse?"
"Every night. And the sleepwalking..." She shivered despite the room's warmth. "It's like something's pulling me toward the lake, and I can't resist it."
Elias felt his bear grow agitated as he watched her struggle with exhaustion and fear. Every instinct demanded he do something, fix this, protect her from the threat that stalked her dreams. But he knew from his research that rushing into the claiming conversation could do more harm than good.
"We're going to figure this out," he said quietly. "I promise."
"You think so? Because it feels like I'm running out of time, and everyone's running out of patience with my problems."
"Nobody's running out of patience. We're all worried about you, but that's not the same thing."
She nodded, but he could see the doubt lingering in her violet eyes. The self-blame that made her think she was more burden than blessing, more danger than gift.
"I should probably try to get some sleep," she said, standing with movements that seemed to require more effort than they should. "Maybe tonight will be different."
"I'll be close by," he promised. "If you need anything, just call out."
"Thank you. For everything, Elias. I know this isn't what you signed up for when you pulled me out of that lake."
"Yes, it is," he said firmly. "All of it. The good, the bad, the supernatural threats—all of it. That's what love means."
The soft smile she gave him did little to help ease him, he could see the walls she was rebuilding, the way she was preparing to face whatever came alone rather than drag him down with her.
As she headed toward the stairs, Elias realized with crystal clarity that he couldn't wait any longer. Tomorrow might be too late. The claiming bond conversation needed to happen tonight,before she convinced herself that running away was her only option.
Before Tobias's influence grew strong enough to make her doubt everything real and good in her life.
He waited until he heard her door close, then settled back in his chair to plan exactly how to explain that her salvation might lie in the most intimate connection two souls could share before waking her and having a conversation he wasn’t sure would either save her or have her lost to him completely.
18
KAIA
Sleep came like drowning.
One moment Kaia was settling into her bed at the inn, pulling Miriam's handmade quilt up to her chin while the protective wind chimes sang softly outside her window. The next, she was standing in a version of Hollow Oak that existed somewhere between memory and nightmare, where the familiar streets stretched too long and shadows fell at impossible angles.
"You look tired, little dreamwalker."
The voice came from everywhere and nowhere, weaving through the dream landscape like smoke. Kaia turned slowly, her bare feet silent on cobblestones that felt more real than the bed she'd left behind.
"Tobias," she said, surprised by how steady her voice sounded. "Right on schedule."
"You say that like you've been expecting me." He materialized from the darkness between buildings, his form more solid than she'd ever seen before. Still shifting, still wrong, but with enough human features that she could almost see what he'd once been. "Have you been looking forward to our conversations?"
"I've been dreading them, actually."
"How refreshingly honest." His laugh was the sound of wind through empty rooms. "Most dreamwalkers try to pretend they don't enjoy the power I offer them. The ability to shape reality through will alone, to escape the crushing weight of other people's emotions."
"I don't want to escape anything."
"Don't you?" The dream around them shifted, becoming the inn's common room where she'd left Elias just minutes—or hours—ago. But this version was empty, cold, the warm lighting replaced by harsh shadows that made everything look abandoned. "You've spent your entire life drowning in other people's fears and nightmares. Wouldn't it be peaceful to finally be free of all that noise?"
"It's not noise. It's connection."
"It's burden." His eyes, when they briefly solidified, were indeed like burning coals. "You feel everything, don't you? Every resident of this little town, every visitor who passes through. Their anxieties seep into your dreams, their terrors become your own. How exhausting that must be."
Kaia wanted to deny it, but the truth was that he wasn't entirely wrong. Living in Hollow Oak had been wonderful in so many ways, but it had also opened her up to the collective unconscious of an entire supernatural community. Dreams layered on dreams, fears bleeding into each other until sometimes she woke unsure which nightmares belonged to her.
