Page 39 of The Right to Bear Claws
"I can take all of that away," Tobias continued, sensing her hesitation. "In my realm, you would be the only consciousness that matters. No more interference from others, no more painful empathy for creatures who can never truly understand what you are."
"What about the people I care about? What happens to them?"
"What people?" The dream shifted again, showing her the town square during a bright afternoon that felt like mockery. "Look around, Kaia. Really look."
She did, and her heart sank. The streets were empty, the shop windows dark, the whole place feeling hollow and abandoned. As if everyone she'd grown to love had simply vanished.
"They were never real, were they?" she whispered. "The connections I thought I'd made, the family I found here... it was all just another dream."
"Not a dream. A trap." Tobias moved closer. "You think that bear shifter truly cares for you? That these people have accepted you out of genuine affection? They tolerate you because you haven't shown them what you're really capable of yet."
"That's not true."
"When have you ever been wanted for who you truly are, rather than who you pretend to be?" His voice turned almost gentle, like a therapist leading her toward an uncomfortable truth. "You've spent your entire life wearing masks, hiding your abilities, making yourself smaller so others wouldn't be threatened by your power."
The words stung because they carried an uncomfortable grain of truth. She had spent years downplaying her gifts, pretending the dreams were just nightmares, convincing herself she was normal when she'd never been anything close to it.
"In my realm," Tobias continued, "you wouldn't need to hide. You could be yourself completely, use your abilities without restraint, shape reality according to your will instead of constantly adapting to other people's limitations."
"And in exchange, I'd be your prisoner forever."
"Prisoner? Or partner?" The shadows around him writhed with what might have been emotion. "I wasn't always what I am now, you know. Once, I was human. A warlock whostudied dream magic because I, like you, was different. Alone. Misunderstood by those who claimed to care about me."
Despite herself, Kaia found herself curious. "What happened to you?"
"I fell in love." The admission came out raw, tinged with centuries of regret. "With a woman who promised to understand my gifts, who swore she wasn't afraid of what I could do in the realm of dreams. But when she saw the true extent of my power..."
"She left."
"She tried to have me killed." The dream around them darkened, becoming a twisted version of some ancient study filled with books and arcane instruments. "Convinced the local authorities that I was dangerous, that my abilities were a threat to everyone around me. So I fled into the dream realm, thinking it would be temporary. A place to hide until the persecution passed."
"But you got trapped."
"I chose to stay," he corrected. "At first. The dream realm was peaceful, free from judgment and fear and the constant need to prove I wasn't the monster they claimed I was. But over time, the isolation... it changed me. Warped me into something that could only exist between worlds."
Kaia felt a flicker of sympathy despite herself. The story was too specific, too painful to be entirely fabricated. "I'm sorry. That must have been horrible."
"It was. But it doesn't have to be horrible for you." His form became more human-like, showing her glimpses of what he might have looked once. Tall, dark-haired, with intelligent eyes that held centuries of loneliness. "I've learned to shape the dream realm into anything I want it to be. Paradise, if you wish. A place where your abilities are celebrated rather than feared,where you'll never again have to worry about hurting someone you care about."
"Because there won't be anyone else to hurt."
"Because there won't be anyone else to disappoint you." The dream shifted one more time, showing her a beautiful garden that existed nowhere in the physical world. Flowers that bloomed in impossible colors, trees that sang with voices like wind chimes, streams that flowed upward toward stars that pulsed with their own light. "I'm offering you forever, Kaia. Eternity in a realm where you have complete control, where your gifts are valued instead of tolerated."
"And what do you get out of it?"
"Companionship. Someone who understands what it\ is to be different, to carry power that sets you apart from ordinary people." His voice grew softer, almost pleading. "I've been alone for so long. Centuries of solitude, watching the world change through other people's dreams but never being part of it. You could end that loneliness."
"By giving up my own life."
"By choosing a better one. Look around you, Kaia. Really look at what you're clinging to."
The garden faded, replaced by harsh reality. The inn room where she slept, Elias collapsed in the chair beside her bed where he'd been keeping watch. But in this version of events, he looked exhausted, defeated, aged by the constant stress of protecting someone who brought nothing but danger to his life.
"He's killing himself trying to save you," Tobias whispered. "How long before he realizes you're not worth the effort? How long before all of them decide you're more trouble than you're worth?"
"They wouldn't do that."
"Everyone does, eventually. I learned that lesson centuries ago, and you'll learn it too. The only difference is whether you accept my offer before they abandon you, or after."
