Page 4 of The Right to Bear Claws
There was weight behind those words, meaning Kaia couldn't quite grasp. But something in her chest responded anyway, a recognition that went bone-deep.People who don't quite fit anywhere else.She'd been one of those people her entire life.
"Different how?" she asked, surprising herself with her directness.
Another look between her hosts. This time, Elias answered. "You'll see for yourself once you're feeling better. Hollow Oak has a way of revealing itself gradually. Nothing too shocking all at once."
The way he said it made her think there would definitely be shocking things, just doled out in manageable doses. The thought should have alarmed her. Instead, she felt a flutter of anticipation.
"I should probably call someone," she said, though she still couldn't think of who that someone might be. "Let people know I'm okay."
"Do you have a phone?" Miriam asked gently.
Kaia looked around the room, taking inventory of her possessions for the first time. The bohemian dress she'd been wearing was draped over a chair, still damp. Her pendant was around her neck. And that was it. No purse, no phone, no wallet. Nothing to prove she existed beyond the clothes on her back and the silver crescent moon against her throat.
"I guess not," she said, fighting to keep her voice light. "Maybe it's in my car? If we could find it..."
"I'll ask around," Elias said. "See if anyone spotted an abandoned vehicle. Until then, you're welcome to stay here as long as you need."
The kindness in his voice nearly undid her. Kaia had spent so long being suspicious of generosity, waiting for the catch, the price, the moment when people revealed what they really wanted from her. But something about Elias felt solid in a waythat made her want to trust him despite every instinct screaming that it was too good to be true.
"I can't pay," she admitted quietly. "Not until I figure out what happened to my things."
"Already taken care of," Miriam said briskly. "Consider it Hollow Oak hospitality."
"But I don't understand why you'd..."
"Because you need help," Elias said simply. "And because everyone deserves a safe place to land when they're lost."
The words cut straight through her defenses to the scared, lonely part of her that had been running for longer than she cared to admit. She blinked rapidly, fighting back tears that had no business appearing in front of strangers.
"Thank you," she whispered. "Both of you. I don't know what I did to deserve this kind of kindness, but thank you."
"You don't have to do anything to deserve basic human decency," Elias said, and there was something fierce in his voice that made her look up. His silver eyes held hers, steady and unwavering.
Kaia nodded, not trusting her voice. In the growing warmth of the morning sunlight, surrounded by the impossible kindness of strangers, she almost let herself believe it might be true.
But at the edges of her consciousness, the whispers waited. And she couldn't shake the feeling that whatever had driven her to that lake wasn't finished with her yet.
3
ELIAS
Elias lasted exactly three hours before his bear started clawing at his ribs.
He'd forced himself to leave the inn after breakfast, giving Kaia space to rest and recover like any decent person would. But every step away from her felt wrong, his supernatural instincts screaming that his mate was vulnerable and he was abandoning his post. By the time he reached the Vane Construction compound on the outskirts of town, his jaw ached from clenching his teeth.
"Well, hell," his youngest brother Finn called from beneath the hood of their work truck. "Look what the cat dragged in. Thought you might've finally learned to sleep past sunrise."
"Some of us have responsibilities," Elias muttered, grabbing his tool belt from its hook in the workshop. The familiar weight should have been grounding, but his bear was restless, wanting nothing more than to abandon the pretense of normalcy and return to Kaia's side.
"Speaking of responsibilities," Thorin, his older brother and the clan's official leader, emerged from the office trailer with a clipboard and a knowing look. "Heard you had some excitementlast night. Miriam called to let us know you'd pulled someone from the lake."
Magnus Vane, their father and the clan patriarch, looked up from the blueprints he'd been studying. At sixty-two, he was still a formidable presence, silver-streaked hair and weathered hands that could frame a house or comfort a grandchild with equal skill. "Everyone all right?"
"She's fine," Elias said, surprised by the growl that crept into his voice. "Staying at the inn while she recovers."
The workshop went quiet. His brothers exchanged looks that made his bear's hackles rise, some silent communication passing between them that he wasn't privy to. Finally, Finn slid out from under the truck, grease-stained and grinning.
"She, huh?" His youngest brother wiped his hands on a rag, eyes dancing with mischief. "Pretty, is she?"
