Page 44 of The Right to Bear Claws
"Then you know what you have to do."
Kaia woke with tears streaming down her face and absolute certainty crystallizing in her mind. She couldn't stay. Couldn't accept Elias's claiming bond, couldn't continue putting everyone she cared about at risk just because she was too weak to face her destiny alone.
The decision felt like tearing her own heart out, but it was the right one. The only one that gave the people of Hollow Oak a chance at survival.
She dressed quickly in the dark, pulling on jeans and the warmest sweater she owned. Her hands shook as she packed the few belongings she'd accumulated during her time here—the wind chimes Elias had carved for her, the cookies Twyla had insisted she take for the road, the small photo of the town that Miriam had given her as a keepsake.
The note was the hardest part. How did you explain to someone who loved you that leaving was the greatest gift you could give them?
Elias,
By the time you read this, I'll be gone. Please don't try to follow me or bring me back. This isn't about not loving you—it's about loving you too much to let my problems destroy your life.
I know you'll say I'm being stupid, that we can face whatever comes together. But you're wrong. Some battles can only be fought alone, and this is one of them. Tobias wants me, and as long as I'm in Hollow Oak, everyone I care about is in danger.
I'm not running away this time. I'm walking toward my fate, on my terms, to keep you safe. All of you.
Thank you for showing me what it feels like to belong somewhere. Thank you for loving me enough to let me go.
Forever yours,Kaia
P.S. Take care of the wind chimes. They were the most beautiful gift anyone ever gave me.
She left the note on her pillow, knowing he'd find it during his morning check on her safety. Then she slipped out through the inn's back door, avoiding the main street where Night Guard patrols might spot her.
The forest path that led away from Hollow Oak was dark and treacherous, but Kaia navigated it with the desperate determination of someone who knew that looking back would destroy her resolve. Every step felt like abandoning a piece of her soul, but she kept walking.
Behind her, the town she'd grown to love slept peacefully, unaware that their newest resident had just sacrificed her own happiness to keep them safe.
Ahead lay the unknown, and the confrontation with Tobias that she'd been running from her entire life.
But at least when she faced him, she'd face him alone. And Elias would live to find someone worthy of the love she'd never deserved.
Even if the knowledge felt like dying inside.
21
ELIAS
The note felt like ice in Elias's hands.
He'd arrived at the inn just after dawn, expecting to find Kaia still sleeping off the emotional weight of their conversation from the night before. Instead, he'd found her room empty, the bed cold, and a piece of paper that shattered his world with neat, careful handwriting.
"No," he breathed, reading the words again as if they might change. "No, no, no, she wouldn't?—"
But even as he denied it, his enhanced senses were telling him the truth. Her scent was hours old, fading from the room like she'd never been there at all. The wind chimes he'd carved for her hung silent and still, as if they were mourning her absence.
"Elias?" Miriam's voice came from the doorway, cautious and concerned. "Is everything all right? I heard you come up the stairs like—" She stopped when she saw his face. "Oh, honey. What's happened?"
"She's gone." The words came out hoarse, like they'd been torn from his throat. "Kaia's gone. She left this note saying she had to face Tobias alone, that she was protecting us by leaving."
"Let me see that." Miriam moved into the room, taking the note from his shaking hands. "That stubborn, self-sacrificing, foolish girl. She thinks she's being noble."
"Where would she go? If she's planning to confront Tobias, where would she do it?"
"The lake," Miriam said immediately. "That's where her connection to the dream realm is strongest, where he's been pulling her every night. If she's decided to face him willingly..."
Elias didn't wait to hear the rest. He was already moving, taking the stairs three at a time while his bear roared with desperate fury beneath his skin.Find her. Protect her. Bring her home.
