Page 47 of The Right to Bear Claws
"Stop," Kaia whispered, backing away from the circle of disappointed faces. "This isn't real. You wouldn't say these things. You cared about me."
"We pitied you," Lucien said, stepping out of the Book Nook with his usual feline grace twisted into something predatory. "There's a difference. You were so desperate for acceptance, so pathetically grateful for scraps of attention, that we felt sorry for you."
"Lucien, please?—"
"Please what? Please pretend we enjoyed your company? Please act like your presence didn't drain the joy from every room you entered?" His green eyes were cold, calculating. "You brought nothing but trouble, Kaia. Nothing but fear and sleepless nights and the constant worry that your problems would destroy everything we'd built here."
The words echoed every doubt she'd ever harbored about herself, every fear that she was too damaged to deserve love. Tobias's presence grew stronger around her, feeding on her anguish like a parasite that thrived on emotional pain.
"You see?" his voice whispered from the shadows. "I told you the truth would hurt. But at least now you know where you really stand."
"Where's Elias?" she asked, dreading the answer but needing to know. "If you're going to torment me with everyone's disappointment, where is he?"
"Ah, yes. Your precious bear shifter." Tobias's laughter was the sound of breaking glass. "Shall we see how he truly feels about his so-called mate?"
The inn's door opened one final time, and Elias stepped out. But this version of him was wrong in ways that made her heart break—his silver eyes dull with exhaustion, his powerful frame bent with weariness, his face etched with lines of stress and regret.
"Elias," she breathed, taking a step toward him only to freeze when he looked at her with disgust.
"Two weeks," he said, his voice flat and emotionless. "Two weeks since I pulled you from that lake, and look what it's cost me. My sleep, my peace, my family's safety. All for someone who couldn't even trust me enough to stay and fight."
"I was trying to protect you?—"
"You were trying to protect yourself. From the hard work of building something real, from the responsibility of caring about people who might actually need you." He shook his head with bitter disappointment. "I thought you were my mate, my other half. But you're just another broken thing that I tried to fix out of misplaced nobility."
"That's not true," she whispered, but the words felt hollow in her own mouth.
"Name one thing you've contributed to this town besides fear and chaos. One way you've made anyone's life better instead of worse."
Kaia opened her mouth to argue, but no words came. In the harsh light of the nightmare realm, every kindness felt like pity, every moment of acceptance like charity she didn't deserve.
"Exactly," nightmare-Elias continued. "You're nothing, Kaia. A burden we tolerated out of misplaced kindness, a problem that finally solved itself by walking away."
"He's right, you know," Tobias's voice grew stronger, more solid. "They're all right. You've spent your entire life pretending to be something you're not—worthy of love, capable of belonging, strong enough to fight for what you want. But the truth is, you're exactly what you've always been: alone."
The circle of disappointed faces closed in around her, their accusations blending together into a cacophony of judgment that made her want to curl up and disappear. This was what she'd always feared, wasn't it? That someday, everyone would see through her masks and realize she wasn't worth the effort.
"Come with me willingly," Tobias whispered. "Stop fighting a battle you can never win. Accept that my realm is where you belong—not because you're special, but because you're broken. And broken things belong in the dark."
For a moment, Kaia almost gave in. The weight of their disappointment, the evidence of her own inadequacy, the crushing loneliness that had followed her everywhere—it would be so easy to stop fighting. To let Tobias drag her deeper into his realm where she'd never have to face another person's disgust or pity.
But then, like a candle flickering in the darkness, a memory surfaced.
"You're not crazy," Elias's real voice whispered across time. "What you're dealing with is real, and it's dangerous. But you're not dealing with it alone anymore."
"That's a lie," she said quietly. "That's not what he said to me."
"What?"
"Elias never said I was broken. He said I was brave. He said I was stronger than I thought I was." She straightened, facing the circle of false faces with growing determination. "And none of you would abandon me for fighting battles I didn't choose. You'd stand with me, help me carry the load, because that's what family does."
"Pretty fantasy," nightmare-Twyla sneered. "But reality has teeth."
"So does truth." Kaia closed her eyes, reaching deep into her memory for moments of genuine warmth. Miriam teaching her to knit while sharing stories about her late husband. Twyla's delighted laughter when Kaia successfully decorated her first batch of cookies. The way Maeve had looked at her with protective approval after their lunch conversation.
"You're remembering wrong," Tobias hissed, his presence pressing against her consciousness like a physical weight. "They tolerated you. They pitied you. They?—"
"They loved me." The words rang out clear and strong, and with them came a wave of true memories that pushed back the nightmare projections. "Miriam called me the daughter she never had. Twyla said I had natural talent for bringing people together. Maeve told me I was brave enough to listen to my heart."
