Page 53 of The Right to Bear Claws
"I chose the Night Guard because someone needed to protect this town when everyone else was sleeping. I chose to work behind the scenes because the work mattered more than the recognition." His grip on Kaia's hand tightened, drawing strength from their connection. "And I chose to court Kaia slowly, carefully, because she'd been hurt by people who rushed her into things she wasn't ready for."
The false projections flickered, losing some of their solidity as his conviction grew.
"She doesn't need me to be perfect," he continued, addressing the twisted version of his mate directly. "She needs me to be present. To see her strength when she can't see it herself, to stand with her when the world gets overwhelming, to love her not because she's extraordinary—though she is—but because she's mine."
Dream-Kaia sneered. "Such modest ambitions for such a supposedly devoted mate."
"Modest?" Elias laughed, the sound carrying his bear's deep satisfaction. "There's nothing modest about loving someone completely. About building a life where both people can be their truest selves without fear or shame or the need to prove anything to anyone else."
"You think that's enough? Quiet devotion and steady presence?"
"I know it is, because it's what she's been searching for her entire life." The false Kaia began to waver as truth cut through Tobias's illusions. "Not someone to fix her or complete her or prove she's worthy of love. Someone to witness her strength, to celebrate her gifts, to remind her that she belongs exactly where she is."
The projection family crumbled next, revealed as hollow constructions built from his own doubts rather than any reality. His real family loved him exactly as he was—the quiet one, the steady one, the one who got things done without needing fanfare.
"And as for being ordinary," he said, turning his attention to Tobias himself, "you're right. I am. I fix things, I protect things, I show up when people need me. But you know what's extraordinary about that?"
"Enlighten me."
"It's real. It's honest. It's the kind of love that lasts because it's built on truth instead of grand gestures or desperate need." Elias felt power flowing through him, not the flashy, destructive kind, but the deep, unshakeable strength that came from knowing exactly who he was and why that mattered. "Kaia doesn't need rescuing, Tobias. She needs someone who believes in her ability to rescue herself."
"And you think that's you?"
"I know it is. Because I've watched her fight for weeks now, watched her grow stronger every day, watched her choose hope over despair again and again." His bear's roar built in his chest, ready to be released. "She doesn't need a hero. She is one. She just needed someone to remind her of that fact."
The void around them cracked like glass, Tobias's carefully constructed psychological warfare shattering under the weight of genuine self-acceptance. Where there had been darkness andtwisted projections, golden light began to seep through. Not blinding or harsh, but warm and steady like morning sunlight.
"This is impossible," Tobias snarled, his voice losing some of its otherworldly certainty. "Mortals don't overcome their deepest fears so easily?—"
"Because they're not fears," Elias interrupted, feeling more confident than he had in years. "They're doubts. And doubts disappear when they're faced with truth."
The golden light spread, revealing what looked like a small clearing in an endless forest—a pocket of safety where the normal rules of the dream realm held less sway. Kaia was staring at him with wonder and something that might have been pride.
"How did you do that?" she whispered.
"I stopped fighting who I am and started fighting for who we are together." He squeezed her hand, leading her toward the safe space his self-acceptance had created. "Come on. We need to regroup and figure out how to get home."
"This isn't over," Tobias's voice followed them, but it sounded more distant now, less certain. "You can’t hide in here. I am ancient, powerful?—"
"You're alone," Elias called back without turning around. "And that's the difference between us."
26
KAIA
The golden clearing felt like a miracle after the crushing darkness of Tobias's void. Kaia could breathe again, could feel the warmth of actual light on her skin instead of the suffocating weight of manufactured despair. But more than that, she could feel Elias beside her, solid and real and absolutely unbroken by everything the entity had thrown at him.
"I can't believe you did that," she whispered, turning to face him fully. "The way you just... dismantled everything he tried to use against you."
Elias cupped her face with gentle hands, his silver eyes intense with emotion. "He was trying to make me doubt what we have, what I am. But seeing you fight so hard for everyone you love, watching you choose hope every single time made me realize I don't need to be anyone other than who I am."
"And who are you?" she asked, though she thought she already knew the answer.
"I'm the man who loves you completely. Who sees your strength even when you can't. Who will stand with you against anything, including ancient nightmares with delusionsof grandeur." His thumb brushed across her cheekbone. "I'm yours, Kaia. Exactly as I am."
The simple honesty in his voice broke some last barrier she'd been holding against the truth of what they had together. Here, in this pocket of safety he'd created through sheer force of self-acceptance, she could finally admit what she'd been too afraid to fully embrace.
"I love you," she breathed. "Not because you're perfect or because you saved me, but because you see me. All of me. The gift, the fears, the mess of contradictions—and you love all of it."
