Page 63 of The Right to Bear Claws
"Speaking of which," Miriam said, her motherly voice carrying practical concern, "how do you feel, dear? After channeling that much power, after facing down something that ancient..."
Kaia considered the question seriously. "Different," she said finally. "Stronger, but not in the way I expected. Like I finally understand what my gifts are really for."
"And what's that?" Finn asked with typical younger brother directness.
"Healing. Not just individuals, but the spaces between people. The places where connection should exist but fear has built walls instead." She looked around at the faces surrounding them, her expression bright with new understanding. "I'm not just a dreamwalker. I'm a bridge-builder, someone who helps others find their way back to hope."
"A guardian of sleep and peace," Elias said, remembering her words from the transformed realm. "Someone who stands between nightmares and the people she loves."
"Exactly." She smiled, and it was like watching the sun rise. "I finally know who I'm meant to be. Not someone running from her gifts, but someone embracing them to help others."
"And us?" he asked, though he thought he already knew the answer. "What are we now that the immediate threat is over?"
"We're whatever we choose to be," she said, leaning down to kiss him with gentle reverence. "Mates, partners, two people who faced the worst kind of darkness and chose love anyway."
"I love you," he said against her lips, the words carrying weight they'd never held before. "You're the bravest person I've ever known."
"I love you too," she whispered back. "For following me into hell, for being willing to sacrifice yourself to keep me safe, for seeing strength in me when I could only see problems."
Around them, the assembled crowd of friends and family began to disperse, giving them space for the private reunion they needed. But not before Magnus cleared his throat with patriarchal authority.
"Tomorrow we plan a proper celebration," he announced. "Tonight, we're all just grateful you're both home safe."
"Home," Kaia repeated, the word carrying wonder as if she was testing how it felt in her mouth. "I like the sound of that."
"Good," Elias said, pulling her down to lie beside him on the grass while they watched the stars wheel overhead. "Because you're stuck with us now. All of us. Hollow Oak doesn't let go of family easily."
"I wouldn't want it to," she said, settling against his side with a contentment. "I've spent my whole life looking for somewhere to belong. I'm not about to give it up now."
As the night faded toward dawn, they lay together by the lake where their story had begun, surrounded by the quiet sounds of a community at peace. The ancient threat was gone, transformed by compassion into something that could finally rest. The barriers between realms were stable again, protected by the same love that had redeemed a lost soul.
And in a few hours, when the sun rose fully over Hollow Oak, they would begin the next chapter of their story.
But for now, it was enough to simply be alive, be whole, and be exactly where they belonged.
32
KAIA
The first thing Kaia noticed as they sat together by the lake was how different everything felt.
Not just the obvious things—the way Elias's solid warmth anchored her to the physical world, or the profound sense of peace that had settled over Hollow Oak now that Tobias's ancient hunger was finally at rest. It was something deeper than that, something fundamental about the way her dreamwalker abilities had changed during their ordeal.
"The nightmares are quiet," she said wonderingly, testing her expanded senses as she tried to reach with her consciousness. "I can still feel them—everyone's fears and anxieties, the things that go bump in the night. But they're not overwhelming me anymore."
"What do you mean?" Elias asked, his arm tightening protectively around her shoulders.
"Before, it was like trying to drink from a fire hose. Every nightmare, every terror, every moment of someone else's fear would crash into me whether I wanted it or not." She leaned into his warmth, marveling at the way her abilities now felt controlled, purposeful. "But now it's different. I can choose whatto engage with, can actually help process the fears instead of just absorbing them."
As if to demonstrate, she gently touched the edge of a nearby resident's sleeping mind—Mrs. Morgestan, who lived above the bakery and suffered from recurring nightmares about losing her late husband. Instead of being dragged into the woman's grief, Kaia found she could offer comfort, weaving threads of peace and acceptance into the troubled dreams until they transformed from nightmares into gentle remembrance.
"That's incredible," Elias breathed, somehow sensing what she'd done through the bond they had created. "You're not just walking through dreams anymore. You're healing them."
"It's what I was always meant to do," she realized, the truth settling in her chest like a warm ember. "All those years of running from my gift, thinking it was a curse or a burden, when really it was just... undeveloped. Like a muscle that needed proper training before it could be truly useful."
Around them, Hollow Oak's Halloween celebration was reaching its peak. Even after the supernatural crisis they'd just survived, the townsfolk were determined to mark the holiday properly. Jack-o'-lanterns flickered with protective light, children ran through the streets in elaborate costumes, and the cheerful sounds of community celebration drifted across the water.
But Kaia barely noticed any of it. Her entire world had narrowed to the man beside her, to the miracle of his presence and the certainty that they'd both survived what should have destroyed them.
