Page 70 of The Right to Bear Claws
"Tell me about the dreams," Kaia said gently.
"They started right after Harold passed. At first they were just... memories, I suppose. Good ones, mostly. Dreams where he was still with me, where we were young again and planning our future." Mrs. Morgestan's voice grew shaky. "But lately they've changed. Now I dream that he's angry with me, that he's disappointed I'm not moving on fast enough. He tells me I'm wasting my life grieving for him when I should be living."
"And how do those dreams make you feel when you wake up?"
"Guilty. Ashamed. Like I'm failing him even in death." Tears spilled down the older woman's cheeks. "I know it's probablyjust my own fears manifesting, but they feel so real. Like he's actually trying to tell me something from wherever he is now."
Kaia reached out with her dreamwalker senses, gently touching the edges of Mrs. Morgestan's troubled psyche. The grief was there, heavy and pervasive, but underneath it was something else—not guilt, but fear. Fear of letting go, of moving forward, of what her life might look like without the man who'd been her companion for forty-seven years.
"Would you be willing to let me walk through one of these dreams with you?" Kaia asked. "Not to change anything, just to help you understand what they're really trying to tell you?"
Mrs. Morgestan looked uncertain. "Is it safe?"
"Very safe. I won't alter the dream or your memories. I'll just be there as a guide, helping you see patterns you might have missed." Kaia kept her voice calm and reassuring. "And if you get uncomfortable at any point, we can stop immediately."
"All right. I trust you, dear. Miriam speaks very highly of your abilities."
The dreamwalk itself was unlike anything Kaia had experienced before. Instead of being pulled into the chaotic swirl of someone else's subconscious, she found herself able to step carefully into Mrs. Morgestan's dream space, maintaining her own identity while observing the emotional landscape spread before her.
The dream version of Harold Morgestan was indeed angry, but as Kaia studied him with her enhanced abilities, she could see the distortion clearly. This wasn't Harold at all—it was Mrs. Morgestan's own internal voice, the part of her that had internalized decades of his gentle encouragement to try new things and embrace life fully.
"He's not disappointed in your grief," Kaia said softly as they stood together in the dream version of the Henderson kitchen. "Look at his face more carefully. What do you see?"
Mrs. Morgestan studied the dream figure, her expression growing thoughtful. "He looks... sad. Not angry. Sad that I'm in pain."
"Exactly. Your subconscious mind is trying to process his loss by imagining what he would want for you. But it's getting tangled up with your fear of dishonoring his memory by eventually healing and moving forward."
"So the dreams aren't really him trying to communicate with me?"
"They're you trying to communicate with yourself," Kaia explained gently. "Your heart knows that Harold would want you to eventually find joy again, but your grief is so overwhelming that the message is getting distorted."
When they emerged from the dreamwalk twenty minutes later, Mrs. Morgestan looked lighter somehow, as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
"I understand now," she said quietly. "The dreams weren't telling me to stop grieving. They were telling me that it's okay to start living again when I'm ready. That loving him doesn't mean staying frozen in the moment I lost him."
"Grief isn't something you get over, it's something you learn to carry," Kaia said, the words flowing from some deep well of understanding she hadn't known she possessed. "The dreams will probably continue for a while, but now you'll be able to hear what they're really saying."
After Mrs. Morgestan left, clutching a small sachet of herbs Twyla had prepared to encourage peaceful sleep, Kaia sank into her chair with a profound sense of completion.
"How did it go?" Twyla asked, reappearing with fresh tea.
"Amazing. Overwhelming. Perfect." Kaia shook her head in wonder. "I finally understand what my gift is really for. Not just walking through dreams, but helping people decode the messages their own psyches are trying to send them."
"Healing the spaces between conscious and unconscious, between fear and understanding."
"Exactly." Kaia felt Elias's curiosity through their bond and sent back a wave of satisfaction and accomplishment. "I spent so many years thinking my abilities were a burden, when really they were always meant to help people find peace."
"And now that you know your purpose?"
"Now I get to work." Kaia smiled, already thinking about the other residents who'd approached Miriam about similar troubles. "Hollow Oak is about to have the best-rested supernatural community in the Blue Ridge Mountains."
Through the window, she could see Elias looking up from his work, his silver eyes finding hers across the distance with unerring accuracy. Even from here, she could feel his pride in her accomplishment, his joy at seeing her embrace her gifts fully.
The mate bond hummed between them, no longer overwhelming but simply... complete.
She was exactly where she belonged.
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