Page 73 of Mate Night Snack
"The Hollow Stone does have advantages," Maeve said thoughtfully. "The ancient wards there are specifically designed to contain dark magic."
"I could work with the earth magic," Callum offered. "Lions have a connection to the stone circles."
Katniss felt hope flutter as the conversation shifted from whether to attempt the plan to how to make it work. But when she looked at Emmett, his expression was carved from granite.
"This is insane," he said flatly.
"This is necessary."
"This is the only way forward that doesn't involve more innocent people getting hurt." She moved closer to him, lowering her voice. "I can't keep living in fear, waiting for the other shoe to drop. I need to take control of my own story."
She reached for his hand with her uninjured arm, lacing their fingers together. "I'm not asking you to like this plan. I'm asking you to trust me enough to make it work."
She felt him struggle with it, his protective instincts warring with his respect for her autonomy.
"If we do this," he said finally, "I want every possible protection in place. Ward stones, backup plans, communication spells, the works."
"Of course."
"And I want to be close enough to reach you in seconds, not minutes."
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
"And if at any point you feel like the situation is going sideways, you run. No heroics, no last stands, just run. Promise me," his storm-gray eyes held hers with desperate intensity. "Promise me that if things go wrong, you'll choose survival over victory."
If it came down to her life versus the safety of Hollow Oak, the choice was already made.
"I promise to be as careful as I can be," she said instead. "And to trust you to keep me safe when careful isn't enough."
It wasn't the promise he wanted, but it was the one she could give. He studied her face for a long moment, then nodded slowly.
"All right," he said. "Let's plan a trap."
Around the table, the conversation shifted into tactical mode. Katniss listened with half her attention, the other half focused on the weight of what she'd just set in motion.
She was going to face Ashwin. Deliberately, willingly, with full knowledge of what he was capable of.
It was terrifying. It was necessary. And despite everything, it felt like the first proactive choice she'd made since arriving in Hollow Oak.
For better or worse, she was taking control of her own story.
Now she just had to make sure it didn't end with her death.
31
EMMETT
Every instinct Emmett possessed screamed against the plan.
His wolf paced beneath his skin like a caged predator, snarling at the idea of deliberately putting Katniss in danger. The mate bond thrummed with protective fury every time he thought about her standing alone at the Hollow Stone, waiting for a monster to emerge from the shadows. It went against everything fundamental about what he was, what he'd been born to do.
But as he watched the town mobilize around their strategy, as he saw the careful precision with which every detail was planned and executed, he had to admit the tactical wisdom was sound.
"Ward stone goes here," Callum said, marking a spot on the ground with chalk. The lion shifter moved with predatory grace around the Hollow Stone clearing, his blue eyes calculating angles and sight lines with military precision. "And another here, to complete the containment circle."
Emmett knelt beside the ancient granite monolith, feeling the power that thrummed beneath his hands. The Stone hadstood here for centuries, a focal point for magic older than human memory. Now it would serve as the center of their trap, its protective wards amplified by everything the Council could bring to bear.
"The earth magic is responding well," Callum continued, pressing his palm to the soil. "I can feel the Stone's willingness to help. It wants this darkness gone as much as we do."
