Page 65 of Collar Me Crazy
The Void's attention turned toward him like a malevolent star, its fury shaking the foundations of its own realm. "Impossible. You are flesh and blood. You cannot exist here."
"I'm a lot more than flesh and blood," Ryker said, his wolf form beginning to blaze with power that came from love, from prophecy, from the absolute certainty that he would not lose his mate. "I'm what happens when someone threatens everything I care about."
"You are nothing. A beast playing at cosmic forces beyond your comprehension."
"Maybe. But I'm her beast. And that's enough."
Ryker leaped, not at the Void itself but at the shadow tendrils holding Sonya. Where his claws touched them, they didn't just break—they transformed, becoming threads of light that bound him to her instead of her to darkness.
"Hold tight," he told her as their partially repaired bond blazed with renewed strength. "This is going to feel strange."
Together, they tore through the boundaries between realms, carrying each other back toward flesh and reality and the family waiting to welcome them home.
The Void's scream of rage followed them across dimensions, but it was already too late.
The bloodmoon wolf had claimed his mate, and not even cosmic entities could stand against that kind of love.
Now came the hard part—completing their bond and banishing the Void forever.
But as they crashed back into the physical world, surrounded by seven couples whose cheers of triumph echoed across the square, Ryker knew they were ready for whatever came next.
Together, they were unstoppable.
38
SONYA
The transition from the Void's realm back to physical reality felt like being born again—painful, disorienting, but ultimately necessary. Sonya gasped as solid ground materialized beneath her feet, Ryker's massive wolf form solid and warm beside her as they crashed back into Hollow Oak's town square.
"You're real," she breathed, her hands finding his fur, needing the tactile confirmation that he'd actually followed her into that nightmare space. "You came for me."
His wolf nuzzled against her, silver fire still dancing along his coat as he began to shift back to human form. When the transformation completed, he was naked and magnificent, his green eyes blazing with power that made the air itself shimmer.
"Always," he said simply, pulling her against his chest. "I'll always come for you."
Around them, the other couples cheered their reunion, but the celebration was short-lived. Above the square, the tear in reality continued to widen, and through it, the Void's fury made the very air scream.
"You have delayed nothing," the entity's voice thundered across dimensions. "I will tear this realm apart piece by piece until nothing remains but hunger."
"Like hell you will," Callum snarled, his lion half-emerged and ready for battle.
"The ritual," she said, her voice carrying across the square. "We have to complete the claiming ritual now, here, in the middle of the battle."
"Are you insane?" Kieran demanded, his tiger instincts clearly rejecting the idea. "You can't concentrate on something that intimate while fighting for your lives."
"We can't wait for safety," Sonya replied, her visions showing her the rapidly narrowing window of possibility. "Every second we delay, the Void grows stronger. By the time we drive it back enough to perform the ritual safely, it'll be too powerful to banish."
"She's right," Freya said, her nature magic allowing her to sense the escalating damage to reality itself. "The tears are spreading faster than we can seal them. We need the eighth bond now."
Ryker's hands framed Sonya's face, his eyes searching hers. "Are you sure? Once we start the claiming, we'll be vulnerable. Completely focused on each other."
"That's why we need the others to protect us." She looked around at the seven couples, seeing determination replace fear in their expressions. "Circle formation, like we planned. But tighter, more concentrated."
"Can you handle the magical coordination while we're—" He gestured vaguely, heat rising in his cheeks despite the apocalyptic circumstances.
"I'll have to." Her own face flushed, but her voice remained steady. "The bond completion has to be perfectly timed with the energy release. When you mark me, when our connection blazesat full strength, I'll channel it through all seven existing bonds and use the combined power to seal the rifts."
"And if the timing's off?" Emmett asked grimly.
