He got in and left her there, feeling like it was the wrong thing to do but too angry to care. Instead, he drove back to Dublin and went to his hotel room to make some additional phone calls before joining up with some other members of the council for an informal dinner meeting.
CHAPTER NINE
Maeve
The woods were cool. The damp rainy weather had driven most animals into their habitats to keep warm and dry, but not her. She ignored the chilly wetness that moistened her fur as she made her way quickly through the thick underbrush.
It all felt too familiar. The last time she’d been in these woods alone had been the day the dragons had unleashed their fiery breath on the castle remains, melting the reinforcements that had been placed inside its dungeon. How strange to realize that hundreds of years ago and thousands of years before that, they would have been the ones chained in that same dungeon to protect its wealth.
As she reached her destination, she looked around, careful to make sure she was unobserved. Seeing no one, she pulled the branches away from the entrance to the tunnels with her paws, exposing the dark door, painted to match the forest surroundings. Even with the foliage pulled away, only a keen eye would pick up on it, recessed into the side of a small mound.
She shifted and slipped back into the clothes she’d been carrying in her mouth before turning the knob on the padlock to the digits to open the door. It swung open with a loud creak, causing her to look around again, a moment of panic embracing her. The forest was quiet as she exhaled heavily and stepped inside, fishing her cell phone out of her pocket and using the flashlight on it to light the wide hallway within.
She pulled the door closed behind her and flipped the large lever on one wall to ignite the interior lighting. It hummed and flickered on, its low fluorescent beams lighting her way. Her heart hammered in her chest as she made her way further inward, unclear as to what she might find, but she didn’t get very far. Dirt and rock cut off her progress just as the tunnel curved toward its destination.
She stood, listening. There were no interior noises. She rapped against the rubble with a nearby stick, hoping to hear something in response. There was nothing. They were truly gone. If the dragons hadn’t ended them, then being trapped in the tunnels might well have.
Maeve had only been in the tunnel once. Colin had put her into it when they’d gotten word that the attack was coming. It had been Patrick who had tipped them off. The men had elected to stay and fight, though they’d been ill-prepared for what awaited them in the skies above. She’d not seen much in the dimly lit corridors, but there seemed to be some provisions stacked in alcoves along the way.
It had been her hope they’d made it down there and were just biding their time until they could safely slip out into the forest, taking shelter somewhere safe until they were able to resurface in some capacity. The cave-in would have slowed down their escape, but they should have been able to move it. The tunnel was large enough for them to work in bear form.
It was more likely that they were hunkered down for the impending battle, not knowing that the fight wasn’t what they’d expected. The dragons had caught them off guard, melting the beams of the dungeon and upsetting the tunnels below it, resulting in the cave-in that would have prevented anyone who’d managed to avoid the searing dragon breath from getting out alive.
Tears fell down her face as she contemplated the fates of the men on the other side. Roasted by dragons or buried alive? Which had it been for them? Some part of her had hoped they had somehow made it out, but she’d known from the moment that she found the padlock intact that they had not.
Straightening up, she turned and exited the tunnels, replacing the lock and the branches to hide the door. She walked back out of the woods in human form. It took longer, but she needed the time to think. Once she arrived back at the compound remains, she retrieved her phone again and called Rebekah.
“We need to convene a meeting of the Omega council for tomorrow, as early as everyone can make it in.”
“Okay. Can I say what it is about?”
“I’d rather address it personally. You can tell them it is a recap of my meeting with the Alphas.”
“Okay. I’ll call you back when I have a time.”
“Thanks.”
Maeve considering shifting again and running home but then changed her mind, instead heading to a nearby pub for a bite to eat and a pint. It was a bit of a hike, but she could use the fresh air to clear her head. Afterward, she called a cab to take her back home to the small flat she was currently renting from a friend.