Page 48 of Their Shared Mate
Raphael sucked in a breath. The blonde over Patrick’s shoulder had been Heather, as in Claire’s good friend Heather? Just when he thought this night couldn’t get any worse. “What do you mean by ‘women like Heather’?”
The brunette crept closer, eyes wide and uncertain. “Heather and three other women were assigned to medical teams, but they performed peripheral tasks like bringing food trays and drawing blood. So, Zion allowed them to be courted. They just weren’t allowed in the village until after they were claimed.”
“Was Heather the only exception here in Eagle Village?”
The brunette shook her head, lips tightly pressed together.
“Tell me their names.” It was a command, not a request and the female started crying.
“Luna and Evelyn,” she provided in between sobs. “But they were both in room six.”
Which meant they were on their way to the lupine village. He couldn’t help wondering if that was the reason room six had been targeted. Or had the room choice been completely random? There was so much about tonight that he simply didn’t know.
Raphael nodded to the woman, then motioned for the other raptors to follow him. “Downstairs should be clear by now,” he called out as he headed for the stairs. “Everyone can leave their rooms if they want to.”
The ground level still looked like a roadhouse after a barroom brawl. The bodies were gone, and someone had attempted to mop up the blood, but much of the furniture and several floorboards would have to be replaced.
“We’ll need to scrounge tables and chairs until new ones can be built,” Raphael said to no one in particular. “The women will need somewhere to sit.”
“Does that need to be done right now?” Levi asked.
The sun had been up for an hour or so, but many of these males had not been to bed yet. Raphael shook his head. “It can wait. Go get some sleep.”
The males dispersed, but Raphael hesitated, not sure where he wanted to go. He was anxious to return home and see for himself that Claire was unharmed. Yet he hated to leave things unresolved with Gabriel. Unfortunately, Patrick likely took Heather to Gabriel’s cabin and there was no way Raphael was going to get in the middle of that contentious mess.
Unless Heather’s life was in danger. Raphael was responsible for the females. He’d brought them to Eagle Village, knowing his brother disapproved. Would Gabriel take out his frustration on Heather? And what about Patrick? Raphael had never seen Patrick that angry.
To be brutally honest, if Patrick had been angry enough to take Heather’s life, she would have been dead already. He meant to punish her, and that would likely lead to a good, hard fucking. Gabriel and Patrick, like most of the raptors, were dominant lovers. Maybe having a female under their control would change their minds about the alliance. And if anyone deservedharsh treatment, it was Heather. Shaking away the speculation, Raphael headed home.
Claire was curled up against Victor and both were soundly asleep by the time Raphael returned to their cabin. They looked relaxed and peaceful, so Raphael decided not to disturb them. Instead, he showered, pulled on a clean pair of shorts, and crawled into bed. Lying on his side, he pressed against Claire’s back and wrapped his arm around her waist. Her familiar scent surrounded him, comforting and soothing him. Physically and emotionally drained by the day’s events, he soon joined his mates in slumber.
When Raphael left the bedroom the following morning, Victor was speaking with Levi in urgent whispers. The cook noticed Raphael, greeted him with a lifted chin, then continued with the conversation.
Raphael crossed the living room and asked, “What’s going on?” Their expressions were too intense for this to be a social visit.
“We found an entrance to the tunnels out behind my cabin,” Levi explained. “I have no idea how long it’s been there. The fucking wolves could have been using it for years.”
“Gabriel took a team down to investigate,” Victor added. “But the tunnels go on for miles. It could take months to map the entire system.”
“Why would we want to map it?” Raphael objected. “Block off the sections that lead to our village. Or better yet, collapse the whole thing.”
Levi looked uncomfortable. “Gabriel wants more information before he does anything permanent.” He raised his hand when Raphael started to argue and concluded, “If you disagree, takeit up with your brother. I just came to tell you guys what we found.”
Raphael backed off. “Is the opening guarded?”
Levi nodded as he zipped up his coat. “And guards swept the entire village to make sure no one else snuck in.” He motioned toward the door, obviously anxious to return to his own concerns. “I better get moving or lunch won’t be ready until dinnertime.”
Victor closed the door behind Levi as Raphael absorbed what they’d just learned. He first heard about the tunnels from the Shadows, but Claire had been down there. She’d been held in one of the caverns for several weeks before Alex moved her to the mountain stronghold. Raphael hadn’t asked her about those weeks. He knew from experience that captives tended to avoid memories about their captivity. “If those cursed tunnels stretch from the lupine village to the top of our mountain, then Gabriel is right. We better find out more about them.”
“Should we wake Claire before we go?” Victor motioned toward the bedroom.
Raphael reached for her empathically. He scanned the emotions she emanated without entering her mind. A deeper scan would have been an invasion, and he refused to violate her trust. She was exhausted, physically and emotionally drained. He released the link and shook his head. “She needs to sleep. I’ll summon a security team and notify Jason that she’s going to be late.”
Retrieving solar-powered lanterns from the storage closet in the back of the cabin, Raphael carried them into the living room and handed one to Victor.
They paused by the door to pull on their coats and Victor said, “I felt a sharp spike in your emotions last night, then Heather’s face flashed into my mind. Did something happen to her?”
Raphael tensed. He should have known that Victor would sense the disruption. “There was an issue, but it had nothing to do with the wolves.”
