by Terry Spear
The further he drove, the more he realized what their destination was. He called CJ back. “They’re headed for the mine.”
“We’ve got a dozen men ready for search and rescue.”
“Send them to the mine.”
“Will do.” CJ ended the call.
Peter tried to drive faster, but his tires lost traction twice, and if he was going to get there without wrecking his car first, he had to slow down, as much as he hated to. “Meghan, honey, I’m coming. Just hold on,” he said out loud in the car, wishing she could hear him and praying he got there before it was too late.
Chapter 30
Meghan slid with the pile of rocks as they suddenly loosened, and more rocks and dust tumbled down. She suffered new bruises and cuts, but she realized she needed to get dressed and work at this further, since Rollins didn’t appear to be in any shape to do anything to her. And in truth, she had his gun on this side of the cave-in.
She returned to her clothes and dressed, feeling somewhat warmer, then pulled Bill’s gloves off, as much as she hated to. She needed to dig at the stones, and the gloves could help protect her from cutting her fingers to shreds.
With willful determination, she climbed back up to the hole that was no longer there, and disheartened, she began pulling the rocks away, seeking the small hole again. She wanted to have any size hole, just to make her feel connected to the outside world and continue to have breathable air. God, she hoped Peter would find them here soon.
Coughing on the dust, she finally managed to create a new hole, smaller than the other one, but she worked on it until it was big enough to poke her hand through. Still, there was a wall of stones between them and the other half of the tunnel that led out of the mine. All they needed to do was make enough of a hole to work their way through.
She kept working at it, making a little progress, finally able to see farther into the other side of the tunnel, but she couldn’t make the hole any bigger. Rollins was buried from his shoulders down, only one hand and his head visible, both covered in dust and blood. The large boulders appeared to pin him sufficiently so he couldn’t dig himself out without the aid of heavy-duty moving equipment. Good. He wasn’t going anywhere. He had tried to bury her and Bill alive like he had the miners so long ago, only this time, he got caught up in his own dastardliness.
His breathing was labored, and when he saw her, he croaked out, “Hell.”
But she couldn’t leave the mine any more than he could. She needed a pickax to create a bigger hole.
She was relieved he was pinned down and couldn’t hurt anyone else. Yet she needed to get Bill help pronto. If Rollins died, would his ghost attach to her? He had unfinished business with her, so it very well could.
Wearily, she tried to dig at rocks farther away, hoping she could maybe break through another part of the wall. She wasn’t giving up, no matter what.
“Meghan!” Peter shouted from somewhere far away.
“Here!” she screamed, relief washing over her to hear his beautiful, very concerned voice. “Peter, we’re here!” She cupped her mouth, tilted her head back, and howled as a human, able to make just about as perfect a howl as she would as a wolf. She knew he could smell her scent and was able to track her and even Bill down here.
“Meghan!” he shouted, getting closer.
“Here, Peter. We’re here! Trapped! Bill’s wounded. Gunshot to the leg.”
“We’re coming! Just hold on. We’re almost there.”
She thought he was calling from a ladder some distance off. And then she heard running footfalls and the clanking of equipment. She so hoped the pickaxes would suffice and she and Bill wouldn’t be stuck down here for too long because the boulders were too big.
She saw Peter heading the pack, running to rescue her. She so loved him. “Peter,” she choked out, tears running down her cheeks.
He reached the rubble and climbed up it to stretch his arm into the hole to clasp her hand. She pulled off Bill’s glove and took his hand. “We’ll get you out, honey. I need you to step far away from the cave-in. We’ll start digging at it. Half the pack is here to help.”
She smiled to know they would be here at a moment’s notice to rescue them. “I’m so sorry they had to do this on Christmas.”
“Hell, Rollins was the reason for it. Not you. I love you. We’ll get you out soon.”
“I love you too.” She hated to let go of Peter’s hand, but the sooner she moved out of the way, the sooner they could get them out of here. She scrambled down the rock pile and returned to where Bill was finally conscious.
“Sorry,” Bill said to her as she pulled his gloves back on his hands. She still couldn’t do anything about his plastic tie.
* * *
Peter was thankful Meghan was alive. Bruised, scratched, and dusty, but alive.
Rollins’s head and hand were the only parts of his body visible from beneath part of the cave-in. The rocks covering him would weigh too much for the men to lift. Rollins had killed himself as surely as if he’d thrown himself down a shaft.
“Looks like you have yourself in a bind,” Peter said to Rollins, his tone of voice dark. He was glad Rollins wasn’t going anywhere.
“What about him?” CJ asked Peter, pointing at Rollins.
Peter had seen men who had suffered injuries from being crushed, and he knew Rollins wouldn’t live, no matter how much their wolf genetics helped heal them faster than humans. It would just mean it would take him longer to die. “He’s made his bed.”
As much as Bill annoyed him, Peter was worried about his fate. They needed to reach him as quickly as they possibly could.
Peter didn’t like the look of the boulders and rocks blocking the entrance to the tunnel, but after talking to the men who had worked in the mine and knew what they were doing, they advised Peter and the other men where to take out the rocks.
Then Peter leveled his pickax at the debris, and other men began to pick away at the rocks and debris while others moved them aside.
The miners had pointed out that boulders blocked much of the rest of the entrance, and they’d have to get heavy-duty power equipment down here to break through the rock if they couldn’t manage with the pickaxes in the one area.
But Peter thought the rocks were beginning to give away, and several more fell back inside the tunnel where his beloved mate was.
“Hurry, Peter,” Meghan pleaded with them as the pickaxes clanged against the rocks.
He knew she was worried about Bill and the bad shape he was in. The blamed fool should have left their territory for good like he said he was going to do.
More rocks broke away, and after an hour, Peter was finally able to poke his head through the hole. He saw Bill lying on the other side of the tunnel against a wall, conscious, his leg wrapped in her Christmas apron, and his arm around her, trying to keep her warm. He could see she was shivering.
“Bill’s here, bleeding but conscious,” Peter said, relaying the information to the other men. “Hey, Bill, we’re here to get you out. Rollins is dying, and you won’t have to worry about him further.” He hoped the news would help Bill hang on until they could get him out.
He turned to the men waiting to help with something. “Did any of you bring bottled water and blankets?” He shrugged out of his coat and pushed it through the hole. “Here, Meghan. Take my coat.”
A couple of the men handed him blankets, and another gave him a couple bottles of water and four chocolate candy bars.
Peter took them and shoved the blankets through the hole, one at a time.
Meghan climbed the rocks and reached for the bottles of water and candy bars. She was shivering hard and dropped the candy bars.
“Put my coat on, honey. Get warm.”
“Thanks.”
She pulled his coat on, then stuck the candy bars and water bottles in the pockets. But
before she climbed back down the mountain of rocks, she leaned in to give him a kiss.
“We’ll get you out soon.” Peter wanted to pull her into his arms and hug the breath from her. He would, as soon as he could reach her.
She carried the blankets back to Bill, then gave him a bottle of water and a couple of candy bars. Peter began working on the wall of rocks again. Though others relieved the men who were picking at the walls, Peter wouldn’t stop until they had broken through enough for him to reach Meghan.
Then a sizable rock broke free and Peter was able to squirm and claw his way through. He ran through the debris on the other side and reached Meghan and Bill while the pickaxes began slamming into the wall to widen it more to make it easier to get Meghan and Bill through.
“Nurse Matthew is here,” someone called out.
“Good. Let’s get you out of here,” Peter said, wanting Meghan out before Rollins died, in case his ghost showed up.
“Bill…”
“We’ll stabilize him first, and then we’ll move him. Please, Meghan, I want you out of here and safely above.” Peter knew she didn’t want to leave him, not that she wanted to stay with Bill.
“All right.”
Peter patted Bill’s shoulder as two men climbed through to aid Bill. “We’ll get you out of here in no time.” Then Peter carried Meghan to the widened hole and helped her through while CJ took her the rest of the way down the mountain of debris. “Can you take her out of the mine?” Peter asked CJ.
“Yeah, you got it.”
CJ lifted Meghan off her feet and carried her back toward the ladder leading out of the mine.
“What happened?” Peter asked Bill as Matthew hooked an IV to him and began a drip line.
“Rollins shot me because, though he said I was too beta to attack him, he wanted to make sure I wouldn’t. Bastard. I’m glad he can’t hurt anyone else.”
“We’ll get you doctored up and on your way.” And Peter meant out of their territory for good, as soon as Doc Weber said Bill was well enough to travel.
“Hey, man, thanks,” Bill said, looking the worse for wear. He was as dust-covered as Meghan, and he was sporting a couple of bruises on his forehead where it looked like Rollins had hit him.
“We’ll get you out of here now.”
Two of the men brought in a carrier to take Bill to the hole, but they were going to have to pull him through by his shoulders and out the other side, then use the carrier to haul him to the first of the ladders. The guy groaned with every jar of his body and finally passed out from the pain.
As soon as Peter and the rest of the men had climbed through the hole, he saw that Rollins was fading fast, his eyes barely open, his heart rate slowing, and his breathing raspy. Then the man took his last breath.
Trevor checked his pulse. “He’s dead.”
Two of the men had gone out ahead of the rest to help pull Bill up and out of the mine. Two more hurried to get him up the next ladder. Some had followed behind them. CJ and Meghan were waiting at the last ladder for Peter.
“Thanks, CJ,” Peter said. “You can go, and we’ll be right behind you. Trevor’s going to wait until they can excavate Rollins’s body and take it to the morgue.”
“I’ll stay with him,” CJ said and headed back to the cave-in.
Peter gave Meghan a hug. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here.” Peter frowned and touched the area beside a bruised place on her forehead. “He hit you.”
“Yes, but he didn’t shoot me, thankfully.”
He pulled her gently in for a hug and kiss, his eyes growing as misty as hers. He cradled her tenderly, their warm embrace comforting him as much as it seemed to comfort her.
Peter wanted to get her home where it was warm and safe.
“How did you figure out where we were?” Meghan asked.
“Because of the snow we had last night, your car’s tire tracks led me right to the mine,” Peter said. “And then it was easy to follow your scent, Rollins’s, and Bill’s.”
“I was foolish to have opened the front door like that. I just thought the angel was from someone in our pack.”
“It was. The Frasers had given it as a gift, I guess wanting to do something more for you.”
Then Peter waited for her to reach the opening to the mine. Once she was out, Peter followed her. Some men had already taken Bill to the hospital. That was one thing about the wolf pack; everyone knew what to do, and Peter didn’t have to give orders and organize to the last detail.
Then they saw Jessup hurrying to reach them before Peter took her home.
“I’m so sorry I left the present on the doorstep like I did. I didn’t want to disturb you, and Clementine and I wanted it to be a surprise. She said the small angel was for the tree, but the big one was to show our profound gratitude for all you have done for us,” Jessup said.
“Thank you for the gift. It’s lovely. We’ll set it up as soon as we get home. I’ll cherish it always. It’s”—Meghan took a deep breath and shivered—“finally over.”
Darien met up with them, and Peter explained what had happened. “We no longer need guard details for the sisters,” Peter said. “CJ and Trevor are down at the cave-in where Rollins is entombed.”
Darien shook his head. “I’ll release them from their duty. It’s time for everyone to be with their families for Christmas. It won’t hurt for Rollins to stay where he is in the cold cave until we can get a crew down there to excavate him.”
Peter was certainly ready for that. “I’ll contact the authorities who are looking for Rollins to let them know he’s dead.”
“Good show.”
Peter was glad they no longer had to deal with that concern. He climbed into the car and took Meghan home while Trevor drove her car home for her. Jessup would take Trevor back to his own car after that.
“Are you sure you don’t want to see Doc about your head injury or cuts or bruises?” Peter asked Meghan.
“No. I feel fine. We were far enough back from the explosion that we weren’t injured when the rocks caved in. Bill was in bad shape because of his gunshot wound and loss of blood. All I need is a warm fire, our new angel lit up outside, um, I guess our monkey bread, turkey dinner, Christmas movies, and most of all—you.”
With the fire crackling at the hearth, Christmas lights sparkling on the tree, and the turkey roasting in the oven, Peter wasn’t thinking of romancing his little wolf the rest of the day. Instead, he was taking care of her, showing her how much he needed her in his life, and making all her hurts feel better.
But when they arrived home, he saw Brett’s car at the house. Brett, Laurel, and Ellie hurried out of the house to greet them. Peter should have known they would be here for Meghan as soon as he brought her home safe and sound.
They all gave Meghan hugs and then moved into the house.
“We’ll wait for you downstairs,” Laurel said, and Peter took Meghan upstairs to shower and check out all her scratches and bruises.
“They’ll heal,” Meghan said. “Quickly. It was a good thing I used Bill’s gloves, or my hands would have been shredded.”
Peter still put several bandages on her worst scrapes, then dried her hair and helped her dress.
Then they hugged and kissed, and he didn’t want to ever let her go.
“I think Laurel and Ellie might want to help us make the monkey bread,” she said softly.
“And we have a large enough turkey that they should stay for dinner.” Peter knew after the worry of nearly losing Meghan for good, everyone would want to be with her longer.
Meghan smiled up at him, and he kissed her mouth again.
“All right. Let’s do this,” he said.
Delighted that Meghan and Peter wanted them to stay, Laurel took charge and began making the monkey bread. Everyone pitched in, and Peter couldn’t have been gladder about t
aking Meghan as his mate. Not only did he have the joy of being hers for all time, but he had inherited her whole family.
They all began to tear off bits of dough and rolled them into balls and placed them on a plate. They dipped each ball in melted butter, then again in a bowl of cinnamon and sugar, and finally set the balls in the Bundt pan.
Meghan drizzled the rest of the butter on top of the dough, then Laurel sprinkled the remaining cinnamon and sugar on top. Ellie set the pan in the second oven.
“Hot cocoa, everyone?” Peter asked.
Everyone said yes.
“And you’ll stay for turkey dinner?” Meghan asked, making sure.
“Absolutely,” Laurel said. “We were going to eat leftovers from the party last night, but turkey appeals, if you’re feeling up to it.”
“We’ll take care of it,” CJ and Brett said at the same time.
Peter figured if they could show him the ropes, he’d help them.
Ellie smiled. “Brett and I hadn’t started cooking anything. We got up really late this morning.”
Meghan smiled. “Then it’s all settled.” She gave Peter a big hug and kiss. “Thanks for helping to make the dinner and coming to my rescue.”
“I would do anything for you.” He kissed her cheek and led her into the living room. “You need to sit down and rest, and we’ll take care of everything else.”
He got a call from Dr. Weber and took it. “Hey, Bill came through surgery just fine. The bullet passed through and didn’t do much damage. He’s receiving blood, and I’ll let you know when he’s released from my care and on his way out of our territory.”
“Thanks, Doc. I appreciate it.” Peter knew he and Meghan would be in bed after visiting with the family for Christmas the rest of the day—with turkey snacks to give them energy, taking it easy until Meghan said she was ready for more, but this was really nice, the family gathering together after what Meghan had been through.