She'd left without waking him.
His lion snarled, recognizing flight when it saw it. Recognizing fear driving her away from something that had felt right in firelight but wrong in morning clarity.
Dante descended the back stairs to the tavern, finding it as empty as her apartment. The evidence they'd organized still saton tables, neat stacks that would destroy Hector's plans. But Maeve was nowhere, and both entrance doors stood slightly ajar.
He pushed the front door open. It moved easily, revealing a path shoveled through waist-high drifts. Fresh snow had stopped falling sometime before dawn, leaving the world buried under white that reflected morning sun like diamonds.
She'd dug herself out. Cleared a path just wide enough to escape.
And hadn't woken him to help.
"Damn it." He stepped outside, boots crunching through the cleared path. Cold air bit at his face, sharp enough to sting. The square sat empty, most of Hollow Oak still buried under snow that would take hours to clear.
But Maeve had worked through it alone rather than wake him. Rather than face what last night had meant.
His phone buzzed. A text from Emmett.Storm cleared. Town's digging out. Council meeting postponed to tomorrow. Everyone okay?
Dante typed back.Fine. Need to talk. Found more evidence.
Where are you?
Silver Fang. Heading out now.
He pocketed his phone and started walking, following the path Maeve had cleared. It led from the tavern toward the residential streets, footprints small and determined in fresh snow. She'd gone and put distance between them and what they'd done.
Between them and what it meant.
His lion prowled, torn between hunting her down and giving her the space she clearly needed. Last night she'd chosen him. Had climbed into his lap and kissed him like she meant it. Had let him worship her body and fallen asleep in his arms with her lioness purring satisfaction.
This morning she'd run.
The pattern was becoming familiar. One step forward. Two steps back. Her walls crumbling in firelight and rebuilding in daylight.
Dante understood that trusting him took more than one night of honesty and passion. But understanding did not make it easier to wake alone and know she'd rather dig through snow drifts than face him.
Movement caught his eye. Fresh tracks in the snow leading away from the Silver Fang's back lot. Not Maeve's. Larger. Male.
His lion arose with a snarl.
Dante followed the tracks, pulse quickening. They led toward the tree line behind the tavern, multiple sets moving with purpose. Three lions at least, judging by the scent that hit him when he got close enough.
The same foreign scent from the cabin. Hector's rogues.
They'd been here. During the storm or just after, prowling around Maeve's property while she'd been upstairs with him. While he'd been too focused on falling asleep beside her to hear them moving below.
The tracks led into the woods, heading toward Moonmirror Lake. Same route as before. Smart. Using the storm as cover to scout again, to test defenses, to see if anyone was watching.
Dante grabbed his phone and photographed the tracks. Evidence for Varric. Proof that Hector's people were escalating despite being discovered once already.
His phone buzzed. Emmett calling.
"Yeah," Dante answered.
"Where exactly are you?" Emmett's voice carried tension. "Because I just got a call from Callum saying he spotted foreign lions near the lake. Three of them. Moving fast."
"I'm tracking them now. They were at the Silver Fang. Fresh prints from this morning."
"Dante, don't engage. Not alone."
