Page 10 of Promise & Artem

The bell tinkled as it opened and a pretty brunette walked in. “Hi, I’m Charlotte. Are you Promise?”

She nodded with a smile. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too! Do you want to drive or walk?”

“How much walking?”

“A lot if we go around the whole place.”

“I wouldn’t mind walking, I’ve been cooped up in the car for a few hours.”

“Let’s hit the road and then we’ll come back and grab lunch. We’ll stop at my cabin and grab my roommate Isolde and she’ll go with us.”

“Sounds great, thanks.”

Promise smiled at Ally and Richard and followed Charlotte out of the welcome center. “Those are my grandparents,” Charlotte said. They stepped off the porch and hung a left onto the dirt road. “Their kids—Harry, Mark, and Taylor—mated Jenny, and they formed a clan. Then they had four kids—me and my brothers, Kieran, Owen, and Davis. Do you know much about hyenas? I know your friend Jessi sent you here. I met her at the gathering where she found her truemates.”

“I know some things about hyenas, but not much.”

“Well, a clan is a group of three hyenas, usually brothers but sometimes cousins, and their truemate. The clans get together and form a baro, and the eldest hyena from each clan is the leader, and all the leaders get together to make decisions for the baro.”

“Cool. Are you mated?”

“Not yet. I hope soon, though. I’m tired of being single and going to the gatherings every year. Some males that come to the gatherings only want to find a hyena to mate with and don’t care if they’re truemates or not.”

“There are wolves like that, too.”

As they walked down the sun-dappled road, Charlotte pointed out the pond where guests could fish and swim, and ice skate in the winter, the building where meals were put out for guests who wanted to pay for the meal plan provided by thecampground, and the various paths that led to unique lookouts and scenic areas around the territory.

They picked up Isolde, who was using a hose to rinse off an old desk she’d gotten from an online yard sale group. She had white-blonde hair and bright blue eyes and smelled like snow.

“I’m a snowy owl,” she said. “I heard you’re a unique wolf.”

“An apex. I have healing venom that I can use when I’m in my shift to help accelerate a shifter’s natural healing abilities.”

“That’s freaking awesome,” Isolde said. She turned off the hose and wiped her wet hands on her shorts. “I’m starving. I heard Ally made chicken salad, it’s my favorite.”

“We still have half the tour to go! I haven’t shown Promise her place yet.”

“Okay, just don’t get mad at me when my stomach scares off all the wildlife.”

Promise grinned at their banter.

“Mine is growling too, don’t worry,” she said.

They continued their walk around the campground, the females telling Promise about the activities offered, as well as the stores in town for whatever she might need. Promise caught the same spicy scent as they reached a four-wheeler tour building.

“Do you smell that?” she asked.

They stopped and all looked at the big building. A wooden sign, similar to the one at the welcome center, creaked from metal hinges.

“Smell what?” Isolde asked.

“I don’t know. I caught it earlier at the welcome center. It’s spicy like cinnamon but also reminds me of sunshine and leather.”

“I only smell pine trees and nature,” Charlotte said.

“Me too,” Isolde said.

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