Page 20 of Promise & Artem

And her parents, too.

The hyena baro didn’t have a healer on staff, and that meant she’d not only found her mate but also a place she could be useful.

“This is the best day ever,” she said, their shoulders bumping as they walked.

“Wait until tonight.”

She shivered at his tone.

She couldn’t wait.

Artem knew he needed to come clean to his dad about the underground fights, but he sure wasn’t looking forward to that conversation.

Or the fact that he needed to tell Nero he wasn’t going to fight anymore. He’d made a commitment to fight, but he’d never agreed to any specific terms. Nero let fighters leave from time to time, and he was certain the male would let him leave as well. If he didn’t, then Artem would cross that bridge when he came to it.

For now, he was going to focus on his beautiful mate.

He needed to plan a kick-ass first date. He wanted her to see that he would always put her first and would be the best mate for her, giving her everything she wanted and needed.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been out on a date. Knowing he hadn’t found his mate had meant dating was pretty meaningless, so he’d had some one-nighters to stave off the urges, but even that had soured for him as well.

Now that he’d met Promise, he knew that nothing else compared to her. Everything in his life before her was just shadows and mist.

They reached the workshop and he opened the door, letting Promise in ahead of him. His dad was leaning over one of the four-wheelers with a flashlight.

“Dad?”

“Hey, kid,” he said, not looking up. Then he glanced at them and straightened. “Oh! Hi.”

Artem smiled. “Dad, you remember Promise. She’s my truemate.”

His dad turned off the flashlight and brushed off his hands. “Are you kidding? That’s amazing news, congratulations!”

He joined them with a big smile.

“So how the heck…when did this happen?” And then he hummed. “Oh, it’s why you left suddenly!”

Before she could say anything, Artem’s dad suggested they go to the cabin to talk to him and his mate Brierley, and Artem thought that was a great idea.

“Isolde’s working this morning around the campground with Charlotte and Lorelai, but your mom was talking about having Angel come over, so she’s probably at our place. Let’s go see.”

“Sounds good,” Artem said.

They followed his dad away from the workshop and toward the group of cabins reserved for staff members. He pointed out his place to Promise as they passed it by.

“This is such a neat campground,” she said. “I can see why people like to come here.”

“The gathering used to be the biggest thing we did, but we’ve gotten into weddings too, so we do a nice business year-round,” Axtyn said.

“My friend Jessi met her mates at a gathering here,” Promise said. “She’s the one who suggested I come here and look for a new place to call home.”

Axtyn gave them a curious look and Artem said, “We’ll save that story for Mom too.”

“You got it.”

Axtyn opened the front door of a cabin and called, “Sweetheart? Are you here?”

“In the kitchen, my love.”

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