Page 32 of Promise & Artem

He hummed. “Yes. I’m curious about where he lives since he never shared that information. Report back to me with anything you find interesting, including if he has a mate. She might be useful as collateral if Artem decides not to fight.”

“He’d be a fucking idiot if he did,” Adir said.

“Indeed.”

He’d warned Artem that his choices would have consequences. Hopefully, he learned his lesson with the first warning. It would only get worse if he had to use force again to get his point across. The longer it took for Artem to realize he had no other option but to fight, the worse it would be for him, so it was better for him to accept his fate and keep fighting. Adir could do much, much worse things to him than hit him with a car.

Promise hadn’t liked watching Artem leave to confront the owner of the fighting league. She hadn’t been able to shake the worry that had plagued her ever since he’d told her he’d take care of it that night.

When he’d suggested she hang out with his mom while he was gone, she’d decided it was a smart idea. Not only because she wanted to get to know Brierley better, but also because all she’d do while he was gone was sit and worry.

Not that she wasn’t still worrying, but at least she had his mom as a distraction.

“So why did they take that other male with them? Ian?”

“Because he used to fight in a similar league before he and his brothers mated Angel. They were living in an RV in the woods near the campground but outside of the baro territory, and Ian was going to fight at night. The fight owner, Wallace, died at my mate’s hands because he abducted me one night.”

“What? Why?”

Promise turned from where she was looking out the front window into the darkness.

“He knew that Ian had a mate. Angel and I had shared a cabin at the time, but the night Wallace came to abduct her, she and her mates were in another cabin for their mating-time,and he found me instead. I’d already had a dream about Axtyn and I knew that Wallace would take me to him, so I didn’t resist. It was still scary as hell, though. Axtyn warned him to let me go, but he wouldn’t, so he killed him. He killed all of them.” She tilted her head and pressed her lips into a thin line. “Minotaurs are dangerous, period. Not only before they find their truemates, but whenever their family is threatened. There isn’t anything that Axtyn wouldn’t do for me or our kids, and there’s nothing that Artem won’t do to keep you safe. Whatever happens tonight, we just have to trust that they’ll be able to end things with this Nero fellow and walk away. Safely.”

“I hope so too.”

She looked at her phone. They’d been gone over an hour, and while Trumble wasn’t too far away, it was still a bit of a drive round-trip.

Rubbing the sudden chill that made her skin prickle, Promise said, “Shouldn’t they be back by now?”

Brierley joined her as she turned back to look at the window. “Lemme check Axtyn’s location.” She lifted her phone and opened an app. “Oh, they’re…wow they’re moving fast.”

Promise’s heart jumped into her throat as a wave of something passed over her. Fear. Anger. And so much pain.

“Oh no!” She raced for the front door and threw it open as Axtyn’s truck skidded to a halt in front of the cabin.

“He’s in the back,” Axtyn shouted as he leaped from the truck and ran to the back, lowering the gate.

Promise didn’t waste a second and jumped onto the bed of the truck, stifling a gasp as she saw her Artem. He was badly injured and covered with blood.

She dropped to her knees and pressed her fingers to his pulse, holding her breath until she felt his faint heartbeat.

A male she figured for Ian, came to the bed of the truck and said, “He hasn’t regained consciousness. That asshole Nero’smales ran Artem down with a car. It was an electric one, so we didn’t hear it coming until it was too late.”

“If he could shift, he could heal himself I think,” Axtyn said.

Brierley sobbed quietly. “Promise?”

She lifted her mate’s hand and pressed it to her lips. “I’m going to fix this, baby. You have to trust me.”

She scurried to the edge of the truck bed and said, “I’m going to shift. Get him inside as carefully as you can. Lay him on a blanket so he’ll at least be a little comfortable.”

“You can heal him?” Brierley asked.

She looked at him once more, really cataloging his injuries. “I believe so, but it’s going to hurt him a hell of a lot. I’ll be stuck in my shift. Make sure he doesn’t shift himself for four hours. If he’s still not fully healed, I’ll bite him again.”

“Bite?” Axtyn asked.

“It’s how the healing venom gets into his bloodstream.” With a final look at her mate, she hopped from the truck. She was trembling and furious.

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