Page 50 of Promise & Artem

He felt his dad looking at him, so he glanced in his direction. His dad’s arched brow told Artem that his dad didn’t think they were finished with Nero, and Artem was sure that was true. He was dangerous and now he’d lost not only Artem, but Promise, plus his arena and many fighters. He’d come for them again, he was sure.

But this time? Artem would make sure it would be the very last thing the male ever did.

“Let’s get home,” Axtyn said.

“You need to call your parents,” Artem said, taking her hand as they left the warehouse.

“I’m sure they’re worried sick,” she said.

“He never hurt you, though?”

“Aside from his goons hitting me a few times? No. He did scare me to pieces, though. But I knew you were going to come for me.”

“I’ll always come for you. But let’s not let anything like this happen again.”

“You’re going to be extra strength crazy about my safety from now on, huh?”

“You know it.”

They walked to their vehicles, leaving the empty warehouse behind them. Nero was out there somewhere, a shadowy threat on the horizon, looming in the periphery.

But he had Promise back and they were safe for now.

He was going to do whatever he needed to keep it that way for good.

Promise didn’t sleep well once they were back at the cabin, but she hadn’t thought she would. She was too keyed up to do more than doze and startle awake.

And even after Artem had sexed her up good and she’d been bone tired, she still hadn’t slept.

She kept wondering if Nero would come for them. If he was watching them right now, or if he’d bide his time until they weren’t on edge anymore and then strike. There were a lot of ways that their lives could go sideways if he attacked them.

She just didn’t want anyone to get hurt. Especially Artem.

As she stared at the ceiling with Artem snuggled at her side and breathing deeply in sleep, she thought about the things she’d learned as a kid about hunting. Her dad had told her that it was always best to be still and watch, to wait for the perfect opportunity to strike and not to rush. Young wolves tended to want to just barrel into the woods and chase anything that moved. But the veteran wolves knew it was better to follow the scent trails and wait for just the right moment.

She wasn’t the most patient person on the planet, and maybe less so when she was in her wolf form. But the best luck she ever had hunting always came when she took her time and didn’t strike right away.

Her mind flitted to Nero.

He was a wolf but he was also dangerous and probably a little insane too. She was certain he was going to come after them. They had not only gotten her away from him, and he saw her as a valuable asset, but they’d also gotten the authorities involved and shut down his warehouse and fighting league. She didn’t know how many fighters got away and whether Artem was right and he had some kind of safe house elsewhere that others knew where to go to meet up with him.

But Nero was dangerous all on his own and he certainly didn’t need an army of fighters with him to hurt her and Artem and the people they cared about.

He just needed to strike at the right time.

Which would be…when?

A branch’s shadow that had been making a lazy pattern on the ceiling in the moonlight moved suddenly in a strange way. Promise’s wolf let out a curious sound, and she had the urge to get up and look out the window.

Gingerly, she extracted herself from Artem’s embrace and slid from the bed. Grabbing Artem’s shirt from the floor, she tugged it over her head and crept over to the window.

The large window had black-out curtains but they hadn’t been closed before they went to bed. She moved slowly and peered around the edge of the window.

What had she thought she saw? A branch moving?

What if it was just a squirrel?

Her heart was pounding in her ears and she couldn’t hear anything else. Inhaling deeply, she blew the breath out slowly and tried to calm her flying pulse.

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