Page 54 of Promise & Artem

And her shift finally let go.

As she returned to human, she hugged him and kissed him, and told him that she loved him too.

“I wanted to tell you too,” she said. “I can’t believe how much danger we were in, one terrifying event after the other.”

He held her tightly and she rested in his embrace. “We don’t have to worry about him anymore. Are you okay?”

“I’m awesome. My mate loves me and I love him.”

He leaned back and kissed her, then said, “I fucking do, beautiful.”

“So about this proposal?”

“Yeah?”

“Is the ring in the burned up cabin?”

“No, it’s in the four-wheeler workshop, I left it there when I got the call from Nero that he’d taken you.”

She wiggled her brows.

“Really? You want me to get it right now?”

“Not right now, but…after we talk to the police. But first I need some clothes.”

“Here you go honey,” Brierley said, stepping into the family room and setting clothes and shoes on the couch. “I wasn’t eavesdropping.”

“Sure, Mom,” he said with a laugh, rising to his feet and bringing Promise with him. “You just happened to have clothes at the perfect time.”

“I’m just that great at being a mom.”

“You are for sure,” Artem said.

“Thank you so much,” Promise said.

Axtyn left to get the police so they could make their statements.

As Promise dressed, she said, “We’re not in trouble, right? I mean we don’t need to lie about what happened or go on the lam?”

“Not at all,” Artem said. “Our lives were in danger and we defended ourselves. He was never going to stop so we had to stop him.”

“Self-defense,” Promise said.

“One hundred percent.”

“I just wanted to make sure we were okay.”

“We are.”

A few minutes later, two police officers walked into the cabin with Axtyn. Promise and Artem sat at the kitchen table with them and gave their statements. When the officers were gone, Promise said, “I can’t believe they waited four hours.”

“They’re still dealing with the males who came to fight,” Axtyn said. “They didn’t have enough ambulances for them so there was a lot of running one person to the hospital and coming back for another. I think they’re all gone now, but the fire department is sticking around for a while longer to make sure a fire doesn’t start up again.”

“Is the cabin totally gone?” she asked.

Axtyn nodded.

“I’m sorry,” she said to her mate.

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