Page 5 of Promise & Artem

A sickening crack.

The wolf crumpled under him, his body going limp. For a heartbeat Artem hovered over him, panting heavily, adrenaline making his heart pound. A chill ran down Artem’s spin as he realized what he’d done.

“No,” he whispered, horror spreading through him. He dropped to his knees next to the body, his minotaur roaring in disbelief. “I didn’t mean…”

Before he could say another word, rough hands grabbed him from behind and yanked him away from the wolf’s body. He struggled, his minotaur pushing again to be free as worry for his own safety and guilt over the loss of life battled within him. An arm wrapped around his neck and squeezed tight, cutting off his air.

He tried to pry the arm away but his strength was fading fast. His vision blurred again and the last thing he saw before everything went black was the fight doctor kneel next to Varro and then look up toward Nero and shake his head.

Artem fucking wanted out. He just needed to find his truemate.

With a groan, he succumbed to the darkness.

Promise’s phone rang later that afternoon as she was pulling weeds in the flower bed that surrounded a large weeping cherry tree. It had been her favorite as a kid, and she loved it even more now, its branches grazing the ground so delicately in the breeze.

“Hello?”

“Promise? This is Ally from the Freshwater Campground. Your friend Jessi asked me to give you a call.”

Promise dropped the bunch of weeds from her hand and sat back on her heels. “Hi! Thanks so much for calling.”

“You bet. So Jessi told me a little about what was going on with you. Why don’t you give me the full story and I’ll see how I can help, because I’m very sure I can.”

Promise was warmed through by Ally’s kind words. She explained her situation and the desire to find not only her truemate but a home where she could be helpful with her healing abilities.

“Well, I’ve never heard of an apex wolf, but it sounds fascinating and so cool! We have several small cabins that you could stay in while you search for your truemate. I’ll send you a link to the map to get to the campground. When would you like to come?”

Promise’s mind spun. It was Thursday afternoon, but Friday nights were busy at Lonestar with the meat buffet, and she doubted that her boss Karly would appreciate being short-staffed.

“Saturday, probably around lunchtime.”

“That’s perfect. I’ll get a cabin cleaned up for you. Drive safe.”

“I will, thank you so much, Ally.”

The call ended and Promise stared at the screen for several moments. She couldn’t believe how easy that had been. A chance meeting with Jessi at the gas station and now her world was changing.

Shit. She only had two days to make arrangements, and, oh crap, she needed to tell her parents too. Nothing like a hard deadline to make a girl get her act together.

With a smile, she rose to her feet, grabbed the bucket of weeds, and whistled a tune as she headed to the garage to find her mom and tell her the good news.

“Are you sure about this?” Rio asked as she sat on the edge of Promise’s bed and toyed with the strap of the duffel Promise had filled with shoes.

“Which part?” Promise turned from the dresser with a stack of undies.

“The campground.”

“Sure, why not? You can still come with me.”

“Nah.”

Promise stuffed the undies in the corner of the large, wheeled suitcase and stared at the contents. She’d packed for two weeks. She figured that was enough clothes for however long she was going to stay in Pennsylvania. And if she hadn’t found hertruemate in a of couple weeks, she could either come back to Allen or move on somewhere else, like Ashland to visit Lyric, or Dalton to see Jessi.

She pulled the lid over and zipped it closed. “I don’t understand why you don’t want to come with me. We’ve been planning to look for new homes for ages, and then you just put the brakes on it.”

Rio wouldn’t look at Promise, so she moved around the edge of the bed and stood in front of her younger sister. “What’s really going on?”

“What happens if I go with you and you find your truemate and can be a healer for his people?”

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