Page 79 of Their Promise

Touching the necklace, I wondered if it were possible to summon or track down a portal with it to return the pup.

“I think we need to go on a trip,” I told him. “To find a portal for you.”

Grabbing the bag, I tapped it. “Come on, inside.”

The pup hopped into the bag and curled up into a tiny, prickly ball. After gathering the rest of my items, I made the trek back to the house to grab my purse before heading towards the garage. Voices around the corner of the house, had me freezing to listen.

“I’m telling you, I smell a demon and it gets stronger the closer to her that I get,” Mason whispered.

“Are you trying to tell me that you think she’s a demon now?” Tony asked and scoffed.

“No, I think maybe she’s possessed by one. She said she heard a voice tell her how to handle the darkness, remember?”

“You used to have that darkness in you, did you feel like you were possessed?” Tony asked back.

“At times, it felt like that, honestly,” Kayden said.

“I would know if she were possessed,” Tony said. “I’ve been spending time with her each day and while she does smell different, she’s not acting different. Actually, this is the most like her that she’s been since before she left for college.”

“Something is off,” Mason said sternly.

“What’s off is that you two haven’t reached out to her since she took the darkness from you. Are you trying to ruin your chance at mating with her?” Tony snapped.

“Mating isn’t what’s important right now. Figuring out why she stinks of demon is,” Mason snapped back.

Rolling my eyes, I backed up several feet, then started skipping and humming as I passed the house and continued towards the garage. I smiled and waved to the three of them as I passed. “Bye! I’m going into town. I’ll be back later!”

“Don’t you need a guard?” Kayden asked.

“You going to guard me?” I asked him back.

When he blinked at me, I waved my hand dismissively. “No, I’m fine. I’ll scream for help like a damsel in distress so some other big, strong alpha can save me. Might help me find another person who wants to court me.” I shrugged and gave them another smile over my shoulder as I opened the garage and went inside, smiling at the growl Mason and Kayden had made at my taunt.

Quickly, before they could ask to join, I started one of the cars and headed out of the territory. I didn’t have my own carbecause I hadn’t been home and preferred not to drive, but since we had so many cars, I always had one available to borrow.

The pup snored softly in the passenger seat inside of the bag, which made me laugh at the cuteness.

It still bothered me that the adult hounds had clearly been chasing him and I had no idea why. I hoped sending him back wouldn’t be sending him to his death.

Keeping one hand on the necklace, I drove slowly around the city, knowing the portals most commonly happened in highly populated areas.

The park had been a location twice, but I wasn’t sure if it would happen a third time or if that was the extent of times it would show up there.

“Come on,” I whispered. “Give me an empty portal so I can send the little rascal home.”

A thought occurred to me. I could buy a burner phone, set it to videocall myself, and attach it to the pup as I sent him through. It wasn’t quite the same plan as what I’d told the guys, but it also meant I wouldn’t have to try to put the phone through myself.

“Quick stop,” I whispered as I turned down the next street to head to a store that sold phones. Parking in front of the store, I debated if I should take the pup or leave him. If he happened to get out of the bag while I was in the store, it could spell disaster for me.

Opening the bag a bit, I peeked inside and said, “You stay here, in the bag, until I get back. Do you understand?”

He barked softly and curled back up with his tail over his eyes. I closed the bag, gnawed nervously on my lip again, and hurried out of the car. The faster I got the phone, the faster I could get back to the car.

Luckily, there was a hat in the car, one of Tony’s, so I shoved my hair inside of it, pulled the bill down to cover my face asmuch as I could while also looking down, and hurried inside of the store.

“Good afternoon!” the store owner called out.

Rushing to the phones, I grabbed the cheapest one, grabbed a card to add three hours of call time, ran to the accessories, and grabbed a waterproof bag that had a drawstring I could secure the phone to the pup with. “Just these,” I said and pulled out my credit card.

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