Chapter 13
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’s males 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.
The fucking asshole Nero.
She hoped karma came for him with a dump truck.
Promise ran into the house and stopped inside the kitchen to strip and shift while her mate’s family brought him inside to the family room. She was shaking and her heart was pounding, and her wolf was howling for healing and vengeance.
She couldn’t shift.
Her wolf was too worked up.
She clenched her hands together until her nails dug into her palms and she closed her eyes. As she drew in slow, measured breaths, she focused on the memory of her and Artem making love in the hot spring. Unclenching her hands, she rolled her neck and shoulders as her heart rate returned to normal and she could feel her wolf ready to shift.
Precious minutes had passed since he was injured, but she believed she could heal him.
She had to.
She called for her wolf and shifted.
Out in the family room, she found Artem had been laid on a blanket and stripped, another blanket laid over his lower body.
She could see the full extent of his injuries and it broke her heart. He had a broken leg, his chest and abdomen were dark with bruising so he had internal injuries and probably broken ribs as well, not to mention his spine and neck could be hurt. And there was a deep gash on his head.
It was good that he was unconscious right now, because he’d be in a tremendous amount of pain. Well, when her venom hit his bloodstream, he’d be in a lot of pain anyway, but at least he was unconscious.
Looking at his parents, she let out a low whine that she hoped sounded hopeful, and then she clenched her jaws together to force the venom to coat her teeth. She lifted a paw and licked her dark claws to place venom on them. While she coated her teeth, tongue, and claws with the healing venom, she looked at him lovingly.
As a kid, she’d been trained by her mom to heal, watching her as she used her venom on pack members. She was using all her knowledge now.
She just hoped it worked.
Flexing her venom-soaked claws, she sank them into Artem’s thigh, ripping through the skin and muscle until she felt the scrape of bone, and then she bit his side. As her teeth embedded into his side, her venom seeped into his body. She extracted her claws and fangs, soaked her claws a second time, and cut into the flesh of his neck and shoulder, driving venom farther up his body. Moving to the other side, she bit higher on his chest.
When she’d delivered as much venom as she could into his body, she sat back on her haunches and looked at him critically. Had she done enough? Were his injuries too great and her healing too late?
She tilted her head and listened to the slow beating of his heart, the irregular thump making her nervous.
As she thought she might bite him again, he suddenly shouted in pain and thrashed on the floor. His dad and Ian grabbed his arms and his mom put her hands on his head.
“Artem! Artem, stop! You were hurt and your mate healed you. Don’t shift. She said stay human until her venom heals you.”
His eyes opened and they were bright red and filled with pain. “Promise?” he wheezed out as a tremor wracked his body.
She leaned over with a soft whine and licked his cheek.
Clenching his teeth until his jaw cracked, he snorted out a growl. “Nero.”
“We’ll deal with this when you’re healed,” Axtyn said. “Just focus on healing and not shifting.”
He tried to nod but stopped himself as another tremor made his teeth clack together.
She scooted close and laid down next to him, nuzzling his biceps, which seemed to be one of the few body parts that weren’t injured.
She hoped to hell she didn’t need to bite him again, but she would. She’d bite her mate as many times as he needed, so he would be healthy and safe.
I’m sorry it hurts.
“You’re not going to fucking believe this,” Adir said when Nero answered the phone two hours after he’d sent the male to follow Artem.
“What’s that?” he asked. “And where are you, anyway?”
“You know that campground?” Adir was whispering and sounded like he was moving quickly, his words coming out harsh as he panted for air.
“The one that the hyenas have? Yeah. What of it?”
“That’s where Artem is.”
“And?”
“And he’s being healed.”
“So he’s awake and shifted into his minotaur? I thought he’d be unconscious longer.”
“No. He was unconscious when they brought him to a cabin. There was a female who I watched through the cabin window and saw her turn into a black wolf. Then she bit Artem and stuck her claws in him. I was watching for a while, and I saw that he had a broken leg and it’s healed already. I don’t understand how the black wolf biting him healed him like that without him shifting into his minotaur.”
Nero’s brows rose. “Are you sure the female turned into a black wolf?”
“Yep. Black but kind of blue? I’ve never seen a wolf with fur that color before.”
There was a creak of a door opening and then the hum of an engine.
“And you’re certain that she bit him?”
“Yep. Do you know what that was about?”
“I do, actually. Get back to the B&B and gather a handful of my best males. I’ve got a new job for you.”
“On it.”
The call ended and Nero settled back in the chair in the dining room. This was an interesting piece of information. He’d heard about apex wolves, but he’d never met one. They were highly coveted by their pack, and revered for their healing abilities, which begged the question of why the female was at the hyena campground.
Except that perhaps she and Artem were mates.
Well, having Artem back as his best fighter was one thing, but having an apex to heal on command? That was something special.
And he definitely had a use for her.