Chapter 14
Artem fought shifting for hours. His body was on fire. It literally felt like he was burning from the inside out, as if tiny little bonfires were alight in all his major organs and joints, and his bones had turned to molten lava.
The pain was tremendous, and much more than he’d ever experienced before.
But he vaguely remembered Promise telling him to trust her and not shift.
So he was going to do those two things. Even though he was fairly certain that not shifting was going to kill him. Had he ever wanted to do something so badly? Except for making love to his truemate, he couldn’t think of a single thing he wanted to do more than shift and put an end to the torturous pain.
Promise was lying against him, her soft fur a warm comfort despite the searing pain throughout his entire body. He could actually feel things healing inside him. A rib, a punctured lung, his broken leg.
How had he even survived getting run down like he’d been?
Nero, that fucking asshole, had sent people to incapacitate Artem and send a message that he wasn’t allowed to leave the fighting league. Artem had been willing to walk away and leave Nero to his fights. But now that he’d come after him the way he had, Artem was going to hurt him, hurt his business, and drive him away from Pennsylvania for good.
He wasn’t sure how, but he’d do it. So that he knew Promise would be safe.
She whined softly and licked his cheek.
He’d kept his eyes closed because his vision was blurred by pain, and it seemed to make things worse if he was looking at anything. But he opened his eyes to see his mate standing over him, her beautiful fur glistening in the overhead light.
“It’s been almost four hours,” his mom said softly from somewhere in the room. “Will you have to bite him again?”
Again?
What fresh hell was this?
Promise made a curious sound and moved down his body, her warm nose running along his skin and over every section of his body that had been injured. She snuffled at his leg and then moved up the other side of his body, stopping near his head where a headache had been blooming but had since healed.
Probably had had a concussion or brain damage, or both.
Thankfully, her healing venom was magic.
Painful magic.
She let out a soft bark which sounded like yes he can shift.
“You’ve got twenty more minutes,” his mom said.
Damn it.
Promise leaned over him again and licked his cheek, touching her nose to his, and then she padded off.
“She’s going to shift,” his mom said. “You’re doing great honey. Just a little bit longer.”
Easy for her to say. She wasn’t being eaten alive by fire and brimstone.
He clenched his hands as a wave of heat and pain mixed together rolled through him. He wanted so much to shift.
Cool hands touched his fevered cheeks and he opened his eyes to see his beautiful mate leaning over him once more, but this time she was human.
Her eyes were luminous and filled with concern.
“Just a little while longer. You’re almost fully healed. Honestly, I thought I was going to have to bite you again because your injuries were so…” her eyes filled with tears and she sniffled. She pressed her forehead to his and he felt the splash of her tears on his skin. “I thought I was going to lose you.”
He heard his parents leave the room.
Everything in him ached, but mostly he just wanted to hold her.
He couldn’t wait until he could.
Promise ran her hands over Artem’s heated skin once more to ensure he was fully healed before she let him shift. The final healing would occur as his body shifted into his minotaur, the venom disappearing with the shift so he wouldn’t be in pain anymore.
When she was sure he was healed, she patted his cheek and waited for him to open his eyes. When he did, she said, “You can shift now.”
He snarled for a moment and then he shifted.
She scooted back as he changed, his legs turning to those of a bull with thick hooves, dark fur, and a long tail. His upper body widened and bulked with muscle, dark fur flowing everywhere. His arms were heavy with muscles and even his hands changed into larger ones with fewer fingers. As his head changed into that of a bull, with scarlet eyes and huge horns, he rolled to his knees and exhaled loudly through his nostrils, and then he rose to his feet with a bellow.
She stared up at him in shock.
The only time she’d ever seen a minotaur was in drawings since they were mythical creatures. But the male before her was no myth.
And he was at least seven feet tall.
He swung his head down to look at her, his eyes practically glowing.
Then he offered her his hand and she took it, letting him pull her gently to her feet.
“He can’t talk in that form,” his dad said.
Promise leaned around Artem to see him in the doorway.
Axtyn smiled. “He’ll be in his form for a couple of hours. I take it everything is all healed now?”
“Good as new,” she said, relief flowing through her.
“It’s really late. Do you want me to go walking with him so you can rest?”
“No, I’m good,” she said. She was tired, but also wired in that weird way when someone you were crazy about nearly died.
“All right, we’ll see you whenever you both are up for the day. Rest well. And Promise?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you for saving my son.”
“You’re welcome. But I wouldn’t have been able to save him if you and Ian hadn’t been there with him, so thank you for that.”
Axtyn nodded and walked away.
She looked up at her mate.
“Ready for a walk?”
He nodded his big head. She walked with him to the front door and swung it open all the way. He had to go out sideways because of his horns, but once he was out on the porch, he lifted his head to the sky and let out a deep bellowing roar that seemed to shake the trees.
Her wolf was so happy he was okay.
She moved to step off the porch, but he stopped her, dropping to one knee in front of her and motioning to his back.
“Oh yeah? You’re going to carry me through the woods? All right.” She climbed onto his broad back. He looped his arms under her legs and rose to his feet. She let out a laugh and said, “This is high! Holy crap!”
He took off toward the other side of the campground, walking along the dirt road, and then he veered off toward the mountains she could see in the distance, their darker shadow standing out against the night sky.
Resting her head on his shoulder, she yawned.
“I’m so glad you’re okay.”
He hummed in agreement.
“Okay, so since you can’t talk, let me tell you about being a healing wolf. It’s pretty freaking epic. The first time I saw my mom heal, I was six…”
Artem could have listened to his mate talk about her family and their healing abilities, about the pieces of her past that came to her mind as he alternated between walking and running, forever. She had a musical voice he found enchanting, and he loved how tightly she held onto him.
He was falling hard for her.
Even if she hadn’t been the sweetest female on the planet, or incredibly beautiful, or an amazing healer, he’d still give her his whole heart because they were truemates and he felt that connected to her.
He wanted to tell her in an epic way, though.
Make a whole night of it.
Take her out somewhere nice and show her how much he cared, and then he’d give her his heart and ask her to be his wife, too.
He could picture their future so easily now that they were together. The wedding, fixing up the cabin so it was more of a home than he’d ever made it, and a few rugrats running around.
He carried her partway up the mountain, his hooves perfect for the terrain. When he’d reached a plateau he knew would be perfect for viewing the sunrise, he set her on her feet and settled onto the rocky ground.
She rested her hand on his shoulder. “Oh, I can see some gold in the darkness, that’s the sunrise! Oh, it’s perfect.”
He patted his knee and she sat, snuggled in his embrace in the chill of the early morning.
They watched the sunrise, the golden orb painting the midnight sky with oranges and yellows, pushing away the darkness and letting in the dawn.
“It’s so gorgeous up here,” she said wistfully as the sun rose fully and they could feel the warmth on their skin.
He nuzzled her neck, silently promising to bring her back up here whenever she wanted to see the sunrise.
Putting her on his back again, he carried her down the mountain and right to his cabin, where he shifted into his human form and hugged her so tightly that she let out a little chuckle and squeak combined.
“Thank you for saving me, Promise,” he said gruffly, his face buried in her neck and inhaling her sweet scent.
“You’re welcome. I’ve never been so thankful for my healing powers, trust me.”
He chuckled. “I’m certainly grateful for them.”
He lifted his head from her neck and stared down at her.
“Um, Artem?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“You’re naked.”
“You’re not.”
She grinned. “I can fix that.”
“Let me.”
Lifting her into his arms, he carried her to the bedroom, plans to make her the happiest female on the planet swirling in his mind.