Chapter 23
Promise hadn’t expected the alphas to invite them to have dinner at their house along with the high-ranked males and their mates, plus her family and close friends. After the meal, they were going to hunt together, and she was so excited to have a chance to run through the woods with Artem.
Jason manned the grill with the males standing nearby and discussing proper grilling of various foods, while the females all admired Promise’s engagement ring and how thankful they were that she was safe now.
“I didn’t know minotaur shifters were real,” Cades said. “But he’s great and we’re so happy for you.”
“I’m happy too,” she said.
When the grilling was done and the picnic tables were set, Alpha Jason stood and lifted his beer. “It always does my heart good to see one of the pack find their truemate. Artem, as your people don’t have a mating ceremony per se, and you and Promise are now mated, Cadence and I are extending an honorary membership to you for the pack as Promise’s mate. You’re welcome to hunt with us anytime.”
He lifted his beer a little higher and said, “To Promise and Artem.”
The group lifted their drinks and repeated the toast then clicked their glasses and bottles together.
Promise and Artem shared a kiss and then clinked their glasses together.
Platters and dishes were passed and plates were filled, and then before they knew it, they’d eaten their fill and were heading out to find some privacy to strip and shift.
“I can’t run that fast in my shift,” Artem said. “But I’ll try to keep up with you.”
“I won’t leave you behind. I don’t care about running fast, I’m just excited to get to be in our shifts together when our lives aren’t in danger.”
He grimaced. “Yeah, I’m looking forward to that too.”
She smiled and stepped into his arms to kiss him. “I’m so crazy about you. Thank you for coming here with me and sharing this time with my family and pack.”
“I’m crazy about you too, Promise. And I’m glad I can be here. Your pack is amazing and so is your family and friends.”
They finished stripping and shifted together, him into his imposing Minotaur form and her into her sleek, black-furred wolf. He petted her gently with his big hand and scratched under her chin with a happy grumbling sound, and then he rose to his feet and stretched with a snort.
She wished she could talk in her wolf form. She’d tell him he was a sexy beast, man or minotaur.
But since she couldn’t talk in her shift, she’d just tell him how much she loved him and how sexy she thought he was once they’d run their fill and returned to human. In the meantime, she let out a bark and hopped away as he loped after her with a happy bellow.
By the time they got back to the campground on Sunday afternoon, Promise was dead on her feet. They’d stayed up late Saturday night after the shift and hunt with the alphas and the high-ranked members, including her parents, before they headed to her childhood home for the rest of the night. Her parents had treated them to a late breakfast at Lonestar before sending them off to their new home.
And now she was freaking exhausted but so very happy.
“So,” Artem said as he parked in front of their new cabin. “Do you want to get right to unloading the truck?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t we?” She asked as she unbuckled her seatbelt.
“Because you look like you’re about to pass out and you kept dozing off on the trip up here.”
“I did not.”
“You snored.”
“No way! You’re just teasing me.”
“You snore like a foghorn or some kind of weird, mythical creature.”
She stared at him in shock and then saw the glimmer of humor in his eyes.
“You jerk,” she said with a laugh.
He leaned over for a kiss and she tilted her head away for a moment before he said, “Hey, I’m sorry!”
“You should be. I’m an angel and I don’t snore.”
“You’re definitely an angel,” he murmured before their lips connected. “But you definitely snore.”
She rolled her eyes and laughed as they got out of the truck. Stretching with a squeak and a yawn, she said, “I think I’d like to take some stuff into the cabin, but mostly I’d just like to crash.”
“Sounds good to me.”
They grabbed bags from the back of the truck and headed into the cabin. They set the bags in one of the spare bedrooms and then faced each other in the master, which had a brand-new bed with matching dresser and nightstands that they’d picked out and had delivered before they left for Allen.
Putting her knee on the bed, she climbed up and prowled to him. His nostrils flared as his eyes flashed briefly to scarlet.
“I thought you were tired,” he said. He fisted her shirt and pulled her a little closer, dropping his head to the crux of her neck.
“I’m suddenly feeling like celebrating our new place, we didn’t get a chance to christen the new bed before we went to Allen,” she said, slipping her hands under his shirt and feeling the smooth warmth of his skin.
“Baby, you have the best ideas on the planet.” His voice was all low and growly, and it made her skin prickle.
As they tumbled to the bed tangled together, she thought there was nothing better than the way it felt to be in Artem’s arms. He’d rescued her, protected her, and promised her a future filled with love and laughter.
She was very sure that their life together was going to be all that and much more, in the mountains of Little Hope.
The healer wolf and her minotaur mate.
Thank you so much for reading Promise & Artem! This is the last book of this series, but don’t worry, I have lots of other series for you to enjoy, including a 6-book completed series about hybrid shifters: Cider Falls Shifters.