Page 106 of Mystery in the Mountains

Thirty-Seven

ASHER

Asher wasn’t entirely sure how long he’d been running, but his wolf was finally starting to calm down.

This was the backside of the mountains. Their cabins and workshop were on the side closer to town. Neither Abe nor Asher came to this side very much anymore. They had used to patrol it with their dad, but when he died, so did their patrols. With what he found, he knew stopping their patrols was a mistake.

Last time he was here, it was just an empty field, but he was surprised to find a construction site.

This shouldn’t have happened. Abe would be pissed. Asher sniffed the air, and something was off. He needed to find out what it was.

Still in his wolf form, he prowled over to the site. Between the mounds of dirt and gravel stood a trailer. On the side of the trailer, in big black letters, it read VenDeer Construction.

He’d seen plenty of setups to start mines growing up, and from what he could tell, this wasn’t that. This looked like a basic construction site. There was a foundation laid and land that looked like it had been cleared to be a parking lot.

What the fuck was this?

Seeing a big sign by the road, he went to check that out. As he turned, a low growl started in his chest.

The Church of Divine Deliverance.

This was the church that the oil company suit was a part of. How had they let this happen?

The enemy was at their doorstep. And if that same enemy was already trying to get their hands on Sunny’s land, they were closing in.

He needed to find Abe. He took off up the mountain, only he shifted.

What the fuck?

The cold night air blew across his naked body.

“Now, what have we here?”

His wolf growled deep inside of him. He tried again to shift, but he couldn’t.

He slowly turned around and saw someone he looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t quite place. But by the looks of his slender frame and the greasy gray hair stuck to his forehead, even in his human form, he looked like someone he could easily take down.

He barreled toward him. As the wind whipped around him again, it brought the scent of the man, a disgusting scent he would never forget, one he recognized from October when he and Abe had saved Julie from the . . . warlock.

Fuck!

He balled a fist, ready to take out the slime bag. Only then did he hear it. Gravel crunched behind him, and a shotgun cocked.

Fuck.

“Not so fast. You’re coming with us,” the man sneered.

Asher put his hands up. “What’s going on?”

Man, he wished he was wearing clothes.

He took in his surroundings. He tried to call on the mountain, but it was like all his magic had been zapped.

The man behind him walked up and rammed him in the back with the gun until he started walking. They were leading him to the trailer that sat next to the construction site.

How did this happen?

“Chain him up. I’ll call the boss.”

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