Page 113 of Mystery in the Mountains

They all followed as Abe carried him over to the tree line with the other two.

Sunny squinted in the darkness and saw that they seemed to be tied up with vines.

The closer Asher got to the tree line, the more he could feel his wolf breaking free.

They all took him to the mountain, which started to come to life. A breeze ripped through the valley as the trees began to thrash and bang into each other.

“You can kill us, but there’s more coming.”

“And we’ll deal with them just like we’re dealing with you,” Asher growled at him. “Any warlock or witch hunter who comes on to my mountain will meet the same fate.”

Abe dropped him in the trees with the other two.

The vines from the forest wrapped around his ankles and up his legs, then his waist, pulling him down.

“Take them,” Abe growled.

And the forest did just that. The vines pulled them deeper into the forest, slowly, out of sight, until all they heard was the creaking of slamming of trees and the screaming of the warlocks and witch hunter.

The shouting stopped until the only sound left was the rustle of a soft breeze.

“You’re amazing!” Asher said as he slipped his arms around her and picked her up, holding her close.

“Asher, stop! You’re hurt!”

“I’m fine.”

Asher cupped Sunny’s face. “I love you, Sunshine.”

“I love you, too,” she said before surging up on her toes to kiss him.

“Why don’t you drive back to Abe’s with Bridget and Esther?” Asher said to Sunny.

“I want to make sure the forest handles them. We’ll shift and make our way back.”

Abe nodded to him before walking into the tree line.

Asher turned to Sunny and cupped her face again. “You’ll wait for me at Abe’s, won’t you?”

She nodded. “Of course.”

He pressed another kiss to her lips before he disappeared into the trees and joined the bear waiting for him in the forest.

Chapter

Forty

SUNNY

When Sunny had found Asher chained and naked in the trailer, her heart had almost shattered into a million pieces. She knew in her very core that she would never leave Asher again, but the sight of that burned into her brain made it an impossibility.

Her body jostled in Esther’s backseat as they drove back to Abe’s cabin. Bridget and Esther were talking and unpacking everything they had just seen and witnessed, but Sunny couldn’t participate. She couldn’t do anything until she had eyes on Asher and knew he was okay. The blood covering one of his arms and hands had not gone unnoticed.

They turned up the almost hidden road that wound its way up the mountain to the cabins. Being on the mountain and feeling how electric the magic was still did nothing to soothe her. There was only one thing that would.

They pulled up to the cabin, and Julie was on the porch waiting for them.

“How did it go?” she asked. “Ruby is upstairs sleeping.”

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