Asher

by T. S. Joyce

  Today, good had won, evil had lost, and love had prevailed. Their pack had weathered the storm and taken the town back. There were no more broken Bone-Rippers or murderous beasts to taint Rangeley.

  Now, there were only the Wolves of Winter’s Edge.

  Epilogue

  “Okay, everyone, say cheese,” Blaire sang as she pushed the button on the camera that was sitting up on a tripod in the snow.

  “If we have our backs to the camera, why would it matter if we smiled?” Roman asked testily.

  Ashlyn giggled and rested her head on Asher’s shoulder as they sat on the edge of a cliff and looked out over the snowy hills. This picture was for her. This had been a special place for the Strikers, and now for the Wolves of Winter’s Edge Pack, but Asher had asked for them to retake the photo so she could be in it. He’d said the other picture, “Doesn’t feel finished without you.”

  So here they sat, on the eve of the opening of Winter’s Edge, taking a picture out in the freezing cold. The three pairs—Blaire and Gentry, Roman and Mila, and Asher and her—were sitting all together, shoulders touching as they looked out at the sunset. The sun was just a sliver of light and was painting the sky in the prettiest neon colors.

  Right before the click of the camera, Asher put his arm around her and turned, pressed his lips onto the side of her hair. Click.

  Ashlyn had closed her eyes the moment his lips touched her. He made her feel that good. The last month spent here with him, helping the pack clean up the damage the Bone-Rippers had done to Winter’s Edge, had been the happiest of her life. It was days spent getting to know a town she was falling hard for. A town she wanted to build a future in. It was spending time with her pack, feeling like a part of something. Oh sure, the boys bickered and bled each other, but that was just how the Strikers would always be. It was something she and Mila and Blaire had accepted. Days here were spent with her best friend, and her new other best friend, Mila, who had already grown incredibly important to her. Partly because she took care of Blaire emotionally in a way Ashlyn loved. And partly because Mila was one of those steady souls who made Ashlyn want to be a better person just by being around her. Ashlyn’s relationship with Roman and Gentry had grown as well, and they treated her like a sister now. She loved it. She could always give them shit and know they would dish it right back. They made her laugh all the time.

  Asher leaned in and kissed her lips unexpectedly. His mouth softened against hers as he brushed his tongue against the closed seam of her mouth. And then he pushed in against her own tongue. God, she loved the taste and feel of him. A happy shiver trilled up her spine and landed in her shoulders. She shook slightly and smiled against his lips.

  Easing back, his blond brows lowered slightly, he asked, “Are you cold?”

  She laughed and shook her head, her ponytail tickling her back with the motion. “I haven’t been cold since the day you gave me my wolf.”

  “Sexy,” he murmured and bit her neck gently. “Dark.” He nipped her earlobe. “Wolf.” He kissed her again then clamped his teeth onto her bottom lip before growling that low sexy sound she adored.

  “Yeah, why didn’t you make me a pink one? You made me into your favorite color.”

  “I told you, my favorite color is blue now.”

  “I would’ve been an awesome-looking blue wolf.”

  Asher leaned back on his locked arms and rolled his head back as he chuckled. God, he was beautiful here in the evening light, his white smile so bright and easy, laugh lines deepening at the corners of his eyes, his muscular neck arched back as he laughed. Leveling her with his silver, dancing eyes, he asked, “Will you never be satisfied, Sparkles?”

  “You have it wrong,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around his bicep and rubbing her cheek affectionately against the strong curve there. “I’m completely and utterly satisfied.”

  His voice went serious when he asked, “Yeah? With the pack?”

  She nodded.

  “With Rangeley?”

  Another nod. “Getting warmer on the most important part.”

  Asher swallowed audibly, and his eyes went completely somber yet hopeful. “With me?”

  “Especially with you.”

  When he released his frozen breath, it was slightly shaky, and that smile was back. Her smile. The one he always gave to her and no one else. She felt like the luckiest woman in the whole world.

  “I’m the lucky one,” he said quietly.

  She was used to that part now. Sure, he tried to stay out of her head, but she was thinking loud right now and didn’t blame him.

  “Are you guys coming or what?” Gentry called.

  When Ashlyn twisted around and looked at where the camera had been, someone had already packed it up and Blaire, Gentry, Mila, and Roman were all at the mouth of the trail, staring at them impatiently.

  “Bar opens in thirty minutes,” Blaire said brightly. “Move your Asherholes.”

  Ashlyn snorted, and Asher stood gracefully, dusting snow off the seat of his pants with one hand, while offering the other to her.

  “Gentlemonster,” she said, smiling up at him as she slipped her hand into his.

  “Only for you.”

  “It’s true,” Roman called. “He’s still a boob-dick to everyone else.”

  Ashlyn giggled as Asher made an irritated ticking sound behind his teeth.

  She jumped, clumsily, because apparently being a werewolf hadn’t cured the klutz from her—and grabbed onto Asher like a backpack. He rested his hands under the backs of her knees with no protest and began carrying her down the steep trail that led back to Winter’s Edge.

  “It’s not like anyone is going to show up for the Grand Opening,” Mila pointed out. “We annihilated the Bone-Rippers, and they would’ve been our best customers.”

  “Well, it’ll be a private party then,” Blaire said optimistically. “We can make grilled cheeses and drink ourselves silly and call it the first official pack meeting.”

  “If we get one customer in there tonight,” Gentry said from up ahead on the trail, “I’ll be surprised and will see the grand opening as a success. It’s taken us so long to finally get it re-opened.”

  “I’m kind of proud of us,” Mila said from where she had linked her arm with Roman’s. “Winter’s Edge went under attack time after time, and sure we were mad, but we started clean-up the next day, every time, no complaints—”

  “I complained,” Roman corrected.

  “No complaints but Roman, and we got here, to tonight.” Mila sounded so mushy right now, it conjured Ashlyn’s own emotions about their journey to this moment.

  Thankful, she nuzzled Asher’s neck. She had a strong pack. Ashlyn was really proud of them, too.

  Up ahead, she could make out the side of Winter’s Edge. Gentry and Blaire skidded to a stop at the mouth of the trail so fast Roman ran into the back of them and muttered a curse as he tried to shield Mila from doing the same.

  The string of obscenities died in Roman’s throat, though, and he stood as frozen as Gentry and Blaire.

  “What’s going on?” Asher asked, stepping around them.

  Ashlyn gasped at what she saw. The parking lot to Winter’s Edge was full, and the line to get in stretched around the building. A few of the townies saw them and waved.

  “It’s cold as balls out here, Strikers,” a man in a police uniform called out. “Let us in.”

  “Holy shit,” Asher murmured, scanning the line. “Holy shit!” he said louder as he got his legs moving.

  Ashlyn laughed in shock and held on tighter as Asher began to jog for the back door.

  “Move it, fam,” he called behind him in that tone that was impossible for any of their pack to ignore. The order brushed across Ashlyn’s skin and made her want to obey. Asher was a good alpha, though, and didn’t often use his powers of command unless it was important.

  As they made it through the back door, Ashlyn turned to see the others jogging in after them, shocked smiles on their
faces.

  Asher set her down gently in the kitchen and said, “Can you get the food going? Roman and Blaire will help you. Me and Gentry and Mila will take care of the front.”

  “Okay,” she whispered breathlessly. Movement caught her eye, and she called after her mate, “Asher!”

  The others were organized chaos around them, rushing to work already, but Asher spun and made his way back to her, kissed her hard. She could feel the excitement wafting from his skin, and it fueled her own. He disengaged with a soft smack, and she whispered, “I just wanted to tell you I’m proud of you. And Happy Grand Opening. And Asher?”

  “Yeah?” he asked, searching her eyes with a small smile curving up the corners of his lips.

  Ashlyn twitched her head toward the corner near the freezer. Asher’s father was there. Odine flanked him, her hand cupped in the crook of his elbow, smiling with deep emotion in her eyes. They were transparent and cast in a blue glow.

  Asher gave Ashlyn a quick glance, then pulled her with him, approached the ghosts slowly as the sound of patrons entering the bar sounded from the front room.

  “Hey,” Asher said low.

  His father’s face morphed immediately into a smile, and his eyes locked on Asher. “My oldest boy,” he said. “I’ve said my goodbyes to your brothers because your mother and I will be going now.” He scanned the kitchen, inhaling deeply as his smile got wider. “I was waiting for this day to come. I wanted to see it before I went.”

  “The re-opening of Winter’s Edge?” Asher asked.

  “No,” his father murmured. “I wanted to see that you were okay, and happy, and with your mate. And also with your brothers again. You’re a good alpha, Asher. You’ll be much better than I ever was. I should’ve seen that all along.” His dad shook his head sadly. “I’m sorry.”

  Asher took a step back like it had been a blow. He cleared his throat and nodded over and over before he finally said, “I forgive you, Dad.”

  “Good man,” his dad said. “I love you, boy.”

  Asher ran his hand roughly over his hair and ducked his gaze to the tile. It was a few moments before he answered in a thick voice, “Means a lot to hear that. I love you, too. Both of you.”

  Asher’s dad smiled, and Odine waved as tears slipped down her cheeks. “Bye now, my Asher Boy,” she whispered. Her voice faded to nothing as the two ghosts disappeared, arm in arm.

  Asher turned and crushed Ashlyn to him, and she could feel The Taker rolling from him on the tide of her mate’s emotions.

  “Shhhh,” she said as his breath hitched. Ashlyn gripped the back of his hair and hugged him as tightly as she could to keep him from breaking apart. That was her power now. She could keep The Taker in line when Asher was tired. The dark blue fog poured from him and surrounded them, but it didn’t hurt her. It only brushed her skin and then made its way back into Asher. Odine’s prediction had been wrong about that. The Taker hadn’t been cured from him, but then again, that had never been Ashlyn’s intention. Asher had never needed to be fixed. All the parts of him were perfect—Man. The Taker. Dark Wolf.

  No, he’d never needed fixing.

  He’d just needed someone to help him carry the burden.

  “Three chicken finger baskets,” Gentry yelled through the swinging door. “And go ahead and grab a couple more bottles of whiskey. Someone just ordered shots for the whole damn bar.” There was excitement in his voice, and Asher laughed thickly against Ashlyn’s neck.

  “We have work to do, Sparkles.”

  “That we do. Let’s slay this Grand Opening, and tonight we can go home, and I’ll let you feed me grapes and do dirty stuffs to my bod.”

  The sadness in Asher’s eyes disappeared and was replaced with appreciation. “I really am the luckiest,” he murmured, drawing her hand to his lips. “I wouldn’t want to be alpha without you here, keeping me steady.”

  “We’re a good team.”

  “The best team.”

  She grabbed his butt and squeezed, “The sexiest team.”

  “God, I love you,” he growled, his eyes flashing silver.

  Asher leaned down and kissed her roughly, biting her lip at the end and leaving her breathless. He swatted her ass, turned, and made his way toward the door that led to the main room of Winter’s Edge.

  She watched him leave because she knew what he would do. It was the same thing he did every time he left her, even for a moment. He turned right at the door, a smile on his face, and told her, “I’m still not running. I’ll be back.”

  Ashlyn grinned at the man she loved more than anything and waved, tears filling her eyes, because today had been one of the best, most emotional days of her life. She had everything now.

  Friends, family, a home in ten-ten with the man who held her heart. No more fear of commitment or distrust. She’d once thought tying herself to a man would trap her. That it would ensure she was let down, but Asher had shown her something so different.

  Love wasn’t the cage she’d thought it was.

  Love was freedom.

  And she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, such potent happiness had been waiting for her here all along, with the Wolves of Winter’s Edge.

  Up Next from T. S. Joyce

  We’re going back to the mountains.

  Up next is the Red Havoc Crew from Harper and Kane’s Mountains.

  Are y’all ready for the panthers?

  Red Havoc Rogue (Red Havoc, Book 1)

  Coming February 2017

  New Release Newsletter Sign-Up

  For new releases, exclusive sneak peeks, and giveaways, sign up for T. S. Joyce’s Bear Shifter Romance Newsletter HERE.

  More Series from T. S. Joyce

  Kane’s Mountains

  Blackwing Defender (Book 1)

  Blackwing Wolf (Book 2)

  Blackwing Beast (Book 3)

  Harper’s Mountains

  Bloodrunner Dragon (Book 1)

  Bloodrunner Bear (Book 2)

  Air Ryder (Book 3)

  Novak Raven (Book 4)

  Blackwing Dragon (Book 5)

  Bears Fur Hire

  Husband Fur Hire (Book 1)

  Bear Fur Hire (Book 2)

  Mate Fur Hire (Book 3)

  Wolf Fur Hire (Book 4)

  Dawson Fur Hire (Book 5)

  Chance Fur Hire (Book 6)

  Fire Bears

  Bear My Soul (Book 1)

  Bear the Burn (Book 2)

  Bear the Heat (Book 3)

  Saw Bears

  Lumberjack Werebear (Book 1)

  Woodcutter Werebear (Book 2)

  Timberman Werebear (Book 3)

  Sawman Werebear (Book 4)

  Axman Werebear (Book 5)

  Woodsman Werebear (Book 6)

  Lumberman Werebear (Book 7)

  Gray Back Bears

  Gray Back Bad Bear (Book 1)

  Gray Back Alpha Bear (Book 2)

  Gray Back Ghost Bear (Book 3)

  Gray Back Broken Bear (Book 4)

  Lowlander Silverback (Book 5)

  Last Immortal Dragon (Book 6)

  Boarlander Bears

  Boarlander Boss Bear (Book 1)

  Boarlander Bash Bear (Book 2)

  Boarlander Silverback (Book 3)

  Boarlander Beast Boar (Book 4)

  Boarlander Cursed Bear (Book 5)

  Wolf Brides

  Wolf Bride (Book 1)

  Red Snow Bride (Book 2)

  Dawson Bride (Book 3)

  For More Books by this Author

  Visit www.tsjoyce.com for a full reading list.

  About the Author

  T.S. Joyce is devoted to bringing hot shifter romances to readers. Hungry alpha males are her calling card, and the wilder the men, the more she'll make them pour their hearts out. Experienced at handling an alpha male of her own, she lives in a tiny town, outside of a tiny city, and devotes her life to writing big stories. Foodie, bear whisperer, ninja, thief of tiny bottles of awesome smelling hotel shampoo, nap connoisseur, mov
ie fanatic, and zombie slayer, and most of this bio is true.

  Bear Shifters? Check

  Smoldering Alpha Hotness? Double Check

  Sexy Scenes? Fasten up your girdles, ladies and gents, it’s gonna to be a wild ride.

  For more information about T. S. Joyce and her work, visit her website here.