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When they got home, he got her set up in the shower. Warm water fell over her, relaxing her muscles.

Asher joined her, which was good because she feared she would collapse. He took over and washed her. The feel of his strong hands roaming her naked body should have set a fire inside of her, but this felt different. He was taking care of her. All she had to do was let him.

When he finished, he got her out of the shower and wrapped her up on a warm fuzzy towel before setting her on the counter in the bathroom to tend to the scratches on her legs. Then he guided her to bed.

He pulled back the covers as she settled in.

“Did you change my sheets?” she asked as her mouth cracked open with a yawn.

“Just wanted to take good care of you after that.” He crawled into bed with her.

Instinctually, she reached for him and settled her head on his chest as he stroked her hair.

“That was incredible,” she said as her eyelids got heavy.

“It always is with you. We’ve had some incredible moments in that field. Life-changing moments.”

A weight grounded his words she didn’t have the brain power to understand. So, instead, she just hummed a sleepy mm-hmm.

“Get some sleep, Sunshine,” he said before pressing a tender kiss to her forehead.

Chapter

Twenty-Five

5 YEARS AGO ~ ASHER

The crescent moon was high in the sky as Asher lay in the grass of one of his all-time favorite places. But even the field that held some of his most precious memories with his mate did very little to comfort him.

Perhaps closer to the full moon, he could escape into his wolf and sever the connection to the pain threatening to pull him under.

The urge to shift and run and howl at the moon was itching under the surface, but it wouldn’t help.

A twig snap pulled his attention, then the heady scent of his mate calmed him, if only a little.

“I thought I might find you here,” Sunny said as she made her way over to him and lay beside him.

Reflexively, he reached out and wrapped his hand around hers. They lay there, statue-still, looking up at the vastness of the sky. Millions of stars and the sliver of a moon shone down on them.

Feeling connected to the earth around him was the only thing that had been getting him through the last month.

“Are you okay?” Sunny asked, squeezing his hand.

After a deep sigh, he said, “Not really, but I’m always a little better whenever you’re close.”

She kissed his cheek before laying her head on his chest.

He pecked the top of her head and breathed her in.

She knew more than anyone exactly what he was going through. It was only two weeks before that they had lain his parents and her mother to rest.

He was not prepared to live life without them. There were so many questions that would remain unanswered. Not only was he mourning the loss of his parents but the responsibility of protecting this mountain and the magic it held fell onto him and his two older siblings.

Sunny turned on her side, facing Asher, and brushed a stray curl off his forehead. “I love you. You know that, right?”

He raised his head enough to kiss her forehead and continued stroking her hair. “I do know that. You, Sunshine, are my whole fucking universe. I don’t know how I would get through any of this without you.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you’ll never have to. You’re never getting rid of me. I’m going to be stuck to your side for the rest of your life.”