Asher
Keepers of the Lake
Emilia Hartley
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, places, businesses and incidents are from the author’s imagination, or they are used fictitiously and are definitely fictionalized. Any trademarks or pictures herein are not authorized by the trademark owners and do not in any way mean the work is sponsored by or associated with the trademark owners. Any trademarks or pictures used are specifically in a descriptive capacity.
Emilia Hartley © Copyright 2021
Contents
Emilia’s Heartlies
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Coming Soon!
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1
Zara Torres had not yet acclimated to the Midwest. Everything about it was different than California. She missed the crash of the ocean and the smell of salt in the air. But staying in California hadn’t been an option. Not when the fox families refused to leave her alone even after one of the strongest bear Alphas adopted her.
So, she used college as an excuse to run away. Classes were out for the summer, but she still stayed in Michigan. The state was nice, even if it got a little too much snow in the winter. It had been fun. Her black fur was stark against the snow when she leapt across it. She yearned to return to the winter wonderland.
As it was, the local grocery stores were filled with tourists from all over the country. They clamored to set sail on the nearby lake. It was so large, it reminded her of the ocean. The tourists set up camp around the shores and rushed the nearby town for supplies. Zara hissed and sidestepped a woman lunging for a jar of peanut butter.
The woman just glared at Zara as she walked away. Zara wrinkled her nose in annoyance, but still scampered away to the dried fruit section. She needed to start shopping earlier, but sleep had caught her in its throes lately. She could barely get out of bed in the morning. She wished she could say that school had been a good motivation during the semester, but even then, she’d struggled to get up in time.
She didn’t know how she was going to tell Oscar and Regina about her grades. Thankfully, the school didn’t send home report cards. If they did, Regina would have hauled Zara’s ass home in the blink of an eye. Never mind the fact that Zara was an adult now. Regina didn’t care how old Zara was, Zara was still a child in her eyes.
“You’re staring awfully hard at those banana chips. What did they do to you? Kick your dog?”
Her heart stopped.
Not him. Anyone but him.
Slowly, she looked in the direction of the voice. Her eye twitched when she saw him. He leaned over the handlebar of his grocery cart, that insufferable grin pasted on his face. She’d seen that face all over the television back home. Oscar held MMA nights with the pack, offering snacks and the like as they watched grown men beat the snot out of each other.
This man had never lost a fight. And, somehow, she managed to run into him not once but twice. In rural Michigan of all places. His pale eyes took her in, creasing around the corners as his smile grew wider. Her heart stuttered, and she hated it.
“I don’t have a dog,” was all Zara could mutter before darting down the nearest aisle.
She’d been out in her fox form not too long ago, enjoying the woods and pretending she didn’t have any human obligations, when a dragon found her. A fucking dragon. He was a huge, white creature that pranced around her like an intrigued poodle. While panic had engulfed her mind, the dragon had danced circles around her.
Small and dexterous, she’d evaded him. The dragon was persistent and chased her. After a while, his form began catching on the tightly grouped trees. She’d thought she lost him. Instead, the man had shifted to his human form to race after her.
And, holy shit, that dick.
She’d never seen anything so large in her life. It nearly distracted her from his face. Once she got a good look at him, she knew she wanted nothing to do with him. He was dangerous in so many ways. She didn’t need a man like him in her life.
She’d run away without shifting. So, how the hell could he recognize her in her human form?
“Oh, come on! It was a joke.” He shoved his cart down the aisle toward her. It was with a thirty-pack of beer.
She leveled a glare at him. Most people took one look at her all-black ensemble and perfected resting-bitch-face and turned away. Not this guy. He was still a grinning fool. The way he looked at her made her want to squirm. No one could see through her defenses. She wore all this black make-up and studded boots so that no one would even think twice about approaching her.
Would it hurt a dragon shifter if she kicked him with her studded boots? She’d seen this man take a lot of hits on television. Her kick probably wouldn’t even register.
“Are you so bored that you have to chase a woman around a grocery store? Couldn’t you get your kicks off like everyone else and go crash a boat or something?”
“That’s on the schedule for six o’clock. Until then, I’m all yours.”
Zara sneered.
“So, you have sharp teeth and a sharp attitude,” he commented, referencing her fox form. “I’m Ash—”
“Asher Knuden. I know who you are.”
He straightened, surprised, then scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. “I guess I forgot my fights are televised. Huh? You don’t look like the kind of person to watch grown men slap each other around.”
“You’d be surprised. I grew up in…” she paused, remembering that she was surrounded by humans.
This man didn’t need to know everything about her life. This would be the last time she ever saw him, if she had anything to say about it. She gave him a tight smile and turned back to the shelf in front of her.
It didn’t have anything she needed. Where were the packs of instant ramen? Cheap and easy was what she needed.
“I’m sorry about the other day. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
She spun on him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
His response was a laugh that made her core tight. Heat filled her. She shook herself and tried to turn away from him, but the creature living inside her was intrigued now. She groaned. The fox tried to turn her back toward him. It was persistent, but not stronger than Zara. She refused to be like her relatives.
She wasn’t an animal that could be controlled by anything. Not even her own beast.
“Damn, you really couldn’t care less about a pretty face like this,” Asher said.
“That would make two of us.” She grabbed a package of noodles from the shelf. Tomato parmesan? It would do for now.
Asher pushed his cart closer. “I’d love to get to know you better. Let’s take this conversation—”
“No,” she cut him off.
Without another word, Zara took her basket and hurried toward the check-out counter. This wasn’t everything she’d wanted to get. She still needed bread for sandwiches, but it would have to wait. Until then, she could e
at meat and cheese rolls or something. She couldn’t shop here anymore. Not if a dragon shifter was going to follow her around the store.
Zara had gone from one kind of danger to another. Her father had ruled the fox family with a heavy hand. No one disobeyed him. The only way for her to escape had been to find a stronger shifter to frighten her father. While she loved Regina and Oscar like they were her own parents, Oscar was a vicious bear.
The fights between the Monterey area packs never ended. There were always territory squabbles, always someone to patch up.
Zara didn’t want to live that life anymore. She wanted someone who was soft and gentle and sweet. Dragons were none of those things. Especially dragon shifters who fought on national television. Asher needed to forget about her.
He watched her sheer black shirt flutter behind her as she walked away. It revealed the curve of her back, her waist. A lace bralette covered her small breasts and a portion of her back. Asher wasn’t used to watching women walk away from him. It was a whole new experience.
Before he could stop himself, he followed. Something about her tugged at him. He couldn’t let her get away. The beast in him wanted to be near her, to smell her, to brush against her. But when Asher made it to the check-out counter, he stopped himself.
He needed to take a hint. This wasn’t the first time she’d run away from him. That day Charlie had sent him to find the dragon her old clan had sent for her, Asher had run into this fox girl. The urge to hold her close and keep her safe overwhelmed him the moment he set eyes on her. She, on the other hand, had taken off.
The fox girl had taken one look at him and darted into the woods. Like a fool, he’d chased her. Asher was a great, white dragon. And he’d chased a small, black fox. It must have terrified her. First impressions meant everything, and he’d messed this one up.
He hoisted the thirty-packs of beer onto the conveyor belt. The cashier gave him an unimpressed look with her dead eyes before shooting the box with her little laser gun. As he waited, he scanned the check-out area. The fox shifter was two rows away, her head down as she paid for her food. Black curls fell over her face, but when she dared a glance up, her eyes pierced through him.
The cashier coughed. Asher turned back to the her. She gestured to the thirty-pack, as if to say she wasn’t going to lift it. When he looked for the fox shifter again, she was gone.
His beast snarled unhappily. He told the creature to cool down. It clawed and growled at him. Asher couldn’t follow through on the demands it was making.
2
Zara packed away what little food she’d left the store with and then threw herself down onto her futon. The planks under the mat groaned but didn’t break. Across from her was an easel holding a blank canvas. Unopened tubes of paint were scattered across her desk. They called her name. Beside them were her new books for the school year. She let out a breath and reached for her phone.
It was time to tell Oscar and Regina about her grades. Her stomach churned, filled with searing acid. They weren’t going to be happy. They’d saved for years to help her get into school. Zara hadn’t been able to go directly from high school to college like her classmates. She’d spent years working a number of jobs, storing away money whenever she could.
This was supposed to be her chance to get away from it all. She was supposed to get a degree and become someone important. So important that her family could no longer pressure her into doing what they wanted. These classes were her chance to escape the arranged marriage her parents had set up.
Unfortunately, Zara had wasted away the first year of school. Sleep had taken over nearly every aspect of her life. Even now, her eyelids drooped as she stared at the phone screen. While awake, her mind buzzed. She worried about her family, the pack, everything that was waiting to catch up to her. While she was awake, she was constantly looking over her shoulder, expecting to see a fox shifter in the crowd.
The only time she found a reprieve was when she slept.
She sighed and opened the video chat app. It rang a few times before Oscar picked up. He said something in Spanish and Regina appeared. Regina’s smile was enigmatic. Oscar looked down at his mate like she was the sun.
“Zara!” Regina shouted. “How’s the Midwest treating you?”
“It’s fine. Nothing new to report.” Even Zara could tell that her voice was flat. She tried to force a smile onto her face, but it was difficult. Like the muscles somehow forgot.
Oscar eyed her. There was no getting anything past him. He was always the first to catch her. When she snuck out, when she tried to hide her first human boyfriend, when she tried weed. Oscar always somehow knew. Could he tell that her grades had slipped just by looking at her? Did he suspect that she was failing them both?
“I met someone today,” she blurted out instead.
Regina’s brows rose. “What kind of someone? Like a guy?”
Zara opened her mouth, but she didn’t know where to begin. She didn’t know if she could tell them that a dragon shifter nearly dropped on her head the other day and that he’d somehow found her in the local grocery store. She certainly didn’t want to mention that the guy happened to be Oscar’s favorite MMA fighter. He would make her hunt Asher down and get his autograph, and she never wanted to see Asher again.
“Don’t worry about it. He was annoying. I don’t think it would have worked out anyway.”
Regina pouted. “You know, I thought Oscar was terrifying when we first met. I thought Aunt Nessa had lost her mind when she suggested setting us up together.”
Oscar narrowed his eyes at her, like she’d never told him this story before. Regina went on without acknowledging him.
“Look at how things turned out for us, though! I found my mate. You could, too, if you would give people a chance. I know it’s hard for you to let people in, but you can’t truly know a person from a few conversations. It takes more effort than that.”
Zara shook her head. “Nope. Not going to happen with this guy. He’s not my type. I can promise you that.”
Both of her parents scowled at her. Zara couldn’t handle it anymore. She was an adult. She didn’t need them meddling in her life. She said a quick goodbye and ended the video call. As much as she loved them, Zara craved freedom. Not just from her parents, but from expectations.
The foxes wanted her to be a good wife and mother. Oscar and Regina wanted her to find a mate. Zara only wanted one thing, and it wasn’t either of those.
Her door burst open, her roommate leaning on the doorknob. “Oh, you look absolutely miserable. Like, more miserable than usual.”
“Thanks,” she muttered in response.
The phone vibrated in her hands again. It was a message from Regina. Zara rolled her eyes and tucked the phone in her pocket without opening the message.
“You should come out with me tonight. I’m going to see how many drinks I can get for free tonight.” Chelsea paused and examined herself in the mirror hanging in Zara’s doorway. She fluffed her bangs before turning back to Zara.
The two of them couldn’t have been more different. Yet, Zara liked having the little ray of sunshine around the house. Chelsea made the moments when Zara was awake somewhat bearable. She helped Zara forget about all the worries constantly nagging at the back of her mind.
“Sure. Why not?”
Chelsea called a cab to pick them up and then reached on top of the fridge for the bottle of vodka. Chelsea called it pre-gaming. Zara called it a drinking problem. When Chelsea offered Zara the bottle, she waved it off. Chelsea shrugged and took another swig.
It was supposed to be a way of saving money at the bar, but to Zara it was a sign that she and Chelsea would eventually split up by the end of the night. At least Chelsea never brought her lovers back to their shared apartment. Zara never had to worry about hearing them all night or be afraid of what a stranger might do in their house.
Chelsea would disappear into the night and return when the sun came up.
The cab arrived ju
st as the sun touched the horizon. Zara’s stomach grumbled. She scanned her side of the pantry and found it nearly empty. There were no more healthy options, so she snatched an oatmeal cream sandwich from its box and stashed it in her pocket before racing out the door.
It would soak up her drinks as she tried to forget about Asher Knuden. Knuckle-buster Knuden was what they called him on television. Yet, in real life he was more like an annoying stray cat that wouldn’t go away. She told herself there was no way he would be at the bar tonight. A man like him had money. This bar was way too cheap.
The cab dropped them off outside Chelsea’s favorite bar. Chelsea didn’t have enough to pay the fare, so Zara had to dig into her pocket and dole out a chunk of her cash. Zara scowled at her visibly slimmer wallet.
“That top is going to get you so many drinks,” Chelsea told her, as if that made up for Zara’s lost grocery money.
Her roommate leaned in and fixed her hair for her. When Chelsea seemed satisfied, she shoved the swinging doors open. Zara took one step and stopped dead in her tracks.
Directly ahead of her was a table full of dragon shifters. She could practically smell the sulfur radiating off them. Their eyes all turned on her at once. Zara’s heart nearly stopped. Chelsea didn’t even pause. The human girl didn’t notice the way Zara froze, like a fox in the headlights of an oncoming tractor-trailer.
Then, Asher pulled away from the group. She should have known he would be among them. She’d been so blind-sided by the appearance of dragons in town that she forgot Asher was one of them.
Asher (Keepers Of The Lake Book 4) Page 1