“You best not tell me you’re swearing off milkshakes because I ordered one for you. Food should be here by now.”
“You ordered food?” Makenna asked. She’d planned on making a big pot of spaghetti for everyone. It was the cheapest meal, one they’d lived off for weeks now. Springing to order food hadn’t exactly been in the budget. “Are you celebrating?”
The corner of Ashton’s lips quirked. “I have to. It’s the first day that’s gone by without a fight.”
She knew he was referring to Jasper and Griffin. “That could be because you haven’t seen either of them all day.”
“And it has been a successfully blissful day. They deserve a reward.”
“Shouldn’t you be more concerned if Jasper has been missing? What if he left the mountains? You’re not really doing your job.” She put her hands on her hips.
At this, Ashton grabbed her hand and tugged her into the hall. He held a finger over his lips as he led her along. They silently tip-toed from one end of the house to the other. When Ashton reached a door, he eased it open only a fraction of an inch. When Makenna leaned in close to peer through the crack, she saw Jasper sitting at a desk.
He scowled at the screen, whatever it displayed clearly upsetting him. He snarled, eyes flashing gold, and brought his fist down on the keyboard. Keys burst into the air like popcorn. Makenna had to cover her mouth to hide her squeal of surprise.
Jasper turned toward them, but they both ducked out of view. Ashton reached down and grabbed a box she hadn’t noticed. Actually, there were several long boxes lined up against the wall along with a broom. Ashton entered the office and handed Jasper the box before sweeping up the keys that had rained over the floor.
She expected Jasper to throw the box at Ashton. Her heart hammered in anticipation of dragon fire. The moment stretched long, Jasper staring her mate down. Ashton acted like he didn’t notice. He swept up the keys, forming a small pile before scooping them up and dropping them into a nearby waste bin—one that was already laden with keys and keyboards.
Finally, Jasper ripped open the box. From it, he withdrew a new keyboard. He straightened the long cord and jammed the USB into a port on the computer. Ashton left the room with a great big grin on his face. At the door, he paused.
“Dinner should be here any time. I bought our favorite.”
Jasper craned his neck to glare at the back of Ashton’s head. If looks could incinerate, Makenna thought her mate would have become ash in an instant. “Tell me, what is our favorite?”
The threat in his voice was clear as day. Ashton was unaffected. His eyes didn’t flash copper. Nor did he growl at the tone of his king’s voice.
“You should know better. I ordered Barnaby’s Fried Chicken!” He kissed his hand and blew it at Jasper before ducking out of the room. Ashton’s laughter filled the hallway, followed by a roar and the sound of more keys bouncing on the floor.
Makenna let her mate pull her toward the foyer, but she glanced back in wonder. “What is he doing in there?”
Ashton stood a little straighter, his pride obvious. “He’s getting involved in his own company. It needed him and, I think, he needed it, too.”
Changes were happening in Grove. In a week’s time, another Drake cousin would arrive. The court would keep growing dragon shifter by dragon shifter. Makenna hoped it would be enough to keep Jasper grounded. She’d never known him very well, but they were family now. She wanted the best for her family, even surly members like Jasper.
Griffin strolled past, as if her thoughts had summoned another surly dragon. Ashton caught him around the shoulder just as the doorbell rang. Makenna answered it while her mate held Griffin hostage. While Griffin didn’t fight, she could see the murderous intent in the silver dragon’s eyes.
It faded once the door opened and he caught the scent of food. In no time, he lifted the bags from Makenna’s arms and brought them to the kitchen for her. They unpacked the boxes and boxes of food onto the kitchen island, pulling the bar stools close so they could gather around. Ashton pulled out three beers. He opened each with the edge of the counter top.
One sat unclaimed, waiting for the king of the mountain to join them.
Makenna sipped on her milkshake, grateful for the swirl of salted caramel. Her mate knew her well. Across from her, Ashton and Griffin discussed flight maneuvers. Makenna nodded and followed along as if she knew what they were talking about. She was fine with never taking flight. While her mate bond with Ashton gave her many things, such as expedited healing, she would never shift like them.
And that was fine.
Makenna was nearly content with the life she had now. Little by little, she experimented with her music. The doctor had been right. Her voice changed drastically. It was unfamiliar to her ears, but not in a horrible way. The first night, Ashton held her and talked her through her despair. He did his best to remind her of all the musicians who’d been told they would never make a career out of their voice.
She held onto his words, even if he searched the names online before rushing to her side. If they could do it, so could she. Besides, Makenna didn’t want to fill big stadiums with people. She didn’t want an international tour. All she wanted was to make music. She wanted to sing her soul out.
The only thing she still hated was the debt tied to her name. It would remain there for what felt like forever. She’d forbidden Ashton from wasting his money on it. He was already paying for their new house. If he paid off her debt, she would feel like a dead weight in their relationship. She feared it would sour things between them and avoided it at all cost.
The kitchen quieted. Makenna looked up to find a scowling dragon man in the doorway. Jasper said nothing as he claimed the open beer bottle and a paper plate.
“Aurum Bank bought your debt,” Jasper informed her. He placed an extra crispy chicken breast on his plate before meeting her gaze. The gold was there, but it didn’t flash back and forth as often as it had before.
The beast moved beneath his skin. She saw it in the way he walked, stiff as if he were waging an unending war with himself. Her mate saw it, too. Ashton watched his king with an open look of concern. She jabbed him in the ribs and reminded him who he was looking at.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” she whispered to Ashton. She’d specifically asked him not to intervene.
“He didn’t do anything,” Jasper said. “It was my first exercise of power within my own company. Think of it as…as a lesson.”
The room was quiet, taking in what their king was saying.
“This asshole wants me to take part in the company.” Jasper pointed to Ashton with a drumstick. “Not that I think my participation will be of any help at all. So, if this company fails, perhaps your debt will disappear with it.”
Makenna stared, slack-jawed, at her mate. Exhilaration rocketed through her, followed by slow trepidation. When she turned back to Jasper, she asked, “I’m not sure what this means.”
“It means your debt is…” Jasper turned toward Ashton, a shrewd look twisting his lips. “Ah, it is consolidated. That’s the word. The debt not only dropped by a few figures, but you don’t have to worry about past-due bills. Pay me, I mean the bank, whenever you can.”
Makenna gripped Ashton’s hand tight. He squeezed in response. It was clear that this moment meant something different to Ashton, but elated them both all the same.
***
It was clear that Jasper had a long way to go, but Ashton was proud of him. He knew it was an effort not only to learn about his bank, but to join them in the kitchen. Jasper had another voice in his head. To hear three more while he ate must have taken quite an effort. Yet, Jasper only showed the struggle once. The rest of the night, the king scowled and snapped at them, but never lost his control.
Not even when Ashton and Griffin dragged everyone into the dining room to use the long table for beer pong. Of course, Jasper had complained the entire time. He delivered threats elega
ntly, describing what would happen to them should the table be damaged. He also took care to remind them that it was a nineteenth century antique.
Jasper’s complaining only made Ashton and Griffin play a little sloppier. They sloshed beer and roared when their balls made it into the plastic cups. Ashton lifted his mate off the ground when he scored a good shot against Griffin, making the silver dragon drink every single one of his cups.
Ashton hadn’t known how to do what everyone asked him to do. When he’d arrived at Grove, he could barely keep himself together, let alone keep his new court in one piece. Somehow, he’d managed to find the beginning of it. This night wasn’t perfect. Not by a long shot.
It ended with Jasper’s hand around Griffin’s throat because Griffin spilled an entire cup of beer onto the table and carpet. Ashton had to pull them apart which resulted in breaking the table Jasper wanted to defend. Needless to say, it was clear they were all still a work in progress. Nothing was perfect, but Ashton could see the beginning of something good.
He carried Makenna back to their suite, far away from Jasper and Griffin. The sound of Griffin working on a new table filled the air with a hum. Makenna pulled out her guitar and attempted to find love within her new voice. Ashton already loved it.
He liked the way it filled his chest and caressed his skin while he lay beside her. It wasn’t long before he tugged the guitar from her hands and pulled her down to him. She conceded, lips parting just for him. They broke in the old bed for probably the fortieth time. It pounded the wall in a rhythmic beat.
Jasper was even nice enough to wait until they were finished to yell at them. They cackled and cuddled into one another. Ashton had everything he could ever ask for. Even the beast was sated. Their life was no longer a cage. Not even his duties to Jasper and the others made him feel chained down.
This was his family. He would do anything for them.
WYATT DRAKE
Emilia Hartley
Chapter One
Kennedy Mortensen was always on the move. Her feet, and her stomach, took her from town to town in search of the next great flavor. According to her blog, she did it for her fans. Kennedy knew that wasn’t the only reason she traveled. Her feet were restless. No town screamed her name or begged her to stay.
She moved through each, finding joy in them but no real reason to lay down roots. This time, she visited a small town in the mountains. Like a hidden secret, it wasn’t marked on any maps. The Colorado mountains kept it nestled far away from public knowledge. Grove, the sign on the side of the twisting road had read.
Main street was dotted with tiny lights suspended from the street posts. The street cut between the two mountains that rose on either side, the thick evergreen branches pressing in on every available space at the edges. Kennedy’s stomach flipped.
She wasn’t sure why. Perhaps it was the fact that she hadn’t eaten all day. She’d been waiting until she arrived. Her job was to discover restaurants and flavors. If she arrived on a full stomach, she couldn’t very well do her job. Eager to shove aside the shaky sensation, she scanned the street for her options.
The sight took her breath away. Buildings from the age of factories bore vintage advertisements, the paint fading. A clock tower ticked. Behind it she caught the peak of a church bell tower rising from the peaks of the pine trees. Inspired, she removed the lens cap from her camera and lifted it to capture the shot.
“You really shouldn’t take pictures,” a nasally voice interrupted.
Kennedy lowered the camera, only a fraction of an inch, to give the tourist a quizzical look. The man was smug, as if proud that he knew so much when Kennedy thought he was spouting nonsense.
His brows shot up, pleading with her to believe him. “The locals don’t like it for some reason. Just the other day I was trying to take a picture of the sky and a local came up to me. He crushed my camera without even asking me to put it away first!”
Kennedy looked around. She didn’t see any camera crushing locals, but she also didn’t know what a camera crushing local looked like. A brute, she supposed. She expected a strong-browed caveman to saunter out from an alley and rush her for her camera.
“I’ll, ah, keep that in mind.” She flashed a wide smile before scurrying toward the nearest restaurant.
The chipped paint on the window proclaimed that it was a diner. As soon as the door swung closed behind her, she felt a little better. She fingered the camera hanging around her neck and considered why anyone would want to break one, especially one that belonged to a stranger. She would have pondered the secrets Grove might be hiding, but her attention was grabbed by the inside of the diner.
Cozy booths held little juke boxes. Waitresses in matching uniforms smiled in greeting from behind the wooden bar. The stools were covered in striped leather. Kennedy found it homey and welcoming. She made a mental note to add those descriptors to her blog as she raised her camera.
One waitress’s smile turned to a scowl. Kennedy’s grip on her camera tightened. She scurried to claim a seat, running away from the disapproving waitress. Once again, Kennedy was struck with the sense that Grove was hiding something. She felt like she was thrust into a ninety’s mystery TV show.
One of her fans would notice that she was no longer updating her blog. Someone would have to come out here and find her body. If she was lucky, she’d be able to haunt the detective searching for her. Maybe they’d fall in love.
Kennedy pinched the bridge of her nose. She binge-watched too many TV shows, and it was showing.
“Are you still in love with that shiny dragon booty?” an old woman asked someone.
Kennedy looked up to find the scowling waitress standing at the next table in the row of booths. She stood over a violet-haired old lady. Sitting in the booth beside the old lady was an equally old Asian man, in the middle of shaking his head at his wife’s statement. At least, Kennedy assumed she was his wife.
The words the old woman used began to sink in.
Dragon?
Kennedy needed to eat something. Not only was she slow to take things in, she was hearing nonsense. There was no way the old woman said shiny dragon booty. It wasn’t possible.
The waitress finished with the older couple and moved on to Kennedy’s table. Biting the inside of her cheek, Kennedy realized she hadn’t even gotten a chance to look at the menu. Flinging it open in a fit of panic, she hurriedly sought the best item.
“You’re not from around here,” the waitress said, more of a statement than a question. Her voice was husky, almost smoky.
***
Wyatt slammed his car door. He glared at anyone who dared look in the direction of the loud sound. The only reason he’d ventured outside his apartment was its utter lack of food. It was his own fault, of course. He was the only one to blame, but it wasn’t like Wyatt was used to buying groceries.
Nicole had always done that for the both of them. She’d been in charge of things like that, like laundry, like making appointments. Wyatt never had to bother with anything domestic. He worked and he came home. That was all he had to do.
Now, back in Grove of all places, he was on his own again.
He shook thoughts of his ex from his mind as he shoved open the diner door. Ashton’s mate raised a brow at him, clearly surprised to see Wyatt. His attention didn’t stay on her for long. It slid to the woman seated at the nearby table.
Big, honey colored eyes stared at him. She shoved back a stray, black curl as if to get a better look at him. His heart stuttered uncomfortably, but he couldn’t look away. Not until he’d taken in the rest of her. The beast growled in the back of his mind. It pushed him to memorize her, but he slapped it back and turned toward the bar.
Wyatt just needed to eat. If he got some food into him, then he could think straight. His beast would quiet and he wouldn’t think about his ex-girlfriend. Lies, of course, but it didn’t stop him from trying. Nicole had been on his mind nearly every moment since she left
him.
Once Wyatt placed his order, the beast forced him to spin around. He easily found the dark-skinned girl again. She was nursing a cup of milky coffee as she flipped through the photos stored on her camera. Her hair was pinned back, away from her face in a high bun that should have been serious but felt playful.
She bit a petal pink lip as she studied a photo. His stomach clenched. Wyatt told himself it was the lack of food driving him mad.
“So, Wyatt Drake finally crawled out of his self-imposed exile to rejoin the world of the living.” Makenna spared no blows when she greeted him.
He didn’t spin around to face Ashton’s mate, still keeping his gaze on the woman at the table. “I ran out of food.”
Makenna laughed. “There’s always food at the house, if you would come visit us. We eat fried chicken every Saturday night.”
Wyatt wasn’t ready to face his family. He’d come to do his part as a dragon in Jasper’s court, but he wanted nothing to do with the broken family. They could play house all they wanted. His own attempts at starting a family had blown up in his face. He couldn’t stand to watch their efforts.
Makenna said nothing. Plates came up at the window, and she whisked them away to their proper tables. As he watched Makenna work, his attention was drawn back to the woman from earlier.
The woman was standing on her seat now. She held her camera above the plate Makenna had delivered, snapping photo after photo. Everyone in the diner looked at her like she was crazy. Wyatt found himself smiling. She looked incredibly small standing on the booth seat, like a twilight pixie.
Beyond the partition between the two rows of booths, a dragon shifter was watching her with hungry eyes. Wyatt didn’t immediately recognize him, so he guessed the man was probably low ranking in Grove, not a metallic dragon like the Drakes. Wyatt would have turned away and left both alone, but the dragon shifter slowly rose. He reached over the partition while the woman was distracted.
Aurum Court Dragons: Boxset Books 1-5 Page 14
