Not long later he realized why. Makenna’s song had ended, and her voice no longer filled the air. He was reminded again how much had changed in the years he’d been gone. Everything they’d been was lost, and he had to start over again. He wanted to lean on their history, to revive what he’d thrown away, but that wasn’t going to happen.
He couldn’t win her love that way. Ashton would have to start over fresh. They were two different people now. Their love, if he could kindle it, would be different than their young infatuation.
“Don’t run away just yet,” Makenna said, breaking the contemplative silence. “I’m sure there’s a spare key in your truck, but I don’t feel like stealing it. That would require way more energy than I have left.”
He let his head fall back, the stars above them glimmering like infinite possibility. “Why did you choose to stay in Grove?”
He wanted to know the truth. Makenna could have had a future outside of these mountains, far away from dragons that could barely control themselves. She could have been smiling on stage, her song heard by millions. He might not have been able to reach her again, but maybe then the dark part of her would have been alive with light.
He could see, as he brought up the subject, how Makenna shut down. She shoved her hands in her pockets and turned away from him.
“Some of us have responsibilities.”
He could see the conversation was over. Her jaw was tight, mouth wired shut for the night. He wouldn’t push to get more from her. The night was over, their fun had run out and the world was doing its best to catch up to them. Ashton thought he knew about responsibilities. His life had been filled with alarm clocks and deadlines.
Now that Jasper’s well-being weighed on his shoulders, he began to rethink what responsibility felt like. While he was here, he would do his best to lift it from her shoulders. Even if she wouldn’t tell him what was going on, he could try to bring her laughter and make sure she fed herself.
***
Her apartment was on the other side of the truck door. All she had to do was pull the handle and push. The night would be over, she could stumble off to bed and catch a few hours of sleep before her morning shift at the diner. Instead, her body refused to move.
She sat in the darkness of Ashton’s truck. There was an air freshener hanging over the rearview mirror in the shape of a dragon. Whatever mystical scent it once held was long gone, but the snarling beast still twirled beneath the mirror. She tapped it and watched it spin, a useless excuse to remain where she was.
Ashton didn’t tap the steering wheel. He didn’t huff and sigh or try to kick her out. He leaned back against his own door and watched her with half-lidded eyes and a sleepy smile. The air between them was charged. She wasn’t sure if he could feel it, from the languid way he relaxed, but she felt it spark along her fingers and crawl up the nape of her neck.
If she closed her eyes, she could replace the sparks with Ashton’s touch. It was a dangerous thought. She shouldn’t have wanted any of the things that ran through her mind, but she couldn’t seem to ignore them.
Electricity raced along her cheek. It warmed, enveloping the side of her face and running into her hair. She leaned into it, surprised to find warmth and substance. When she opened her eyes, Ashton leaned toward her. His hand cradled her cheek, thumb gently caressing her cheekbone.
Neither was the person they once knew. He wasn’t the effortless teen that was always at her side. She wasn’t the careless dreamer who would lead him through the world. The universe had different fates for them both. She could see that neither had been given any kind of freedom. What she’d thought was a curse for her and a gift for him had simply been the harsh way of life. Ashton hadn’t escaped Grove to live some kind of glorious fame like she’d thought.
He’d been trapped, too.
Unfortunately for Makenna, she saw no way out.
“Good night, Ashton.” This time, she shoved the door open. The cold air washed away the burning need rising like a bonfire in her core.
She left, his growl following her as it faded into the night. By the time she reached her door, she could no longer hear him. The light inside the truck cab stayed on for a moment longer, enough for her to catch his tight smile and short wave before it snuffed him into darkness.
This needed to be the last she saw of him, like he promised. She could feel her life crumbling as he inserted himself into it. If he stayed, she would lose sleep, struggle to be on time, and lose the jobs that kept her head above water. Ashton was dangerous to her life.
Chapter Seven
He drove out into the wilderness, as deep as he could go into the mountains before he had to pull over. Shedding his clothes and tossing them into the truck bed, he let the beast overtake him. The monster had been near the surface since he dropped Makenna off at her apartment. It wanted to tug him toward her, the memory of her face in his hand the only thing it cared about.
She’d been so close. He should have kissed her, he should have shown her all the ways he needed her. Ashton tried to tell the beast why that wouldn’t work, but the beast was in no mood to listen. The creature ran on instinct and magic, things that would not bend to reason.
In the middle of nowhere, surrounded by towering pines, the beast had a long trip ahead if it thought it was going to drag him back to Makenna’s doorstep. The woman needed to sleep. She didn’t need Ashton and his disgruntled monster knocking on her door in the middle of the night. He would do her no good that way.
The dragon ripped free of him. He tossed his head. Fire rolled around his mouth, hot and sweet. He let it loose into the sky. The ball rocketed toward the stars only to disappear, dying before it could come back down. It wasn’t enough. The beast’s need raged on. Over and over, he shot spheres of flame into the night.
Each ball drained the beast a little more until Ashton could regain control. He wrested it from the beast’s hands and banked in the sky, turning away from the beast’s flight path and back toward what was supposed to be home. As the cabin came into view, the beast had a thought to burn it down, but Ashton had enough strength to keep the beast at bay.
He dropped to the ground, wings beating against the air to slow down. The trees shook, and he heard the tell-tale crack of glass as a window shattered. The beast folded back into his skin, the fire of his copper dragon filling his body until his wings disappeared and the transformation was complete.
His joints ached, and his muscles burned, but he forced himself to his feet. Just as he rose, gold glinted between the trees. Ashton sighed, wanting nothing more than to fall into bed beside Makenna. Instead, he raced after the gold dragon walking through the woods.
“Hey! Beast! Where do you think you’re going?” Ashton shouted and waved his arms to get the gold dragon’s attention. He hoped he wouldn’t have to shift again. He didn’t know if his body could take another change so soon, not after he’d expelled so much energy earlier.
The gold dragon spun on him. It hissed, lips curled back and smoke pouring from its muzzle. Ashton didn’t flinch. He held the beast’s gaze. The sentience of those gold eyes bothered him. A beast should not have so much intelligence. He’d never seen the likes of it before.
While his beast was all growls and desire, this one seemed to know who it was looking at. Hell, Ashton could have sworn it had a plan.
“Can you stay on the mountain tonight? I need a nap before I try to win back the woman of my dreams. Think you can do that for me?” It was a long shot, but Ashton figured he could reason with a beast like Jasper’s. It wouldn’t work with any other dragon he knew.
Ryker’s beast would have swatted his head off for even daring talk to him.
The two held their ground, staring one another down while the seconds ticked past. Jasper was the king of this mountain. He had every right to devour Ashton with one gulp, though he would find it difficult.
Finally, the golden beast huffed and blew a tendril of flame toward Ashton. The heat washed over him, unaffecting th
e fellow Drake. Then, as if his warning was enough, the beast went on with its business. Ashton wasn’t convinced the dragon would listen to his plea, but he didn’t have the energy to care.
Let Griffin deal with him tonight. Ashton had enough of his own problems to deal with. He was tired, not just from the long day, but of everything. He didn’t want to be the person he’d been since he left. No more boardrooms or cubicles. He didn’t want to be the messed-up creature that he was, either. He was done with the endless struggle and the resulting rampages.
Was this the life he was cursed to from here on out? Could he find any other way to live? Ashton liked to think that he would find a new life with Makenna, an old love. He wasn’t sure how to fight his way back into her heart, but he would do whatever it took. The first thing he would do was take a bit of the weight from her shoulders.
Before that, he needed to work on his own responsibilities. There was a reason he’d been called back. It was time he did something about it.
***
Ashton held up his hands in defense. Makenna glared at him from the other side of the diner counter. She didn’t say it, but he knew she was thinking of the shitty promise he’d made. He thought she should have known he’d never keep it. He couldn’t stay away.
“I’m not here to bother you,” he claimed. “I ordered breakfast.”
She didn’t buy it, if the way she put her hands on her hips was any indication. Makenna could have taken the world by storm years ago the force of her personality was so strong. Back then, that was what she wanted. Now that time had passed, and they’d changed, he wondered what she wanted now. He wanted to give it to her.
But, now was not the time. He had other things to worry about.
Like Jasper.
The dragon had spent all night stomping around Ashton’s cabin. He thought the beast did it spitefully for asking it to behave, otherwise it was proof that Jasper was insane. Why else would a beast storm around in circles all night?
Another waitress zoomed around Makenna with a bag and takeout containers. He reached for his wallet, as if to say I told you I didn’t come here for you. Still, seeing Makenna was a great perk. He snuck glances at her while he paid for the food he ordered. The dark circles that had been under her eyes the day before had faded. They weren’t completely gone.
“I was an hour late for work because of you,” she hissed when he turned to leave.
Her words caught him where he stood. “It’s just an hour. I’m sure your manager will forgive you just this once.”
Her eyes widened, ever so slightly, before narrowing again. They were filled with the kind of fire he would have thought only possible in dragons. Any moment, she would start spewing flames at him. He could tell her tongue was already laced with the heat of it.
“You just don’t get it. You’re going to ruin my life if you keep it up.”
The words hurt, hot across his cheek like she’d slapped him. Ashton struggled to understand how one late morning could ruin a life. He could think of one kind of late that could do that, but he hadn’t spent the night.
“I can’t help fix what you won’t tell me.” His voice came out harder than he’d intended. He wished he could take it back immediately.
Her spine jerked upright. Any kindness from the night before vanished. She stepped back, and a wall came up between them. This wall was not made of straw or brick. It wasn’t something he could bash himself against to break down.
He sighed and licked his lips, trying to find the right way to respond while the beast pressed against the inside of him. He felt too small for the massive creature trying to escape his body. As he stood with Makenna, feeling worlds apart, he thought his skin would tear and the monster would come flying out of him.
He glanced around. This wasn’t the place to lose control. People were enjoying their morning coffee with a newspaper. There were families feeding their small children, tired parents sleepily smiling over meals they didn’t have to cook. His beast would barely fit in the small diner. He would hurt so many innocent people.
The thing he’d become was dangerous. If he couldn’t get it under control…What, then? He knew he could throw himself before Jasper and ask him to end it, but Jasper needed his help. He couldn’t leave his family down one dragon. Not now.
So, he dragged in a ragged breath and managed to find a few words. “I’m…here…if you need me.”
With that said, he turned away from her. It took every ounce of energy he had left to force himself to walk away from Makenna while his beast cried for her. He had to be smart about this. One task at a time was the only way to get things done.
First, he owed Jasper a visit.
Unsurprisingly, not much had changed about the mountain manor Jasper called home. The massive structure of wood and stone stood like a proud castle in its very own valley. What had once been ancient pine trees around the manor was now nothing more than sticks of charcoal protruding from the earth. Ashton understood why the house was more stone than wood.
Dragons weren’t the easiest to keep around. Even Jasper’s father had been a hot-headed monster. Ashton wondered how time had softened him. Had much changed while he was gone, old age making the man remorseful for the aggressive life he’d led? Or, had he and Jasper butted heads until the old man was six feet under?
Sitting on a low wall around a small, decorative pond was the rugged Jasper. His shirt sleeves had been torn off, revealing the spread of tattoos that now ran down his arms. A thick layer of facial hair gleamed in the light of the sun. Ashton couldn’t help but think of a Viking fucking a Greek marble statue. If it was possible, the offspring would have been Jasper.
His cousin’s lip curled as he approached. Ashton raised the takeout containers in his plastic bag. Not even the smell of food appealed to Jasper. The dragon shifter continued to growl.
“Go back to Grove,” Jasper snarled.
“The only reason I came to Grove at all was to see your dumb ass. Now you’re telling me I can’t even have breakfast with my favorite cousin?”
“No.” Jasper leapt off the retainer wall and began to stomp away. “Go back to Makenna and bother her some more.”
Ashton rolled his eyes since Jasper’s back was to him and his cousin couldn’t see. It wasn’t smart to sass the new king of the mountain, but Ashton figured the title was still new and the blood they shared would protect him. He wasn’t prepared for the shoulder that slammed into his breastbone.
Air disappeared from his lungs. He gasped, but the vice on his chest remained. The beast inside him roared. While scrambled eggs and bacon arched through the air, Ashton’s beast ripped free of his body. Claws slammed into the stone pavers. His wings grazed the truck behind him. He shook his head, losing what little control he had left to the monster inside him.
It didn’t take long for Jasper to shift. The transformation blinded Ashton. He didn’t know if it was magic or the high noon sun on Jasper’s golden scales. One moment he was ready to fight, the next his head was on the ground.
That didn’t stop Ashton’s beast. It was merely a challenge. The beast rolled onto its back and brought its tail around to smack Jasper’s head. The whip-like tail cracked against Jasper’s scales but didn’t break them. The beast holding Ashton down snarled, annoyed. It was enough of a distraction for Ashton to pry Jasper’s claws away from his throat.
The ball of flame grew in the back of his throat. It rolled, getting larger and larger. It wouldn’t hurt Jasper, but it would disorient him. Or it would have if Jasper hadn’t returned the favor. A tail the size of a tree slammed into Ashton’s neck. The fire sputtered and died, heat slipping down his throat.
The beast’s rage rose like a crushing wave. It crashed into Ashton and fueled his muscles. He lowered his head and charged forward. Jasper caught him, but the impact sent them both sliding across the stone pavers. Water sluiced through the air when the retainer wall began to crumble.
This needed to stop. Ashton didn’t want to fight his cous
in. He wanted to see his new king rise to success. Without him, they would be a broken family of dragons. No one else in the family had the strength, let alone the right, to rule a mountain range of dragons.
Gold dragons reigned. That was the way of things, but if Jasper kept up with his hermit ways, driving everyone away so his beast could prowl the woods at night, then everything they knew would fall apart. They needed Jasper to be better. They needed him to become the King he had to be.
Ashton didn’t know if it would work. The secret that he’d kept twisted his stomach in knots. As much as he hated it, he forced his dragon back into his body. The beast’s rage was too much to fold into a human form. It was like packing lightning into his muscles. He grimaced, trying to bear the pain so he could speak to his cousin.
His king.
“Your stupid bank is failing!” Ashton shouted once he shifted back.
He stood, naked to the world, in Jasper’s driveway. With his fists clenched at his sides and his face burning as hot as dragon fire, he revealed the secret he’d been holding onto. Nothing he did back in the city could save the business his cousin was ignoring. The damn bank was the only reason the Drake family had anything to stand on.
The money it brought into the mountain helped keep Grove alive, so the Drake family had somewhere to live. If it failed, they would have nothing. Their hoard, their legacy, their home. It would all come crashing down around their heads.
“Some fucking king you would make,” Ashton growled. He kicked the ground where the scrambled eggs had fallen in gravel. “Enjoy your breakfast.”
His body screamed from the effort it took to trap the angry beast back within his human body. It set his teeth on edge. He drove like a mad man down the mountain and back to Grove. When he jerked the wheel to turn into the diner parking lot, it did nothing to expend the energy buzzing inside him. He roared and punched the steering wheel.
Ashton Drake Page 4
