Asher (Keepers Of The Lake Book 4)

by Emilia Hartley

  “I told you she was real,” he hissed at his friends.

  Zara ducked her head and chased after Chelsea. She found her roommate at the bar, mounted on a stool with one knee over the other as she took in the room. There was already a drink at Chelsea’s elbow. Either someone had bought her one already, or Chelsea had lied about not having enough to pay for the cab fare.

  Zara looked up and down the bar, trying to find the man who was already eyeing her roommate. No one was watching either of them. Which brought a scowl to Zara’s lips.

  “I’m leaving with him by the end of the night,” Chelsea declared, marking her target for the evening.

  Zara followed the line of Chelsea’s sight and found Asher on the other end. He had a lopsided grin on his face as he joked with his clan. His hair was styled so that only a small lock of white fell in front of his face. From time to time, he shook it out of his sight.

  His eyes would slide in their direction and a blaze would rush over Zara’s skin.

  Zara nodded. She should have been pleased. Asher would be distracted for a night. He might even forget about her. Instead, her fox growled with a ferocity she’d never known before. It left Zara upset. Annoyed at herself, she caught the bartender’s attention and bought herself a drink.

  She kept her back to the room while waiting for her drink. When the bartender stopped a little short of a full shot, she motioned for him to keep going. He must have seen something on her face because he poured out another half shot for the drink before pushing it toward her.

  Drink in hand, Zara turned. Asher was making his way toward the bar, toward them. Chelsea adjusted her top and went to intercept him. Zara made her escape while Chelsea stepped in his way. The fox in her howled. It scratched and clawed to get back to the dragon shifter, but Zara wouldn’t let it win.

  The juke box was shoved in a dark corner away from the tables. She dropped a quarter into the machine and flipped to Joan Jett. The boot-thumping music washed over her. She took a long sip from her biting drink and stepped out onto the small dance floor. With no regard for men or friends, Zara danced. She forgot about her failing grades and disappointed parents.

  When the song came to an end and another one queued up, Zara returned to herself. She found Asher and Chelsea dancing nearby. His attention was on her, even as his hands ran over Chelsea’s body. Was he trying to figure out how to get closer to her? This definitely wasn’t the right path.

  The fox in her growled when it saw his hands on Chelsea’s hips. But she realized that he wasn’t even touching her. His hands hovered over her. It was Chelsea that was rubbing up on him. The girl was trying so hard.

  Zara waggled her fingers at them and found a corner to hide in. One guy from the bar, who clearly already had too many drinks for the night, found her and wandered over. He leaned over her table, and his rank breath hit her in the face. When she reeled back, he accused her of being an uptight bitch.

  Annoyed, Zara let her beast fill her eyes. They flashed from nearly black to snow white. The man hiccupped and jumped back. She grinned as he staggered back to the bar. As her drink disappeared, her shoulders fell away from her ears. She rolled them, trying to work out the tension between them.

  This was the Midwest. There were no fox shifter families here. If anything, Zara had witnessed a local pack and a clan of dragons. There was no room for anyone else here on the edge of this massive lake.

  Dragons had been the last thing Zara expected to find. There had been whispers. Some of the freshmen coming onto campus whispered about seeing dragons over a local hiking trail. Zara brushed it off as hallucinations brought on by kids trying out drugs for the first time.

  Yet, the whole clan of them gathered around a table barely twenty feet away. The men were absolutely huge. Their shoulders were wide enough that she suspected they had to turn sideways to pass through doorways. They could also crush her head with barely any effort. It was best to stay away from the dragons.

  They would be far more dangerous than the bear shifters back home, and those idiots caused a whole hell of a lot of trouble.

  Just like Chelsea said, Zara’s sheer top earned her a couple of drinks. She knew that was what did it, because each time a guy came over his gaze was situated well below her chin. Still, she accepted the drinks and endured a bit of small talk before letting them know she had no plans to leave the bar just yet.

  Not with any of them. Her beast wouldn’t let her. The creature kept her glued to her seat. As the alcohol dulled her constantly buzzing mind, Zara indulged herself in a few peeks at Asher. Chelsea still hadn’t given up. Even with the perky blonde at his side, Zara found his gaze on her almost every time. The only time he wasn’t looking at her was when his lips curled in a snarl at the men leaving her table.

  For a second, she let herself imagine what it would be like to leave with Asher for the night. He would be strong enough to carry her out. It would feel magical to be cradled in his thick, scarred arms.

  What was she doing?

  The night was over. She couldn’t drink anymore, or else she might end up doing something she would regret. She couldn’t risk getting tied up with a dragon shifter. It wasn’t worth the trouble. Zara’s mind should have been on fixing her tanked GPA, not rolling around with a dangerous MMA fighter who turned out to be a dragon shifter.

  No wonder Oscar liked watching those fights. The fighters were probably all shifters. How else did they explain how quickly they healed for their next fight?

  Zara got to her feet and lurched for the door. She quickly realized her mistake when the cold air kissed her skin. Her jacket with the oatmeal snack cookie was still somewhere inside. But so was Asher. She wrinkled her nose and decided that she would come back for her jacket another day.

  The last thing she wanted to do was go back inside and see Chelsea grinding on Asher. It was enough to make her sick.

  Summer nights were chilly this close to the lake. The wind blew over it, strong and filled with secrets she would never know. Every shadow hid another surprise. Dragons, Zara thought to herself. This place has dragons.

  What else did it hide from her? Were there more mythical monsters waiting around the next corner? She was so lost in her thoughts, the alcohol singing through her veins, that she didn’t see the humans gathering to block her way.

  “She looks like that bitch from TV,” someone said, too loud. “You know, the one that comes on around Halloween. With the tits.”

  Zara’s head snapped up. The man from earlier stood in her way. Behind him was a group of what had to be his friends. They reeked of vodka as they staggered toward her.

  “I mean, just look at them. Will you let me grab your tits, creep girl?”

  Asher escaped the blonde by telling her he had to use the restroom. As he ran away from her, he saw the fox-girl’s jacket on the back of a chair. Michigan was not a warm place once the sun went down. He snatched the jacket off the chair and made for the door.

  The blonde called out to him, but he pretended like he couldn’t hear her. All night, she’d tried to command his attention, but the fox-girl had been on his mind. It was the fox-girl he could smell. It was her he saw out of the corner of his eye. It was her that he wanted.

  Outside, the air smelled like lake water. His stomach churned. The clan was in town, far away from Zane’s domain. Asher didn’t have to worry about his old friend tonight. He just had to find the fox-girl and give her back the jacket. Oh, and maybe get her name.

  Voices drew his attention. A bunch of rowdy drunks were shouting at the end of the street. Asher sniffed the air. A growl ripped its way out of his throat. A lone figure stood before the drunk men. The wind tousled her short black hair and brought her scent to Asher’s nose.

  Rage propelled him forward. He didn’t think to control his speed in front of the humans. He dashed toward her, his beast right under his skin. The drunkard didn’t see him coming. Asher had to pull back, even though his beast was screaming at him to hurt them. His beast wanted b
lood.

  “I mean, just look at them. Will you let me grab your tits, creep girl?”

  A deafening roar filled his ears and rattled his skull. Asher couldn’t risk letting his beast loose. He’d done well so far. It’d been weeks since his last professional fight. Weeks since he’d felt the rush of pain, of the battle. This wasn’t the same, though. The rage simmering inside him wasn’t the same rage he drew upon in a ring fight. This burned hotter. It clouded his vision and tightened his fists.

  But he drew to a stop beside the fox-girl. It took all of his effort to smile down at her and lift the jacket in his hand.

  “You forgot this,” he managed to say.

  Fox-girl looked up at him with relief in her white eyes. Her lip trembled. A growl slipped out of him, unbidden. He gave in to it and turned to the man that had been accosting fox-girl.

  “That’s my date you’re talking to!” the drunkard said, clearly belligerent. “I was going to get my freak on with Miss Halloween here.”

  Asher knew this group was up to no good. They had no plans of asking fox-girl for anything. They’d planned to take. All Asher had to do was reach out. He could crush the drunkard’s skull with one hand. It wouldn’t take much force.

  But fox-girl touched his arm. Her hand on his arm did something. He could see clearly again. The red veil of rage was pulled back. His shoulders dropped a little. How close had he been to killing someone? Asher fought shifters in the ring, not humans. Could he have controlled himself and not killed this man?

  “Boy, you have whiskey dick. You wouldn’t have been able to do anything. Get the fuck out of here.”

  The drunkard staggered forward. He landed a punch, but it was nothing to Asher. The red returned to the edges of Asher’s vision. It crept in and filled his muscles with furious energy. He grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt and lifted his feet from the ground. The drunkard’s friends scattered. They ran in every direction.

  “I’m sorry, man! I didn’t know she was yours!”

  Asher brought the man close and snarled. “Women don’t belong to people. If I catch you cornering anyone ever again, I will make you look like one of my opponents in the ring. You’ve seen me fight. A man like you knows what I’m talking about.”

  It was like a light went off in the man’s mind. Recognition had set in. The man fought to break free of Asher’s grip. He dug his nails into Asher’s hands and kicked his feet, looking like the child he was.

  Asher dropped him in a heap. The fox-girl was still there, but she hadn’t put on the jacket. Instead, she hugged her arms close to her body. Asher’s beast writhed inside him. It screamed, but he couldn’t make sense of it. It was nothing but a torrent of rage and desire and determination.

  He gently took the jacket from fox-girl’s hands and laid it over her shoulders. Dragons burned hotter than any other shifter. So, he ran his hands up and down her arms to help her warm up. The shivering never stopped, though.

  “T-thanks,” she said.

  Her eyes were still white. To humans, it would have looked like contacts. Asher knew that it was her beast too close to the surface. He wanted to draw her into his arms and hold her tight, to whisper in her ear that she was safe, but he didn’t think she would like that. If anything, she took a step away from him.

  His heart cracked, but he didn’t say anything. Asher shoved his hands into his pockets and watched her. She slowly took the jacket from her shoulders and put it on. As soon as it was on, she wrapped her arms around herself again.

  “Do you want me to call your Alpha? I can have him come and pick you up so that you’re not alone.” Asher offered.

  Fox-girl kept her distance from him. He couldn’t promise her that he was harmless. She’d seen what he was capable of. She’d probably caught a few of his fights, too. Asher couldn’t pretend to be harmless around her.

  “I’m not part of the local pack,” she said, finally.

  “Oh, uh. Alright.” He scratched the back of his head. “Do you want…do you want me to walk you home then?”

  She was quiet. He was sure she would say no. The white irises of her beast still lingered in her eyes. Then, she ran her hands over her face. It smeared a bit of her black make-up, but when her hands fell away, her eyes were dark again.

  He let out a breath, relief flooding his chest. He hadn’t realized how badly it bothered him that she was afraid. His heart untwisted and beat a normal rhythm once more.

  “Yeah, I think I’d like that.” She took a step closer.

  He fought the urge to reach out and touch her, to pull her into his protective embrace. Fox-girl didn’t belong to him. She did crazy things to him, but they were nothing but acquaintances to one another.

  “Lead the way,” he said, gesturing down the street.

  She hesitated. “What about Chelsea?”

  “Who?”

  “Uh, my friend. She was the one you danced with. She’s been talking to you all night.”

  The blonde, he realized. The one that had been in his way, trying to take up all of his time when all he wanted to do was ask fox-girl her name. He’d imagined asking it a hundred times. There was a yearning in his chest that wouldn’t go away until he knew it. If he couldn’t get it out of her tonight, he wouldn’t be able to sleep.

  “I don’t want to ruin whatever the two of you have going. You can go back inside and find her. I’ll shift or…something.”

  “Huh?” Asher didn’t understand what she was saying. It was like the combination of words just didn’t compute. What was he supposed to do?

  “Your date? I’m sure Chelsea would be devastated if you didn’t go back. She was hoping you’d take her home tonight.”

  Asher shrugged. “My date? You mean the woman that wouldn’t leave me the hell alone? She’s your friend?”

  Fox-girl laughed at him and ran her hand through her hair. “You’re awfully slow. You know that?”

  He tapped his temple. “Too many blows to the head.”

  Her smile was just for him, pursed like she wasn’t ready to give in to him.

  “By the way, you already know my name, but I don’t know what to call you. I can’t just say fox-girl in public. Can I?”

  “You could. I wouldn’t respond, though.”

  She fell in step beside him. The beast that had been thrashing inside of him quieted a little. Its attention was still all on her. Nothing else mattered in the world so long as this fox-girl was at his side.

  Never before had Asher felt so strongly about anyone. He’d slept with hundreds of women. They threw themselves at him after his fights, when adrenaline still reigned inside him and he needed somewhere to vent it. Over and over, he took them to bed. He didn’t know what he expected of it. It wasn’t like one of them would become his mate overnight.

  They all vanished without another word, going on to tell the world that they’d slept with Asher Knuden.

  But this woman, cloaked in all black, her tongue tipped with venom. He wanted her more than anything he’d ever wanted in his life. And she made it clear that he was not what she wanted.

  She tucked a lock of black hair behind her ear. “My name is Zara.”

  3

  Asher Knuden was dangerous. He was violent, a beast barely contained by human skin. Zara should have walked away. She could have shifted and run through the woods to get home. She could have walked by herself. She was a shifter, after all.

  Though, she wasn’t a particularly strong one. The fox in her was small. It had been made weak by her oppressive family. Not even Oscar and Regina could help her become stronger. Which meant that her interest in Asher would remain only that, a bit of interest.

  She couldn’t allow him into her life. She wasn’t strong enough to handle an overly dominant mate. And yet, when he grinned at her like that, she thought she saw softness in him. Like he would be tender with her and only her. Like she would live a life of safety around him.

  Zara had to shove back the thought. Intrusive and unbidden, it had to b
e banished. If she allowed it to take root, she would find herself in trouble for sure. She was just lonely. That was the only answer for what she felt around Asher.

  No shifters looked at her in California. When she lived with the fox family, only one man gave her any kind of attention. Thinking of it made her skin crawl. That was the man her father nearly gave her to. Then, when she joined Oscar’s pack, everyone gave her a wide berth. She was the daughter of Oscar Torres, one of the most brutal Alphas in the Monterey area.

  Somehow, she didn’t think Asher would be intimidated. He wouldn’t meet her father and want to run away like the others had. Even the humans had been afraid of Oscar.

  Asher walked down the dark street with his head high and his hands in his pockets like nothing could hurt him. There was even a goofy smile still on his face and a spring in his step that confused her.

  “Zara,” he said, like he was trying out how the word felt in his mouth. He said it again, rolling the R in the middle. “Zarrrrrra.”

  She tried not to, but she laughed anyway. It was such a light sound, chasing away the shadows that still hung over her from earlier. With Asher by her side, she didn’t have to think about the drunks from earlier. She was safe.

  “So, tell me, Zara. You aren’t from around here. What brings you to dismal Michigan?”

  “It’s not dismal. I kind of like it here. Especially when it snows. We don’t get snow where I’m from.”

  “What? No snow?” He jumped in front of her, face filled with surprise as he walked backwards. Somehow, he didn’t trip over his own feet. “Don’t tell me you’re from Florida. I can’t be seen with people from Florida.”

  “What are you even talking about? What do you have against people from Florida?”

  “So, you are from Florida!”

  She laughed. “No. I’m from California.”

  “Aha! See what I did there? I got you to tell me the truth.” His eyes sparkled. It could have been mirth and mischief, or it could have been the streetlamps overhead.