A Mate to Treasure (Dragons of Mount Aterna Book 1) Read online

  A Mate to Treasure

  Dragons of Mount Aterna (Book 1)

  A Five Peaks Novel

  Riley Storm

  A Mate to Treasure

  Copyright© 2020 Riley Storm

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means, without written permission from the author. The sole exception is for the use of brief quotations in a book review. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real.

  All sexual activities depicted occur between consenting characters 18 years or older who are not blood-related.

  Edited by Annie Jenkinson, Just Copyeditors

  Cover Designs by Kasmit Covers

  Table of Contents

  A Mate to Treasure

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Other Books by Riley Storm

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Asher

  Boredom had set in well before Asher ever reached his destination.

  Drumming his hands on the steering wheel, he covered a yawn as he guided the pickup through the mountains. The sun was shining bright, a welcome change from storms that had wracked Five Peaks for the past week, though he didn’t expect it to last long.

  Turning off the asphalt road that cut through the mountains, he took an unmarked one-way lane that dove deep into the forest that covered the ground. Pressing the button to lower his window, Asher allowed himself to enjoy the clean summer air and warm light while he had it. In another few minutes, he would arrive, and spend the next eight hours sitting in an old mineshaft. Doing nothing.

  The truck bounced and jolted as he drove along the dirt road, tires digging into the wet yet solid ground. This high up in the mountains, the layer of dirt on top of rock was relatively thin, and traction was rarely an issue.

  Not long after that, the road emerged from its tree tunnel to reveal a wide, open expanse. A handful of other trucks and SUV’s were parked there, though nobody was present. They were all underground, deep in the mine.

  He glanced at the clock. Fifteen minutes until his shift guarding the Gate to the Otherworld started. It was a twenty-minute walk into the depths of the old shaft. Asher was going to be late.

  “Shit,” he muttered, killing the engine and opening his door.

  Sound reached his ears. He looked up, wondering what the commotion was, only to see a figure burst from the open mineshaft. It was moving fast enough to blur the features and headed straight for the nearest vehicle.

  “What the hell?” he said, leaning on the doorjamb, wondering who needed to leave so quickly. Sure, guard duty was dull and boring, but why the rush to get out of there?

  A moment later, two more figures raced out of the mineshaft. They took in the SUV the first person had fired up, and then their eyes lit on Asher.

  “Stop it!” they screamed. “It came through the Gate! Don’t let it escape!”

  For a moment, Asher gaped, too stunned to react. In that time, the SUV whipped around and shot off down the tree-covered roadway. As it zipped past him, he had just enough time to see the pointed ears and wide eyes of a creature most definitely not of this world.

  Instinct kicked in at that point and Asher’s door slammed closed as he fired his truck up, throwing it into reverse. There was no time to turn it around. The big V-8 roared to life and dirt flew everywhere as he went after the SUV, leaning over his shoulder to watch where he was going.

  The dark blue vehicle was still accelerating as it went, but Asher’s quick thinking to not turn around meant he was able to keep it in sight. Upon reaching the main mountain road, he whipped the steering wheel around. Tires screeched as the truck slid across the solid surface, then smoked as he threw the transmission into drive and punched the pedal.

  Again, the truck responded, and he shot off after the dark SUV, only then beginning to gather his thoughts.

  The others had said it had come through the Gate.

  But nothing comes through the Gate, he thought to himself. It had lain dormant for over seventy years since it was first discovered. Why was something coming through now? What had changed?

  “Doesn’t matter,” he said, pressing the pedal down further. “Whatever it is, it’s going back.”

  He wasn’t going to let it get away. The scenery whipped by at breakneck speed, and he closed the distance on the SUV. Hopefully, he would be able to stop it before it got too close to Five Peaks, the nearby human settlement. If the creature was spotted, it would invite far too much attention to the area. Attention Asher and the other dragons that inhabited the nearby mountains absolutely did not want.

  Leaning forward, he urged the truck on. They raced around corners, descending deeper into the valley where the little town was nestled. It didn’t take long for Asher to surmise that the creature was intentionally headed that way. For whatever reason, it seemed to think it could lose him there.

  Fat chance.

  The first buildings appeared as they hit the outskirts, and he knew it wouldn’t be long now before their chase would be registered by a human and the authorities called. Asher had to do something. Now.

  Pressing the pedal all the way down, the truck shot forward. He angled out to the left side of the SUV. Just then, he caught a stroke of luck as the driver slowed down, angling for a right turn. Wrenching the wheel hard, Asher slammed his truck into the smaller SUV.

  The already turning motion, the high speed, and the vicious impact behind almost immediately flipped the smaller vehicle. It rolled up over his hood as he spun, stomping on the brakes. The truck bounced hard, slamming his head into the roof as he went up over a curb, but the tires all stayed facing down.

  Jumping from the still-idling truck, he sprinted across the lawns to where the SUV had come to a halt between two old houses. The driver, whatever it was, had just exited and was struggling to get to its feet.

  “Oh no you don’t,” Asher snarled, reaching the creature, picking it up and slamming his fist into it.

  A foot came up with supernatural speed and slammed into his stomach. Asher stumbled backward but regained his balance quickly.

  With an angry growl, he darted forward, slipping underneath his fo
e’s arm. He still had no idea what the creature was, but it looked even more human than he recalled from the brief glance in the window. He grabbed it by the shoulder.

  Planting his right foot, he spun and hurled the thing with all his might. The creature sailed through the air straight at the brick wall. Then it went through the brick wall. Then the wall beyond it.

  Asher leapt up onto the slightly raised floor of the house and went to give chase as he noticed that his throw had sent the creature from the Otherworld straight through the far side of the building.

  Feeling proud of his own immense strength, he strode forward, ready to finish the job and send the thing back where it belonged.

  “Stop right there!”

  He froze as a human came out of the side room. Middling height, long copper hair that hung just shy of shoulders and a pair of similarly colored eyes that were locked on him.

  “Who are you, and what are you doing in my house?” she snapped.

  This must be the homeowner. Asher’s gaze darted to the exit hole. He wanted to go after the creature. He needed to go after it. Letting it escape would be bad. But something in his gut was telling him he needed to stay.

  That, and the vicious-looking shotgun that was being held with the calmness of someone that knew exactly how to use it and had done so numerous times before.

  “Don’t move. I’m calling the police!”

  Chapter Two

  Emma

  She held the shotgun level at the intruder.

  “I’m not trespassing,” he said, holding his hands out to his sides. “I promise, really. I’m just trying to–”

  “I don’t care what you’re doing,” she said, brusquely cutting him off. “Besides, I already know what you’re doing.”

  The tall stranger blinked in surprise. “You do?” he asked, shocked.

  “Of course, I do. You’re destroying my home. You wrecked your car, sent part of it through my house and now you’re trying to run away before you can answer for the damage you did!”

  Expression changing, the stranger seemed to calm. His eyebrows returned to normal and his mouth started to work again.

  “I need to go, ma’am, please. You don’t understand, there’s—”

  She pulled the gun a little tighter into her shoulder. “I. Don’t. Care. You stay right there. The police will be here soon.”

  Emma had decided that calling the police wouldn’t be viable. Something about this stranger told her that the instant she lowered the barrel, he would take off. If she was going to keep him around to ensure he paid for what he’d done to the house, she had to keep him at gunpoint the entire time.

  “I don’t have time for this,” he snarled, arms coming up.

  Part of her was tempted to fire a warning shot, but if the gun so much as moved from him, she sensed he would take his chance. Wishing that it was a pump action so she could ratchet the slide for intimidation, Emma just stood her ground.

  “You’re going to have to make time, Mister,” she said evenly, hoping that if she could keep her voice level it would convey to him that she meant business. “You picked the wrong house to destroy.”

  “I didn’t destroy it!” he shouted. “Not on purpose, at least. It’s not even my car there,” he said, pointing at the SUV she could barely see a part of out of the corner of her eye. “I was driving the truck.” His arm lifted to point higher, but Emma didn’t look.

  “So, if you didn’t destroy it. And that’s not your car. How do you explain the wall-to-wall hole?” she asked, inviting him to explain. “Please, do tell me how you managed to make that then.”

  “I didn’t make it,” he said.

  She lifted her eyebrows slightly. Emma didn’t believe that for a second.

  “The person I threw made it,” he said eventually. “Their body did, at least.”

  “Disregarding the fact that you can’t throw someone clean through a house,” she said, working not to roll her eyes. “From what you’re saying, it was still your actions that created the hole. You “threw” this person straight through my house!”

  She took a deep breath, trying to keep her emotions about the house in check. Now was not the time to let them out.

  “Listen, lady, it was an accident, and I need to go after them. Now! It’s urgent!”

  He dropped his hands to his side as she shook her head, the shotgun never moving.

  “There’s nobody there,” she said. “If you tossed someone through a house—which you didn’t—they would be on the ground there, unmoving. Probably dead. Just another reason for me to keep you here for the police! You are a criminal, and criminals go to jail.” She grinned tightly at him.

  Part of the far side of the house shuddered and more debris fell. Her eyes darted to it for a split second.

  “Ah-ah,” she said warningly as her target took that nanosecond to almost take off. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

  “I. Have. To. Go,” he growled, spitting out each word, shifting his weight back and forth between his feet, staring unceasingly at the exit hole in her living room wall.

  “You destroyed this house,” she said, feeling her emotions welling up. “This was my grandfather’s house you asshole! He lived here since the early days of Five Peaks, and now you come along, and you just—just up and destroy it, like you don’t care! You have no respect, and you’re going to pay. My grandfather would have wanted to see someone like you punished for what you did! Throwing someone through his hard work. How disrespectful.”

  She clamped her mouth closed, trying not to think of how she’d let her grandfather down by letting his handiwork be destroyed, and focused instead on the man standing in the middle of the house.

  Tall by anyone’s standards, he would still be too short to play professional basketball, but he towered over her by a solid eight inches or more, and she was no slouch at five-seven. Eyes like fine whiskey were latched on to her, the occasional glint of light revealing the bright golden circles in clearer detail.

  “Who are you?” she asked quietly, not recognizing him in the slightest.

  “Does it—”

  His answer was cut off as the ceiling near the exit hole cracked and ripped free, sending a large chunk of drywall and a nail-embedded beam swinging down.

  Right at Emma.

  There was just enough time to flinch in horror before it hit her. Screwing her eyes tight, she tried to lean away from it, but her head smacked against something hard, yet with a bit of give to it.

  Her eyes popped open to see that she was now standing five feet to the left of her original position. Completely unharmed.

  The stranger was just now unwrapping his hands from around her.

  “What just happened?” she asked, looking at the hanging piece of ceiling as it dangled freely. A moment later, it ripped free and dropped to the ground. Yet more damage to her grandfather’s precious house. More of his legacy she’d let be destroyed.

  Before the intruder could respond, sirens sounded from nearby. The police were arriving. Belatedly, she remembered the situation she’d been in. Her gun! She looked around frantically, only to see the same stranger holding it out to her.

  “Here,” he said softly. “You’re looking for this I assume?”

  She took it from his grasp, pointing the barrel at the ground as she held it in a single hand, her attention elsewhere.

  “Why would you do that?” she asked, wondering just what she was referring to.

  Returning her gun, or saving her life?

  “Anyone home?” a concerned call came from the entry side of the hole in her wall.

  “Yes,” she said, nodding her head toward the voice. “I’ve got the driver inside at gunpoint.” The barrel came up again, but slowly this time.

  There was a long pause. “Ma’am I’m going to need you to put down the gun,” the voice came back as a head peeked around the corner. “Now. Put it down.”

  “Not until he goes over to you,” she said. “Once I know he’s not g
oing to run away, the gun goes down. No problem. He’s already tried to run once.”

  The officer hesitated, and she could tell he didn’t like her demands, but this jerk had destroyed her grandfather’s house, and somehow magically moving her out of the way of the falling ceiling—which was his fault!—wouldn’t make up for that fact.

  “It’s fine, officer,” the intruder said. “I am okay with those demands. I will come to you, then hopefully we can get this whole thing settled. She won’t shoot, I’m not worried about that. She is in her right mind and not a threat. Just looking after her property.”

  “My grandfather’s,” she hissed.

  “Right. Sure.” He shrugged as if he didn’t care. “That too.”

  The stranger did as he was told, and then Emma unloaded the weapon and put it on the ground. That would never have flown in the city, but Five Peaks was a remote mountain town, with barely twelve thousand people in the entire jurisdiction. The police here were much easier to deal with.

  “Hi, officer,” she said. “I want him arrested until he pays for this damage.”

  “Just let me take some statements,” the cop said. “I’ll come back to you, okay?”

  She nodded, watching as he went over to the intruder and started talking with him. At one point, she saw the officer look at the man sharply, his pencil coming to a stop on the pad of paper he was writing on. There was a brief conversation, then the officer nodded and took the cuffs off him.

  “What are you doing?” she yelped, storming forward. “You can’t just let him go! What is going on here?”

  “I’m sorry for the damage,” the intruder said. “Just bill my family. We will take care of it, okay? Sheriff Dunbar here has my information.”

  Then he walked away, back to his truck, got in and left.

  “You just let him go?” she asked, astonished to the point of immobility when the officer just let him go.

  “Ma’am, do you know who that is?” Sheriff Dunbar asked quietly.

  “No, I don’t. What is his name?”

  “Asher. Asher Aterna, ma’am.”

  She paused in her tirade. “Like…Mount Aterna? That one?”