Blackstone Ranger Guardian - Alicia Montgomery

Chapter One

A few months ago …

The humongous grizzly bear trudged through the blanket of snow on the ground, unbothered by neither the dangerously low temperatures nor the fast falling flakes piling up on its large block head and burly body. It continued to lumber along through the trees, going farther up the mountain.

Up here, John Krieger allowed his animal to take over their shared body. With the bear in charge, their senses remained sharp, their body could hold up against the elements, while the human side remained dull and suppressed.

It was the only place safe enough to allow the beast its freedom.

A howl in the distance made the bear pause. Krieger recognized the sound, as did his bear. Milos. He was their nearest neighbor—if he could be called that. He had never seen the wolf shifter in human skin, but Damon had told him about the other man’s presence on the mountain when he arrived about a year ago. Since then, the two of them had encountered each other a handful of times, both in animal form. While many in the past would have turned tail and run, the one-eyed wolf showed no fear in the presence of the mighty grizzly. In fact, Krieger had not sensed much of anything at all in the other shifter, except maybe recognizing their sameness. Here was another broken animal, hiding out from the world.

A few heartbeats passed, and there was no more howling. Was it a warning? Of what? Up here, near the highest peaks of the Blackstone Mountains, there were no dangers, at least not to apex predators like them. There was hardly anything or anyone up here at all, not in the dead of winter. The real bears were all deep in their den, hibernating. Perhaps there might be an odd shifter or two, but that was rare in this weather.

The grizzly continued on. They had a job to do, after all, and Krieger took his work as a Blackstone Ranger seriously, guarding the entrance to Contessa Peak for the last five years. There were a few hikers who dared scale the peak in better weather, so he always made sure they made it up and back down safely.

Mostly, though, it was shifters who roamed up here. After all, this was a sanctuary for all of their kind who lived in Blackstone, the one place they could truly feel safe in their animal skins. It was his job, too, to protect them and make sure they remained undisturbed.

Of course, there were the shifters that didn’t need protection, that is, they were the ones who protected the entirety of Blackstone itself. The Lennoxes were a family of dragons—four in total—who owned the mountains and the minerals in them that had made them one of the richest families in the world. Though Krieger had never met any of them personally, he’d seen them several times in the last few years, flying and dipping like gigantic graceful butterflies as they chased each other or conducted flying races, using the jagged crown of Contessa Peak as a finish line. The largest one was the sire, and then there were the twin males who were indistinguishable from each other, and the smaller female one, who seemed just as fierce as her brothers.

Yes, he took this job seriously. It was not only his life, but also his salvation, allowing him to live and remain undisturbed for the most part. Encounters with others were few and far between, he made sure of that. He used his excellent sense of hearing and smell to keep track of who and what was up and around Contessa Peak. If he found a lost hiker or shifter, it was easy enough to call HQ to have them picked up or rescued, watching over them until help came. Rarely did he come near others. No, it was too much. Too risky.

He continued on, rounding the perimeter of his patrol area. All rangers on duty had a schedule and a route to follow, but his sole area of responsibility remained the same. It didn’t matter what day or time it was. There was a sheet of paper tacked up in his cabin with his hours and days of duty, but it had been so faded, he could barely read the print. For him, there were no weekends, no vacations, no off-hours. Contessa Peak was his responsibility, his to protect at all hours, all days. The patrol, the job, the guard, that was all that mattered