Blackstone Ranger Guardian - Alicia Montgomery Page 0,36

Her fox yipped in protest, reminding her that that’s all it was—things that happened in the past. He left you on the side of that mountain. Tossed you aside like you meant nothing and now—

“Will you come with me?”

“What?”

He jerked his thumb behind him toward a pickup truck sitting in the driveway. “I’d like to take you out.”

“Out?”

“For a drive, that’s all,” he said. “You must be bored, being cooped up inside. But only if your animal isn’t hurting you.”

His concern for her and her animal caught her off guard. The vixen too, paused in its protest. “No. I mean it’s not … so, yes.” Oh God, did she really say yes? I should tell him no.

“Really?” An elated, boyish expression briefly crossed his face, and she realized she couldn’t take it back now. “Thank you.”

“Let me get my purse and coat.” Turning on her heel, she headed to the living room and typed out a brief text message to Angela, explaining that she was going out with a friend, but not specifying who. This whole bizarre turn of events was hard to explain, even to herself. But anticipation thrummed in her veins as she headed back to the door. Maybe it was just the excitement of actually being able to leave the house. “Okay, I’m ready.”

“Let’s go.”

He led her toward the pickup truck and held the door open, but kept his distance and didn’t try to touch her. Circling to the driver’s side, he slid in carefully, watching her reaction. “Are you … is your fox …”

Her animal curled its tail and flattened its ears defensively, but Dutchy ignored the warnings. “Yes. It’s fine.”

His shoulders relaxed and he grabbed the seatbelt, strapped himself in, then started the engine. “Just let me know if you’re uncomfortable or you’re hurting. We’ll stop. I’ll take you back.”

She didn’t answer, but he didn’t seem to mind as he kept his eye on the road and drove off.

Oh God, what am I doing here? This was crazy, right? She was supposed to hate him. Her fox hated him. Even now, its back was arched and ears flattened, waiting for Krieger to make a wrong move.

“Where are we going?” she finally thought to ask. They had been driving for half an hour now, and she didn’t recognize the road they were taking.

“I thought … maybe you’d like to see the mountains.”

“The m-mountains?”

He nodded. “There are roads and trails closed off to the public, even to shifters, that only rangers can access. But where I’m taking you … you don’t need to get out of the car.”

The pickup veered up to an unpaved trail, ending at an enclosed gate with a sign that read “Private Property, Keep Out.” However, a guard’s head emerged from the security shack. When he spotted Krieger in the driver’s seat, he waved as the gates opened.

They lumbered through the rough gravel paved roads and after a few minutes, they turned a corner, stopping at a flat, scenic viewpoint that overlooked a giant lake.

“Oh.” The view was breathtaking, and she immediately recognized the place. Aside from the castle and its grounds, it was one of the areas in the mountains the Lennoxes kept as private property. Sybil and Amelia had invited her to their parents’ cabins there several times.

“You’ve been here before?” he asked.

“At the lake, yes. But I’ve never seen it from up here.” The water was so calm that a clear mirror image reflection of the mountains appeared on its surface.

“I’ve been coming here a lot,” he confessed. “Sometimes I see the dragons fly overhead.”

“Must be a sight.” She had to admit, even though she was friends with Sybil Lennox, she had never seen her or anyone in her family in dragon form before. “But why did you bring me here?”

His gaze remained fixed on the lake. “This is where I go when I need to get my head on straight. I … I grew up just outside Duluth, near Lake Superior. This place reminds me of that.”

“Is your family still there?”

“Yeah. My parents and my sister. Grandma and Grandpa. My brothers are all over though.”

He has family. Of course he does. Curiosity got the better of her. “And you go to visit a lot?”

He stiffened. “Not really. I call and email sometimes. Just to keep updated. Let them know I’m okay and to check on them.”

“You should go visit them. Maybe for the holidays,” she suggested. “I haven’t been home to my skulk for almost a year and a