Blackstone Ranger Scrooge: Blackstone Rangers Book 6 Read online

  Blackstone Ranger Scrooge

  Blackstone Rangers Book 6

  Alicia Montgomery

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2020 Alicia Montgomery

  www.aliciamontgomeryauthor.com

  first electronic publication december 2020

  Edited by LaVerne Clark

  Cover by Jacqueline Sweet

  120220PM

  All rights reserved.

  About the Author

  Alicia Montgomery has always dreamed of becoming a romance novel writer. She started writing down her stories in now long-forgotten diaries and notebooks, never thinking that her dream would come true. After taking the well-worn path to a stable career, she is now plunging into the world of self-publishing.

  Also by Alicia Montgomery

  The True Mates Series

  Fated Mates

  Blood Moon

  Romancing the Alpha

  Witch’s Mate

  Taming the Beast

  Tempted by the Wolf

  The Lone Wolf Defenders Series

  Killian’s Secret

  Loving Quinn

  All for Connor

  The True Mates Standalone Novels

  Holly Jolly Lycan Christmas

  A Mate for Jackson: Bad Alpha Dads

  True Mates Generations

  A Twist of Fate

  Claiming the Alpha

  Alpha Ascending

  A Witch in Time

  Highland Wolf

  Daughter of the Dragon

  Shadow Wolf

  A Touch of Magic

  Heart of the Wolf

  The Blackstone Mountain Series

  The Blackstone Dragon Heir

  The Blackstone Bad Dragon

  The Blackstone Bear

  The Blackstone Wolf

  The Blackstone Lion

  The Blackstone She-Wolf

  The Blackstone She-Bear

  The Blackstone She-Dragon

  Blackstone Rangers Series

  Blackstone Ranger Chief

  Blackstone Ranger Charmer

  Blackstone Ranger Hero

  Blackstone Ranger Rogue

  Blackstone Ranger Guardian

  Blackstone Ranger Scrooge

  Contents

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  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Epilogue

  Author’s Notes

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  Chapter One

  “Motherfucking ball sack!” J.D. McNamara cursed as a big glob of oil hit her on the cheek. Of course, oil, dirt, and grime were all part of being a mechanic and working with cars. But still, it was annoying as fuck.

  Her inner animal didn’t like it either. The feline sniffed at her distastefully, whipping its short tail around.

  Damn prissy little thing.

  Her inner feline yowled in protest.

  Oh, J.D. knew her animal was fierce. It was dubbed as the deadliest cat in the world after all. But its small stature didn’t exactly do them any favors, especially when compared to the other shifters in town.

  While the population of Blackstone, Colorado, was made up of a variety of shifter animals, most were inevitably predators like bears, large cats, and wolves. However, she was none of those. In fact, she was a very rare shifter—an African black-footed cat, one of the smallest wildcats in the world. Few people knew who she was because … well, it was hard to explain exactly, and inevitably, people would think she was just a cat.

  “You all right there, J.D.?” came a familiar voice from above.

  Finishing up the repair, she slid out from under the Toyota she’d been working on and looked up at Gabriel Russel’s grinning face. “Yeah, yeah,” she sighed.

  “You didn’t sound like you were all right,” he teased, but offered her a hand.

  She took it and allowed him to pull her up. “Yeah, well next time, why don’t you get a money shot on the fucking face, Russel, and see if you like it.”

  “I’d tell you to act like a lady, but you’d probably knee me in the balls,” he chuckled.

  “Damn right.” She grabbed a rag and wiped the oil from her face. “Besides, people who cuss are smart as fuck. It’s a scientific fact.” She threw the dirty rag at him playfully, but he blocked it with a hand.

  “Whoa, watch the hair!” He shook his head, making his long, dark golden locks shimmer. It was almost comical and very apt—Gabriel was a lion shifter, after all, and was as proud of his human mane as he was of his animal’s. “Just because you don’t care about what you look like, doesn’t mean some of us don’t.”

  “Some meaning you.” Taking her trucker cap off the hook from the wall, she placed it on top of her head. It was the only way she could cover her mop of unruly blonde curls. If she spent time on trying to tame it every morning to have it perfect the way Gabriel did, she’d have to wake up at five every day. “So, to what do I owe this pleasure, Russel?” Not that Gabriel needed an occasion to show up at her garage. They had been best friends since grade school after all.

  “Oh yeah.” He held up his hand, lifting up a white box. “Temperance wanted you to have this. Ginger pumpkin streusel pie. Her first Thanksgiving creation.”

  “Ooh!” Taking the box from him, she took in a sniff. The smell of ginger, pumpkin, and spices tickled her nose. “I’m honored, but what’s it for?”

  “For not charging her for the tune-up and oil change.”

  “Of course. You know what Pop always said. Family—”

  “Don’t pay,” Gabriel finished with a fond smile on his face. “It means a lot to me. That you consider her family too.”

  “Like I wouldn’t. She’s your mate and soon-to-be wife, so of course she’s family. Besides, anyone who can put up with you deserves more than free service,” she said with a chuckle.

  “Oh, ha ha, funny, McNamara, you should go on tour.” Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Anyway, there’s another reason I came here. Damon asked me to invite you to the Blackstone Ranger Thanksgiving party tomorrow.”

  “He did?” J.D. blinked. Damon was their other best friend, who was also chief of the Blackstone Rangers. Gabriel had been a ranger himself the past five years, but recently he’d quit so he could go into business with his mate to take over the local pie shop, Rosie’s Bakery and Cafe. “I’ve never been asked before. I thought it was an event for rangers and their families?”

  “Yeah, well, you’re family, J.D.,” Gabriel declared with a warm smile.

  She stared at him, stunned, her throat closing up at the declaration.

  Gabriel and Damon had been her best friends since she was ten years old, when she and her father had moved to Blackstone from Brooklyn. She’d been the new girl in town, which already made her a target for bullies, and the fact that she was a tomboy didn’t make it easier. Bu
t the two had stuck by her and protected her from mean girls who made fun of her for being a grease monkey’s daughter. Yes, the three of them had always been tight, and they’d been with her through thick and thin, but, well … none of them were the sentimental type.

  “J.D.?” Gabriel asked, the corner of his mouth turning up. “Are you crying?”

  “Fuck no. It’s all the dust in here.” She turned around and sniffed. “Don’t ya have to be somewhere else? Like counting the gold bars in your trust fund or something.”

  Gabriel laughed. “All right, all right. So, I’ll see you tomorrow? We’re all helping out Dutchy with the decorations, and Temperance is bringing the desserts, so we’ll be there early. Feel free to show up anytime, but we eat at five.”

  “Sure.” She turned her head and flashed him a smile. “See you tomorrow. Tell Temperance I said thank you for the pie.”

  “Will do.” The lion shifter waved goodbye and strolled out of the garage.

  After cleaning up her tools and calling one of her mechanics to move the Toyota, she headed out to the trailer–office in the main garage lot.

  “Hey, Pop,” she greeted the photo that hung up behind the desk inside the office. Jimmy McNamara smiled down at her as he always did, frozen in time. He’d been too young when he died in that accident; barely fifty. Shifters couldn’t get most illnesses, and they healed fast, but the truck that struck him down as he was crossing the street killed him on impact. His death had been a shock, and even now, a decade later, she still felt his loss keenly.

  Even though she had taken over the business, this office was like a shrine to him—pictures of her as a kid and her mother, old school road signs, a black-and-white photo of the Brooklyn bridge, a classic James Dean on a motorcycle photo, and a framed and signed Billy Joel poster hung on the walls.

  Sitting down behind the desk, she went to work checking her emails, inventory, and her accounting software. Finally, after what seemed like hours she was done, and she closed the laptop with a satisfying click.

  “Whew!” Stretching her arms over her head, she leaned back on the worn leather office chair. This was not her favorite part of owning J.D.’s Garage, but it had to be done. “Yikes!” She winced as she saw it was already dark outside. It was the Monday before Thanksgiving, so they were busy trying to get all the repairs done before the holidays. But at least I’ll have the long weekend to look forward to. Grabbing her jacket from the back of the chair and the keys to her truck, she headed out the door.

  “Hey, J.D.”

  The unfortunately familiar voice made her freeze before she managed to finish locking the door to the office. With a deep breath, she turned around. “Hey, Roy,” she greeted back, pasting a smile on her face. “It’s pretty late. What are you doing here?”

  Roy Jorrell grinned at her sheepishly. “Well … I’m having trouble with my car.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “Again?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. There’s this clunk, clunk, clunk sound whenever I start it up.”

  “It’s late, and I should be getting home. Maybe you can come back after the holidays?”

  “But what if there’s something wrong and I get stuck at home? Or on the side of the road?” He flashed her a boyish smile, his blue eyes twinkling. “Please, J.D.? You’re the best mechanic in town.”

  Pop always said that you should never turn away business and to always treat customers well, but Roy was trying her patience. It was the third time this month he’d been in for some phantom sound or strange malfunction in his jacked-up GMC Sierra, but whenever she or one of her guys looked into it, his truck turned out to be perfectly fine. Why he kept coming back, she didn’t know.

  “Oh, all right,” she said, resigned. “Let’s go take a look.”

  She followed him to where he’d parked just outside the garage. “Go and start the car, and I’ll check under the hood,” she instructed him.

  Minutes later, it was just as she thought—his truck was perfectly fine. “Nothing’s wrong here,” she said to him as she shut the hood.

  “Oh?” He was suddenly behind her, startling even her own cat-like reflexes. “I could have sworn I heard something,” he said, rubbing the back of his head with his palm.

  “Uh-huh.”

  “So, you got plans for the holidays?”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “I’ll probably just be alone,” he said. “I didn’t want to make the trip back to my folks in Florida since I was planning to see them for Christmas.”

  “Uh-huh,” she said, trying to feign interest. “Well, I should—”

  “I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner with me.”

  “Excuse me?” She stared at him, hands on her hips.

  Roy had been a classmate back in high school, but he moved away junior year. He was some kind of avian shifter, if she recalled; he was mostly a loner at school, an emo kid who dressed in all black. But, like most people, he grew out of that phase and was some kind of computer programmer or something who worked from home. She ran into him at the diner last month, as he had recently moved back into town. That was when he started coming into the garage. Is that why he’d been wasting her time? Irritation grew in her, and her cat hissed, not liking this male one bit.

  He swallowed. “I … uh … I mean, just to thank you. For being so patient with me.”

  J.D. thought about it for a moment. Roy was cute, she supposed, and he had a job and a full head of hair. What else did she want in a guy? She’d been dating actively for almost twelve years now, and he was a catch compared to all the losers she’d been with.

  “J.D.?” Roy asked. “So? What do you think?”

  “I think … I think it’s getting late.” She sidestepped him.

  “But what about that dinner?”

  “I’ll think about it, okay?” With a wave of her hand, she scampered to her truck. Shutting the door, she waited, watching Roy’s truck as it drove away, then breathed a sigh of relief.

  Why didn’t I just say yes? She leaned her forehead against the steering wheel. Maybe it was turning thirty or seeing her best friends with their mates, but she was starting to get picky about who she went out with. Her last date had been months ago with an accountant she met on a dating app, and it had been meh. And the last guy she had the serious hots for? Well, he didn’t even give her a second look. Besides, she was happy with her work, her life, and her social circle.

  But now, all her friends had mates, including her last female friend, Dutchy Forrester, and she was starting to feel left out.

  Sticking the key in the ignition, she started the car. Was she that oblivious that she missed the signs that he’d been coming to the garage to see her? That was it, right?

  Maybe I should give Roy a chance.

  Her cat hissed again.

  “Oh, all right.” Putting the truck into gear, she left the parking lot and headed home.

  By the next day, J.D. had forgotten about the Roy thing and feeling sorry for herself for being alone. There were worse things than not having a boyfriend after all.

  Besides there was no reason to be glum—not these days anyways. The holidays were her favorite time of the year. She remembered how magical it had been growing up. The cool weather, the food, the infectious cheer. Who could be sad during Christmas, for crying out loud?

  The days leading up to Christmas always sent her into a holiday high, and she was pretty stoked for tonight’s party. In the past, she and Pop celebrated Thanksgiving with Damon and his parents. Gabriel usually had to attend some kind of family dinner at the Russel estate, but he always managed to sneak off before dessert and join them. It was a tradition they continued, even after Pop passed and Damon was deployed and came back after being discharged. His parents had retired to Florida a couple of years back, but the three of them still got together on Thanksgiving. None of them could cook, unfortunately, so they would order Chinese takeout and watch football before her favorite tradition of all later that night.

/>   Of course, this year was going to be a little different with the addition of two more people—Damon’s mate Anna Victoria, and Temperance—but her best friends had assured her nothing would change.

  And while she’d never been invited to the Blackstone Rangers Thanksgiving party before, she’d heard some stories about how amazing the spread was—turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, green beans, corn, dinner rolls. Mmmm. Her mouth was watering just thinking about it. This morning, she made sure to put on her best Thanksgiving sweater—the one with a roasted turkey on the front that proclaimed “I like Big Breasts and I Cannot Lie.” It was a big hit with the guys at the garage, so she was sure everyone at the party would love it.

  After clocking out early for the day, she said goodbye to the crew and hopped into her truck. Since the rangers were in charge of keeping the mountains safe, their headquarters were located up in the Blackstone Mountains.

  With the change in seasons, the trees and mountains presented a gorgeous view, making the drive a pleasant one, so she took her time. Eventually, she pulled up to the huge stone and log building, which stood at the entrance to the public area of the mountains, and parked her truck in the nearest empty spot. The party was probably going to be in the big cafeteria in the back, so she circled around the main building and walked into the open-air hall. Sure enough, the place was fully dressed to the nines in fall colors and decorations. She walked over to where Damon, Anna Victoria, Gabriel, Temperance, Dutchy, and Krieger sat down at one of the tables, which overflowed with wreathes, pine cones, ribbons, and other fall-themed accoutrements.