LEO

  A SHIFTER MATCHMAKER ROMANCE

  CLAIMED BY THE BEAR

  BOOK THREE

  SUSAN SHEEHAN

  CONTENTS

  About This Book

  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

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Epilogue

  More from V. Vaughn

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2023 by V. Vaughn

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Editing by Angie Ramey

  Cover by The Book Brander

  ABOUT THIS BOOK

  Good things didn’t happen to Gracie. Her thirty years of life hadn’t been easy caring for everyone around her, and she was used to putting her own needs last. That’s why when she meets Leo, the hot new employee at Sugar Mountain, she doesn’t dare to believe he’s interested in her. But he’s relentless in his pursuit of Gracie, and she lets herself fall for him when he tells her they’re forever. What she doesn’t know is what forever with Leo means.

  Leo is a fierce werebear warrior used to completing dangerous missions. Being tasked with convincing his human true mate to love him forever was going to be easy. Persuading her to become a werebear, something she didn’t know existed, might not. He had to tread carefully with the information because he knew telling Gracie at the wrong time could send her running. What he doesn’t know is that the greatest threat to his forever love is Gracie’s mother.

  CHAPTER 1

  Leo

  The tantalizing odor of beef, onions and fried food made Leo smile when his cheeseburger was set before him. He was as hungry as a man who hadn’t eaten in days. “Thanks, Nora.”

  “Another beer?”

  “Please.” He sank his teeth into his burger and closed his eyes for a moment of thanks before he chewed the culinary delight. He’d gone shopping for Christmas presents that morning, and he’d been looking forward to his reward the entire time. Especially since Leo didn’t find much joy in the holiday. As a single man in his forties, Christmas was a lonely time for him. His warrior buddies had mates and children to celebrate with. Leo did have his parents, siblings, and nieces and nephews, but being with them during this time drove home the fact he was mateless. He was growing increasingly doubtful he’d ever find one. The Northeast Kingdom of werebear was only so big, and he feared he’d run out of possibilities. He could take a road trip to visit another territory with the hope he’d find his mate there, but as a warrior, he didn’t have much free time.

  As he sipped on his draft beer, an older woman wearing a business suit pulled up a stool to sit next to him, and Leo noticed a man, dressed as formally as she was, had chosen to do the same on his other side.

  “Leo,” the older woman said. “I’m Donna Le Roux.”

  “Oh, truffle fries,” the older man said with excitement. “Do you mind?” he asked as he grabbed a fry.

  “Ah—” Considering the food was already in the man’s mouth, Leo said, “Sure.”

  “Richard,” Donna said, “don’t be rude.”

  The man stuck out his hand. “Richard Robichaux.”

  “I was talking about eating his lunch,” Donna said.

  Leo glanced between the couple as he wondered what their business with him was. Although, he had a good idea. He’d heard the rumors that the couple was matchmaking for older warriors. Donna Le Roux was a high-ranking council member of another clan in his territory, and Richard was the mate of the Robichaux clan’s alpha. He set his burger down with the suspicion it would be cold before he could take another bite.

  “I adore truffle fries,” Richard said. “What I wouldn’t give to be a young buck again and eat anything I like.”

  Donna smiled sweetly at the bartender. “My dear, I don’t suppose you have hot chocolate?”

  “I do,” Nora said. “Would you like some peppermint schnapps in it?”

  “Of course. And perhaps some candy canes?”

  Norma smiled. “I’ve got those, too.” She looked at Richard. “What can I get for you?”

  “Do you have buttered rum?”

  “Not quite,” the bartender said. “But I can whip something up that’ll taste similar.”

  “Excellent.” The man licked his lips as he eyed Leo’s meal.

  Once Nora left to make the drinks, Donna said to Leo, “We have a Christmas surprise for you.”

  Leo ignored the fact that Richard had snatched another fry. “Am I your next mission?”

  “Actually,” Richard said as he grabbed another fry as if Leo had told him to help himself, “you’re the one with a mission now. We’ve found you a mate.”

  Leo supposed he should balk at the idea of two septuagenarians orchestrating his love life, but he didn’t need convincing to hear them out. Yet another holiday season was hammering home how lonely he was without a true mate of his own, and he realized he was ready to try anything to find her.

  When Richard took another fry, Donna grabbed Leo’s plate and pulled it closer to her. “Richard! Let the man have his lunch.”

  Nora had arrived with the drinks, and Richard said, “My dear, could you get Leo an order of truffle fries? I fear I’ve eaten nearly all of them.”

  She smiled at the man. “They’re hard to resist. I’ll be right back.”

  Leo slid his plate back in front of himself where Richard could get to it. Excitement filled his heart at the prospect of finally meeting a mate, but a good warrior got all the information available before letting emotions take over. “What can you tell me about her?”

  Donna swirled the large candy cane in her drink. “How do you feel about snow sports that involve gravity pulling you down a mountain?”

  Leo chuckled at her odd choice of words. “It’s been a while since I’ve gotten out there, but I like to ski.”

  “That’s good, my boy,” Richard said with a mouthful of food. “Very good.”

  “Yes.” Donna studied Leo as she took a sip of her drink. “How is your holiday spirit?”

  “Good, I guess.”

  “Wonderful,” Richard said. His eyes shined like he was about to reveal a delicious secret. “We’ve secured you a job as part-time help for the holiday season at Sugar Mountain so that you can get close to Gracie Templeton. And…” He giggled.

  Donna laughed too before she said. “You’re going to be a reindeer.”

  “A reindeer?” Leo chuckled. He guessed dressing up as a reindeer had to have been Richard and Donna’s doing. But he understood why the idea of him dressed as a cute animal on skis would be amusing. Clan warriors did tend to be full of themselves.

  But there weren’t any werebear clans near Sugar Mountain, which made Leo lower his eyebrows with skepticism. There were a few reasons a werebear might not be with their clan, and most of them were not good. “What’s the catch?”

  “Gracie is”—Donna glanced around and spoke so softly that only a werebear could hear—“human.” The older woman sipped on her drink like she hadn’t dropped a bombshell.

  Leo wasn’t bothered by his mate being human. There were a few human-turned-werebear women in his clan. It was common knowledge among werebear that humans who could be mated had to have one werebear parent. But in order to be accepted into a clan, the individual had to change into a shifter. Something a pure human couldn’t do, which was why most human-werebear relationships couldn’t be long term. It was also why most of the werebear in a relationship with a human never revealed their shifter abilities. His heart sank, because it occurred to him Gracie probably didn’t know anything about werebear. “I take it she doesn’t know of her heritage.”

  “You are correct.” Richard smiled. “However, you do have the power of true love on your side.”

  Leo understood true-mate attraction was an addictive feeling that was hard to defy. But it wasn’t a guarantee a woman would choose to leave her human life to belong to the underground world of werebear. Especially since a human group who wanted to extinguish the entire werebear race had recently become a strong threat. Convincing Gracie to be with him might not be easy. However, Leo didn’t fail missions, and he wasn’t about to fail this one.

  Nora set a fresh basket of truffle fries before him. He inhaled deeply, but it wasn’t to breathe in the scent of the tasty treat, it was to find his warrior side. He asked, “What can you tell me about Gracie?”

  CHAPTER 2

  Gracie

  “Vixen?” Gracie closed her eyes and took a deep breath in order to keep her cool as panic began to tighten its painful grip on her lungs. She fondled the velvety soft fabric of the reindeer costume’s antlers in her hand. “Can’t I be Comet or Donner?” she asked her boss, Tracy, the head of guest services at Sugar Mountain, a ski and snowboard resort. Any reindeer but a sexy one, thought Gracie. She and other employees would be wearing the costumes on the s
lopes as they greeted skiers and snowboarders for the holiday week. They’d also hand out candy and hot drink vouchers to children they met on the beginner trails.

  Gracie had looked forward to the week because she loved the outdoors and interacting with children. But she was also excited about hiding inside a costume where she wouldn’t be as self-conscious as she usually was when standing next to one of the pretty girls who worked the guest services desk with her.

  Carla muttered under her breath, “Or Blitzen.” That made Maggie and Fiona laugh. Tracy shot them a stern glare, but the damage was done. Gracie’s face burned as she wished she could find a way to be immune to the insults the three mean girls she worked with couldn’t resist lobbing her way. She was thirty years old, after all, and it was time to get past feeling like she was in high school. But Carla, Maggie, and Fiona were the kind of women who were blessed with the thin bodies and petite features that were considered beautiful, and Gracie had witnessed numerous times how easy life was for women like them because of it. Life had never been easy for Gracie.

  Her boss, Tracy, shook her head. “Sorry, it’s—” The woman grimaced as if she could feel Gracie’s pain, and she spoke softly. “I have to go by size with these things.”

  Gracie held out the costume to inspect it. It was a jumpsuit that had a hood, and she saw the reindeer’s name embroidered on the chest in large letters. She sighed. Because she was six feet tall with a solid body to match, she knew Tracy was trying to be tactful about the fact she needed a costume made for a plus-size person. “I understand,” Gracie said.

  Her shoulders rounded as she tried to slink into the background of the lodge area where guest services, ski school, and ticket sales were located. Gracie had worked in housekeeping at Sugar Mountain in previous years. She’d been happy to be behind the scenes cleaning the lodge, but the casual friendship she’d formed with Tracy had led the woman to request Gracie be promoted to guest services this winter. The raise had been too much to turn down, but each day was an emotional challenge. If it weren’t for the way Tracy nurtured her as a mentor, Gracie would have begged to get her cleaning job back. As it was, though, she knew the woman was teaching her valuable skills it was time she learned, and it was nice to have someone care about her wellbeing.

  Tracy handed out the other costumes, and Fiona let out a squeal of joy. “I’m Rudolph! Oh my god, I’m going to paint my nose red and put little whiskers underneath. I’m going to be so cute!”

  “You totally will,” Carla said. “Maggie and I are going to be prancing and dancing.”

  “So perfect for you two,” Fiona said. “After all those years of dance.”

  Maggie piped in, “I know, right?”

  Tracy handed out four more costumes to the guys in the room, and Fiona asked, “Henry, what did you get?”

  Henry gave her a smirk. “Dasher.”

  Of course he did, thought Gracie. Not only was he charming, but Henry was beyond gorgeous with his dark hair and brown eyes that made women melt like an ice cube in a sauna anytime he looked at them. But Gracie didn’t have a crush on Henry. She liked him because he was a genuinely nice guy, and he treated Gracie as someone who deserved his attention. She also envied the way he and his girlfriend, Kate, looked at each other as if nobody else in the world mattered.

  “Where is my Cupid?” Tracy asked. She tugged her phone out of her pocket, and Gracie heard her say, “Mark, where is the new hire? He’s supposed to be picking up his reindeer costume.”

  “New hire?” Fiona cooed. “I hope he’s hot.”

  “Oh,” Maggie fanned herself as she spoke softly. “He is.”

  Gracie turned to gaze in the direction that Maggie was looking, and she opened her mouth in awe when she saw the guy Maggie was staring at. A tall, large man in an open flannel shirt that revealed a tight T-shirt over substantial pecs strode their way. His hair was so blond it didn’t look natural, but his pale eyebrows told her it was real. And those eyes… pools of blue that made her think of glaciers. Gracie inhaled sharply, which may have caught the guy’s attention, because he trained his gaze on her and flashed a smile that warmed her heart. She nearly swooned. “Wow,” she said.

  Henry was next to her and chuckled.

  “Oh my god.” Gracie covered her face with her hands as if she could hide from the man, and she whispered to Henry, “Did I just say that out loud?”

  “You did,” he whispered back.

  Gracie heard Fiona introduce herself and her friends, and she imagined the new guy had found what he was really looking for.

  “Gracie,” Henry whispered, “he liked it.”

  “He did not.”

  Henry touched her arm. “Open your eyes.”

  The hot blond didn’t have the pretty girls draped on his arms the way she’d expected. Instead, he was close enough to her that he held out his hand to shake. “I’m Leo.”

  Gracie felt her mouth open, close, and then open again as if she was a fish gasping for air. She knew how stupid she looked, and the laughter from the pretty girls confirmed it, but she felt as if she were helplessly watching herself about to be hit by a train instead of actually being in control of her actions. She managed to lift her arm, and Leo grabbed her hand to clasp it between his.

  Gracie inhaled a shaky breath, sure she was going to faint. Not only were his hands the kind of comforting warmth you feel when you take towels out of the dryer, but it was as if he was sending an electric shock through her body to make parts of her that she usually tried to ignore hum. His eyes were working some kind of spell on her too, because now that he was up close, she realized she’d never seen blue eyes that felt so intense. She was lost in them as she wondered if he was wearing colored contacts.

  He leaned down to whisper to her. “This is the part where you tell me your name.”

  “Oh!” Gracie gulped with the hope her voice would sound confident. “I’m Gracie. Grace Marie Templeton, actually.”

  That received a few snickers, but the pretty girls were the least of Gracie’s concern. She was struggling to stand upright as her knees threatened to give out.

  He said, “Beautiful name.”

  “Th-thanks.”

  She was grateful when Tracy stepped in to save her from combusting on the spot. “You must be my Cupid, Leo,” the woman said. “Goodness, I’m not sure if the costume is going to fit you.” Tracy held the costume up to him. “I saved the largest one for you, but… hmm.” It was noticeably too small for the guy who had to be close to seven feet tall. “You know what?” she said. “I’ll get Peggy in accounting to work her magic on this.” She glanced at Gracie and smiled. “Because I can’t think of a better employee to be Cupid.”

  CHAPTER 3

  Leo

  Shyness was not a trait Leo possessed, and apparently neither was tact, because the moment he saw Gracie he was smitten. As he held her hand in his, he fought the urge to pull her into his arms. He realized he was being brazen about his true-mate attraction to her, and he knew he shouldn’t touch her so soon to send a current of their attraction racing through her veins. But he hadn’t been able to resist the siren call of his true mate. A cry she had no idea she was sending out.

  He stepped away from Gracie when his new boss said, “You must be my Cupid, Leo.” She commented on how the costume he was supposed to wear would need to be altered. And he chuckled when she looked at Gracie and said, “I can’t think of a better employee to be Cupid.”

  No cupid would be necessary for Gracie and Leo to fall in love. True-mate attraction was something destiny chose, and Gracie had no idea the feelings she was experiencing were due to her ancestry. He knew she wasn’t aware that she was half werebear or that such shapeshifters even existed. A werebear male had impregnated her mother, and since the woman was human, the father’s clan didn’t allow the relationship to go on. The man had no choice but to leave Gracie to be raised by her mother, who, Leo had been told, had no idea Gracie’s father was a werebear. However, the guy wasn’t a total jerk, because Leo had also learned Gracie’s mother had received generous child support throughout the years.