She opened the door and hugged Leo on the stoop. “It’s so good to see you.”

  “It’s nice to see you, too.” He stepped back and surveyed her. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.” She stepped back. “Come on in and meet my mother.” She led him over to the living room. “Mom, this is Leo.”

  Margo had her foot propped up on the ottoman and her arms crossed. “I thought I told you that you weren’t welcome here.”

  “Mom!”

  Her mother glared at her. “This is not a man who can be trusted. I forbid you to see him or have anything to do with him ever again.”

  Gracie’s embarrassment shifted to anger. “What is your problem? Are you saying this because you’re mad I left?”

  Margo stared at Leo with her own anger. “She doesn’t know what you are, does she?”

  “No ma’am,” Leo said. “Not yet, but I planned on telling her what we are last night. Is this why you texted me as Gracie?”

  Margo pointed to the door. “Get out.”

  It occurred to Gracie that the only way Margo could have texted Leo was if she had her phone. It would explain why she couldn’t find it. “You took my phone and texted Leo?”

  “I was protecting you, Gracie. You have no idea the evil you’ve gotten involved with, but I do.”

  She glanced down at her mother’s ankle that was only wrapped in an ace bandage. Margo had gone to great lengths to get her to move back home. “You don’t need surgery, either, do you?”

  “Gracie, please,” her mother said. “You don’t understand.”

  She looked at the man she loved and wondered if evil was below the surface. “Leo, what is going on?”

  “I’m not human, and neither are you.”

  Gracie leaned back as she tried to figure out if Leo was joking, but his serious expression told her he meant what he said. “What are we?”

  “I’m a werebear, which is a shapeshifter who can become a bear. I can morph into a polar bear.”

  “Polar bear?” She took in his size, and her chest tightened as her fight-or-flight response sent adrenaline rushing through her veins.

  Leo nodded. “Right now you are half of a shifter. Your father must have been like me, but because your mother is human, your bear is dormant.”

  “I’m half of one right now?” She let the words sink in and looked at Margo. “Mom?”

  “I never wanted you to know, Gracie. To find out that there is an evil lurking inside of you.”

  “We are not evil,” Leo said.

  Margo swept her arm out. “Your kind is definitely cruel. Look at us.”

  “Ms. Templeton, I don’t know the circumstances of your relationship with Gracie’s father, but I can assure you things have changed. Gracie would be welcomed into my clan with open arms.”

  Gracie’s head was swimming with what she was hearing, and she tried to process the information. “Hold on here. Can I become a bear?”

  “Gracie, no!” her mother cried.

  “Mom, please. I’m trying to understand what Leo is saying.”

  “You can’t shift right now,” Leo said, “but if you would like to become a full werebear, I can make that happen.”

  “And live like a beast?” Margo grimaced. “An animal, Gracie. Is that what you want to be?”

  Leo took Gracie’s hand and held it over his heart. “The love you have for me… Think about how intense it is. That’s because your bear recognizes me as your true mate. We are destined to be together for life.”

  “Oh, please,” Margo said. “He’ll leave you behind the way your father left me.”

  Leo let go of Gracie’s hand. “Unfortunately, Ms. Templeton, because you’re human, you wouldn’t have been safe in a clan. I can’t speak for Gracie’s father, but at the time, it would have been dangerous for all of you if he’d left the clan to stay here. I suspect he did what he thought he had to do to keep you and Gracie safe.”

  Gracie could imagine that being a shapeshifter in a human world would have its challenges, but she didn’t know enough about what being a werebear meant to fully understand. She wanted the freedom to have a conversation without her mother’s interruptions. “Can we talk someplace more private?”

  He nodded. “My truck heats up quickly.”

  “Let me get my coat.”

  As she dressed warmly, Margo said, “Gracie, please. Don’t make any rash decisions because you’re angry at me. I was only doing what I could to keep you safe.”

  Gracie did believe that her mother wanted to protect her from the heartbreak she went through. The zipper on her jacket hummed when she tugged it up. “I know, Mom.” She opened the door for her and Leo to leave. “I’ll be back.”

  Once she was in Leo’s truck, he put the heat on full blast, and she held her mittened hands up to the vent to feel the warmth. What Leo had just told her seemed crazy, but little things made her realize it might not be. He was certainly tall enough to be a polar bear, and his pale coloring suggested it. She recalled the way his chest had rumbled with what sounded like a growl. She thought about how he never got cold, as well. She asked, “Is that why you don’t get cold?”

  “Yes. Our internal temperature is higher than that of humans.”

  Gracie imagined that was nice in the winter months, but wondered what it was like in the summer. Especially for a polar bear. “What’s it like to live as a werebear?”

  Leo smiled. “It’s amazing. I’m told that everything we can smell, taste, hear or feel is ten times more intense than what your senses are capable of. And to run or swim like a bear? I can’t imagine not being able to do it. You’d love it, Gracie.” He gazed at her with such love in his eyes that she felt as if her heart would burst. “But I won’t force you to wake your bear if you choose not to. My clan is like a big family, and I know you’d be happy there, but you would be leaving your current world behind. At least until you had a handle on shifting and keeping what we are a secret.”

  While Leo made his life sound amazing, Gracie wasn’t sure it was something she wanted for herself. She thought about how she had been instantly attracted to Leo in a way she’d never experienced before. Her love for him was intense, and imagining life without him made her heart ache. But there was a lot to consider before she would want to leave her human world behind. “I don’t know what I want to do.”

  “You don’t have to decide until you’re ready. Also, I need to mention that changing is a painful process that takes place over the course of a day. But let me tell you the best part about becoming a werebear.” Leo reached out for her hand and wrapped his large fingers around hers. “Your shifter genes dictate that the love we have will never die. It will only get better. We won’t be able to leave each other any more than we could live without oxygen.”

  Gracie inhaled slowly, and when she blew out a long breath, she pulled her hand away. “What if I decide to stay human?”

  Sadness swept over Leo’s face. “We’d eventually break up. It’s still not safe to live as a human in a werebear clan, and I hold a position that I can’t give up.” He sighed. “It would hurt like hell for the both of us. But I’m told you would be able to get over it.”

  “And you?”

  “I’d have to find a way to go on.”

  “Leo.” Gracie’s chest burned with the urge to cry, and she reached out to touch his arm.

  “I would be fine,” he said. “You need to determine what decision is right for you.” He gazed intently into her eyes. “I realize this is a lot to think about, and I want you to know that I’ll understand if you can’t be with me.”

  “Being without you is not what I want but…” But what? Gracie wondered if her hesitation had to do with acceptance or if she was afraid to leave what she knew behind. “I guess I need time to think.”

  “Take all the time you need.” Leo took her by the arms and brushed his lips over hers before he pulled away. “I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”

  She nodded and moved to get out of the truck. Once the heavy door slammed shut, she stood and waved before she watched Leo drive away. Her brain and her heart were at odds about what to do, and the idea of giving up the world she knew for a hidden one seemed foolish. But as Leo’s truck grew smaller in her vision, it made her think of a great dream fading away. Once he turned right and disappeared, Gracie was left hollow by a sense of loneliness. And she feared if she didn’t become a werebear like Leo, it might last forever.

  CHAPTER 18

  Leo

  Leo stood in the doorway of the employee locker room and watched Gracie talking to a family at the guest services desk. She smiled and laughed and appeared to be a normal, happy woman. But Leo knew she was torn up inside trying to determine what to do about the news he’d dropped in her lap the other night.

  Seeing Gracie in the rearview mirror that evening as he drove away had nearly crushed Leo. She’d stood watching him leave until he was around the corner, and he’d feared it might be their goodbye. He turned to enter the locker room to dress for a day on the slopes. Tracy must have known things were strained between Leo and Gracie because they hadn’t been assigned to the same location the past few days.

  The buckles on his ski boot snapped loudly as he closed them, and Leo replayed the scene with Gracie’s mother in his head one more time. He recalled the venom in her mother’s voice when she called Leo evil, and he wanted to kick himself for not telling Gracie what they were sooner. He supposed it could have been worse. She could have run away screaming without any desire to consider spending the rest of her life with him. Even so, his future was now in Gracie’s hands, and he couldn’t help but worry that Margo was doing anything she could to sway Gracie her way.

  The woman had stolen her daughter’s phone, after all. She’d texted Leo lies and faked the severity of her injury to try to keep Gracie from him. He understood that Margo believed she had done so for the right reasons, though. Considering Gracie’s biological father had hurt Margo by leaving her to raise their daughter all alone, he imagined the woman had been more than angry. She had probably been afraid of what Gracie might become. It was no wonder she’d tried to keep her daughter home all these years in an attempt to keep her and other’s safe.

  But while Margo’s prejudice against werebear was understandable, it could ruin Leo and Gracie’s chance at a lifetime of happiness. He stepped outside into the cold mountain air, and as he paused to let the chill cool him down, Henry caught up to him and said, “Looks like we’re on courtesy duty together.”

  “Yeah.”

  Their skis thumped onto the ground where the two guys dropped them. “Look, I don’t know what happened between you and Gracie, but bro, she’s just as miserable as you are. I’d have to punch you for hurting her, but she insists you did nothing wrong. Have you tried talking to her?”

  Leo grabbed his poles. “I’m not going to push Gracie to be with me. This is a decision she needs to make on her own.”

  “You’re not going to tell me what it’s about?”

  Leo shook his head as he began to ski toward the lift.

  Henry sighed and followed him. “Okay. I respect your privacy, but if there’s anything I can do to help, I’m here for both of you.”

  “Thanks.” Leo and Henry spent the day working together to help guests. It was hard to keep a smile on his face, but Leo found a way to do his job. When he entered the locker room at the end of the day, he scanned the room for Gracie. She was at her locker. He took a deep breath before walking toward her. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say, but he was prepared to beg. He didn’t get the chance, because the moment Gracie saw him she shut her locker loudly enough that the door rang, and she snapped her combination lock quickly before she rushed out of the room.

  Fiona grabbed his arm, and when he turned to her she gave him a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry to hear things with you and Gracie didn’t work out.”

  He lifted her arm to shake her off. “We’re not over.”

  “Oh.” Her expression changed to one that made Leo think she was pitying him, or thought he was a fool. “I’m here for you, Leo. Will you be at Henry’s for New Year’s Eve?”

  He nearly growled at her. It was all he could do to keep from shifting and running off, but her question did make him decide that showing up where Gracie lived for a party that night was not a good idea. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel uncomfortable in her own home with no place to go. Since he also had no desire to spend his night trying to escape Fiona he said, “I won’t.”

  The woman did not get it because she stepped close and reached out to put her hand on his chest. “Are you sure? Because I bet I could find a way to make you feel better.”

  He heard a faint whimper he instantly knew came from Gracie, and when he looked in the direction of where the sound came from, he saw her. The pain on her face matched his own anguish, and he grabbed Fiona’s hand to remove it from his body as he moved toward Gracie. She was at her locker fumbling with the combination of her lock. “Hey,” he said.

  She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “I forgot my keys. And—” She gulped as tears rolled down her cheeks.

  Leo wanted to pull her into his arms and ease her pain, but he didn’t want to upset her more so he said, “What’s your combination?”

  Gracie told him the numbers, and he opened her lock for her.

  “Thanks.” Her keys jingled in her hand as she retrieved them.

  “Gracie.”

  She shook her head. “Leo, I can’t. I shouldn’t have run off earlier, but I was avoiding what I have to tell you. I’m so sorry, but I can’t—I can’t do it.”

  Pain sliced through Leo as if he’d been struck by a sword. His breath caught in his throat as he fought the urge to grab her and beg her to change her mind. Instead he stepped out of her way. “Okay. I’m sorry I’ve caused you so much pain. I’ll leave after work tomorrow.”

  She inhaled sharply, but then her shoulders rolled in and she sighed. “I guess this is goodbye.”

  Leo couldn’t help the burn in his eyes from his own tears as he said. “Goodbye, Gracie.” I’ll always love you.

  CHAPTER 19

  Gracie

  The last thing Gracie wanted to do was celebrate New Year’s Eve, but since the party was in her house, there wasn’t much she could do about it. A freshly-curled strand of hair warmed her cheek as she wound a new lock around the curling iron. Her mother had been trying to convince her to move back home, but Gracie knew that would be a huge step backward. Living with Margo again would make her as bitter as her mother was.

  Lipstick slid across her lips as she applied it, and she recalled the details about werebear life that her mother told her. Details Leo hadn’t shared. Apparently their justice system was archaic. Death was an acceptable form of punishment that happened quickly. Clans fought, and as a werebear, her safety would always be an issue. Her own father couldn’t stay with her mother for fear that they’d both be killed. The man left her pregnant mother to protect himself without ever checking to make sure Margo was okay, even after Gracie had been born. Margo said it was the clan way, and that while Leo seemed like a dream come true, the same way her father had seemed to her mother, the reality was that it wouldn’t last. One day Gracie would realize she’d made a mistake she could never correct.

  As it was, Gracie was in danger now too for being involved with Leo and knowing what he was. So was Leo, and her mother for not keeping them apart. The only way to remedy the situation was to walk away and never have contact with Leo again. No matter how much her heart was breaking, Gracie knew letting Leo go was what she had to do.

  Her boots thudded on the ladder as Gracie made her way downstairs to help Kate. Guests had begun to arrive with their potluck dinner contributions, which Gracie offered to arrange on the table in a cohesive manner.

  Kate greeted her with a glass of punch. “I’m not sure if this is going to help you feel less pain or make it harder to keep from crying.”

  Gracie offered her friend a smile and took the drink. “How about I numb the pain before I cry.”

  Kate hugged her. “I’m so sorry, hon.”

  The warmth of the woman’s arms was soothing and Gracie squeezed back.

  “This is all going to sort itself out,” Kate said. “You and Leo are too great together for it not to.”

  “If only it were that simple.” Gracie knew Kate and Henry were dying to understand what happened to her relationship, but the existence of werebear was a secret she would keep forever. “What needs to be done in the kitchen?”

  She and Kate got all the food out and ready for people to serve themselves. As Gracie was fixing a plate for herself, Todd, a kid’s instructor came over to do the same. “Hey,” he said. “Gracie, right?”

  “That’s right.”

  “I’m Todd. I work in the children’s center.”

  “I know.” Gracie chuckled. “I heard about your bathroom mishap. You’re a brave man.” A small boy had an accident and had made such a mess that Todd couldn’t get him cleaned up without getting covered in feces himself.

  He cringed. “Jeez. I’m forever going to be known as the poop guy.”

  “Or a nice guy who helps children at his own expense.”

  “Thanks for putting it that way.” He pointed to a dish. “Do you know if this mac and cheese is any good?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “I’ll test it for us.” He spooned out a mouthful. “You know, to make sure it’s not poisoned.” Todd scrunched up his face and contorted it dramatically as he chewed.

  Gracie laughed when he gulped and then pretended to be choking.

  He laughed too. “I think it’s okay.”

  “Whew,” she said as she served herself some pasta.

  “So,” Todd said as they made their way down the table, “do you have someone to kiss at midnight?”

  Sadness filled Gracie as she remembered kissing Leo. “No. I don’t.”