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The lockon Gracie’s bedroom window clicked when she slid it open, and wood scraped as she lifted the bottom pane to talk to Leo. “I’m so sorry I haven’t texted or called,” she said. “I lost my phone and didn’t know your number.” She chuckled. “Or anyone else’s for that matter. I should probably memorize a few.”
He frowned at her. “When did you lose your phone?”
“Sometime after I got to the hospital—" She gasped softly with the fear he didn’t know why she’d left the party. “Kate told you about my mom’s accident, right?” He nodded, and she relaxed. “I’ve searched my car and called the hospital, but they haven’t seen it.” She noticed he was wearing his usual flannel shirt over a T-shirt. “Do you want to come in? Let me change and I’ll go open the door for you.”
“I’m not sure if that’s a good idea. Your mother told me to go away.”
Gracie shook her head. “She probably thought you were selling something. I’ll be just a minute.”
Once she was dressed, she walked to the front door and said, “Leo’s here, Mom.”
Her mother said, “Do not let that man inside.”
Gracie paused, but she had no intention of kowtowing to her mother. “He’s my boyfriend and he’s coming inside.”
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 nota manwho 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 whatweare 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.”
