It took quite a bit of convincing to get Grace not to call in the ACLU. It took her uncle’s resolute promise that everything was going to work out and a call from her Aunt Nellie to the Abrams house to have a talk with Ty, although what the eldest Abrams had to do with the situation was still a mystery to her.

Still, she loved her aunt and uncle and knew they wouldn’t lie to her. They loved her like their own and she loved them just as much. If they asked her to be patient, then she would do her best.

But her best only lasted until the next morning.

Up before the sun had even had its first cup of coffee, Grace was waiting for her uncle to drive her into the diner when someone knocked on the door. A quick look at the clock had her swearing beneath her breath. “It better be the Publisher’s Clearinghouse guy at this hour.”

Getting up from the dining room chair she made her way to the door and swung it open with a huff.

The handsome face on the other side of the door was staring at her with open concern. “Is this how you open the door in Arizona?” He shook his head and his eyes said he thought she was crazy. “You just throw it open without asking for I.D. or at least peeking through the curtains. How did you manage not to get killed or something worse?”

“Killed? Or something worse?” She laughed at him. “You want to know how?”

He set a hand on the door frame by her head. “Yeah, I do.”

There was a long pause between them.

When he was done waiting he sighed. “Waiting…”

She smiled back. “Look down.”

When he did, his shoulders slumped a bit. Less than an inch from his hip was a Taser held easily in her hand.

“I’m not just a pretty girl with a bangin’ body,” she told him with a broad grin, “I’m evil with the heart of a badass.”

He shook his head, the long thatch of his ash-blond hair falling over his forehead. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you too, Noah.” Tossing the Taser onto the couch she wrapped her arms around her old friend and barely managed to mumble a few words when she was nearly smothered by his muscular pec. “Air, please.”

Noah pulled her outside and let the door swing shut behind her. “I’ve seen all of your pictures online, but wow. You look even more awesome in person!” He picked up a cup of coffee from its travel tray from the gas station. “Here. Java.”

She barely managed to ‘not’ snatch it from his hands, but once it was in her hands she held it up to her nose and took a long sniff of the heady brew in the cup. When she heard him laugh she looked up at him with menace in her eyes.

He held up his hands in surrender. “You used to do the same thing, but with hot chocolate. Some things never change.”

“You know what else doesn’t change?” She saw the effect her sweeter-than-sugar tone had on her childhood friend.

The nearly six-foot-tall man standing before her was worlds different from the knock-kneed little boy who loved to push her into the river when she wasn’t looking and then let her return the favor.

“No,” he leaned closer until they were almost nose to nose on the porch, “what?”

“You’re still totally gullible.” Before he could move, she grabbed the tip of his nose between two fingers and she made a loud honking noise.

Noah reached for her, but she danced away, holding her coffee securely in her hand.

“Nope. Don’t threaten the coffee or I will kick your ass, Redwood.”

The door opened again and her Uncle Eddie stepped outside. Grace narrowed her eyes when he didn’t seem shocked to see Noah Callahan on his porch in the pre-dawn hours.

“Morning, sir!”

Edward winced. “I’m not that old, Noah.”

The younger man dropped his arm over Grace’s shoulders. “It’s like old times again. I get your uncle all ticked off at me in a minute flat.”

Grace elbowed Noah in the gut. “Be nice.” She gave her uncle a smile. “Ready to go?”

He gave her a kiss on her forehead. “You have the day off. Lauren’s coming in to help with the morning shift.”

“Wait. What?” She took a sip of her coffee and found it wasn’t enough.

“Ty and Van are coming over to explain about last night. So it’s best if they do it here.”

“You mean it’s better if we’re not on the main street of town when I hand them both their asses?”

Noah looked up at Edward with naked hope in his eyes. “Do you have a camera I can borrow?”

Edward waved him off. “Don’t press your luck, son.”

He was gone a few minutes later and Grace took a long sip of the coffee to get her blood vessels to open up and start pumping in earnest. “So are you going to tell me why you’re here?”

Noah swallowed hard and wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand. “Can’t I just be here to see my oldest friend in the whole wide world?”

“Sure.” She nodded and took another sip. When she pulled it slightly away from her lips she nailed him with a look. “But there’s something else going on and you better spill before I go and get my Taser.”

“Wow, is this what happened when you moved to Arizona?”

“No, this is what happened when I came back here and everyone’s acting like we’re in Oz and I’m way too close to finding out what’s behind the curtain.” Setting the coffee down on the railing she turned to her old friend. “What’s going on?”

Noah’s friendly grin faded a little bit. “Look, you know I love you, but I’m here because Ty said to come. Your aunt told him you’re close to me and that it would be a good idea if I was here when Ty and Van show up.”

She reached over and pinched him on his side, a few inches up from his waist.

“Hey!”

“Stop stalling, or I’m going to see if you’re still ticklish.”

“Please!” Noah waved her off. “I’m a grown man now, Grace. You can’t think I’m ticklish anymore.”

“You’re full of it. So when do I get the Abrams dog and pony show?”

Noah’s expression changed as he shifted his arms to protect his vulnerable sides. “I don’t know exactly. Sometime this morning. Van had to drop his ma- Lauren at the diner to help out your uncle. Then they’ll be on their way.”

She nodded, smiling, her expression a picture of calm and happy indulgence.

And the look obviously scared Noah. He backed away, knocking his coffee cup off of the porch railing. “Oh come on! You’re so gonna pay for that.”

“No,” she shook her head and moved to cut him off from the steps, “you’re going to pay for that. Now!” She darted forward, but he made use of his longer form. Bracing one hand on the railing he threw himself over and onto the grassy side lawn. “Cheater!”

“Ha!” He called back. “Come and get me now… if you can!”

Oh, that did it. Grace muttered a few words she’d learned from waitressing at the biker bar just outside of Flagstaff. The words would have gotten her a scolding from Nellie or Edward, but it was the right fuel she needed for the moment. She took off at a run, regretting the summery dress she’d worn. The spaghetti straps tied over her shoulder didn’t allow for a regular bra, so the only things holding her girls in the simple bodice were tension and a prayer.

Noah darted around the big oak and she heard a series of scratches on the bark and stopped. She looked up into the lower branches and saw a rather disgruntled squirrel shoot out onto the limb, a nut or two stretching his right cheek into a big bubble. Chattering, he twitched his tail as he looked back at the trunk.

“That’s so not fair,” she shouted at the branches and the thick canopy of leaves, “I’m wearing kitten heels and this dress is vintage!” She looked down at the yellow flowers sprinkled across the base of her hem. “Fine!” She gave up, lifting her hands up into the air before lowering them down in a huff of breath. “I give up, just get down here and- what?”

A pair of incredibly strong arms wrapped around her middle and lifted her off the ground.

“Got you!”

She tried to elbow Noah and couldn’t quite get her elbow far back enough. “Put me down!”

“Nope. I think it’s easier if I just hold you still until the Itan gets here. I mean Ty”-

Grace kicked out her legs and got in a lucky strike on his shin.

Noah swore. “Stop it.”

“Put me down before you hurt yourself.”

“Ha, very funny.”

She felt him lower her, but the tension in his arms didn’t lessen. She had one moment of shock and apprehension before the world shifted beneath her and she saw the top of Noah’s head a moment before he laid her over his shoulder. He wrapped an arm that felt more like an iron band across the backs of her thighs. “There,” he grunted as she kicked out, “I just don’t want you to kick me in the nuts.”

She snarled at him. “I bet the squirrel would help hold you down.”

“Funny, Gracie, just keep still and before you know it…”

A roar shook the trees around them and Grace felt Noah shake in fear under her. Later, she would muse over the fact that the same roar made her quiver in all kinds of delicious ways, but in the next few terrifying moments, her world became a slo-motion sequence better suited to a Thriller TV show on a cable network than her boring life.

Something plucked her from Noah’s shoulder and set her down on the grass, and then something that looked like a moving wall of muscle knocked Noah into the grass beside her.

Fabric tore. Shouts peppered the air. And her inner ears swelled as though she’d changed altitude by about a thousand feet up in the air.

She felt a wave of energy that staggered her to the side, tilting the ground beneath her feet.

“Grace!”

Falling to her knees, she reached up both hands to press against her ears. The pressure eased the slightest bit, but she fought the pain.

“Noah?”

She heard a grunt and thick wet sound that sounded like silk tearing.

“Stop, please.” She sobbed out the words. She lay on her side in the grass and looked behind her at the two figures tussling in the grass. There were hands, almost hands, and skin thickened with a dark mat of hair. And there were eyes that looked back at her and stole her breath.

“Travis?”

The fighting stopped and the wave of energy that lay heavily over her prone body started to ease back and away. “What’s happening?” Her voice was thickened, sticking like peanut butter in her throat. “Someone help them!”

She felt hands hook under her arms and start to lift her to her feet.

“No, wait.” The voice in her ears was almost human. Almost. “Leave her there.”

She sighed in relief as the hands moved away. “I just need a minute.”

From her place on the ground she watched Ty Abrams, all grown up Ty Abrams, cross the ground from the police cruiser. He stopped beside the two figures in the grass and grabbed the first by the shoulder. Noah winced, but he didn’t pull away from Ty.

Grace could easily see the red splash of gore on his torn t-shirt and cried out. Noah turned to her and gave her a smile from a mouth that was longer and wider than a normal human face.

“He’s hurt.”

Ty nodded and looked back at her. “He’ll heal up soon enough.”

She caught the subtle nod of Noah’s head and she relaxed a little bit. “Travis?”

The head that turned toward her matched the rest of his body. Broad shoulders and a hulking frame covered in thick brown fur took a step in her direction. Most people would have tried to get away, but she was tired, and saw the dark-night expanse of his eyes looking at her with sorrow.

The bear hung his head and started to move toward her, but Ty Abrams was suddenly between them, ignoring her soft protest. He advanced on the bear and stood, feet braced apart.

Noah, his hands clutched over the wound in his chest, was on his knees, his head almost bowed. “Itan, please.”

“Back it down, Travis.” Ty’s voice was tight, almost cold with his anger. “Don’t make me regret this little field trip.”

Grace felt another wave of power roll over her and she clutched at her chest. “Crap, that hurts.”

Noah’s face lifted to Ty, his lips set in a determined line. “You’re hurting her.” Then he turned to Travis who looked like he was getting ready to charge at Ty. “You too, outsider. Both of you, tamp it down.”

Van, somewhere behind her, spat out a curse at the man bleeding all over her aunt’s lawn. “You watch your tongue, Callahan.”

“Punish me all you like, just stop with all the shifter shit, you’re going to give her a heart attack!”

She wanted to tell Noah to stop being so dramatic, but the cramp in her chest was only getting worse and the edges of her vision were starting to go dark.

“Oh, crap,” she panted out a few breaths and clawed at the neckline of her dress, pulling down dangerously close to ‘off,’ but she couldn’t help it, she needed to breathe and she was getting precious little air as it was. “What’s happening to me?”

“Itan, please,” Noah had dropped his hands away from his wound, gesturing at her with one of them and Travis with the other. “Let him go to her. Please!”

Ty looked from one to the other, his eyes carefully looking at everyone in the small and chaotic little lawn party. “He goes as a man or not at all.” He looked at Grace, meeting her eyes. “I don’t know how you got in the middle of all of this, but your Aunt is going to kill me.”

Grace wanted to snark something back at him, but she would have to take a rain check, right now it took everything she had not to pass out.

Ty stepped to the side and the tight grip squeezing her heart eased up a bit. She could hear Van swearing from his place behind her, but her focus was on Travis.

The bear shrugged and she saw his massive shoulders roll back a bit and then forward as if he was peeling off an overcoat. As one back leg moved, and planted into the soft grass of the lawn, she saw brown blur into tanned flesh, and claws changed to toes.

She blinked her eyes over and over as the other leg became human before her curious gaze. Front paws widened and lengthened, retracting claws and leaving short cropped nails in their wake. The thick fur along his hide continued to smooth into skin until the thick coat disappeared from her sight, leaving the dusting of hair on his legs and forearms. The close-cropped beard and mustache on his face was the same that she remembered from the night before, but it was the dark hair that peppered his chest and trailed down his impressive abs that had Grace licking her lips.

“At least if I’m going to die,” she groaned, “I’m going to have something sweet to stare at.”

Travis shook his head as he walked to her, ignoring the others near them. “You’re going to be fine.”

“Oh, thank you, Dr. Owen.” She winced as another twinge of pain rolled through her as she tried to sit up. “How do you know?”

“I know.” Kneeling down beside her, he sat down on the grass, his eyes focused solely on her face. He reached out a hand and she blinked at it, looking for any sign that there was part of the bear left in him. But all she could see was his hands, his human hands.

He leaned forward and slipped his hands under her arms, gently lifting her from the grass and onto his lap.

She blushed a little but didn’t pull away. When he touched the side of her face with a gentle caress she leaned into his touch.

“I know you’re going to be okay, Grace, because you’re too stubborn for anything else.”

Grace laughed and then stopped short and tensed expecting a stab of pain, but nothing happened. Taking in an experimental breath she exhaled on a sigh. “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

Noah’s sigh of relief was audible and turned a few heads.

Van’s tone was low and full of anger. “You’ve got some explaining to do, Callahan.”

Grace laughed again, a softer, higher pitched laugh. “And suddenly we’re in ‘I love Lucy.’” She didn’t explain her inside joke to the others, but she found herself looking up into Travis’ concerned expression. “What happened? That was you that pulled me away from Noah?”

“He was touching you,” his breathing sped up and she could almost hear his heart thundering beneath his skin, “no one touches you.”

She put her hand on his chest. “Whoa there, caveman. Take a breath.”

“I don’t share.” His heated breath tickled her cheeks. “I can’t lose you.”

She didn’t know whether to laugh or slug him on the shoulder. “I don’t do caveman displays, Travis. I’m a big girl who handles life just fine on my own.” She started to move off of his lap and sit up, but the change in altitude made her head swim, and her stomach turn. Settling back into his gentle arms, she looked up at Travis and then Noah, finally resting on Ty. “So, how many bears are there in this town?”

A long string of colorful curses spilled from Van’s lips before he growled at the eldest Abrams. “So, brother, what was that you were saying about keeping this situation under wraps?”

A frustrated curse burst from Ty’s lips and he reached into his shirt pocket for a chunk of bills. Peeling one off of the top he handed it to his brother. “Put that in Mia’s jar for me.” He looked down at Grace and Travis sitting in the soft grass of the lawn. “Why don’t we take this inside. I’m fairly certain Nellie’s going to want to be in the middle of this discussion.” Ty turned his attention to Noah as Travis easily got to his feet with Grace held carefully in his arms. “Don’t think of leaving, Noah. You’re coming with us.”

Noah got to his feet and tugged at the neck of his worn and ripped t-shirt. The fabric easily gave way and he balled it up in his hands. “Don’t worry about me, Itan. I’m not leaving Grace’s side until I know she’s okay.”

Ty shook his head when Travis started to growl. “Just don’t get too close. If the two of you get stupid again, I’m not going to stop you from ripping each other to shreds. I’m just going to have Van dig the holes.”

“Thanks, brother.”

Ty reached the door first and held it open, giving his younger brother a hard grin. “I’ll supervise.”

Van told his brother exactly what he could do with his offer.

Grace watched as Van took out his wallet and added a bill to the same pocket where he’d tucked away Ty’s offering. Leaning her head against Travis’ shoulder she sighed. “I’ve gotta meet this Mia. I bet you she’s a pistol.”

Ty smiled at her. “You don’t know the half of it.”