Bearing the Frostbite (Ice Bear Shifters Book 6) Read Online Free PDF Page A

started making her way to her grandmother. She had been a young teenager when her parents died in a car accident while on vacation in Oregon. At the time, it had seemed to Alexis like her world had permanently stopped. But, somehow, things had kept moving forward, even though she had lost the two most important people in her life in one tragic moment. A big part of making it through those dark days had been the ability to lean on her grandmother. Grams had always been a strong woman, full of wisdom and class. She always seemed to have her wits about her, and Alexis couldn’t remember ever asking a question to which her grandmother hadn’t known the answer.
    Memories of the strong, vibrant woman that Grams had once been were growing more distant by the day. The doctor here in Glacier Point couldn’t figure out what exactly was wrong with the old woman, but Grams refused to go to any of the bigger cities with a big hospital. The old woman insisted that she was just dying of old age, and that the only cure for that was a time machine.
    Alexis had given up trying to convince her to move again, and was doing her best to make her comfortable and happy in Glacier Point for the remainder of her life—however long that might be. Alexis stepped into her grandmother’s bedroom and sat down on the small wooden chair next to the bed.
    “Hi, Grams. How are you?” Alexis asked.
    “Never better,” Grams said. She gave this same answer every time Alexis asked how she was, even though Grams had clearly had better days physically.
    “That’s good,” Alexis said. “Do you need anything? A snack or some water or something?”
    Grams shook her head no. “I’m fine, dear,” she said, then narrowed her eyes at Alexis. “Where have you been?”
    Alexis looked at her grandmother in confusion. Was she losing her short term memory as well? Alexis had told her exactly where she was going right before she left for work.
    “I’ve been at work, Grams. At the airport, remember?” Alexis said, trying to keep the frustration out of her voice.
    “I know that,” Grams said. “But you have a goofy, lovestruck look on your face. Did you meet someone at work?”
    “No,” Alexis said, a little too emphatically. Her grandma smirked at her.
    “Who is he?”
    “Grams, I’m there to work. There’s no one,” Alexis said, even as a mental picture of James’ face flashed across her mind.
    Grams merely smirked and settled deeper into the plush comforter on her bed. “I may be old, dear, but I’m not stupid. I can see the flustered excitement in your eyes that only comes from a brand new crush. And I say ‘good for you.’ You’re young. Have a little fun.”
    Alexis wanted to protest, and say that between work and taking care of their small household, she didn’t have time to get out and have a little fun. But her grandmother would have insisted that she was fine alone here, even though Alexis knew she wasn’t. She was getting weaker and frailer by the day. Alexis was already worried about leaving her alone to go to work. She wasn’t going to add more time away to that. Besides, Alexis felt certain that her grandmother would not approve of her dating a shifter. Her grandmother had always preached respect for all types of people, but believed that mixing humans with shifters was a bad idea. Grams claimed that mixing the natural, physical world with the supernatural was asking for trouble.
    So, Alexis tucked her grandmother in and then went to her own small bedroom to change into pajamas. She would keep her little crush on James a secret. After all, that’s all it was—a little crush. There wasn’t any sense in upsetting her grandmother over James when nothing would ever come of it. Having someone at work to flirt with was fun, but James had acted reserved and aloof for the most part. Alexis got the feeling that she had made him uncomfortable when she told him that she knew he was a shifter. Maybe she shouldn’t have said anything, but