Embracing The Lion (Gray Bears 6) Read Online Free PDF

back of her neck. “My father sold me to a vampire when I
was eleven,” she said matter-of-factly. “I was the slave
of Lord Hugo for twelve years.”
    “But he has recently
erased his mark,” Winston said, staring at the fresh scar on
her nape.
    “Yes. He...gave me to
Phillip Lancastle, another vampire. It was Phillip who...”
Her voice quavered and she looked down.
    “Phillip Lancastle
drained you and turned you against your will. Is that correct?”
Winston asked sternly. “That is a crime...”
    Tara nodded and shook her
head simultaneously. “Phillip Lancastle drank my blood,
but...he didn't turn me. Not completely. He only gave me a drop of
his blood. But I escaped, before...before he...”
    Winston frowned. “Then
how...”
    “I gave her my blood,”
Gareth spoke up. “I found her last night in the woods, more
dead than alive. I brought her home and I made sure she took enough
blood to survive, and...turn.”
    “I'm a vampire now,
right?” Tara whispered.
    Winston rubbed his chin.
“Honestly, I don't know. You seem to be totally unaffected by
sunlight. Even the half-vamps cannot walk in direct sunlight. But
I'm no expert.”
    “I can ask Olivia,”
Kaylee suggested.
    “Olivia is a born
vampire, not a turned vampire. Both her parents are vampires,”
Gareth said. “She won't know much about turning.”
    They fell silent for a while.
Gareth and Winston both jerked their heads up at the same time.
    “Gramma and Ne-ma!”
they said together.
    “They'll know,”
Gareth said. “They know everything, and everyone!”

CHAPTER
TEN

    Gareth drove Tara and Kaylee
straight to Broomstick Inn. Winston had to rush back to the station
after receiving a call from one of his deputies, but he told Gareth
to let him know what Gramma and Ne-ma had to say about Tara's
situation.
    Gramma and Ne-ma were the
grandmothers of Tristan, Aidan, Mason and Jackson Gray. The four
Gray brothers were strapping, sturdy bear shifters. Winston was the
godfather to Jackson Gray's young son, Jeremy, who was a little lion
shifter.
    And since Winston was
Jeremy's godpa, Gramma and Ne-ma had kind of adopted Winston and
Gareth into the Gray family. The two kindly but meddlesome witches
would nag at Winston and Gareth, play pranks and cast spells on them,
as they did to their grandsons.
    “I'm sure we can help
her,” Gramma said immediately when Gareth called them to tell
them about Tara.
    “Bring her to the inn,”
Ne-ma said. “We'd love to meet her!”
    Gareth reached over and gave
Tara's hand an encouraging, assuring squeeze. She managed a shaky
smile as he parked the car right in front of Broomstick Inn and
hopped out.
    Tara got out of the car and
tugged awkwardly at her blouse. She was wearing Kaylee's blouse and
jeans, since they were about the same size. Kaylee had insisted that
she get rid of her servant uniform. “Burn it,” Kaylee
said. And they did.
    Tara stood gaping at the
quaint, cozy little inn for a full minute. Gramma and Ne-ma ran
Broomstick Inn together, and they were so proud that their inn had
been mentioned in The Hitchhiker's Guide, a widely circulated travel
magazine. “We made Shadow Point famous!” they'd boasted.
“This calls for a celebration!”
    Gareth had hosted the
celebration in his pub and provided free drinks for everyone. The
party had lasted the whole night, well into the wee hours of the
morning. Gramma, Ne-ma and their good friend Rosalina, had staggered
out of The Round Table before dawn, singing at the top of their lungs
and hi-fiving every lamp post they chanced upon.
    “Come on!” Kaylee
said, tugging Tara into the inn. Kaylee was Ne-ma's grandniece and
the two of them had recently been reunited after losing touch with
each other over the years. Kaylee worked at The Round Table but on
her off days, she would be at Broomstick Inn, helping out with simple
chores and catching up with Gramma, Ne-ma and the Gray family.
    “Gramma! Ne-ma!”
Kaylee called out as they entered the