Melinda woke to an empty bed. She had decided to keep Josh home from school, so she hadn't set an alarm. Of course her son got up earlier than she did. Where was he?She sat up, shoving the sleeves up on a sweatshirt that Caleb had lent her along with sweatpants. It was all he had, but she was grateful.Now to find her son. She heard his voice, then Caleb's deeper voice. She followed the sound to the kitchen. Guess Josh wasn't worried about where they were. He liked his coach. She watched from the doorway into the room she hadn't taken much notice of when Caleb had poured her wine last night.She yawned as Caleb gave his full attention to Josh. No one gave their full attention to kids that way. At least not if they weren't the parent.""Do you think Mom will eat pancakes?" Josh said."She'll eat these pancakes," Caleb said.How could she not? Caleb, wearing an apron around his waist, was making them. She loved to watch a man being domestic and Caleb was especially sexy being domestic.

Carl gritted his teeth. "Melinda. These are the woods. There are bears and all sorts of animals.""Josh knows not to go into the woods anymore. Not without me."Carl crossed his arms. "What do you know about the woods, city girl?"Not that Carl had ever been camping. Okay. Maybe when they were younger, but it had been years. He was just as much a city person as she was. "I've deemed this place safe. That should be enough. You've never questioned my judgment before now."There was something else going on. Something that he probably wouldn't tell her. He was feeling nervous, but not about the living arrangement. Not about being in the woods. Where was he going with this?"Well, you've never lived in the woods before. With a stranger.""A stranger? He's Josh's coach. You've met him," Melinda said. "You never had any problem with him before this."What was going on with this guy?"I don't like it, Melinda. I think Josh should come stay with me until you find a suitable place.""I can't fin

"No, honey. He's staying at his house. We need to find a new place to live," she said.Melinda pulled into a bed and breakfast she knew had opened in the last year. She hoped someone would be there at this time of night.A very pregnant woman opened the door. She smiled at them. "Come in.""Thank you. I was hoping you were open.""I'm up with heartburn."A large man came down the steps. He could've been Caleb's brother. "Everything okay?"He stood close to his wife as if protecting her. "Everything's fine. These people just need a room. Take their suitcases up while I check them in," the woman said. "I'm Sally. This is my husband Sebastian."The large man nodded at her, then hoisted their suitcases as if they didn't weigh anything. Sally took Melinda's credit card then Melinda signed the receipt. Josh leaned against her, probably ready to be back to sleep. She guided him up the steps to a room that had a double bed. She tucked him into it then thanked the man.He handed her the key, t

Emboldened by Melinda's trust, Caleb stepped away from her. "Do you want to watch?"She looked at him puzzled for a minute. "Oh. That. I guess.""How about I change, then you can touch me. Know that it's me," he said.Her accepting him as he was would be key to her staying with him. He waited. He could go into the woods, out of her sight, but he wanted this all to be normal. If she thought it was normal, he would have a chance to win her back. She bit her lip. "Go ahead."He led her off the porch and into the yard. He started the transformation as he watched her. Her face showed a little fear, but she didn't ever remove her gaze from him. That was a good sign.Her eyes were a little wide and he can only imagine what this must look like to her. He would never hurt her or Josh. Hopefully she knew that. With his transformation complete, he stayed on four legs. He was even taller as a bear. Melinda studied him. She finally nodded and some part of him knew that she was okay with him. At l

Wyatt Behr didn't put much stock in ominous signs. Despite that, when his phone rang and it was the customer whose light he was going to rewire later that day, he was pretty sure hearing from the man calling him wasn't a good thing. "Wyatt Behr.""Uh, Mr. Behr."The man's nervous voice didn't help Wyatt's sense of foreboding. He wanted this job because of his plans to open his own electrical business. He figured that was a sure thing since there were no other electricians that he knew of in this town. Since the last electrician had retired and moved to Florida Wyatt would have the monopoly on the business. He took his phone outside of the house that he and his brothers of The Three Behrs Construction Company were building. His brother Sebastian was about to turn on power tools and Wyatt wouldn't be able to hear the bad news that he was sure coming his way. Why was he so sure? Because his day had been going like that. Because of heavy rains the night before, his truck had gotten stuc