Embracing The Lion (Gray Bears 6) (5 page)

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 inn.

The two silver-haired witches
rushed out of the kitchen and hugged Kaylee and Tara. “Hello,
hello! You must be Tara! It's so lovely to meet you!”

Tara looked a little
overwhelmed and seemed not quite sure how to respond.

“Thank you, Ma'am...”
she stammered.

“Ma'am? Oh my!”
Gramma tsked. “Just call us Gramma and Ne-ma.”

“I...forgive me.”
Tara bowed her head. “It's not proper.”

Ne-ma linked her arm through
Tara's and sniffed. “You are confusing us with your old
vampire master. Remember, no one is your master.” She poked
her finger into Tara's chest. “You are the boss of you, Tara!”

Gramma and Ne-ma marched Tara
into the dining hall and sat her down. “Alisa and Harper have
gone off for the day,” Ne-ma said. “They're taking the
cubs to a birthday party.”

“Alisa and Harper are
our granddaughters-in-law,” Gramma explained. “Alisa is
the chef here, and she cooked lunch for the guests before she left.
She and Harper made a big pot of stew for dinner, so there's more
than enough for everyone.”

Ne-ma gestured Gareth to a
chair. “Stop pacing, Gareth. You're making me dizzy! Now,
Tara, we know only a little about what happened to you,” she
said gently. “You can be honest with us. We're family.”

“I had a family once,”
Tara said in a low voice.

“We are here for you,”
Gramma said. “You do have a family...”

“You don't want me in
your family,” Tara answered immediately. “I'm a vampire,
a blood-sucking, murderous monster.”

“Murderous?”

“None of our vampire
friends are murderous.”

Ne-ma took her hand firmly.
“Tara, you have to know that there are good, honorable vampires
around. The vampire who drained you is a monster. But not all
vampires are monsters.”

“And you may not even
be a half-vamp,” Gramma said, squinting at her.

“What am I then?”
Tara gulped.

“I'm not sure,”
Gramma replied candidly. “After dinner, when the sun has set,
we'll go visit Rosalina. Rosalina is one of our oldest friends, and
she's a Master Vampire. She's the best person to answer your
question.”

CHAPTER
ELEVEN

Tara chatted with the Gray
brothers and their mates as Gramma and Ne-ma went upstairs to grab
their coats. Tristan, Mason and Jackson Gray had sped home after
work to change out of their construction clothes and clean up before
rushing down to Broomstick Inn. The three of them worked in
Tristan's construction company while the second Gray brother, Aidan,
was one of Winston's deputies. Aidan and Winston arrived at the inn
together after work, still in their police uniform.

Alisa was bouncing her little
daughter, Katie, on her hip while Harper was chasing Jeremy around
the inn. Jeremy had shifted to lion form and was trying to climb the
curtains when Harper caught him and spanked his little butt. The
mischievous lion cub howled and wriggled out of his mother's arms.
He scampered to his dad and climbed up Jackson's leg.

Jackson scooped his son up
and propped the cub on his shoulder. Harper raised a warning finger
at Jeremy, and the cub shifted to human form in a blink and wrapped
his arms around Jackson's head. “Daddy! Save me!”
Jeremy shrieked.

Tara chuckled as she watched
Harper chase her mate and son around the reception counter. Father
and son hi-fived each other and cheered when Harper threw her arms up
in defeat. Jackson grabbed Harper around the waist and pulled her in
for a loud kiss. “Ick!” Jeremy covered his eyes with
his hands and peeked at his parents between his fingers. “Gross!
Daddy, Mummy, stop kissing!”

The whole Gray family and
Knight family were here. Gareth had closed his pub and stayed with
her the whole day. The Gray brothers, their mates and cubs had all
turned up to support her and Gareth. Gramma and Ne-ma had called
their grandsons and told them all about her. Everyone seemed to
regard Gareth and her as one unit. Gareth was worried for her, so
the whole family worried for her too. Winston told her that he had
contacted the Sheriffs of the neighboring towns and requested their
assistance in hunting down Phillip Lancastle.

Everyone was doing everything
they could to help her and protect her. She had never, ever received
such support and kindness from anyone before, not even her own
father. He had sold her to a vampire to save his own skin, and he
had never tried to contact her or buy her freedom back for her. She
didn't even know if he was dead or alive. Her own father was like a
stranger to her, yet these strangers...felt like family to her.

“I wish you're my
family,” she whispered with a sigh.

At this very instant, Gramma
and Ne-ma appeared at the bottom of the stairs and elbowed their way
past their burly, boisterous grandsons to her.

“What did you just say,
Tara?” Gramma said breathlessly.

“Did you just make a
wish?” Ne-ma interjected.

The two petite witches seemed
to be holding their breaths as they stared at her eagerly and
excitedly.

Tara blushed. She didn't
think anyone had heard her. Gramma and Ne-ma certainly had great
hearing, and they missed nothing.

“I...I did,” she
stuttered. “I wished...you're my family.”

“But we are!”
Gramma and Ne-ma hooted, crowding in to hug her.

When they released her, Ne-ma
peered at her over her black-rimmed glasses and asked, “Did
you, um, wish for anything else, Tara?”

“Did you make a wish at
any time to find...” Gramma shrugged and waved a hand
casually. “Oh I don't know—true love perhaps, or your
very own happily-ever-after?”

Tara's eyes rounded. How did
they know?

“Y-yes.” She
winced. “When I was in the woods, I wished that I could
experience love and a happily-ever-after before I died. I thought I
was dying, and at that moment, I did want to die. I didn't want to
be turned...”

“Oh Tara!”
Gramma took her hand. “You're not going to die…”

“And you will have your
happily-ever-after!” Ne-ma said with a broad smile.

“I will?”

“Of course!”
Gramma and Ne-ma said with absolute certainly.

“How do you know?”
Tara asked slowly.

“Because we cast a...”
Gramma began, but Ne-ma clapped her hand over Gramma's mouth and
shushed her.

“Oh, look at the time!
We have to set off for Rosalina's now. She's expecting us,”
Ne-ma said quickly and dragged Gramma to the door.

The Gray brothers clapped
Gareth on the back and started congratulating and teasing him.

True mate? True love? A
happily-ever-after spell? Tara had absolutely no idea what they were
talking about.

Kaylee volunteered to stay
back at the inn and hold the fort for Gramma and Ne-ma. Everyone,
including the two rambunctious cubs, piled into four cars, chattering
non-stop.

Tara was in the car with
Gareth, Gramma, Ne-ma and Jeremy, who had shifted back to lion form.
The cheeky little cub happily draped himself around Gramma's neck and
refused to budge even when his parents tried to pry him off. So in
the end, Jeremy got to sit with Gramma and Ne-ma in Gareth's car.

Tara laughed as Gramma and
Ne-ma burst into song and tickled Jeremy in the backseat. It was a
song Tara knew well. She had watched The Wizard of Oz many, many
times with her mom. The song brought back a flood of lovely, warm
memories. She smiled as she listened to their enthusiastic but
completely out-of-tune singing.

“We're off to see the
wizard,” Gramma and Ne-ma belted out with gusto. “The
wonderful Wizard of Oz!”

CHAPTER
TWELVE

Tara got out of the car and
blinked at the single-story house at the corner of the street.
“This...” she stuttered in confusion.

“This is Rosalina's
house!” Gramma said with a grin. “Come on!”

Tara stared at the neat, cozy
house. It looked so...normal and warm. It was nothing like Lord
Hugo's sprawling stone mansion. The mansion was big, old and cold.
There were echoes and shadows everywhere, and she used to wonder why
Lord Hugo wanted such a big house and so many servants when he lived
alone. He only had guests over once in a blue moon, and his werewolf
lover, Ryan Kline, usually slipped out of the mansion before dawn to
return to his pack.

When Rosalina opened the
door, the wonderful, buttery smell of freshly baked cookies wafted
out of the house. “Glynda, Neveah!” Rosalina grinned
and pulled Gramma and Ne-ma into the house. “Come in, come
in!”

The Gray brothers, Winston
and Gareth all greeted Rosalina warmly and kissed her on the cheek.
Tara tried her best not to stare at the slim, statuesque vampire.
Rosalina was stunning, with smooth pale skin and long, straight black
hair. The Master Vampire was elegant, graceful and she exuded an
aura of power and authority. Tara thought she looked no older than
forty.

“Hello, Tara!”
Rosalina smiled, embracing her warmly. “Please, have a seat.
Make yourselves at home!” she called out as she closed the door
and hurried to the kitchen. Gramma and Ne-ma went to help her, and
Tara could hear the three of them giggling and gossiping in the
kitchen.

They were milling around the
living room, and Tara took a quick glance around the house. It was
warm and cozy, and there was a pair of pink knitted baby booties on
the couch. Rosalina seemed to be knitting another pair, this time in
blue. There were cooking books on the coffee table, and a rolled up
yoga mat in the corner. The place looked like a well lived-in home,
not at all like Lord Hugo's lonely mansion.

Gramma, Ne-ma and Rosalina
appeared a moment later with plates of cookies and coffee pots.
Rosalina put the plates on the long dining table and trilled, “Gather
round, children! Help yourselves!”

Everyone crowded round the
table and before Tara could blink, the cookies were gone. Rosalina
laughed and shooed the Gray brothers away. “Okay, you've taken
your share. Go to the living room and watch TV. I have a box of
toys near the TV for the little ones. Go!”

Rosalina motioned Winston,
Gareth and Tara to the dining table. “Come, let's talk over
coffee, shall we?”

Gramma and Ne-ma poured the
coffee as Rosalina disappeared into the kitchen. She came back out
of the kitchen with another two big plates of cookies. “Try
one,” she said, pushing the smaller plate towards Tara.

Tara took a cookie and bit
into it. She looked up to see everyone staring at her expectantly.

“Well?” Rosalina
said.

“It's heavenly! This
is the best cookie I've ever had,” Tara answered, taking
another big bite.

Rosalina smiled. “I'm
glad you like the blood chip cookie.”

“B-blood chip...”
Tara sputtered.

“Yep. Those are
chocolate chip cookies.” Rosalina pointed to the larger plate.
“But these—are my famous homemade blood chip cookies!
You can get a bag of blood chips at any supermarket,” Rosalind
went on as she took her seat at the head of the table. “They're
great for cakes, cookies, desserts...”

“And ice-cream,”
Ne-ma supplied, taking a sip of her coffee.

“Oh yes! The blood and
raspberry ripple flavor is my favorite!” Rosalina quipped.
“But I think I've just finished my last tub...”

“We know! That's why
we got you another tub,” Gramma piped up. Her grin dissolved
into a frown. “But I think I left it in Tristan's car.”
She shot out of her chair and yelled, “Tristan! Go get that
tub of ice-cream from your car. I hope it hasn't melted...”