Free Scottish Werebear: A New Beginning: A BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Scottish Werebears Book 4) by Lorelei Moone

mobile phone.
    Why would someone send her a phone? And for free, no less.
    As she opened the seal and lifted the lid off the small box, a piece of paper fell out the side with a short message scrawled on it.
    "Your phone is being monitored. Use this one instead."
    Oh damn. It was from Matt, wasn't it?
    She wasn't sure what to think. Had he lost his mind completely? What made him think that he could just waltz back into her life after vanishing without explanation for nearly two weeks?
    That was it. She was going to give him a piece of her mind, and she might as well use the new phone to do it.
    She opened the box fully and switched the gadget on. It only took a minute or so. It didn't have very many apps, or perhaps even a Wifi connection. The phone book had only one number programmed into it, labeled Matt.
    Should she call? No, that would be stupid. They'd messaged back and forth plenty, but never actually spoken. Hearing his voice might just make her forget what she wanted to say.
    Her moment of indecisiveness didn't last long, because the choice had already been made for her. The phone rang.
    Her throat went dry when she saw the caller ID. It was Matt.

Chapter Ten
    Why wasn't she picking up? It was early, but he knew she was already awake.
    Matt put the phone down and scratched his head. They'd had a connection, hadn't they? Before everything went to shit, and he was taken by the Alliance for his so-called training. They'd felt something together; he'd been sure of it at the time, but now doubts were starting to develop.
    He'd been away for what, little over a week? Had she dismissed him so quickly?
    It made sense, in a way. He wasn't exactly a prize; he knew that.
    And to make things worse, at a time when she was already scared to death, he'd climbed into her house full-bear and terrified her even further. Follow that with the Alliance's attempts at managing the situation - and their secret - by convincing her she never actually saw what she thought she saw...
    No wonder she'd shut down and wanted nothing to do with him.
    Or perhaps she hadn't found the phone yet. That could be the case as well. He'd seen her light on when he dropped the little packet into her letterbox, but perhaps she just hadn't picked it up and opened it yet.
    He'd give it a little longer, then try again. It wasn't within him to give up on the situation so quickly, not without ruling out all other possibilities.
    Matt took a deep breath and picked up his laptop. So many emails from his clients, their tone ranging from concern to anger right down to dismissal. He ought to write back to them immediately, apologize for his absence, make up some health related reason why he couldn't notify them sooner. Anything would do to salvage his reputation and get his work life back under control.
    There was just one problem: none of it seemed important anymore.
    He was a bear. Within the blink of an eye, he could turn and rip an attacker to shreds if he wanted to. What the hell was he doing here, typing inane reports about foreign currency fluctuations or what the latest budget would mean to small businesses? None of that stuff mattered.
    Leah. She mattered to him.
    He had to get in touch with her, explain everything - preferably in a way that the Alliance didn't find out about it - and make things right. Over the course of little over a week, he'd gone from never leaving his house to being stuck at the Alliance base and even heading into a nearby forest to train with Jamie outdoors.
    He'd felt the reluctant rays of mid-winter sun on his face. The icy winds cut through his flesh, right to his bones.
    He'd emerged from a shell he'd confined himself in for so long; it was unthinkable to just go back to the way things were.
    And she - the woman who had given him the benefit of the doubt initially - was right there next door, yet so far away.
    He tried her new number again, holding his breath as the phone rang.
Please, pick up!
    Then, rather than the expected recording