Page 15 of Daddy Wolf's Secret Baby

“I promise to take good care of him. We’re going to have a lot of fun,” Josiah said.

She nodded.

Jace kissed her on the cheek. “Bye, Mom.” He grabbed Josiah’s arm and practically dragged him to the truck.

He showed Josiah the bags after Jace was buckled into his seat. “I didn’t know if you would remember bags for me, and Mom says that I have to always be prepared for everything. I don’t like having to shake the bugs out of my clothes.”

“I did remember bags for you, and your mother is right. I’m not a huge fan of bugs in my clothes, either. The worst is when you go someplace new and there are fire ants in the tree or bush you hide your clothes in and you forgot a bag.”

Jace cocked his head to one side. “What are fire ants?”

“I forgot that you don’t have them in Missouri. They are nasty little creatures that are aggressive. They like to sting people out of sheer meanness and leave itchy blisters. They are bad enough that they can kill small mammals, reptiles, and some ground-nesting birds.”

“I wouldn’t like to find them in my clothes. How did they get to New Mexico?”

“The theory is that they likely came from Brazil and hitched rides on cargo ships that docked in Mobile, Alabama around the 1930s. They didn’t make it to New Mexico until the 1990s.”

“How come you know so much about them?”

“Two things. One is that I’m very much interested in the ecosystem, especially in our area. The other is that, once upon a time, I thought about getting into entomology, especiallyforensic entomology. I used to watch a show calledBones,where one of the characters used bugs to help solve crimes and such.”

A huge smile lit up Jace’s face and he bounced in his seat. “You should do that. When I grow up, we can work together. I can be a medical examiner who finds out how the person died and you can study the bugs to find out more about the person’s death.”

“That would be fun. I didn’t know you wanted to be a medical examiner.”

“Yep. Just like Ducky onNCIS.”

“Your mom lets you watch that?”

“Yeah? Why does everyone think that’s so strange?”

Josiah just grinned and pulled into the parking spot at the base of the mountain.

“There is still a little bit of snow on the ground.”

“It’s okay. We had snow in the mountains in Missouri, too.”

They spent a couple of hours loping around on the mountain. Josiah showed Jace the little oasis spot. He couldn’t help but remember that this was the spot where he and Zahra had sex eleven years ago.

“A lot of shifters come here in the spring, summer, and early fall. There are always a ton of wildflowers growing here, and the water is fun to play in. It’s also a good place to take a nap.”

“Mom likes naps sometimes, but I don’t. I always read when she takes one.”

They talked about the kinds of books they liked to read as they walked back to the truck. Josiah took Jace to a diner for some cheeseburgers for lunch. He wasn’t ready for the attention they would likely get if they went toHowlers’.

He was disappointed when it was time to take Jace home.

“I had a lot of fun. Can we go again soon?”

Josiah ruffled Jace’s hair. “Of course.”

Jace waved to him and then disappeared inside the house. Josiah wished he could ask for more time, but he had a meeting to attend.

Zac and Conner were already at the ceremonial hall, along with Matthias, the Alpha for the local bear shifter clan, and Lucious, the Alpha for the local dragon shifter clan. Everyone’s faces were very grim.

“We likely have a problem,” Zac said, without any preamble. “One of the mundane humans in Angel’s Creek has been killed suspiciously. It looks like a vampire attacked the woman. She had been completely drained of blood and had the tell-tale marks on her neck. I talked to the sheriff, who, as you all know, is a bear shifter, and he said that there had been a string of similar murders. The individual or group of vampires have worked their way from Mississippi. There were about thirty suspicious deaths or disappearances in El Paso, Texas, and at least that many in San Antonio.”

“Vampires?” Conner groaned.

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