Page 21 of Daddy Wolf's Secret Baby

Josiah calmly explained what happened between him and Zahra and her decision to leave.

“She hid him from you?” Nevaeh cried. “That’s terrible. How could she do such a thing?”

“Mom, you can’t blame her. She did what she thought was best. She didn’t want to force me into a relationship I told her I wasn’t interested in. She always told Jace about me and never badmouthed me to him.”

“She stole ten years away from us that we could have had with him.” Nevaeh’s voice was shaking with fury.

“Being angry about that won’t change anything. We won’t ever get those years back. If you stay angry at her, then it will only put a distance between you guys. Zahra wouldn’t ever keep him from you, but Jace is extremely intelligent and sensitive. Hewill know you are frustrated with her and will pull away from you.”

Nevaeh growled. “I guess. I’ll have to work on it. We’ll take the next plane home.”

“No, please don’t do that. Stay there and finish your vacation. Jace and I are getting to know each other. He’ll be here when you come home.”

There was silence for a minute and then Logan spoke. “We’ll do that. You and he need to have time to bond before other strangers try to butt into his life.”

“Did Isobel and John know about him?”

Josiah didn’t want to answer, but he wasn’t going to lie to his parents. “Yes, they did. They also knew who Jace’s father was, but they honored Zahra’s wishes to keep quiet about it. Zac knew about Jace but didn’t know I was his father.”

“They had ten years with our grandson and didn’t tell us.”

Josiah knew by the tone of his mother’s voice that she was livid.

“If you want to blame anyone, blame me. I told her I didn’t want a relationship because my friendship with Zac and my position in the pack came first. I wasn’t even nice or gentle about it.”

There was silence on the other end. Finally, Logan said, “Alright. We’ll finish our vacation and then come home. Hopefully, your mother will have time for her temper to cool by then. Congrats on the son.”

“Thanks, Dad. Be careful.”

He hung up the phone and stared at the wall. “That went about as well as I figured it would. I hope Mom’s temper does cool because the last thing I need is for her to say something nasty to Zahra, Luna, or Alpha.”

The day seemed to drag by until it was time to pick Jace up from school. Jace excitedly introduced him to all of his friends ashis father, which made Josiah’s heart swell like a balloon. They had some pizza.

“You have another grandmother and grandfather you haven’t met yet. My parents are on vacation in Florida and will be home soon. I talked to them this morning and they can’t wait to meet you.”

Jace looked at Josiah worriedly. “What if they don’t like me?”

“I promise you that they will love you very, very much. They’ll likely spoil you to death.”

He thought about the statement for a second before replying, “I’m not ready to be spoiled to death. I have a few things I want to accomplish in life, first.”

“I didn’t mean they are actually going to kill you. I mean…” Josiah stopped talking when he saw Jace’s smirk.

They played a few games of laser tag. He and Jace both won a game, but more than that, they laughed a lot and had a ton of fun.

“Thank you for taking me to play. Mom, Emma, and Ruthie used to take me, too, but they’re easy to beat.”

“I appreciate the tip,” Josiah said. “If Emma comes to visit, we’ll have to challenge them to a couple of games.”

“That will be fun,” Jace said.

He was yawning when Josiah walked him to his front door. Zahra must have been watching because she threw open the door before he could knock.

“Mom, can Dad put me to bed?”

“Sure,” Zahra said. “Go brush your teeth and get ready.”

“Is there a secret bedtime ritual I should know about?”

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