“I just wonder if she would have ever told me about Jace if Luna hadn’t been sick.”
“Yes. She was planning on moving back to Angel’s Creek, even before mom was diagnosed and Elias approached her. She missed home and she knew it was time for Jace to meet you.”
“That’s good to know.”
Josiah picked Jace up after school.
“Can we go for a run? Sitting in class all day makes me antsy.”
“Sure. I’m a little antsy myself.”
They went to the shifting tree and loped around the mountain for a while. Then, out of the blue, Josiah’s hackles were raised, and he was suddenly uneasy. He looked around and saw a couple of humans he hadn’t ever seen before wandering around.
Who are they?
I don’t know, Son. They could be hikers who got off the trail. They could also be rogue vampires or hunters. We don’t want to take any chances.
They headed back down to the shifting tree. Once they were safely back in Josiah’s truck, he called Zac and reported what he saw to Zac.
“I’ll send a couple of people up there to find out,” Zac said. “One of them will be a dragon shifter. Lucious was right in that the two ways to kill vampires are with a wooden stake to the heart or beheading. However, being burned to ashes by a dragon is hard to recover from, unless one is a phoenix.”
Later on, Zac said that the strangers were gone by the time the dragon shifter and wolf shifter made it to the area.
The rest of the week went by fairly quickly. There weren’t any additional vampire attacks, so they either moved on or were feeding outside of Angel’s Creek area. Elias and his men also took a break from harassing Zahra. He was pretty sure that they weren’t done, yet. Josiah picked Jace up from school Friday. Jace asked if they could go to the mountain.
Josiah was extremely wary, but there weren’t any strangers lurking about. He noticed that he was extra cautious when he had Jace with him.
I guess it’s those daddy genes going to work, he thought.
“Can I stay the night?” Jace asked when they got back to Josiah’s house.
“We’ll ask your mom.”
Zahra readily agreed and said she would bring over some clothes for him.
“He has some here. Mom and Dad took him shopping, but I would love for you to join us for dinner. I thought I would grill some steaks and baked potatoes.”
“Grandma and Grandpa bought me aMonopolygame. I’ll destroy the both of you,” Jace called out.
Zahra laughed and asked what time she should show up.
“How about six? Can I bring anything?”
“Chocolate-covered cherry cookies,” Jace yelled.
Zahra laughed. “I don’t have time to make those. I’ll figure out something yummy for dessert.”
Josiah and Jace went out back so they could get the grill fired up.
“Is Mom in trouble?”
The question took Josiah off guard and the vulnerability in Jace’s voice broke his heart.
“Why do you ask that?”
“I know about Elias. I heard Mom and Uncle Zac talking. I also know that Elias wants to make Mom go back to St. Theresa to be his Luna and that he doesn’t want me. I think he wants to hurt me. I don’t like him. Elias’ dad, Gentry, was nice, but Elias isn’t.”
“Your mother is a very smart, strong woman. She’ll protect the both of you. Plus, you have Uncle Zac, Uncle Conner, as wellas me and the rest of the wolf shifter pack to watch over you. We’re not going to let anything happen to you guys.”