Page 42 of Daddy Wolf's Secret Baby

“Might have, my butt. Just be careful with your heart,” she said. “Now, what’s this about Elias, and why haven’t you told your Dad and me about it?”

“I didn’t want to worry you. How did you find out?”

“It’s hard not to notice a giant dragon landing in someone’s yard two doors down. I asked Zac about it and he tried to downplay the situation, but I’m not a mama and wasn’t the Luna of the pack for all those years for nothing.”

Zahra explained the situation.

“Maybe you should move in with us, just for a short while.”

“Mom, I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time. I’m not going to move in just because someone’s being a jerk. Besides, I wouldn’t be locked into an ivory tower so no scary bad men could get at me. If they want to come after me, they will do it when I’m at work, picking up Jace, shopping, or whatever.”

“True, but I don’t like it.”

She spent the afternoon making a couple batches of the cookies that everyone seemed so fond of. Josiah brought Jace by and ate at least six of them.

“These are great. You should make these and sell them on the side of the road. You’d get rich.”

“No, I wouldn’t. You and my family would have them eaten as quickly as I can take them out of the oven.”

“That would put a dent in your profits,” he replied.

She wrapped up some cookies for Josiah and Jace, hugged her parents, and walked back to her place. Josiah was vigilant as they walked, looking at every single vehicle parked on the street and searching for anyone who might be lurking about.

As soon as she unlocked the house and tapped in her security code, he went from room to room, making sure no one was lurking about in closets or under the bed.

“Thank you, but I did set my alarm.”

“You can never be too careful,” he said. “Never underestimate the enemy.”

Zahra just smiled at him.

Jace grabbed a couple of cookies and headed into the living room to play his game until dinner. Josiah and Zahra sat in the kitchen at the table.

“I wanted to talk to you about something,” Josiah said.

Zahra’s heart stopped. She half hoped and was half afraid that he wanted to talk about them and their relationship.

“I didn’t want to worry you, because you have enough on your plate, but I wanted to warn you to be careful when you take Jace for a run on the mountain.”

Her heart sank. This wasn’t what she hoped he would say. She carefully schooled her face to make sure that her disappointment didn’t show.

“Why is that?”

“Two reasons, besides Elias. One is that there is a nest of rogue vampires that are in the area. They’ve killed a mundane human and a deer shifter so far. They haven’t struck in a few days and some people think they’ve moved on, but that hasn’t been their pattern, so far. Normally, they stay in the area until they claim at least ten lives. Unless there are several people they’ve hit and we haven’t found, they aren’t close to hitting that number yet.”

“Great,” Zahra said. “That’s all we need.”

“As you know, when there are supernatural creatures, especially those behaving badly, hunters aren’t far behind.”

Zahra hung her head and shook it.Elias, rogue vamps, and hunters.

Josiah sensed that she was starting to feel a little overwhelmed. He touched her shoulder comfortingly and said, “Don’t worry. We’re all looking for the vampires and we will find them. As for the hunters and Elias, your brothers and I will make sure you’re safe.”

A flash of independence flared inside of her. She looked at him. “Don’t discount me, either. I can take care of Jace and me.”

He grinned at her. “I know you can. I need to head out. I’ll talk to you soon.”

She wanted to ask him about their relationship and whether there was a future for the two of them, but the words wouldn’t form. In all honesty, she wasn’t sure whether she could handle being rejected by him twice.

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