Page 44 of Daddy Wolf's Secret Baby

“I agree, but the public does have to be warned.”

On the drive over, Zac said, “You know the gala is next Saturday night.”

“I know. I was thinking about asking Zahra if she wants to go. She’ll be going anyway and it makes sense that we go together, since we have a child together.”

Josiah knew that his reasoning sounded very businesslike. Zac, however, wasn’t going to let it slide.

“People are expecting you two to go together. They are actually expecting to receive their invitations to the mating ceremony.”

Holding up his hands, palm out, Josiah said, “Whoa, there, Nelly. Back up the buggy. That’s going way too far way too fast. I have always cared about her. Those feelings have intensified some, although I’m not ready to jump into that ocean. I was thinking about talking to her about us and suggesting that we take baby steps toward the water and dip our toes in first. We don’t want to get hurt and we certainly don’t want Jace to get hurt.”

Zac nodded. “That makes sense. Just make sure that you and she are on the same page. I would hate to have to beat up one of my best friends for breaking my little sister’s heart.”

“I would really hate that, too,” Josiah said.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the base of the mountain. The forensic crew had already left. The ground around where Marge had lay was scuffed up, although the outline of her body was clear in the mud.

“She would have been upset to be seen this way. Marge was very fastidious about what she looked like,” Josiah said.

Zac nodded. “You’re right about that. She always looked as though she had stepped out of a beauty shop.”

“The question here, again, is whether the vampires knew she was a shifter?”

“Laverne once told me that they could sense other supernatural beings. We talked when she first moved to Angel’s Creek. Dad was the Alpha then, and she wanted to make sure that all the Alphas in the area knew that she and her family were here and they used blood banks. We got into a huge discussion about vampires and that’s one of the little titbits of information she shared with me.”

“Which is a very long-winded way of saying that the vampires knew that they were killing shifters.”

“I’m not going to say a hundred percent that they did, because they may or may not be able to sense others out thesame way that Laverne’s folks can. My money, though, says they knew full well that Marge and Eleanor were shifters. It adds to the challenge and fun.”

Josiah and Zac studied the area carefully, but couldn’t pick up on anything that the mundane investigators might have missed. However, he got the feeling they weren’t alone, but he didn’t see anyone when he casually looked around.

“I think we’re being watched.”

Zac nodded. “I get that feeling, too. The question is, vampire or hunter?”

15

Zahra

Josiah picked up Jace after school and dropped him off at Zahra’s house.

“Would you like to come in? I’m tired and was going to order pizza.”

He nodded and stepped into the house. “Pizza sounds good.”

Josiah watched as she locked the doors and set the alarm.

“Have you had any trouble?”

She shook her head. “Nope. No one has followed me or come by. I’m not going to relax, though. I still don’t trust him.”

“Good call.”

“Will you play video games with me, Dad?”

“In a second. I want to talk to your mom about something first.”

Zahra’s heart thundered in her chest. Talks were rarely good things.

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