Page 49 of Daddy Wolf's Secret Baby

“You never went back to have breakfast with them?”

“Lord, no. Have you ever tasted my mother’s cooking? She has a lot of talents in many areas, including real estate and anything to do with numbers. However, she manages to burn the eggs when she tries to boil them.”

“Oof.”

“Yeah. I’ve invited them over to my house for breakfast, though. Dad always seems grateful.”

“Why doesn’t he cook?”

“He wants to. Trust me. But Mom is a bit old-fashioned in that area and says that the kitchen is women’s domain.”

“You should know that you are welcome to cook in my kitchen anytime you want to.”

They picked up Jace and took him to the park. He talked a million miles an hour about how awesome his cousins were and how much fun he had. Jace thought it was hysterical when the babies got excited and then toys would pop up out of thin air.

“I guess they have a ton of toys,” Zahra said.

“No. They donate them all to kids who don’t have them, to the children’s hospital, and other places.”

They played catch and then a few other kids showed up and they got a soccer game going. Jace threw himself into the game.

“He’s competitive.”

Zahra nodded. “He gets that from me. If someone else is better and they beat me, then I lose gracefully. But I’ll fight all the way to the end, even if I’m behind.”

“That’s a good trait to have.”

He put his arm around her and she laid her head on his shoulder as they watched their son race up and down the field. Josiah was never one to sit still for long, and he was amazed that he was content to simply sit on the bench and watch.

Zahra made dinner while he and Jace played video games. The boy was just as fierce with those as he was playing soccer. He was an easy-going kid but took every competition seriously.

When Josiah said something about it, Jace said, “Mom always says that if you aren’t going to do your absolute best, then don’t bother showing up.”

All too soon the evening ended and Josiah went home. For the first time ever, he noted that the house felt empty. When he went to bed that night, he wished that Zahra was lying next to him.

The next morning started off with a meeting.

“Julian, a dragon shifter, caught a vampire late last night,” Zac announced to the small group of wolf shifters in theconference room. “The vampire, whose name was Dreven, was out hunting alone. He had been stalking a man walking home from work when Julian spotted him, just as Dreven was about to pounce. Julian verified that Dreven was a vamp and not just a mugger before taking him to Lucious.”

“I’m assuming that Lucious questioned him,” Conner said.

Zac nodded. “He refused to say anything except for his name. No matter how hard Lucious questioned him, he wouldn’t say how many were in the nest or where they were.”

“Is there anything left of him to question?” Josiah asked, already knowing the answer.

Zac shook his head. “At this time his ashes are scattered all over the mountain.”

Josiah groaned. “We really need to find their nest.”

Sighing heavily, Zac said, “I know, but it could be anywhere. There are hundreds of caves in the mountains. There are tons of abandoned houses and barns in the area. As you know, people from the bear and dragon clans have been searching as have our own people. We’ve got the entire area gridded out, so we aren’t overlapping our searches and no place is overlooked. So far, there’s nothing. They aren’t leaving any clues behind.”

“I guess we’ll just keep looking. Eventually, we’ll find them,” Conner said.

Josiah snorted. “Or, they’ll keep killing a ton of people here until they move on.”

“Aren’t you just a little ray of sunshine this morning,” Yasmin said.

“That’s me.”

---