Page 54 of Daddy Wolf's Secret Baby

“Six. I think the leader’s name was Christoph. They argued about whether to kill me, and Christoph said it would be fun to turn me. Another one showed up and said that he caught someone snooping around and they needed to go. Another one said that they heard the hunters had found them and they would have to move on soon. Then, they walked out the door, leaving me here.”

His voice was getting weaker and Josiah was afraid that he wasn’t going to make it. He was relieved when he heard the truck doors slam and the women’s voices.

They rushed over to Travis and knelt beside him. Beth put her hands over him, not touching him, but just feeling his energy.

“He has been poisoned by the bite and he barely has enough blood to keep his heart pumping. Taryn, can you help his body make more blood after I nullify the poison? We’ll have to do it quickly.”

“Yes, Mama.”

Beth touched Travis’ arm and chanted a spell over and over again. He let out a loud scream and fell unconscious. She looked at Taryn and nodded. “Now.”

Taryn put her hands on his chest, closed her eyes, and changed. Josiah watched in awe. He could almost see Taryn’s energy and will enter Travis’ body. She didn’t move for at least an hour. Finally, she fell back, exhausted.

Conner ran to his daughter’s side and held a bottle of water to her lips. Beth ran her hands over Travis’ body.

“He’ll be fine. I had to nullify the poison before Taryn could get his body to reproduce the blood, or the blood would have been tainted. She is more powerful than me, so she was able to help him reproduce enough to keep him going.”

“Thank you,” Zac said. “You have helped all of us so much and you have no idea how grateful we are. I wish we could honor you, Taryn, and Savvy for all you’ve done, but I know that would not be good for you.”

“We don’t do it for the recognition. I just wish your damned mama would let us help,” Beth said.

Zac laughed. “I’ve never heard you curse before, and I agree. She is one stubborn wench.”

“Now what do we do with him?” Sean asked.

“Josiah and I will take him home. We’ll tell his wife he had an accident, he’ll be fine, he just needs to sleep for a few hours. He can tell her what he wants when he wakes up.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Sean said. “I have a bar to run. See ya later.”

Travis woke up when they were halfway to his house. He put his hand to his head and asked, “Did you get the name and number of the guy who ran over me?”

Josiah turned around in his seat. “Glad to see you still have a sense of humor.”

“They didn’t suck it out of me, I guess.” He was quiet for a second. “I hate lying to my wife, but there’s no way I can tell her that I was attacked by a nasty pack of vampires, I was rescued by shifters, and healed by witches. I’d rather tell her that I was having an affair.”

Zac and Josiah burst out laughing. “What’s your story, then?”

“I went for an early morning job, tripped, and hit my head on a rock. You all were jogging and found me. I have a massive headache right now, so it feels like that’s what happened.” He panicked for a minute and asked, “I don’t still have the bite marks on my neck, do I?”

Josiah grinned. “Nope, they were nice enough to heal those, too. You won’t even have a scar.”

“You don’t have to lie with me. Just smile and nod.”

“We got your back,” Josiah said.

They helped him walk to the door. Shirley wrenched open the door and stepped onto the porch. “Where in the hell have you been? You didn’t come back from your job. Your boss said he hadn’t seen you today and you didn’t call in.”

Travis told the story just like he’d rehearsed.

Her face softened. “Do I need to take you to the doctor?”

“No. I just need to sleep for a while. Please call my boss and tell him that I had an accident and likely won’t be in tomorrow.”

She nodded, thanked Josiah and Zac, and then shut the door practically in their faces.

Josiah shook his head when they got back in the truck. “Wow.”

“At least she said ‘thanks’ before shutting the door in our face.”

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