Page 72 of Daddy Wolf's Secret Baby

Two vampires had jumped on Zac’s back. One of them was trying to get his teeth lodged into his neck. Josiah leaped and knocked the vampire off balance. The tall, thin vamp staggered, whirled around, and flew at Josiah. The wolf shifter stepped to the side and the vamp landed off balance. The bloodsuckerleaped again and landed on Josiah’s back. He bared his teeth and tried to bite Josiah’s neck. The wolf dropped to the ground and rolled. Before the vampire could get up, a hunter with a machete lopped off his neck.

Soon, all of the vampires either had stakes in their chests or had lost their heads.

Zac, Josiah, and Conner shifted back to human form and stared at the three hunters.

One of them stepped forward and offered his hand to Zac. “We haven’t formally met. I’m Leon, and these are my merry men, Seth and Duncan. You’re Zac, the Alpha of the Nightshade Wolf Shifter Pack.”

Not sure whether he could trust Leon, Zac slowly shook his hand, watching for any sign of betrayal.

Leon smiled. “Don’t worry. We aren’t the kind of hunters who kill anyone and anything just because they’re different. We only hurt rogue supernatural killers who hurt others, like were-creatures or these rogue vampires. My wife was killed by a rogue shifter. Duncan’s whole family was killed by a witch, and Seth’s parents were killed by vampires.”

“We appreciate that,” Zac said. “We also appreciate your help. We made quite a team. You’re welcome to stay and have dinner with us.”

Leon shook his head. “We appreciate the offer, but we’re off to Cheyenne, Wyoming. There’s a dark witch there who’s been killing people with spells and other dark magic.

The three shifters looked at each other. That sounded a lot like Beth’s mother. Although Beth and Taryn were good witches with pure hearts, Beth’s mother was about as dark as a witch could get. She had tried to kill Conner a few times.

“Good luck,” Zac said.

The bear shifters showed up as Zac, Conner, and Josiah were getting dressed.

“Sorry, guys, you missed all the fun. We and the hunters worked together to kill eight of those bloodsucking bastards.”

Matthias asked, “Where are the hunters now?”

“They were good guys. They only hunt the supernatural folks who harm others. They’re off chasing a dark witch.”

After a brief discussion, they decided the best course of action was to burn the barn down with the vampire bodies inside.

Zac called Lucious and told him what happened. Lucious landed next to Zac ten minutes later. He shifted and walked into the barn to inspect the bodies.

“Good work, guys.”

He shifted back into dragon form and blew a stream of fire all around the barn until it was completely engulfed. Everyone stood around, watching it burn, making sure there was nothing left and the last ashes were out.

“The last thing we need is to start some kind of forest fire,” Zac said dryly.

“I’m going back to get dressed. Let’s meet atHowlers’. I’ll buy,” Lucious said.

Josiah grinned. “You should, since Zac, Conner, and I did all the hard work.”

Smiling as he jumped into Zac’s truck, he felt a euphoric high. They had managed to get rid of two problems all at once. The vampires were gone and the hunters, who were never a threat, were also leaving town. That just left one to deal with – Elias.

As though he read Josiah’s mind, Zac asked, “Has Zahra heard from Elias?”

“Not to my knowledge, but I’m sure that he’s still around. He is the kind of person who would stay around and cause trouble simply because he didn’t get what he wanted. The second that Zahra told him ‘no’ she became a challenge.”

“I hate to take out another Alpha, but it might have to be done.”

“It just might, if he refuses to get the hint. I’m going to stop by the jeweler’s this afternoon and get a ring. I’ve known for a long time that she’s my fated mate. I was scared to ask her to go through the mating ceremony with her, I guess because that’s such a final step. I know that I love her and Jace, and I’m ready for us to be a real family.”

“That’s good. She’s loved you for a long time.”

Josiah sighed. “I guess I’ve known that, but had simply brushed it off as a little girl crush. Don’t say anything to her, please.”

“Of course not. I would never ruin your proposal. I will be excited to officiate it, though.”

They had just about gotten to the bar when Josiah heard Zahra’s panicked voice in the back of his mind.

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