Page 1 of Daddy Wolf’s Secret Baby (Fated To The Wolf #10)

Zahra – 11 Years Ago

“Are you going to talk to him?” Marie asked.

“What’s the big deal?” Zahra asked. “I talk to him all the time. He’s one of my brother’s best friends, and when Zac becomes the alpha, Josiah will be his sigma.”

“The big deal is that we’re all partying and having a good time, you have a massive crush on him, and he’s looked at you a couple of times.”

“And?”

“And tonight might be the night that you two hook up. Maybe he’ll see you for the woman you are instead of the little girl who is his best friend’s little sister.”

Zahra sighed. It was true that she’d had a thing for Josiah since she was in diapers. She had followed him and Zac around like a lost puppy. They mostly ignored her, although once in a while, Josiah would sit down and have a conversation with her, which was the highlight of her life.

She looked over at Josiah, who grinned at her. Zahra’s stomach did a million flips, and her heart pounded in her chest.

“Go,” Marie hissed.

Zahra nodded and walked over to the tall, well-built wolf shifter pup. He ran his hand through his sandy blond hair, giving him a rakish look. The smile reached his emerald green eyes.

“Hi,” she said, suddenly feeling shy.

“Hi yourself,” he replied.

They talked for a while, and then Josiah asked if she wanted to go for a walk in the woods with him.

“That sounds nice,” she said.

The breeze was cool and felt good on her skin. The warm summer night enveloped them as they strolled under the tall, leafy canopy. A million bright stars danced in the sky above them, while the brilliant beams from a full moon guided their path.

Josiah reached for her hand and a bolt of electricity exploded inside of her from his touch. She hardly dared to breathe, fearing that this was a dream that she would soon wake up from.

They walked to the little oasis in the woods next to the river. The water rushed over the rocks, and wildflowers of a million different colors blanketed the ground. Josiah turned her to look at him.

She stared into his eyes, her soul quivering with anticipation. He lowered his head and pressed his lips against hers. A searing flame exploded inside of her. Josiah pulled her close to him until their bodies were pressed tightly together.

Her heart pounded and her breath caught in her throat. She moaned as his fingers tangled in her long, blond hair and the kiss intensified. His tongue pushed into her mouth, and she could taste the tangy beer he had drunk earlier. She could feel his arousal pressing into her stomach as a hot, wet, aching need flooded between her legs.

He looked into her blue eyes searchingly. “Do you want to…”

Josiah seemed to be struggling with how to word his question. Zahra simply nodded and slipped her hand under his shirt, touching his chest, just as she had always fantasized about.

Their clothes disappeared. Josiah gently laid her down on the ground and straddled her.

“Are you sure?” he asked, breathing heavily.

“I am,” Zahra said. She had never been surer in her entire life.

He devoured her lips in an all-consuming kiss as he pressed his thick, hard shaft against the hot, wet opening of her womanhood. With one swift movement, he was completely buried inside of her.

There had been a tiny bit of pain as he pushed past the proof of her virginity, but it had quickly been replaced by liquid heat that threatened to overwhelm her. He stayed still for a second, giving her a chance to become accustomed to him before he started moving slowly inside of her.

Josiah pulled back until just the tip of his long shaft was just inside her aching pussy. Then, he pushed deeper inside of her until he was completely buried inside of her. Their bodies moved together in a sweet rhythm that only their hearts and souls could hear.

His thick cock stroked the hot, wet, silky walls that caressed him as he pistoned in and out of her.

Zahra looked at Josiah, a million butterflies exploding inside of her stomach. He was so incredibly sexy that it stole her breath away. His scent, a combination of cedar and his essence, flooded through her. Her fingers dug lightly into his back, and a soft moan escaped from her lips. She lifted her hips to meet his as he drove hard and deep inside of her.

“Josiah. Oh, my heavens, Josiah,” she breathed, hardly daring to believe this was real.

The stars danced above them, and the moon spotlighted their union as a fiery hot volcano exploded inside of her. She trembled as her pussy walls pulsated around Josiah’s cock.

“That’s it, Baby. Come for me.”

She cried out his name as a roar of hot, molten lava rushed out of her.

He pulled back one more time and then rammed his cock hard and fast deep inside of her, causing another burst of pure ecstasy to thunder, rocking her soul. Josiah’s head fell back and he howled. His cock throbbed and he shot a geyser of his hot seed deep inside of her body.

Their bodies quivered together in the cool summer night. Once they could breathe again, Josiah fell to the ground next to her and pulled her into his arms.

“Are you okay?” he whispered into her neck.

“Better than okay,” Zahra said. “I never imagined, in a million years, how amazing that would be with you.”

He held her for a while and then he shifted. “I think we’d better get back to the party before we’re missed.”

Marie’s already going to notice that we’re missing.

She didn’t voice her thoughts. Instead, she reluctantly pulled out of his arms and found her clothes that had been thrown all over the place.

Marie smiled widely at her when they walked back to the group.

Zac, her oldest brother, raised his eyebrows and looked at them appraisingly. “Where did you two get off to?”

“We just went for a walk,” Josiah replied quickly.

Zac looked at Zahra for a minute and then nodded, although she knew her brother thought there was more to their brief disappearance than Josiah suggested.

Marie rubbed her hands eagerly when Zahra joined her. “Well?”

“We did it,” Zahra said. “It was the most incredible experience ever.”

“Are you two going to be a couple?”

“I don’t know. I hope so. He didn’t say anything about that.”

Marie grinned. “You have to be. Zac will kill him if Josiah just slept with you and it was a ‘wham, bam, thank you, ma’am’ situation.”

“Nah. Zac will mind his business. One of the things that he’s learned while training to be the alpha is that a good leader lets people handle their own personal business and only gets involved if a formal dispute happens.”

“That’s different. That’s about the pack in general. You’re his baby sister. He’s always been overprotective of you.”

“True enough, but I don’t think he will do or say anything regardless of whether Josiah and I become a thing.”

Her heart was singing as she went to bed that night. Her biggest dream ever, her wildest fantasy, had come true today. Not only had Josiah noticed her as more than Zac’s little sister, but she had been with him. He had touched her like a man touched a woman he loved. She could still smell his scent and knew that meant he was her fated mate.

The next morning, Zahra went to the shifting tree. It was a spot on the mountain, off the trail, where a lot of the shifters transformed into their animal forms. The tree was huge and had the perfect hidey holes for their bags of clothes. She knew that Josiah often went there first thing in the morning to shift and run. Today was no exception.

Her heart flipped and it felt as though the sun had come out just to shine on her this morning. “Good morning, Josiah.”

“Oh, hi, Zahra.”

Her heart sank. His tone of voice wasn’t warm or welcoming. The awkwardness and slight chill immediately built an ice wall between them.

“How are you?”

He shifted from one foot to the other. Josiah had taken off his shirt but hadn’t gotten to his pants yet. Zahra resisted the urge to reach out and touch the incredible, muscular body that stood before her.

“Good,” he said. “We need to talk about last night.”

She grinned and he shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I think it was a huge mistake. You are my best friend’s little sister. I can’t possibly risk my friendship with Zac and my position with the pack. If you and I start dating and something goes wrong, then I will be the one to pay the price.”

A cold, icy fist clenched around her heart, and she bit back her tears. “What if things don’t go wrong? What if they go right?”

Josiah shook his head. “I can’t take that chance.”

Zahra turned and fled. Her entire world was destroyed.

She refused to leave the house for the next couple of days. Finally, her mother walked into her bedroom and sat on Zahra’s bed.

“Talk to me.”

At first, Zahra just stared at her mother. Then, everything came out in a rush. Isabel wrapped her arms around Zahra as she sobbed on her mother’s shoulder.

“I’m so sorry this happened, but you can’t hide from him forever,” Isabel said. “The best thing that you can do is to live your life and let him know that his words can’t control you.”

Zahra nodded and for the next month, she tried to act like normal – at least until she started to feel a little sick. She was tired and couldn’t keep her breakfast down. Zahra went to the pack doctor and nearly passed out when she heard the verdict.

“You’re pregnant. The baby is due in about five months.”

Reeling from complete shock, she drove home. She was shocked when she pulled into the driveway because she didn’t remember a second of the drive. All she could think about was the baby growing inside of her. It was Josiah’s baby.

Her mom was home and as soon as Zahra saw her, she blurted out the news.

“Mom, I’m pregnant.”

Her mom smiled. “A baby is always a blessing. Congratulations. When are you going to tell Josiah?”

“I’m not. He didn’t want to be with me. I’m not going to make him feel trapped and force him into a relationship.”

“What are you going to do? It’s not like you can hide the pregnancy or the baby for long.”

“I guess it’s time that I moved out and started a life on my own. I had planned to go to a university and get a job in accounting. I love numbers and hope someday, I can get a job in forensic accounting. We’ll just tell everyone that I left for that reason. I got accepted into a lot of different schools. I like Lone Pine University in St. Theresa, Missouri. They have a great accounting program there and, according to research, it has the same hometown feel that Angel’s Creek does. I’ll send in the offer acceptance today.”

Isabel looked at Zahra long and hard. “It will be hard to be a single mother in a strange place and going to school.”

“I know, but I can’t stay here. Will you guys help me until I can get on my feet?”

“Of course. You don’t even have to ask.”

Zahra had the same conversation with her father, John, that night. He was livid that Josiah took advantage of her, and it took a while for Zahra to convince him that she was a willing participant and he had made no promises.

The next weekend, Isabel and John made the trip to St. Theresa. They bought her a small, two-bedroom house, with a big fenced-in backyard. The quaint cottage-like home would be perfect for her and the baby.

Life was a whirlwind. Zahra had no intention of living off of her parents’ money, even though they insisted they wanted to support her while she went to college.

Zahra quickly made friends with the older woman next door, named Ruthie, who was also a wolf shifter. Her daughter, Emma, was the manager of a high-end restaurant and was looking for help.

Emma and Zahra became friends quickly. She started working at Lavender Rose Bistro and took two summer courses.

Emma and Ruthie belonged to the Dark Claw Wolf Shifter Pack, and Zahra was quickly welcomed by other pack members, although she never formally joined their pack. The clan doctor helped her throughout her pregnancy.

Her mother, father, Emma, and Ruthie were there for her when Jace was born. He was a perfect ten-pound, six-ounce pup who was twenty-two inches long. He had curly, sandy blond hair and emerald eyes, like his father.

“There’s no denying who his father is,” John said dryly. “I still think you should tell Josiah.”

“Shush, John. Not right now,” Isabel said.

During the next ten years, her parents visited often. They loved Jace, who was extremely intelligent and just a wee bit cheeky. He had a sense of adventure that kept Zahra and Ruthie, who looked after the boy, on their toes.

Zahra earned her degree in accounting and then earned a master’s degree in forensic accounting before getting a job with a great, local company. Life was perfect – almost.

Occasionally, late at night, after Jace was in bed, Zahra would pour herself a glass of wine and go outside to stare at the stars. She was reminded of that night that she and Josiah had sex and sometimes imagined that she could still feel his touch. The man had broken her heart by rejecting her, but Jace had mended it.

There had been several nice men who asked Zahra out on a date. She said that she was focused on raising Jace. That was true, but the biggest reason was that no one could compare to Josiah. His scent still lingered in her soul.