Page 7 of Daddy Wolf’s Secret Baby (Fated To The Wolf #10)

6

Josiah

J osiah grabbed a soda from the fridge and sauntered outside to sit on the back deck. Spending the evening with Jace and Zahra created a warm feeling inside of him that he hadn’t ever felt before. Grilling the hamburgers while Jace had watched and asked a million questions as though he was planning on being the next grill master was fun.

He had also got a kick out of how competitive Jace got when playing cards. The boy wasn’t a bad sport, but he also wasn’t going to give up until he won. Josiah was positive that they would have been playing cards until the crack of dawn until Jace won the majority of the games. Luckily, he won the next two. Josiah hadn’t just let him win, either. He was a firm believer in making someone earn the “trophy” so to speak.

Zahra hadn’t talked much. She mostly observed the interactions between Jace and Josiah. He must have done a good job with Jace, but Zahra had a permanent smile.

It was obvious that she was still the sweet, intelligent woman she had been eleven years ago. He grinned. Now, she was a very independent, stubborn woman who absolutely knew her own mind.

“I guess she had to be in order to survive in a brand-new place and be a single mother all these years.”

Josiah admitted to himself that he admired her a lot. Not only was Zahra a strong woman, like Isobel, but she was also like his own mom.

That thought stopped him dead in his tracks, and he smacked his forehead with his palm.

“Mom and Dad don’t know about Jace. I completely forgot all about them because of everything that is going on. Mom is going to kill me, and Dad is going to sell popcorn and tickets for the event.”

He checked his watch and decided that it was too late. It was nine in New Mexico, which meant that it was eleven in Florida, where his parents were vacationing.

The moon was full and the clear sky was full of twinkling bright stars that promised a bright future. In the distance, from the direction of the mountain, he heard the howl from a pure wolf who was howling at the moon, either to call his friends or to signal a hunt.

He had read that it was a myth that the animals howled at the moon. Since they were nocturnal animals, it only made sense that they would call out at night. They raised their heads when they howled because the sound carried farther. However, he had felt his inner wolf being pulled by the moon, so he would stick with the old legends.

Zahra’s scent wafted around him when he went to bed that night. Her image popped into his mind, and he wondered what it would be like to hold her once again. He fell asleep thinking of her.

Josiah called his mom and dad after breakfast the next morning. He needed coffee before he could handle his mom.

“How’s the vacation going?”

“It’s wonderful. We’re staying in St. Augustine, which is the oldest city in the United States. Yesterday we visited the Castillo de San Marcos, and today we’re heading to St. Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum. Your father is dying to go to the alligator farm.”

“He’s not going to wrestle those things, is he?”

“No. I don’t think they allow that. I won’t let him sneak out of the hotel room to go to the swamp at night, either.”

“You might have to chain him to the bed.” Josiah laughed.

“Maybe. So, what’s up? This is the first time you’ve called us since we’ve been here.”

“Well, I’m not sure how to tell you this softly, so I’ll just tell you that you have a ten-year-old grandson named Jace.”

“What?” Nevaeh screeched.

“Is Dad there? You can put the phone on speaker so I don’t have to explain everything twice.”

“Logan, come here. Josiah says that we have a grandkid.”

“What’s up, Son?”

Josiah calmly explained what happened between him and Zahra and her decision to leave.

“She hid him from you?” Nevaeh cried. “That’s terrible. How could she do such a thing?”

“Mom, you can’t blame her. She did what she thought was best. She didn’t want to force me into a relationship I told her I wasn’t interested in. She always told Jace about me and never badmouthed me to him.”

“She stole ten years away from us that we could have had with him.” Nevaeh’s voice was shaking with fury.

“Being angry about that won’t change anything. We won’t ever get those years back. If you stay angry at her, then it will only put a distance between you guys. Zahra wouldn’t ever keep him from you, but Jace is extremely intelligent and sensitive. He will know you are frustrated with her and will pull away from you.”

Nevaeh growled. “I guess. I’ll have to work on it. We’ll take the next plane home.”

“No, please don’t do that. Stay there and finish your vacation. Jace and I are getting to know each other. He’ll be here when you come home.”

There was silence for a minute and then Logan spoke. “We’ll do that. You and he need to have time to bond before other strangers try to butt into his life.”

“Did Isobel and John know about him?”

Josiah didn’t want to answer, but he wasn’t going to lie to his parents. “Yes, they did. They also knew who Jace’s father was, but they honored Zahra’s wishes to keep quiet about it. Zac knew about Jace but didn’t know I was his father.”

“They had ten years with our grandson and didn’t tell us.”

Josiah knew by the tone of his mother’s voice that she was livid.

“If you want to blame anyone, blame me. I told her I didn’t want a relationship because my friendship with Zac and my position in the pack came first. I wasn’t even nice or gentle about it.”

There was silence on the other end. Finally, Logan said, “Alright. We’ll finish our vacation and then come home. Hopefully, your mother will have time for her temper to cool by then. Congrats on the son.”

“Thanks, Dad. Be careful.”

He hung up the phone and stared at the wall. “That went about as well as I figured it would. I hope Mom’s temper does cool because the last thing I need is for her to say something nasty to Zahra, Luna, or Alpha.”

The day seemed to drag by until it was time to pick Jace up from school. Jace excitedly introduced him to all of his friends as his father, which made Josiah’s heart swell like a balloon. They had some pizza.

“You have another grandmother and grandfather you haven’t met yet. My parents are on vacation in Florida and will be home soon. I talked to them this morning and they can’t wait to meet you.”

Jace looked at Josiah worriedly. “What if they don’t like me?”

“I promise you that they will love you very, very much. They’ll likely spoil you to death.”

He thought about the statement for a second before replying, “I’m not ready to be spoiled to death. I have a few things I want to accomplish in life, first.”

“I didn’t mean they are actually going to kill you. I mean…” Josiah stopped talking when he saw Jace’s smirk.

They played a few games of laser tag. He and Jace both won a game, but more than that, they laughed a lot and had a ton of fun.

“Thank you for taking me to play. Mom, Emma, and Ruthie used to take me, too, but they’re easy to beat.”

“I appreciate the tip,” Josiah said. “If Emma comes to visit, we’ll have to challenge them to a couple of games.”

“That will be fun,” Jace said.

He was yawning when Josiah walked him to his front door. Zahra must have been watching because she threw open the door before he could knock.

“Mom, can Dad put me to bed?”

“Sure,” Zahra said. “Go brush your teeth and get ready.”

“Is there a secret bedtime ritual I should know about?”

“Yes. First, you have to perform the sacred dance. Then, there is a handshake. After you recite the oath, you read from the book.”

Josiah raised his eyebrows.

She laughed. “No. You just read a chapter in his book with him and then tell him goodnight.”

“That I can handle.”

“What’s your schedule for Saturday night?”

“Jace is spending the night with Conner’s family. They have horses, and he is fascinated by Taryn’s magic. I think he’s a little sad that he doesn’t have any magical powers.”

“Blame that on his mother.” Josiah laughed.

Just then, Jace appeared. “What’s Mom’s fault?”

“That you aren’t a little wizard.”

“I could have always been a muggle-born wizard,” he said, referring to a Harry Potter term for magical children born of non-magical parents.

“You’re out of luck, Bud. You aren’t getting your letter to Hogwarts and there won’t be a map to Camp Half-Blood showing up.”

Jace sighed dramatically and walked toward his room. Zahra motioned for Josiah to follow him.

“We’re reading The House of Hades. ”

They read the next three chapters before Zahra appeared in the doorway. “He conned you into more, didn’t he?”

“Yes. He said he would take the heat if we got into trouble. He said I could have plausible deniability because you didn’t tell me the rules.”

“You two are terrible. Jace, it’s time for sleep.”

She kissed him on the forehead and turned off the light, shutting the door behind him.

Josiah grinned. “He seems to like me.”

“No. He adores you.”

“I’m glad.” Josiah paused for a second as they walked to the front door together. “I was wondering if you would like to go to Howlers’ with me Saturday night and grab a bite to eat?”

“That sounds nice.”

For the rest of the week, he realized that he was extremely excited about spending the evening with Zahra. Josiah was looking forward to the chance of getting to know her better. Who knows, maybe some of those old feelings are still there.

She was dressed in perfectly fitting jeans and a lacy, white, button-down shirt when he knocked on her door. Her hair was pulled back in a long, French braid that reached her ass. She only wore a little bit of eyeliner that highlighted her big blue eyes. Zahra took his breath away.

“I’m ready,” she said when he stood there on the porch, looking at her dumbly.

Shaking his head to dispel the cobwebs, he offered her his arm.

Sean and Jade rushed over to hug her as soon as they entered Howlers’ . Several other pack members did as well, and Josiah was starting to think that he was never going to get a chance to sit down and have a conversation with her. Finally, though, the crowd around them dispersed and they snagged a table in the back.

“Are you some kind of celebrity?” he asked playfully.

“Maybe. My secret identity is that of a famous movie star. I didn’t want to tell you because, well, it’s a secret.”

“Gotcha,” he said.

A waitress brought them some sweet iced teas and their dinners. They talked about their lives over the last ten years. Zahra told him about moving to St. Theresa, going to college, working at a restaurant, and raising Jace.

He mentioned that he also went to college and earned his degree in environmental science with a minor in forensic entomology.

“Sounds exciting.”

“I like it. Jace says that when he becomes an ME, then we can work together figuring out how people died and find the bad guys.”

Zahra laughed. It wasn’t one of those tinkling, dainty laughs that a lot of women have. It was a full, loud laugh.

“I guess I should have asked whether there is a man in your life who will be following you down from St. Theresa.”

She paled slightly and then smiled. “No. I haven’t even dated much. Between work, school, and Jace, I never had time. Plus, there was no one who could… who caught my interest enough for a long-term relationship. What about you?”

He wondered about her reaction when he first asked but figured that it was simply a relationship that had gone bad. A satisfactory feeling flushed through him. He was the only man who had ever touched Zahra.

You have no claim on her.

In spite of his thoughts, he still felt happy that he had been her only lover.

“I dated some women. Madison and I were together for a couple of years, but we decided to just be friends.”

Josiah wasn’t about to explain that he broke up the relationship because Madison wanted something permanent, but because of Zahra, he couldn’t.

They talked for a while, and then she yawned. “I’m so sorry. I was up early working on some accounts, took Jace to shift, and then cleaned the house.”

“It is almost midnight.”

“It is?” She looked at her watch as though she didn’t believe him. “Wow. I guess time does fly when you’re having fun. I’m normally in bed by ten.”

He took her home and walked her to her front door.

“Thank you for this evening. It was very nice.”

“I had a great time, too. I’d like to do it again sometime soon.”

She nodded and smiled. “That sounds nice.”

He put both hands on her face and pressed his lips to hers. Her mouth opened and his tongue pushed inside, tasting her mouth, dancing with her tongue.

Zahra wrapped her arms around him, her fingers lightly kneading his back, as he devoured her lips hungrily.

Electricity flashed in the air and fire burned in his veins. He could feel his cock responding to her kiss.

He pulled back before he threw her over his shoulder, took her into the house, tossed her on the bed, and took her.

“I need to get home. Go inside and lock the door.”

Her face was flushed and her eyes were wide. She nodded, fumbled with her keys, and then went inside. He stood on the porch until he heard the door lock and then went home.

As soon as he was inside, he stripped and walked straight into a cold shower. It helped calm his libido, but it didn’t wash her scent off of him. It would haunt him all night, even in his dreams.