Josef Senior had driven Tania to her place the day before so she could pack properly for her stay at theirs. She had packed enough for a couple of weeks, but she was aware that she could stay for as long as was needed. The last thing she placed in her luggage was a black shift dress with matching pumps and jacket. The material was thin and light, made for the Vegas heat.
Peri knocked on the bedroom door, she was dressed in a black dress and flats, her hair pinned back with some ringlets framing her pale face. She hadn’t bothered with makeup, knowing what the day would hold.
“Are you ready?” she asked her friend who stared at her with bleak eyes.
“No, but I don’t think I will ever be, so guess we should get going. Remind me to put this outfit in the trash when we get home, I don’t ever want to set eyes on it again.”
“Okay, honey, I’ll get rid of it for you later.” Peri could well understand her friend’s words. The outfit would be a reminder of the worst day of her life.
Tania stood and took a deep breath before following Peri to the front door. Gabe, Josef, and little Josef waited, the men dressed in dark suits, white shirts, and black ties, both looking as handsome as ever. They inclined their heads as Tania moved past and out the door, going to her love’s funeral instead of a party for their bonding.
Peri didn’t think the day would ever end. The ceremony was carried out by a sympathetic priest, although it was done in the funeral parlor and not the chapel. No self-respecting clergyman was going to have a funeral for a Vampire in his church.
Everything went as planned with more than a hundred people turning up, mostly, but not all Vampires. Everyone treated Tania as the grieving widow, and rightly so.
The meal afterward seemed to drag on, Peri only wanting to go and lie down, but refusing to leave her friend. Finally, Tania walked over, pulling Peri to her feet. “Let’s go home,” she said as she finally let loose the tears that she had held in check all day...the perfect hostess.
At home Tania went to her room and none of them saw her for nearly twenty-four hours.
Peri’s milk came in that same evening, and little Josef settled far better with being kept full with his mother’s nourishment. They settled into a routine and their lives went back to some semblance of order. Tania stayed for a few weeks and when she decided to leave, Peri cried for a long time, her men trying to console her and failing.
Hormones, the doctor had told a distraught Gabe when he called him, desperate with worry.
Little Josef flourished, growing rapidly, a beautiful boy with his father’s hair and his mother’s eyes. Everyone who saw him cooed and aahed at his smile. Josef went back to work, instead of helping full time with the baby...and yes, he did do diaper duty. He also hired another Head of Security, though that took him many weeks to do. He missed Donovan and hadn’t wanted to replace him.
This had surprised him immensely.
Tania was in their lives on an almost daily basis, helping Peri with the baby and often taking him for walks to give Peri a chance to nap...or so she thought.
Whenever Tania took little Josef out, Peri and her men would have some fun, using just about every item from ‘the box’!
Chapter 22
Peri lay on the sofa resting with her feet up and a cover over her, her brand new holo-reader in one hand. This was how she read digital books these days, like her old Kindle, but with the words projected onto thin air from a slim spindle. Another present from Gabe – he did like his gadgets. She was trying to read but her mind kept flitting away, reminiscing.
She missed her son, not so far away but far enough. He was now Alpha of his own Pack...his father’s Pack. He had always been more Wolf than Witch, and as he grew older, he yearned for Pack life. It had been with a heavy heart that they watched him load his things into his SUV and drive away...almost twenty years ago.
Josef Junior found, and joined, his father’s old Pack, fighting his way to the top of the pecking order until he was strong enough to challenge the Alpha. He fought the Alpha for leadership of the Pack in a long drawn out Wolf-on-Wolf fight. He won, even though he was injured quite badly. Peri and her men had arrived for the fight and it took all of her inner strength not to use magic to help her son. As the battle ended, he roared triumphantly before making his way to his own house. Peri had gone to his side, healing him with her magic as Gabe and Josef stood guard.
He now answered to Joey, although he would always be little Josef to her. She smiled as she remembered him as a young boy teaching his little sister, Gabrielle, how to walk, how to say words, how to hold her spoon while eating. He always had a caring side and she knew he was a damn good Alpha. They were all proud of him, even if they didn’t get to see him nearly as much as they wanted.
A picture of her beautiful daughter came into her mind, her father’s image: same hair, same eyes, same cheeky nature. Other than that, she was more Peri than Gabe, a very powerful Witch.
Gabrielle stayed locally, well almost, only an hour or so away on the jet. She lived with her husband – a human – and had two children of her own. Children that Peri and her mates doted on and spoiled rotten every chance they got.
She thought about her and Gabe trying for more children...and it not happening. For years after Gabrielle was born they tried, and for a long time she would cry when her period arrived, knowing she wasn’t pregnant...again. Her Wolf would hold her in his arms trying to console her. “It’s okay, baby, you’re the most precious thing in the world to me, we have two children, that’s enough. As long as I have you, that’s all I need.”
She smiled at the memory – her Wolf always looking after her. It didn’t stop her crying and praying for another child, though.
Forty years since she had given birth to little Josef and she looked and felt the same, still young, still healthy, still madly in love with her mates. They now lived in a large house on its own land, having moved out of downtown Vegas when little Josef was three. They felt it better for him not to be brought up in a hotel on the strip.
A locked room at the top of the house held their ‘playroom’ and she lost count of the exquisite hours they had spent there. A smile came to her face as she remembered everything they had done in that room. Her men were nothing if not inventive in the bedroom department. Worshiping her body as if she were a goddess.
Her mind briefly wandered to Ronan, and the time they had helped him. The sight of a Dragon was still so very clear in her mind...such a vision could never leave anyone. Sadness hit as she remembered the mission, but she pushed it away. Happy memories...today was for happy memories only.
A sigh escaped her lips at the same time as a soft moan. She had been putting this off, but decided she better make the call, picking up her phone and hitting speed dial for her Wolf.
“Hey, baby, you okay?” His cheeky voice brought another smile to her face.
“Yes, I’m fine, but Gabe, it’s time...”
“What?! Shit! Right! I’m on my way, stay there, don’t panic! I’ll be there as soon as I can. Is Josef there with you? Are you sure you don’t want to call an ambulance?”
Gabe’s panicked tone had her giggling like a schoolgirl. “I’m fine and yes, Josef’s here. Just go straight there, we’ll meet you out front. I’m not sure how long this one is gonna be.”
“Okay, I’m in the car now, I love you, Peri. Okay am hanging up, baby, I’ll be there soon.”
Gabe hung up and she stood, going to check she had everything she would need. She stopped for a moment as she took another deep breath, and suddenly strong arms were around her, hands gently rubbing her stomach.
“It’s okay, my little Witch, I’m here, everything’s going to be fine.”
Josef held her firmly as another contraction hardened her belly and she breathed through the pain. “Thanks, Josef, you know I love you, don’t you?”
“Yes, my darling, I know, I love you too...to eternity and beyond.”
>
Peri smiled as her Vampire kissed the top of her head. “Time to get you to the hospital,” he spoke into her hair as she nodded.
“Gabe’s on his way,” she told him as they made their way to the door, on their way for the birth of their third child.
Author’s Note
Thank you so very much for reading about Josef, Peri, and Gabe. I’ve loved writing their stories and am sure they have a long and very happy life ahead of them ... what with a new baby ‘n’ all.
You can check out my other books on my website, link below, or come and find me on Facebook, link below. I would love to hear your thoughts on the book.
If you could just spare a moment of your time to leave a review it would be very much appreciated.
Thanks again for reading one of my stories.
Live, love, read.
http://akmichaels.com/
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The Witch, The Wolf and The Vampire Series Boxed Set Page 51
