Malakai (Stone Society #13) - Faith Gibson Page 0,114

coming with, or are you hanging out here a while?”

“We’re coming with you. I love my family, but Josie’s missing her own mother. We can come back here to visit soon.”

Nikolas clapped Kai on the shoulder. “I’m ready to be home. I have a baby on the way, and no offense to your family, but I’d rather Lydia be born in New Atlanta. Speaking of pregnant mates, I’m going to go sit with mine.”

Kai felt the smallest pang of jealousy. He was ready to hear two heartbeats coming from Josie’s body. But first, they had a house to rebuild and a training center to open.

Josie’s apartment felt small and suffocating after being on the island. She was already looking forward to going back and visiting when they could enjoy themselves without looking over their shoulders. Kai’s brothers had gone to the hotel and grabbed Hagen right as he was getting ready to leave. Drago’s assistant was taken to the Pen to live out the rest of his life for conspiring with Drago.

When they arrived in the city, Kai had driven Josie by their house at her request. Her eyes filled with tears as Kai pulled the Jeep to a stop in front of the rubble. She could only imagine how the others felt. Josie had spent days here while the others had lost the place they’d spent months and years. At least they all had somewhere to land with so many of the Clan opening their homes.

Josie had called her mom as soon as they got home with promises to visit soon. Being around Lani had been wonderful and bittersweet at the same time. The two mothers were completely different yet alike in their capacity to love. Josie didn’t tell her mom about the plane going down. She didn’t want to upset her, but more than that, she didn’t want to have to explain the details surrounding the ordeal. Not that she could have. In mating with Malakai, Josie had taken on a life filled with secrets. A whole new world had opened up. One filled with shifters. Friends. Family. Things Josie never knew to miss but something she couldn’t imagine living without.

In the few days she had been gone from the city, Josie had become a new woman. Stronger. More self-assured. A woman who had the voices of the Sevens reminding her how special she was. The voice of a beast reminding her how strong she was. The voice of a Gargoyle reminding her how precious, desired, and loved she was. Josie Pierson was no longer second best.

As she stood in the living room of her apartment, she asked, “How long do you think it’ll take to rebuild our home?”

Kai sat on the sofa and pulled Josie down onto his lap. “A few months at least. The destruction will have to be cleared away so the remaining structure can be inspected, but Rafael has a good team in place. The original builders are still in the area, so they should be able to get it back to rights with little trouble.”

“Are they the same ones who built the other houses? Because I was thinking, Sophia and Nik should probably be first on the list since they’re having a baby. Then Rafael and Kaya need their sanctuary for her to recover. As much as I want to have our home back, I think we should be patient since we have the apartment. Plus, we’re going to be working on the training center, and that’ll take up a lot of time.”

“Such a good heart,” Kai muttered against her neck. “And I agree. There’s only one thing I want to change here, and that’s the bed. I want to get a king-sized one for our bedroom.” Kai toyed with the knot of Josie’s lavalava. His family had sent all the mates home with several of the garments in various colors, but Josie’s favorite would always be the one she wore in their mating ceremony.

They spent the first few days alternating between making love, talking, sleeping, and helping Henry and Kili get settled. Josie talked to her mom a couple times, and each time the conversation turned to Josie returning to her job. It hadn’t taken long for things to go to hell at the law firm.

A couple days after they got home, a package arrived in the mail from Samoa. One of Kai’s family had taken pictures of the ceremony and had sent copies to them along with a flash drive filled