Josie

Josie is the main character of Barbarian's Mate, Barbarian's Valentine and Josie's Wish. She is a human survivor of the first crashed ship. She is also the POV character in Joden's Story, and a chapter of Barbarian's Prize. She is Haeden's mate and mother of Joden, Joha, and Shae.

The Sa-khui pronounce her name as "Jo-see."

## Description

Josie is a delicate and small, the shortest of the original humans. She is flat-chested but with some curves. She has silky blondish brown hair, a round face, and glowing blue eyes. She is described as adorable. She has a high pitched voice.

## Personality

Josie is an upbeat person and tries not to dwell on negatives and negative events. This is a result of her difficult life in foster care. She is also considered a chatterbox and will ramble thoughtlessly to use excess energy. When something is extremely important to her, Josie can be very stubborn.

She is a very giving person. She is also a morning person and a huge gossip.

At the start of the series Josie desperately wanted love, acceptance, and stability - in other words, a family. This is hugely importantly important for her in starting a relationship to avoid a repeat of her own poor childhood.

## History

Josie was in the foster care system growing up. She was given up for adoption at the age of two and sent to a state home. She was an unhappy child and had lots of ear infections. When she got older she was sent into foster care, where she lived in her first home for four years.. She had eight different foster homes by the time she was eighteen. While in the system she was commonly abused by male guardians and disliked by female ones. Often she was taken in for the government checks. She was a Girl Scout growing up and learn how to make a basic compass.

At some point she got an IUD implanted. She was abducted in 2015.

In Ice Planet Barbarians, she was sexually assaulted by the Szzt guards. During the crash, she broke her leg and was cared for by Haeden when the girls were rescued.

### Barbarian's Mate

Josie's IUD finally fell out finally allowing her body to resonate. Overjoyed, Josie went to looks for her mate. Within a few minutes she had resonated to Haeden, the one sa-khui she couldn't stand. Determined not to be mated with the grumpy semi-widowed hunter, she denied their resonance.

Weeks later, both sick with unfulfilled resonance, Haeden agreed to take her to the Elders Cave in hope that the med bay there can remove her khui so he can get a new one. Haeden himself lost his original khui is the sickness, before he fulfilled resonance with his first mate, enabling him to resonate again.

When they arrived they discovered that the med bay was broken. Josie finally considered giving into resonance. But when an embarrassing incident led to a misunderstanding between the two, Josie elected to leave the tribe permanently.

She headed to the Great Salt Lake, trailed by a concerned Haeden. When she arrives at the shore she noticed what looks like an island through the fog. Not long after she discovered the remains of the crashed slave ship and the two stasis pods inside. Realizing she has to return to the tribe, she started to head out of the ship, only to discover it is surrounded by Metlaks. Haeden was there as well, trying to fight them off.

The two managed to escape and bond on their way back to the tribal caves. While walking a Sky-Claw snatched Josie and eats her whole. Josie, armed with a knife, injures the bird causing it to land. A devastated Haeden saw this and helped cut her out.

Finally admitting their feelings, they fulfilled their resonance.

When they got back to the cave Josie told Vektal about the pods, and plans were made to go rescue the occupants. Haeden traveled with a group to lead them to the ship. Josie missed him terribly while he was gone.

About a month later, Haeden returned with Maddie, one of the women in the pods, and the others. He was overjoyed to learn about her pregnancy.

#### Inbetween

Joden was born the third year after first humans were rescued. Joha was born sometime between the fifth and seventh year.

Sometime during the seventh year they resonate for a third time.

During the eighth year, Josie tells Joden a bedtime story recounted in the short story, Joden's Story.

### Barbarian's Valentine

Josie was pregnant with her third child. After hearing her son parroting back some of his fathers words back at her, she started to feel insecure in her relationship and about herself. She is worried that perhaps her mate not find her attractive anymore, that resonance is a chore he does because he has no choice, that he wished they had fewer children. She was desperate to win back his affection and when she heard about Maddie's Valentine's Day plans, she decided to join in. Later that night, she spoke with Haeden calming her fears, but decided to go through with the valentine plans after all.

A few days later Hassen and Cashol return home. Summer and Warrek take both Maddie and Josie's kits. Both couples have their Valentine's Day. Josie and Haedan realized they needed to take more time for each other as a couple and decide to ask for babysitters more often.

### Josie's Wish

In Josie's Wish, Josie started considering the idea of having more children, but she was worried Haeden doesn't. After they talked, and realized both are fine with the idea of more children, they resonated again.