The Broken Warrior's Daughter

| shift into my wolf form and run to Cara’s house. | stop at the edge of the forest line. | can smell the charcoal of the grill and can hear my dad and Mr. Nelson’s. voices on the breeze. As | listen, they move back inside and | creep closer, using the outdoor training center to hide me and my scent so | can listen in. If Cara is upset or angry about today, | need to make it right.

Kai is ready to burst into the house and let her know we are the ones who want to claim her, but | hold him back.

| hear Dad asking about the gift and letting her know that he’s heard of her mystery man. SHIT! If dad has heard about that, then he’ll be wondering why | haven’t said a word about it. I’ll have to figure out something to say to him soon.

| hear Dad ask permission for something and I’m guessing he wants to read the card. | know I’m right when he asks if she’s figured out who her mystery man is yet. | listen and realize that she knows the betting odds, but has eliminated Liam and Jason. Makes sense, Jason is only a friend and Liam, well, he pretty much excluded himself with his actions today.

Then | hear her ask if my father heard about what happened today. My hackles rise when | hear him angrily asking if | challenged Liam over her. | open the mindlink, letting him know there is no problem with Liam. I’m hoping that’s true. | haven’t actually checked myself, only went by what Chase has told me.

And then | get the kick to the gut. Liam is coming over to train with her tomorrow. It’s a great honor. One I’d just about give my nuts for. No wonder Liam didn’t follow me outside. Cara had done exactly what needed to be done to de-escalate the situation. But because of Kai’s possessiveness and my inability to keep a hold of him, Liam was now going to be able to spend time with my girl. And not just any time, special training time. | knew Dad wanted Mr. Nelson to train our warriors. He’s wanted it for years, ever since | could remember. It had to be a bitter pill to swallow to know that Mr. Nelson would now be training Liam personally, because of me.

Kai is growling in my head. ‘Shut up!” This is all your fault. He wouldn’t be coming over here tomorrow if you hadn't lost control.” | yell at my wolf.

“Wrong!” He replies. ‘He needs to realize that she is ours and that he will never have her.’ | grit my teeth and pull him back so | can continue to listen.

| tune in just in time to hear Mr. Nelson put dad in his place. Unfortunately, the threat in his words is clear. Giving up one day of training was nothing to possibly

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Kai whines in my head at the thought. ‘We have to be smarter, Kai. If you really want her, we have to show that we are the better option. We have to be better than Liam. He has the advantage, they have a longer, stronger relationship than we do. So don’t screw it up again, or it may be the last time. Even if she is our mate, she could reject us for him if she doesn’t find us worthy.‘ Kai lays down in my head, not agreeing, but not disagreeing either. The thought of losing Cara and Artemis is hurtful to both of us.

Nr. Nelson’s next words shock me though. He agrees to think about training our warriors. That is huge and my dad seems to be happy with this progress.

| laid down and listened while dad told them about the increased rogues in the neighboring pack. | haven’t spoken to my father today, so | wasn’t aware that other packs were also struggling with increased rogue attacks and the one today. seemed especially problematic.

When dad said he had to leave to speak with me and do damage control with Liam, | knew he was coming to chat with me, so | headed back to the forest.

When dad walks up, | see his eyes start to bleed to black, letting me know Zakai was coming forward. “Son, we need to talk. Shift back.”

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| do as requested. | find an extra pair of clothes in a hollowed area of a nearby tree and put some shorts on then step back out to speak to my father.

“Want to tell me why an intelligent, gifted Guardian who is a member of our pack doesn’t think my son, the future alpha, would be interested enough in her to be staking a very public claim?*.

| turn and begin heading toward the packhouse, pulling my thoughts together. before speaking. “You and mom have raised me to know who Cara Nelson is. I’ve known my whole life what we owe that family and what they have sacrificed for us.” | turn to look him in the eye. “What neither of you ever actually did was make sure | knew who Cara Nelson, the person, is.”

My dad continues to stay silent, so | take that as my queue to continue. “So, last week, | saw her in school. There was something about her.” | run my hand through my hair. “I didn’t know who she was. But | was drawn to her, so | went up to her and introduced myself. | asked her what her name was and what pack she belonged to.”

When | looked back up, my dad was just staring at me. This time | waited him out. “I'm guessing that didn’t go well?” he asks.

“About as well as you would expect,” | replied.

“And so this week of gifts is... what? An apology?”

“Yes and no,” | respond. “At first, that was how it started. | wanted her to know that | know who she is and that | appreciate her and her family for everything they have given us. But then Kai wanted more. Each day when | wrote the cards. for her, | put more of my intent to not only claim her but to let her know that | want her. That we want her to be ours.”

“And Kai is sure that he wants her?” “Yes, he’s been very clear and | have checked with him several times this week so | wasn’t making false promises.

| wait a beat and then voice the concern that Chase brought up earlier tonight. Could it be that Kai’s attracted to her as a Guardian rather than a mate, dad?”

Dad looked thoughtful as he stared out into the dark night. “I don’t think it’s because she’s a Guardian. You’ve been in the same schools all your life and you are just now noticing her, right before your 18th birthday. | think maybe Kai is

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