The Broken Warrior’s Daughter

Chapter 0490

1 follow Beta Calvin to a room on his floor. It’s nice, but | feel like a stranger in this room. | go sit on the bed with nothing else to do. Nothing in this room is mine. | have no clothes, no toiletries, nothing. The reality of my situation comes crashing down on me. My father was going to sellto an Alpha to pay his gambling debts. I’ve never felt so lost or scared.

I'm nervous for how my father will react when Alpha Patrick speaks to him. Will he yell at me? Most likely. Based on how he responded earlier, he will be furious and try to make this aboutbeing ungrateful, | don’t know how my mother will feel. | can’t believe she knew anything about this. But she does what my father tells her to do. She has always been a good mother, but she never goes against my father. Now that her being a good mother and a good mate are at odds, I’m pretty sure that the mate bond will win. Will she be angry withast well? Will she blme for whatever punishment my father receives from Alpha Patrick?

I'm getting myself more and more worked up as | sit here thinking of everything. I’m on the verge of tears when there is a knock at the door.

I go to open it and | smell apple pie. Clint.

As soon as | open the door, he opens his arms and I rush into them. He holds me, rockingside to side, before kissing my hair. “Con.” He says, guidinginto my room.

“Door stays open, Clint.” | hear Beta Calvin say from the hallway. Clint growls softly, makinggiggle.

He smiles at me, tucking my hair behind my ear. When he looks around the room, he must see what | did. That it’s stark and there’s nothing forto do in here.

but think. “Do you want to go for a run?” He asks me. “Yes.” That’s exactly what | want to do.

He takesdown the back stairs, I’m assuming to keepfrom running into my parents. We head outside, strip and shift. Andra is happy to see Donovan and they begin to run through the forest. Instead of being a training run, this is a fun run. Donovan lets Andra lead the way, but eventually guides us to a place where we can rest and look out over the canyon.

The lights from the human town in the distance and those from the nearby 17 Shadow Falls Pack are beautiful. The moon has risen, and it shines brightly in the sky.

“How are you doing Lily bud? Clint asksthrough the mind link. Andra has curled up against Donovan, who has laid his head over her protectively, keeping watch on the forest around us.

“| don’t honestly know.” | tell him. “I’m scared and | feel lost. I’m thankful for you, Donovan and Andra or I'd be feeling pretty lonely now too.

“You're not alone Lily. You’ll never be alone again.”

It's quiet for a moment. “I was thinking, since Patrick putin charge of your training, I’d like to move away from the warriors. That way, we can train in peace, but you also won't have to deal with your father.”

| think about it for a minute. “I’d like that. Do you think Alpha Patrick will agree?”

“I'll speak to him tonight. | don’t want your father distracting you from training. And Patrick knows | take training very seriously. He may want us to show him what you're learning regularly to prove that we’re actually training and not fooling around, but that’s fine.”

I'm thankful that I’m in Andra’s form so he can’t see my blush. The rumor mill will be even worse now that I’ve moved into the packhouse, and I'll be spending lots of twith Clint individually. But it can’t be helped. No one else needs to know what happened with my dad, so let them talk.

“It's getting late, we should head back.” He says, before standing up. We run back to the packhouse, shift and change before heading inside.

“You little slut! After everything | did for you, this is how you repay me.” | stop dead in my tracks. My father steps out of the shadows, like he’s been waiting for

1.me. Clint steps in front of me. “You need to back off, Aaron.” “Like hell | will. Don’t think you’ve won here, Guardian.” He sneers Clint’s title. ” She’s my daughter.” “And you pay lost the right to be her parent when you tried to sell her to an Alpha to debts.”

“That’s all a misunderstanding. I’ll get that straightened out and then Lily will cback home.” My stomach clenches at the thought. | know it’s not a

misunderstanding. + 15 BONOS

“By the tyou get this straightened out,” Clint uses his finger to make air quotes, “your daughter will be an adult and able to make her own decisions. Until then, Alpha Patrick is her parental guardian, so if you have a problem withor Lily, take it up with him.”

“Let's go Lily.” He reaches behind himself, to encirclewith an arm, guidingtoward the door, but keeping himself between me and my father.

As we go to step inside, my father giveshis parting shot. “I hope you’re proud of yourself, Lily. You made your mother cry.” It's a well-aimed shot that hits home. | never wanted my mother to be hurt by all of this.

Clint gently pushesinside before turning to my father. “She didn’t make her mother cry. Accept responsibility for your actions. You did this. You did it to yourself, you did it to your wife and you did it to Lily. You have no one to blbut yourself.” He says before letting the door slam closed.

Clint walksto my room. “I’m sorry, Lily. I'll talk to Patrick.”

| shake my head, trying to hold back my tears. “You have nothing to be sorry about. | hope you don’t mind, but | just want to be alone.”

“Of course. You have my number. You can textat any time. I'll check on your later.” “Thank you.” | tell him before closing the door. The minute the door shuts, the

tears start to fall.

Cooper

Author

OR £15 BONDS.

Chapter 0491