The Broken Warrior’s Daughter by Cooper

Mom and I arrive at the memorial for Lily Nelson. It’s not the only one here, we memorialize all of our warriors and pack members that give their lives for the pack. However, Lily’s is the largest. Mom had them create a stone statue of a woman with angel wings keeping watch over her wolfpack.

Each week, we bring several different types of flowers and plants to the memorial site. This week we have some poinsettias, winter jasmine, winter aconite and snowdrops. As always, mom walks up to the statue and places her hand on the joined hands of the statue and quietly says, “Thank you Lily for your sacrifice. I told you I’d never forget and I never will.”

We begin quietly working around the area, removing snow, pulling out the plants that are dead or dying and replacing them with the new ones that we’ve brought.

“Mom, have you ever met the Nelson’s daughter?” I ask.

“Cara? Sure honey, haven’t you?”

I look over at her and shake my head, “I don’t think so. I know I’ve never been introduced to her. What’s she like?”

My mom continues her work as she answers my question. “She’s a sweet girl, quiet, and smart.” She stops and looks up at the statue, “She looks like her mother, but has her father’s eyes. Lily was a strong and beautiful woman.” A soft smile plays on her lips, her eyes seeing a distant memory. “She didn’t take crap from anyone, including your father.”

I stop and look at her, “What??” This was news to me.

she resumes her work. “I remember this one day, your father needed some warriors to go with him to another pack that was making threats to ours. He planned to give the pack one last chance to change their mind about going to war by reminding them of the strength of our warriors. Lily was pregnant with Cara at the time and so your father thought it best if she remained behind.” She starts laughing and presses her hand to her stomach as she continues, “She told your father that being pregnant didn’t make her any less of a Guardian and if he thought that he would be leaving her behind when they were giving a show of strength, then he had another thing

into space again, lost in the memory. I interrupted her silence, “So,

dad pinned in under 15 minutes. I’d never seen anything like it, before or since. Your father was so strong and sure of himself that he couldn’t believe it. Clint just sat back proudly and watched his wife take your father down like it was nothing. So, they went

back, your father assigned her to me and

to the other pack?,” I

greedy but not smart and definitely not as strong as he thought he was. Soon thereafter, he challenged Alpha Leander knowing that the pack didn’t have any Guardians and thought that made them weak.

my mother. How had I never heard this story before? “Wait, Alpha Liam’s father defeated the alpha of the pack that wanted to attack us? Why didn’t dad just fight him and take over the

and the subsequent absorption of the warring pack is what allowed Shadow Falls to become the largest in the country, but we’ve remained the strongest. They paid a heavy price though. That was when they lost Leander’s mate and Liam’s mother, Luna Estella. He was only 6 years old at the time. Leander was never the same after he lost his mate. He held on as long as he could, but when Liam

young age. It’s a lot for a young man to take on, but he has handled himself and

has been relatively easy compared to Alpha Liam’s. I’d never given much thought to when he became alpha. I remember hearing of his father’s passing and him taking over as alpha, but I was only 10 years old then and didn’t think much of it. Now, I couldn’t imagine taking over my pack while mourning the loss of my father, having already

back to the packhouse. When we return, mom asks me to

side board and pours us both a glass of wine. “Have a seat

of wine and look at my mother. “Have I

at her window overlooking the back of the packhouse and the surrounding forest. “I know about the girls Rik,” she

thought I was being careful, how did she know?

come up with a response, she turns to look at me. “Surprised? I am the Luna of this pack. What kind of Luna would I be if I didn’t even know what was going on right