The Broken Warrior’s Daughter by Cooper

Chapter 0296

That conversation with my mother happened five years ago. My father’s

infidelity killed her slowly over three years. In the end, I believe my father took another mate. My mother had been getting weaker and weaker, but that last day, her scream of pain was something I will never forget.

It was my sixteenth birthday. My mother had taken the day off to celebrate with me. So many of my birthdays had been ruined by my father, but this one ended up being the worst.

The day had started out amazing. We’d gone to a local river, hiking through the forest. Mom wasn’t able to shift any more, her wolf had become too weak over the years, but we still made the most of our time.

It was while we were having dinner, in the evening, the time when parties and events would have occurred in the pack, that it happened. At first, mother stopped, food midway to her mouth. She had such a strange look on her face, but then it happened. She grabbed her neck where her mating mark was and screamed. I ran to her and held her, used to her ‘episodes‘ by now. But this time, it was more than she could survive

She died in my arms, leaving me alone in the world at sixteen.

If it wasn’t for Benny, I don’t know what would have happened to me. I probably would have ended up in the human foster care system. But, I had already started working at the diner, covering for my mother. Mom had told Benny that she had cancer. It’s not something that werewolves get, given their healing power, but Benny didn’t know my mom was a wolf, so it worked.

So, he let me work in her place when she was “sick” and when she passed, he covered for me, letting me continue working for him and making sure that I finished school.

He retired from cooking a few months ago, but he still comes in every day, keeping an eye on me and the diner.

one–night stand or a ‘quickie‘ with me. Benny makes sure that I stay safe, but I’m always careful when the bus people, as I call them, come in to eat during their

days before my 18th birthday, a giant of a man came in, reminding me of the warriors in my old pack. It wasn’t so much that he was tall,

that he might be a werewolf, but he was a

On my

my mother died. Who wants to celebrate a day where these. awful things happen? The only positive is that I am officially an adult by human standards and no one can force me to leave

plans go out the window when I’m in the shower and I

through so much waiting for

that?” I say, looking past the shower curtain to see

empty.

your wolf. My name is

don’t have a wolf. I’m too old to get my

you, but I had to

If it’s not my wolf, I won’t get a

to wait for the Guardian spirit that was meant to be ours. His life was longer than it was meant to be. The Moon Goddess granted the

real? You’re my

alone again. I will always be with you.‘