Ch. 241..250

The Broken Warriors Daughter Chapter 241-We collected Eli and Dustin and headed into the city. When we arrived, Liam took Eli to a store to get some clothes and a backpack before buying him a bus ticket.

“Where do you want to go? The next bus is heading north to Asheville,” “That works.” Eli responds.

Liam gives him an envelope with money in it. “This is enough to get you back on your feet and started in a new life. Good luck Eli.” After he thanks Liam, Eli boards the bus, and we watch as the bus leaves the station, heading north.

I've never been in a human city. It is big and loud, lots of tall buildings and cars honking, moving in every direction. It’s very overwhelming for me and | am glad that Liam is holding my hand.

When we get to his building, he takes me up to his apartment first. We brought a change of clothes and some at how beautiful it is. Everything to stay overnight. When | walk in, I’m amazed an amazing view of the city.

“Wow.” | say.

looks new and the floor to ceiling windows give He comes up behind me, wrapping his arms around me. “Definitely wow.” He says and | turn to see him looking at me. I smile, blushing at the compliment.

“Ready to head downstairs? | have some work to do, but, I’d rather have you near me. With everything that’s happened, it would make me feel better to have you where | can see you.

| can feel his nerves through the bond. He doesn't like the idea of leaving me alone here, and | wouldn’t really know what to do with myself. Maybe there is something | can do to help him. So, | agree.

We collect Dustin and head down to the office level a few floors below Liam’s penthouse apartment. When we walk in, | freeze.

It's her. The hair is different, her clothes are baggy and hang on her, and she’s wearing glasses, but | would never forget those eyes. The eyes that were my lifeline for seven long years.

“Sarah.” | whisper. “Mate.” Dustin whispers beside me at the same time, taking a step forward.

Liam immediately turns to Dustin whispering quickly to him so Sarah can’t hear. “She’s human Dustin. Pull yourself together or you'll scare her.” Dustin blinks looking at Liam, struggling to not run to Sarah and pull her into his ams.

|, however, am locked on her eyes. “It’s you.” She says so quietly that if we weren't shifters, we never would have heard her. “Sarah!” | say louder and walk toward her, opening my arms.

We close the short distance between us and hug. “You're alive. | wasn’t sure after you ran. I’m so glad you got away. I’ve been so worried about you.” | stand back, holding her at arm’s length. “You were worried about me? | was worried about you. Are you okay? Where have you been and why did you change. your hair?” She looks over my shoulder and tenses as | feel heat at my back. “Mr. Holstin.” She says. “Angel, you know Heather?” I turn to look at Liam. “Liam, it’s her! It’s Sarah.” | frown. “Why did you call her Heather?” He looks from me to Sarah and back again. “Come into my office. Let’s talk privately.” In an instant, Sarah looks like she’s going to run. | grab her hands and hold her gaze. “I’m here.” She looks at me for a long moment. “You're not alone.” She responds back with our words and her shoulders relax fractionally.

“You can trust me and you can trust them. | promise.” She looks at Liam and Dustin, whose nervous energy is buzzing around him, then back at me. “Okay.” We walk into Liam’s office and close the door. | sit next to Sarah while Dustin and Liam pull up chairs. Dustin is twitching in his need to touch his mate. | can see him struggling with his wolf and | watch Liam’s eyes unfocus a moment before Dustin settles. I'm sure Liam ordered him to calm down.

“What happened to you?” | ask her. “When | left you, | thought you’d be safe with the hunters.” She shakes her head. “They were monsters, just like the vampires. They took us to this place, this awful place. It was something out of a horror movie. All these different people locked up in cells, some of them were part animal. | could hear screaming and crying. They basically took me from one hell to another. They said. the ‘creatures’, that was their term, didn’t deserve our sympathy, that they were all just like the vampires.” I can feel Liam’s fury through the bond. Hunters are not new in the supernatural community, but to know that they have captured supernaturals and are torturing them is hideous. “What happened?” | asked her.

“They showed us around, wanted to recruit us to become part of their league or guild or whatever they are.” She looks down at her hands. “I could never be so cruel.” She whispers.

Dustin reaches out to take her hand, wanting to comfort her, but she snatches it back. The hurt on his face is instant, but he quickly hides it.

The Broken Warriors Daughter Chapter 242-| look at Liam. “He doesn’t know about her history, does he?” | mind link him.

He gives a small shake of his head, no. Dustin is in for a long, hard road with Sarah if she can even accept what we are. “What about you?” She turns to look at me. “How did you get away?” “| ran until | fell into Liam’s pack lands.” | nod at Liam.

“Pack lands?” She asks.

“You remember what the vampires called me?” She nods but looks uncertainly at Dustin and Liam.

“They know I’m a Guardian. I’m a werewolf Guardian.” She looks at me, then at the guys and back to me again.

“You're a werewolf, like that Stephen King movie?” “Well, yes and no. We're shape shifters, but we don’t go around killing people.” She looks at Dustin and Liam again. “We?” It comes out as a squeak.

Liam replies. “Yes, | am the Alpha of my pack, Dustin is my Beta or second in command and Angel is mate.*

my “It's a lot to take in. But we are not going to hurt you. Werewolves are nothing like vampires.” | say and she nods. “So, you are running from the hunters?” Liam asks her.

“Yes. | couldn’t do what they wanted, so one night | escaped and ran. | changed my hair, added some glasses, and | ended up here. | saw the add for the secretary and applied. | was thankful to have work because | was out of money.” “Where are you living?” Dustin asks her.

| see her blush and she looks down at her hands. | reach out and cover her hands with mine. “It’s okay, you can talk to us. We only want to help.” She sneaks a glance at Liam before looking back down at her hands. “I’ve been living on the streets, coming in early and washing up in the bathrooms here before work.” | see Dustin's hands clench into fists. His need to take care of his mate has his wolf on edge again. “Liam?” He says turning to my mate.

1/3 Liam is nodding. He leans forward, putting his elbows on his knees, effectively putting him at eye level with Sarah. “Sarah, did you know that the vampires have put a bounty on your head?” | see her shock at the same moment Dustin jumps up from his seat. “WHAT??!!” He yells. He looks between Sarah and Liam. “She is the other girl with the bounty” on her head?” “What does that mean?” She asks me, her lips trembling. “It means,” | tell her, “that the vampires are looking for you. Sebastian wants you back.” Her hands go to her mouth, they are trembling as the tears start to fall down her face. “I have to go. | have to run. | can’t go back there.” | understand exactly what she’s feeling. | feel the same way. She jumps up and starts running for the door. Dustin moves quickly and gets in her path. “We can protect you. You can come stay in our pack, right Liam?” He asks, never taking his eyes off of Sarah.

“Of course. You will be safe there. The pack will protect you.” “You can’t protect me.” She says.

“Yes, we can.” | tell her, walking over to her. “It took me awhile to realize it too, but we have a plan. We know they are coming for me, and we'll be ready. If you go out on your own, you'll never know when they may find you. If you stay with us, we'll keep you safe. Our pack is strong, and the neighboring pack, which has two Guardians, will fight with us. We won't lose.” “Please.” Dustin pleads with her. “Please come back to the pack with us. You'll have food, a safe place to sleep and I’m sure Liam can set it up so you can work from there, right Liam?” He asks, practically begging Liam with his eyes.

I can feel Liam sigh behind me, knowing he'll make this work. He would have anyway for me, but knowing that she’s Dustin’s mate as well, he'll find a way to let her keep working from the packhouse.

“Yes. We'll find some way for you to work from the packhouse so you can stay. safe. I'll set it up with George. We're staying the night in the city tonight. I'll get you a room to stay in and you can return with us tomorrow. Okay Sarah? It is Sarah, right? Not Heather?” She gives him a shy smile. “It's Sarah.” “Okay Sarah. | don’t want you going anywhere without me or Dustin with you. +15 DONOS We don’t know if the hunters are tracking you, but we do know that the vampires are, so I'd feel safer if one of us is with you at all times.” She nods.

As we walk out of Liam's office, we start to move toward Sarah's desk, setting up another chair for Dustin to work beside her when the scent hits me.

My head whips around to the elevators. “Liam!” | cry, just as the elevator doors. open and Sebastian walks out with two other vampires.

n Cooper Author They finally found Sarah, just in time, too!

The Broken Warriors Daughter Chapter 243-| can’t believe the girl I’ve been searching the entire country for has literally been right under my nose for weeks. I’m thankful that we found her, even if her being mated to Dustin causes complications. It’s at least one thing | can take off my over-full plate of things that need to be done.

My mind is reeling with the changes | need to make for her to continue working from the packhouse, setting her up as a permanent resident within the pack and wondering how I’m going to break the news to my Beta that his mate was horribly abused by a vampire, even more so than my mate was.

I'm not sure if that’s why | didn’t notice the smell right away, but when Angel calls my name, her voice full of desperation and fear, the scent hits me. The elevator doors open and three vampires walk into the foyer of my office.

| watch as the one in front lifts his nose in the air and sniffs. “Ahhhh, there she is, my tasty little treat. How I've missed you.” He looks directly at Sarah who is shaking uncontrollably, causing a vicious growl to come from Dustin.

Angel steps in front of Sarah, blocking the vampire’s view of her and his eyes widen. “And look here boys, we found the Prince’s favorite little toy.” This time, it's me snarling. This is anything but ideal. We are in my office, in the human world and we're going to have to fight off vampires and not let them cause any human casualties.

“Kill the mutts, keep the feeders alive. I’m starving.” The vampire says while rubbing his crotch.

This time, | do see them coming. One comes at me while the other goes toward Dustin. | see Angel reacting to keep him away from Dustin until he realizes the vampire is right in front of him. | go after other one.

From the corner of my eye, | see the leader start circling toward Sarah and Angel. “Come to daddy little girl. I've got something for you. Daddy has been waiting a long time.*

Even through the sounds of fighting, | can hear Sarah whimpering and sobbing.” Screw you, Sebastian. You and your pitiful vampires will die here today.” The powerful voice of my sweet Angel, overlaid with Alessia, is music to my ears. She may be scared, but she’s going to fight. At least until | kill this leech and take out the one she called Sebastian.

Just as | hear Sebastian leap at Angel and Sarah, | get ahold of the vampire’s neck and | begin pulling. It’s harder when I’m not in wolf form, but Cyran pushes forward, and my hands extend into claws, digging into his neck. He begins gurgling, beating against my arms and hands. When | finally dig my claws in deep enough, | pull my hands in opposite directions, slicing his head from his body.

| turn and see Sarah cowering against the wall as Angel fights off Sebastian. Dustin is on the ground, the vampire over top of him. “Help them,” he grinds out to me. | turn, just as Sebastian throws a punch at Angel. She ducks and spins around, swinging her fist up and punching him on the side of his head. He stumbles and it gives me the moment | need to grab him.

“Rip out his heart Angel.” | tell her, holding on to the vampire. He snarls thrashing against me. Her hand punches into his chest but misses his heart. When she pulls it back, he grabs her arm, yanking her closer to him. | release my hold on him, reaching to pull him away from Angel, but he takes the opportunity to run and jumps through the window, sailing through the air to the ground. | run to the window and see him running off, clutching his gaping chest.

| turn back just in time to see Dustin punch his fist into the chest of the vampire he was fighting, ripping his heart out. He stands and tosses the heart back on the dead vampire before walking over to Sarah, squatting down in front of her. “Hey. They’re gone. You're safe now.” He says to her in a voice used with injured, trapped animals.

The Broken Warriors Daughter Chapter 244-He’s a bloody mess, so I’m shocked when she leaps into his arms, holding him like he’s her lifeline. As he holds her, whispering in her ear to help calm her, |

turn to Angel.

“Liam.” She says pointing behind me. | turn, expecting another vampire, but it's George, my human manager.

“George.” He walks in looking at the mess.

“Boss. | thought we agreed to keep this sort of mess out of the office.” He says to me and smiles.

I smile back. | helped George and his family out of some witch business years ago, so he’s familiar with the supernatural world. “Sometimes trouble comes looking for me.” | say.

“| can see that. Is there anything | need to be concerned about?” “I'm not sure if there will be more coming. We may need to put the offices on lockdown for the time being.” | tell him.

“| will handle that and I'll also handle this clean up. | know what to do. You all should get cleaned up and get out of here in case they come back.” I turn, pulling Angel to me. “You're okay, right? | don’t smell any of your blood on you.” “I'm good. Let’s go shower and get back to the pack lands. We don’t know when they will return, but | guarantee, Sebastian is on his way now to tell Prince Keenan that he found me. It won’t be long before they come back.” | growl, holding her closer. “They won't get to you.” We head upstairs, showering and changing clothes before heading down to get Dustin. Sarah again surprised me by wanting to stay close to him, rather than coming to our apartment. Maybe humans do feel the mate bond, only differently.

On the way back to our pack lands, | have Dustin call to inform Jackson and increase patrols, while | call Rik and give him the news. We decide to begin training our warriors together inside the canyon. This will help the warriors learn differences in battle strategy and also become more familiar with the terrain around the canyon where we want to draw the vampires for the battle.

When we're done, | hear Sarah talking to Dustin in the back seat. “So what does it mean that you’re a werewolf?” “It means that we have a wolf spirit, and we can shift into our wolves, although they are much larger than normal wolves. | guess it also means that we have more animal instincts than humans. Plus, we have enhanced senses like hearing, vision, sinell, and taste.

“| had a dog once. | guess it’s similar?” | flinch, but Dustin doesn’t seem bothered at all. He’s more than willing to tell her anything that she wants to know. He’s probably just happy that she’s talking to him and asking questions after everything that happened today.

“Similar, yes, but dogs are canine, wolves are lupine. There are differences. But in the way that we have enhanced senses, yes, it is similar. Our wolf spirits are also intelligent. They are like a second voice in our head.” She nods and looks back out the car window processing the new information. When we get back to the packhouse, | mind link Dustin. “I’m guessing you want her on your floor?” “Yes. It's just me there, so she can have the room across from mine. That way, if she has nightmares like Angel, I'll be right there.” He mind links back.

“If you need anything, let me know. Looks like we need another shopping trip.” He nods and begins escorting Sarah up the stairs to the Beta floor.

“When she’s settled, come see me. We need to talk.” | link him back and | see him nod that he’s heard me.

I turn to Angel. “I’m going to have to tell him tonight. He needs to know.” She nods and walks to me, wrapping her arms around me. “Do you want me there?” “No. I'll handle it. | still have a lot of work to do. Why don’t you go up to our room and relax. I'll catch up to you when | can.” | kiss her and head to my office.

The Broken Warriors Daughter Chapter 245-| watch as Liam walks away, then | turn to the kitchen. My mate is overwhelmed with work and | added to that this morning by shifting everything around in the kitchen. That, at least, is something that | can help correct.

When | walk in, the Omegas bow their head in deference to me. The one who must be temporarily in charge comes over to me. “Luna, can we get you something?” She asks me.

“Yes, first what is your name?” | ask her.

“My name is Olivia, Luna.” “Olivia. I'm Angel. | know you were thrown into this today, so why don’t I give you a hand?” Two hours later, | have an in of all the food currently in stock, we have a meal plan established for the next week, and a grocery list started. We’re working. on a roster of rotating shifts for the Omegas and I’m enjoying the camaraderie of being in a pack again. It’s been a long time and it feels good.

“What's going on here?” | hear Liam ask from behind me and the relaxed atmosphere that I’ve been working at creating deflates faster than a balloon letting out air.

“Alpha.” Everyone in the room stops what they are doing and bows their head in submission. I’m guessing Liam doesn’t enter the kitchens very often. They don’t seem to know how to interact with him.

“Liam.” | walk over to him and wrap my arms around his waist. “What are you doing in here? Dinner isn’t for another…” | trail off, turning to Olivia.

“Thirty minutes.” She informs me.

| turn back to Liam who is looking around at everyone. “I came to figure out what we needed to do to feed the pack tonight.” He says, looking down at me. “But it looks like you beat me to it.” “Yep, we're set. | do have some questions to run by you, like how do we pay for groceries if | send the Omegas, but otherwise, we're finishing it up. We have inventory, menus for the week and we're just finishing up the roster. Did you want to look it over?“/ He tucks me into his side, looking around at what we've put into place, before smiling down at me. “Nope. You just cleared hours of work off my schedule Angel.” I shrug. “You have much weighing on you and this was something | could help with. It was fun! Olivia and | had a great time.” Olivia looks over shyly and smiles, nodding.

Liam pulls me back around to face him, cupping my face in his hand. “Have | told you today how amazing you are? And how lucky | am to have found you? And how much | love you?” | tap my finger against my chin, pretending to think about it. “Yes, no, and yes.” He reaches down and kisses me like we aren’t in a room full of people. When be pulls away, | know my cheeks have turned scarlet. “I love you my little angel.” “You and me Liam. It’s you and me.” “Yes it is.” He looks around again. “Okay, call me when food’s ready. And thank you everyone for filling in today. | really appreciate it.” He kisses me on my nose before heading out.

| finish helping get everything ready for dinner and as I’m about to link Liam, Dustin and Sarah walk in.

“Sarah! Are you hungry? You’re welcome to eat in the dining room with the rest of us.” She looks a bit overwhelmed but starts to agree when Dustin cuts her off “Actually Luna, | thought it might be better for Sarah to have a quiet dinner tonight after such a long, tiring day.” “Of course. When you're feeling up to it, I'll show you around. The pack lands are lovely and the pack is named after a beautiful set of water falls. Although, it may be better for Dustin to show you. Liam's wolf, Cyran, carried me the first time we went there.” She turns and looks at Dustin. “I wouldn’t want to hurt your wolf or put you out. He smiles at her and | can see his fingers twitching with the need to touch her.” My wolf, Leon, is strong and he’s already said he would love to carry you to the falls and show you around. It’s probably a good idea anyway so you know where our borders are and you can stay safely within our territory.”

 

The Broken Warriors Daughter Chapter 246-| make two plates for them, giving them some bottles of water and send them on their way. “Sarah, if you need anything at all, just ask anyone for Dustin, me or Liam.” As they walk away, | hear Sarah asking Dustin why he calls me Luna, and him. explaining more about pack hierarchy. Liam walks in after they leave, watching as they walk away. “I guess we’re on our own for dinner?” He says. “Yes.” “Good, I’d like to have dinner with the pack, if that’s okay with you. | really need to announce you as the Luna and let the pack know that the vampires are coming. We start training with Rik’s pack tomorrow morning. Since Dustin will be out of pocket a lot, I'll need to restructure the rosters to make sure everyone is at the combined training at least once per day.” We grab plates, piled high with food and walk into the dining room. We sit down with some other pack members and after saying hello and giving introductions, | turn back to Liam.

“What else needs to be done Liam. What else can | do to help you. It’s too much. for one person.” He pulls me close into his side, leaning into me and softly saying, “Thank you. I’m so very lucky to have you in my life.” He sits back, taking a bite of food while he thinks. “Actually, there is something that you can do that would be a great help.

We need to make sure that the bunkers and safe rooms are cleaned and stocked with food, medical supplies, linens, baby supplies, basically everything that the pack members will need while they wait for the battle to end.” “I can help you with that Luna.” A young mother sitting at our table says. “Since I'll be staying in one of the rooms, I’m sure | have some ideas about what we'd need and I'd like to help.” “Perfect, that’s settled. Leave it to us.” | tell Liam and | can see some of the tension leaving his face. I’m glad I’m the one helping to relieve the stress that he’s constantly under.

After dinner, Liain stands and gets the attention of those in the dining hall. It’s not everyone, not with over 800 pack members, but a large majority of pack members eat here for dinner.

“Attention everyone. | know | usually do this in a more formal way, but | have a couple of announcements to make. First,” he pulls me to stand beside him. “This beautiful woman is my mate. You may have already heard that | have found her and that she and | have marked each other.” He’s interrupted by cheering.

He waits for everyone to quiet down again. “We will be having Angel’s Luna ceremony tomorrow night. | know it’s fast, but there is a reason for that.” He stops looking down at me before taking my hand in his and kissing it. “Angel was held captive by vampires for seven years. Apparently, vampires like the taste of Guardian blood. They have put a bounty on her head for seven million dollars. The other day, we were attacked by vampires in the canyon and today, we were attacked again at the offices in the city.” Liam waits again as the pack members mumble their discomfort at this knowledge. “The vampires are coming for your Luna, but they will not take her from us.” More cheering explodes in the dining hall. He raises his hands for quiet. “Canyon Ridge Pack will fight with us. They are aware of the dangers to their Guardians and we are reinforcing our alliance with them, mixing our patrols so that our warriors learn their lands and theirs learn ours. In addition, starting tomorrow morning, our packs will train together, twice a day. | will have new training rosters posted later this evening. Any questions?” Liam fields questions for thirty minutes before saying goodnight and walking us out of the dining room. He sends me to bed as he goes to finish getting ready for tomorrow and waits for Dustin. | shower and crawl into bed, struggling to sleep until | feel his warmth surround me. | can feel his exhaustion as we fall asleep curled up together.

The Broken Warriors Daughter Chapter 247-| knew my conversation with Dustin would be rough. No one wants to hear that their mate has been through the horrors that his has been through. But, as his Alpha, it’s my job to make sure that he knows and that I’m the one to tell him.

When he knocks on the door to my office, | tell him to come in and have a seat. | go to the bar in my office and pour us both a bourbon, coming to sit beside him.

“That bad, huh?” He asks me, taking a sip of the amber liquid.

“Dustin, you know what it was like for Angel when she first got here.” | say, watching as he looks into his glass, looking for answers that he won't find.

“Yeah.” He says quietly.

‘Angel told me about Sarah. Sebastian, the one that came for her today, didn’t just feed on her. He abused her daily for the seven years that she was prisoner.” He puts his glass down, standing and walking to my wall, punching a hole in it.

He leans his head against the wall, pulling his hand out of the hole he created. “I knew it was bad. | knew it had to be based on how she responded to seeing him again.” He turns to me. “How do | help her? How do | help her heal from that? How do | make her feel safe?” I stand, walking to my friend and putting a hand on his shoulder. “I wish | had answers for you, but I’m still trying to figure it out myself. All | can say is to be there for her, be what she needs you to be and let her set the pace. She’s dealing with a lot and honestly, she’s doing better than | would have thought. That’s positive.” He nods his head, taking a deep breath. “Do you think she’d go to see Dr. Phillips? Maybe there is something that she can do to help her heal, you know, internally?” “| think that’s a great idea, if you can get her to go. But again, I’d suggest letting her set the pace. If she’s resistant, either give her time or see if Angel can help sway her.” He nods and I lead him back to the chairs, pushing him down in his and handing him his glass. He shoots it down and | grab the bottle and pour him another.

“I need to get back upstairs. | expected her to have nightmares, but now, | can be positive that she will.” He looks up at me. “Angel seemed okay with Cyran being with her all night, right?” “Yes. She was comfortable with Cyran and didn’t have nightmares when he stayed with her. She inay be more comfortable with Leon than you being in the room with her, especially given her history.” He gets up to leave. “Thank you, Alpha.” “Let me know what either of you need. If she’s going to be your mate, she’s part of our pack now.” “She IS my mate. She'll be part of the pack, no matter how long it takes me to convince her.” When he’s gone, | finish up the last of things | needed to do, posting the training roster for the next few days. When | crawl into bed with Angel, I’m exhausted. | let her warm body and calming scent pull me into my own dreamless sleep.

The next morning, Angel and | get ready and head down to the canyon to train with the pack. | heard Sarah screaming once during the night, but only once. I’m hoping that means that Leon being there helped her feel safe.

When we get to the training grounds, I’m excited to finally see what Angel is capable of. | know her training with Clint is important, but so far, he hasn’t had her sparring. | need to know that she is a strong and intelligent fighter.

When we get there, | make sure that my warriors are divided up with Rik’s. There are about 500 warriors in total, 300 of mine and 200 hundred of Rik’s. He and Chase are here working with the warriors, but | need to work with Angel.

| pull her off to the side. “Okay, show me what you’ve got.” | tell her and get in a defensive stance.

| watch her frown at me. “What are you talking about?” “I need to see how good you are, so go ahead, take a shot at me.” “I'm not going to hit you Liam.” “Angel,” | say and stand up out of my defensive stance. “I need to know what kind of training you had before, what you remember and how strong you are. So,” | say, getting back into my defensive stance. “Hit me.”

The Broken Warriors Daughter Chapter 248-She begins what | can only describe as a gentle sparring. None of her hits are meant to hurt me, none are strong enough to even knock me back on my heels. | need her to really show me what she’s got. “Angel.” | say and I see Rik looking at me from behind her.

“Piss her off.” He mouths to me.

“Angel,” | say again. “I thought you said your father was a lead warrior.” | say, taking Rik’s advice. “He was, he was a great fighter.” “So…what? He didn’t teach you to fight?” “Of course he did. | know how to fight. | just don’t want to fight you.” | nod, as if | understand what she’s saying to me. “I think maybe you thought he was higher up in the ranks than you knew. Based on what I’m seeing, he wasn’t that great of a fighter.” I can see | hit a nerve. Her eyes flashed golden for a moment so | push. “I mean, if he had been any good, he would have taught you, his daughter, how to at least throw a punch. What you're giving me is a bunch of…” Her flat palm hits me directly in my sternum with so much strength, it whips me my feet and causes the air to whoosh out of my lungs.

off “There she is.” | say quietly to myself.

you “My father was a good man. He worked hard and | bet he could take Liam Holstin.” She yells at me.

| get back to my feet but before | can let her know | was trying to get a rise out of her, Rik starts instigating her. “That’s it Angel. Show him what being mated to at Guardian really looks like.” She turns and looks at me, her chest heaving in her anger. | curl my fingers at her in a ‘come get me‘ motion, and holy hell does she. I’ve seen Cara spar, but it didn’t prepare me for my little Guardian when she lets loose.

There’s an obvious difference between Cara, who was born a Guardian and Angel, who is a reincarnated Guardian. Angel's Guardian spirit has experience, knowledge, and pure grit. My girl is a fiend on the battlefield. Once she unleashes on me, it’s all | can do to stay on my feet and keep ahead of her. She’s everywhere, fists flying at every part of my body, legs sweeping to knock me 17 down, kicks aimed at incapacitating me. It takes every bit of training and Alpha strength that | have to keep up with her.

When | finally get an in, | grab her arm, whipping her around, pulling her back to my front, and holding her in my grasp. | move my head just in time to miss her head bashing into my nose. When she begins kicking trying to get away from me, | pull us down to the ground, sitting her on my lap. “My father was a good man, a strong and powerful warrior.” She spits out.

“| know he was. I’m sorry love. | was just trying to get you to really spar with me. | didn’t mean it. | know he was a strong warrior. He raised an amazing and powerful daughter.” | hold her until she settles.

When | hear her sniffle, | turn her face to mine and kiss her softly. “You and me Angel. That hasn’t changed.” She nods and | release her, helping us both to stand. When we do, the warriors begin applauding. I’d been concentrating so hard on making sure | didn’t lose any teeth or get a bone broken that | hadn't realized that they had all stopped to watch us.

“Nice job Angel.” Rik says to her. “Want to try your hand with an Alpha that’s used to sparring with a Guardian?” He asks her. She looks at me. | shrug. “Up to you.” She turns back to Rik, giving him an evil smile then gives him the same ‘come. and get me’ finger curl that | gave her.

This time, I’m able to watch her and really see how she fights. Rik is fast, but not fast enough. She gets in her share of punches and kicks. When she finally sends him flying, he finally concedes. Her technique is flawless, but we need to work on her speed. | want her as fast or faster than the vampires.

“Tomorrow afternoon, be prepared to face a Guardian.” | tell the warriors.” From now until the battle, you'll be testing your strength and speed against Angel.”

The Broken Warriors Daughter Chapter 249-| was really upset with Liam at first when he made those statements about my father. Sc, when | fought him, | didn’t hold back. | was surprised that he was able to stand against me. Alessia has a lot of knowledge about fighting that came to the forefront of my mind while we fought.

When Rik wanted to spar, | was no longer angry, so | was able to focus my attention on finding his weaknesses and taking him out. | was pleasantly surprised when it worked.

After Liam suggests that | spar with all the warriors starting tomorrow, | have an idea. “You should bring Cara and Clint to training tomorrow too.” | say to Rik.

“Why?” He asks me. “Then you'd have three Guardians to spar with the warriors.” “No. Cara is pregnant and Clint, well, how would that work?” He asks, referencing Clint being in a wheelchair.

“First,” | tell him, “No one will get close enough to Cara to touch her. Alessia knows her daughter and this is a fact. Second, Clint may be in a wheelchair, but if you think that man can’t hold his own, then you really know nothing about your father-in-law.” Chase jumps in. “She’s right, about Clint at least. I’m not getting in the middle of you and Cara. But when Eli attacked us with those rogues, we all started tossing them to Clint to help us take them out. He was a machine. Besides not being as mobile as the rest of us, you’d never have believed he was in a wheelchair.” Several of the Canyon Ridge warriors nod in agreement.

Rik sighs. “I'll bring them, but Cara will not be sparring.” “Okay.” | say quickly, turning my back on him when | can’t hold my smirk back any longer. We'll see how Cara feels about that. Liam reaches out his hand to me. When | put my hand in his, he kisses it. “Are we good?” “We're good.” He smiles at me. “Want to run back in wolf form?” Alessia starts jumping around in my head. ‘Yes, yes, yes!"

I laugh. “That’s a definite yes from Alessia.” “Last one back to the packhouse misses out on special “tom says and jumps into the air, shifting and shredding his clothes, landing on all fours and taking off.

‘Oh no! That cheater is not beating me.‘ Alessia says as | jump, shifting, shredding my own clothes and letting Alessia take the lead.

She takes off, stretching out her legs. As soon as Cyran realizes she’s gaining, he pushes harder. Alessia is even faster than she was before, and | was shocked how fast she was then. When we get to the back side of the cliff, she starts jumping up the cliff face. Her agility definitely gives her an advantage and she makes it to the top before Cyran and begins racing for the packhouse. We're nearly there, pack members rushing to get out of our way, when Cyran tackles Alessia, and we both go rolling. She’s back on her feet and heading for the back door as fast as she can. Cyran nips at her back legs, but she doesn’t stop. Someone opens the back door and she pushes through, howling her success as she continues running up the stairs to our room.

On the stairs, we see Sarah and Dustin. Alessia, stops for a moment to lick Sarah, before continuing our race, skidding out in front of the door to our room. | can hear Sarah asking Dustin, “What was that?” “That,” he replies, “was Angel and Liam, obviously racing and it looks like Angel won. The white one was her wolf, Alessia, that stopped to kiss you. I’m guessing she appreciates everything you did to help Angel during that time with the coven. The sandy brown wolf was Cyran, Liam’s wolf.” | shift, opening our door and heading straight to the bathroom. Liam is right behind me. “I win.” | tell him and start to pull him into the shower with me.

The Broken Warriors Daughter Chapter 250-“Angel.” He says softly, looking over my body like he’s never seen it before. It makes me self—conscious, but before | can cover myself, he grabs my hands and pulls me in front of the mirror.

“Look.” He says.

When | look, it takes a moment for me to realize what he’s gawking at. But then | see it.

‘Alessia?’ ‘We're finally at full strength. | told you | thought | could do more. | can’t take the scars away, but at least they are better.‘ She tells me.

Better? | may look vaguely like my body is covered in large freckles, the puncture wounds leaving darker marks on my skin. But the rippling of my skin, the hideous welting that had been all over my body is gone. My skin is smooth.

| look at Liam in the mirror, tears in my eyes. “| didn’t think you could be any more beautiful, but here you are.” He says, wrapping his arms around me, kissing my shoulder.

I turn in his arms and let him hold me as the tears fall.

The rest of the day goes by fast. | have afternoon training with Clint. He’s got me on the obstacle course, but now it has drops and flying objects meant to knock me off the course. | have to start thinking and moving faster. It’s a good workout and Alessia and | both enjoy it.

Clint calls time earlier than normal. “Angel, come talk to me.” | come to sit in front of him, as he hands me a bottle of water. “How are Vo feeling about your Luna ceremony tonight?” He asks me.

| take another sip of water, giving myself a moment to respond. “In some ways, I’m ready. Liam needs the help and | know that | can help him. In other ways, | have no idea what I’m doing, and | feel like I’m going to make a huge mess that Liam will be forced to clean up.” He nods but stays silent, so | continue. “What if I’m not good enough to be a Luna? What if he realizes that I’m a terrible Luna and he’s made a mistake? What- if….what if he decides he doesn’t want me anymore?” | didn’t even realize that all these thoughts were rolling around in my subconscious, but as soon as | started talking, they all started pouring out of me.

| look at Clint. “What if he realizes he made a mistake and I’m not what he wants?” | whisper.

Clint smiles at me, in that fatherly way he has. “Sweetheart, Liam loves you so much. You are his fated mate and even if you were the worst Luna in the history of Lunas, | know that he would not ever think he had made a mistake by taking you as his mate.” “I've known Liam for a long time. Believe me when | tell you, I’ve never seen him happy, not since his mother was murdered. For nearly twenty years, Liam has been steady, strong, fierce, and a very good Alpha. But never happy. Not until he met you.” He wheels himself over to me, taking my hands. “You are exactly what Liam needs in his life, and just you wanting to be better for him, means you are exactly what he needs, someone that puts him first.” He wipes the tear that falls down my cheek. “If you really want to make sure that you are a kick-ass Luna, | have a suggestion.” “Yes, anything!” | say.

“After your ceremony tonight, talk to Luna Calista. She is the queen of Lunas. If anyone can help you to understand what you should be doing as a Luna, it’s her.” “Thank you, Clint.” | say, hugging him.

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