The Broken Warrior’s Daughter by Cooper novel Chapter 7

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. 

Mom chuckles as 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 coming. He tried to give her his alpha command which didn’t work, so she challenged your father to a battle, saying that if he won, she’d stay but if she won, he’d stop this and let her go.” 

My mom had started staring off into space again, lost in the memory. I interrupted her silence, “So, I’m guessing that he didn’t win?” 

My mom started laughing again, “Didn’t win? Lily had your 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 to the other pack, Lily included, showing that we not only had a strong alpha, but also two Guardians at full strength, and the other pack’s alpha backed down. 

When they got back, your father assigned her to me and later to me and you as our Guardians.” 

“What happened to the other pack?,” I asked. 

“The alpha was 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. Alpha Leander won, the othr Alpha was killed and the pack and lands were absorbed by the Shadow Falls Pack.” 

I look at 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 pack?” 

“You’re father didn’t want a war, as I was pregnant with you at the time. He was afraid that something might happen to me, you, or both of us and it was not a risk that he was willing to take, and he didn’t need to. At the time, our pack was the largest and strongest in the country. That war with the Shadow Falls pack 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 turned 16, he finally gave up and let the Goddess take him.”