The Broken Warrior's Daughter

| thought my heart was going to fall out of my chest when Angel suggested leaving to protect the packs. No fucking way is my girl leaving me. | was thankful that Clint agreed with me and helped her see that what she wanted to do was not helpful in the long run.

When she promised not to leave, | felt better. | won’t be completely better until this is done, but for now, my Angel is safe and we have a good plan.

As we sit down, | address Rik and Cara. “I have something else we need to discuss. Eli Gunnar.”

“What about him?” Rik asks and begins eating.

“It turns out that he didn’t kill my mother.” Everyone at the table stops and looks at me. | feel Angel take my hand under the table. “You believe him?” Rik asks.

“| believe Angel and Alessia, and they say he’s not lying.” Everyone's focus turns to Angel and | can feel her discomfort through the bond at being the center of attention.

“They can smell deceit.” | clarify.

“It's actually more like a taste.” She says quietly.

‘Make sure you tell Ailduin about that. It’s not one of the gifts that he told us about.” Clint says. “So, if he didn’t kill your mother, who did?” Anders asks..

| proceed to tell them the entire story going back to when Eli’s brother was killed, through the time that my mother helped him, to her death.

Anders and Clint look at each other. “What?” | say, moving my head back and forth between them.

“We never believed the story either. Honestly, until Eli kidnapped Cara, | thought he was completely innocent of everything. Had | known he was so close by, back then, | would have offered him sanctuary here. He was just a child.” Anders says.

“He was twelve.” My kindhearted mate clarifies.

Anders nods at that.

“So, what is it that you want to do with him?” Rik asks me. O HIS BONGOS

| look at both him and Cara. “I’ve been punishing him for over six months. Some of that was for what he did to Cara, but mostly it was for my mother.” | turn and look at Angel. She gives me a gentle smile and squeezes my hand. “I want to let him go.”

Rik looks back and forth between me and Angel. “Just like that?”

“Yes. My reasons for punishing him are done, but that’s why | wanted to have the conversation with you two as well.”

“Where is he now?” Cara asks.

“He’s still in my cells.”Exclusive © material by Nô(/v)elDrama.Org.

“Bring him up. Let me talk to him.” She says.

“No!” Rik’s response is instantaneous and not unexpected. It would be mine too if | were him.

Cara turns to look at him and something passes between them. | watch as Rik clenches his teeth and Cara leans over to gently

run her fingers over the ticking muscle in his jaw. “What he did was wrong, but his heart was in the right place. Let’s hear him out. He can’t mark me now. I’m safe from him.”

| know before he responds that she was going to get her way. ‘Be whatever she needs or wants you to be. Because she expects and demands it.‘ That’s what Rik told me. | look at my little Angel and | realize she is making me a better man. It’s not the direction | would have taken on my own, but it’s a better path with her on it. She submitted to me because she trusts me and there is nothing in this world that | want more than to be the man my mate believes me to be. | won't give her a reason to ever doubt that. So, yeah, | knew Cara would win this argument because if it were Angel and |, she would win too.

“You will stay by my side.” He tells her, pulling her into his lap and burying his face in her neck, breathing deeply, calming himself down.

“Of course.” She says, wrapping her arms around his neck. He takes another deep breath. “You may as well bring him up.” He tells me.

| mind link the guards and ask them to bring Eli to the conference room. When he walks in, he stops short, looking at the group assembled.

“Is it time for my judgment, jury and execution?” He asks before moving into the

room.