The Broken Warrior's Daughter

Chapter 0516 “Hey, hey, hey. What is this?” He asks, pulling me into his chest, wrapping his arms around me.

| sniff as the tears come. Clint picks me up, taking me to a nearby tree and sitting me in his lap sideways. He runs his thumbs across my cheeks. “Talk to me Lily bud.”

“It’s just....it’s like losing my father all over again. Gideon is so proud to know that we're a Guardian, but he knows he can’t be part of our lives because of my father. | didn’t just lose my dad, | lost Gideon too.”

“Aww, baby. I’m sorry. | know this must be so hard for you.”

He holds me until I’m done crying. Then he gets me a shirt from the ones stuffed into the trees for situations such as these before we walk back to the packhouse. “I need to check in with Patrick. I'll come look in on your later. Maybe we can still have dinner, just make it something quieter. You go rest, I'll be by in a bit.” He leans down, kissing my lips softly before heading to Alpha Patrick’s office.

I'm walking through the packhouse, headed to my room, when | hear a couple of she wolves talking.

“Now it makes sense why he was acting so interested in her.”

“Yeah, it’s not because he really likes her, it’s because she’s a Guardian.”

“But that means that they will have a connection all their lives. Would you want to constantly live in Lily's shadow?” “Honey, she'd be living in my shadow, not the other way around.”

On top of everything else, the last thing | need is to hear the unmated she—-wolves gossiping about my relationship with Clint. It only serves to make me feel even worse, knowing that they are probably right. The only reason he’s attracted to me, even a little, is because I’m a Guardian.

| head up to my room and run a hot bath. | want to soak, then | want to crawl under my blankets and hide away from everything.

| lay in the tub until the water turns cold. When | finally get out, my fingers are pruning. | wrap a towel around my body and walk into my room. Clint is laying on my bed and | jump, startled that he’s here and so casually in my bed. | can see- that he’s showered and cleaned up after the rogue attack.

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When he looks at me, his eyes go dark. “Lily bud. How was your bath?”

“What are you doing in here?”

“| told you | was coming to check on you.

| turn and see that my door is still locked, then | look at my window, which is cracked open. Clint sits up. “Are you okay?” “Yeah.” | say, not looking at him.

“Liar. Come here.” He says, laying back down and patting his chest.

The idea of laying on his chest, letting Donovan purr until | drift off, forgetting about everything that happened today sounds perfect. But then | hear the voices. of those she-wolves and | can’t make myself go lay with Clint. If he’s just doing this because I'm a Guardian, | need to keep my heart safe. It’s already feeling battered from all my family drama lately.

| watch as his eyes narrow at me. “Lily bud?”

“I'm really okay, Clint. Thank you for checking on me.” | turn and go into my closet, grabbing some clothes and getting dressed before walking back out.

He’s still laying on my bed. He pats his chest again.

“Clint, | said I’m okay.”

“Maybe I’m not okay, Lily. Please come lay with me.” He says, and | don’t know how to say no to that. Or maybe, | just don’t want to. So, | crawl into bed with Clint, laying my head on his chest. Donovan immediately starts to purr, and | feel my body finally start to relax. | feel Clint pull a blanket over top of us before | drift off to sleep.

Cooper

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What do you think of Gideon? 2

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Chapter 0517