The Broken Warrior's Daughter

| get to the clearing in record time. The trackers are already there and there are 20 wolves swarming the place. | get out of my car and walk over to Derrick, our lead tracker. “What have you got?”

“Alpha. As you can see here, there were about 15 vehicles. We have a stronger scent of our packmate here,” He points to an area that has been sectioned off.

| get down on all fours and sniff the ground. The smell is faint but it’s there. Vanilla, a lighter scent of lavender overlaid with honey.

| look up at him. “That's her.” He nods in acknowledgement. “Which way did they go?”

He points to tire tracks in the grass. “It appears they headed to the road going that way, and based on the direction of their tire tracks, I'd say they headed north when they reached the road.*

| nod, walking the path of the tire tracks as my phone rings. | look at the caller ID and answer my father’s call. “Yeah?”

“Son, Clint got another message from Cara.” Shit, | can’t even feel my father from here. She is even farther away and able to mindlink her father? Her strength is amazing.

“What did she say?” | ask as Liam joins me and | put the phone on speaker for him to hear.

“They stopped to let her pee.” Both of our heads shoot up as Liam and | look at each other. We'll be able to find her more easily if she left that kind of scent.

“Was she able to give any indication of where she might be?” Liam asks.

Mr. Nelson answers Liam’s question. “She said there was nothing. No buildings, no flowing water, no power lines, nothing but forest.”

“Based on what Derrick is saying, they think they're headed north. Any place north from our location that meets that description?” lask.

It's quiet for a few minutes. “There’s nothing directly north, but there is a forest on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains that meets these parameters.”

“Send us the coordinates. We're on our way.” Liam and | start back to our cars as the text from my father pings on my phone. | look at Liam. “Got it?”

He looks at me, “Yeah, got it.”

+15 BONOS

“Ok, see you there.”Text © 2024 NôvelDrama.Org.

| push the Porsche to its limits. Five hours later, | arrive at the coordinates my father sent. ‘Kai, are you with me buddy?* ‘Yeah, let's go find our mate, or at least find where she was.

| walk into the forest and shift, letting Kai take over. He sniffs the air, turning in different directions before catching a slight whiff of vanilla and taking off. | give him control, letting his hunting instincts take over. He alternates between having his nose to the ground and having his nose in the air. We're an hour in when | hear a howl. It’s Liam. He’s finally arrived and letting me know he’s here. | howl in return, letting him know where we are.

Kai and | found the spot where she peed. We followed her scent to where she must have gotten back in the SUV. We continued pushing on, following the barest hint of vanilla in the air, having to stop periodically to catch the light scent again. Soon enough, | hear Cyran’s paws digging into the loamy earth, heading our way. | let out a bark to let him know I’m close, even though | know he can smell me. He approaches me and shifts. | do the same. Apparently, he wants to chat.

“What's up?” | ask as | stand.

“| think we need to regroup. | know you want to continue to follow her faint smell, but it's very likely that we'll lose her scent soon.”

He’s right. | know he’s right, but | can’t stand the thought that she’s in the hands of a killer. What if he’s hurting her? Torturing her? Or worse? And what does he want with her? Why her? It must be because she’s a Guardian. But it makes no sense. Her allegiance cannot be bought or forced. The only way it can change is if she finds her mate and she’s not yet of age.

+15 BONOS