The Broken Warrior's Daughter

Every girl wants to be Alpha's girlfriend, except me.

As his guardian, I have no wish to be just another mark on his bedpost.

But I didn't expect he would want to mark me!

As I walk through the halls of my high school in between classes, my best friend, Jason, jogs to catch up to me.

“Hey, what are you doing after school?”

“I’m doing my usual, hanging out with dad.”

“And by ‘hanging out’ you mean training? That’s your secret right, you get to train with the biggest badass that this pack has ever known?”

I stop and look at my long-time friend.

He’s right, I do train with my father everyday.

From the moment I was born, I was meant to be a warrior.

My job is to be the strongest, fastest, most powerful warrior in the pack.

My legacy is to one day protect the Alpha, even at the cost of life, just as my mom did.

My only problem with that is our future alpha doesn’t even know who I am.

What kind of alpha doesn’t know the daughter of the man and woman that are the sole reason that he and his family are alive?

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Alpha Rik with his entourage of females.

His harem continues to grow. It's due to my parents sacrifice so he can be the man whore now.

I understand the alpha’s desire to show off how great he is.

It’s what alphas do. And if I’m being honest, Alpha Rik has it all.

He’s definitely strong. I’ve watched him train, he’s a beast.

Unlike me, I have to be smarter and work harder than any alpha if I’m going to be his protector.

I’m a relatively small female in my slight, fit 5’4” frame.

But that just means that my opponents tend to underestimate me.

My fellow warriors have learned that I’m not an easy target.

But I refuse to be one of Rik's crowd of admirers.

I have no wish to be just another mark on his bedpost.

And really, have some respect at least for your future mate.

“It’s a good thing we’re in agreement on this one” my wolf Artemis says, ‘I wouldn’t forgive you if you offended our mate.

I can’t wait to turn 18 so we can find him.’ My wolf is much more excited about finding our mate than I am.

I realize I’ve zoned out and Jason is still talking to me while I’ve been staring at Alpha Rik.

Suddenly, he must feel my eyes on him as he looks right at me, his ice blue eyes staring holes into my soul.

I feel my wolf purring in my head. 'Artemis? What was thatl?’

‘I honestly don’t know, maybe it’s because he’s an alpha?’

‘It’s instinct, I can’t help it.’

I shut her out and drag my eyes away from Alpha Rik to turn my attention back to Jason.

“Cara, are you even listening to me? I said the harem continues to increase in size as Alpha Rik gets closer to his 18th birthday, you know they are all hoping they will be his mate.”

“Yes, but 'there can be only one” I say.

“Anyway, back to my original question. what you are doing after school?”

Oh right, sorry. You know Alpha Anders always comes and has dinner with my dad and I on Thursdays.

So, after training, I’ll be making dinner, then homework.

“I forgot it was Thursday” Jason replies. “Well, are we still set for clubbing tomorrow night?”

“Yep, always ready to blow off some steam.”

“Excellent!”

I sigh as we walk into class.

After classes finished, In headed for my locker.

A shadow falls over my locker when I’m rearranging my books.

I look up into the glacial blue eyes of Alpha Rik.

I reign in my impatience and aggravation.

No use pissing off the one I’ll most likely be bound to for my entire life.

I take a deep breath, “Alpha, how can I help you?”

“Hey there beautiful, I don’t believe I’ve seen you around before.”

Seriously?

This is his opening line?

Like we haven’t gone to the same schools our ENTIRE lives?

I put on my best fake smile, “I guess you haven’t. It’s a bit hard to see past all of your adoring fans.”

I close my locker and lean my shoulder against it, facing him.

I decide to have a little fun and bat my eyes.

“You ARE an alpha right?” I ask, making sure to give him my best wide-eyed, star-struck look.

“I am, sweetheart, but don’t let my aura intimidate you. I hear it can be a bit overwhelming.”

This guy certainly thinks highly of himself. Even Artemis snorts in my head.

The joke’s on him. Guardians are completely immune to the Alpha aura or command.

But I have no intention of letting this douchebag know who or what I am.

“Oh wow”, I bring my hand up to my heart as if I’m trying to hold my palpitations at bay, “It’s really nice to meet you.”

Artemis snickers in my head, ‘Laying it on a bit thick aren’t you?’

Maybe I am. but, honestly, an alpha should know his pack members.

My family has given so much for his and he doesn’t even know who I am? Well, it just grinds my gears.

He puts his hand out to shake mine, “I’m Rik, Alpha heir of the Canyon Ridge Pack, maybe you’ve heard of me?”

I attempt to look even more flustered. “Oh, oh wow, nice to meet you”, and I shake his hand.

What I didn’t expect was to feel a jolt, like an electric current going through my hand, making the hair raise up and down my arms.

It wasn’t unpleasant, but very much unexpected.

Rik looks startled for a moment and I wonder if he felt it too.

He’s holding my hand and looking at me expectantly.

I’m wondering what he’s waiting for and why he’s not letting go of my hand when he finally speaks.

“It’s customary where I’m from to introduce yourself after someone introduces themselves to you”.

He gives me a charming smile, as if making females speechless is an everyday occurrence for him.

And possibly it is. He is surrounded by stupid followers all day every day, it can’t be that hard to make them speechless.

However, I am not one of his fellows.

“So, sweetheart, what’s your name and what pack are you from?”

Ok, so now I’m getting pissed. He really doesn’t have a clue as to who I am.

“What makes you think I’m not from your pack?” I raise an eyebrow at him.

He frowned. “Well sweetheart, I know every member of my pack, and I don’t know you.”

I lean into him, putting my hand on his chest.

I get up on my tip toes and bring my mouth up toward his ear.

Luckily, he takes the hint and leans into me as well so I can whisper in his ear, “Well, obviously you don’t know EVERY member. And my name isn’t Sweetheart.”

I’m pretty sure I heard his quick intake of breath as I turn on my heel and start to walk away.