Her Daughter

HD ~ Chapter Twenty Three

Another chapter for everyone! Hope you enjoy it... just like I'd enjoy it if someone made me BBQ spare ribs. I'm starving. Just got off a long shift at work and my feet are screaming at me. All I would like is some ribs. That's it. Thank you.

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Clarity

I had no idea what I was doing. I stood on the balcony outside my bedroom and my hands gripped the railing so hard that my knuckles turned white. It was dark outside and there was a light breeze brushing my hair past my shoulders. All I could think about what the conversation I had with my daughter earlier today.

She was right about me. I had been ashamed of her and I was the worst person in the world for feeling that way about my child. It was more than that, too. I had been using force and violence to protect this pack and demonstrate my strength. It was wrong.

If I wanted my legacy to continue as something people respected, I should be creating peace and bringing unity into this world. For some reason, I felt that if I tried to solve my problems with words instead of actions, I would fail. It was easier for me to win battles than to win people over. When I was a new alpha and my children were young, it was easier to protect them that way.

Yet, I seemed to have lost myself over the years. This pack was so secluded from the world that none of us knew how to function beyond these walls. I needed to fix things, but I didn't know how. Maybe Felicity was right about not needing another war. There could be another way to make peace with these rebels.

Plus, their leader was Felicity's mate. If I killed him, I would be causing her the worst pain imaginable. When I almost lost Nick, I thought my world was crumbling down around me. It almost destroyed me. A wolf's biggest weakness was his or her mate. Felicity had endured so much. Completely losing him would destroy her.

The door to the balcony opened behind me and my husband appeared at my side. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me to his side. I let go of the banister and leaned into him. "I was just thinking about you," I said softly.

He smiled and pressed his lips to the side of my head. "You know I love you," he murmured. "But you need to stop treating our daughter like the enemy."

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "She's not," I told him. "She's just mated to the enemy."

Nick pulled back to look at me with confusion in his eyes. "Her mate is with him?"

"Her mate is him."

Nick let out a low whistle. "Well, that is quite the turn of events," he said.

I narrowed my eyes and turned to face him. "Can you not be so nonchalant about this? It's serious and it makes things a hundred times more complicated."

He raised his eyebrows at me. "Well, you don't have much of a choice anymore."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that you can't kill him."

I sighed and turned back to the forest in front of me. I leaned down and put my forearms on the banister and clasped my hands together. "He sent her back. To me, that means he intends to go through with this war and I can't just wait for him to come invade this land."

Nick put a hand on my back. "Whatever you decide, don't kill him. Just take him alive and lock him up. If you kill him, you destroy her."

I stood straight and turned back to Nick. I placed my hands on his chest. "I never meant for things to end up like this," I said softly. "I just wanted my family to be safe and happy. The things I've done to do that have complicated that and...and I don't know how to fix them."