The Broken Warrior's Daughter

“| knew your mom didn’t have cancer. Didn’t know what it was, but people with cancer don’t have the t type

of episodes she had. I’m guessing she was a shifter, too?” He asks, putting the bite of food in his mouth. Something inside me unwinds. | hadn't realized how much | wanted Benny to believe me and

agree to come live in our pack. This man, who had looked after my mother and me when we had

no one, then watched out for me after she died. This man, who has been more of a father to me

than my own had ever been.

“She was.”

He nods. “Is that where you got it from?” He asks, as if we're talking about the color of my eyes.

not that I'm a shifter that turns into a wolf.

“| got it from both my parents.”

“You ever find that shit for brains father of yours?” He asks. He knew enough to know that my father had kicked us out. “Yeah. | took care of it.” He stops, his food halfway to his mouth as he looks at me.

“Permanently?” He asks.

Inod.

“Good.” He says before finishing his breakfast. “He didn’t deserve either of you anyway.”

“So, Benny, do you want to come live with a bunch of wolves in the woods and help a young girl start her own business in a diner?” Eli asks him.

He shrugs. “I packed everything | own, knowing that there isn’t anything for me back the way | came. Only thing for me is to go forward with you folks. If you'll have me, I'm happy to come along. But | don’t change into anything. What ya see, is what ya get with me.”

| drove home with Benny. We caught up on the last few months and | gave him the full story of my battle with my father. “Alpha wolf, huh? That’s like, top dog, right?”

“Something like that.” | said. “It's good to know the boss.” He said.

He settled into pack life easier than | would have believed. He moved into the packhouse not showing any concern that he was living amongst hundreds of wolf shifters. After making sure that

+15 BONGS he didn’t need to worry about some wolves being the real thing and attacking him, he settled right 1. in.

Over the next couple of weeks, he made friends with almost everyone. No one seemed bothered. that we had a human living in our pack. He met with Cammy and talked to her about her ideas, and he gave some of his own as well. He worked with her to make sure that the diner would be

built in a way that made it conducive to seating large groups of people and still had enough room for a kitchen, a prep station and a checkout counter. He took her under his wing, just like he had

with me. Sometimes, he goes hunting with the wolves that bring in meat for the pack. I’ve heard him. arguing that he is the better hunter because he doesn’t have teeth and claws, he has to use a gun and his own old eyes and ears.

He even gets along with the sprites. After Fanella left with Alpha Christopher, Funichio didn’t really have anyone to spend time with. He and Benny have become good friends. | frequently find them sitting together in the late afternoon, relaxing under a tree or walking through the forest, just talking.

He’s chosen a spot where he wants to build a house, and once the diner is built, | doubt I'll see much of him as I’m sure he'll do what he’s always done. He'll sit in the diner and keep and eye on everything.

He did mention to me once that while we may not live in a ‘nudie camp’, people sure al

are ‘nekkid’ a lot. | just laughed and told him it was too expensive to constantly buy clothes if you shift with them on and destroy them. And then, you don’t have any to put on when you shift back. He’s learned to adjust.Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

All in all, it's been a much easier transition than | would have expected, and | couldn’t be happier. Cooper

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